The Only Adult In The Room

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Welcome to NC

NC is my home. I was born and raised here and when unfairly criticized as nothing more than a "typical southern state," I will defend it because it is a gross misinterpretation of this state and many other southern states. But there are exceptions to every rule and sometimes, there’s nothing you can say about this place. This is one of those times.

How Far Will One Company Go to Avoid Hiring Blacks?

A North Carolina company, currently a darling among Wall Street investors, goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid hiring blacks, according to a federal lawsuit filed by one current and two former employees.

Charlotte-based Campus Crest Communities, which develops student housing near college campuses, recently issued a $380-million IPO. But according to the lawsuit, the company takes specific steps to avoid hiring blacks for certain positions and fosters a racially hostile environment for the blacks who do work there.

Read Here

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Senate Passes Arms Control Treaty With Russia, 71-26

WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a new arms control treaty with Russia, scaling back leftover cold war nuclear arsenals and capping a surprisingly successful lame-duck session for President Obama just weeks after his party’s electoral debacle.

The 71 to 26 vote sends the treaty, known as New Start, to the president for his signature, and cements what is probably the most tangible foreign policy achievement of Mr. Obama’s two years in office. Thirteen Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic caucus to vote in favor, exceeding the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution.
The ratification vote was the third bipartisan victory for the president in the waning days of the session, while Democrats still control both houses of Congress. The treaty had assumed such symbolic importance for Mr. Obama’s presidency that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the rare step of presiding personally over the vote, in his role as president of the Senate. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former Senator, was on the floor as well.

Senate Passes 9/11 Health Bill as Republicans Back Down

2:46 p.m. | Updated The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others who became sick from breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The vote, passed by unanimous consent, came soon after a deal was reached between conservative Republicans and Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The New York Democrats agreed to changes demanded by the conservative lawmakers, who raised concerns about the measure’s cost and prevented the bill from advancing in the Senate. After drawing criticism in recent days from Democrats and Republicans alike, the Republican senators backed down.

Under the new agreement, the bill provides $4.3 billion over five years for health coverage to the 9/11 workers, instead of the original $7.4 billion over eight years.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand called the deal a “Christmas miracle.”

Congress Critters work when they put their minds to it.

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Guess there are a few reasonable current Republicans…?

“I think, is that there are plenty of Senate Republicans who aren't too comfortable with the class of conservatives who got elected in 2010.”

Why has the lame-duck session been so productive?
By Ezra Klein
So far, the lame-duck session has managed to pass an $850 billion tax-cuts-and-stimulus deal, the repeal of DADT, the Defense Authorization bill, a continuing resolution to keep funding the federal government, the START treaty, the food-safety bill, and probably a few more pieces of legislation I'm forgetting.
This is vastly more than anyone expected, and even if I'm disappointed by the failure of the omnibus spending bill [[for reasons explained here) and the DREAM act, I can see why Sen. Lindsey Graham summed up the session by saying, "When it's all going to be said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch."

Read More

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Getting Things Done!



Two Years of Progress
Watch Video Here

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As long as I live there are some things that will never cease to amaze, but not surprise me.
Everything in this op-ed points to the fact that President Obama does indeed have “game.” I will even give the author props for saying he has been among those that have dismissed him. But it’s funny how Fine feels the need to qualify himself by implying that maybe the President didn’t have game all along, but just recently found it.

[[smiling and shaking head) I guess half a compliment is better than none.


Obama's Got [[Found) Game
Howard Fineman

WASHINGTON - People who play basketball with Barack Obama say he's more dogged than flashy, more determined than skillful, more adaptable than unique. He'll trash talk on a dribble-drive with Reggie Love, but in the old days he was a studious, unselfish passer with classroom colleagues at Harvard Law.

And often, they say, he ended up with more points than you thought he'd have. No one noticed until it was over.
As in basketball, so it is now: his life on the court is a parallel to the first two years of his up-and-down-and-now-sort-of-up-again presidency.

It hasn't been pretty; it certainly hasn't been easy. Pundits, including this one, have dismissed him as a lousy negotiator, a dreamy academic or worse. He's been a New Dealer one minute, Reaganite the next. He's been rigidly partisan one minute and too eager to cut a deal with the Republicans leadership the next.

He's been called a Socialist by the Tea Party and a Wall Street toady by MoveOn. His public standing is weak; the public thinks the country is headed in the wrong direction. Beltway-wise guys think he can be had.

But through dogged patience, and adaptable style and a refusal to panic, the president has piled up the longest list of new laws, treaties and administrative actions anyone has seen here in decades.

That list may or may not get him reelected. The economy is what matters, as will the nature of his GOP competition in Congress and in 2012. The academic comparisons to LBJ and FDR won't be worth the bluebooks they're written on if the unemployment rate is 10 percent.

But everyone should accept that the fact that Obama's got game. Or found it.

He played the first year by dribbling for the most part to the left, cutting deals primarily - almost exclusively - with his Democrats, who had what seemed to be overwhelming majorities in Congress.

That got him a stimulus bill, various bailouts and monumental, if highly controversial, health-care and financial-services legislation.

In the post-shellacking lame duck, he moved right on taxes, which, in turn, created a sense of momentum and confidence that helped him and Democrats pass food-safety and child-nutrition laws and a measure to aid 9/11 first responders.

Perhaps the president's best move of all was when he was choosing up sides two years ago. He asked George W. Bush's Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, to stay on - and then passed Gates the ball repeatedly.

It was Gates who helped the president this week to sell a history-making repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and to convince the U.S. Senate to ratify the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Both were major accomplishments.

It's just the end of the first half. But, as Obama heads to Hawaii, he's entitled to point to the scoreboard with pride - and to feel that he's at least got a fighting chance to win it all when he comes back out onto the court.

Article reposted from Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_800504.html

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Fiscal Responsibilty? - House Tea Party Caucus Members Requested Over $1 Billion In Earmarks
oops!

Tea Party Caucus Takes $1 Billion In Earmarks
By Reid Wilson
December 2, 2010 | 4:30 AM
Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the federal budget.

