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The doomsday scenario we've feared since World War II has arrived. In response to the United States' latest arms sale to Taiwan, the Chinese military has suggested that China sell off some of the U.S. debt it owns to give the U.S. an economic punch of sorts. Reuters: Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defense spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan. The calls for broad retaliation over the planned U.S. weapons sales to the disputed island came from officers at...

As Washington digs itself out from under the Snowpocalypse, the region braces for yet more flurries. At least 18 inches of snow lie on the ground at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and some places were blanketed under as much as three feet. More arctic blasts this week could drive 2010 into the history books as the capital's snowiest winter ever.

Although our current projection continues to show that the Democrats will retain control of the U.S. Senate (52-48), we have now downgraded their chances in the following three states: Connecticut (D-Dodd, retiring) Washington (D-Murray) Wisconsin (D-Feingold) Each race has moved from DEM HOLD to LEAN DEM HOLD.

Berkeley's $144 million budget is in the trash can - literally. In a $10 million deficit announced last week, the single biggest factor - $4 million - was a decline in its refuse revenues. The city says, in part, that it's a victim of its own success. Residents pride themselves on aggressively recycling and composting, so they're switching to smaller, cheaper trash cans - the only collection for which the city charges. "The whole business model for recycling and garbage has been to incentivize recycling," said Andrew Clough, the city's deputy director of public works. "We're going to have to...

Subject: Great Orators of the Democrat Party IN YEARS GONE BY: 'One man with courage makes a majority.' - Andrew Jackson 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' - Franklin D. Roosevelt 'The buck stops here.' - Harry S. Truman 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.' - John F. Kennedy NOW: And from today's Genius Democrats.............. 'It depends what your definition of 'is' is?'' - Bill Clinton 'That Obama - I would like to cut his NUTS off.' - Jesse Jackson 'Those rumors are false .......

During World War II in the Pacific, many native tribes were astounded by their first contact with an advanced technological civilization, when the Americans would come in, clear a strip in the jungle, set up a control tower and loud giant silver birds would appear from the sky bearing canned food, trinkets, fuel and other supplies. After the war, the Americans went away for the most part, but the memories remained. Many of the natives, changed forever by the experience, decided to replicate it. They cleared their own strips, built control towers of thatch and palm, and waited for the...

Imagine if you could get full salary and benefits for a decent paying job and you didn’t have to work to get it. All you had to do was be accused of a crime. What crime, you ask? How about molesting school kids? That’s what the teachers‘ unions in states like California and New York State are doing: coddling accused criminals — at your expense. And it’s probably going on elsewhere as well. Believe it or not, New York is a lot tougher on them than California. From the New York Post: "At the beginning of his 32-year career as...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security improperly conducted a threat assessment of Wisconsin pro- and anti-abortion rights groups before an expected rally last year. The department said in a memo released last year that it destroyed or deleted all of the copies of the assessment after an internal review found it violated intelligence gathering guidelines about "protest groups which posed no threat to homeland security." The assessment was shared only with the director of Wisconsin's intelligence-sharing center and police in Middleton, where the rally was expected to take place. The report was compiled prior to a February 2009 meeting in

WASHINGTON (AP) - Even the White House's top spokesman is getting in on the act of mocking former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for looking to talking points written on her palm during a speech to "tea party" activists. Robert Gibbs showed the words "hope" and "change" on his hand as he started his daily briefing with reporters on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday he’s prepared to cut deals with Republicans in order to create jobs and improve the nation’s health care system, but he said he’s seen few signs so far that the GOP is willing to support any of his policy initiatives. “I’m willing to move off of some of the preferences of my party in order to meet them halfway, but there’s got to be some give from their side as well,” Obama said during a surprise visit to the White House briefing room following a meeting with congressional leaders from both parties. However, the...

