After strong debate performance, Santorum says ‘our time will come’

Coming off a widely praised performance in Thursday
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum participates in the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla. (Matt Rourke - Associated Press) night’s Jacksonville Republican presidential debate, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum insists he is in the Republican race for the long haul.

Despite a win in the Iowa caucuses, Santorum has struggled for attention since — particularly in Florida, where media attention has centered on a behemoth battle between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Speculation that Santorum might not be fully committed to the race was fueled when his campaign indicated he would leave the campaign trail for fundraisers in Virginia and Pennsylvania. His current schedule shows no campaign events for Saturday, just three days before the Florida vote.

But Santorum says his strategy is designed to best marshal his resources for a long effort. He believes conservatives will return to him as an alternative to Romney after an inevitable Gingrich flameout.

“We’re running strong campaigns in several states right now,” Santorum told CNN following the Thursday debate. “We now have the resources. We have raised over twice as much money in the last three weeks as we did in the first nine months. So we’re now having resources to be able to spread our wings a little bit. And we’re going to engage in this campaign”.

“And as we have seen here tonight, there’s a lot of baggage, a lot of problems with the two, quote, front-runners. And I think, as you saw tonight, we’re going to start moving up again. But our time will come,” he said.

Santorum was widely praised by Republicans for pressing the case against Romney and Gingrich in the Thursday debate. He was especially aggressive in arguing that Romney would have trouble challenging President Obama on health care in a general election because the Massachusetts health insurance program implemented under Romney is too similar to the new federal program.

And he drew loud applause by claiming the moral high ground after a long and bitter exchange between Romney and Gingrich over Romney’s wealth and Gingrich’s work for Freddie Mac.

Santorum’s campaign also released schedules showing Florida campaign events through Monday — a long lead time for a campaign that has typically offered guidance on the candidate’s schedule for only 24 hours at a time.

That may be designed to signal Santorum’s intention to quickly return to the trail after a trip to Pennsylvania.

And there is new indication that an independent political action committee running ads on Santorum’s behalf — the Red, White and Blue Fund — has no intention of backing off in coming days.

Investor Foster Friess, a lead contributor to the PAC, told The Wall Street Journal that he plans to fund ads for Santorum in states that vote after Florida.

“I’m committed to Rick Santorum, and I’m going to be giving more to Rick Santorum,” Friess told the Journal. “It’s just a matter of when and how much.”

On Bloomberg TV Friday, Friess said he believes Santorum will become a front-runner soon. But he also said he had “high admiration” for Romney and Gingrich — and suggested that if Santorum becomes president, he should appoint Romney to head his economic policy.

“Anybody who’s going to run against Obama, I’ve got an open check book for,” he said when asked if he would contribute to a Republican nominee other than Santorum.

By Rosalind S. Helderman  |  11:42 AM ET, 01/27/2012

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Sen. Mark Kirk undergoes surgery after stroke

Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk is recovering at a Chicago hospital after suffering a stroke over the weekend, his office announced Monday morning.

Kirk, 52, is a former five-term House member who in November 2010 won election to the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama.

Kirk’s office said that on Saturday, the senator “checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in the right side of his neck.”

He then was transferred to Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where doctors discovered that he had suffered an ischemic stroke, which occurs when an obstruction in an artery prevents blood flow to the brain.

“Early this morning the Senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke,” Kirk’s office said. “The surgery was successful. Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator’s recovery over the weeks ahead.”

UPDATE, 1:22 P.M.: Richard Fessler, a neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, told reporters at a news conference Monday afternoon that the physical effects of Kirk’s stroke could be long-lasting.

“I think his prospects for a full mental recovery are pretty good,” Fessler said of Kirk. “I think the prospects for his full physical recovery, particularly on the left side of his body, are not great. .?.?. I think the use of his left arm is going to be very difficult. I’m hopeful for the use of his left leg.”

Fessler added that to allow Kirk’s brain to swell without being compressed, doctors removed a four-by-eight-inch piece of the senator’s skull over the part of his brain that was swelling.

For the next several days, Fessler said, Kirk will be in intensive care, where doctors will be treating him to keep the pressure on his brain as low as possible.

Asked when the senator might be back to work, Fessler said it’s “way too soon to try and predict.”

“It’s not going to be days,” Fessler said.

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Giants vs. 49ers: Kyle Williams receives death threats after overtime fumble

For every playoff hero, there is goat, and Sunday’s AFC and NFC championship games followed the script.

