Specter Watch

(Arlen) Specter gets a teaching gig at Penn (on Congress & Supreme Court)
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer Finished with a 30-year career in the Senate, Arlen Specter will take his talents to the University of Pennsylvania's Law School, Penn announced Tuesday. As an adjunct faculty member, Specter will teach an upper-level course on the relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court, beginning in fall 2011, Penn officials said. "It's a subject matter which could use a lot more understanding. And it's a subject which warrants additional study. Penn Law is a good plac...

Ex-senators find new homes in academia
Two senators who lost Reelection bids have landed at top universities to teach classes about (what else?) Congress. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter may have lost his election to a sixth term, but he’s quickly found a new gig teaching at his Alma Mater, University of Pennsylvania. Specter will join the Law School as an adjunct faculty member this fall. He will teach a course about the “relationship between Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on the focusing on separation o...

Specter going to law school
(CNN) - The move from the halls of Congress to those of academia appears to be a popular one this year. Former Sen. Arlen Specter has taken a new role at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, set to teach an upper-level course next fall on the relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court. The move comes on the heels of news former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold will teach at Marquette Law School next fall. "We are delighted to welcome Arlen Specter to Penn Law," said Michael A. F...

Specter gets a teaching gig at Penn
Finished with a 30-year career in the Senate, Arlen Specter will take his talents to the University of Pennsylvania's Law School, Penn announced Tuesday. As an adjunct faculty member, Specter will teach an upper-level course on the relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court, beginning in fall 2011, Penn officials said. "It's a subject matter which could use a lot more understanding. And it's a subject which warrants additional study. Penn Law is a good place to do it," Specter...

Former Senators Specter and Feingold Go Back to the Books
As the 112th Congress kicks off, a couple of former senators who lost in November's Midterm Elections are headed Back to School. The Marquette University Law School announced Wednesday that Russ Feingold, the former Democratic senator from Wisconsin, will join its faculty as a Visiting Professor of law. "As I looked at beginning to write the next chapter of my professional life, the opportunity to be in a Wisconsin classroom with engaged Law Students is one I found very appealing," Feingold said...

White House Press Secretary Gibbs Announces His Departure
Some major changes are in store for the White House Briefing Room and President Obama’s innermost team. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced his departure to Staffers on Wednesday morning.  The move comes on the president’s first full day in back in the office from his Hawaii holiday Vacation. Rumors brewed for months about an impending Gibbs departure from the White House.  Observers noted the sometimes testy relationship between the press secretary and the m...

White House Press Secretary Gibbs steps down from his position
With all eyes on Congressman Eric Cantor from the Richmond, Virginia area as the new leader of the House, Robert Gibbs has the nation's attention for a different reason. Gibbs, White House Press Secretary, announced that he is leaving his position as President Obama's top confidant and press secretary to the President. He will leave his post in early February, 2011. It's not clear at this time why Gibbs is stepping down early, but Obama did make a statement that Mr. Gibbs will "continue to shape...

Penn law schools hires Specter
Published: Jan. 5, 2011 at 8:21 AM The University of Pennsylvania says it has hired former Sen. Arlen Specter as an adjunct faculty member beginning this fall.. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Philadelphia, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The University of Pennsylvania says it has hired former Sen. Arlen Specter as an adjunct faculty member beginning this fall. The former lawmaker will teach an upper-level course at Penn's Law School on the relationship between Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, The Philadelphia Inquirer r...

Russ Feingold to Teach at Marquette Law School
Russ Feingold will become the latest ex-senator to go on to teach law, after Marquette University announced Wednesday the Wisconsin Democrat would join its faculty in the spring. Feingold, who lost his bid for a fourth term to Republican Ron Johnson, will teach an elective course called "Current Legal Issues: The U.S. Senate" to upper-level Law Students, the Wisconsin school said in a statement on its website. "Senator Feingold joins Marquette Law School with a substantial academic, legal and l...

What makes a great press secretary
Robert Gibbs is both Press Secretary and key member of President Obama’s inner circle. Does his successor, to be successful, have to be too? Not necessarily, says Martha Kumar, Professor of political science at Towson University, and author, most recently, of “Managing the President’s Message: The White House Communication Operation.” “It’s not essential that he or she have a long history with the president,” she said. “What they have to have is ...

Meet the (Likely) Next White House Press Secretary: Bill Burton
With the announcement Wednesday morning that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will soon be moving on to a role outside the White House, the next big question is: Who will succeed him? There have been a few names kicked around, but the smart money is on Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton , and with the announcement sure to come within days, this is a good time to get to know the man who is likely to take over Gibbs’ podium. To that end, we’ve got some background, plus my own o...

Robert Gibbs is stepping down as White House Press Secretary
Robert Gibbs announced his departure as White House Press Secretary today. As one who is not really a fan of how he has handled the press for the past two years (or the message), I wish him well and hope the next Press Secretary masters communications better. This would include a focus on aiming at the Right Wing and leaving the left alone. Q Can you tell us a bit more -- in a bit more detail about what you're going to be doing next? You're not going to be lobbying or consulting. How would you ...

