The American Guardian

SANFORD: How to waste $10 billion

2010-02-25T15:59:00.000-05:00

By Mark Sanford
Washinton Times
February 25, 2010

So often in politics, what makes the headlines is only half the story. For the other half, you've got to do a little digging.

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President Obama: Unsure 'gaps can be bridged'

2010-02-25T15:41:00.000-05:00

By Carrie Budoff Brown
Politico
February 25, 2010

President Barack Obama spent the morning fending off GOP charges that his health care bill was a deal-ridden monstrosity that needs to be scrapped, even tangling testily with his 2008 presidential rival John McCain.

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Senate passes jobs bill

2010-02-24T11:44:00.001-05:00

By Lisa Lerer
Politico
February 24, 2010

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a $15 billion jobs bill Wednesday morning, giving Democrats – and embattled Majority Leader Harry Reid – a much needed legislative victory.

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ACORN 'dissolved as a national structure'

2010-02-23T10:50:00.000-05:00

Ben Smith
Politico
Februaryu 22, 2010

The embattled liberal group ACORN is in the process of dissolving its national structure, with state and local-chapters splitting off from the underfunded, controversial national group, an official close to the group confirmed.

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President Obama's strategy: Replace change with reform

2010-02-22T13:44:00.000-05:00

Mike Allen
Politico
February 22, 2010

President Barack Obama, after weeks of private talks, is putting the finishing touches on a new election-year strategy that replaces sweeping "change" with incremental reform, according to senior White House officials.

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Putting New Perspective on Illinois Corruption

2010-02-21T19:22:00.001-05:00

By James Warren
New York Times
February 20, 2010

Dick Simpson stood somberly on the fifth floor of the century-old Cook County Building last week, in an area between two banks of elevators with the faint aroma of cheap institutional cleaner. His topic was as dispiriting as the ill-lit environ chosen for a no-news press briefing.

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Coal state Dems want EPA to suspend CO2 regs

2010-02-21T19:06:00.000-05:00

Glenn Thrush
Politico
February 19, 2010

Eight Democratic Senators from coal states are mounting a serious challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's landmark ruling that CO2 is a pollutant and demanding a delay in enforcing anti-global warming regulations against polluters.

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Gingrich Predicts Huge GOP Gains

2010-02-21T16:30:00.000-05:00

By Jackie Kucinich and Daniel Newhauser
CQ-Roll Call
February 21, 2010

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) received a rock star’s welcome at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday and predicted that the “radical” Democratic agenda would result in a “massive conservative majority.”

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Al Haig passes away at 85

2010-02-20T15:21:00.001-05:00

By Harry Siegel & Nia-Malika Henderson
Politico
February 20, 2010

Alexander Haig, a four-star general who served three Republican presidents and later ran for the office himself, died Saturday. He was 85.

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Bielat Inspired By Brown to Run Against Barney Frank

2010-02-20T00:37:00.001-05:00

By Emily Cadei
CQ Politics
February 19, 2010

It is a sign of the times that Republicans think they could mount a credible challenge to liberal icon Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) this November.

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Exclusive: War in Iraq to Be Given New Name

2010-02-19T18:00:00.001-05:00

Jake Tapper
ABC News
February 19, 2010

ABC News has learned that the Obama administration has decided to give the war in Iraq -- currently known as Operation Iraqi Freedom -- a new name.

The new name: "Operation New Dawn."

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James O'Keefe says next video 'ready to go'

2010-02-19T01:34:00.001-05:00

By Kenneth P. Vogel
Politico
February 19, 2010

James O’Keefe, the self-styled guerilla investigative journalist celebrated for his video on ACORN and arrested last month in New Orleans in an attempted expose of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, got a rock star welcome at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday.

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No dip in earmark spending despite White House push for transparency

2010-02-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

By Walter Alarkon
The Hill
February 18, 2010

Transparency requirements pushed for by the Obama administration have not changed the total spending on earmarks for 2010, according to a study by a group critical of the practice.

