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Monday, February 27, 2012

Giffords border legislation heads to White House

In a few brief seconds Thursday, the Senate joined in the farewell celebration for Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who resigned from the House on Wednesday a year after the Tucson shootings that left six dead and 13 injured.

Late Thursday, by unanimous consent, the Senate approved her legislation that imposes tougher penalties on cross-border smugglers of drugs, an issue that has been in the spotlight for several years in her southern Arizona district.

Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords stood among cheering, crying House colleagues to say goodbye Wednesday. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“What a wonderful statement that was made by members of the House yesterday, signifying the great courage the whole country feels for this great woman. … We all wish her the best,” Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said after the last bill authored by Giffords was approved. It now goes to President Obama for his signature, following Wednesday’s 408-to-0 vote in the House also approving the bill.

The House vote came amid an emotional send-off Wednesday for the lawmaker, who has made remarkable strides after being shot in the head but announced last week that she needs to devote herself full-time to her recovery.

Security has become a central issue along the Arizona-Mexico border following several high-profile shootings. Giffords had previously won support of border legislation in August 2010, which she touted in her tough reelection victory that November.

This new legislation takes aim at smugglers who use low-flying ultra-light planes to cross the border and deliver drugs. According to her office, the bill eliminates a loophole that targeted drug smuggling by car and airplane. It would, her office said, “establish the same penalties for trafficking, whether by plane, automobile or ultra light: up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.”

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Gabrielle Giffords formally resigns from the House in emotional farewell

At 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, a wave of applause rippled through the House of Representatives.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) had begun making her way up the center aisle, clasping the left hand of Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) in her right, pausing every now and then to give an embrace or a kiss on the cheek to the dozens of lawmakers who had come to wish her farewell.

By the end of the day, Giffords would no longer be a member of the House.

A year after that fateful day when a gunman opened fire at a Tucson “Congress On Your Corner” event, killing six and wounding 13 including Giffords, the Arizona Democrat had accomplished a goal that has eluded most every lawmaker on Capitol Hill.

She had brought a brief moment of unity to one of the most bitterly partisan and contentious Congresses in modern history.

It was evident in the House’s 408-to-zero vote Wednesday morning on the last measure authored by Giffords, a bill that would give federal law enforcement greater authority in combating cross-border drug trafficking.

Giffords and a fellow Arizona lawmaker, Rep. Jeff Flake (R), this week introduced the measure, which is a new version of a Giffords bill that overwhelmingly passed the House in 2010 but was not taken up by the Senate.

It was also evident in a first for the House chamber on Wednesday: One morning after sitting in the first lady’s box for President Obama’s State of the Union address, Giffords’s husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, was seated with Giffords’s mother in House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) box on the opposite side of the chamber for the farewell ceremony.

According to House Press Gallery staff, it was the first time ever that a guest had sat one night in the president’s box and the following morning in the box of a speaker of the opposing party.

And the unity was clear in the emotional tributes made by members of both parties to Giffords, her family, and staff, including the congresswoman’s chief of staff, Pia Carusone, who sat in the row behind the lawmaker for Wednesday morning’s farewell.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), one of Giffords’s closest friends in Congress, called the lawmaker “the brightest star this Congress has ever seen.”

“She has brought the word ‘dignity’ to new heights,” Pelosi said, as Wasserman Schultz, seated next to Giffords at the front of the Democratic side of the chamber, dabbed at her eyes.

House Majority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.), the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, praised Giffords and her family and thanked the congresswoman’s staff for their “exceptional service, dedication and, yes, courage.”

“Congresswoman Gabby Giffords’s strength against all odds serves and will continue to serve as an inspiration to all of us,” he said.

And House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) paid tribute to Giffords by noting that the congresswoman was injured while taking part in a constituent event in her home district, one of the cornerstones of American democracy.

“We have young men and women brave on the fields of Iraq, Afghanistan and other trouble spots in the world,” Hoyer said. “They are fighting for freedom and democracy. And too many of them are injured on those fields. Our beloved colleague, Gabrielle Giffords, was injured on the field in the exercise of that democracy.”

Hoyer continued that Giffords, in being injured, “has become an example for us, for all Americans – indeed, for all the world – of courage, of clarity and purpose, of grace, of responsibility, of a sense of duty, which she exercises to this day.”

Then, flanked by about a dozen other lawmakers, Giffords, Wasserman Schultz, and Rep. Dave Schweikert (R-Ariz.) made their way to the well of the House, where Wasserman Schultz – who was with Giffords when she opened her eyes for the first time after the Tucson shooting -- read the congresswoman’s resignation letter aloud.

