Dems show signs of abandoning Obama elsewhere after frustration with tax deal

Boehner urges congressional reform as vote nears
Washington — Jettisoning partisan campaign-season Rhetoric, if only for a moment, House Republican Leader John Boehner said Thursday that both parties bear the blame for "dysfunction in Congress" and urged lawmakers to adopt a Cut-as-you-go-rule to curb their appetite for spending on new federal programs. The Ohio Republican spoke hours after engineering a final partisan, pre-election showdown on the House floor, and one senior Democrat, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, swiftly denounced...

Boehner Urges Congressional Reform as Vote Nears
Thursday, September 30, 2010 By David Espo, Associated Press Washington (AP) - Jettisoning partisan campaign-season Rhetoric, if only for a moment, House Republican Leader John Boehner said Thursday that both parties bear the blame for "dysfunction in Congress" and urged lawmakers to adopt a Cut-as-you-go-rule to curb their appetite for spending on new federal programs. The Ohio Republican spoke hours after engineering a final partisan, pre-election showdown on the House floor, and one...

Obama charges up young voters at concert/rally
Washington — Grasping for the electric energy that propelled him to the White House, President Barack Obama whipped up young supporters at a rally Thursday night, where the boisterous crowd tried to shout down any talk of an "enthusiasm gap" among Democrats. "I'm back here today just in case you've forgotten what it feels like to change the country," Obama called out to a sold-out crowd of 3,000 at a Democratic National Committee Fundraiser at DAR Constitution Hall. "It was always going...

White House Science Czar Wrote That Redistribution of Wealth is 'Absolutely Essential,' Says 'Have a Nice Day' When Asked to Comment about It
Redistribution of Wealth both within and among nations is absolutely essential, if a decent life is to be provided for every human being, Holdren wrote with Paul and Anne Ehrlich in Human Ecology. Thursday, September 30, 2010 By Nicholas Ballasy John Holdren, Director of White House Science and Technology Policy with President Barack Obama at The White House (CNSNews.com) -- John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said have a nice...

Vulnerables Keep Space From Pelosi on Stump
Speaker Nancy Pelosi isnt likely to get many invitations from vulnerable House Democrats to visit their districts between now and Nov. 2. Nearly a dozen Members in tough re-election fights who were interviewed this week said they are better off keeping their distance from the California Democrat, while a handful of other Incumbents declined to discuss whether they thought Pelosi would be an asset to them on the Campaign Trail. '); Freshman Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), who in August...

Obama seeks to rally Dems to keep grip on Congress
Washington | Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:57pm EDT Washington (Reuters) - President Barack Obama predicted on Thursday his embattled Democrats would hold onto their congressional majorities in the November Elections if they can rekindle enthusiasm among voters who helped sweep him into office. Obama made the case for Democratic optimism in a pair of contrasting political Fundraisers -- an elegant $30,400-a-plate dinner for wealthy Donors and a Hip-Hop rally for younger supporters. With less than five...

Jay Rockefeller: Anti-EPA climate bill won't pass
Congress won’t act this Year to block the Obama Administration from regulating Greenhouse gas emissions, a key Coal State Senator said Wednesday. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) acknowledged that his bid to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s Global Warming policies is only a "message" Bill that doesn't have any chance of making it into law. Continue Reading Text Size Politico 44 Rockefeller has extracted a promise for a floor vote before the end of the Year on...

John Kerry Says Voter Anger at Washington Is Hypocritical
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers Times are tough, especially among those still looking for good jobs, but Sen. John Kerry doesn't think Washington's to blame. In fact the former Democratic Presidential Candidate, concerned with the anger voters are aiming at Washington, says that his Party and President Obama are doing a ship-shape job. [See which industries contribute to Kerry's campaign.] "We've come back," he says of the nation, Wall Street, and The Economy. "This is an...

If Voters Choose Divided Power, What Then?
The Elections are still more than a month away, but all signs indicate that an angry electorate is going to follow the dictum of legendary screen siren Mae West: When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I have not tried before. Actually, Americans have tried practically every permutation of government in recent years all-Republican rule (2001-2007), all-Democratic rule (1993-95 and 2009-present) and divided government with different parties in charge of the White...

Women a key on Nov. 2; Dems' gender edge closing?
MONROE, N.Y. — They're worried about putting food on the table and paying the bills. They're frustrated that more hasn't changed since President Barack Obama was elected. And they feel like nobody in Washington - Republican or Democrat - has a clue what they're up against. America's women, who typically are more likely to vote Democratic, have emerged as a key Swing voting bloc that could sway this fall's Midterm Congressional Elections. And an Associated Press-GfK Poll suggests that...

Clinton fundraisers ready to aid Obama, party
But on Tuesday, the Sacramento developer took a step she never imagined: She donated $4,600 to Barack Obama. "As hard as it is to let go of the dream, I believe that we need to beat John McCain," Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis said. It's one sign of the growing cooperation between Clinton and Obama Fundraisers now that Obama has clinched the Democratic Party nomination and is forging ahead with the General-election battle against Republican presumptive nominee John McCain. Obama's Campaign Manager...

Profiles in Delusion
Since 1963 Theodore C. Sorensen has been subsisting on his eight-year career as a ghostwriter for John F. Kennedy, and faithful readers of the New York Times have come to rely on his periodic contributions to the editorial pages during the past 47 years. Here Sorensen has repeated, with emphasis, his simple, three-part formula for understanding modern American history: Kennedy=God/Democrats=Good/Republicans=Bad. His latest essay' When Kennedy Met Nixon: The Real Story ' (Sept 26) about the...

