April 3, 2009 – Page 2 – Capitol Hill Blue

George Washington: Our first ‘rules’ guy

April 3, 2009

It turns out George Washington really was the first "Rules Guy."

I thought of that as I was visiting friends in Virginia recently and came across his booklet, "Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation" on their coffee table. A well-known treasure in the 19th century and a delight to historians of Washington and a few thoughtful folks today, it’s been lost to most of the rest of us in modern times.

Obama screws the pooch on energy policy

April 3, 2009

Because Democrats abandoned a plan to use a Senate squelch-the-minority maneuver to pass a disastrous cap-and-trade carbon tax, the idea may be done for this year. But don’t give thanks too quickly.

It’s far from dead and buried and other disastrous energy policies are being readied for public infliction. Before the Obama administration and its congressional allies are done, we could be reeling from one of the most extraordinary spectacles in American political history — a wholly misguided war against our own self-interests as a people.

Bad news expected in jobs report

April 3, 2009

President Barack Obama’s spokesman says the White House is expecting a new employment report to show additional "severe job cuts" in the U.S.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs says the report on March employment that is due out later Friday would be gloomy. He says he did not know if Obama had been given a heads-up about the numbers but thinks that the president probably did get advance word.

Gibbs says he has not seen the numbers himself. He spoke to reporters traveling with Obama aboard Air Force One.

Charming Handily: Just Like Their Queen, Britons Are Touched by Michelle Obama

April 3, 2009

LONDON, April 2 Michelle Obama, dubbed “Mighty Michelle” and the “new Jacqueline Kennedy” by British media, has dared to do what few have even considered: She put her arm around the queen. In photos blasted across front pages and television screens, Queen Elizabeth II and Obama are shown in an em…

With 2010 Census Looming, Obama Chooses Survey Expert to Run Bureau

April 3, 2009

President Obama has picked Robert M. Groves, a prominent survey researcher, to lead the Census Bureau, less than a year before the 2010 census begins.

FDA Hasn’t Intensified Inspections At Peanut Facilities, Despite Illness

April 3, 2009

Despite four outbreaks of salmonella illness from peanut products in the past three years, the federal government has not changed the safety measures required of peanut companies or instructed its inspectors to test for the bacteria.

D.C. Vote Memo Called Informal

April 3, 2009

After receiving a legal memo that declared the pending D.C. voting rights bill unconstitutional, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. reached out to another lawyer on whose judgment he had relied for years.

Former Illinois Governor Indicted

April 3, 2009

CHICAGO, April 2 — A federal grand jury charged former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on Thursday with racketeering, extortion and fraud, opening a new chapter in the prosecution of the voluble Democrat, who could spend years behind bars if convicted.

Audit Faults Payment of $681,379 to OSHA Consultant

April 3, 2009

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration paid more than half a million dollars to a consultant from the home state of the agency’s director without keeping any “work products” produced by the consultant, an act that violated the terms of a government contract, federal laws and regulations,…

As Crisis Loomed, Geithner Pressed But Fell Short

April 3, 2009

In September 2005, Timothy Geithner made one of his most visible moves as a supervisor of the U.S. banking system. He summoned the nation’s top financial firms and their regulators to streamline an antiquated system that threatened Wall Street’s boom.