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links for 2009-04-02

  • More than 1,000 retired military officers, including several who were top commanders, are urging President Barack Obama and Congress to maintain the law that bars gays from serving openly in the armed forces.

    Obama is consulting with the Pentagon on the issue and says he supports eventual repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits gays in the military from being open about their sexual orientation. A bill that would allow gays to serve openly has been introduced in Congress.

    A statement issued by the retired officers Tuesday said passage of that bill "would undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all levels, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughters to military service, and eventually break the All-Volunteer Force."

    Among the signatories were Gen. Carl E. Mundy, Jr., a former commandant of the Marine Corps; Adm. Leighton W. Smith, a former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe; Gen. Charles A. Horner….

    (tags: gay_politics)
  • One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.

    The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.

    This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich.

    To be sure, Obama's tax promises in last year's campaign were most often made in the context of income taxes. Not always.

  • President Barack Obama's Kenyan aunt, who was ordered deported five years ago, can stay in the United States legally until next year when she makes a new asylum bid, an immigration judge ruled on Wednesday.

    The issue of her immigration status flared three days before Obama was elected the first African-American president in the November 4, 2008 election. His late father was from Kenya and his white mother, also deceased, was American.

    Zeituni Onyango, 56, whom Obama calls "Auntie Zeituni" in one of his memoirs, has been living in a public housing complex in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's father.

    "The decision as to Ms. Onyango's request to stay permanently in the U.S. will be made during a second hearing," Michael Rogers, a spokesman for Onyango's lawyer, Margaret

    Wong, said in a statement.

    The hearing on Wednesday was closed to the media. The next hearing is set for February 4, 2010.

  • Forget the economy, war, poverty and substandard education — the troops in the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are spending time worrying about TMZ and Twitter.

    A spokesman in Pelosi's office confirmed the Speaker's Director of New Media sent an email to Democratic press secretaries warning them that TMZ is sniffing around the Hill, asking congressmen about Twittering.

    According to The Political Machine, the email reads, "Yesterday, TMZ stalked out members … and asked them about their use of Twitter. Please be aware that they may continue to do so."

    The email explains Twitter is banned from the Senate floor, but permitted on the House floor. We're guessing this is a painfully obvious talking point for morons.

  • Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, said Tuesday that she is "seriously considering" challenging Sen. Barbara Boxer's reelection bid in 2010.

    The 54-year-old Republican businesswoman was in Washington D.C. where she told reporters, "I've had the opportunity to be involved in the political community, policy community and business, and that's a great advantage. I understand all those realms."

    The San Jose Mercury News reports that Fiorina, who underwent breast cancer surgery earlier this month, will resume a full schedule after chemotherapy, which is set to begin soon.

    Fiorina was a keynote speaker at last month's California Republican Party convention, but remained mum about her political plans at the time.

  • Venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D) will win the special election in New York's 20th district by 210 votes after all outstanding absentee and military ballots are counted, according to projections made by Democratic Party officials and obtained by the Fix.

    The projections — based off of the county performances by Murphy and state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R) on election night — show the Democrat gaining 115 votes in Warren County, 96 votes in Columbia County and 70 votes in Washington County as well as scoring smaller gains in several other counties. Tedisco's only major gain, according to the model, will be in Saratoga County where he will net an additional 116 votes.

    The Democratic projection puts the total number of absentee and military ballots at 5,584 with Murphy winning 2,864 and Tedisco taking 2,720. On election night, Murphy held a 65-vote lead — 77,344 to 77,279.

    Republicans insist that any such "projections" are not an appropriate gauge of what the eventual

    (tags: Jim_Tedisco)
  • Don't worry, we don't have another litigated election — not yet, anyway. The absentee ballots, some of which are not due until April 13, will decide the race for New York's 20th Congressional District between Scott Murphy (D) and Jim Tedisco (R).

    After a count of yesterday's in-person votes, Murphy leads by 65. But the absentees already returned and currently awaiting a count lean Republican in party identification. I asked around this morning, and here is the party breakdown I received of the ballots already returned as of Monday:

    Democrat: 2,105

    Republican: 2,863

    Other: 904

    "Other" includes not just independents, but also members of the Independence, Conservative and Working Families parties.

    In addition to these, there are 271 overseas military and federal write-in ballots returned so far, and based on the number issued, as many as 1,600 more could be returned in the next two weeks.

    (tags: Jim_Tedisco)
  • Jim Tedisco is closing the gap, his people say, and the Asembly minority leader now trails by 25 votes.

    I was on the phone with aide Bill Sherman, when I heard cheers coming from behind him at the Republican State Committee headquarters on State Street. People involved with Tedisco's congressional bid have gathered there.

    "Somebody had the wrong number in Columbia County when they gave the number over the phone last night," he said. The new latest tally for the county is 6,560 for Tedisco; 8,449 for Democrat Scott Murphy.

    The new overall tally, according to Sherman, is 77,217 for Murphy and 77,192 for Tedisco.

    (tags: Jim_Tedisco)
  • They're still coming in, but Republicans say they have reason to be optimistic about absentee ballots in the 20th District congressional race.

    "The Republicans I talked with last night felt very confident about the composition of those absentee ballots," said Robert Turner, a political science professor at Skidmore College. "Most are from Saratoga, where Tedisco ran well. There is also the perception that the snowbirds are disproportionately Republican, as are the military ballots."

    Last night at his campaign wrap party, Tedisco aide Bill Sherman said that of the 5,907 ballots that had been received, there were 798 more from enrolled Republicans than Democrats.

    (tags: Jim_Tedisco)
  • Practicing Politics in the Twitter Era: If we are to speak of the age of online politics — and I am not certain that we should — let's say we've lived through the Blog Era (2001-04), the YouTube Era (2005-08) and now we are in the Twitter Era (2008-?). This screen shot of a blog post at Media Matters (of all places) juxtaposing tweets from Newt Gingrich and Matt Cooper — proof alone that everyone in Washington is using Twitter — provides a useful snapshot of the how Twitter works alongside the blogosphere (rumors of its death still exaggerated) in moving political messages online:
    (tags: twitter)
  • President Obama has called on the American people's patience while defending his stimulus plan. But Recovery.gov states, "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act targets investments towards key areas that will save or create good jobs immediately, while also laying the groundwork for long-term economic growth." It was signed into law on February 18.

    There are two jobs reports out. CNN's headline is "Employment reports show mixed picture," but the news is either astonishingly gloomy or mildly gloomy.

  • Consolidating its position at the cutting edge of new media technology, the Guardian today announces that it will become the first newspaper in the world to be published exclusively via Twitter, the sensationally popular social networking service that has transformed online communication.

    The move, described as "epochal" by media commentators, will see all Guardian content tailored to fit the format of Twitter's brief text messages, known as "tweets", which are limited to 140 characters each. Boosted by the involvement of celebrity "twitterers", such as Madonna, Britney Spears and Stephen Fry, Twitter's profile has surged in recent months, attracting more than 5m users who send, read and reply to tweets via the web or their mobile phones.

2 Comments

  • Samuel

    Shocker: Six Weeks After Stimulus Signed, Unemployment Numbers Look Miserable

    Up to now, we can still feel the impact of economic crisis. As a matter of fact, it’s getting worst day by day. I hope that stimulus packages given by government can really sustain the need of all people.

  • Samuel

    Up to now, we can still feel the impact of economic crisis. As a matter of fact, it’s getting worst day by day. I hope that stimulus packages given by government can really sustain the need of all people.