Tag: pelosi

Obama avoids saying ‘genocide’ in Turkey*.

(H/T: Dan Riehl) With regard to President Obama’s decision to not confront the Armenian Genocide question while in Turkey – as noted here from someone on the scene, he specifically avoided using the word genocide – it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that he didn’t keep that particular campaign promise (“America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President.”).  Politician, lying, lips moving, etc. etc. etc.  Besides, I saw this coming last month.

What should be the focus now is what Congress plans to do about it.  Rep. Mark Kirk (R, IL) is still hopeful that his resolution recognizing the Genocide – which he’s worked on with Rep. Adam Schiff (D, CA), Rep. George Radanovich (R, CA) and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D, NJ) will make it to the floor of the House, but that’s up to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA)… who has been noticeably silent on this issue in this Congress.  One would have to be a terrible human being to suggest that this is because there’s no convenient scapegoat this time around…

Moe Lane

*I’d be sympathetic to the problem he’s got with this, except that he shot off his mouth a lot on the subject last year, and the man needs to learn that people pay attention to what Presidents say.

Crossposted to RedState.

Rep Waxman still refusing to face small business owners.

It is easier when they can stay being just faceless blobs, I suppose.

Last week, Congressmen Joe Barton (R) and George Radanovich (R) sent a letter to Congressman Henry Waxman (D) requesting hearings into the rather badly misnamed Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. As you know, the CPSI was pushed through a Democrat-controlled Congress by Speaker Pelosi (D) without the usual Congressional oversight: as a result, it was not until after the law had been passed that it was noticed that provisions within it would effectively eliminate the thrift store industry, in a time where the economy is at a particularly precarious position. Government agencies are currently looking into what leeway that they might have in implementing the Democrats’ new regulatory scheme, but there was obviously a failure in the legislative process somewhere, and there is no guarantee that this particular (and presumably) unintended consequence will not be fully realized.

The two Congressmen are particularly concerned because their first request for hearings back on January 21st was apparently ignored, despite of the fact that this problem is a looming disaster for small business owners (including minority small business owners) across the country. Accordingly, they have resent their request, including the contact information of some of those business owners, in the hope that this might… I’m not sure. Trigger some spark of humanity within Waxmen’s breast? Or sense of shame? Or even a reflex of self-preservation? However you want to put it, they… and more importantly, we… deserve some sort of reply.

Letter text beyond the fold.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.
Continue reading Rep Waxman still refusing to face small business owners.

Pelosi, Reid swear at each other in semi-public.

Are they getting their naps in? The older I get, the more I appreciate the concept of napping.

(H/T: Don Surber) The two Democratic branches of Congress aren’t precisely happy with each other right now:

Reid, Pelosi Swearing Match Over Omnibus

After an angry, swearing late night meeting among top Democrats, Congress voted Friday to give itself another five days to try to complete a long-overdue omnibus spending bill that had become a growing embarrassment for party leaders and President Barack Obama.

Senate Democrats had abruptly pulled back Thursday night after finding themselves one vote short of the 60 needed to cut off debate. The action infuriated Speaker Nancy Pelosi so much that the California Democrat wanted to abandon the $409.6 billion measure and instead push through a stripped-down continuing resolution to keep the government operating through Sept. 30.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and his deputy, Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D.-Ill.) were called to Pelosi’s office late Thursday night and ultimately prevailed in their argument that Democrats should try to salvage the bill, which includes critical spending increases for vital agencies. But the heated, sometimes profane, exchanges were described as “ugly” by Democrats on both sides of the Capitol. Staff, kicked out in the hall, could hear the yelling, and Pelosi herself seemed a little abashed the next day, joking that nothing her leadership could say to her now would match the night before.

Continue reading Pelosi, Reid swear at each other in semi-public.

Did Mexican drug money help subsidize the Democratic Convention?

No, seriously. Did it?

(H/T: Glenn Reynolds) I know, I know, it’s a heck of a thing to contemplate on a Thursday morning, but check out this story on heavy Democratic donor (and current fugitive) R. Allen Stanford:

Accused Financier Under Federal Drug Investigation
Authorities: Stanford May Have Laundered Drug Money for Mexican Cartel

The SEC’s fraud charges may be the least of accused financial scammer R. Allen Stanford’s worries. Federal authorities tell ABC News that the FBI and others have been investigating whether Stanford was involved in laundering drug money for Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel.

[snip]

The federal investigation, however, did not stop Stanford from using corporate money to become a big man at last year’s Democratic convention in Denver.

A video posted on the firm’s web-site shows Stanford, now sought by U.S. Marshals, being hugged by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and praised by former President Bill Clinton for helping to finance a convention-related forum and party put on by the National Democratic Institute.

Can we show you video footage of said hug and praise? YES! WE! CAN! Continue reading Did Mexican drug money help subsidize the Democratic Convention?

Jobs ‘saved’ by ‘stimulus’ reduced to 2.5 million.

This week.

Contra Wizbang and Roger Kimball, this is actually the latest estimate of Mark Zandi, not the Obama administration itself. What the Obama administration is merely doing is trying to lower the expectations of their debt bill:

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- President Barack Obama’s aides warned Americans on Sunday not to expect instant miracles from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill he will sign this week, but said it would help eventually.

[I’m snipping the nonsense about how this was Obama’s first major legislative victory. The sentence should more properly read: “It was the legislature’s first major victory over his young presidency.” – ML]

“There will be signs of activity very quickly,” David Axelrod, the White House senior adviser, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “But it’s going to take time for that to show up in the statistics. The president has said it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.”

Continue reading Jobs ‘saved’ by ‘stimulus’ reduced to 2.5 million.