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They Said It Couldn't Be Done: An Improbable Presidency and Unlikely Triumphs

Thursday, December 23, 2010

That's how Rachel Maddow started off her show Monday night, the first segment focused on the Senate passing an end to the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Here's how she opened after clips that documented the path that repeal traveled:
They said it couldn't be done. They said it couldn't be done. Actually that was me specifically saying it couldn't be done. I was quite spectacularly over and over again wrong. It's done.



DADT repeal isn't the only thing that happened with…. They said it couldn’t be done

Let's start at the beginning.

They said he couldn't win.

Then, they said a rescue of the auto industry would fail. They said you couldn't revive the American auto industry.

They said the banking sector was doomed and it couldn't be rescued - not for less than $700 billion, anyway.

They said health care reform couldn't be done.

They laughed at the idea of an independent consumer financial protection agency.


Read More

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Economy appears to show signs of life; some expect 2011 to be best year in more than a decade

• By Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press
• Posted December 23, 2010 at midnight

WASHINGTON -- Expectations for economic growth next year are turning more optimistic now that Americans will have a little more cash in their pockets.
A cut in workers' Social Security taxes and rising consumer spending have led economists to predict a strong start for 2011.

Still, most people won't feel much better until employer’s ramp up hiring and people buy more homes.
Analysts are predicting economic growth next year will come in close to 4 percent. It would mark an improvement from the 2.8 percent growth expected for this year and would be the strongest showing since 2000.

"Looking ahead, circumstances are ripe for the economy to develop additional traction," said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc. in New York. He is estimating growth for 2011 to be above 3.5 percent.

Read More





Economy brightens as consumers spend, layoffs slow

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
The Associated Press
Posted Dec 23, 2010

WASHINGTON —

Economic reports Thursday suggest employers are laying off fewer workers, businesses are ordering more computers and appliances, and consumers are spending more confidently.

Combined, the latest data confirm that the economy is improving, even though too few jobs are being created to lower the 9.8 percent unemployment rate.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits edged down by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000, the Labor Department said. That was the second drop in three weeks.

Weekly unemployment applications at around 425,000 signal modest job growth. But economists say the number would need to dip consistently to 375,000 or below to indicate a significant decline in unemployment. Weekly applications peaked during the recession at 651,000 in March 2009.

The four-week average, a less volatile gauge, rose slightly to 426,000. The average had fallen for six straight weeks to the lowest point in more than two years.

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Opinion: Conservative Media Bias Exposed?

Dec 23, 2010 – 1:40 PM

Almost exactly a year ago, liberal talk show host Keith Olbermann went on a rant about the right-wing bias in the media. "There is no liberal media," he said. "The media which is, after all, owned by corporations naturally leans to the right. Corporations, by definition, lean to the right, towards the status quo."

Conservatives scoffed at the notion. But maybe Olbermann has a point.

After all, when it comes to conservatives, reporters can't seem to get enough of them.

Indeed, a Pew Research Center survey found that of the top 10 most-covered candidates in the midterm elections, conservatives held the top three spots.

Here's more evidence. I asked AOL's Relegence team, which tracks more than 30,000 news sites on the Web, to compare coverage of comparable liberals and conservatives over the past 12 months.

The results are stark. Conservatives were featured in vastly more stories.

Here are three illustrative examples.

Read More

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With Lame Duck Over, 2012 Campaign Begins
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Let the games begin.

With President Obama on vacation in Hawaii, lawmakers streaming away from Washington and the new year around the corner, there’s no excuse to pretend anymore.

The 2012 presidential campaign is underway. There are some — including many voters — who will refuse to focus on 2012 until, oh, that very year.

But for political deal-makers and junkies, there is already much to consider. In less than six months, for example, as many as a dozen Republicans will crowd onto a stage for the first major debate of the campaign, their eyes on the G.O.P. nomination and the opportunity to face President Obama.

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[MotownSteve]

Let me see if I understand this. For six months the republicans will be busy doing their best to make sure Obama is a one term president. Then for 18 months they, at least some, of them will be busy campaigning and support those campaigning. No wonder it takes so long to do so little.

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I think some of it may be about control between the Tea Party and the Republicans. Should be an interesting year MS.

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Amanda Terkel

Obama To Make A Grassroots Push For DREAM Act, Won't Engage In Filibuster Reform Fight

WASHINGTON -- The White House is preparing a major grassroots push to pass the DREAM Act next year, which President Obama said Wednesday was one of his top priorities after the legislation failed in the recent lame duck session. Acknowledging the next Congress will be much more resistant to the President's agenda, the White House also backs changing the rules of the Senate, although it won't get involved in specific proposals.

On a conference call with journalists Wednesday, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said the President is willing to "wage a very public campaign" to push the DREAM Act, which would grant undocumented students who were brought into the United States as minors by their parents a path to citizenship through higher education or military service. He added that grassroots activism will be essential to success.

More

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111th Congress Was Most Productive Session Since ‘At Least’ The 1960s
By George Zornick on Dec 23rd, 2010

Public approval of Congress has never been worse: this week, Gallup tracked the highest disapproval rating it has ever recorded for the legislative branch, with 83 percent disapproving and only 13 percent approving of the job being done by lawmakers. Conservatives like Sen. Jeff Sessions [[R-AL) have blasted this Congress as “a disaster,” while some liberal groups complained through much of this term that “[h]opes for change are turning to disappointment as Congress fails to meet goals for a progressive agenda.”

There is no debate, however, that the 111th Congress passed a historic volume of substantial legislation, whatever one might think about the merits of these achievements. Historian Alan Brinkley told Bloomberg yesterday that “[t]his is probably the most productive session of Congress since at least the ’60s,” for an article outlining the historic achievements of this session:

For the first time since President Theodore Roosevelt began the quest for a national health-care system more than 100 years ago, the Democrat-led House and Senate took the biggest step toward achieving that goal by giving 32 million Americans access to insurance. Congress rewrote the rules for Wall Street in the most comprehensive way since the Great Depression. It spent more than $1.67 trillion to revive an economy on the verge of a depression, including tax cuts for most Americans, jobs for more than 3 million, construction of roads and bridges and investment in alternative energy; ended an almost two-decade ban against openly gay men and women serving in the military, and today ratified a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.