POLITICAL INSIDER: Filibuster the top priority
Washington — Republican Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell says her first priority if elected would be to help the GOP block Democrats' priorities in a Lame-duck session. O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed nominee in Delaware, said in an interview that she would work to stop any Democratic Legislation proposed between the Nov. 2 Election and when the New Congress is seated in January. Delaware's Election is to fill the balance of Vice President Joe Biden's Senate term, so the winner can be...

Sorry Spectacle of Team Obama "Peace With Honor" With AIG
For those of you old enough to remember the Vietnam War, one of its aspects was an effort at what would now be called spin management. When Richard Nixon, who had promised in his 1968 Presidential Campaign to exit the conflict but instead escalated it (the movie Patton had a bad effect on his decision process), finally conceded to the will of the American People, he had to come up with a way to present this reversal of course as a victory of sorts. Hence the dubious formulation, “peace...

Gov't Weighs Gas Mileage Rules for 2017 and Beyond
Thursday, September 30, 2010 By Ken Thomas, Associated Press Washington (AP) - The Obama Administration is close to saying what sort of gas mileage it envisions for cars of the future. Environmentalists are pushing for an average of at least 60 miles per gallon for new vehicles by 2025, exceeding the mileage of the most fuel-efficient hybrids on the road today. But automakers argue that pushing gas mileage standards up that quickly could force them to raise prices higher than drivers can...

No Fluke: Republicans Support Off-Shoring Jobs
Like the clear results on a pH test strip, the vote in the U.S. Senate this week on the Creating American Jobs and Ending Off-Shoring Act showed Republicans true color: Red. Red for China. Or Mexico. Or Indonesia. Or anywhere multi-national corporations get Tax Breaks for exporting American jobs. In this test of loyalty, every Republican in the Senate voted for Corporate Greed over American workers. No fluke, this is a GOP pattern. The red party has consistently sided with giant...

Woodward book: Status of U.S. ties with Pakistan was like a "cold shower" for Obama administration
"Pakistan is living a lie." Pakistan is "playing Russian roulette." "We're living on borrowed time." All quite true. "Status of US ties with Pak was like a 'cold shower' for Obama: Woodward," from Asia News International , September 27: Well-known author-cum-journalist Bob Woodward has revealed in his latest book "Obama's Wars that President Barack Obama's focus is turning increasingly to Pakistan, even as his Administration's Military efforts continue to be directed at Afghanistan. Woodward...

Obama on Drugs
Last week voters in Massachusetts approved a ballot initiative that eliminates criminal penalties for possessing up to an ounce of Marijuana, replacing them with a $100 civil fine. Michigan, meanwhile, became the 13th state to allow the Medical use of cannabis. As Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project noted , the percentage of voters approving those initiatives (65 and 63, respectively) exceeded Barack Obama's share of the vote in each state. Furthermore, the results in Massachusetts and...

Destructive behavior to our planet must stop
It is unlikely, though, to slow the "drill, baby, Drill" need for more Offshore wells because this country and the world thirst for oil. The Obama Administration was right to curtail Deepwater Drilling and should back away from endorsing Nuclear Power plants. Nuclear waste remains a huge problem. The safety of Nuclear Power plants is far from assured. Doesn't President Obama remember Three Mile Island and Chernobyl? Each presented end-game scenarios for Mother Earth. Global Warming cries also...

WSJ vs. McDonald's, Obama Administration
Earlier today, the WSJ broke a story that McDonald’s might drop its Health Insurance Coverage for Hourly employees due to onerous ObamaCare regulations. Not true, says Team Obama and McDonald’s : McDonald’s and the Obama Administration are firing back at a Wall Street Journal report saying that the Fast Food giant is considering dropping its “mini-med” Health Insurance for Hourly Workers because of the new Health Care reform law. “Media reports stating...

Economy Lost Speed in Spring; More Weakness Ahead
Thursday, September 30, 2010 By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press Washington (AP) - The nation's Economic Growth tailed off sharply in the spring and probably isn't faring any better now. Gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of The Economy's health -- expanded at a feeble 1.7 percent annual Rate in the April-June quarter, The Commerce Department reported Thursday. That's a notch higher than the 1.6 percent Growth Rate the government estimated a month ago. The slight change was...

Jobless Advocate Shocks Ed Schultz: Democrats Put Us In This Situation
Ed Schultz must have had the shock of his life Thursday when a jobless advocate told him, "It was the Democrats that caused us to be in the situation that we're in." Mignon Veasley-Fields is a 61-year-old Los Angeles grandmother who has been out of work since June 2008. Her Unemployment Benefits ran out over three months ago. Since then, she has been bringing attention to the long-term unemployed in this nation referred to as "99ers" signifying the number of weeks they...

Obama's CYA 2010 Talking Points for Rolling Stone
. … The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic Base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible. [...] We have to get folks off the sidelines. People need to shake off this lethargy, people need to buck up. Bringing about change is hard that’s what I said during the campaign. It has been hard, and we’ve got some lumps to show for it. But if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks...

Poll shows Murkowski close, Dems dismiss results
JUNEAU, Alaska — A new poll shows Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in a tight race with Republican rival Joe Miller. But critics say there's reason to doubt the numbers. The CNN/Time poll asked respondents who they'd be more Likely to vote for if the election were held today and the Candidates were Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams. Or, it asked respondents, would they write-in Murkowski's name. Among 927 Likely Voters polled, Miller got 38 percent, Murkowski 36 percent and McAdams, 22...

A South Park Salute to Presidents, Hopefuls and Wannabes
Hundreds of thousands of hundreds of years from now, when future civilizations unearth the ruins of what once was the great and mighty United States of America, what will they view as being more historically significant: South Park or the office of the President? It's hard to say. One is a collection of crass, immature, scatological jokes and the other is a cartoon… Barack Obama & John McCain More videos after the jump. The second half of South Park 's 14th season...