If future generations of Americans are going to have a bright future, we're going to have to get a handle on spending. Either we get these deficits under control and start paying off our debt or we're not going to remain a great nation. Moreover, given that Social Security went into the red last year and that program, combined with Medicare, represents a 100 trillion dollar unfunded liability that’s going to be coming due over the next few decades, this is an issue that’s not going away for the foreseeable future. So, with that in mind, fiscal conservatives in DC...

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs flashed his hand at the White House press corps to jab former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Among the things he'd written in dark pen were "eggs, milk, bread," Gibbs said. This was, of course, a reference to Palin's notes she wrote on her hand during the question-and-answer portion of her address to the Tea Party Nation this weekend in Nashville. As the reporters in the room laughed, Gibbs added that he'd also written down "hope and change."

...In his first public comments since the release of President Barack Obama's proposed NASA budget last week, Mike Coats said the space center will have to find new missions besides the International Space Station to replace the waning space shuttle program and the seemingly doomed Constellation program... Of the 17,000 civil servants and contractors who are funded through Johnson Space Center's programs, 7,000 work under the shuttle and Constellation programs. ...Obama's proposed wholesale cancellation of Constellation — NASA's next-generation exploration program that entailed development of rockets to carry humans to orbit, the moon and beyond as well as a versatile...

Employing a broad-based lobbying effort, the soft drink industry has smothered a plan to tax sugared beverages — a plan advocates said would have reduced obesity and helped finance health care reform. Only months ago, public health advocates thought the tax would be a natural for congressional Democrats looking for revenues to fund expanded health insurance coverage. The soaring costs of treating ailments related to excess weight — including diabetes and heart disease — added urgency to the issue. But the White House staff reviewing funding options never embraced the idea even after President Barack Obama expressed interest last summer....

EXCERPT Now, some critics are questioning whether using her own daughters as examples is fair to them. "Was it hurtful to her girls?" asked one blogger who focuses on Mommy issues. Psychology Today even questioned the first lady for using the word "chubby" to describe her daughters. While her heart is in the right place, Michelle may not have considered or been familiar with the delicate balance between preventing obesity and triggering eating disorders. She mentioned that she put her children on a diet after her pediatrician and their father felt they were getting “chubby.” Words like “chubby” don’t cause...

While perusing some of the review comments to the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, I came across the contributions of Andrew Lacis, a colleague of James Hansen’s at GISS. Lacis’s is not a name I’ve come across before but some of what he has to say about Chapter 9 of the IPCC’s report is simply breathtaking. Chapter 9 is possibly the most important one in the whole IPCC report – it’s the one where they decide that global warming is manmade. This is the one where the headlines are made. Remember, this guy is mainstream, not a sceptic, and you may...

Newspapers Blast NOW for Saying Tebow Ad Promotes Domestic Violence Washington, DC -- Just as they defended the pro-life Tim Tebow commercial before it aired during the Super Bowl, newspaper columnists are defending the commercial from the latest attack by the pro-abortion National Organization for Women (NOW) claiming it promoted domestic violence. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5983.html

Making a surprise appearance in the briefing room, President Obama says his meeting with bipartisan congressional leaders went "well." "We all understand there are legitimate and genuine differences within the parties," he says, but the public demands that they come together on some issues. "I'm going to continue to seek the best ideas from either party." Obama says they spent "a lot of time" talking about a jobs package, but also discussed the deficit. And he says, contrary to what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner said at a stakeout, that they "touched briefly" on...

U.S. and allied commanders in Afghanistan are preparing for the biggest battle of the eight-year war, knowing that its outcome will reveal the chances of success for President Obama's revamped Afghan strategy. About 20,000 U.S., British and Afghan troops will soon storm Marja, the Taliban's final redoubt in the southern province of Helmand. A town of 80,000, Marja has for years been a den of narcotics traffickers and insurgents, serving as a launching pad for roadside bombs and suicide attacks. If the U.S. and its allies succeed in driving out the Taliban - and, perhaps more importantly, bring a measure...

He must be worried. Sounding all conciliatory about health care resolution, etc. etc.

Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider. The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 when he gives speeches booked by the Greater Talent Network agency. According to the below contract for an appearance Wednesday at a Missouri college, Ford demands that when his limo driver picks him up, the chauffeur must be carrying a sign reading "H.F.." Presumably, if the Democrat's name was spelled out, hordes of fans/groupies would be alerted to his impending arrival and swarm him (something that...

Federal officials review Toyota Corolla complaints The Associated Press Tuesday, February 9, 2010; 11:54 AM WASHINGTON -- Federal safety officials say they will look into complaints from Toyota Corolla drivers about difficulty with the steering on their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 80 complaints from drivers of 2009 and 2010 Corollas. Many say their cars can wander when they drive on the highway, making it hard to stay in lanes. NHTSA says it will determine if a formal safety investigation is warranted. But agency officials also stress that it is standard procedure to review the...

Facts are stubborn. Paul Krugman, a renowned economist turned New York Times columnist, is more flexible. But he has a lot to say about budget deficit facts. These days it’s hard to pick up a newspaper or turn on a news program without encountering stern warnings about the federal budget deficit. The deficit threatens economic recovery, we’re told; it puts American economic stability at risk; it will undermine our influence in the world.

WASHINGTON - As the region braces for another major storm, one local government is having trouble keeping their plows on the roads, WTOP has learned. As many as 60 of the District's snow plows are not working -- bad news for thousands of residents still waiting for their streets to be cleared.

"There is now a coordinated effort underway to demonize Anthem Blue Cross in California for raising rates. Obama singled the company out in a 60 Minutes interview over the weekend and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is playing dutiful attack dog, demanding that Anthem “justify” its rate hikes to the federal government:"

EXCERPT Democrats should also give Republicans plenty of room to do themselves in. By openly declaring themselves for sale to Wall Street, Republicans are displaying the kind of crony capitalism that drives Americans to form Tea Parties. Ironically, this doesn't seem to bother Sarah Palin. Faced with a choice between subsidizing the banks and poor kids, she went with the banks, warning the Tea Party activists that the Obama administration is "taking over" everything, including "health care, student loans." With views like that, she won't have any trouble getting speaking gigs at $100,000 a shot. (The writer is editor of...

Three-term City Councilman Larry Seabrook was indicted today on extortion, fraud and money laundering charges -- including shaking down a Bronx boiler company who had received a contract from the Yankees -- after he was caught stealing as part of an ongoing probe stemming from a slush fund scandal, authorities said. The feds claim Seabrook, who has been a member of the City Council since 2001, shook down the unnamed company for $50,000 after they were awarded a lucrative contract by the Bronx Bombers to install boilers at the new Yankee Stadium. Seabrook (D-Bronx) took the money, in the form...

DeepCapture has picked up something I've written about before, but none of these folks seem to put together the "big picture", as I outlined yesterday on my Blogtalk show. As Fiderer explains, Paulson asked the banks to create those CDOs “so that they could be sold to some suckers at close to par. That way, Paulson’s hedge fund could approach some other sucker who would sell an insurance policy, or credit default swap, on the newly minted CDOs. Bear, Deutsche and Goldman knew perfectly well what Paulson’s motivation was. He made no secret of his belief that the CDOs subordinate...

The military has canceled the deposition of an alleged terrorist mastermind who claimed that he was assaulted by the military following his capture last year. The law firm Puckett and Faraj, representing Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe, made the announcement on Sunday. Major General Charles Cleveland, the convening authority for the upcoming special courts-martial for three of the Navy SEALs involved in the operation, has decided to cancel the trip to Iraq to depose Ahmed Hashim Abed. Since the SEALs have a Constitutional right to confront their accuser in court, the alleged terrorist's statements won't be used as evidence for the...