“I know, being able to be Gabby’s voice today, that knowing her as well as I do, that the one thing that has not been said is that Gabby wants her constituents to know – her constituents who she loves so much in southern Arizona – that it has been the greatest professional privilege of her life to represent them ... and that this is only a pause in that public service, and that she will return one day,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Before going on to read Giffords’s letter, she added that “the most important thing to remember is that no matter what we argue about here on this floor or in this country, there is nothing more important than family and friendship.”

Giffords, aided by Wasserman Schultz, made her way to the rostrum, where she embraced Boehner and submitted her resignation letter to the speaker. The two clasped their hands and raised them into the air as the entire chamber, already on its feet and applauding, let out a loud cheer.

Boehner did not deliver remarks; his only public comment came in the form of a reminder to members about the dress code in the House. But he could be seen whispering something into Giffords’s ear shortly before she was led back down from the rostrum, and moments later, the lawmaker was swarmed once again by well-wishers, including a little girl who ran up the aisle on the Democratic side and embraced her.

After her anti-trafficking measure had sailed through the House, Giffords, Wasserman Schultz, Schweikert and other lawmakers made their way from the chamber to a private meeting with Pelosi and others.

Among the dozen or so people who greeted the congresswoman in the hallway just outside the chamber, flinging their arms around her and giving her kisses on the cheek, were a Capitol elevator operator and a Democratic cloakroom attendant.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” said Giffords as she hugged the cloakroom attendant, Ella Terry.

“I’m so proud of you,” a teary Terry said. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I miss you,” Giffords responded.

Asked later how she felt about reuniting with Giffords, Terry described the congresswoman’s recovery as “a miracle from God.”

“She’s as sweet as she could be,” Terry said. “She always wanted her toast. When they said her first word was ‘toast’ – and my sister’s been keeping up with her down south – I said, ‘Oh yeah, she must’ve wanted some toast, because that’s what she would ask us to do.’ She’d say, ‘Can you fix toast for me?’ And we’d say, ‘Sure, you can get your toast.’”

Schweikert said as he made his way down the hallway that it had been “a flood and mix of emotion” bidding farewell to his Arizona colleague.

“She has the sparkle in her eyes. She has that grin,” he said. “You could almost feel a great sense of sadness and joy, you know, that she was able to be there. But at the same time, you just have to sort of digest what happened and what she’s been through over a year. We see some great things, and you realize the miracle she is.”

Does he think that Giffords might one day return to Congress?

“Do not underestimate her,” he said. “I could almost see it in her eyes that this is just a temporary hiatus.”

View the original article here

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

House Democrats to Obama: ‘Let’s stay together’

CAMBRIDGE, Md. — House Democrats have a message for President Obama: Let’s stay together.

U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to deliver remarks at the House Democratic Issues Conference in Cambridge, Md., Jan. 27, 2012. (Jason Reed - Reuters) As Obama took the stage at a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay here to deliver remarks at the annual Democratic retreat, he told the more than 100 assembled lawmakers and their family members that he had just received a CD containing a recording of House Democrats singing their own version of the Al Green song, “Let’s Get Together.”

“All of you participated in a rendition of Al Green,” Obama said to cheers and applause from the assembled Democrats. Obama had famously belted out a line from the tune at a fundraiser last week at Harlem’s Apollo Theater.

Obama added that Democrats have “a reverend who can preach as good as Al Green in John Larson,” the House Democratic caucus chairman who delivered a rousing introduction of Obama on Friday.

A House Democratic aide confirmed that members recorded the song for Obama and said the choice was “a caucus decision.” Obama received the only copy of the song, according to the aide.

In remarks lasting less than half an hour, Obama rallied the House Democrats with a campaign-style speech in which he defended Democrats’ legislative accomplishments over the past three years, acknowledged that lawmakers have had to make some “tough decisions” and reprised many of the same arguments that he made in his Tuesday State of the Union address.

He opened with a nod to “soon-to-be-once-again speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi,” then argued that Democrats did what was necessary to save the country from economic collapse.

“We righted the ship,” he said. “We did not tip into a Great Depression. The auto industry was saved. Credit started flowing to small businesses again. And over the last 22 months, we have seen 3 million jobs created, the most jobs last year since 2005. ... A lot of that has to do with the tough decisions that you took.”

Obama and Democrats were dealt some good news Friday morning as newly-released figures showed that at the end of last year, the U.S. economy had grown at its fastest pace in 18 months.

