Ethan

Coming up this week in the House

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:51:37 -0400

Removing our troops from Pakistan, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

111th Congress
2d Session

H. Res. __

H. Con. Res. 301 - Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Pakistan.

1. Closed rule.

2. Provides one hour of debate in the House with 30 minutes to be controlled by Rep. Kucinich and 30 minutes to be equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the concurrent resolution.

4. Provides that the concurrent resolution shall be considered as read.

RESOLUTION

Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order without intervention of any point of order to consider in the House the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 301) directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Pakistan, if called up by Representative Kucinich of Ohio or his designee. The concurrent resolution shall be considered as read. The concurrent resolution shall be debatable for one hour, with 30 minutes controlled by Representative Kucinich of Ohio or his designee and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the concurrent resolution to final adoption without intervening motion.

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Coming up this week in the House

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:51:16 -0400

Removing our troops from Pakistan, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

111th Congress
2d Session

H. Res. __

H. Con. Res. 301 - Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Pakistan.

1. Closed rule.

3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the concurrent resolution.

4. Provides that the concurrent resolution shall be considered as read.

RESOLUTION

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Classic C-SPAN Moment

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:24:50 -0400

Yep, I’ve been showing this all day.

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rubenfeld: Inside the defunct Grumman airplane factory in...

Wed, 05 May 2010 13:42:11 -0400

rubenfeld:

Inside the defunct Grumman airplane factory in Bethpage, Long Island.

(via)

Attention, Tumblr: Apparently, We're Now Accepting Bids

Wed, 05 May 2010 11:19:11 -0400

Attention, Tumblr: Apparently, We're Now Accepting Bids:

(via newsweek)

Not everyday you see a van like this!

Mon, 03 May 2010 13:44:21 -0400

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George Washington racks up late fees at NY library

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:01:00 -0400

George Washington racks up late fees at NY library:

Someone’s got some ‘splainin’ to do!

Statement by the President on Travel to Poland

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:57:56 -0400

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 17, 2010
Statement by the President on Travel to Poland “I spoke with acting President Komorowski and told him that I regret that I will not be able to make it to Poland due to the volcanic ash that is disrupting air travel over Europe. Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover from this terrible tragedy. President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the American people will never forget the lives they led.”

###

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2010 Pulitzer Prizes Winners

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:52:49 -0400

2010 Pulitzer Prizes Winners :

soupsoup:

Journalism

Public Service - Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier

Breaking News Reporting - The Seattle Times Staff

Investigative Reporting - Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News and Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine

Explanatory Reporting - Michael Moss and members of The New York Times Staff

Local Reporting - Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

National Reporting - Matt Richtel and members of The New York Times Staff

International Reporting - Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post

Feature Writing - Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post

Commentary - Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post

Criticism - Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post

Editorial Writing - Tod Robberson, Colleen McCain Nelson and William McKenzie of The Dallas Morning News

Editorial Cartooning - Mark Fiore, self syndicated, appearing on SFGate.com

Breaking News Photography - Mary Chind of The Des Moines Register

Feature Photography - Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post

Letters, Drama and Music

Fiction - Tinkers by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press)

Drama - Next to Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey

History - Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)

Biography - The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)

Poetry - Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press)

General Nonfiction - The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday)

Music - Violin Concerto by Jennifer Higdon (Lawdon Press)

Special Citations

Hank Williams

press release on the Special Citation awarded to Hank Williams

D.C. Examiner Publishes Photo It's Explicitly Told Not To

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:28:02 -0400

Photos often move on the AP photo wire with specific instructions on who can and can’t use a particular photo — usually for comptetive reasons.

So it came at no surprise that a number of local and national competitors of The Washington Post were excluded from using a Post staff photo (that moved on the AP wire) of the paper’s Pulitzer celebration yesterday.

(Disclosure: I was at that celebration.)

Guess that doesn’t universally apply.

