The White House has pegged Aug. 2 as the drop-dead deadline for a debt-limit deal. But deal or no deal, President Obama is heading to Chicago on Aug. 3 for his 50th birthday bash — a pricey fundraiser for his re-election campaign. Obama’s campaign began promoting the birthday last week with an appeal to supporters to “bring 50 new people into this campaign for President Obama’s 50th birthday.” Obama’s birthday is Aug. 4. The party will be held the night before at Chicago’s historic Aragon Ballroom. Lynn Sweet of the …
Republicans and Democrats left the White House last night without a deal on the debt limit, but they’ll be back at work this morning after a weekend of maneuvering. Expect to learn more at 11 a.m. when President Obama talks to the press. Both houses of Congress are in session this week. The House takes up the ban on incandescent light bulbs as the Senate debates a resolution expressing support for hiking taxes on millionaires. Heritage Action’s Josh Robbins has the details.
President Obama will meet with congressional leaders tomorrow to resume talks on the debt limit. The rare Sunday meeting between top Republicans and Democrats could signal the start of “hard bargaining” after Thursday’s debt talks left the parties far apart. While Democrats want tax increases on the table in debt negotiations, Republicans have reiterated their “no tax-hike” stance — a position they reiterated following yesterday’s unemployment report that revealed only a measly 18,000 jobs were created last month. If that isn’t enough reason to keep Democrats from proposing tax increases, perhaps the ambiguity …
In a Thursday interview with Scribe, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC, claimed that President Obama has no real intention of striking a deal with Republicans on the debt ceiling. Rather, he said, the talks between congressional leaders and the White House have been efforts to “run out the clock up against his so-called deadline of August the second” in order to paint Republicans as “irresponsible.” The president fully intends to wait it out until then, DeMint said, “so that he can have a crisis” – which of course smacks of former …
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) today predicted lawmakers would take President Obama to court if he deemed the debt ceiling is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. Liberals have floated the desperate and devious ploy in recent days to avoid spending cuts demanded by conservatives. “If the president decides to do that — and that would be his decision and his alone — our only option at that point would probably be to take him to court,” Johnson said this morning on a call with reporters and bloggers. “If he does it, …
President Obama had no shortage of things to say at yesterday’s Twitter town hall meeting, even if he didn’t always have firm grasp of the facts or reality. A reader ran the numbers: Obama used a total number of 8,519 words in his answers — or roughly 38,703 characters. At 140 characters each, that’s about 276 tweets (excluding space for @replies, links or hashtags). In the course of the conversation, Obama didn’t let the facts get in the way of his answers. Heritage investigative reporter Lachlan Markay noted Obama’s false …
Gary Sinise is best known for his role as Lt. Dan Taylor in the 1994 blockbuster movie “Forrest Gump.” It earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor and a starring role on “CSI: NY.” Now the actor is using his fame to celebrate America’s heroes on the battlefield. This week marked the debut of a documentary about Sinise’s role with the Lt. Dan Band. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Sinise formed the band — name after his character from “Forrest Gump” — to perform for servicemen and …
President Obama takes questions later today at the first-ever Twitter town hall. This high-profile event is yet another example of the White House’s embrace of social media to communicate directly with Americans But behind the scenes, there’s another story unfolding about the Obama administration’s use of Twitter. For some White House staffers, it’s a way to bully critics and promote a liberal agenda. In fact, that’s one employee’s job. Jesse Lee is the White House’s director of progressive media and online response. It’s his job to rebut bad news about …
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in the nation’s capital for a 10-day Buddhist ritual known as the Kalachakra for World Peace. His visit is the first since retiring as the political leader of Tibet’s government. But that’s still likely to upset China, according to Voice of America. There’s no word yet if President Obama will invite him to the White House. We have a busy morning at Heritage. Beginning at 10 a.m. ET, our Center for Legal and Judicial Studies hosts its annual Scholars and Scribes Review the …
The nation’s capital was treated to a beautiful fireworks display last night. You can expect more of the same this week in Washington as the clock ticks toward the Obama administration’s Aug. 2 deadline for a deal on the debt limit. The House returns from a weeklong district work period and Senate is back in town after canceling recess for a rare Independence Day workweek.