Gibbs Out as Press Secretary
I missed this prior to today's show, but yeah. Robert Gibbs is out. Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary and close confidante to President Obama, said Wednesday that he will step down and become an outside political adviser to the president and his re-election campaign. Is anyone going to miss him? Anyone? Hel--hello? ...

Republicans vow austerity as they take Congress
Can’t wait for censored version of Huck Finn? Read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim Democrat Nancy Pelosi hands the speaker's gavel to Republican John Boehner as he is sworn in on Wednesday. Sheldon Alberts, Washington Correspondent, Postmedia News · Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 WASHINGTON — First came the tears. Then came the tough talk. Ohio Republican John Boehner, sworn in Wednesday as the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, vowed to restore fiscal aust...

White House Defends Obamas Senate Vote against Raising Debt Ceiling But Warns of Catastrophe If GOP Doesnt Raise Debt Ceiling
Wednesday, January 05, 2011 By Fred Lucas President Barack Obama is saluted as he arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011, from Vacation in Hawaii. Col. Lee DePalo, commander of the 11th Wing, is at left. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Washington (CNSNews.com) - The Obama Administration is warning of catastrophic consequences if Congress does not increase the Debt ceiling, the legal limit on how much the Federal Government can borrow, but Obama held a different view on th...

Private memo exposes US fears over Wikileaks
The White House has instructed every US government department and agency to create "insider threat" programmes that will ferret out disgruntled or untrustworthy employees who might be tempted to leak the sort of state secrets recently made public by the website Wikileaks. A 13-page memo detailing the new policy urges senior Civil Servants to beef up Cyber Security and hire teams of psychiatrists and sociologists who can "detect behavioural changes". They will then monitor the moods and attitude...

@PressSec Leaves White House with Social Media Legacy
In his tenure as White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs has expanded his role well beyond the podium. From blogging to Twitter to video-chats, Gibbs has taken the position to a new level of communication in the Obama Administration. Gibbs started using the social network Twitter under the handle @PressSec last February and as of today's briefing has well over 130,000 followers. "I got on something like Twitter largely from watching you guys tweet while the President was standing right here," ...

Howard Dean: Tea party the last gasp of the 55-year-old generation
Stumble This! The Tea Party movement represents "the last gasp of a generation that has trouble with diversity," Howard Dean told an audience Wednesday. The former Governor of Vermont and head of the Democratic National Committee told a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor that he expects the Tea Party to be a powerful influence in the 2012 election as it was in the 2010 election, but he doesn't see it as the future of American politics. "I think it's the last gasp of the 55-year-o...

Boehner replaces Pelosi as Speaker
The outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hands the gavel of office to her successor John Boehner. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Republican John Boehner was elected the new Speaker of the House today, marking a shift to the right in Washington as he replaced the first woman in the post, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The meeting of the 112th Congress, with the Republicans in control of the House and having slashed the Democratic majority in the Senate, is a long way from the heady ...

Shake It Up!
The obligatory post midterm White House staffing shakeup is underway, with official news as early as Friday as to who stays and who goes. Budget man David Axelrod long ago confirmed his departure, and he's just the first. There will be major holes to fill, including Axelrod's. Officials have known for months that he would leave for Chicago later this month, and that former Campaign Manager David Plouffe would come in to assume a similar senior adviser role. Officials have also been scrambling to...

Leftovers - January 5, 2011
Speaker Boehner takes the gavel. House Democrats want to force Republicans to announce whether they will keep their government Health Care. Sen. Reid makes the case for Filibuster reform. Rep. Cantor knows he's wrong, he's just counting on most people not to notice. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is leaving the White House. Gov. Daniels wants to raise the Retirement Age because eventually people could "live to be more than 100." ...

Pennsylvania ends tickets for cursing at a police officer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Firing off a few four-letter words can't be charged as a crime anymore in Pennsylvania — at least when State Police are involved. State police have agreed to stop citing the public for cursing as part of a settlement Tuesday of a federal free-speech Lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union represents Pennsylvanians who have been ticketed for cursing at an overflowing toilet, a swerving motorcyclist and a Parking Ticket issuer.  The citations can lead to hu...

Republicans challenge 14th Amendment
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Conservative lawmakers in five states have launched a campaign to overturn automatic Citizenship for U.S.-born Children of Illegal Immigrants. At a Washington news conference Wednesday, Republican legislators revealed two measures they indicated would be introduced in more than a dozen states. One bill would exclude Citizenship to babies born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents. The second is a compact between states to adopt common positions on the is...

Professor Feingold
The Journal-Sentinel reports: The former U.S. senator, defeated by incoming senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in his bid for a fourth term, plans to join the Marquette University Law School faculty as a Visiting Professor or law. Feingold will join the faculty beginning with the spring semester, the school announced Wednesday. "Senator Feingold joins Marquette Law School with a substantial ac...

Outgoing Sen. Arlen Specter to teach at Penn law
FILE - In this May 18, 2010 file photo, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and his wife Joan Specter, leave the election party after Specter gave his Concession Speech to supporters in Philadelphia. Specter lost to Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., for the Democratic Senate nomination. As Specter leaves the Senate after 30 years of roll calls, debates, dealmaking and votes, he says he wouldn't change a thing about his political path. After three decades as a U.S. Senator and taking part in numerous Supreme Court...