To Save America

For Senate Advocates of Unemployment Insurance Extension, a Battle to Nowhere
Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have repeatedly blocked attempts to extend Unemployment Insurance over Deficit concerns. (epa/ZUMApress.com) On Wednesday night, a bare-bones measure to keep federally funded Unemployment Insurance checks headed to the long-term unemployed failed in the Senate. Moderate Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine had signed on to vote for cloture on the $34 Billion bill. But without Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who passed away...

Government is not an option.
Government is not an option . By R.J. Godlewski

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Thursday, July 1, 2010
From CNN's Leslie Bentz The CNN Washington Bureau's morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Washington/POLITICAL For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com CNNMoney: House OKs Wall Street Reform Bill The House voted 237-192 Wednesday to pass a sweeping package of Reforms to the Financial regulatory system, moving the Bill a step closer to the finish line. But the Senate isn't likely to take up the measure until the week of July...

Government is not an option.
Government is not an option . By R.J. Godlewski

Pence Opposes Democrats' Latest Wall Street Bailout Bill
“Under the guise of Financial Reform, Democrats are pushing yet another bill that will kill Jobs, raise taxes and make Bailouts permanent.” Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, delivered the following remarks today on the House floor in opposition to the Democrats’ Financial Regulatory Reform measure: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Conference Report for H.R. 4173; the so-called Restoring American...

Have Obama and the Democrats forgotten how to fight?
One of the strangest lead sentences I have ever encountered appeared in Politico last week . It read: "John Kerry has been the most aggressive advocate of Climate Change Legislation in the Senate this year -- so aggressive that it's rubbed some of his colleagues the wrong way." This Story The story went on to say that Kerry's "zeal" is "making some Swing-vote Democrats cringe at the thought of negotiating with someone they fear is tone-deaf to the political realities...

The G20's China Bet
By Simon Johnson The G20 communiqué, released after the Toronto summit on Sunday, made it quite clear that most industrialized countries now have Budget Deficit reduction fever ( see this version , with line-by-line comments by me, Marc Chandler and Arvind Subramanian).

AIM Report: Media Reports Connect Saddam to 9/11 Plot
Telling the truth can be dangerous. By Scott Malensek The 9/11 Commission report tells us in detail that the Terrorist Attacks on America on 9/11 were set in motion in December 1998. They report that interrogations of the plot’s mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, demonstrate that the plot was set in motion in “late 98 early 99″ at a meeting in Khandahar, Afghanistan. This also happens to be the Time period that Iraq came under bombardment by the United States. The timing is...

Turkey, from Ally to Enemy
Traveling abroad on his first trip as president, Barack Obama tacked a visit to Turkey onto the tail end of a trip to Europe. "Some People have asked me if I chose to continue my travels to Ankara and Istanbul to send a message," he told the Turkish Parliament. "My answer is simple: Evet [yes]. Turkey is a critical ally." On the same visit, however, the president showed that he considered Turkey more firmly part of the Islamic World than of Europe. "I want to make sure that we end...

No 'pledges' on taxes as Gov. Deval Patrick signs $27B budget
G ov. Deval Patrick yesterday refused to rule out a Tax hike next year - handing his opposition a hot campaign issue - as he signed a pared-back $27.6 Billion Budget and looked ahead to an estimated $2 Billion Deficit with a nearly dry rainy day fund. “I’m not taking any pledges,” said Patrick, who vetoed $457 million from the Budget after anticipated federal Medicaid funding fell through. “We need to have a serious conversation as a commonwealth about what...

In speech, Obama to argue for immigration overhaul
Washington— President Barack Obama hopes to rally new momentum behind the push for an Immigration overhaul by explaining why he thinks a comprehensive approach is the only way to fix what he and others say is a system badly in need of repair. Obama was laying out his rationale in a Speech Thursday, his first as president on the issue. Obama wasn't expected to announce any new proposals or policy changes. But feeling pressure from a range of supporters, he was aiming to jump-start the...

In speech, Obama to argue for immigration overhaul
Washington — President Barack Obama hopes to rally new momentum behind the push for an Immigration overhaul by explaining why he thinks a comprehensive approach is the only way to fix what he and others say is a system badly in need of repair. Obama was laying out his rationale in a Speech Thursday, his first as president on the issue. Obama wasn't expected to announce any new proposals or policy changes. But feeling pressure from a range of supporters, he was aiming to jump-start the...

Ex-prosecutor says Demjanjuk story inconsistent
MUNICH (AP) - A former U.S. attorney who prosecuted John Demjanjuk in the United States testified Wednesday that he felt the retired Ohio autoworker who is accused of being a Nazi guard lied about where he was during World War II. Demjanjuk, who was deported from the U.S. to Germany in May 2009, is on trial for 28,060 counts of accessory to Murder on allegations he was a guard at the Nazis' Sobibor death camp—charges he denies. He claims he spent most of the rest of the war in Nazi camps...