See the full gallery on posterous

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World Leaders and Heads of Delegation Attending the Nuclear Security Summit

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:53:04 -0400

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 10, 2010

Below and attached is a list of world leaders and Heads of Delegation attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 12-13:

People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

His Excellency Mourad Medelci

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Argentine Republic

Her Excellency Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

President of the Argentine Republic

Republic of Armenia

His Excellency Serzh Sargsyan

President of the Republic of Armenia

Australia

The Honorable Senator John Faulkner

Minister for Defense of Australia

Belgium

His Excellency Yves Leterme

Prime Minister of Belgium

Federative Republic of Brazil

His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

Canada

The Right Honorable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.

Prime Minister of Canada

Republic of Chile

His Excellency Sebastián Piñera

President of the Republic of Chile

People’s Republic of China

His Excellency Hu Jintao

President of the People’s Republic of China

Czech Republic

His Excellency Jan Fischer

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Arab Republic of Egypt

His Excellency Ahmed Aboul Gheit

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt

European Union

His Excellency Herman Van Rompuy

President of the European Council

Republic of Finland

Her Excellency Tarja Halonen

President of the Republic of Finland

French Republic

His Excellency Nicolas Sarkozy

President of the French Republic

Georgia

His Excellency Mikheil Saakashvili

President of Georgia

Federal Republic of Germany

Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Republic of India

His Excellency Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of the Republic of India

Republic of Indonesia

His Excellency Dr. Boediono

Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia

International Atomic Energy Agency

Mr. Yukiya Amano

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency

Israel

His Excellency Dan Meridor

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy of Israel

Italian Republic

His Excellency Silvio Berlusconi

President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic

Japan

His Excellency Yukio Hatoyama

Prime Minister of Japan

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein

King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Republic of Kazakhstan

His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Republic of Korea

His Excellency Lee Myung-bak

President of the Republic of Korea

Malaysia

The Honorable Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak

Prime Minister of Malaysia

United Mexican States

His Excellency Felipe Calderon Hinojosa

President of the United Mexican States

Kingdom of Morocco

His Excellency Abbas El Fassi

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco

Kingdom of the Netherlands

His Excellency Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

New Zealand

The Honorable John Key

Prime Minister of New Zealand

Federal Republic of Nigeria

His Excellency Dr. Goodluck E. Jonathan

Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Norway

His Excellency Jens Stoltenberg

Prime Minister of Norway

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

His Excellency Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani

Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Republic of Philippines

Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

President of the Republic of the Philippines

Republic of Poland

His Excellency Radoslaw Sikorski

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland

Russian Federation

His Excellency Dmitry A. Medvedev

President of the Russian Federation

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

His Royal Highness Prince Muqrin bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud

President of the General Intelligence Presidency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Republic of Singapore

His Excellency Lee Hsien Loong

Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore

Republic of South Africa

His Excellency Jacob Zuma

President of the Republic of South Africa

Spain

His Excellency José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

President of the Government of Spain

Sweden

His Excellency Fredrik Reinfeldt

Prime Minister of Sweden

Swiss Confederation

Her Excellency Doris Leuthard

President of the Swiss Confederation

Kingdom of Thailand

His Excellency Trairong Suwankiri

Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand

Republic of Turkey

His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey

Ukraine

His Excellency Viktor Yanukovych

President of Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces

United Kingdom

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10 Ways To Earn More Than You Can Working At The Columbia Journalism Review

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:42:29 -0400

hunterwalker:

Columbia j-school students received emails last week inviting us to apply for an assistant editor “fellowship” with the Columbia Journalism Review, a full-time position that pays only $27,000 a year. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of jobs out there that pay more— like working at McDonald’s, selling your eggs, or even impregnating cows.

Read More

Is this like a pool report without the pool?

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:19:40 -0400

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release

April 7, 2010

READOUT OF VICE PRESIDENT AND DR. JILL BIDEN’S VISIT TO BROOKE ARMY MEDICAL CENTER

Earlier today, the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden visited Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. 

The Bidens visited with rehabilitating servicemembers, many of whom were injured while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, at the Center for the Intrepid. They also met with active duty military doctors, nurses and staff to thank them for the steadfast care they are providing to their patients every single day. The Bidens concluded their visit by spending time with inpatients and their families, and thanking them for their service to and sacrifice for our country.

