Rush Limbaugh says Kennedy won’t live to see health care reform

British PM Brown address joint session of Congress

GOP Gov. Huntsman blasts GOP leadership in Congress

In an interview with The Washington Times, Governor Jon Huntsman (R-UT) blasted the Republican leadership in Congress. From The Washington Times:

“I don’t even know the congressional leadership,” Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, shrugging off questions about top congressional Republicans, including House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “I have not met them. I don’t listen or read whatever it is they say because it is inconsequential – completely.”

Full text of President Obama’s address to Congress (as prepared)

Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States:

I’ve come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others. And rightly so. If you haven’t been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has – a friend; a neighbor; a member of your family. You don’t need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day. It’s the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It’s the job you thought you’d retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that’s now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this:

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.

Now, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that for too long, we have not always met these responsibilities – as a government or as a people. I say this not to lay blame or look backwards, but because it is only by understanding how we arrived at this moment that we’ll be able to lift ourselves out of this predicament.

Excerpts from President Obama’s address to Congress

The following are some excerpts of President Obama’s speech to tonight’s joint session of Congress that have been released by the White House:

While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.

…..

We have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future. Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.

Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity. Now is the time to jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down. That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that’s what I’d like to talk to you about tonight.

…..

The recovery plan and the financial stability plan are the immediate steps we’re taking to revive our economy in the short-term. But the only way to fully restore America’s economic strength is to make the long-term investments that will lead to new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete with the rest of the world. The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren’t preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility.

In the next few days, I will submit a budget to Congress. So often, we have come to view these documents as simply numbers on a page or laundry lists of programs. I see this document differently. I see it as a vision for America – as a blueprint for our future.

My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue. It reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession.

Given these realities, everyone in this chamber – Democrats and Republicans – will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars. And that includes me.

But that does not mean we can afford to ignore our long-term challenges. I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity.

….

Yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office. My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs. As you can imagine, this is a process that will take some time. But we’re starting with the biggest lines. We have already identified two trillion dollars in savings over the next decade.

In this budget, we will end education programs that don’t work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don’t need them. We’ll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we’re not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don’t use. We will root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn’t make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.

….

I know that we haven’t agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways. But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed. That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done. That is the foundation on which the American people expect us to build common ground.

….

But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary.

I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him. He didn’t tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ”I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old. I didn’t feel right getting the money myself.

I think about Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado, but is being rebuilt by its residents as a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community – how it can bring jobs and businesses to a place where piles of bricks and rubble once lay. “The tragedy was terrible,” said one of the men who helped them rebuild. “But the folks here know that it also provided an incredible opportunity.”

And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina – a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, “We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.

President Obama to tell Congress & nation that “we will recover” from economic crisis

In his address to a joint session of Congress tonight, President Obama will tell members of the House of Representatives and the Senate that “We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.” Below is an excerpt that was just released by the White House:

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.

Durbin calls on Burris to resign; Burris refuses

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on fellow Illinois Senator Roland Burris to resign today, after privately meeting with him. Burris refused and plans to stay in the Senate.

Bunning apologizes to Ginsburg; botches apology

Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) issued the following written statement apologizing to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg over the comments he made this weekend that she has nine months left to live due to her having pancreatic cancer:

I apologize if my comments offended Justice Ginsberg. That certainly was not my intent. It is great to see her back at the Supreme Court today and I hope she recovers quickly. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

However, the written statement misspelled Ginsburg’s name! It seems that Bunning’s press shop has some egg on their face for this one.

GOP senator: Ginsburg will be dead in nine months

Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) told a local Kentucky Republican Party dinner that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be dead within nine months due to the type of cancer she has. Additionally, Bunning predicted that a vacancy on the Supreme Court would set off a firestorm of a confirmation battle for the next associate justice.

IL Gov. Quinn says Burris should resign; Burris’ chief of staff resigns

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn came out today and called for Senator Roland Burris to resign for the good of the people of Illinois. Quinn said:

Under the current circumstances, where our state needs a strong voice in Washington on so many different issues, I don’t think it’s in the public interest or the common good to have a U.S. senator who has to spend an undue amount of time going over and over matters on how he obtained the office.

Additionally, a day after his spokesman quit, Burris’ chief of staff has resigned. The chief of staff was on loan to Burris from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office, where he was a top aide to Reid. The resignation is a clear signal to Burris from the Democratic leadership that he does not have their support and is no longer welcome in the upper chamber.

Black pastors from Chicago to ask Burris to resign

African American pastors from the Chicago area plan to ask Illinois Senator Roland Burris to resign due to the recent disclosures about his contact with Rod Blagojevich. The move is a sign of a major shift within the African American community, which had rallied around Burris at the time of his appointment to the his Senate seat.

With this shift, as well as the fact that in the past five days Democrats have abandoned him, it is hard to see how Burris’ political career survives. While Burris has a slight chance of remaining in office, were he to seek reelection in 2010, he would not be reelected and most likely lose in the Democratic primary.

Earmark scandal brewing?

Political Wire is reporting that a massive earmark scandal is about to break on Capitol Hill. From the report:

There’s a potentially big story brewing on Capitol Hill…  Apparently 104 members of Congress of both parties — 42 Republicans and 62 Democrats — secured earmarks for a lobbying firm linked to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) in a single bill. The earmarks were inserted in a bill Murtha controlled as the defense appropriations subcommittee chairman.

At this time there are no other stories or links to this story. We will update as more information becomes available.

Update: CQ has a list of House Members from both sides of the aisle, totalling nearly 25% of the entire body, that secured earmarks for clients of the lobbying firm and a story accompanying it.