Still, Obama’s approval rating has fallen from 54 percent this time last year to its current 48 percent, according to Washington Post/ABC News polling, a sign of the difficulty he will face as he seeks reelection in 2012.

In contrast to Vice President Joe Biden, who addressed the Democrats earlier Friday, Obama did not cite any congressional GOP leaders or members of the Republican presidential field by name. He noted only that “the other side doesn’t always believe in this agenda” and criticized Republicans broadly as “think(ing) the only subsides worth providing are subsidies to oil companies.”

He also argued that among the “tough decisions” Democrats had made were the recent legislative efforts to slice federal spending, hailing lawmakers for making “some of the toughest cuts we’ve ever made.”

When it comes to the military and other necessities, Obama said, “all those things cost money.”

“We’ve got to pay for them. And if we’re serious about paying for them, then yes we’ve got to cut out programs that don’t work. ... But we’ve also said at a certain point, you know what, everybody’s got to participate in this,” he said.

He argued against a “tax code full of loopholes for folks who don’t need them and weren’t even asking for them.” And he directly rebutted Republicans’ argument that Democrats are waging “class warfare” campaign based on the “politics of envy.”

“Nobody envies rich people,” Obama said. “Everybody wants to be rich. Everybody aspires to be rich, and everybody understands you’ve got to work hard ... The question is, are we creating opportunity for everybody, which requires some investments, and the question is, how do we pay for that?”

Of the GOP field, he said only that “when the other side decides who it is that they want to be their standard-bearer, then we’re going to have a robust debate about whose vision is more promising when it comes to moving this country forward.”

A year ago, relations between Obama and congressional Democrats had appeared strained, due to a contentious battle over a tax-cut deal during the 2010 lame duck session.

Now, that relationship appears to have thawed, if the enthusiastic reception Obama received on Friday was anything to go by.

“I believe in you guys,” Obama said. “You guys have had my back through some very tough times.”

View the original article here

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Marianne Gingrich says Newt eyed Callista as his ticket to the White House

Newt Gingrich’s second wife said in an interview aired Thursday by ABC News that her ex-husband has “answers to give” regarding his personal sexual life and that he saw his eventual third wife as his ticket to the presidency.

Marianne Gingrich’s interview with ABC’s “Nightline” program expounded on previously released excerpts in which she accused her ex-husband of requesting an “open marriage” toward the end of their relationship. She said he lacks the character to be president.

“If he’s running for president, he has answers to give,” Marianne Gingrich said.

She said Newt Gingrich engaged in an affair with his third wife, Callista, in the couple’s house in Washington.

“I found it during our conversations that it was occurring in my bedroom ... in my home,” Marianne Gingrich said, adding of her husband’s alleged open-marriage request: “That is not a marriage.”

She also said Gingrich has had designs on the presidency since he was forced out as speaker in the late 1990s, and that he said Callista was part of that effort.

“He did tell me once that she was going to help him become president,” Marianne Gingrich said.

Newt Gingrich responded to the allegations in Thursday night’s debate in South Carolina, deriding the media for focusing on the issue in the run-up to the Palmetto State’s primary on Saturday.

“I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like this,” Gingrich said, before issuing a blanket denial: “The story is false. Every personal friend that I had at that point knows that the story was false.”

ABC contacted Marianne after the debate, at which point she said she stands by her allegations and that “if he had really changed, he could have stepped up tonight and said he’s sorry, but he never has.”

In an interview with “Nightline” aired Thursday, Gingrich’s daughters, who are from his first marriage, said their father is a changed man.

“He’s a much different person than he was then,” Gingrich daughter Jackie Cushman said. “He’s grown. He’s gotten closer to God. His faith in God has grown. And I think what people need to remember is this happened a very long time ago. And we wish Marianne no ill will; we wish her the very best. But it happened a long time ago.”

ABC also presented FBI documents from a 1997 sting investigation in Paris with an arms dealer who was working with the government that allege Marianne Gingrich was part of a bribery scheme seeking a $10 million payment for the influence she could provide by virtue of her relationship with her husband. The charges were later dropped.

“This is all made-up, fabricated hogwash,” Marianne Gingrich told ABC. ”This is a convicted felon talking to people who have nothing to do with me.”

Asked whether she tried to sell her husband’s influence, Marianne Gingrich said, “heavens no.”

