President Obama declared this morning that "science is more essential....than ever before" for the nation's security, health, and economy. And the proof, he said, is the swine flu outbreak that has killed more than 100 in Mexico and shown up in the United States, though with no fatalities yet. Could've left off the last five words, or the last word, but it sells more papers this way.
Obama told the National Academy of Sciences that he is closely monitoring the outbreak, which he called a "cause for concern, but not a cause for alarm." The public health emergency was declared Sunday as a precaution, he said, to make sure officials have everything they need to contain the illness. The Feds to the Rescue! More funding! Less taxes!
The president's speech was a follow-up to his decision last month to reverse President Bush's limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research - and an accompanying pledge to take the politics out of science. Except for the first paragraph.
He repeated that promise this morning - and also announced a pledge to increase research and scientific funding to a level equal to that during the space race to the moon, amounting to 3 percent of the gross domestic product. I wonder if NASA is included in that 3%, or if they get their own 3%?
In his speech, Obama also announced a new President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which will help "formulate policy in the many areas where understanding of science, technology, and innovation is key to strengthening our economy and forming policy that works for the American people," the White House said.
"This council represents leaders from many scientific disciplines who will bring a diversity of experience and views. I will charge PCAST with advising me about national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation," Obama said.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/28/2009 06:37 ||
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At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science And this [Swine Flu Outbreak] is one more example of why we cannot allow our nation to fall behind. Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened.
The teleprompter never fails to find a male human fabricated from the dried stalk of a cereal plant.
When the going gets tough, rely on Gordon Brown to get going in the opposite direction.
As his government disintegrates around him, mired in sleaze and incompetence, the Prime Minister has fled basket-case Britain and high-tailed it to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Frankly, I'm glad to see the back of him, if only for a few days. I've run out of invective. The bile mine is exhausted. What else is there to say about this bankrupt barmpot and his third-rate, Third World administration?
But if he hoped this pointless trip was going to offer some respite from the train wreck back home, he was horribly wrong. In a typically inept display of bad manners, Brown managed to insult the Pakistanis on their own turf. He's a criminal liability at home and an ocean-going embarrassment abroad.
Don't just take my word for it. In a poll on a Labour website to find the party's greatest leader of the past 30 years, Gordon has managed to scrape just two per cent of the votes. Michael Foot leads the way, with almost one-third of the votes cast. Old Worzel was merely responsible for the longest suicide note in history. Gordon is like a suicide bomber, determined to take the rest of us with him.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2009 00:00 ||
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When I lived in London, you could always tell that when someone started laughing uncontrollably on the Tube they were either reading Richard Littlejohn or looking at a Matt front page cartoon in the Telly.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/28/2009 12:57 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veteran Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party on Tuesday, Sen. Harry Reid said. Sen. Arlen Specter was expected to face a tough primary challenge in 2010.
The Specter party switch would give Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate majority of 60 seats if Al Franken holds his current lead in the disputed Minnesota Senate race.
Specter, a five-term Senate veteran, was expected to face a very tough primary challenge in 2010 from former Rep. Pat Toomey, who nearly defeated Specter in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary in 2004.
A Quinnipiac University survey of registered Pennsylvania voters released last month showed Specter trailing the more conservative Toomey in a hypothetical primary matchup, 41 to 27 percent.
A separate Franklin & Marshall survey showed Specter leading Toomey 33 to 18 percent. Another 42 percent, however, were undecided. More than half of the Republicans polled in the Franklin & Marshall survey said they would prefer to see someone new in the Senate.
Numerous Republicans are angry with Specter over his recent vote in support of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan.
Specter, one of only three GOP senators to vote for the measure, has been part of a dwindling group of GOP moderates from the northeastern part of the country.
#2
He is a crass, chicken shit eastern seaboard pol who has never been even close to a true conservative but rather a blood-sucking liberal idiot. How we ever got Roberts and Alito on the court without this jerk screwing it up is beyond me.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/28/2009 12:59 Comments ||
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Toomey announced April 15 that he would challenge Specter. It took only two weeks for Specter to quit. There are a good six possible dems he will face in the d primary
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/28/2009 13:01 Comments ||
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#4
The last gasp of this POS fighting for his political life.
#5
Strikes me as vastly much less of a story than all the initial reactions indicate.
1 - the election is in Nov. 2010 - a long way off.