To view a photograph of the Bidens’ visit to Brooke Army Medical Center, please click HERE.

###

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR THE INTREPID

The Center for the Intrepid is a rehabilitation facility that treats amputees and burn victims. It was specifically built to provide care for United States servicemen and women who have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans from previous conflicts are also eligible to receive treatment, as well as military personnel who have sustained injuries in other operations, training exercises, or in non-combat situations.

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rubenfeld: newsweek: ideasareawesome: Flavorwire & This...

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:18:11 -0400

rubenfeld:

newsweek:

ideasareawesome:

Flavorwire & This American Life Infographic - StumbleUpon

We love this series of graphical representations of This American Life episodes, and this one particularly hits home.

Vice President Biden Announces Release of Presidential Memorandum Tightening Enforcement of Recovery Act Recipient Reporting

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:16:15 -0400

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vice President Biden Announces Release of Presidential Memorandum Tightening Enforcement of Recovery Act Recipient Reporting

WASHINGTON D.C. – Vice President Joe Biden and Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Chairman Earl Devaney announced today the release of a Presidential Memorandum directing agencies to further intensify their efforts to improve reporting compliance by recipients of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. The Recovery Act requires recipients of funds to submit quarterly reports on how they are putting the funds to work. In the most recent quarter, the vast majority of recipients complied with the law, submitting spending reports on 65,429 Recovery awards. At the same time, however, recipients failed to file 1,036 reports. The Presidential Memorandum directs agencies to improve accountability for enforcing compliance with reporting requirements by reporting the identities of noncompliant recipients of Recovery Act funding. A copy of this Presidential Memorandum is attached.

“After more than a year implementing the Recovery Act, I can proudly say that we’re not only creating jobs across the country, but doing so responsibly and with a level of transparency never before seen in this town,” Vice President Biden said. “This Presidential Memorandum will continue to make sure that every dollar is accounted for and every official is held accountable.”

“I have been a strong advocate of compliance measures that would encourage recipients of Recovery funds to submit their spending reports to the Recovery Board, as required by the Recovery Act,” Recovery Board Chairman Devaney said. “The President’s decision to issue a memorandum to the senior officials of executive departments and agencies will go a long way toward helping the Board achieve our goal of 100 percent compliance.”

As the current recipient reporting period began on April 1^st, the President issued a memorandum directing agencies to be aggressive in going after recipients who do not report. This Memorandum strongly reinforces the Administration’s emphasis on accountability and requires agencies to intensify their efforts by, wherever authorized and appropriate, terminating awards, reclaiming misused funds or pursuing suspension and disbarment of non-reporting grant recipients and contractors.

The independent Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with two goals. First, to provide transparency in relation to the use of Recovery-related funds. And second, to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and mismanagement. The Board maintains a “Recovery Operations Center” (ROC) designed to identify and combat potential fraudulent activities. Earl E. Devaney was appointed by President Obama to serve as chairman of the Recovery Board. Twelve Inspectors General from various federal agencies serve with Chairman Devaney.

###

Download now or preview on posterous

2010noncompliance.mem.rel.pdf (15 KB)

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THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press...

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:48:30 -0400

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2010

President Obama Announces Recess Appointments to Key Administration Positions
Fifteen Appointees Have Waited an Average of 214 Days for Senate Confirmation

WASHINGTON –After facing months of Republican obstruction to administration nominees, President Obama announced his intent to recess appoint fifteen nominees to fill critical administration posts that have been left vacant, including key positions on the economic team and on boards that have been left with vacancies for months.

“The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees. But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis,” said President Barack Obama. “Most of the men and women whose appointments I am announcing today were approved by Senate committees months ago, yet still await a vote of the Senate. At a time of economic emergency, two top appointees to the Department of Treasury have been held up for nearly six months. I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.”

Following their appointment, these nominees will remain in the Senate for confirmation.