In Baltimore’s 23-20 loss to New England, you could take your pick of goats between Lee Evans, who dropped the go-ahead touchdown, and Billy Cundiff, who shanked the game-tying 32-yard field goal attempt.

But after his San Francisco 49ers fell to the New York Giants, 20-17 in overtime last night, punt returner Kyle Williams had it just as bad. The 23-year-old had to swallow a pair of costly punt handling miscues — the second of which resulted in New York’s game-winning field goal.

Several 49ers players were quick to rally around their devastated teammate, but some fans were not as forgiving. In the immediate aftermath of Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning field goal, Williams began receiving death threats on the Internet.

Williams was bombarded with vicious comments on Twitter, with angry fans writing they hope his family dies or that his car gets bombed. (The San Jose Mercury News has a full list here.)

The first mistake came early in the fourth quarter when Williams hesitated before getting out of the way of a bouncing punt. The ball nicked his knee and New York’s Devin Thomas recovered, setting up the Giants’ only second-half score.

The second miscue came in overtime, when Jacquian Williams punched the ball out of Williams’s grasp to give the Giants the field position they needed to put the game away. In all, the unfortunate bounce and the fumble directly led to 10 of New York’s 20 points.

“You hate to be the last guy that had the ball, to give it up that way in that fashion and to lose a game of this magnitude,” Williams said. “But it is what it is, and we’re going to move forward as a team.”

His San Francisco teammates agreed.

“The game didn’t come down to Kyle Williams — it never did,” 49ers lineman Ricky Jean Francois said. “We could’ve ended that game many times.”

@KyleWilliams_10 keep ur head up. U r my brother n teammate N I would put u back there all over again. We all lost this game tonight not u.

— Patrick willis (@PatrickWillis52) January 23, 2012

I didn't think this would happen but ppl need to get a grip! Leave Kyle alone! We win and lose as a team. Not from one person or play.

— David Akers (@DavidAkers2) January 23, 2012

More NFL playoffs coverage from Washington Post Sports:

Giants beat 49ers 20-17 in overtime to advance to Super Bowl

Hamilton: NBC lucks out with Tom vs. Eli Super Bowl matchup

Mike Wise: Cundiff’s missed field goal is a horrible end to a game that had everything

Lee Evans shoulders the blame for Ravens’ loss after dropping go-ahead TD

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Early Lead: Who will win Super Bowl XLVI?

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Nat Geo buys ‘Chasing Ice’ documentary after Sundance screening

“Chasing Ice” looks at climate change across the globe. (Jon Tigar) Five years after photographer James Balog turned his 2007 National Geographic magazine melting glaciers-themed cover story into an epic five-year photography project about climate change, Washington-based National Geographic Channel announced Thursday the network purchased has television rights for Jeff Orlowski’s feature documentary “Chasing Ice,” which follows Balog’s adventure.

In “Chasing Ice,” screened at the Sundance Film Festival this past week, Orlanski tracks Balog as he embarks on a project known as the “Extreme Ice Survey,” an experiment that placed time-lapse cameras across three continents to capture massive ice melting across the planet, and the effects of climate change.

“This documentary is one of the highlights of the Sundance slate and an obvious fit for our distinguished global brand and we are pleased to work with the filmmakers to help present their wonderful and important film,” Nat Geo’s EVP of programming Michael Cascio said in the announcement.

In addition to his 2007 cover story, Balog’s long history with Nat Geo includes a book published by the company’s books division in 2009, and another photo spread in a 2010 issue of the magazine.

Nat Geo Channel was the subject of a recent executive shake-up. In November, Howard T. Owns — a founding managing director of Reveille Productions, the company behind shows including NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” and “The Office” — took over as president of National Geographic Channels US.

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Capitals back to work after All-Star break

The Capitals’ first practice since the All-Star break is underway at KCI and recently recalled forward Joel Rechlicz is on the ice skating as a part of the fourth line.

Rechlicz is rotating through drills on the right wing, alternating with Joel Ward, while Jay Beagle and Cody Eakin make up the rest of the unit. Typically, whenever four players work as the fourth line one will be a healthy scratch the next game but it’s unclear who will be the odd man out on Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

Ward has seen his ice time diminish recently and has struggled to produce, having recorded just four points (one goal, three assists) in the past 22 games while both Beagle and Eakin have been in and out of the lineup this season. As for Rechlicz, it’s tough to imagine the Capitals signing and recalling a player to have him occupy a spot in the press box immediately upon his arrival.