2 - he's 80 and not in prime health. Not to be morbid, but how will be able to run? Sure, he can look to Sen. Byrd, but really?
3 - will he survive the Dem. primary? Probably, given his ties to Rendell and Biden and whatever deal is made, but how will it alter his voting patterns?
4 - It sure clears the way for Toomey's campaign. If anything, it will be less about issues than atmosphere, and much of that will be out of Arlen's control.
5 - Does this make Sen. Nelson or Tester an R vote on certain issues? How about other upper midwestern D senators? Do the democrats really want to emphasize the complete control the 60th vote ostensibly gives them? Be careful what you wish for.
6 - The 200,000 vote change in registration is a canard - those were Rush's operation chaos votes.
Again - a whole lot less here than meets the eye. He'll likely win re-election, but this time at what cost to the democrats? I suspect we'll see very little press on this after, say, tomorrow mornings network shows.
"In 1965, Specter ran for District Attorney, on the Republican ticket as a registered Democrat. He handily beat incumbent Jim Crumlish, and subsequently changed his registration to Republican."
#9
Phineth the Anonymous8743 makes very good points, however, this forecloses Rendell moving into the Senate when he is termed out as Governor in 2010. It will be interesting to see if there is a donk primary or if they fix is in. And interesting to see what Rendell gets if he doesn't run.
The key in 2010 will be the Philly suburbs. This race will probably end up a referendum on Bambi. At least Toomey will not have to waste resources dethroning Lord Specter.
#12
.Specter retires. Toomey vs Rendell. The machine candidate wins by 3 points. You heard it here first.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2009 14:06 Comments ||
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He's been through chemo. I was 10 feet away from him at a presentation in Harrisburg. He looked terrible there, too. And he sounded like he was 79. But I didn't doubt he would run in 2010. He's still got the fire in the belly.
#14
If he was going to retire in 2010, why switch parties now and p.o. all your trunk buddies? He said he would not be a reliable cloture vote on card check and potentially other matters, so he's not going to be a lock step donk anymore than he was a party line trunk.
He knew he would not win the trunk primary and got out before it was apparent to everybody. It may end up Rendell Toomey, but that will be after a donk primary fight or a serious decline in Spector's health.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2009 14:19 Comments ||
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A couple of things:
First, Frum is dead wrong - WRONG! - in that this confirms conservatism is dead. Rather, it heralds the opposite. Specter was a liberal opportunist who cared only for himself and his cushy Senate seat. He rode in on Reagan's coat tails, and now that the tea leaves have turned against him, he jumps ship. Principles? Not so much. Good riddance. Steele's comments were on the money.
Second: He got played by Team Obama. They wooed him bigtime and he took the bait. Come election day, you won't see his name anywhere unless he runs as Independant.
Cue the Wayne Newton!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/28/2009 14:25 Comments ||
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one more reason for term limits. What an egotistical asshole this guy is. I heard him once on howard stern, no grasp of the constitution or simply does not care. Prolly hangs out w/Kennedy on off time. I wish him well wrt cancer but other then that he's a douchebag and another example of what's wrong w/our country.
#21
1. Jim Jeffords jumped ship right *after* his reelection. Snarlin Specter is doing this right before he's up in 2010.
2. The 2010 Senate race in PA has already started, with both Toomey and Specter running expensive TV ads.
3. Specter probably cut a deal with Cornyn over card check. That would explain Cornyn's letter asking R's to line up behind Specter over Toomey.
4. Specter read the tea leaves and realized he was DOA as a Republican in 2010, even with the support of the NRSC.
5. In an act of desperation, he cuts a deal with the Dems who are desperate for a 60th vote in the Senate.
Conclusions:
- No way Specter would be doing this if he didn't plan on staying in the Senate.
- No way the Republican party should be getting involved in primaries. Ever. They didn't used to. The change has been for the worse.
- "Big Tent" Republicans should be reminded of this story, constantly. A big tent is great, but it must be a tent full of elephants, not RINOs. Bring any sort of elephant you like, and welcome them. But keep the other beasts out. Especially don't feed them.
On a personal note, I stopped giving to the R party when they supported Lincoln Chafee in his primary. Never regretted it. Now I give directly to candidates and that's it.
#25
I concur w/Harriman. I often feel the need to take a shower after hearing the avg pol talk. Feels like someone has dumped a few gallons of raw sewage on me.
