Hats and Hooters

Swamp People
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) each issued statements Sunday night calling for the House Ethics Committee to open an investigation into the conduct of Oregon Rep. David Wu.  Wu is alleged to have had an unwanted sexual encounter with a woman in late 2010. (Washington Post, 7/25/2011)


Several years in, Pelosi's work on "draining the swamp" continues.


He Said What?
Mr. Reid, the Senate’s top Democrat, was trying on Sunday to cobble together a plan to raise the government’s debt limit by $2.4 trillion through the 2012 elections, with spending cuts of about $2.7 trillion that would not touch any of the entitlement programs that are dear to Democrats or raise taxes, which is anathema to Republicans. President Obama could endorse such a plan, even though it would fall far short of the ambitious goal of deficit reduction and entitlement changes that he says are necessary to shore up the nation’s finances. (NYT, 7/25/2011)


Great example of the daily deceit of the Times. Of course, Obama has been all about deficit reduction and entitlement reform. Just kidding! Read on for the truth....


Then again, it has long been clear that Mr. Obama isn't interested in spending reform. In February he proposed a budget that spent more than any in U.S. history. In April he demanded that Congress pass a "clean" debt ceiling hike that included no spending cuts whatsoever. Only after House Republicans unveiled their own sweeping budgetary reforms did the White House rush to also claim it wanted deficit reduction as part of the debt-ceiling debate. (WSJ, 7/25/2011)


Compromised
(Obama) denounces Republicans as uncompromising regarding tax increases but vows “I will not accept” a deal that does not increase taxes. (George Will, Washington Post, 7/21/2011)


Passages
With the passage of gay marriage in New York, it was inevitable that the New York Times would include an article or two about it.  We count six today. In other news, still no agreement on the debt ceiling.