A few other quick notes from practice:

— Lines from practice, including Alex Ovechkin, who will serve the final two games of his suspension during Washington’s games against the Lightning and Panthers.

Even though he won’t be able to play, Ovechkin will make the trip to Florida with the team according to Coach Dale Hunter.

Ovechkin/Johansson-Perreault-Semin
Hendricks-Laich-Brouwer
Chimera-Halpern-Knuble
Beagle-Eakin-Ward/Rechlicz

— Dennis Wideman is the only healthy player not on the ice for practice. He was given the day off after participating in the All-Star festivities over the weekend.

— Neither Nicklas Backstrom (concussion) nor Mike Green (sports hernia) skated on Monday.

Hunter confirmed that Backstrom, who is out indefinitely with a concussion, did not skate at all during the All Star break which means the centerman has skated for just five minutes since Jan. 6. Backstrom has not been in attendance at the Capitals’ recent home games, either.

Meanwhile, Green underwent successful sports hernia surgery on Jan. 17 and it’s possible he could start skating as early as this week, according to comments from General Manager George McPhee, but the defenseman isn’t expected to return until late February at the earliest.

More from Post Sports:
— Capitals recall Rechlicz, Eakin
— Whose “puck luck”will change?
— Capitals reach a fork in the road
— Will Caps win the Southeast Division?
— Scoring chances, updated weekly

View the original article here

Solyndra: Energy Dept. pushed firm to keep layoffs quiet until after midterms

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Solyndra: Energy Dept. pushed firm to keep layoffs quiet until after midtermsView Photo Gallery — The White House and the fall of Solyndra.

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

The Obama administration, which gave the solar company Solyndra a half-billion-dollar loan to help create jobs, asked the company to delay announcing it would lay off workers until after the hotly contested November 2010 midterm elections that imperiled Democratic control of Congress, newly released e-mails show.

The announcement could have been politically damaging because President Obama and others in the administration had held up Solyndra as a poster child of its clean-energy initiative, saying the company’s new factory, built with the help of stimulus money, could create 1,000 jobs. Six months before the midterm elections, Obama visited Solyndra’s California plant to praise its success, even though outside auditors had questioned whether the operation might collapse in debt.

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President Obama has put a special spotlight on clean technology during his time in the White House, personally visiting and praising 22 companies for their work on energy innovation and efficiency in high-profile trips. These visits made up more than half of Obama's out-of-town travel to businesses.

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The fight over Solydnra escalates with new disclosuresHouse panel subpoenas W.H. docsProbe ordered after GOP vows to subpoena White House records relating to the bankruptcy of SolyndraSolyndra violated terms of federal loan in late 2010, Energy Dept. confirmsInvestigators have questions about Solyndra investor’s tax statusAdditional e-mails show Solyndra concernsSolyndra investor asked for White House publicityGovernment adviser defends Solyndra despite ethics agreementSolyndra loan deal: Warnings of legality came from within Obama administrationHead of DOE program to quit amid Solyndra controversyObama warned not to visit SolyndraAEnergy secretary admits he gave breaks for Solyndra

As the contentious 2010 elections approached, Solyndra found itself foundering, and it warned the Energy Department that it would need an emergency cash infusion. A Solyndra investment adviser wrote in an Oct. 30, 2010, e-mail — without explaining the reason — that Energy Department officials were pushing “very hard” to delay making the layoffs public until the day after the elections.

The announcement ultimately was made on Nov. 3, 2010 — immediately following the Nov. 2 vote.

E-mails describing the events were released Tuesday as part of a House Energy and Commerce Committee memo, provided in advance of Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s scheduled testimony before the committee’s investigative panel on Thursday. As a result of the 2010 elections, that committee is now controlled by Republicans, whose aggressive nine-month investigation into Solyndra has focused partly on whether politics played a role in the company’s selection to receive a federal loan.

Amid the fallout from the company’s shutdown in August, the White House has said tough scrutiny of the department’s oversight efforts is warranted and it has begun its own independent review of the loan program. Although the president has publicly supported Chu, senior White House officials in February circulated an outside adviser’s recommendation that Chu be replaced because of anticipated political controversy over the energy loans.

On Tuesday, Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera declined to confirm events described in the e-mails or to identify who at the department may have urged the delay in the layoff announcement. He stressed, however, that “decisions about this loan were made on the merits.” In an interview aired Tuesday on NPR, Chu said that politics did not enter into any decisions he or his staff made regarding Solyndra and that there was no way to foresee the company’s demise.