Obama Administration appointees have faced an unprecedented level of obstruction in the Senate.

·         President Obama currently has a total of 217 nominees pending before the Senate. These nominees have been pending for an average of 101 days, including 34 nominees pending for more than 6 months.

·         The 15 nominees President Obama intends to recess appoint have been pending for an average of 214 days or 7 months for a total of 3204 days or almost 9 years.

President Bush had made 15 recess appointments by this point in his presidency, but he was not facing the same level of obstruction. At this time in 2002, President Bush had only 5 nominees pending on the floor. By contrast, President Obama has 77 nominees currently pending on the floor, 58 of whom have been waiting for over two weeks and 44 of those have been waiting more than a month.
The President announced his intention to recess appoint the following nominees:

Jeffrey Goldstein: Nominee for Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Department of the Treasury
Jeffrey Goldstein is a former Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman LLC, a private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Mr. Goldstein served at the World Bank from 1999 to 2004, where he served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer. He oversaw the Bank’s work with its client countries in strengthening financial and capital market systems. Mr. Goldstein was the Bank’s point person on the International Development Association (IDA). He also helped lead the Bank’s relationship with the G-8 countries.   As Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for the Bank’s financial operations and budget. He was the Bank’s representative on the Financial Stability Forum and on the International Monetary Fund’s Capital Markets Consultative Group and Chairman of the Pension Finance Committee. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Goldstein was Co-Chairman of BT Wolfensohn and a member of the Bankers Trust Company Management Committee. He held senior management positions and worked with BT Wolfensohn and its predecessor, James D. Wolfensohn Incorporated, for more than 15 years. Early in his career, Mr. Goldstein taught economics at Princeton University and worked at the Brookings Institution and the U. S. Department of the Treasury. Mr. Goldstein received his Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. in economics from Yale University. He received his B.A. with honors in economics from Vassar College (Phi Beta Kappa) and attended the London School of Economics. Mr. Goldstein is a member of the Board of LPL Holdings Inc., AlixPartners LLP and Grosvenor Capital Management and the Board of Trustees of the International Center for Research on Women. He is also on the Board of Trustees of Vassar College and is Chairman of the Vassar College Investments Committee. He is also a member of the Brookings Institution Global Leadership Council, The London School of Economics North American Advisory Board and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Michael F. Mundaca: Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Department of the Treasury
Michael F. Mundaca currently is Senior Advisor for Policy within the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy and the Acting Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. Mr. Mundaca served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton Administration and returned to the Treasury Department in 2007, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs. Before that appointment, he was a partner for five years in the International Tax Services group of Ernst & Young’s National Tax Department, in Washington, D.C. His practice focused on cross-border planning and structuring, including especially tax treaty issues, and on international legislative and regulatory monitoring and consulting. Before joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Mundaca served for over five years in Treasury’s Office of the International Tax Counsel, leaving as the Deputy International Tax Counsel. He was also Treasury’s Senior Advisor on Electronic Commerce. Prior to that first stint in Treasury, he was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell, a law firm in New York. Mr. Mundaca has been an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a seminar on tax treaties. Mr. Mundaca received a B.A. in philosophy and in physics from Columbia University, in 1986, and an M.A.in philosophy from the University of Chicago, in 1988. He received a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), in 1992, where he was Senior Executive Editor of The California Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He also has an LL.M., in taxation (international tax specialization), from the University of Miami.

