Yesterday we learned that Congress’s most powerful appropriator has decided not to grant President Obama the funds he requested to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo. Today Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey explained why: “I personally favor what the administration’s talking about doing, but so far as we can tell there is yet no concrete program for that,” Obey said ahead of his panel’s | Read More »
Mort Kondracke – who comments on Fox News and serves as Executive Editor of Roll Call – notes that while Barack Obama gets a wonderful reception abroad, he doesn’t seem to accomplish much: But it’s not a good sign that NATO allies did not answer [Obama's] call for more troops for Afghanistan. They will provide 5,000 trainers, but no more combat forces. Nor did Europeans | Read More »
They told me that if I voted for McCain, political appointees would ruthlessly strong-arm career government employees, and force them to stay silent when their views deviated from the company line. And they were right! [Gates] said he tried to give the services the “maximum possible opportunity” to share their views during the internal budget negotiations. “The thing that is important is to reinforce within | Read More »
Just a few weeks ago, current White House press secretary Robert Gibbs promised ‘a one word answer’ when it came to repealing the ban on gays openly serving in the military. Apparently the one word is ‘overpromising’ — which seems to be fast becoming the watchword of the new administration: The Obama administration is telling the Pentagon and gay-rights advocates that it will have to | Read More »
John Murtha warns that defense cuts are coming: Faced with immense pressure to trim its budget, the Pentagon should cut enlistment bonuses to military personnel, end its reliance on emergency supplemental spending and get serious about reforming its acquisition processes, a top congressional appropriator said Wednesday. “What I’m saying is, there’s going to be less defense spending,” House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., | Read More »
Timing is a funny thing. Just a few days ago Russia invaded Georgia, in an attempt to rein in a nascent democracy that Russia has always considered to be within its sphere of influence. And yesterday Poland and the U.S. come to agreement on ballistic missile defense and reciprocal defense. What a curious coincidence, huh? Would a President Obama be willing to commit to the | Read More »
Here’s a fascinating exchange between Jane Hamsher and Jim Pinkerton, regarding the attack on Georgia and the longstanding Republican edge on foreign affairs and national security:
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