In addition to these headline achievements, the 111th Congress also:
– Passed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, making it easier for women and other minorities to file equal-pay discrimination lawsuits.

– Overhauled the federal student loan system, eliminating billions of dollars of waste being paid to for-profit loan companies while expanding access to loans, especially for low-income students.

– Confirmed two Supreme Court nominees.

– Passed legislation to help Sept. 11 first responders deal with ongoing health problems.

– Expanded the Children’s Health Insurance Program to include an additional 4 million children and pregnant women, after the Bush administration denied funding increases for years.

– Passed child nutrition legislation, which expands the federal school lunch program and improves the quality of the meals.

– Enacted food safety legislation, which intends to improve safety measures and prevent food-borne illnesses.

– Approved a settlement for black and Native American farmers that were subject to discrimination by the USDA.

– Passed legislation strengthening the prosecution of hate crimes.

– Passed pro-consumer legislation further regulating abusive practices of credit card companies.
Brinkley also noted these achievements are “all the more impressive given how polarized the Congress has been.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell [[R-KY) has famously said that “the single most important thing” his party wanted to achieve was a one-term Obama presidency, and congressional Republicans used an unprecedented number of filibusters and filibuster threats; they employed various procedural holds and other tricks to delay or block legislation, and blocked historically high numbers of judicial appointments and appointments to the executive branch. That these legislative achievements occurred in the face of epic Republican obstruction makes them all the more noteworthy.

Article Reposted From: ThinkProgress

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Biden sees 'inevitability' for gay marriage
By Russell Berman - 12/24/10 10:02 AM ET

Vice President Joseph Biden said in a television interview Friday that “there’s an inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage.”

The vice president, who backs civil unions but not same-sex marriage, weighed in on the issue two days after President Obama acknowledged his position was “evolving.”

“I think the country's evolving,” Biden said in the interview with ABC News. His comments were not the first time he has suggested the country would eventually accept and support gay marriage. Asked in a 2007 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if gay marriage was inevitable, Biden replied that “it probably is.”

Read More Here

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Reid: My job will be 'easier' next year
By Russell Berman - 12/24/10 12:10 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [[D-Nev.) says his job will be “easier” in the 112th Congress, despite a slimmer Democratic majority and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

“It’s going to be much easier than it was,” Reid told the Las Vegas Sun. He seemed to be referring, if indirectly, to the vastly lower expectations that many political observers have for the divided Congress that takes power in January, compared with the grand hopes that Democrats had entering the 111th Congress when they controlled both chambers and had a near filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The Republicans will hold 47 seats in January, six more than they held before the November elections.

With Republicans running the House, Reid said his job would be to act as a “cooling vessel for the heat of the House of Representatives.” Led by Speaker-designate John Boehner [[R-Ohio), the House is expected to quickly pass a raft of legislation that reflects Republican priorities, including a repeal of the healthcare law, but that will be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Read Full Article

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Obama pens holiday message to supporters boasting of 'PROGRESS'
By Michael O'Brien - 12/23/10 02:21 PM ET

President Obama wrote supporters on Thursday with a holiday message reminding them of "progress" made in the past year.

The president, who capped off a tumultuous year in Washington on Wednesday, wrote supporters of Organizing for America [[OFA) — his political arm within the Democratic National Committee — to acclaim the accomplishments of his time in office.

"The reforms that we fought long and hard for are not talking points," Obama wrote. "And their effects don't change based on the whims of politicians in Washington. They are achievements that have a real and meaningful impact on the lives of Americans around the country. They are achievements that would not have been possible without you. PROGRESS localizes them — and brings them to life."

Read More Here

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Obama vs. McConnell: Who's the Grown-up?
David Corn
Columnist

One of the reasons Barack Obama is president is because when the U.S. economy was falling off a cliff, he was the adult in the room, and John McCain wasn't. When the stock market imploded in September 2008, McCain, who had just earned a shoot-from-the-hip reputation for picking Sarah Palin as his running mate, flailed. He couldn't decide what policies to back. He put his campaign on hold, then quickly reversed himself. He was clueless. Obama, on the other hand, eschewed the drama, joined the chorus of convention in favor of the too-hastily-constructed bailout for Wall Street, and came across as a steady and mature fellow. Obama, the rookie senator, looked like a leader. McCain, the longtime lawmaker and Vietnam veteran, looked like a desperate nervous Nellie. It was perhaps the most decisive moment in the general campaign.

Obama is now heading toward something of a repeat showdown -- but not with McCain, whose crankiness is undermining his influence. The president's face-off will be with Sen. Mitch McConnell [[R-Ky.), the GOP leader in the Senate. And, if Obama gets his wish, the issue again will be: Who's the grown-up here?

The Answer Can Be Found Here

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Senate Farewells Sound Familiar Warning: Partisanship Is Ruining Us
Linda Killian
Contributor

Over the past few weeks, many of those leaving the U.S. Senate -- either voluntarily or by defeat -- have given a farewell address, something of a Senate tradition.

The speeches have been remarkable for their similarity. Not in terms of thanking staff and family members and recounting memorable moments or greatest hits of a legislative career. Most of the senators did those things.

Rather, they have been remarkable for the warning most of them have sounded about the dismal state of the nation's body politic.

Intense partisanship. The lost art of compromise. The vast sums of cash needed to run for office. Abuse of the filibuster. Repeatedly, senators said such factors are crippling the political process, and that the country's future depends on changing that culture.

"I will begin by stating the sadly obvious. Our electoral system is a mess," said retiring Sen. Chris Dodd [[D-Conn.)

At age 14, Dodd watched from the gallery as his father took the Senate oath of office. A few years later he worked as a Senate page and in 1980, after serving in the House for six years, Dodd was elected to the Senate and would become the longest-serving senator in Connecticut history. His message to colleagues and successors was direct and stark.

"Intense partisan polarization has raised the stakes in every debate and on every vote, making it difficult to lose with grace and nearly impossible to compromise without cost. Americans' distrust of politicians provides compelling incentives for senators to distrust each other, to disparage this very institution, and to disengage from the policy-making process."

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President Obama and the First Lady wish families across the country a “Merry Christmas” and encourage everyone to support the troops and their families this holiday season.