Eric L. Hirschhorn: Nominee for Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration and head of the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce
Eric Hirschhorn, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Winston & Strawn LLP, long has been active in the areas of international law, litigation, and professional responsibility. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce (1980-81), Mr. Hirschhorn oversaw U.S. export controls for items having commercial as well as military applications, antiboycott compliance, restraints on imports for national security reasons, and the Department’s participation in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Earlier, while a member of President Jimmy Carter’s reorganization project staff (1977-80), he worked on reorganizing the government’s international trade, public diplomacy, and foreign assistance mechanisms. Before working in the Executive branch, Mr. Hirschhorn held several congressional staff positions, was in private law practice in New York City, and was a legal services lawyer. Mr. Hirschhorn has represented clients on a wide range of commercial and regulatory matters since returning to private law practice in 1981. He is Executive Secretary of the Industry Coalition on Technology Transfer (ICOTT), a group whose industry participants are affected by U.S. export control and embargo rules. He is the author of The Export Control and Embargo Handbook, Second Edition, published in 2004, and numerous articles on export controls, embargoes and related topics. He chairs the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee and is a member (and former chair) of the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee. He also is a member of the New York City Bar Association and the Thurgood Marshall American Inn of Court. Mr. Hirschhorn received his B.A. degree from the University of Chicago and a J.D. degree from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Michael Punke: Nominee for Deputy Trade Representative - Geneva, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Michael Punke has worked in the field of international trade law and policy for two decades. From 1995 to 1996, Punke served as Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. There, he advised the USTR on issues ranging from agricultural trade to intellectual property protection. From 1993 to 1995, Punke served at the White House as Director for International Economic Affairs with a joint appointment to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. His responsibilities included assisting in the management of the interagency process. From 1991 to 1992, Punke was International Trade Counsel to Senator Max Baucus, then Chairman of the Finance Committee’s International Trade Subcommittee. Punke has also worked on international trade issues from the private sector, including as a partner at the Washington, D.C., office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe, & Maw. From 2003 to 2009, Punke advised clients on trade issues through out of Missoula, Montana. Since January 2010, Punke has served as a Consultant to the U.S. Trade Representative. He also has worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Montana and as a writer, authoring a novel, two books of nonfiction, and two screenplays. Punke is a graduate of George Washington University and Cornell Law School, where he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell International Law Journal.

Francisco “Frank” J. Sánchez: Nominee for Under Secretary for International Trade, Department of Commerce
Francisco J. Sánchez currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on international trade issues. He served as a Policy Advisor on Latin America to the Obama For America campaign. He was also the Chairman of the campaign’s National Hispanic Leadership Council. In 1999, Sanchez became a Special Assistant to President Clinton, working in the Office of the Special Envoy for the Americas. While at the White House, Sanchez worked with the National Security Council, the State Department and the U.S. Trade Representative. Clinton later appointed Sánchez as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Transportation where he developed aviation policy and oversaw international negotiations. Prior to his work in the federal government, Sánchez practiced corporate and administrative law with the firm of Steel, Hector and Davis in Miami, Florida. Before practicing law, he served in the administration of former Florida Governor (and later U.S. Senator) Bob Graham, as the first director of the state’s Caribbean Basin Initiative Program. For the last 15 years, Sanchez has worked with several consulting companies on projects involving complex transactions, labor-management negotiations, litigation settlement, negotiation strategy, alliance management, facilitation and training, most recently as a partner with CM Partners. Among his public-sector engagements, Sánchez headed a team in Medellín, Colombia as part of a “Teaching Tolerance” program. He also advised the president of Ecuador in negotiations to settle the 56-year-old border dispute with Peru. He is a contributing author to Negociación 2000, a collection of essays on negotiation published by McGraw-Hill. A Florida native, Mr. Sánchez attended the University of Florida, received his undergraduate and law degrees from Florida State University and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Islam A. Siddiqui: Nominee for Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Islam A. Siddiqui is currently Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, where he is responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals. Previously, Dr. Siddiqui also served as CropLife America’s Vice President for agricultural biotechnology and trade. From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Siddiqui served in various capacities in the Clinton Administration at U.S. Department of Agriculture as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Senior Trade Advisor to Secretary Dan Glickman and Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. As a result, he worked closely with the USTR and represented USDA in bilateral, regional and multi-lateral agricultural trade negotiations. Since 2004, Dr. Siddiqui has also served on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Health/Science Products & Services, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and USTR on international trade issues related to these sectors. Between 2001 and 2003, Dr. Siddiqui was appointed as Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he focused on agricultural biotechnology and food security issues. Before joining USDA, Dr. Siddiqui spent 28 years with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He received a B.S. degree in plant protection from Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University in Pantnagar, India, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant pathology, both from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Alan D. Bersin: Nominee for Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
Alan Bersin was appointed by Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano in April, 2009 as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In that capacity, he serves as the Secretary’s lead representative on Border Affairs and Mexico, for developing DHS strategy regarding security, immigration, narcotics, and trade matters affecting Mexico and for coordinating the Secretary’s security initiatives on the nation’s borders. Prior to his current service, Bersin served as Chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Previously, Mr. Bersin served as California’s Secretary of Education between July 2005 and December 2006 in the Administration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Between 1998 and 2005, he served as Superintendent of Public Education in San Diego and from 2000 to 2003 served as a member and then Chairman of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Prior to becoming the leader of the nation’s eighth largest urban school district, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California and confirmed in that capacity by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Bersin served as U.S. Attorney for nearly five years and as the Attorney General’s Southwest Border Representative responsible for coordinating federal law enforcement on the border from South Texas to Southern California. Mr. Bersin previously was a senior partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson. Mr. Bersin received his A.B. in Government from Harvard University (magna cum laude) and attended Balliol College at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1974, he received his J.D. degree from the Yale Law School.:

