10/31: 912er Anne Marie Harpen Has A Question For Everyone
10/30: He Came, He Saw, He Kowtowed
Jonah Goldberg: It seems Rocco Landesman, the head of the National Endowment for the Arts, didn’t get the memo, literally.
On September 22, stung by controversy over the administration’s effort to turn the arts community into proselytizers of its very special brand of hope and change, the White House issued a stern warning to all government agencies: Keep politics out of the arts.
The White House denied that was ever the intent. Many in the media, as is their wont, took the Obama administration at their word.
10/30: The Pay Czar Is Unconstitutional
Michael W. McConnell: Last week’s announcement that “Pay Czar” Kenneth Feinberg slashed compensation for executives at seven large financial firms by an average of 50% stunned Wall Street, stoked the fires of populist resentment, and troubled economists. Will this government-mandated pay cut drive the most talented professionals away from these companies, endangering their recovery? Does it augur further politicization of economic decisions?
Lost in the arguments over economics and political theory, however, is a more basic question: Was this action constitutional?
10/30: In Shift, GOP Leaders Embrace Hoffman
The House Republican leadership is prepared to welcome Doug Hoffman into its ranks, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said Thursday, a sign that the GOP establishment is recalibrating its approach toward the contentious New York special election and the Conservative Party nominee whose candidacy has divided the party.
“He would be very welcome, with open arms,” Sessions told POLITICO in an interview off the House floor.
10/30: Press Favoritism vs. Stifling Opposition
Michael Medved: Barack Obama’s attacks on Fox News are an abuse of power that shows contempt for the traditions of a free opposition press. Democrats insist this “war on Fox” is justified because of the cable network’s conservative orientation, while Fox executives insist that it’s their commentary shows, not their news reporting, that tilt to the right.
10/30: Obama: Stimulus Saved 1 Million Jobs
White House officials, under pressure from the economy’s continuing job losses, plan to announce Friday that President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan “has created and saved at least 1 million jobs” since he signed it in February.
“We anticipate that these reports will credit the Recovery Act with directly creating or saving about 650,000 jobs,” a senior administration official e-mailed POLITICO Friday morning. “Because these reports show that less than half of the spending through that date created or saved about 650,000 jobs, they confirm government and private forecaster’s estimates that overall Recovery Act spending has created and saved at least 1 million jobs.”
10/30: Michigan Man Sues for Right to Put Back Family’s Nativity Scene on Public Median
A Michigan man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was ordered to remove a Nativity scene from the median of a public road — a creche that his family has displayed at the location for 63 years.
John Satawa, of Warren, Mich., filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Friday in an attempt to be allowed to put back the 8- by 8-foot Nativity scene his late father built in 1945.
10/30: Accidental Disclosure
House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.
The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and it was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations. The committee said Thursday night that the document was released by a low-level staffer.
10/30: Report: Dozens in Congress Under Ethics Scrutiny
Nearly half the members of a House panel in control of Pentagon spending are under scrutiny by ethics investigators in Congress, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing a leaked confidential House ethics committee report.
Investigations by two separate ethics offices include an examination of Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.,chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on defense, and six other lawmakers and their relationships with an influential lobbying firm, the newspaper said.
10/30: Valerie Jarrett: Lapping for Action
Who is Valerie Jarrett? It’s a question gaining increasing interest in the conservative blogosphere. And even some members of the mainstream media are starting to take a second look at this woman who has earned the sobriquet “Obama’s eminence gris.”
Indeed, in the Obama household, Valerie Jarrett is considered nothing less than a member of the family. Asked about his unique relationship with the shadowy Ms. Jarrett, Obama told the London Independent’s Robert Draper, “Well, Valerie is one of my oldest friends. Over time, I think our relationship evolved to the point where she’s like a sibling to me … I trust her completely.”