Congress has become the land of non-representing representatives.
#28
I have no use for Specter, but the Republican Party did kind of force his hand on this switch when they (or at least somebody big - DeMint?) endorsed Toomey over him for the primary the other day.
Veteran GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania intends to switch political parties and run in the Democratic primary in 2010, FOX News has confirmed. We had multiple posts on this. Cornsilk Blondie wins the lottery. Note to self, look at main page before making previous pronouncement
Republican voters had sent him to the Senate five times. But faced with the prospect of a strong challenge from conservative Pat Toomey in the GOP primary and the state trending Democratic, Specter jumped ship.
"I deeply regret that I will be disappointing many friends and supporters," Specter said in prepared remarks to be delivered at a news conference on Tuesday. "I can understand their disappointment," he continued. "I am also disappointed that so many in the party I have worked for for more than four decades do not want me to be their candidate. It is very painful on both sides."
The switch puts Democrats within two votes of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Democrats currently hold 56 seats in the Senate, and two independents typically vote with the party. Republicans have 41 seats, and there is one vacancy.
Specter was facing a tough primary challenge from Pat Toomey, head of the conservative Club for Growth, who almost defeated Specter in a 2004 GOP primary.
Specter was under heavy fire from conservatives for his support of President Obama's $787 stimulus bill earlier this year.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday delayed a vote on Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' (D) nomination as HHS secretary, saying that lawmakers needed more time to consider the nomination, Roll Call reports (Brady, Roll Call, 4/23). Earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) attempted to obtain a unanimous vote to move forward with the nomination (Armstrong, CQ Today, 4/23). However, McConnell objected, effectively delaying the vote until next week.
McConnell said, "It was fairly contentious. Not a party-line vote, but a number of members on my side opposed the nomination," adding, "So at least for today I'm not able to enter into a consent agreement" (Roll Call, 4/23). The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday voted 15-8 to approve Sebelius as HHS secretary. The vote was along party lines, with Democrats voting for approval and Republicans against, except for Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/22).
Reid and Senate Republicans later in the day reached an agreement on the Sebelius vote, under which eight hours of debate will start at 10 a.m. on April 28. Rather than a simple majority to approve the nomination, Sebelius' confirmation will require 60 votes (CQ Today, 4/23). According to Roll Call, Sebelius is expected to eventually be approved by the Senate (Roll Call, 4/23). In related news, Politico on Friday examined how HHS is the only Cabinet department without a secretary (Budoff Brown, Politico, 4/24).
Now I'm not even close to a panic mode or even concern, but since the Swine Flu concern is being talked about as a HHS responsibility, I need to point out that Sebelius' handling of the West Nile deal a few years back was aweful - very opaque and nothing from Topeka. When Greensburg was hit by that tornado it took 2 days for Sebelius to make a statement. Recently Governor Sebelius has said nothing concerning Swine Flu in Kansas. Consider these 3 instances if she is going to head (or at least pass on the orders from committee) response to possible future health emergencies. That and her questionable bookkeeping, attempt at illegal budgetary procedures, power plant vetos, abortion, etc. I would rather risk her meddlings here in Kansas than see her in a federal position
[Al Arabiya Latest] A California Democratic congresswoman long involved in intelligence issues has come under fire after she allegedly promised to trade favors with the Jewish lobby in a phone conversation with suspected Israeli spies that was recorded by the National Security Agency as part of a wiretapping probe.
Rep. Jane Harman, 63, was accused of offering to "waddle into" in a Justice Department espionage investigation of Israel lobbyists and former officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in exchange for becoming the chair of the Intelligence Subcommittee.
Harman denied the charges and called on the NSA to release the full transcripts. "This abuse of power is outrageous and I call on your Department to release all transcripts and other investigative material involving me in an unredacted form," said Harman in a letter to the Justice department last week. "It is my intention to make this material available to the public."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2009 00:00 ||
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I smell Pelosi all over this - Harman better have taken notes during those CIA briefings that Pelosi says never happened.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/28/2009 13:00 Comments ||
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I forgot - they weren't allowed to take notes during the Tenet briefing. But they did write 'notes to file' like every smart pol does in case the winds change as they have.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/28/2009 13:05 Comments ||
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#3
Seriously? A woman offered to waddle? I'd need to see the actual transcript before believing that or anything else the accuser said on the subject.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
