Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Washington Examiner Daily Political Digest: Michael Barone - Adult leadership comes from the House, not Obama

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Washington Examiner Daily Political Digest: Michael Barone - Adult leadership comes from the House, not Obama

Michael Barone - Adult leadership comes from the House, not Obama

Washington Examiner Daily Political Digest

Let's take our eyes off the Republican presidential race for a minute and ask the question, where if anywhere are we getting adult leadership on major public policy issues this year?

The answer, I think, is where the Founding Fathers seem to have least expected it, from the House of Representatives, and specifically from its Republican leaders.
Brian Hughes - Obama faces changing tide in Virginia

When President Obama rolls into Virginia Tuesday for the next stop of his national jobs tour, he won't necessarily be welcomed warmly in a state that propelled him to a landslide victory in 2008.

Byron York - GOP will move to repeal CLASS Act

Republicans on Capitol Hill are having an I-told-you-so moment after the Obama administration admitted late Friday that the CLASS Act, a major component of Obamacare, is unworkable.

Philip Klein - Half of Obamacare's deficit reduction wiped out

Nearly half of the deficit reduction that Democrats claimed when President Obama signed the national health care law would be wiped away by the administration's recomendation against implementing a doomed long-term care program.

Joel Gehrke - Schultz says 'break' is a 'southern racist term'

Ed Schultz, host of MSNBC's the Ed Show, believes that Republican presidential contender Herman Cain is pandering to "white Republicans out there who don't like black folks" and accused Sen. Jim Demint, R-S.C., of using racist langauge in his opposition to Obamacare.

Conn Carroll - The Center for Tax Hike Advocacy

Jonathan Chait has responded to a post earlier this week criticizing him for using a Citizens for Tax Justice "study" on state and local tax burdens in the course of a debate over federal tax rates.

Charlie Spiering digs into the GOP Presidential field's new FEC numbers:

Mitt Romney raises $14.2 million in third quarter

Jon Huntsman campaign ends quarter in debt

Santorum raises $704K; spends $743K

Joel Gehrke - Ron Paul camp whines about Drudge coverage
Matt Drudge and the Drudge Report apparently offended Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, by leading with a poll that showed Newt Gingrich surpassing Rick Perry, instead of focusing more on - well, Ron Paul.

Charlie Spiering - Obama promotes "Government Motors" Chevy Sonic

"Plants like this are churning out groundbreaking cars like the Chevy Sonic, the only one of its kind made and sold in the United States of America." said President Obama, at a General Motors plant, after touting the success of the auto-industry bailouts.

Timothy P. Carney - The lobbyists volunteering to raise $ for Romney

A "bundler" is basically a volunteer fundraiser. Campaign finance restrictions limited how much an individual could give a candidate, and so one way for power-brokers to win the love of politcians is to show up with a ton of $2,500 checks. As you might guess, lobbyists see bundling a worthwhile activity.

Joel Gehrke - Bachmann thanks Perry for 'endorsing her ideas'

Charlie Spiering - Rep. Sanchez: Republicans don't love this country

On Ed Schultz's radio show earlier this week, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) told him that Republicans "were not patriots" because they didn't want to p

Timothy P. Carney - Tommy Thompson's shilling for a biotech client

Last month, former Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced he was seeking the GOP nomination for Wisconsin's open U.S. Senate seat. A week before that, though, Thompson was discussing the 9/11 anniversary on the air, and he promoted an anthrax vaccine that happens to be made by one of his consulting clients, PharmAthene.

Charlie Spiering - S. Korean president sports Tigers hat in Detroit

"As you can see, President Lee is a pretty good politician," joked President Obama, as he began a joint press conference in Detroit. "He knows how to get on your good side."

Timothy P. Carney - Boots on the ground in Uganda

Well, this seems interesting. President Obama has apparently sent about 100 U.S. troops to hunt down a warlord in Uganda.

Charlie Spiering - Chelsea spams DNC list for Clinton foundation

Democrats on the DNC mailing list received an email from Chelsea Clinton last night, promoting her father's Clinton Foundation.

Conn Carroll - Park Police turn blind eye to 'Occupiers' illegal sleepovers

It is against federal regulations to sleep in National Capital Parks like McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, but the U.S. Park Police is turning a blind eye to the protesters sleeping there.

Philip Klein - Why I won’t stop worrying and learn to love Romney

During his radio show yesterday, Examiner contributor Hugh Hewitt complained about what he termed as my “vitriolic” criticism of Mitt Romney. This shouldn’t come as a major shock, because I’ve been a vocal critic of Romney, and Hewitt has been a long-time booster who published an adoring book promoting Romney’s candidacy the first time he ran for president. Yet at no point did Hewitt challenge the substance of anything I’ve actually written. Instead, he took issue with the very idea that I, as a conservative commentator, would be so critical of a Republican candidate.

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