Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.
"I'm concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them," Mr. Powell said in an excerpt of an interview with CNN's John King, released by the network Friday morning.
Mr. Powell, a retired U.S. army general who rose to political prominence after a long and accomplished military career, said that health care reform and many of Mr. Obama's other initiatives are "important" to Americans.
But, he said, "one of the cautions that has to be given to the president -- and I've talked to some of his people about this -- is that you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."
"And we can't pay for it all," said Mr. Powell, who was the first African-American to serve as secretary of state, under former President George W. Bush. He was also national security adviser to President Reagan, and was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.
Basically sums up all those Fannie Mae mortgages. Now they're going to do it with Treasury Bonds. When you disconnect the innate value of what the paper represents and treat is as just a piece of paper for speculative purposes, the market will eventually drop the sucker. It's a confidence game. No more, no less.
Colonel Nicholson: What have I done? [Bridge on the River Kwai]
#4
Too late Colin, you're either a liberal or a racist. Either way you need to make a full admission before you will be considered as anything but in the future.
#6
Between the White House press corp questioning the staged "press briefings", and now Colin Powell's uncertainty; are we seeing serious cracks in the god like image(s) of Bambi?? I'm going to love watching the Dems implode and eat each other.
Via Frontpage Magazine It turns out that the woman at a White House-sponsored healthcare forum who pulled the heartstrings of the media by asking President Obama for help in treating her cancer -- as if she were channeling the afflicted who, in the New Testament, besought Jesus of Nazareth for a healing touch -- was an Obama plant.
Debby Smith is a member of Organizing for America, a network of volunteers whose mission is to rouse public support for President Obama and his political and social agendas; it is also a project of the Democratic National Committee. Smith was invited to the event not by an outside group but by the White House itself.
Posted by: ed ||
07/04/2009 01:35 ||
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#1
This should be illegal with a firing squad for punishment.
#2
Issue Helen Thomas a "Lady Smith" and couple of boxes of ammo. Chip Reid can help her reload. They sit close enough to make on the spot corrections. Puffboy Gibbledigob beware.
#3
In honor of the Day: That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness... But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Key Republicans in both the House and the Senate are accusing the White House of giving "incomplete and misleading" information to investigators probing the president's abrupt firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. In return, the White House is hinting that documents concerning its actions in the Walpin affair may be protected by executive privilege.
This case continues not going away.
Both developments are part of an escalating conflict between GOP lawmakers and the Obama administration. Republicans are deeply skeptical of the White House explanation for the June 10 firing of Walpin, a tough investigator who had been probing misuse of AmeriCorps money by Sacramento, Calif., mayor -- and prominent Obama supporter -- Kevin Johnson. And the administration seems determined to conceal its dealings with AmeriCorps and the organization that oversees it, the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Walpin was dismissed without warning on June 10, when he received a call from Norman Eisen, the special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform.
The situation reeks of irony.
Eisen told Walpin he had one hour either to resign or be fired -- an apparent violation of a law giving special job protections to inspectors general. When Walpin refused to quit, he was terminated.
After lawmakers demanded an explanation, the White House said Walpin had been "confused, disoriented [and] unable to answer questions" at a May 20 meeting with the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Johnson case was discussed at that meeting, with Walpin harshly criticizing board members for their support of a decision to let Johnson off easy.
There's no question that members of the board, both Democrat and Republican, were unhappy with Walpin's criticism of them. They agreed that Alan Solomont, the Democratic fundraiser appointed by President Barack Obama as chairman of the board, should tell the White House what had happened. But now, at least three board members have told congressional investigators they did not specifically recommend that the administration fire Walpin. Instead, they simply wanted the chairman to express their concerns.
The White House claims it investigated the matter; Eisen told House and Senate aides that officials did an "extensive review" of complaints about Walpin's performance before deciding to fire him. But there are serious doubts as to whether the White House did, in fact, conduct a serious investigation before getting rid of Walpin.
The three board members have told Congress that the White House did not contact them during the review. (One was told about Walpin's firing at about the time it happened, and the other two were contacted days later.) No one from the White House contacted Walpin himself, or his top assistant, as part of the review. All were present at the contentious May 20 meeting. If officials at the White House were really trying to discover what happened at that session, congressional investigators say, it would have wanted to hear their version of events. But no questions were asked.