Watch the Video

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PROGRESS is designed to show the real effects of the steps President Obama and Democrats have taken to rebuild our economy. Behind these numbers are stories about people whose lives and communities have been positively affected by the change Democrats have made.

Check Stimulus Progress in you Area Here

NC did something right - Yeah

North Carolina will lead the nation in growth of stimulus-created jobs for the remainder of the year with a 121.5 percent increase, a new report says. Seattle business-consulting firm Onvia reports that North Carolina also ranks highly – No. 2 in the nation – for per capita stimulus spending at $960.51. And that ranking could improve if Onvia is right about a coming surge in jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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Job Offers Rising as Economy Warms Up

As the economy gradually recovers, some big U.S. companies are cranking up their recruiting and advertising thousands of job openings, ranging from retail clerks and nurses to bank tellers and experts in cloud computing.
Many of the new jobs are in retailing, accounting, consulting, health care, telecommunications and defense-related industries, according to data collected for The Wall Street Journal by Indeed Inc., which runs one the largest employment websites. It said the number of U.S. job postings on the Internet rose to 4.7 million on Dec. 1, up from 2.7 million a year earlier. The company daily collects listings from corporate and job-posting websites, removing duplicates.



Its figures may undercount available jobs because some companies don't post all listings online, an Indeed spokesman said. Farming, manufacturing and construction jobs tend to be under-represented in online postings, while skilled computer and mathematical jobs are overrepresented, said June Shelp, an economist and vice president for the Conference Board, a private research group.

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CHART OF THE DAY: Surprise! The US Economy Is Now Everyone's "Surprise" Pick To Surge In 2011

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Experts Citing Rising Hopes for Recovery

WASHINGTON — Eighteen months after the recession officially ended, the government’s latest measures to bolster the economy have led many forecasters and policy makers to express new optimism that the recovery will gain substantial momentum
Economists in universities and on Wall Street have raised their growth projections for next year. Retail sales, industrial production and factory orders are on the upswing, and new claims for unemployment benefits are trending downward.
Despite persistently high unemployment, consumer confidence is improving. Large corporations are reporting healthy profits, and the Dow Jones industrial average reached a two-year high this week.
The Federal Reserve, which has kept short-term interest rates near zero since the end of 2008, has made clear it is sticking by its controversial decision to try to hold down mortgage and other long-term interest rates by buying government securities.
President Obama’s $858 billion tax-cut compromise with Congressional Republicans is putting more cash in the hands of consumers through a temporary payroll-tax cut and an extension of unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed.

Read More

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A little Something different

Getting Help With Electronic Gifts that Don't Work Right Out of the Box
Larry Magid
Technology journalist
Posted: December 24, 2010

If you got an electronic gift for Christmas and can't figure out how to install it or configure it, you're not alone. A very large percentage of electronics that are returned are not broken, but just too hard for the person to figure out.
The first thing you need to do when you unwrap your holiday tech gift is to make sure you keep all the packaging. That way, if something really goes wrong or you just don't like it, you can hopefully return it.

Hunt for the Manual
Some products just work out of the box and are intuitive enough to figure out on your own. If that's not the case with yours you may have to resort to reading the manual. But a lot of products these days come with little if any documentation. There may be a CD-ROM with a manual or you may have to go to the company's website. If you can't find your manual, go to Retrevo.com to see if they have one. The company has digitized thousands of them for popular products.

Read More

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What's wilderness? Bush-era curbs are repealed
Interior chief reverses 2003 policy against protections not approved by Congress

DENVER — The Obama administration on Thursday undid a Bush-era policy that curbed some types of wilderness designations within the 245 million acres managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
While Congress remains the only body allowed to create "Wilderness Areas," the move gives BLM field managers the go ahead to protect areas determined to have "wilderness characteristics."
"I am proud to sign a secretarial order that restores protections for the wild lands that the Bureau of Land Management oversees on behalf of the American people," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in Denver, where he announced the shift.
Congressional Republicans pounced on the announcement as an attempt by the Obama administration to close land to development without congressional approval.
"This backdoor approach is intended to circumvent both the people who will be directly affected and Congress. I have to question why this announcement is being made only after Congress adjourned for the year," said Washington state Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican tapped to lead to the House Natural Resources Committee when the GOP takes control of the House in January.

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Medvedev Praises Obama for New Start Treaty

Medvedev: “President Obama is a man who knows how to hear and to listen, a man not trapped by stereotypes, a man who lives up to this standard — he keeps his word”

MOSCOW — Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, on Friday called the New Start treaty “a cornerstone of security for the coming decades,” and spoke warmly of President Obama, saying that “under very difficult circumstances, he managed to make the Senate ratify this document.”

Mr. Medvedev said Mr. Obama “is a man who knows how to hear and to listen, a man not trapped by stereotypes, a man who lives up to this standard — he keeps his word.” He said he expects the thaw in relations between Russia and the United States to be a lasting one, despite midterm Congressional election gains by Republicans who are wary of Russia.

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FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules, a Victory for Obama

Christopher Weber
Correspondent

The Federal Communications Commission has approved new regulations that will prohibit providers from limiting how their customers use the Internet at home.

The rules, passed by a 3-2 vote Tuesday, will be used to enforce "network neutrality," provisions that require Internet service providers to treat web traffic equally and not slow or block websites.

The new regulations apply mostly to "wireline" broadband content and not information from the web received via cellphones.

The FCC's three Democratic members voted yes, including FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who proposed the rules over a year ago. Both Republicans on the panel voted no.

After the vote, Genachowski said, "It is essential that the FCC fulfill its historic role as a cop on the beat to ensure the vitality of our communications networks and to empower and protect consumers of those networks."

Article

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A Firmly Drawn Presidential Line Between Work and Play

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: December 25, 2010

KAILUA, Hawaii — If there is one thing President Obama craves during his leisure time, it is privacy.



President Obama in Hawaii, a place that an aide says is “extraordinarily special to him.”
Mr. Obama arrived on the island of Oahu in the middle of the night as Wednesday turned into Thursday and slipped on a green lei as he descended the steps of Air Force One. Then he sped off in an S.U.V. toward this laid-back residential community on the windward side of the island, far from the bustle of Waikiki Beach, where the bulk of his traveling White House stays, in Honolulu, the city he lived in as a boy.
Then, the most visible man in America promptly dropped out of sight.