State-By-State Immigration Policy Changes Ahead
Immigration Policy is generally set at the Federal level. But in the first few months of 2010, 45 States introduced more than 1,000 bills and resolutions relating to Immigrants and Refugees. The trend indicates that many local Governments are not waiting for the Federal Government to overhaul Immigration Laws. Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. NEAL CONAN, host: This is TALK OF THE...

NASA Program Remains Uncertain After House Vote
By ANDY PASZTOR In the latest sign that future U.S. space efforts remain mired in uncertainty, a House Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday voted to temporarily withhold all funding for NASA's manned exploration programs until lawmakers hammer out a consensus on spending priorities. The unusual vote highlights the extent of Bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill to President Barack Obama's bid to reshape NASA. The White House wants to end most of NASA's current manned exploration projects,...

Joel Rosenberg
Joel Rosenberg  is one of the most committed Evangelical Christian supporters of Israel, and a man of fierce intelligence.   I conducted a phone interview with Rosenberg to talk about his politics, and how it relates to his understanding of biblical prophecy. Rosenberg was raised in upstate New York to parents who became Born Again Christians.   He has had a twenty year career in media, and politics, working for Rush Limbaugh, the Presidential Campaign of Steve Forbes,...

The Legacy of the Declaration of Independence
This Sunday, July 4th, we will once again celebrate our nation’s Founding, marking the day in 1776 that the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was intended to be an official statement explaining why the 13 American colonies had declared their independence from Great Britain.  In the years following its passage, however, this statement of principles about the Rights of man grew to mean much more.  America became...

A Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling
Jon Chait responds : Spruiell seems to be suggesting that we should enact "permanent" Tax Cuts during Recessions, then cancel those Tax Cuts when The Economy recovers. No. I am suggesting that we try not to telegraph the expiration date of the Tax Cuts, because that would mute the incentive effects that make them valuable. I am saying that if, after taxes are Cut, someone in government wants to raise them again, he or she should make that case at that point in time, when the need for additional...

Palin: Obama policy is "Enemy-Centric"
If I bothered with categories for my posts, this would be filed under LIBERAL VEIN BUSTERS. Earlier this week, Sarah Palin took on The Won’s loser Foreign Policy. The press was kicked out of the Speech — not by her — and she want Not that the reporters would have covered it. Look how they quoted none of what she had to say at Stanislaus on Friday. So today, she posted her Speech at Norfolk (I wish she would post the Stanislaus Speech.) From Sarah Palin: "This may be obvious...

Thailand's Ticking Political Time Bomb
Thailand's politics are in turmoil, featuring mass demonstrations, a growing role for the Military in Thai politics, and erosion of the country's fledgling Democracy. If the United States aims to construct a Foreign Policy which can adapt to the coming Thai tempest, we need to understand the players and the turf. The Conflict and Its Players At a fundamental level, society is split over one man: telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin's popularity owes critically to the fact that...

Cook County shaves its sales tax
In an economy that's still struggling, clothing store manager Bob Geish is optimistic that even a small rollback of Cook County's Sales Tax will be good for business. The County's Sales Tax drops a half a percentage point Thursday to 1.25 percent. Geish, manager of Red 21 in Burr Ridge, is hopeful that it will keep customers coming to his store instead of traveling to another County or state with lower taxes. "I think it will have a positive impact. I really do," said Geish. "I think everyone,...

Spies among us
The Washington Post today reports on the breaking News that the FBI has broken up a Russian spy ring in the U.S.: "Details that emerged Tuesday about the alleged spies' lives added to the mystery of a network that prosecutors say extended from Manhattan to Seattle and the heart of the Washington area. Though utterly unremarkable to their neighbors, the suspects allegedly buried stashes of money and wrote messages in invisible ink as they sought to collect tidbits about U.S. policy and...

Today in History " July 1
Today is Thursday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2010. There are 183 days left in the year. This is Canada Day. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 1, 1910, the original Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox for eight decades, held its opening day under the name White Sox Park. (The home team lost to the St. Louis Browns, 2-0.) On this date: In 1860, Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanized rubber, died in New York at age 59. In 1863, the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting...

Obama exchanges election haymakers with Boehner
President Barack Obama tells the audience, "Don't tell Michelle (Obama)" that he wants a bratwurst and Wisconsin cheese curds, at his Town hall-style Meeting at Memorial Hall, Wednesday June 30, 2010 in Racine, Wis. (AP Photo/Journal Times, Mark Hertzberg) President Barack Obama took direct aim at the House Republican Leader on Wednesday, mocking him for comparing the 2008 Financial implosion to an ant. Obama's criticism of Minority Leader John Boehner comes four months before the Midterm...

Obama exchanges election haymakers with Boehner
President Barack Obama tells the audience, "Don't tell Michelle (Obama)" that he wants a bratwurst and Wisconsin cheese curds, at his Town hall-style Meeting at Memorial Hall, Wednesday June 30, 2010 in Racine, Wis. (AP Photo/Journal Times, Mark Hertzberg) President Barack Obama took direct aim at the House Republican Leader on Wednesday, mocking him for comparing the 2008 Financial implosion to an ant. Obama's criticism of Minority Leader John Boehner comes four months before the Midterm...