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Paterson Aide’s Quick Rise Draws Scrutiny

2010-02-17T13:41:00.001-05:00

By Danny Hakim and William K. Rashbaum
New York Times
February 16, 2010

David W. Johnson has worked for Gov. David A. Paterson for much of his adult life. He began as a young, ambitious intern from Harlem when Mr. Paterson was a state legislator. He rose to be Mr. Paterson’s driver, serving as a kind of protector and scheduler.

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CNN poll: 52% say Obama doesn't deserve reelection in 2012

2010-02-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

By Michael O'Brien
The Hill
February 16, 2010

52 percent of Americans said President Barack Obama doesn't deserve reelection in 2012, according to a new poll.

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Report: Labor unions cooling on tax deal

2010-02-16T18:15:00.001-05:00

By Jeffrey Young
The Hill
February 16, 2010

Labor leaders are shying away from a deal they struck with the White House on a tax on high-cost insurance plans, threatening President Barack Obama's plan to get the stalled healthcare reform bill back on track, according to a report in The New York Times.

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Five ways to lose the Senate majority

2010-02-16T12:56:00.001-05:00

By David Catanese
Politico
February 16, 2010

Sen. Evan Bayh's stunning decision Monday to pass on a reelection campaign in Indiana is the latest blow to a Senate Democratic majority that is suddenly within striking distance for the GOP.

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Blagojevich reveals trial strategy, holes and all

2010-02-15T20:35:00.001-05:00

By Chuck Goudie
Columnist
Chicago Daily Herald
February 15, 2010

PLAY, NO PAY: In a modest 287-word statement spoken after being arraigned on newly filed federal corruption charges, former Ill. Gov. Milorad "Rod" Blagojevich used the word "play" a lucky seven times.

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Report: Oil-and-gas drilling bans will cut GDP by $2.36 trillion

2010-02-15T14:12:00.001-05:00

By Ben Geman
The Hill
February 15, 2010

This should provide some ammo for industry groups pushing the White House to allow wider drilling: A new report says U.S. oil-and-gas drilling bans will increase consumer energy costs and decrease cumulative U.S. GDP by $2.36 trillion over the next two decades.

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Republicans mine coal-country anxieties

2010-02-15T11:46:00.001-05:00

By Jonathan Martin
Politico
Februay 15, 2010

Republicans believe there are three words so powerful that they might reshape the political order in an economically beleaguered corner of the country: War on coal.

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Evan Bayh to retire

2010-02-15T11:36:00.002-05:00

By Josh Kraushaar
Politico
February 15, 2010

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will announce this afternoon that he won’t be running for reelection, two senior Democratic sources told POLITICO.

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Kyl: Dems have already decided how to force health bill through

2010-02-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

By J. Taylor Rushing
The Hill
February 14, 2010

Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona on Sunday threw more cold water on the chances that his party would cooperate with a Feb. 25 healthcare reform summit at the White House, protesting that Democrats already seem poised to force a bill through Congress.

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Hope and Change: Obama open to tax hikes on middle class

2010-02-13T16:24:00.000-05:00

by Ed Morrissey
Hot Air
February 11, 2010

Jim Geraghty says that the expiration dates come too fast and furious to keep pace these days, but this one’s a doozy. After having insisted all along that anyone suggesting his economic policies would require middle-class tax hikes was deliberately lying, Obama suddenly proclaims himself an “agnostic” on whether imposing higher taxes on people earning under $250,000 will be necessary:

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Pelosi not thrilled with Reid's jobs bill

2010-02-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

By Eric Zimmermann
The Hill
February 12, 2010

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) does not seem happy with the new jobs bill unveiled by Harry Reid.

Reid decided to nix the bipartisan, $80 billion legislation crafted by Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) after his caucus complained it was too bloated. The majority leader instead released a much smaller bill, totaling around $15 billion.

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Family feud: Nancy Pelosi at odds with President Obama

2010-02-12T13:20:00.001-05:00

By Mike Allen & Patrick O'Connor
Politico
February 12, 2010

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s increasingly public disagreements with President Barack Obama are a reflection of something deeper: the seething resentment some Democrats feel over what they see as cavalier treatment from a wounded White House.

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