Mr. Obama’s disappearance behind the palm trees reveals much about his presidential style, and also his thinking about how to balance work and play. He tends to separate the two, as much as any president can. Other presidents, especially those who owned secluded homes or vacation retreats, often mixed them, using their homes outside Washington as tools of the presidency — another means of advancing their goals and agendas.

Full Article

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Snowstorm coats East, frustrating holiday travel
[[AP) – 4 hours ago

NEW YORK [[AP) — A powerful winter storm lay a snow blanket from the South to the Northeast on Sunday, turning roads slick, stranding thousands of airline, train and bus passengers and putting a chill in retailers' day-after-Christmas sales.

Up to 20 inches of snow were expected in some areas, including Philadelphia, where the Eagles-Vikings NFL game was canceled, and Boston, where an aquarium had to protect — of all things — penguin ice sculptures from the elements.

Some flights out of Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the Carolinas also were canceled. Amtrak canceled train service from New York to Maine on Sunday evening, after doing the same earlier for several trains in Virginia.


As much as 18 inches could fall on the New Jersey shore with wind gusts over 40 mph.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency as of 2 p.m. Sunday, and he urged residents to stay off the roads.



The snow was easier to enjoy for people with no place to go. As the wind swirled snow through the doors of a Brooklyn supermarket, New Yorkers hurried to pick up a few staples before heading back home to hunker down.

"I'm seeing it as a great excuse to stay in and relax and drink tea," said Toni Gifford, who works in academics and has the week off.

Read More

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Obama Is Set to Shuffle His Staff

By JEFF ZELENY
Published: December 23, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Obama is planning the first major reorganization of his administration, preparing to shuffle several positions in the West Wing as he tries to fortify his political team for the realities of divided government and his own re-election.
The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion.

The president is studying how to maximize the power of the executive branch, advisers said, seeking insight from veterans of previous administrations and fresh advice from business leaders to guide the second half of his term.
He is reviewing the restructuring plan during the holidays, aides said, and intends to make the first announcements in the opening days of January.

A reshaping of the economic team, beginning by naming a new director of the National Economic Council, is among the most urgent priorities of the new year. Gene Sperling, a counselor to the Treasury secretary who held the position in the Clinton administration, is among the final contenders to succeed Lawrence H. Summers in the job, along with Roger C. Altman, a Wall Street investment banker who also served in the Clinton administration.

Full Article Here

[ms_m]

Ten Great Moments
From Congress In 2010

As the year comes to a close, and we look ahead to all the wild and wacky things that are sure to happen in the new Republican-controlled House and only narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate, let's take a look back at the past year. A whole lot of amazing and memorable moments happened not only on the campaign trail, but on the two Congressional floors in the Capitol itself.
We've gathered together 10 unforgettable moments from the House and Senate in 2010. Some of them are great -- while others are just so bad that they're good.
But all of them give some perspective on the people who have been running our government, or who are about to have even more power next year. So sit back, relax, and laugh -- because it's better than crying.

1. Boehner: 'Hell No, You Can't!'
On March 21, as the House was on the verge of approving health care reform, House Minority Leader -- and now Speaker-designate -- John Boehner [[R-OH) railed against the Democrats, with a riff on the "Yes We Can" slogan used by President Obama in his 2008 campaign.
"Can you go home and tell your senior citizens that these cuts in Medicare will not limit their access to doctors or further weaken the program, instead of strenghtening it? No, you cannot," said Boehner. "Can you go home and tell your constituents with confidence that this bill respects the sancitty of all human life, and that it won't allow for taxpayer funding of abortions for the first time in 30 years? No, you cannot.
"And look at how this bill was written. Can you say it was done openly? With transparency and accountability? Without backroom deals and struck behind closed doors, hidden from the people? Hell no, you can't!"

2.Rep. Randy Neugebauer [[R-TX): 'Baby Killer!'
Also on March 21 during the debate on the health care bill, there came a moment when pro-life Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak went to the floor to speak on the assurances he had received from Democratic leaders that the bill would not result in publicly funded abortions.
At that moment, a voice rang out in the chamber: "Baby killer!"
The next day, March 22, after a hunt by reporters to figure out the identity of the shouter, Rep. Randy Neugebauer [[R-TX) admitted that it was he -- but said in a statement that he was calling the bill a baby-killer, not Stupak:
"Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support. In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase 'it's a baby killer' in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership. While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself."

"I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also apologize to my colleagues for the manner in which I expressed my disappointment about the bill. The House Chamber is a place of decorum and respect. The timing and tone of my comment last night was inappropriate."

3. Dodd Rails Against GOP Filibusters Of Financial Reform
On April 15, during the debates on financial reform, Sen. Chris Dodd [[D-CT) accused Republicans of planning to vote en masse to filibuster the bill, even after some of them had worked with him on it.
"If the debate is going to consist of Democrats offering ideas to tackle this very complex -- and it is a complex set of issues -- and critical challenges on behalf of the American families and businesses, and the Republicans reading false talking points from Wall Street's playbook, then count me out, Mr. President," said Dodd. "I"m not going to engage in that kind of a debate, and that kind of a negotiation. I have no interest in that whatsoever."

4. Rep. Louie Gohmert [[R-TX) And The 'Terror Babies'
On June 24, Rep. Louie Gohmert delivered a speech that appears to have been related to efforts by some conservatives to overturn birthright citizenship -- the legal principle enshrined in the 14th Amendment that all persons born in this country, with certain narrow exceptions such as the children of foreign officials serving here, are natural born citizens of the United States.
The danger, as Gohmert said, involved a plot by some very patient terorrists.
"I talked to a retired FBI agent who said that one of the things they were looking at were terrorist cells overseas who had figured out how to game our system. And it appeared they would have young women, who became pregnant, would get them into the United States to have a baby. They wouldn't even have to pay anything for the baby. And then they would turn back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, twenty, thirty years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life. 'Cause they figured out how stupid we are being in this country to allow our enemies to game our system, hurt our economy, get set up in a position to destroy our way of life."

