Is Mubarak stepping down in Egypt tonight? The world awaits the answer: Mubarak out? World waits for president’s speech. State television said Mubarak would speak to the nation Thursday night from his palace in Cairo. There were unconfirmed reports that Mubarak had left Cairo for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh or gone overseas, but sources told NBC News he was still in the capital. The Egyptian army has stepped up taking on a new role as they...
Monthly Archives: February 2011
White House Is Targeting LIHEAP in Budget Cuts
Marc Ambinder reported in The National Journal today that the White House is targeting the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the budget cuts. Ambinder reports: It’s the biggest domestic spending cut disclosed so far, and one that will likely generate the most heat from the president’s traditional political allies. Such complaints might satisfy the White House, which has a vested interest in convincing Americans that it is serious about budget discipline. Thankfully the Obama administration is...
Nearly 200,000 Workers Face Benefits Loss As GOP House Bails
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers who lost their jobs due to harmful effects of global trade will begin losing benefits starting on Saturday, unless Congress acts to extend them. Senate Democrats are eager to enact such an extension, but the Republican-led House reportedly has given up on such legislation. The expanded Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program provides benefits and support to U.S. workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. TAA programs offer retraining opportunities, health insurance assistance, and...
GOP Must Cooperate To Resolve Judicial ‘Crisis,’ Top Democrats Say
It’s up to Senate Republicans to cooperate in order to a fill a growing number of judicial vacancies rising to “crisis” levels, according to top Senate Democrats. The rapidly shrinking number of federal judges, and the rising case backlog that shrinkage is causing, became a top story Tuesday in the Washington Post with the headline, “Federal judicial vacancies reaching crisis point.” The three federal judges in Tucson, Ariz., alone must contend with about 1,200 cases each, the Post story...
More on the Huffington Post/AOL Merger
I was busy trying to fight City Hall tonight (see below), but wanted to chime in quickly again about the HuffPo/AOL merger. As I expected, there’s already word flying about that Arianna Huffington is distancing herself and the Huffington Post from the progressive left that really helped to build the Huffington Post with their loyal support and the work of so many progressive and liberal bloggers. Huffington told POLITICO: “We don’t see ourselves as left.” “And I think it’s...
Newburyport: This Is Your City Council at Work
Democracy… isn’t it grand. There’s nothing like the feeling of getting involved in a good cause at the local level, especially when your voice is heard. What really sucks though, is when you submit a petition to City Council and not one councilor even glances at it. At least Mayor Holaday did take a quick peek at some of the names on the petition. But, the City Clerk, Richard Jones, deemed not to hand out the petition to members...
Arianna Sells (Out) Huffington Post to AOL
Shortly after midnight, a merger was announced between Arianna Huffington’s Huffington Post and AOL. The NY Times has called the merger an “unlikely pairing of two online media giants.” Unlikely? I don’t see anything unlikely about it all. Arianna Huffington created the Huffington Post to make money. And making money she has: The two companies completed the sale Sunday evening and announced the deal just after midnight on Monday. AOL will pay $315 million, $300 million of it in cash and...
Democrats Fear A Government Shutdown Could Start A New Recession
Senate Democrats appear increasingly nervous that Republicans intend to force a shutdown of the federal government as a political bargaining tool to force deep cuts in the federal budget. A number of Democratic senators have been warning that a federal shutdown could have dire consequences for the U.S. economy, as well as individual Americans would rely on Social Security, veterans’ benefits, and other federal programs. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used Friday’s surprise drop in the nation’s unemployment rate...
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