Burris under Senate ethics investigation

The Senate Ethics Committee is now investigating Senator Roland Burris (D) of Illinois. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) confirmed that the Senate was investigating Burris following his disclosure that he had been approached by representatives of Rod Blagojevich and asked for money in exchange for appointment to his Senate seat.

After denying in affidavit, Burris admits to raising cash for Blagojevich

Senator Roland Burris (D-IL), who this past weekend altered his story to say that representatives of disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in fact approached him about money in exchange for appointment to the Senate seat he now holds, revealed today that he in fact tried to raise money for Blagojevich.

The news is quite bad for Burris as members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties have called for Burris to resign.

Perhaps the best way to describe the revelations about Burris’ unethical and possibly illegal dealings would be to say, “drip, drip, drip…”

Opinion: Burris should resign

Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris

Senators have done far worse in the past, but Roland Burris, the junior senator from Illinois, should resign over his revelation that he was approached by the brother of disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and told to get appointed to the Senate, he would need to donate $10,000 to Blagojevich’s reelection campaign. Burris testified under oath to an Illinois House committee that no conversations of the sort ever took place. However, in a February 4, 2009 affidavit, almost a full month after Burris took his seat in the Senate, Burris changed his tune and said that impropriety occurred.

While Burris said that he never acted improperly, when he was appointed by Blagojevich and fighting to be seated in the Senate, he spent a great deal of time denying that any conversation of the kind he detailed in his affidavit ever happened. He told any and everybody he could that his appointment was not tainted and that he was not asked for money in exchange for the seat. While lying to the media is one thing, it is quite another to quite possibly commit the crime of perjury. In his testimony before the Illinois House committee he continued to say what he had been saying to the press about his appointment.

Now not only does Burris face criminal investigation for perjury, Senate Republicans and the Republican Party will push for there to be an ethics investigation. Additionally, Republicans are salivating at the chance of picking up Burris’ seat in the 2010 midterm elections as Burris has very low approval numbers and there is a very well-funded GOP candidate waiting to mount a serious challenge.

Roland Burris entered the Senate under a cloud and taint, while insisting he did not. He entered after stating that he was never asked to give money for his appointment to the Senate. Burris entered after telling an Illinois House committee under oath that no conversations like the one he described in his affidavit ever took place.  What is his excuse? He explains that he just remembered the conversation. To talk about having not done something so often and then to conveniently remember after being seated in the Senate doesn’t pass the smell test.

It is evident that Roland Burris repeatedly lied about his appointment to the Senate by Rod Blagojevich. Now, Roland Burris is facing criminal investigation because his desire to be a member of the Senate allowed him to quite possibly perjure himself. The people of Illinois deserve to not be consistently served by those of questionable morals and ethics. The people of Illinois deserve to not be served by another official under criminal investigation. For those reasons and many others, Roland Burris should resign from the United States Senate.

Graham says nationalizing banks should be considered

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared on ABC’s This Week this morning and said that the government should not rule out nationalizing banks because of the multitude of bad assets that are in the banking and financial community.

This idea of nationalizing banks is not comfortable, but I think we have gotten so many toxic assets spread throughout the banking and financial community throughout the world that we’re going to have to do something that no one ever envisioned a year ago, no one likes, but, to me, banking and housing are the root cause of this problem. And I’m very much afraid that any program to salvage the bank is going to require the government to get…

At which point Graham was interrupted by moderator George Stephanopoulos, who asked what should happen now. Graham responded:

I would not take off the idea of nationalizing the banks.

Senator Graham’s quote begins at 1:18 of the clip:

Economic Recovery Act passed by Congress; Obama to sign Tuesday

Yesterday afternoon, the House passed the Economic Recovery Act 246-183 with no Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Then last night the Senate followed suit and passed the bill 60-38 with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) being the only senator to not vote due to his health. Every Senate Democrat voted in favor of the bill and they were joined by three Republicans; Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine.

The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Obama in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday.

In a side note: Senate Democrats were forced to keep voting for the legislation open for several hours to get the sixtieth vote, as no Republican senator offered to be a proxy vote, which informal Senate tradition encourages, for the ailing Ted Kennedy, who missed the vote. The vote was allowed to remain open for such a long time because Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was returning to Washington directly from his late mother’s memorial service. Upon his return, Brown voted in favor of the bill and was the sixtieth vote that ensured its passage. The fact that no Republican offered to be a proxy vote for Kennedy or Brown because of the circumstances that prevented their voting (or in Brown’s case caused him to return directly from his mother’s funereal) angered Senate Democrats.

Burris: Blagojevich wanted money for Senate appointment

Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) has revealed that former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich approached him and asked for $10,000 in exchange for being named to the Senate seat he now occupies. The revelation comes after Burris gave testimony under oath to an Illionois House committee investigating Blagojevich. In that testimony, Burris failed to disclose that Blagojevich wanted money for the Senate seat once held by President Obama.

While the disclosure by Burris is meant to bolster his standing in Illinois, it will most likely end up backfiring as a result of statements Burris made during the period when he was Senator-designate Burris. Burris repeatedly said in interviews that the appointment was not tainted and maintained that he was never asked for money in exchange for being named to the Senate seat.

Panetta confirmed as CIA chief

The Senate has confirmed former congressman and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta as the director of the CIA. His confirmation came through the more informal method of a voice vote, as there were no calls for a formal vote for confirmation.

Gregg withdraws as commerce nominee

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has withdrawn as President Obama’s nominee to be secretary of commerce. Gregg is citing irreconcilable differences over the president’s economic recovery plan and the idea of moving oversight of the census to the White House.

Gregg’s announcement took the White House by surprise, as they believed, based on private conversations with Senator Gregg, that Gregg would be able to put aside his differences with President Obama in order to take the position that he actively campaigned for.