Home Topics The Hill The Congress Blog The Pundit's Blog GOP Convention Democratic Convention

KEY BLOGS
What they are saying today

Open Left
Americans shouldn't let President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney slip away quietly after January 20th and avoid further scrutiny of their actions while in office, Daniel De Groot contends. While New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) has been described as having ... READ MORE

The Corner
President-elect Barack Obama is acting like he's already president by planning to deliver a major policy speech in support of his stimulus plan and to travel to the Hill to meet with congressional leaders about the proposal, Kathryn Jean Lopez declares. Democrat ... READ MORE

AMERICAblog
President-elect Barack Obama has returned to Washington, D.C. has brought with him some surprising plans to cut taxes as part of his economic stimulus package, Joe Sudbay writes. One reason appears for the planned cuts to be that he wants to collect ... READ MORE

Hot Air
Washington, D.C.'s economy might not see as big of an inauguration boom as once expected, Ed Morrissey suggests, noting that turnout expectations have lowered since initial projections. And things are getting ugly between President-elect Barack Obama's transition team and New Mexico Gov. ... READ MORE

MyDD
President-elect Barack Obama's plans for an aggressive stimulus package may face tough opposition from congressional Republicans who don't want to authorize the funds, Charles Lemos writes. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) is a fine pick to run the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ... READ MORE

Townhall.com
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine's (D) reported new job as Democratic National Committee chairman could help Democrats in his state, Matt Lewis says, wondering if Terry McAuliffe, adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), could become the state's next governor. Jonathan Garthwaite, meanwhile, reminds readers to ... READ MORE

TalkLeft
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) may be having trouble letting go of his job in the U.S. Senate, Jeralyn muses after Salazar said he wants to make recommendations for district court appointees and a new U.S. attorney in his home state before he ... READ MORE

RedState
Americans have the Democratic controlled Congress to thank for the soaring national debt, Dan Spencer writes, pointing out that is has risen $2.5 trillion since Democrats took control in 2007. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is caught up in a pay-to-play controversy ... READ MORE

Drudge Report
Drudge's banner headline this morning reads "On Second Thought..." and links to a story about New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) withdrawing his name from the running for Commerce secretary amid an investigation of his political donors being awarded a state contract. ... READ MORE

The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post this morning leads with news that President-elect Barack Obama has returned to Washington, D.C. and has a busy schedule this week, one that includes meeting with members of Congress about a stimulus package and with former presidents about his ... READ MORE

CLICK FOR MORE
SUMMARIES



MORNING READ
MIDDAY BLOG ROUNDUP
DAY'S END ROUND-UP



You need Flash Player 8 (or higher) and JavaScript enabled to view this content

 

CLICK FOR MORE HILLTUBE

Morning Read | Midday Blog Roundup | Day's End Roundup

June 19, 2008

MIDDAY ROUNDUP

@ 12:48 pm by Walter Alarkon

Barack Obama’s decision to opt out of the general election public finance system has liberal bloggers pleased and conservative ones charging the Democrat with breaking his word. Democratic House leaders who have reached a compromise with the White House over spying and telecom immunity get excoriated by liberal bloggers.

Obama’s decision to rely on his donors to finance his campaign should set a precedent for future Democratic candidates, writes MyDD’s Jerome Armstrong, who believes that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would have won the White House if he had opted out of the public financing system in 2004. Obama can help convince the public that he made the right decision by stressing that small-dollar donations can reduce the influence of special interests, according to Ed Kilgore, The Democratic Strategist.

But Obama is not only contradicting his pledge to use the system, he’s being “dishonest” in blaming his decision on lobbyist donations given to John McCain and the Republicans, writes Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey. For someone who rails against old politics, Obama sounds like the “same-o, same-o” by breaking his promise, writes RedState’s c17wife.

House Democrats have reached a deal with Republicans to give intelligence agencies broader spying authority and telecom companies “conditional immunity” from lawsuits for participating in the White House’s domestic wiretapping program, reports the Wall Street Journal. The conditions companies must satisfy to earn immunity are too easily reached, writes TalkingPointsMemo’s David Kurtz. The deal endorses the “Nixonian view” of the current administration that if the president says something is legal – as he has done with his wiretapping program – then it actually is legal, writes Laura Rozen at War and Piece.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Obama Opts Out - Ed Kilgore, The Democratic Strategist
Obama Will Not Opt Into Public Financing System - J. Singer, MyDD
Obama Passes on Public Financing - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Obama Breaks His Word Again - c17wife, RedState
Obama Opts Out: What Happens Now? - Marc Ambinder
Barack Obama and NAFTA - Andrew Roth, Club for Growth
I Take It All Back - James Kirchick, The Plank
That’s Some Compromise - David Kurtz, TalkingPointsMemo
FISA Deal: An Awful Precedent - Laura Rozen, War and Piece
War Money on its Way to the Floor Today - Kagro X, Daily Kos
Please Get Rid Of Don Young - Soren Dayton, The Next Right
Everything’s Coming Up Baucus - Matthew Yglesias
Why Are Americans Are Convinced of Bad Econ.? - Novak, Corner
GOP Women Aren't Solid for McCain – DemFromCT, Daily Kos
Rice Says Her ‘Time Is Up’ – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Michelle Obama Plays Nice – Jonathan Cohn, The Plank

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
House to Vote on FISA Reform FridayThe Hill
Lawmakers Reach Deal to Expand Surveillance - Wall Street Journal
Obama Won’t Accept Public FinancingThe Hill

No Comments »

The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment




Privacy Policy
| Terms and Conditions
rss

The contents of this site are © 2009 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications Inc.