House Intelligence Committee Ranking member Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) says he wants a wide-ranging investigation involving Congress, the White House and the National Security Council to look into what happened at Fort Hood earlier this month.
We’re about to get President Obama’s reaction to today’s talks in Geneva between Iran and the so-called P5+1; the president will speak in the Diplomatic Reception room at 3:05 Eastern.
As for the talks themselves, there has been no indication that Iran is willing to back down on its nuclear program. But Tehran has agreed to allow international nuclear inspectors into its uranium-enrichment facility near Qum – no word on when – it also claims that last week’s disclosure of the facility means that Iran has now disclosed all of its nuclear facilities to the West.
At the talks, which included the highest-level bilateral discussions between the U.S. and Iran in years, Tehran also agreed to an additional meeting later this month.
Asked whether the additional talks are merely an attempt by Tehran to stall the West, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said: “The Iranians need to understand that we mean business.” If talks do not yield fruitful results soon – and by soon, the White House means Dec. 31 – then tougher sanctions will be on the table, Gibbs said.
What kind of sanctions is Obama considering? The President is said to be weighing the cutoff of gasoline supplies to Iran, the thought being that this would further weaken the wobbly Iranian economy. Why does Iran – the world’s 4th biggest oil producer – have to import gasoline in the first place? Because existing sanctions have choked its refineries of spare parts needed to process enough crude to meet its needs – it is estimated that Tehran imports about 25% of its gas.
These sanctions have, in fact, appeared to have an impact. The CIA has reported that fuel shortages forced the regime to ration fuel in July 2007 and impose a stiff fuel tax in October of last year. Both moves, intelligence analysts say, “were met with stiff resistance and violent protests.”
– TRNS Staff
By Julianne LaJeunesse, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
Reports of fired shots on the Potomac River were enough to scare civilians and news agencies in Washington, D.C. on the eighth anniversary of September 11, 2009.
Reports of the shots came just before 10 am Friday morning, and by noon, the U.S. Coast Guard released a statement explaining that the incident was actually a training exercise that did not consist of fired shots.
In the statement, U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Currier said that while the agency was sensitive to the anniversary of September 11, 2001, an apology for planned training exercises was unnecessary.
“I am not issuing an apology because, althought it is unfortunate that it escalated to this level, what you’re seeing here is the result of a normal training exercise,” Currier said.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that when it comes to keeping the nation safe, he tends not to question law enforcement- even on September 11th.
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the White House decision to release visitor logs “as important a transparency mechanism as has been instituted in decades” and said that for future administrations it would be “difficult if not impossible to walk away from.” He said that visits will not be included in the release if they fall into one of three categories: family visits, such as friends of Malia and Sasha; national security exceptions, such as covert operatives; and meetings with people like potential Supreme Court nominees. Gibbs said that all decisions to withhold records under the national security exception will be reviewed by the White House Counsel’s office each month. He also said that visit logs “held back” for people such as nominees will be later released, and the White House will disclose how many records are being held back.
Gibbs cited the number of records—70–100 thousand per month—as a reason for not releasing the visit logs for the entire administration. Gibbs said that he would check with the Counsel’s office about whether the same disclosure policies would apply to Camp David and Air Force One. The records will include the visitor’s full name, whom he or she met with, and the time of entry and departure.
Gibbs said the upset over President Obama’s address to school kids is “a little bit of the silly season,” and that if telling kids to study hard and stay in school is a political message, someone should tell the NBA. Gibbs noted that Presidents Reagan (in 1988) and H. W. Bush (in 1991) also addressed school children. Responding to schools that are not going to be showing the address, Gibbs said that “there are school districts that won’t let you read Huckleberry Finn,” but he also said there could be logistical reasons for some schools refusals.
On the new jobless numbers out this morning, Gibbs said that the country is “continuing to see a slowing of the pace of job loss,” pointing out that new jobless claims are about one-third what they were in January. He attributed the slowing to manufacturing numbers being up, new home sales being up, and consumer confidence being up.
Gibbs refused to discuss the Van Jones allegations, saying only that the “Truther” statements are not something the president agrees with and confirming that Van Jones continues to work in the administration.
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
During a press conference Wednesday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.) said President Obama and Vice President Biden have been telling lies about why the Stimulus package hasn’t reversed the nation’s spiraling unemployment rate.
“I found it interesting in the last couple of days, the Vice President and the President mentioned the fact they didn’t realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in. Now this is the biggest fabrication I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress. I’ve sat through those meetings at the White House with the President, the Vice President, trust me there’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn’t know how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.
Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio.), Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wa) cautioned that the recent legislation put forth by the Democrats will do nothing but increase taxes which, in the long term, will hinder consumer spending.
“Republicans know and the American people know that what we need is fiscal discipline in Washington D.C and we need to give the American people a tax relief, working families, small businesses and family
farms need more of their hard earned money to put this economy back on its feet,” said Pence.
As for health care, McMorris-Rodgers explained that “We cannot forget that doctors are the experts, we must guard that relationship between the doctor and his patient; it is one of the most valued relationships
that we have,” adding that “We can reform health care, and we can give options to the uninsured without the federal government setting up shop as a big health insurance company or the health care gate keeper.”
Vice President Joe Biden steals a line from Virgil to explain that the White House’s health care proposals will make the nation’s health system more efficient. (:10)
By Justin Duckham and Learned Foote-Talk Radio News Service
President Barack Obama took what he described as “a historic step” Wednesday evening as he signed an executive order granting limited federal benefits to same-sex domestic partners.
The executive order will give the U.S. Office of Personnel Management the authority to issue directives stating that any discrimination not based on work related factors is illegal. This would include sexual orientation and gender expression.
The President conceded that there was still much work to be done to achieve full legal equality for gays in the U.S., but noted that he planned on working with Congress to take future legislative action, including the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which bans gays from serving in the military, was not mentioned. During the 2008 election, Obama pledged that once President, it would be repealed.
At Wednesday’s White House Briefing, White House Correspondent Victoria Jones asked why the White House has not implemented its secrecy policy, or whether the policy is the same as that of the prior administration. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded that the White House is working on implementation of that policy. (0:27)
A new White House study shows that the economic advantages of reforming healthcare could be beneficial for the majority of Americans. According to Dr. Christina Romer, the chair of the Council for Economic Advisors, expanding coverage for all Americans would not only help with controlling healthcare costs but it would have an enormous effect on lowering the deficit.
“Doing healthcare reform well, is incredibly important for the economy…this is a realistic goal, albeit a challenging one,” said Romer.
By having reform more Americans will be able to see their physician on a regular basis, Romer said. This would improve life expectancy and keep people working which will presumably have a strong impact on the economy.
The fifty-one page report focuses on slowing the growth rate of costs, primarily due to changing provider incentives, health information technology and providing the incentives for consumers so that they can make better choices. There were no short term effects of healthcare reform discussed.
President Obama announced the creation of a new cyber czar position. The President stated that the czar will be on both the National Security and Economic Counsel staff. Obama also noted that whoever he appoints to the position will safeguard privacy and civil liberties (0:24)
