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House panel to consider healthcare bill Monday
Yahoo! News (Reuters), “House panel to consider healthcare bill Monday”
The House of Representatives Budget Committee on Monday will consider a reconciliation bill that Democrats hope clears the way for final congressional approval of an overhaul of U.S. healthcare, House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer said on Friday.
Representative Jim Clyburn, a member of the House Democratic leadership, said he hopes a vote by the full chamber could be held on the measure within the next 10 days.
Yahoo! News (Reuters) article continues here.
Man at wheel of ‘out-of-control’ Prius has troubled financial past
Fox News, “Man at Wheel of ‘Out-of-Control’ Prius Has Troubled Financial Past”
The man who became the face of the Toyota gas pedal scandal this week has a troubled financial past that is leading some to question whether he was wholly truthful in his story.
On Monday, James Sikes called 911 to report that he was behind the wheel of an out-of-control Toyota Prius going 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. Twenty-three minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer helped guide him to a stop, a rescue that was captured on videotape.
Since then, it’s been learned that:
— Sikes filed for bankruptcy in San Diego in 2008. According to documents, he was more than $700,000 in debt and roughly five months behind in payments on his Prius;
— In 2001, Sikes filed a police report with the Merced County Sheriff’s Department for $58,000 in stolen property, including jewelry, a digital video camera and equipment and $24,000 in cash;
— Sikes has hired a law firm, though it has indicated he has no plans to sue Toyota;
— Sikes won $55,000 on television’s “The Big Spin” in 2006, Fox40.com reports, and the real estate agent has boasted of celebrity clients such as Constance Ramos of “Extreme Home Makeover.”
Fox News article continues here.
Obama puts off overseas trip to focus on healthcare reform battle
The Hill, “Obama puts off overseas trip to focus on healthcare reform battle”
by Michael O’Brien
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed the decision to delay the trip from March 18 to March 21 in a message on Twitter.
Obama was set to leave March 18, and the White House hoped the House would approve the Senate’s healthcare bill by that time.
But House leaders have pushed back at the deadline, criticizing Gibbs and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the process.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that meeting the White House deadline is highly unlikely.
The Hill article continues here.
Report: Obama Justice Department shut down federal ACORN investigation
Breitbart (PR Newswire), “Obama Justice Department Shut Down Federal ACORN Investigation According to Documents Obtained by Judicial Watch”
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detailing federal investigations into the alleged corrupt activities of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The documents reference serious allegations of corruption and voter registration fraud by ACORN as well as the Obama administration’s decision to shut down a criminal investigation without filing criminal charges.
The documents include background information on two specific complaints filed in October 2008 by Lucy Corelli and Joseph Borges, Republican Registrars of Voters in Stamford and Bridgeport, Connecticut, respectively, during the 2008 election season.
Breitbart (PR Newswire) article continues here.
Al Qaeda suspect worked at U.S. nuclear plants
Fox News, “Al Qaeda Suspect Worked at U.S. Nuclear Plants”
An American charged in Yemen with being a member of Al Qaeda had worked at nuclear power plants in the U.S., a spokesman for a group of plants in New Jersey said Thursday. But a state official said the man did not breach security there.
Sharif Mobley, a 26-year-old natural-born U.S. citizen, was arrested in Yemen earlier this month and is accused of killing a guard in an attempt to break out of a hospital.
The FBI, the State Department and other authorities said they were trying to gather information about Mobley. But the allegations appeared to illustrate a phenomenon U.S. intelligence officials have warned about: American Muslims becoming radicalized and joining terrorist movements overseas.
Fox News article continues here.
For first time, U.S. will submit criticism of its own human rights record to U.N.
CNSNews, “For First Time, U.S. Will Submit Criticism of Its Own Human Rights Record to U.N. Human Rights Council”
by Penny Starr
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the State Department is soliciting comments from citizens, advocacy groups and other non-governmental organizations on the human rights record of the United States.
“Human rights are universal, but their experience is local. This is why we are committed to holding everyone to the same standard, including ourselves,” Clinton told a press briefing at the State Department, where she unveiled the “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.”
Clinton said the U.S. is now gathering facts on its own record because – as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council – it is participating in the UNHRC’s “universal periodic review” process.
CNSNews article continues here.
No regrets for Sweedish cartoonist, ready “to chop down” any intruders
Yahoo! News, “Several Swedish papers publish Prophet Muhammad drawing after alleged plot to murder artist”
by Louise Nordstrom
Vilks submitted the drawing to an exhibit at a Swedish cultural heritage centre, which turned it down, citing security concerns. The issue went largely unnoticed until a Swedish newspaper printed the drawing with an editorial defending the freedom of expression.
The publication led to protests from Muslim countries, and briefly revived a heated debate in the West and the Muslim world about religious sensitivities and the limits of free speech.
It also led to numerous death threats against Vilks, who was temporarily moved to a secret location after al-Qaida in Iraq put a $100,000 bounty on his head in September 2007.
The 63-year-old artist told AP he has now built his own defence system, including a “homemade” safe room and a barbed-wire sculpture that could electrocute potential intruders. He also has an axe “to chop down” anyone trying to climb through the windows of his home, in southern Sweden.
Yahoo! News article continues here.
Gov’t workers feel no economic pain
The Washington Times, “Gov’t workers feel no economic pain”
by David M. Dickson
The recession and the ongoing jobless recovery devastated much of the private-sector work force last year, sending unemployment soaring, but government workers emerged essentially unscathed, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, the compensation for state and local government employees continued to easily outdistance the wages and benefits for workers in private business, a separate Labor Department report showed.
Private-industry employers spent an average of $27.42 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December, while total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.60 per hour.
The Washington Times article continues here.
NASA and USA Today knew about bogus climate data in 2007
Pajamas Media, “Climategate Stunner: NASA Heads Knew NASA Data Was Poor, Then Used Data from CRU”
by Charlie Martin
Email messages obtained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that the climate dataset of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) was considered — by the top climate scientists within NASA itself — to be inferior to the data maintained by the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU).
The NASA scientists also felt that NASA GISS data was inferior to the National Climate Data Center Global Historical Climate Network (NCDC GHCN) database.
These emails, obtained by Christopher Horner, also show that the NASA GISS dataset was not independent of CRU data.
Further, all of this information regarding the accuracy and independence of NASA GISS data was directly communicated to a reporter from USA Today in August 2007.
Pajamas Media article continues here.
Obama’s plans for NASA changes met with harsh criticism
The Washington Post, “Obama’s plans for NASA changes met with harsh criticism”
by Joel Achenbach
Harrison Schmitt’s credentials as a space policy analyst include several days of walking on the moon. The Apollo 17 astronaut, who is also a former U.S. senator, is aghast at what President Obama is doing to the space program.
“It’s bad for the country,” Schmitt said. “This administration really does not believe in American exceptionalism.”
Schmitt’s harsh words are part of a furious blowback to the administration’s new strategy for NASA. The administration has decided to kill NASA’s Constellation program, crafted during the Bush administration with an ambitious goal of putting astronauts back on the moon by 2020. Obama’s 2011 budget request would nix Constellation’s rocket and crew capsule, funnel billions of dollars to new spaceflight technologies, and outsource to commercial firms the task of ferrying astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
The Washington Post article continues here.