Pelosi ‘Clearly’ Backs 14th Amendment Option In Debt Standoff, Congressman Reports
August 1, 2011 No Comment
WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may not be pushing the issue publicly, but in private she “clearly” supports President Barack Obama using the Constitution to raise the debt ceiling as a last resort, according to one Democratic member of Congress. “Nancy clearly wants it,” said the lawmaker, who requested anonymity. “Publicly? No. Privately? She thinks the president should do it. Period.” Several top Democrats have endorsed the idea in recent days as an eleventh hour solution: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) backed the option on Wednesday, and House Democratic Caucus chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) and Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) emerged from a Monday Caucus meeting announcing their support for the idea as well. But Pelosi, the highest-ranking House Democrat, has been mum. One possible reason is that she has to preserve the image that Congress will reach a deal before the situation even gets to that point. The provision at the heart of the constitutional debate, Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, states: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” Essentially, Democrats are arguing that since the “public debt” cannot be questioned, then the debt ceiling itself is unconstitutional. A Pelosi aide said he hasn’t heard the Minority Leader endorse the constitutional option to any lawmakers. “But who knows,” said the aide. “Our official line is her energy is focused on getting a balanced deal.” That “deal,” of course, remains nonexistent. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met with Obama for nearly two hours on Saturday afternoon, shortly after the House voted down Reid’s debt ceiling proposal. Reid took to the Senate floor afterward to knock Republicans for refusing to negotiate and said “the process has not been moved forward during this day.” The crumbling state of discussions over how to raise the debt ceiling by August 2, when the government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills, is causing a growing number of Democrats to nervously turn their attention to the constitutional option as a possible way of averting default. Meanwhile, the White House insists the option remains off the table, citing concerns with Obama’s legal authority to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval. The issue “came up” during a Democratic Caucus meeting on Saturday, Del. Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands) told The Huffington Post, but was not considered a viable option “for today.” “It’s one I don’t like, and I know the president has said he doesn’t like,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “But if that’s what it takes to prevent the country from catastrophic default, I think at the very last minute, I think that’s something the president’s going to have to consider.” When asked if he is optimistic that Congress can reach a deal by August 2, Connolly replied with a resounding “no.” “I think we’re coming down the wire and the other side is essentially enthralled to a very narrow orthodoxy that doesn’t allow them, ultimately, to recognize their obligations to the United States,” he said. “I’m very concerned about that.” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the former chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, charged forward on Saturday, filing a resolution with a group of progressive Democrats calling on Obama to take the constitutional route as a last resort. “I think it’s essential” that Obama be prepared to invoke the 14th Amendment, Nadler told The Huffington Post. “I’m dubious that anybody can come to any agreement that can pass both houses.” Asked if such action would only give ammunition to critics ready to call for Obama’s impeachment — this time for potentially violating the Constitution — Nadler replied, “Let them try. Let them try.” The New York Democrat wondered aloud how much of the president’s insistence that the option is off the table is for show, given that he needs to convey that the situation won’t come to that point. “It’s something he should say,” Nadler said of Obama’s rejection of the 14th Amendment option. “But the fact is, legally, I think it’s doable.” The increasing anxiety about an endgame was evident during Saturday’s House debate. In the minutes before the House rejected Reid’s debt proposal, some Democrats used their floor time to urge Obama to step in. “The president needs to pull the 14th Amendment,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said. “I think he should, because the Republicans have shown no sign of compromise.”
Continue reading …Pelosi ‘Clearly’ Backs 14th Amendment Option In Debt Standoff, Congressman Reports
August 1, 2011 No Comment
WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may not be pushing the issue publicly, but in private she “clearly” supports President Barack Obama using the Constitution to raise the debt ceiling as a last resort, according to one Democratic member of Congress. “Nancy clearly wants it,” said the lawmaker, who requested anonymity. “Publicly? No. Privately? She thinks the president should do it. Period.” Several top Democrats have endorsed the idea in recent days as an eleventh hour solution: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) backed the option on Wednesday, and House Democratic Caucus chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) and Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) emerged from a Monday Caucus meeting announcing their support for the idea as well. But Pelosi, the highest-ranking House Democrat, has been mum. One possible reason is that she has to preserve the image that Congress will reach a deal before the situation even gets to that point. The provision at the heart of the constitutional debate, Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, states: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” Essentially, Democrats are arguing that since the “public debt” cannot be questioned, then the debt ceiling itself is unconstitutional. A Pelosi aide said he hasn’t heard the Minority Leader endorse the constitutional option to any lawmakers. “But who knows,” said the aide. “Our official line is her energy is focused on getting a balanced deal.” That “deal,” of course, remains nonexistent. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met with Obama for nearly two hours on Saturday afternoon, shortly after the House voted down Reid’s debt ceiling proposal. Reid took to the Senate floor afterward to knock Republicans for refusing to negotiate and said “the process has not been moved forward during this day.” The crumbling state of discussions over how to raise the debt ceiling by August 2, when the government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills, is causing a growing number of Democrats to nervously turn their attention to the constitutional option as a possible way of averting default. Meanwhile, the White House insists the option remains off the table, citing concerns with Obama’s legal authority to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval. The issue “came up” during a Democratic Caucus meeting on Saturday, Del. Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands) told The Huffington Post, but was not considered a viable option “for today.” “It’s one I don’t like, and I know the president has said he doesn’t like,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “But if that’s what it takes to prevent the country from catastrophic default, I think at the very last minute, I think that’s something the president’s going to have to consider.” When asked if he is optimistic that Congress can reach a deal by August 2, Connolly replied with a resounding “no.” “I think we’re coming down the wire and the other side is essentially enthralled to a very narrow orthodoxy that doesn’t allow them, ultimately, to recognize their obligations to the United States,” he said. “I’m very concerned about that.” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the former chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, charged forward on Saturday, filing a resolution with a group of progressive Democrats calling on Obama to take the constitutional route as a last resort. “I think it’s essential” that Obama be prepared to invoke the 14th Amendment, Nadler told The Huffington Post. “I’m dubious that anybody can come to any agreement that can pass both houses.” Asked if such action would only give ammunition to critics ready to call for Obama’s impeachment — this time for potentially violating the Constitution — Nadler replied, “Let them try. Let them try.” The New York Democrat wondered aloud how much of the president’s insistence that the option is off the table is for show, given that he needs to convey that the situation won’t come to that point. “It’s something he should say,” Nadler said of Obama’s rejection of the 14th Amendment option. “But the fact is, legally, I think it’s doable.” The increasing anxiety about an endgame was evident during Saturday’s House debate. In the minutes before the House rejected Reid’s debt proposal, some Democrats used their floor time to urge Obama to step in. “The president needs to pull the 14th Amendment,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said. “I think he should, because the Republicans have shown no sign of compromise.”
Continue reading …A Quarter of Men Would Only Date A Subordinate Coworker — And Other Findings From The Great Male/Female Survey 2011
August 1, 2011 No Comment
It’s 2011 right? Sometimes we need to check when surveys like the AskMen’s 2011 Great Male Survey, turn up some incredibly old-fashioned results. Odds are fairly good that sometime over the course of your career you’ll meet someone at work whom you’d like to date. After all, you do spend most of your time there. But as Business Insider reports, 27 percent of men said they would only date someone in their office in a lower level position. And we thought power was supposed to be a turn on? More than 70,000 men from Canada, the United States, the U.K. and Australia took the survey, weighing in with their thoughts on how the “modern man” thinks and behaves. 45 percent of participants said they’ve never dated a co-worker because it’s a really bad idea, but 56 percent said they’d sleep with a coworker if the opportunity arose (sleeping with someone and actually dating them being two way different things). But what the results of this survey really show is that we just aren’t as progressive as we like to think. Earlier this week we reported that the same survey found that 50 percent of men said they would dump a partner who gained extra weight. Comparatively, the survey’s partner poll of 13,000 women by Cosmopolitan found that 20 percent of women would do the same. As though to further prove how far we haven’t come, the survey also found that 34 percent of men said a women becomes “promiscuous” when she sleeps with her tenth partner and 32 percent said they wouldn’t call her promiscuous until she bedded 20 people. It’s worth noting that AskMen’s and Cosmopolitian’s Great Female Survey 2011 asked the same question, with 38 percent of women saying that a man becomes a “man whore” after he sleeps with 20 partners and 37 percent said a woman becomes a “slut” when she reaches does the same. And in response to the ultimate question for the year of Charlie Sheen, “Which gender is winning?,” 55 percent of participants said it’s not a competition — which seems fairly obvious since some of these results suggest we are all losing.
Continue reading …A Quarter of Men Would Only Date A Subordinate Coworker — And Other Findings From The Great Male/Female Survey 2011
August 1, 2011 No CommentIt’s 2011 right? Sometimes we need to check when surveys like the AskMen’s 2011 Great Male Survey, turn up some incredibly old-fashioned results. Odds are fairly good that sometime over the course of your career you’ll meet someone at work whom you’d like to date. After all, you do spend most of your time there. But as Business Insider reports, 27 percent of men said they would only date someone in their office in a lower level position. And we thought power was supposed to be a turn on? More than 70,000 men from Canada, the United States, the U.K. and Australia took the survey, weighing in with their thoughts on how the “modern man” thinks and behaves. 45 percent of participants said they’ve never dated a co-worker because it’s a really bad idea, but 56 percent said they’d sleep with a coworker if the opportunity arose (sleeping with someone and actually dating them being two way different things). But what the results of this survey really show is that we just aren’t as progressive as we like to think. Earlier this week we reported that the same survey found that 50 percent of men said they would dump a partner who gained extra weight. Comparatively, the survey’s partner poll of 13,000 women by Cosmopolitan found that 20 percent of women would do the same. As though to further prove how far we haven’t come, the survey also found that 34 percent of men said a women becomes “promiscuous” when she sleeps with her tenth partner and 32 percent said they wouldn’t call her promiscuous until she bedded 20 people. It’s worth noting that AskMen’s and Cosmopolitian’s Great Female Survey 2011 asked the same question, with 38 percent of women saying that a man becomes a “man whore” after he sleeps with 20 partners and 37 percent said a woman becomes a “slut” when she reaches does the same. And in response to the ultimate question for the year of Charlie Sheen, “Which gender is winning?,” 55 percent of participants said it’s not a competition — which seems fairly obvious since some of these results suggest we are all losing.
