Pres. Barack
Obama has finally realized that Republicans and Conservatives must be included
in the crafting of healthcare insurance reform legislation for it to be
successful. Mr. Obama will sit down with Republicans this month to confer.
Government
Click the title to read more NMJ coverage... Obama
Invites GOP to Healthcare Summit Source: The Washington Post
President Obama made a dramatic attempt to jump-start the stalled health
care debate Sunday, inviting Republicans in Congress to a half-day summit on
the subject to be televised live later this month. It also comes just weeks
after the president received high marks for engaging the House Republicans
in a televised, 90-minute discussion at their retreat in Baltimore.
Obama Admits
Healthcare Overhaul May Die on Hill Source: RealClearPolitics.com
President Barack Obama, who insisted he would succeed where other presidents
had failed to fix the nation's health care system, now concedes the effort
may die in Congress. The president's newly conflicting signals could
frustrate Democratic lawmakers who are hungry for guidance from the White
House as they try to salvage the effort to extend coverage to millions of
uninsured Americans and hold down spiraling medical costs.
House Agrees
to $1.9 Trillion More in US Debt Source: RealClearPolitics.com
The House on Thursday voted 217-212 to allow the government to go $1.9
trillion deeper in debt — an increase of about $6,000 more for every US
resident. The huge debt increase is only enough to keep the government
afloat for about another year as it borrows more than 40 cents of every
dollar it spends. The timing of the huge increase — to $14.3 trillion — was
designed by Democratic leaders to shield Democrats from having to vote again
to run up another increase before facing voters in the November midterm
elections.
Progressives
& Democrats Quietly Protect Backroom Deals Source: Politico
A series of narrow deals, each designed to win over a wavering senator or
key interest group to vote for the healthcare bill, is alive and well,
despite voter anger over the parochial horse-trading that marked the rush
toward passage before Christmas. With the exception of Nebraska Democratic
Sen. Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback,” none of the other narrow provisions
that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid inserted into the bill appear to be
in any kind of danger as Democrats try to figure out the way ahead.
Senate
Panel Approves Labor Board Nominee Becker Source: AP/Congressional Quarterly
A Senate panel has narrowly approved the nomination of union lawyer Craig
Becker to become a member of the National Labor Relations Board. But the
loss of a Democratic seat in the Senate could mean that Becker won't take
the post anytime soon. Arizona Sen. John McCain has vowed to place a hold on
the nomination.
Defying
China, Obama to Meet Dalai Lama Source: AFP/Yahoo! News
The White House is standing tough on President Barack Obama's plans to meet
with the Dalai Lama, firmly rejecting Chinese pressure to snub him as rows
escalate between the Pacific powers. Days after defying Beijing with a
6.4-billion-dollar weapons package for Taiwan, the White House also insisted
on Tuesday that China address human rights concerns in Tibet.
Obama Seeks
Increased Funding for Nuclear Weapons Work AP/Yahoo! News
President Barack Obama is seeking increased funding for nuclear weapons
research and security programs next year, even as his administration
promotes nonproliferation and has pledged to reduce the world's stockpile of
nuclear arms, asking Congress for more than $7 billion for activities
related to nuclear weapons in the budget of the National Nuclear Security
Administration, an increase of $624 million from the 2010 fiscal year.
Obama,
Democrats' 'Inaction' Produces Backdoor Middle Class Tax Hikes Source: Thomson-Reuters/Yahoo! News
The Obama administration's plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the
deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax
increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.
In the 2010 budget tabled by President Barack Obama on Monday, the White
House wants to let billions of dollars in tax breaks expire by the end of
the year -- effectively a tax hike by stealth.
Obama Offers Budget With $1.6 Trillion Deficit Source: FOX News
As President Obama prepares to unveil his $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal year
2011, which begins Oct. 1, the White House is projecting the current fiscal year
will end with a $1.6 trillion deficit, congressional sources confirmed.
Next year's budget will have a nearly $1.3 trillion debt, according to those
sources, dropping to just over half that -- $700 billion in fiscal year 2013 --
before jumping back up to $1 trillion in 2020, the furthest out that budgeters
will predict.
Officials
OK'd Miranda Warning for Accused Airline Plotter Source: The Los Angeles Times
The decision to advise the accused Christmas Day attacker of his right to
remain silent was made after teleconferences involving at least four
government agencies -- and only after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had stopped
talking to authorities, according to knowledgeable law enforcement
officials. Among those involved in the hastily called teleconferences were
representatives from the Justice Department and the FBI, along with
officials from the State Department and the CIA.
Auditor:
TARP Failing to Meet Key Goals Source: AFP/Yahoo! News
The 700-billion-dollar US government effort to rescue the financial system
has failed to meet key goals such as sparking lending and curbing risky
activities by banks, a special auditor said Sunday. The special inspector
general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said in a quarterly report to
Congress...that "many of TARP's stated goals...have simply not been met" and
that the potential for a new crisis looms without major reforms.
Republicans
Step Up Protests of Civilian Terror Trials Source: The Wall Street Journal
Republican lawmakers, seizing on New York City's resistance to hosting a
high-profile terrorism trial, are renewing a push to block foreign terrorist
suspects from getting trials in US civilian courts. Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R-SC) plans to introduce legislation on Tuesday to cut off funding for
alleged Sept. 11 conspirators to face prosecution in federal courts, saying
they should be tried by military commissions instead.
