Obama's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year

WIRE: Obama's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year...
No matter that the Recession was officially over. That sweeping Health Care changes at last had been enacted. That combat operations in Iraq ended. That General Motors was making money and hiring again. That banks paid back most of the billions they'd borrowed from the government. "This is what change looks like," Obama said proudly, after the Health Care law passed. But. The Economic Recovery was too slow. The oil gushed for too long. The Health Care law was too complicated. The Unemployment ra...

Obama's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year
WASHINGTON—Barack Obama's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year got off to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad start. There he was, on New Year's Day, on Vacation with his family in Hawaii, stuck on a secure phone with Counterterrorism officials, trying to figure out what screw-ups had allowed a would-be Terrorist to board a Christmas Day flight with explosives in his underwear. Things only got worse for Obama when he returned to Washington in between a pair of epic winter storms...

Obama's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year
There he was, on New Year's Day, on Vacation with his family in Hawaii, stuck on a secure phone with Counterterrorism officials, trying to figure out what screw-ups had allowed a would-be Terrorist to board a Christmas Day flight with explosives in his underwear. Things only got worse for Obama when he returned to Washington in between a pair of epic winter storms. From the start, 2010 delivered a string of setbacks that built up to an electoral shellacking come November, to use the president's ...

The Outlook for the 9/11 Bill
The outlook for the 9/11 health bill is good today -- at least for its first test vote perhaps as soon as late morning, Senate insiders say. After that, it's anyone's guess. Or, more accurately, Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) Coburn is still threatening to string the measure out, and that could take 60 hours, which leaves final passage on Christmas Day. Coburn is notoriously stubborn, and even though his party is already complaining about working so close to the holiday -- and many, man...

The NYT Piece on CO2 Measurement is a Good Read
There are several interesting articles in the NYT today. The piece on scientist Charles Keeling and how he developed the process of calculating and monitoring Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere is unusually long and detailed for a newspaper piece. It's also simply an interesting, well-written story. It's become impossible to cover Climate Science in any way that does not have a political edge, but the numbers tell a story and one thing is certain, no one gets to negotiate a Bailout from the...

Obama vs. The 'Tear Down Congress' (Huffington Post)
WASHINGTON — As Congress and the president prepare to leave town for Christmas, comparisons to LBJ and FDR are in the air — or at least in the Press Releases of the Democratic Party. But Democrats are not playing FDR's stirring "Happy Days are Here Again" anthem, or even Lyndon Johnson's "The Eyes of Texas." Why? Because Democrats here know the dismal truth. They can read new polls, which are a grim follow-up to last month's "shellacking." ...

Wednesday's live video events
President Obama will sign a historic piece of Legislation into law this morning, and CNN.com Live will carry the bill-signing ceremony when it happens. 9:15 am ET - Obama signs 'don't ask' Repeal into law - President Obama will sign the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Act of 2010 into law in a signing ceremony at the Department of the Interior. 9:30 am ET - Senate in session - The lame-duck session continues for the Senate today.  A final vote on the New ST...

Obama's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year
There he was, on New Year's Day, on Vacation with his family in Hawaii, stuck on a secure phone with Counterterrorism officials, trying to figure out what screw-ups had allowed a would-be Terrorist to board a Christmas Day flight with explosives in his underwear. Things only got worse for Obama when he returned to Washington in between a pair of epic winter storms. From the start, 2010 delivered a string of setbacks that built up to an electoral shellacking come November, to use the president'...

Arnold Wants a Cabinet Position in His Christmas Stocking
Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been terminates as Governor of California, he is testing other career opportunities. During an interview with the LA Times, The Terminator said yes and discussed his qualifications for various jobs that may become available. Schwarzenegger, whose Approval Ratings in his state have plummeted in recent years, said that he is especially interested in a post that involves either energy or the environment, since one of his prime achievements as governor was the im...

Schumer: Obama Has 'Done Everything We Asked' On 9/11 Health Bill [Video]
There is at least one New York representative satisfied with President Obama's leadership on the 9/11 Health Care bill. "As for the president, he's done everything we've asked," Senator Chuck Schumer told Andrea Mitchell this morning in an appearance on Morning Joe. "I have no complaints about the president's role on this. He's had a lot on his plate, but on this issue, he has done what we have asked him to do." Schumer's comments come one day after Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney called on the ...

Obama, Latinos agree chances not good for immigration reform in next two years
WASHINGTON — President Bar ack Obama and Latino lawmakers agreed during a private meeting Tuesday that over the next two years, chances are dimming for passage of an Immigration overhaul that would provide a path to legal status for millions of illegal residents, according to people familiar with the session. Instead, the president and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus concurred that until the 2012 Elections are over, a more realistic goal would be to stave off Legislation targ...

'Thank You, Mr. President!': The Long Road To Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell
WASHINGTON -- Susan Collins stood at her desk on the Senate floor, a copy of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) Legislation before her, angrily berating her on-again, off-again allies, Joe Lieberman and Carl Levin. Collins furiously waved a copy of the bill at the empty desk of Majority Leader Harry Reid, making it clear to observers in the Senate gallery whom she held responsible for the coming failure. Reid had already walked away, at the end of his patience with Collins' repeated procedural r...