5. Rep. Anthony Weiner [[D-NY): 'It's A Shame! A Shame!'
On July 29, Rep. Anthony Weiner [[D-NY) really made the most of only about two minutes to blast Republicans who were objecting on the stated basis of procedure against the bill to assist emergency personnel who suffered health problems as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
"It's Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans, rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes!" Weiner said, in just one of the many turns of phrases [[and bulging of veins) from the speech.

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6. Rangel: 'Hey, If I Was You, I'd Want Me To Go Away, Too'
On August 10, a defiant Rep. Charlie Rangel [[D-NY) took to the House floor and forcefully declared that he would not resign the House as a result of his ethics troubles -- despite a lot of Democrats who might have preferred for him to get out of their hair.
"I don't want anyone to feel embarrassed, awkward," he continued. "Hey, if I was you, I'd want me to go away too.

"I am not going away. I am here," he said, to applause.

7. Sen. Al Franken [[D-MN) Chokes Up Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Sen. Al Franken [[D-MN) took to the Seante floor on September 21, to call for the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military. Franken told an anecdote of his own experiences meeting gay soldiers during his former career as a comedian, when he would entertain troops with the USO.
As Franken told the story, during one show at an unnamed base he told some jokes about how he did not agree with the policy, saying that the commanding general of the base was "one of the gayest men I've ever met" and should not have to stay in the closet when he is such a great leader. Franken noticed that a group of women had been applauding the joke -- and as it turned out, the general later pointed those same women out to Franken, telling him to keep telling those jokes. And in turn, those women affirmed to Franken that they were gay. "I think everybody knew it," said Franken.

8. Steve King On Black Farmers Settlement: 'Johnny' Wouldn't Help His Daddy, Became A Drug Addict
Rep. Steve King [[R-IA) is known for his vitriolic right-wing rhetoric, both on and off the floor of Congress -- often with a racial tinge. But probably his most over-the-top floor speech ever was this past November 29, when he attacked the Department of Agriculature's settlement with African-American farmers for discrimination in past decades as "slavery reparations," and that the government would be defrauded by someone who didn't want to work on the farm, went to the city, and became a drug addict.
"The fraudulent claims might be, well Johnny, yeah he was raised on a farm but he wouldn't help his dad. He went to the city, became a drug addict, and when Daddy needed the help, Johnny wouldn't come and help his daddy," King said. "But now his daddy's died and Johnny wants the $50,000 that comes from the USDA under this claim."

9. The FiliBernie
On December 10, Sen. Bernie Sanders [[I-VT) went to the Senate floor and gave voice to progressives who objected to the Obama administration's deal with Congressional Republicans to temporarily extend both the Bush tax cuts and unemployment benefits.
In an event that became known online as the "FiliBernie," the senator was joined by Sen. Mary Landrieu [[D-LA) and Sen. Sherrod Brown [[D-OH) in speaking for almost nine hours, against a policy that he said bailed out wealthy people who did not need help in the tough economy.
"The point that needs to be made is, when is enough enough? That is the essence of what we are talking about. Greed, in my view, is like a sickness. It is like an addiction. We know people who are on heroin. They can't stop. They destroy their lives. They need more and more heroin. There are people who can't stop smoking. They have problems with nicotine. They get addicted to cigarettes. It costs them their health. People have problems with food. We all have our share of addictions. But I would hope that these people who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars will look around them and say: There is something more important in life than the richest people becoming richer when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world. Maybe they will understand that they are Americans, part of a great nation which is in trouble today. Maybe they have to go back to the Bible, whatever they believe in, and understand there is virtue in sharing, in reaching out; that you can't get it all."

10. McCain: DADT Repeal 'A Very Sad Day' -- Troops Will Lose Limbs
During the December 20 debate on the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military, Sen. John McCain [[R-AZ) warned that the repeal would lead to "distractions" for soldiers -- and these distractions could result in more soldiers losing limbs.

"I don't want to permit that opportunity to happen and I'll tell you why. You go up to Bethesda [Naval Hospital], Marines are up there with no legs, none. You've got Marines at Walter Reed with no limbs."

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More small businesses are offering health benefits to workers

The increase is partly attributed to a tax credit created by the nation's new healthcare law. Some insurers are aggressively marketing the break, which can offset up to 35% of a company's costs.

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Medicaid Bonuses to Reward States for Insuring More Children

By KEVIN SACK
Published: December 27, 2010

The Obama administration plans to announce Monday that it will make $206 million in bonus Medicaid payments to 15 states — with more than a fourth of the total going to Alabama — for signing up children who are eligible for public health insurance but had previously failed to enroll.

Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, has called the matter “a moral obligation.”
The payments, which were established when Congress and President Obama reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 2009, are aimed at one of the most persistent frustrations in government health care: the inability to enroll an estimated 4.7 million children who would be eligible for subsidized coverage if their families could be found and alerted. Two of every three uninsured children are thought to meet the income criteria for government insurance programs.



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Some foreign policy spine

David Ignatius
Sunday, December 26, 2010

For a world that feared [[and in some cases, cheered) the prospect of American decline, this holiday season has been bracing. It showed that despite U.S. political and economic difficulties, President Obama is still able to rally support at home and abroad for a strong foreign policy.

Obama's Christmas-week legislative successes capped a two-month period in which his foreign policy team strengthened key alliances, from East Asia to NATO. After Obama's humbling in the November elections, world leaders were talking in stage whispers about the erosion of American power, and of Obama as a weak and inattentive president. Those worries haven't disappeared, but they are allayed by his recent successes.

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Obama's Game May Be Picking Up -- Even with Tougher Congress

Barack Obama's team is working better and delivering results that just weeks ago seemed out of reach. Tomorrow, I'm going to be offering thoughts on these results and how the Obama White House is gaining ground.

But as a preview, I think that the successes are tied to four key factors: [[1) Barack Obama seems more comfortable holding the line and fighting the long fight rather than giving ground early in efforts to seduce his opponents; [[2) Tom Donilon, Denis McDonough, John Brennan and the entire National Security Council team are just working better together and are sewn into Obama Land better than before; [[3) Rahm is doing what he always should have been doing -- staying in the spotlight as he runs for Mayor of Chicago; No one hears from the interim Chief of Staff Pete Rouse who is moving people, initiatives, and game plans so deftly that no one sess his hand [[keep him!); and [[4) Joe Biden and his apparatus not only have a killer batting average on the tough jobs Obama has given him [[Russia, START, nuclear summitry, Iraq, keeping peace with the labor community) but his team in its entirety is woven in deeply as part of the Obama apparatus [[no more David Addington cells).