Jill Long Thompson: Nominee for Member, Farm Credit Administration Board
Jill Long Thompson is a former Member of the United States House of Representatives and the former Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. She also served as Chief Executive Officer and Senior Fellow at The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, a not-for-profit, non-advocacy research and policy organization. She is the first and only woman to be nominated by a major party to run for Governor in Indiana, as well as the first and only Hoosier woman to be nominated by a major party to run for the United States Senate. Long Thompson joined the faculty at Valparaiso University in 1981 and in 1983 was elected to the City Council. In 1989 Long Thompson was elected to represent Northeast Indiana in Congress. She went on to serve three terms in the House, where she was a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. She introduced one of the nation’s first pieces of legislation banning Members of Congress from accepting gifts and expanding the disclosure requirements for lobbying activities. After leaving Congress, Long Thompson was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. In her five years at USDA, she oversaw a $10 billion annual budget and 7,000 employees while managing a number of programs that provide services to the underserved areas of rural America. Long Thompson earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Valparaiso University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Business from the Kelley School at Indiana University.

Rafael Borras: Nominee for Under Secretary for Management , Department of Homeland Security
Rafael Borras currently serves as a Vice President, Construction Services, for the Mid-Atlantic Region with URS Corporation, a global engineering services firm. Prior to joining the URS, Mr. Borras served as the Regional Administrator for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the U.S. General Services Administration. Prior to serving in this position, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Borras also served as Deputy City Manager in the City of Hartford, Connecticut, where he was responsible for the departments of finance, police, fire, code enforcement, information technology, purchasing, budget, and human relations. Mr. Borras began his public sector career with Metropolitan Dade County Government, serving in the Office of the County Administrator as an administrative officer.

Craig Becker: Nominee for Board Member, National Labor Relations Board
Craig Becker currently serves as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1978 and received his J.D. in 1981 from Yale Law School where he was an Editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school he clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. For the past 27 years, he has practiced and taught labor law.   He was a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law between 1989 and 1994 and has also taught at the University of Chicago and Georgetown Law Schools. He has published numerous articles on labor and employment law in scholarly journals, including the Harvard Law Review and Chicago Law Review, and has argued labor and employment cases in virtually every federal court of appeals and before the United States Supreme Court.

Mark Pearce: Nominee for Board Member, National Labor Relations Board
Mark Gaston Pearce has been a labor lawyer for his entire career. He is one of the founding partners of the Buffalo, New York law firm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen & Giroux where he practices union side labor and employment law before state and federal courts and agencies including the N.Y.S. Public Employment Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board. Pearce in 2008 was appointed by the NYS Governor to serve as a Board Member on the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, an independent quasi-judicial agency responsible for review of certain rulings and compliance orders of the NYS Department of Labor in matters including wage and hour law. Pearce has taught several courses in the labor studies program at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations Extension.   He is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Prior to 2002, Pearce practiced union side labor law and employment law at Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury & Cambria LLP. From 1979 to 1994, he was an attorney and District Trial Specialist for the NLRB in Buffalo, NY. Pearce received his J.D. from State University of New York, and his B.A. from Cornell University.

