June 17, 2009 – Capitol Hill Blue

New rules mean more government control

June 17, 2009

From simple home loans to Wall Street’s most exotic schemes, the government would impose and enforce sweeping new "rules of the road" for the nation’s battered financial system under an overhaul proposed Wednesday by President Barack Obama.

Aimed at preventing a repeat of the worst economic crisis in seven decades, the changes would begin to reverse a determined campaign pressed in the 1980s by President Ronald Reagan to cut back on federal regulations.

Ensign’s affair: Another mess for GOP

June 17, 2009

It’s just about the last thing the beleaguered Republican Party needed: a Christian conservative with national aspirations admitting to an extramarital affair with an ex-staffer.

Add Nevada Sen. John Ensign’s infidelity admission to an ever-growing list of woes for the out-of-power GOP.

One senator’s predicament hardly condemns an entire party. But the episode is an unwelcome distraction as the Republicans, their ranks shrinking, seek a turnaround after disastrous losses in consecutive national elections.

Mr. President, spare that fly

June 17, 2009

The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he’s bedeviled by a fly in the White House.

PETA is sending President Barack Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside.

Gun smuggling curbs ain’t working

June 17, 2009

Government efforts to stop the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico have suffered in recent years from having no clear plan to combat gunrunners affiliated with drug cartels, investigators have concluded.

The Government Accountability Office, which is delivering its findings to Congress on Thursday, noted that federal agencies only recently began coordinating with Mexican counterparts on ways to stop gunrunning along the border.

Fired watchdog says White House lied

June 17, 2009

The national service agency’s inspector general, fired by President Barack Obama, disputed on Wednesday claims from the White House that he was "confused" and "disoriented" at an agency meeting.

In a letter sent to lawmakers Tuesday night, Obama’s special counsel Norman Eisen described Gerald Walpin as "confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions" during a May 20 meeting of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Politicians screw around because they can

June 17, 2009

When then-President Bill Clinton had a chance to come clean about allowing White House intern Monica Lewinsky to nosh on the First Member, he looked America in the eye and lied, saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman…Ms. Lewinsky."

Gay feds set to get benefits

June 17, 2009

President Barack Obama, whose gay and lesbian supporters have grown frustrated with his slow movement on their priorities, is extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, a White House official said.

Obama plans to announce his decision Wednesday in the Oval Office, the official said Tuesday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the president hadn’t yet signed the presidential memorandum.

The official said Obama would release more details Wednesday.

Sen. Ensign admits banging campaign aide

June 17, 2009

Just two weeks after taking the first steps toward a 2012 presidential bid, conservative Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada is admitting to an extramarital affair last year with a campaign aide.

Ensign, a rising star in conservative circles and Nevada’s most popular Republican, disclosed the affair at a hastily arranged news conference here Thursday, shattering his prospects for heading his party’s ticket three years from now and jarring a state already dealing with a scandal involving its GOP governor.

House narrowly approves war funding

June 17, 2009

The House of Representatives on Tuesday narrowly backed a $106 billion bill to pay for the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and extend billions in new credit to the International Monetary Fund.

The legislation also includes extras like vouchers to spur U.S. car sales, and comes after a series of political battles that exposed the sharp fissures between President Barack Obama’s Democrats and the Republican minority.

Twitter comes into its own

June 17, 2009

Twitter may be only two years old and not making money yet but it has definitely come of age.

Just days after Time magazine put Twitter on its cover and weeks after talk show megastar Oprah Winfrey signed on as a user, Iranians turned to the service to protest the results of their presidential election and get the news out.