In particular, investigators are puzzled by the White House's failure to contact Walpin concerning the charge that he was "confused" and "disoriented" at the meeting. Was he, in fact, confused? If so, was it the result of some medical condition or other problem the board might not have known about? Some other distraction? The White House never asked.
All in all, the "extensive review" appeared more of a sham review -- an exercise designed to support a decision that had already been made. Nor has the White House been open about it. "Information provided to my staff by Mr. Eisen has been incomplete and misleading," Republican Rep. Darrell Issa wrote in a July 1 letter to White House counsel Gregory Craig.
For its part, the White House is hinting broadly that it might invoke executive privilege to keep documents from Congress. "Your questions seek information about the White House's internal decision-making process," Craig wrote to Sen. Charles Grassley on June 30. "These questions implicate core executive branch confidentiality interests." At another point, Craig pledged to cooperate "to the fullest extent possible consistent with constitutional and statutory obligations."
The message, apparently, is for GOP investigators to back off. But that hasn't happened. In his letter to the White House, Issa is still trying to get information. "The White House's willingness to provide the facts" about the Walpin firing, wrote Issa, "will go a long way to demonstrate the president is committed to running the most transparent White House in history."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2009 00:00 ||
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She hasn't even announced her Senate candidacy yet, but New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney's likely challenge of Sen. Kristen Gillibrand in the state's Democratic primary already is stirring dissension among party leaders.
The White House has played an active role in clearing the primary field for Gillibrand, who was appointed by Gov. David Paterson earlier this year to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton when President Obama tapped Clinton to be his secretary of state.
But former President Bill Clinton is headlining a fundraiser for Maloney in what could be seen as a snub to the Obama White House. And New York Rep. Charles Rangel rebuked Obama for meddling into the primary as Rangel defended Maloney's right to run.
"I really don't understand why President Obama got involved in our primary," Rangel told the New York Daily News. "I don't want to use the word wrong, but it doesn't seem like the astute political thing to do."
Just days ago, Vice President Biden called Maloney to discuss the race, a sign that the White House didn't want a primary fight next year. Obama already has asked Rep. Steve Israel not to challenge Gillibrand, a request he honored. And White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told reporters last week that the White House would help Gillibrand's re-election bid.
Rangel said he hasn't yet decided who he will endorse, but he offered a glowing review of Maloney.
"I really cannot say anything negative about a senior member who wants to run and whose polls, at this point in time, appear to be in her favor," Rangel told the New York Daily News.
"Nobody can challenge that she's not a hardworking member of Congress," he said, citing her work on behalf of Sept. 11 victims and her landmark legislation protecting credit card holders. "She is certainly one of our most active members."
Maloney's record has won her the support of one prominent Democrat. Matt McKenna, a spokesman for Bill Clinton, said the former president will be attending a July 20 fundraiser in New York for the congresswoman.
McKenna disputed any suggestions that Clinton is taking sides in the race, saying Clinton's attendance at past or future fundraisers should not be perceived as an endorsement.
"We agreed to this event some time ago as a way of saying 'thank you' to Congresswoman Maloney for her efforts on his wife's behalf last year," McKenna said.
Bill Clinton also did a fundraising event for Gillibrand, but word of the Maloney event comes as the congresswoman moves toward formally announcing her candidacy. An adviser said this week she is running.
Both Maloney and Gillibrand supported Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid, and Bill Clinton had made a point of thanking her supporters.
During the Democratic primaries last year, Bill Clinton publicly criticized Obama as untested and unready for the job of president. Hillary Clinton engaged in a grueling and ultimately losing battle with Obama for the party's nomination. Bill Clinton and Obama made amends and the former president campaigned for the Democratic nominee.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much. 
It turns out that the woman at a White House-sponsored healthcare forum who pulled the heartstrings of the media by asking President Obama for help in treating her cancer -- as if she were channeling the afflicted who, in the New Testament, besought Jesus of Nazareth for a healing touch -- was an Obama plant.
Key Republicans in both the House and the Senate are accusing the White House of giving "incomplete and misleading" information to investigators probing the president's abrupt firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. In return, the White House is hinting that documents concerning its actions in the Walpin affair may be protected by executive privilege.
She hasn't even announced her Senate candidacy yet, but New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney's likely challenge of Sen. Kristen Gillibrand in the state's Democratic primary already is stirring dissension among party leaders.