... now we have a country absolutely teeming with irregular passions and artful misrepresentations, whipped up to an unprecedented pitch and volume by the fundamentally new means of 24/7 cable and the hyperdemocratic web. And instead of a calm club of like-minded wise men (and women) in Washington compromising and legislating, we have a Republican Establishment almost entirely unwilling to defy or at least gracefully ignore its angriest, most intemperate and frenzied faction—the way Reagan did with his right wing in the eighties and the way Obama is doing with his unhappy left wing now. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush...

"You can't be a great country without doing great things and a great thing would be to return to the Moon and build a laboratory there and open it up to the world," Hickam said on Tuesday's MetroNews Talkline. Hickam says he's angry about the cut. "It's really a foolish decision to take away the goal of going back to the Moon. I can certainly see figuring out a better way of doing it, but simply to take away the goal, I think, is so shortsighted and so foolish that it's almost breathtaking in its stupidity."

IsraelNN.com) Geert Wilders, of the PVV (Party for Freedom) in the Netherlands, is on trial in his native Holland, charged with five counts of discrimination against Muslims and similar offenses. He says that it’s not he who’s on trial, but his “freedom of speech” – and that at stake are traditional European freedoms. In an exclusive interview with IsraelNationalRadio’s Yishai Fleisher on Monday, Wilders said, “I’m fighting for one thing: the preservation of our culture, which is based on Christianity, Judaism and humanism - and not on Islam… While Islamization of our society grows, the political elite looks in the...

If you’re the President of the United States or one of his political appointees and you’re ideologically opposed to new oil and natural gas development offshore, what do you do when the public registers its overwhelming support for new drilling in public opinion polls?You dance, delay, and deceive. You speak melodious words about seeking the wisdom of the public in making these decisions and then ignore evidence of the public will when you get it, or worse, you hide it.First came the dance. In August 2008, after soaring gas prices and a dramatic shift in public opinion caused President Bush,...

U.S. Representative Judy Biggert introduced new legislation Thursday designed to ramp up congressional oversight of the government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and disclose the intricacies of the two companies’ businesses to taxpayers In the midst of the industry’s housing crisis and the nation’s financial meltdown, taxpayers were forced to take on the costs and risks associated with the GSEs, including an estimated outlay of $291 billion last year alone, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Biggert, the ranking GOP member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said she introduced the bill to improve...

"Small business owners entered 2010 the same way they left 2009, depressed," said William Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist. "The biggest problem continues to be a shortage of customers." ... Owners reported workforce reductions that average .52 workers per firm, basically unchanged for the past several months. Nine percent of the owners increased employment by an average of 3 workers per firm, but 19 percent reduced employment an average of 3.9 workers per firm (seasonally adjusted). ... still more firms planning to cut jobs than planning to add.

As the record federal budget deficit draws increasing scrutiny from Washington to Wall Street to Main Street, deficit hawks may take aim at entitlement programs including Social Security. And, the nearly 80 million Baby Boomers phasing into retirement will set in motion a dynamic that—if not addressed by Congress—could result in the next generation getting fewer benefits. However, despite fears that Boomers will trigger a collapse of Social Security, experts say the system can and will survive for decades and generations to come. Congress made significant fixes to Social Security during the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s, and there...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

Obama Admin Admits It Tracked Abortion Groups in Wisconsin Madison, WI -- The Department of Homeland Security admitted today that it improperly conducted a threat assessment on pro-life groups in Wisconsin. The assessment came before an expected rally last year in response to the University of Wisconsin Hospital board decided to allow abortions. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4796.html

SBI is a critical element of the larger DHS-CBP effort to increase border security, which includes construction of the border fence. Last year, Congress approved $800 million to fund SBI through FY2010. President Obama is requesting only $574 million for this program in his FY2011 budget, a $226 million cut. (FY2011 Budget Request Appendix: DHS)." --snip-- "The administration has also requested only $330 million for SCAAP - a federal program administered through the Department of Justice that helps states pay for the incarceration of criminal aliens. (FY2011 Budget Request: DOJ). Congress recently cut the annual funding level for SCAAP from...