The White House declined to comment Tuesday on whether senior White House officials attempted to influence the timing of the layoff announcement. “These e-mails, again cherry-picked by House Republicans, reflect nothing more than the White House being given a heads-up about an upcoming press release from Solyndra,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

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Raheem Morris wastes no time moving on to Redskins after firing from Buccaneers

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Opinion | Giants wideouts a triple threat

Last championship turns 20

Raheem Morris wastes no time moving on to Redskins after firing from Buccaneers

Elsa/Getty Images - “He gets along well with people. He gets along well with players,” Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said of Raheem Morris, above.

Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Mike Jones,

MOBILE, Ala. — Any successful defensive back will tell you that having a short memory ranks high on the list of requirements for playing the position.

Give up a big play — no matter how costly — and a cornerback or safety must flush it from his mind, move onto the next snap and try again. Dwelling on one letdown will lead only to more failures.

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(Harry How/Getty Images) - Raheem Morris, right, comes to the Redskins after being fired in Tampa following a 10-game losing streak to end the season.

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Marshall's 4 TDs lead AFC to Pro Bowl winPro Bowl summary: AFC 59, NFC 41

So it should come as no surprise that new Washington Redskins defensive backs coach Raheem Morris, who was fired earlier this month as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, wanted nothing to do with the post-firing sabbatical that many coaches take.

“I don’t do time off. I’m a football coach,” said Morris, a former safety at Hofstra University. “I don’t have an ego that’ll say I couldn’t go back and help another team win a football game and help another team win a championship. That’s what I want to do.”

The Buccaneers fired Morris on Jan. 2. A year after a 10-6 campaign in his second season at the helm, Morris and his team in 2011 failed to overcome a rash of injuries after a 4-2 start and ended the year on a 10-game losing streak.

Morris quickly turned his attention to the future.

“Tampa was a great experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said. “You’ve got to have the ability to be better, the ability to overcome certain situations. You can’t have hard feelings. The old ‘woe is me,’ has got to be kicked out of your system, and you’ve got to go get ready to help somebody else win.”

Two days after his dismissal, Morris interviewed with Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan and General Manager Bruce Allen. Morris left Washington with an offer, but asked for time to consider his options. Two days after that, he interviewed with the Vikings for their defensive coordinator position, but Minnesota continued to interview other candidates.

Morris on Jan. 11 orally accepted the Redskins’ offer for a one-year deal. The very next day, Minnesota called with an offer, having been turned down by Jacksonville defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. But Morris declined as well, even though his position with Washington carried less responsibility.

Morris has strong ties to the Redskins. During his early days in Tampa he worked with Allen, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Washington tight ends coach Sean McVay and Redskins director of football operations Paul Kelly, so those relationships carried a lot of weight. But Morris said he also believed it would have been wrong to back out on the Redskins to take the Vikings’ offer.

“A lot of people might think it’s a missed opportunity not going to Minnesota after they offered,” Morris said. “But I believe that in this game, all you have is your word and your tape, and I gave these guys my word, and I wanted to come here and help them this year, and I was going to do it.”

Vikings Coach Leslie Frazier said his opinion of Morris remains unchanged.

“Raheem is a sharp young guy who does a good job with players and understands football, and how to get players to perform,” Frazier said at last week’s Senior Bowl, where he and his staff coached the North against the Redskins’ coaches and the South team. “Every coach has to do a good job of communicating with their players, and he has that. That’s a prerequisite of coaching in today’s NFL: communication. He’s a good guy and he’s going to do well there in Washington.”

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Featured Advertiser LinksL U N G C A N C E R ? Call us.>>HIP REPLACEMENT -- did you get one after '03?>>Help Barack stand up for working Americans. Join our campaign now.>>The only candidate fighting for the middle class: Pres. Obama. Join us.>>Sign up for email updates from President Obama's 2012 campaign.>>Sign up for official email updates from Barack Obama's campaign.>>Looking to buy a home? Visit TWP Real Estate section for the latest open houses.>>Make Your Vanguard Investing More Profitable - Free Research Report Reveals Best & Worst Funds>>Top sports Stories People Also ReadMost Popular VideosCarolina Panthers’ new logo designed to be ‘more aggressive, contemporary’ than previous oneAssociated Press 

Marshall catches Pro Bowl-record 4 TDs, leading AFC to a 59-41 victory over NFCAssociated Press 

Marshall catches Pro Bowl-record 4 TDs, leading AFC to a 59-41 victory over NFCAssociated Press 

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Jan Vesely has worked his way into Wizards’ starting lineup early in his rookie NBA seasonMichael Lee 

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