Climate-Change Bill In The Balance
Democratic leaders in the House are working hard to pass the climate-change bill today, containing a cap-and-trade system for limiting carbon emissions, with Dems from industrial states holding the balance of power on the issue. Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought yesterday to rebut Republican charges that the bill would cost jobs, insisting instead, “It will create millions of new jobs.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will meet one-on-one with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at 10:30 a.m., with an expanded meeting at 11 a.m. ET, a joint press availability at 11:30 a.m. ET, and a working lunch at 12 p.m. ET. Obama will meet with Vice President Biden at 1:30 p.m. ET. At 6:15 p.m. ET, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will host a picnic for White House staff.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President will join with White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett at 11:45 a.m. ET, to announce the appointment of the new White House Advisor on Violence Against Women. At 1:30 p.m. ET, Biden will meet with President Obama. At 3 p.m. ET, he will meet with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, His Highness Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. In the evening, he will attend the White House picnic.
NYT: Bork And Thomas Battles Fueling Conservatives Now
The New York Times says that much of the current conservative activist mobilization against Sonia Sotomayor really goes back in many ways to when Democrats successfully defeated the nomination of Robert Bork in 1987, and to the near-defeat of Clarence Thomas. “There’s no question that those hurts remain powerful today,” said Prof. Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago. “And there’s no question that Breyer and Ginsburg were never subjected to anything remotely like that.”
CBO Paints Scary Picture Of Long-Term Revenue, Spending
A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office has a dire prediction for the United States’ fiscal situation if serious changes aren’t made. If the Bush tax cuts are extended, combined with projected increases in spending, it would “create an explosive fiscal situation,” with the national debt exceeding 100% of GDP by 2023.
Obey And Waters Get Into Shoving Match
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) got into a shoving match on the House floor, over an earmark that Waters wanted for an employment center bearing her name in her district. “He touched me first, he pushed me first!” said Waters. Obey’s spokesman said that Waters “accosted” Obey first over the earmark: “He refused, and unfortunately she chose to make a scene.”
Robert Gibbs Lets Reporters Take Shots At Him — In A Dunk Tank
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs entertained reporters at the White House luau yesterday, sitting in a dunk tank and letting them take shots in exchange for a suggested voluntary donation to charity. “He sat inside a dunk tank on the South Lawn and let reporters try to knock him in the water by nailing a target with a softball,” wrote Ben Feller of the Associated Press. “And we took him up on it. For the fun of it. For charity. For the challenge. For the joy of taking Robert Gibbs down. Which we did.”