Drivers have also started a Facebook group called Toronto Transit Operators against public harassment, mainly in response to a video recorded by a passenger last week showing a bus driver taking an unscheduled 7-minute stop outside a doughnut shop to get his nightly coffee. The driver was subsequently suspended. Another member of the group advises operators that if they see someone filming their actions, they should pull over and request police assistance: "You don't know why these people are recording your vehicle, you just know that they are not supposed to do it." The TTC's general manager, Gary Webster, then...

Internet chatter had led to speculation that it might be an urban myth -- nothing more than clever digital trickery spreading via the Web. But our friend Bob Collins at Minnesota Public Radio assures us he's seen it with his own eyes: There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minn., with a huge photo of former president George W. Bush and this question: "Miss Me Yet?"

Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform. The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. The share of the blame comes as cracks are beginning to show in Emanuel’s once-impregnable political armor. Last week he had to apologize after a report surfaced that he called liberal groups “retarded” in a private meeting. While Emanuel has quelled that controversy by meeting with advocates for people with disabilities, on Capitol Hill he’s under...

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda." Brennan writes that, "Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill." In the oped, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad," Brennan writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in...

The Legislature's ideological polarization is often cited by critics – correctly – as one of its major deficiencies. Uber-liberal Democrats and ultra-conservative Republicans occupy all but a handful of the Legislature's 120 seats, thanks largely to term limits and gerrymandered districts. Neither faction can impose its will on the other, especially when the issue requires a two-thirds vote, such as the budget, taxes, urgency bills and constitutional amendments. As they play their gotcha games, however, the state budget goes unbalanced, the Legislature becomes increasingly irrelevant and unpopular to voters who are neither very liberal nor very conservative, and the messy...

Author Kurt Andersen came out swinging this week in New York Magazine against democracy in action! He hates the Tea Party Movement in particular. Andersen, a novelist who at one time was New York Magazine’s chief editor, prefers when “a calm club of like-minded wise men (and women) in Washington” is calling the shots, not the people. Andersen agrees with Elitist-in-Chief President Barack Obama who believes the opponents of his far-left policies should just sit down and shut up. Andersen liked the good old days when: the elite media really did control the national political discourse…Until fifteen years ago, presidents...

A few days ago, President Obama told a story about an OFA supporter in St. Louis who had volunteered during the campaign and organized her community for health reform, but recently succumbed to breast cancer. She didn't have quality insurance, so she put off crucial exams and didn't catch it early enough. And while she fought cancer, she also spent her final months fighting for a chance at health reform so others wouldn't go through the same thing. The President told this story to remind Congress, the nation, and us: We can't tell her family we're giving up on reform...

In the circle of lawyers and judges I know, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is a giant. He is a brilliant jurist, legal eagles will tell you, who has insightful, and often unexpected, opinions. He's funny and charming - and he's gay. As Walker has presided over the trial challenging Proposition 8 - the California 2008 ballot initiative that limited marriage to a man and a woman - the legal community wondered when his sexual orientation would become an issue. After much discussion among editors, The Chronicle ran a column Sunday by Phil Matier and Andrew Ross that reported on...

SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 10,000 San Francisco city workers - from librarians and gardeners to secretaries and street cleaners - would be laid off and most rehired for jobs with shorter hours under a controversial plan being examined by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The idea, which sprouted in the mayor's budget office and was described to his department heads Monday, would reduce the workweek for a large swath of the city's 26,000 full-time employees from 40 hours to 37.5. Newsom's budget office estimates that paying workers for 2.5 fewer hours of work each week would save more than $50 million...

Times are tough in Vallejo these days, a city with more street violence than nearby Richmond, and a rapidly shrinking police department. In the last week alone, the city has witnessed two homicides, a knife attack that injured three people, the shooting of an ice-cream vendor and a mob assault on a city employee - an incident captured on video at a local gas station. One of the homicide victims was Matthew Allen Hicks, the father of one of two teens suspected in the attack near the gas station. Hicks was found shot in the head early Monday. "It has...

Just wondering.