More tomorrow, and while I admit that there have been significant failures, missteps, and occasional weak knees when Obama should have clung to the courage of his convictions, there have been heartening successes.
Momentum may have changed in the President's favor -- even while the Congress has become a higher hill.
Reposted from The Washington Note

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[ralpht]

At first, I was disappointed that President Obama didn't fight the Republicans on the tax issue and thought he might have blown that one. But then I saw him give his explanation as to why his decision was best for the American people. That politicians weren't put in Washington to fight amongst themselves but were there to serve America to the best of their abilities. He made me think about that and realize he was right on the money. The remainder of the successful Lame Duck session proved this out and has made me realize, more than ever, what a great president we have.

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I agree Ralph. Many people seemed to have forgotten those tax cuts had been in placed for nine years. Ironically, all that time no one was screaming about it then. If they had expired, not only would they have expired for the rich but the middle class. Everyone's taxes would have gone up, not to mention millions would have been without their UI benefits.

He did the best he could under really bad conditions that IMO could have been avoided if the Dems had taken the vote before the midterms.

President Obama has done one hell of a job and it's only now he's getting the credit he deserves. No President in the last 40 plus years has gotten this much legislation done in a 2 year term.

The media will turn on him again though. That's the way it is I guess.

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Steroid abuse among law enforcement a problem nationwide

By: Juliana Keeping
AnnArbor.com Health/Environment Reporter

Daily dose of health news: Steroid abuse among law enforcement a problem nationwide

Topics: Health
Posted: Dec 27, 2010 at 11:42 AM

The badge and steroids?

It's a less common association than athletes and the drug, but it's a problem nationwide, according to recent media reports.

A growing number of police officers have been caught using steroids illegally, AOL News reported.
According to the Office of National Drug Policy, anabolic steroid use can cause increased irritability and aggression. Withdrawal symptoms include severe depression and mood swings.

Lawrence Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, told AOL the DEA is in the midst of an active investigation into steroids, and numerous cases they've investigated have links to police officers.
"It's a big problem, and from the number of cases, it's something we shouldn't ignore. It's not that we set out to target cops, but when we're in the middle of an active investigation into steroids, there have been quite a few cases that have led back to police officers."


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Unrelated but ironic story


Downtown Express photo by Jonathan Kuhn

Taking ‘diagonal parking’ a little too literally

The car that ended up on the sidewalk at West and Bethune Sts. in the West Village on Sunday afternoon Dec. 12 with its front end down against a tree and its rear end up 45 degrees against the Superior Ink luxury residential building got that way when a driver, identified in the New York Post as an off-duty police officer, swerved to avoid an accident. The driver sustained minor injuries.

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Chicago is the likely base for Obama's reelection campaign
In an anti-Washington climate, distance from the nation's capital is seen as a plus.


Reporting from Washington —

The White House says President Obama has not made a decision on where to locate his reelection headquarters for 2012, but observers expect the campaign to return to its 2008 base: Chicago.

Such a decision would buck recent history. Every two-term president in the last 30 years — George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan — set up reelection campaign offices near the White House or in suburban Virginia.

A key factor favoring Chicago's selection is the anti- Washington climate that has swept the country. Another is the insurgency candidacy anticipated from Obama's rivals, who are expected to make the case that the times are bad, the nation's capital is broken, Obama has been captured by Washington — and they offer voters an alternative.

Read Full Story Here

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Nearly One In Nine Federal Judgeship's Are Now Vacant

The Senate adjourned earlier this week, even though it confirmed only half of the 38 judicial nominees awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. And the overwhelming majority of the blocked nominees cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee without a single negative vote.

This failure to confirm even many of the most uncontroversial nominees is the culmination of a concerted GOP strategy to delay as many of President Obama’s judges as much as possible, and it leaves Obama with fewer judges confirmed than any recent president:



The Senate’s failure to even hold a vote on these nominees leaves the federal judiciary with record vacancies — approximately one in nine federal judgeships are now vacant.

Notably, three of these vacancies are on just one court. Of the four active judgeships on the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, three are presently vacant, leaving the court’s chief judge as its only active member. Two of President Obama’s nominees to this court, James Shadid and Sue Myerscough, were unanimously approved by the Judiciary Committee for this excessively overburdened court. Yet none of Obama’s nominees to the Central District of Illinois received a vote in the 111th Congress.

This failure to confirm anyone to this Illinois court may be the most reckless legacy of the right’s obstruction of Obama’s judges, but it isn’t even the most absurd. One of the president’s blocked nominees, District of Oregon nominee Marco Hernandez, was previously nominated for the exact same job by President George W. Bush. Somehow, now that he’s an Obama nominee, the GOP has suddenly decided to throw up roadblocks before his confirmation.

Reposted from: Thinkprogress

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Obama administration steps up monitoring of banks that miss TARP payments

By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 28, 2010; 12:00 AM

The Obama administration has begun monitoring the high-level board meetings of nearly 20 banks that received emergency taxpayer assistance but repeatedly failed to pay the required dividends, according to Treasury Department officials and documents. And it may soon install new directors on some of their boards.

The moves come as the number of banks that failed to make at least one dividend payment to the government rose to 132 in the last quarter. These "deadbeats," as they are sometimes called, are virtually all community lenders and collectively received billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance.

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Danger ahead for the GOP

Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 28, 2010

It's been not quite two months since Republicans won a sweeping midterm victory, and already they seem divided, embattled and - not to mince words - freaked out. For good reason, I might add.