Jacqueline A. Berrien, Nominee for Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Ms. Berrien has served as Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) since September 2004. In that position, she assists with the direction and implementation of LDF’s national legal advocacy and scholarship programs. Ms. Berrien served from 2001 to 2004 as a Program Officer in the Ford Foundation’s Peace and Social Justice Program, where she administered more than $13 million of grants to promote greater political participation by underrepresented groups and remove barriers to civic engagement. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Ms. Berrien was an Assistant Counsel with LDF and directed the Fund’s voting rights and political participation work. For eight years before that, Ms. Berrien was a staff attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union. Berrien has also taught in trial advocacy programs at Fordham and Harvard law schools and served on the adjunct faculty of New York Law School. She began her legal career clerking for the Honorable U.W. Clemon, the first African-American appointed to the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama. Ms. Berrien is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as a General Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors in Government from Oberlin College and also completed a major in English.

Chai R. Feldblum: Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Chai Feldblum is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center where she has taught since 1991. She also founded the Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, a program designed to train students to become legislative lawyers. Feldblum previously served as Legislative Counsel to the AIDS Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. In this role, she developed legislation, analyzed policy on various AIDS-related issues, and played a leading role in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and, later as a law professor, in the passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. She has also worked on advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and has been a leading expert on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. As Co-Director of Workplace Flexibility 2010, Feldblum has worked to advance flexible workplaces in a manner that works for employees and employers. Feldblum clerked for Judge Frank Coffin and for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Barnard College.

Victoria A. Lipnic: Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Victoria A. Lipnic is of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Ms. Lipnic was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from 2002 until 2009. In addition to her work with the Department of Labor, Ms. Lipnic’s experience in Washington, D.C. includes service as Workforce Policy Counsel to the Republican members of the Education and Labor Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before her work for Congress, Ms. Lipnic acted as in-house counsel for labor and employment matters to the U.S. Postal Service for six years. She also served as a special assistant for business liaison to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Honorable Malcolm Baldrige. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Allegheny College and a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law.

P. David Lopez: Nominee for General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
David Lopez has served at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for 13 years in the field and at headquarters. He began at the EEOC in 1994 as a Special Assistant to Commissioner Casellas. Currently, Mr. Lopez is a Supervisory Trial Attorney with the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office. During his tenure, Mr. Lopez has successfully tried several cases on behalf of the EEOC in a wide variety of legal bases. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Lopez served at the Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section, at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1994. From 1988 to 1991, he was an Associate with Spiegel and McDiarmid. Mr. Lopez received a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988 and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Arizona State University in 1985, magna cum laude.

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Who got pens after Obama signed health care reform?

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:27:28 -0400

Via Paul West of the Baltimore Sun:

1. Reid

2. Durbin

3. Baucus

4. Harkin

5. Dodd

6. Speaker

7. Hoyer

8. Clyburn

9. Miller

10. Waxman

11. Levin

12. Dingell

13. Rangel

14. Vice President Biden

15. Sebelius

16. Vicki Kennedy

17. Nancy-Ann DeParle

18. Phil Schiliro

19. Sister Keehan

20. President Obama

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press...

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:13:00 -0400

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release March 21, 2010

STATEMENT FROM COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR DAN PFEIFFER

Today, the President announced that he will be issuing an executive order after the passage of the health insurance reform law that will reaffirm its consistency with longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion.

While the legislation as written maintains current law, the executive order provides additional safeguards to ensure that the status quo is upheld and enforced, and that the health care legislation’s restrictions against the public funding of abortions cannot be circumvented.

The President has said from the start that this health insurance reform should not be the forum to upset longstanding precedent. The health care legislation and this executive order are consistent with this principle.