Continue reading …A suspected drug cartel leader arrested in Mexico has confessed to ordering the killings of 1,500 people, reports the BBC . Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, also known as El Diego, is the 33-year-old leader of the Juarez cartel La Linea, according to police. He’s also suspected of planning a notorious…
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kndhnews says: Surprise box office tie for “ Cowboys “, “ Smurfs ” – Yahoo! News http://t.co/TpPi5CV via @ YahooNews
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amanda knox / DNA expert testifies in Amanda Knox case Knox experts given extra time to review evidence Knox DNA Analyzed iWorldNewsPress says: Amanda Knox DNA call sparks legal battle by forensic experts, responsible: Amanda Knox will let Court Perugia tw… http://bit.ly/oxtDQb
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Mitch Winehouse meets Home Office minister to discuss gap in residential treatment services for young drug addicts Amy Winehouse’s father, Mitch, is meeting the Home Office minister James Brokenshire to discuss plans to set up a drug rehabilitation centre in his daughter’s name. Winehouse is being joined by his daughter’s managers, Raye Cosbert and Trenton Harrison-Lee, and Sarah Graham, a former cocaine user and addiction expert, to highlight a gap in residential treatment services for young people who cannot afford private treatment. A family spokesman said Mitch Winehouse felt strongly about the fact that addicts can face a wait of up to two years for NHS treatment. “He realised that if the family didn’t have money for Priory-style treatment it would be difficult to get help,” the spokesman said. Graham said: “We didn’t know it [Amy's death] was going to happen but we hope it will show people that addiction is something that can kill people when they are very young and that we should not wait until it is too late.” She said most treatment was not residential but accessed in the community. “Rehabilitation is more expensive than treatment in the community but in reality most desperate young people cannot access it,” she said. “It might be because their dealer meets them at the school gates or it could be that they are getting abused at home.” Mitch Winehouse met Graham when they both gave evidence to the Commons home affairs committee in October 2009. Graham said Britain’s only NHS rehabilitation centre for young people – at Middlegate in Nettleton, Lincolnshire – closed last year. Winehouse said in his eulogy at his daughter’s funeral last week that Amy had just completed three weeks of abstinence and may have struggled to deal with the sudden withdrawal. A postmortem examination proved inconclusive and an inquest was open and adjourned with no cause of death given. Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, who is also meeting Winehouse on Monday, said: “Mitch Winehouse gave powerful evidence to the home affairs select committee during our inquiry into drugs in 2009. Drawing on his personal experience he highlighted the long delay in accessing treatment for those with addiction. Two years on we need to revisit this issue to see if anything has improved. I am very happy to help Mitch in any way I can with his important campaign to help rehabilitate those most vulnerable in our society.” Paul Hayes, chief executive of the National Treatment Agency, has said the popular image of luxury rehab, beloved of celebrities and the tabloids, is not representative of the mainstream treatment and recovery services provided in Britain by the NHS and charities. “These services are widely available and for some years now official statistics have confirmed that more than nine out of 10 patients wait less than three weeks for treatment in England. There is an ongoing challenge for the system to respond flexibly to patient choice and ensure that people with drug problems are helped to become free of addiction in the most clinically appropriate way as quickly as they might wish,” said Hayes. He insisted there was a clear trend towards fewer young people needing treatment. But Simon Antrobus, of the treatment provider Addaction, said his organisation’s ability to provide support was at risk as funding for some community-based services had been cut by as much as 50%. “While it is good to see that fewer young people are using drugs and alcohol, we cannot become complacent. We need to ensure that specialist support remains available for everyone who encounters problems, whether it is the person themselves or the family around them,” Antrobus said. Amy Winehouse Drugs policy Drugs Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A Washington mom is horrified that her teenage sons will be living with a stepmother convicted of shooting to death her two young daughters. The boys will stay with their biological dad and his first wife, Kristine Cushing, convicted 20 years ago of killing their daughters, 7 and 8 years…
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MLB Trade Rumors: Wandy Rodriguez Still Could Go??? mlb trade rumors: Ubaldo Jimenez Traded to Indians NFL Free Agency/ MLB Trade Deadline mylovelyjenny says: MLB Trade Rumors : Drew Storen Stays With Nationals As Trade Deadline Passes, http://wongrantau.info/2011/08/01/ mlb – trade – rumors -drew-sto…
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