Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
WHITE HOUSE PROFILE: Rahm Emanuel On The ‘Hot Seat’. Is Obama Ready To Cut Him Off? (The New York Times)
AS A DOZEN or so top White House officials gathered in Rahm Emanuel’s corner West Wing office one morning in early January, the president’s political director, Patrick Gaspard, reported on the latest poll numbers in Massachusetts. With less than two weeks until a special Senate election, the Republican candidate was gaining momentum — just nine [...]
Timetable for U.S. Troop Withdrawal on Track, Obama Says, After Iraqis Vote (CSNnews.com)
The timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq remains on course, President Obama said Sunday as he hailed the country’s national election as a “milestone.”
“We will continue with the responsible removal of the United States forces from Iraq,” he said at the White House, confirming that “by the end of the next year, all U.S. [...]
Building a Better Teacher (New York Times)
ON A WINTER DAY five years ago, Doug Lemov realized he had a problem. After a successful career as a teacher, a principal and a charter-school founder, he was working as a consultant, hired by troubled schools eager — desperate, in some cases — for Lemov to tell them what to do to get better. [...]
THE POWER OF DEMOCRACY: Iraqis Flock To Polls, Despite Violence Leaving 25 Dead (Wall Street Journal)
Despite a spasm of violence early Sunday, Iraqis flocked to polling stations in what appeared to be large numbers, marking the country’s first parliamentary polls since 2005.
Polls were scheduled to close at 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern time), but some voting stations accommodated crowds lined up after closing time. Iraq’s high electoral commission [...]
Feds Shut Down 3 More Banks. 25 Closed So Far This Year (USA Today)
Regulators on Friday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois and Maryland, boosting to 25 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Sun American Bank, based in Boca Raton, Fla., with $535.7 [...]
TERROR UPDATE: Al-Qaida Calls On US Muslims To Attack America (Associated Press)
CAIRO — Al-Qaida’s American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.
In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other [...]
Meet The Lone Democrat Who Could Sink Obama’s Health Care (Yahoo!)
Anyone who’s followed the health care debate even casually over the past year has probably heard Rep. Bart Stupak’s name mentioned a time or two. The nine-term Democrat from Michigan is the author of the “Stupak Amendment,” a rider attached to the House health care legislation that would effectively ban most government funding of abortion [...]
OBAMANOMICS IN ACTION: Home Buyer Tax Credit Likely To Cost Taxpayers $100K Per Home (Huffington Post/Calculated Risk)
Recent indications that demand for housing is lagging, Calculated Risk writes, are “no surprise and suggests that the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit will probably cost taxpayers over $100,000 for each additional home sold.
Just about every economist opposed the tax credit as expensive and ineffective. Here are some quotes from a [...]
TALKING POINTS: Where House Dems Disagree With The President On Health Care (USA Today)
WASHINGTON — Some oppose abortion, some are worried about premiums, and some have zeroed in on taxes. But House Democrats do have this in common: They’re all being heavily courted to support President Obama’s health care legislation.
Although much of the focus during the health care debate has been on the Senate, a push by Obama [...]
Obama Begs Dems To Put Aside Qualms Over Health Care (Yahoo! News)
Support from his own party in doubt, President Barack Obama summoned more than a dozen House Democrats to the White House Thursday, pleading with them to put aside their qualms, seize a historic moment and vote for his massive health care overhaul.
It’s the opportunity of a generation, he told them — and a chance to [...]