Sen. Lindsey Graham captured the mood with his mordant assessment of the lame-duck Congress: "Harry Reid has eaten our lunch." Graham's complaint was that the GOP acquiesced to a host of Democratic initiatives - giving President Obama a better-than-expected deal on taxes, eliminating "don't ask, don't tell," ratifying the New START treaty - rather than wait for the new, more conservative Congress to arrive

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$#!% Joe Biden Says

by Lisa DePaulo
photograph by Brigitte Lacombe
December 2010

Can he raise the rafters like his boss? No. But nobody can flat-out talk like Joe Biden. And these days, everybody's listening

There are only two reporters traveling coast-to-coast with the vice president on Air Force Two on a clear day in early October. Which is two more than usual. Even though Joe Biden is in the midst of a long-overdue respectfest—the recent 9,300-word Atlantic opus declaring him "indispensable," the eighty or so floundering Democratic candidates who called Joe before O to come stump for them—he's still largely ignored by the press. Until he puts his foot in his mouth. [[At the signing ceremony for the health care bill: "Mr. President, this is a big fucking deal"—well, it was!) In an ironic consequence of the ongoing economic crisis—the one he's traversing the country to assuage voters' angst about—few media companies can afford to send reporters on both Air Force One and Air Force Two. We finally have a vice president who loves to talk, and the poor guy is stuck with just me and a Bloomberg reporter. "Bloomberg still has money," cracks one of Biden's aides.

Traveling with Biden instead of his boss is notable for other reasons, too. The vice president rarely avails himself of the closed private cabin up front in the 757. He prefers to sit with his staff, at a table or in an aisle seat from which he can see the entire plane. When it's dinnertime, everyone is served chili in plastic bowls. The vice president has a choice of basically anything he wants. He wants the chili.

Twice during the cross-country tour, the veep makes his way to the back of the plane, past the cabin jammed with White House doctors and Secret Service, to schmooze his traveling press corps. In his morning visit between D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin, he's revved up about his mission for today. He is leaning over the seat in front of me and Kate Brower, the Bloomberg reporter, occasionally making his point by touching our hands. Only Joe Biden can do this like a gentleman. He tells us he believes—and thinks the people believe—that "the stimulus did exactly what it was supposed to do, but it wasn't enough." And he is positive we'll get almost all the TARP money back. "It has a sell-by date on it, man." [[Biden calls everybody "man.") He leaves us with this parting thought: "I used to say to my late wife, 'I have great faith in the American people.' And she would say, 'How much faith would you have in them if you lost?' " With this guy, probably the same amount.

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Obama and Wall St.: Still Venus and Mars

By: Ben White
December 28, 2010 04:33 AM EST

NEW YORK - On the mental list of slights and outrages that just about every major figure on Wall Street is believed to keep on President Barack Obama, add this one: When he met recently with a group of CEOs at Blair House, there was no representative from any of the six biggest banks in America.

Not one!

"If they don't hate us anymore, why weren't any of us there?" a senior executive at one of the Big Six banks said recently in trying to explain his hostility toward the president.

"It's not so much just this one thing,” he said. “Who cares about one event? It's just the pattern where they tell you things are going to change, that they appreciate what we do, that capital markets are important, but then the actions are different and they continue to want to score political points on us."

Still, the executive understands that it makes political sense for the White House to stiff-arm Wall Street, if not bash it with a massive sledge hammer.

Full Article Here

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Key healthcare provisions take effect Jan. 1, just as GOP moves into House
By Jason Millman - 12/28/10 02:00 PM ET

Key parts of the new healthcare law will go into effect on Jan. 1, just before a Republican-controlled House returns to Washington.

The massive overhaul of healthcare approved by Congress earlier this year will begin to take effect in 2011, though some of the biggest changes prompted by the law — including the mandate that everyone buy insurance, the state insurance exchanges and subsidies to help most Americans buy insurance — don't kick in until 2014.

Still, more than 20 provisions of the reform law go into effect in 2011, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation timeline.

Full Article

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Race could backfire on the right
By Julian E. Zelizer, Special to CNN
December 27, 2010 1:38 p.m. EST

Princeton, New Jersey [[CNN) -- Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a possible Republican presidential candidate, recently caused a major stir. In an interview with the Weekly Standard, he referred to race relations while growing up in Mississippi this way: "I just don't remember it as being that bad."
Of course, his state was one of the most racially explosive sections of the country in the days of segregation and the start of the civil rights movement.

In the same interview, Barbour also tried to distinguish the citizens councils of his hometown from the Ku Klux Klan, even though historians have amply documented how citizens councils spent much of their energy using economic, and sometimes physical, intimidation to prevent racial integration. Although Barbour sought to clarify his remarks when they triggered a political firestorm, the fallout is likely to continue given the long and complicated history of conservatism.

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Obama's Budget Delayed a Week

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's budget proposal for fiscal 2012 will be released in mid-February, a little more than a week after its planned release date. The administration is scrambling to assemble what could be a pivotal document following a six-week delay in the confirmation of the White House's new budget director, a senior administration official said Monday.

The budget's release date will be pushed back from Monday, Feb. 7, to some time the following week, the official said.

The White House's new budget director, Jacob Lew, saw his confirmation put on hold by Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, who was protesting the administration's moratorium on offshore oil drilling. Mr. Lew was confirmed Nov. 19.
The official also cited Congress's late moves to fund government operations for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Last week, Congress passed a resolution funding the government largely at last year's levels, but only through early March.

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Obama Likely to Pursue Corporate-Tax Cut, Way to Pay for It

All signs point to President Barack Obama pursuing far-reaching changes to the corporate income tax, seeking to lower one of the highest statutory corporate-tax rates in the world by eliminating deductions, credits and loopholes.

If he proceeds, the administration will insist that any changes raise as much revenue as the existing, 35% corporate tax. That's to constrain those who want to lighten the business-tax burden and those who want to get more money from business. But the constraint means that for every company that saves a dollar, another will pay a dollar more.

The White House says no decisions have been made and that the president has yet to have a session with his economic team devoted to corporate taxes. But Treasury tax technicians are sifting through options, CEOs are buzzing and the president has voiced his druthers: "We would be very interested," he said in October, "in finding ways to lower the corporate-tax rate so that companies that are operating overseas can so do effectively and aren't put at a competitive disadvantage." In a recent interview with National Public Radio, Mr. Obama talked about "a conversation over the next year" aimed at "simplifying the system, hopefully lowering rates, broadening the base."

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