Ahead of his trip to Moscow, President Barack Obama chided Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday for keeping “one foot in the old ways of doing business.” By contrast, he said Putin’s handpicked successor as president understands that Cold War behavior is outdated.
In a White House interview with The Associated Press, the president said he will meet with both Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev on his trip, in hopes they can “move in concert in cooperating with us on some critical issues.” READ MORE…
What ordeal? If you ask that question, you must not have flown anywhere since 9/11. I’m talking about the security gauntlet every passenger has to go through.
What about applying for the most powerful, consequential, dangerous office in the world — THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES? READ MORE…
U.S. employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy’s road to recovery will be bumpy.
The Labor Department report, released Thursday, showed that even as the recession flashes signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a lid on costs and be wary of hiring until they feel certain the economy is on solid ground. READ MORE…
Hey, you remember a couple of days ago when Michael Scheuer appeared on the “Glenn Beck Whirligig Of Freakjuice” to talk about border security, and he said that “the only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.” And then Glenn Beck was all up inside Osama bin Laden’s head like he was the star of “CSI: Methamphetaminetown,” gravely noting, “Which is why I was thinking this weekend if I were him, that would be the last thing I would do right now.” READ MORE…
Earlier this week, former CIA operative and torture apologist Michael Scheuer appeared on Fox News, where he told Glenn Beck (who nodded in agreement), “The only chance we have” to repair our national security apparatus “is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.” Yesterday, on Alan Colmes’ radio show, Scheuer made similar comments about the national security stance of the U.S., saying that he doesn’t believe that President Obama wants to protect the country “if it costs him votes.” READ MORE…
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove went on Fox News this morning and attacked President Obama’s health care town hall meeting yesterday as “pre-packaged, organized, controlled, [and] scripted,” adding that the Bush administration would never have done something so audacious:
ROVE: This White House has carried pre-packaged, organized, controlled, scripted events to a new height, and they’re getting away with things that in any previous White House, the media would have eviscerated the press secretary and the White House for it. READ MORE…
Sen. Ted Kennedy’s Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee released details of its plan Thursday to expand access to health insurance, create a public option that consumers could buy into and reduce health care costs over the long haul.
The Congressional Budget Office evaluated the proposed bill, estimating that it would cost slightly more than $600 billion over ten years, considerably less than earlier predictions. The CBO score was also released by the health committee Thursday. READ MORE…
David Shuster talks to Sen. Bernie Sanders about his demand that the Democrats in the Senate commit to stopping a filibuster on health care reform. Sanders reiterated his earlier statements as reported by Sam Stein at the HuffPo:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), called on the White House and Democratic leadership in Congress to ensure that party members agree unanimously to support cloture on legislation that would revamp the nation’s health care system. Democratic senators on the fence, he added, could still oppose the bill. But at the very least they should be required to let the legislation come to an up-or-down vote. READ MORE…
Senator Chuck Grassley has been holding town-hall meetings around the state this week, and the Iowa Democratic Party highlighted a fun clip from his June 30 meeting in Waukon. A constituent wanted to know why his health insurance policy was so much more expensive than Grassley’s, despite having less generous coverage.
The senator advised the questioner to “go work for John Deere” if he wanted a better insurance policy. (Not too practical, since Deere has laid off workers in Dubuque, Ottumwa and the Quad Cities this year.) As Grassley tried to move on to the next question, the man continued to press for details about Grassley’s own coverage, and the senator advised him to go talk to the people at the Farm Services Administration about health insurance. READ MORE…
CNBC host Dennis Kneale is back for more, escalating a feud he began with the blogosphere yesterday with another long-winded rant. Kneale said he was compelled to confront the bloggers, “criticizing their mean-spirited negativity and bash[ing] them for hiding behind the cowardly cloak of anonymity.”
To briefly recap, Kneale became the favorite punching bag of the moment for business blogs like Zero Hedge, Dealbreaker, and Annuity IQ after he declared that the recession is over. The blogs, naturally, ribbed him a bit for this grandiose statement. Kneale took it a little personally, using his show to freak out with an epic rant at his “dickweed” blogger critics. READ MORE…
Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis is one tough cookie. Last week she opposed subsidizing school lunches for low income children during summer months saying, “Hunger can be a positive motivator.” This is excellent news considering 1 in 5 Missouri kids is living in hunger, so that state is due for a productivity boon.
Stephen Colbert tipped his hat to Rep. Davis last night, applauding her decision, but worrying that she never rose above the rank of state representative because she developed the anti-motivating habit of eating. He called on Missourians to help her by denying her food whenever possible. That should give her her edge back. READ MORE…
Jenny Sanford just released her first statement since her husband, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, gave a long interview to the Associated Press in which he admitted to “crossing the line” several times and called his Argentine lover his “soul mate.”
In it, she calls her husband’s actions “inexcusable,” saying he will be dealing with the consequences for a long time. But she is willing to forgive him. READ MORE…
U.S. employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy’s road to recovery will be bumpy. 
Sen. Ted Kennedy’s Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee released details of its plan Thursday to expand access to health insurance, create a public option that consumers could buy into and reduce health care costs over the long haul.
Jenny Sanford just released her first statement since her husband, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, gave a long interview to the Associated Press in which he admitted to “crossing the line” several times and called his Argentine lover his “soul mate.”