-
Pentagon Art: $600,000 Gurgling Toad Sculpture
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2011 Comment (478)A $600,000 frog sculpture that lights up, gurgles "sounds of nature" and carries a 10-foot fairy girl on its back could soon be greeting Defense Department employees who plan to start working at the $700 million Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. this fall. That is unless a new controversy over the price tag of the public art doesn't torpedo the idea.
-
Former Democratic Lawmaker Says Obama Takes Hit for Shutdown
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2011 Comment (4)Despite the general view that the GOP will suffer politically in a government shutdown, it may be President Obama who takes the hit, according to a four-term House lawmaker. Former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, who ran unsuccessfully in his party's primary for Alabama governor in 2010, said that the average voter "doesn't walk around with the nuanced knowledge of the distinction between budget problems, fiscal problems, and economic problems." The electorate, especially swing voters, will blame a government shutdown on a bad economy and subsequently on the president "because Obama has the reins of power."
-
Bachmann Says Matthews, Other Liberals, Targeting Her
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2011 Comment (11)Tea Party Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has eclipsed Sarah Palin as the GOP's female bomb thrower, is urging donors to flood her campaign coffers so that she can take on liberal talkers like Chris Matthews who she claims are trying to silence her.
-
2013 Presidential Inauguration Gets Squeezed from Federal Budget
Tweet Share on Facebook March 29, 2011 Comment (5)The federal budget is so tight that even the 2013 presidential inauguration is getting squeezed. Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that handles federal printing costs, suggests that the initial $1.4 million payment to the Government Printing Office in the 2012 budget for producing security credentials, invitations, tickets, and event programs be held off for a year. But William Boarman, public printer of the United States, says that won’t work. “It needs to be in this budget,” he says. The money is typically approved in advance to give the GPO time to design and print the materials.
-
National Museum of the American Indian Wants Bigger Budget
Tweet Share on Facebook March 29, 2011 Commenthe Smithsonian Institution’s newest facility, the six-year-old National Museum of the American Indian, is learning what it feels like to be, well, an American Indian circa 1875. At a conference this month in Canada to discuss compensating Native American children ripped from their families and thrust into traditional schools, the museum’s head archivist, Jennifer O’Neal, complained that her staff of three is far outnumbered by archive staffs at the institution’s more prominent museums. “It’s not the norm,” she says, adding that the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum has “40 or 50” archivists and a vast budget. “I’m just barely surviving,” she says, adding that the funding and staff shortages severely limit projects she can do.
-
Eric Cantor’s Hot Daily GOP Newsletter
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2011 Comment (5)The House Republicans’ choice of Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor as their majority leader has spawned what many say is arguably the best Capitol Hill read. The “Leader’s Ledger” arrives via E-mail every day with the GOP’s main message, news clips, and historical fun facts that have become addictive to many. Like: Barbie was born March 9, 1959; and March 18, 1893, former Governor General Lord Stanley pledged to donate a silver challenge cup, later named for him, to the best hockey team in Canada. Editor Brian Patrick, who arrives at 6:30 a.m. to write the newsletter, says his plan is to dish out GOP red meat with a side of dessert. Of the fun stuff, he says, “It’s something different. It’s a part of American culture that, no matter what side of the political fence you sit on, it’s something you can relate to.”
-
Obama Is Changing America’s View of Blacks
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2011 Comment (9)President Obama is doing something special for African-Americans. He’s not only proving that color doesn’t make a difference in the Oval Office, he’s helping change white America’s view of blacks. As they see Obama in the White House every day, whites, even older Caucasians, are more likely to view blacks as “hardworking” and “intelligent,” according to a study in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. But Obama doesn’t get all of the credit. That, say the scholars, goes to time and the population growth of younger, less bigoted whites.
-
Book: Mueller Forever Changed Hoover's FBI
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2011 Comment (3)You probably haven't noticed, but FBI Director Robert Mueller has become the longest-serving top G-man since J. Edgar Hoover, along the way forever changing the agency from a domestic police shop to a worldwide anti-crime and anti-terrorism network.
-
Americans Want to Spend Spring Break With Palin
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2011 Comment (9)Sarah Palin isn't just popular as a politician. The star of the short-lived Sarah Palin's Alaska reality tour show is also the top choice among spring-breakers looking for something different to do than Florida beaches. [See photos of Sarah Palin and her family.]
-
Zogby: All OK if Obama Gets Qadhafi
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2011 Comment (1)Pollster John Zogby updates our weekly Obama Report Card with a grade on the president's performance. Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis, and interaction with major players to come up with a grade and some comments that capture how he sees the president's week ending.