The President is grateful for the tireless efforts of leaders on both sides of this issue to craft a consensus approach that allows the bill to move forward.

A text of the pending executive order follows:

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- - - - - - -

ENSURING ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ABORTION RESTRICTIONS IN THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (approved March __, 2010), I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Policy.
Following the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“the Act”), it is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), consistent with a longstanding Federal statutory restriction that is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment. The purpose of this Executive Order is to establish a comprehensive, government-wide set of policies and procedures to achieve this goal and to make certain that all relevant actors—Federal officials, state officials (including insurance regulators) and health care providers—are aware of their responsibilities, new and old.

The Act maintains current Hyde Amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those restrictions to the newly-created health insurance exchanges. Under the Act, longstanding Federal laws to protect conscience (such as the Church Amendment, 42 U.S.C. §300a-7, and the Weldon Amendment, Pub. L. No. 111-8, §508(d)(1) (2009)) remain intact and new protections prohibit discrimination against health care facilities and health care providers because of an unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.

Numerous executive agencies have a role in ensuring that these restrictions are enforced, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Section 2. Strict Compliance with Prohibitions on Abortion Funding in Health Insurance Exchanges. The Act specifically prohibits the use of tax credits and cost-sharing reduction payments to pay for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered) in the health insurance exchanges that will be operational in 2014. The Act also imposes strict payment and accounting requirements to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services in exchange plans (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered) and requires state health insurance commissioners to ensure that exchange plan funds are segregated by insurance companies in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, OMB funds management circulars, and accounting guidance provided by the Government Accountability Office.

I hereby direct the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS to develop, within 180 days of the date of this Executive Order, a model set of segregation guidelines for state health insurance commissioners to use when determining whether exchange plans are complying with the Act’s segregation requirements, established in Section 1303 of the Act, for enrollees receiving Federal financial assistance. The guidelines shall also offer technical information that states should follow to conduct independent regular audits of insurance companies that participate in the health insurance exchanges. In developing these model guidelines, the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS shall consult with executive agencies and offices that have relevant expertise in accounting principles, including, but not limited to, the Department of the Treasury, and with the Government Accountability Office. Upon completion of those model guidelines, the Secretary of HHS should promptly initiate a rulemaking to issue regulations, which will have the force of law, to interpret the Act’s segregation requirements, and shall provide guidance to state health insurance commissioners on how to comply with the model guidelines.

Section 3. Community Health Center Program.
The Act establishes a new Community Health Center (CHC) Fund within HHS, which provides additional Federal funds for the community health center program. Existing law prohibits these centers from using federal funds to provide abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), as a result of both the Hyde Amendment and longstanding regulations containing the Hyde language. Under the Act, the Hyde language shall apply to the authorization and appropriations of funds for Community Health Centers under section 10503 and all other relevant provisions. I hereby direct the Secretary of HHS to ensure that program administrators and recipients of Federal funds are aware of and comply with the limitations on abortion services imposed on CHCs by existing law. Such actions should include, but are not limited to, updating Grant Policy Statements that accompany CHC grants and issuing new interpretive rules.

Section 4. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law or presidential directive to an agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This Executive Order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This Executive Order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Sketchiest absentee ballot ever. Where the label for...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:12:03 -0500

Sketchiest absentee ballot ever. Where the label for “WRITE IN” is literally written in.

Another VPOTUS Motorcade Incident

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:15:00 -0500

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
February 15, 2010

STATEMENT FROM JAY CARNEY, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT

Below is a statement from Jay Carney, Communications Director for Vice President Biden, regarding a motor vehicle incident earlier today
in Vancouver.

“Earlier this afternoon, a van in the Vice President’s
motorcade carrying members of the official US Olympic Games Delegation was involved in a minor accident while traveling to an event. Two
members of the delegation, Peggy Fleming and Vonetta Flowers, received
minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital as a precaution. They were both evaluated and have since been released. Neither the Vice President nor anyone else in his party was involved in the incident.”

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