View the original article here

Action to be postponed on House bill targeting online piracy

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Action to be postponed on House bill targeting online piracy

View Photo Gallery — Who’s involved and what are the stakes?:?A look at the politicians, companies and lobbying groups involved in the dispute over the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Hayley Tsukayama,

The main sponsor of a House bill targeting online piracy announced Friday that he will postpone further action on the measure that has triggered fierce protests, blackouts from Internet sites and some rethinking among lawmakers.

The action by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) on the Stop Online Piracy Act came a couple of hours after Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said that he would delay a cloture vote on a similar Senate bill, the Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act.

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Kittens, freedom, soap:?Artists and graphic designers who are opposed to the Stop Online Piracy Act have created art to raise awareness of the bill, arguing that it could impinge on Internet freedom and their creativity.

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?Coordinated efforts to fight the proposed Stop Internet Privacy Act before Congress changed the face of the Internet on Jan. 18. Here’s a glimpse.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

White House got heads up on Solyndra’s pending layoff announcements

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White House got heads up on Solyndra’s pending layoff announcements

View Photo Gallery — ?Solyndra, a California solar company backed by a half-billion dollars in loan guarantees from the Obama administration, announced it was shutting its doors and laying off 1,100 employees.

Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Carol D. Leonnig and Joe Stephens,

Senior White House officials were warned that solar-panel-maker Solyndra planned to announce layoffs just before the hotly contested November 2010 midterm elections, newly released e-mails show.

The White House also got advance notice that the company had agreed to postpone delivering the politically damaging news, according to the e-mails provided Friday by a government source. Energy Department officials persuaded the company to delay the announcement until after Election Day.

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The newly released e-mails show the White House fretting about the bad news that was coming and discussing how to handle media questions about a company the Obama administration had made a showcase of in its effort to use taxpayer funds to create clean-energy jobs.

An Energy Department spokesman said Friday that the department has asked the inspector general to review the delayed announcement. The newly released documents contain no evidence that White House officials directed anyone to request the delay in publicizing that 200 Solyndra workers would lose their jobs.

“Not a good start for the first closed loan guarantee,” one White House climate official wrote of Solyndra on Oct. 29, 2010. One year earlier, the company had won a $535?million government-backed loan to build a new factory in Silicon Valley — the first loan the Obama administration had awarded in the program.

“No es bueno,” Heather Zichal, a top aide, wrote to White House climate czar Carol Browner on Oct. 27. “Sounds like they will make this announcement next week, but press is sniffing around so it may come out sooner.”

Obama had visited Solyndra’s California plant that May to praise its success, even though outside auditors were questioning whether the operation might collapse in debt. The president pledged that the government loan to the company, funded by stimulus money, would create 1,000 permanent jobs.

The company shut down operations in August 2011, and, as some administration officials feared, has been cited by critics as an example of political favoritism. Solyndra is under criminal investigation and also has been the subject of an 11-month congressional probe into whether politics played a role in the company’s selection to receive a federal loan. Leading investors in Solyndra were tied to a major Obama campaign fundraiser, Oklahoma billionaire George Kaiser.

The newly released e-mails cover the period leading up to the contentious 2010 midterm elections, when Democratic control of Congress was imperiled. The chief executive of Solyndra notified the Energy Department on Oct. 25 that he planned to announce layoffs at the company in three days.

The Energy Department asked the company to delay the announcement until Nov. 3, one day after the elections, previously released e-mails from company officials show.

A Solyndra investment adviser wrote at the time that department officials were pushing “very hard” for a delay until after the elections. The company made the announcement Nov. 3.

The e-mails show the looming news set off a flurry of activity at the White House. The first warning came Oct. 26, when the Energy Department’s chief of staff, Rod O’Connor, told Browner and other White House aides that the company’s bad news would come in two days and offered to discuss the matter.

The e-mails show that a day later, a top deputy to Browner was telling colleagues that the layoff announcement had been put off a week.

“I hear from [Zichal] that whatever announcement of ‘problems’ they are considering has been delayed a week,” an aide to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel wrote to Vice President Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain.

The Energy Department has declined to confirm events described in the e-mails. Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified in a November congressional investigative hearing that he didn’t know anything about a move to put off the announcement and promised he would find out who was involved.

“It’s not the way I do business,” Chu said then. “I would not have approved it.”

Republicans won a majority of the seats and control over the House of Representatives in the Nov. 2, 2010, election.

The White House produced the records to the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee investigating the loan Friday afternoon.

The documents show “all of the decisions about whether to grant or restructure the Solyndra loan guarantee were made on the merits by DOE,” White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler and Biden’s counsel, Cynthia Hogan, wrote to the committee.

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