President Barack Obama on Friday made his promised hard pivot to jobs, following up the morning’s news about a 10 percent unemployment rate by announcing $2.3 billion in tax credits for clean-energy jobs.
The public’s opinion of the Tea Party movement has soured in the wake of the debt-ceiling debate. The Tea Party is now viewed unfavorably by 40 percent of the public and favorably by just 20 percent, according to the poll. In mid-April 29 percent of those polled viewed the movement unfavorably, while 26 percent viewed it favorably. And 43 percent of Americans now think the Tea Party has too much influence on the Republican Party, up from 27 percent in mid-April.
Such cuts "I believe would do real damage to our security, our troops and their families and our military's ability to protect the nation," Panetta said.What about the American people, Leon?
"It is an outcome that would be completely unacceptable to me as secretary of defense, to the president and, I believe, to our nation's leaders," he said.
It was a question asked repeatedly during today’s White House press briefing, but some conservatives are lashing out at CBS’ Norah O’Donnell for asking Press Secretary Jay Carney how the Democrats benefit, if at all, from the final debt deal. The controversy began with a post from Commentary Magazine entitled “CBS’s O’Donnell to Carney: ‘We Got Nothing,’” which was technically a correct quote, except Commentary omitted some key words preceding that statement: “You have Democrats saying…”According to Mediate, John Podhoretz was the first to help spread this smear and it was also picked up by Breitbart and The Other McCain.
"Politicians, bankers and media moguls ... share a common culture in which greed is good, everyone takes their turn at the trough, and private interest takes precedence over the public good."
"You can stand on that soapbox and it might make you feel good in the moment. It make might you feel good to put out these Facebook postings," she said. "But in the end, does it actually advance your cause? And does it advance the cause of fiscal restraint, which I think we all have?"On Monday, Mark "Foamer" Levin made the typical gasbag counter-attack on Ingraham without mentioning her by name, only as "a female host."
RYAN: What I never really agreed with is the idea that we would expect Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to deliver 40 [and] 15 votes from Democrats for our version of the Balanced Budget Amendment. You know, I just never thought that was realistic, to demand Democrats vote against their conscious for our version of the Balanced Budget Amendment. So I just never thought that would work.
MS: No, I think what’s interesting is the urge to label this guy. You say Christian. I mean, as I understand it…
HH: He’s not, but that’s how they labeled him. Yeah.
MS: Yeah, he hasn’t attended church since he was a teenager. I mean, in what sense is he Christian? He’s not an observant Christian. If you look at the Muslim rituals Mohammed Atta performed before he went to work on September 11th, Mohammed Atta took his Islam seriously. This guy isn’t a serious Christian. He’s a devoted New York Times reader, and he’s an extremely well-read guy.
Every city seems to have a built-in supply of fanatics, and Dallas probably has more than its share. But what it also has, which is of interest to the sociologist and the psychologist, is a seemingly inexhaustible supply of young and middle-aged people, many of them college-educated, who see black or white and literally nothing else. These are nice looking, pleasant, attractive people. Their children are handsome. They are open and friendly in business, they are hospitable, they attend church, and they keep a clean house. They live in Establishment and non-Establishment areas throughout the whole city. They are really a very attractive group until you discover that the human mind is for them an instrument for the projection rather than the reception of ideas.
Almost without exception, these are people who feel that their greatest enemy is not the Soviet Union or Communist China, but the government of the United States. Their wives feel it even more fiercely. They feel that their worst enemies are other Americans who disagree with them. They are not equipped to deal with contradictory evidence; when it appears, they boo it and hiss it to make it go away. Their statements are positive and final; if one does not agree with them, one is in the enemy camp, at least temporarily. In other words, these people do not recognize any middle ground. To give in to the pressure of a new idea is weakness.
Our research shows that the growth of self-identified conservatives began in the fall of 2008 with the Wall Street bailout, well before Mr. Obama embarked on his recovery and spending program. The public watched the elite and leaders of both parties rush to the rescue. The government saved irresponsible executives who bankrupted their own companies, hurt many people and threatened the welfare of the country. When Mr. Obama championed the bailout of the auto companies and allowed senior executives at bailed-out companies to take bonuses, voters concluded that he was part of the operating elite consensus. If you owned a small business that was in trouble or a home or pension that lost much of its value, you were on your own. As people across the country told me, the average citizen doesn’t “get money for free.” Their conclusion: Government works for the irresponsible, not the responsible.As I recall, conservatives were FOR paying the bonuses under the pretext of honoring contracts and they used the same logic to argue against giving homeowners a break.
Iraq ‘less safe’ than a year ago, US inspector saysYou may recall that 4 years ago, Kirkuk was a source of tension because the Kurds think it should be under their control. It's STILL a problem:
Report comes amid uncertainty over withdrawal
By Ed O’Keefe
Washington Post / July 31, 2011
“Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work,’’ Stuart Bowen, the US special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, wrote in his quarterly report to Congress and the Obama administration. “It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago.’’
The findings contrast with public statements by US diplomatic and military officials in Iraq and come as Washington awaits a final decision by Iraqi leaders on whether they want US troops to stay in the country beyond the expiration of a three-year security agreement in December.
Analysis: Kurds serve warning as U.S. withdrawal nears
By Jim Loney
KIRKUK, Iraq | Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:32am EDT
KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - When Iraq's northern Kurdish region sent a division of troops to surround Kirkuk in February, it may have been a signal of the delicate balancing act to come when U.S. forces leave the disputed oil city.
As violence ebbs, Kirkuk and other disputed northern areas are considered potential flashpoints for future conflict in a country hobbled by ethnic, religious and political strife.
Iraqi and Kurdish troops have come close to blows in the past two years as Baghdad tightened its grip on Kirkuk.
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