The Next Steps for Climate Diplomacy in the Wake of Cancun
Since the conclusion of last year’s UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, doubt surrounding the efficacy of the multilateral negotiating process had been steadily gaining momentum, and the criticism was set to explode in the event of failure in Cancun. Last December, after two years of unrealistically ambitious expectations, the Copenhagen Accord was cobbled together in the eleventh hour by President Obama and a handful of other heads of state, putting an end to a disappointing two w...

Tension as Italian students protest education law
By Massimiliano Di Giorgio ROME | Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:56am EST ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of Italian Students marched in Protest against a new university reform law on Wednesday as police blocked off large parts of central Rome to stop a repeat of violent clashes at a similar march a week ago. Last week's demonstration saw cars torched, shop windows smashed and dozens injured in street battles between Protesters and Riot Police after the initially peaceful march descended into some of the wor...

Poll: Most approve of Obama in lame-duck
President Barack Obama is getting good marks for his role in Congress' Lame Duck session. In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday, 56 percent of Americans said they support how Obama has handled the Lame Duck session that’s expected to end this week. Forty-one percent said they disapprove. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle didn't do as well. Republicans have a 42 percent Approval Rating for their work ...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
Source: The Boston Globe WASHINGTON—The Senate passed Legislation on Wednesday that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. "The Controversial aspects of this Legislation have be...

Senate approves defense bill, sends it to House
WASHINGTON – The Senate has passed Legislation that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this Budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. The voice vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the Military. The provision that would have overturned the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell...

Analysis: A political rebound, but can it hold?
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama, whose first two years were marked by staunchly partisan votes on his signature initiatives, finds himself at a crossroads. In the seven weeks since the election, Obama negotiated with Republican leaders on taxes and left angry liberals on the sidelines. On a major Nuclear Treaty with Russia, he sidelined GOP Senate leaders and negotiated with like-minded Republicans. And with a landmark Repeal of the ban on Openly Gay Military service, he delighted liber...

Robert Reich: Why Obama Wins on Foreign Policy and Gays But Loses on Economics and Taxes
Two important victories for President Obama this week -- the New Start anti-ballistic missile treaty with Russia to reduce weapons and restart inspections, and the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell after a 17-year ban on Gays in the Military. Why have Senate Republicans been willing to break ranks on these two, while not a single Republican went along with Obama's plan to extend the Bush Tax Cuts only on the first $250,000 of income? A hint of an answer can be found in another Senate defeat for Oba...

Economy grew modestly in July-September quarter
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Economy grew at a moderate pace last summer, reflecting stronger spending by businesses to replenish stockpiles. More recent barometers suggest the economy is gaining momentum in the final months of the year. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That’s up from the 2.5 percent pace estimated a month ago. While businesses spent more to build inventories, consumers e...

Economy grew modestly in July-September quarter
The economy grew at a moderate pace last summer, reflecting stronger spending by businesses to replenish stockpiles. More recent barometers suggest The Economy is gaining momentum in the final months of the year. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That's up from the 2.5 percent pace estimated a month ago. While businesses spent more to build inventories, consumers ended up spending a bit less. M...

Obstruction-obsessed McConnell to Democrats: If you think its bad now, wait till next year
The 111th Congress witnessed a record amount of Republican obstruction. Wielding an unprecedented number of Filibusters, the GOP waged war against the Democratic agenda to defeat Obama, apparently viewing unemployed workers, judicial nominees, service members, and even 9/11 Rescue Workers as Collateral Damage. Think Progress has the story of the Senate Majority Leader’s plans to amp up GOP obstructionism in the next Congress. As Congress entered the lame-duck session, Senate Republicans ...

Ex-Black Panther wants to keep "Walmart plantation" out of Brooklyn
The state of New York will lose two Congressional Seats because of decennial reapportionment. With public officials like New York City councilman Charles Barron, a former Black Panther, serving the public, it's easy to see why people are leaving the Empire State. Walmart, the nation's largest Private Employer, hasn't even committed to building a store in a new Brooklyn shopping center, but that hasn't stopped Barron from using emotionally-charged words like "plantation." Several local lawmakers...

Population slowdown = unemployment slowdown?
Late last year, Goldman Sachs said in a note that "it will probably take at least 100,000 jobs per month just to hold the Unemployment Rate constant." This was largely based on demographic data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and since has become a favorite talking point of pundits like George Will (particularly when monthly jobs reports come in south of 100k). What we learned today, however, is that U.S. Population Growth is slowing. New Census figures show a 9.7% growth rate, co...

Economy Grew Modestly In Third Quarter
The economy grew at a moderate pace last summer, reflecting stronger spending by businesses to replenish stockpiles. More recent barometers suggest The Economy is gaining momentum in the final months of the year. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That's up from the 2.5 percent pace estimated a month ago. While businesses spent more to build inventories, consumers ended up spending a bit less. M...