Senate Democrats refuse to fund Obama's plan to release Gitmo terrorists in US

Senate Democrats are refusing to fund Obama's plan to release Guantanamo Bay terrorists in the US. I guess the folks back home don't want a terrorist moving in next door. IndyStar.com is reporting:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's allies in the Senate will not provide funds to close the Guantanamo Bay prison until the administration comes up with a satisfactory plan for transferring the detainees held there, top Democrats said Tuesday. And in a further break with Obama, the Senate's top Democrat said he opposes transferring any Guantanamo prisoners to the United States for their trials or to serve their sentences. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said 50 to 100 Guantanamo detainees may be transferred to U.S. facilities.

"I can't make it any more clear," Reid said. "We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States."

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Obama's plan to close Guantanamo is not dead - only that the funding will have to wait until the administration devises an acceptable plan to handle the closure and transfer the detainees. Obama has promised to close the military prison by January.

Obama tries to save Detroit by forcing them to build cars Americans don't want

The Obama administration is set to announce tough standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 for new cars and trucks. These standards will force automakers to aggressively pursue electric and hybrid vehicles. Obama thinks he can save Detroit by forcing them to build cars Americans don't want. The biggest selling vehicle in the US is the Ford F150 truck. Americans love bigger vehicles and SUV's for the safety, power, styling and convenience they offer. Sales of hybrid vehicles rose dramatically last spring, but they can only be supported with gas prices in the $4~$5 range. You had to wait to buy a hybrid vehicle last May. Now, sales have dropped by almost two thirds and there is an eighty day dealer supply. Electric cars have never been practical for most Americans due to the longer distances we drive. Batteries don't have the range. From Freep.com:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday a breakthrough compromise to set tough standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 for new cars and trucks in return for California backing off its push for more stringent rules on automakers. Advertisement The rules could radically reshape the U.S. automotive industry by forcing automakers to push higher levels of technology such as hybrid-electric drives into vehicles faster than once planned. The deal fulfills Obama’s campaign promise to push Detroit and other automakers toward more fuel-stingy vehicles, but will also sharply raise the industry's costs for meeting regulations. Under the pact, new federal rules would increase current mileage standards 5% annually to 39 m.p.g. for cars and 30 m.p.g. for light trucks in model year 2016, said a senior administration official. Current standards require new cars to average 27.5 m.p.g. and new trucks to get 23.1 m.p.g.

Nancy Pelosi has approval ratings nearly as low as Newt Gingrich

Do you remember when Newt Gingrich was vilified as the most hated politician in America? According to a new poll, Nancy Pelosi has approval ratings nearly as low as Newt Gingrich had then. Boston.com is reporting:

Embattled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has approval ratings nearly as low as Newt Gingrich when he was the primary lightning rod in Congress, a new poll says.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this afternoon found that the approval of how Pelosi is doing her job as speaker has dropped from 51 percent in January to 46 percent in March to 39 percent now.

In the new survey, conducted Thursday through Sunday while Pelosi was embroiled in controversy over how much she was told about waterboarding of terrorist suspects, 48 percent of respondents said they disapproved of her performance.

In a news conference on Thursday, she said she had been misled by the CIA -- an accusation that prompted officials of both parties to defend the spy agency and that provoked some angry Republicans to say she should put up proof or shut up and apologize.

Gingrich, the former GOP house speaker during the mid-1990s, has called on Pelosi to resign as speaker. He had his approval rating drop into the low 30 percent and as low as 25 percent in March 1997.

Republicans demand proof or apology from Pelosi(video)

Top Republicans want an apology or proof from Nancy Pelosi for her allegations that the CIA lied to her and Congress. From CNN:

Top Republicans are demanding an apology from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or proof to back her claim that the CIA misled Congress about the use of harsh interrogation tactics.

Pelosi last week said that she was briefed by the CIA on such techniques only once -- in September 2002 -- and that she was told at the time that techniques like waterboarding were not being used.

Pelosi, D-California, said she learned from an aide that waterboarding had been used after other lawmakers were briefed in 2003.

A recently released Justice Department memo says the CIA used waterboarding at least 83 times in August 2002 in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, a suspected al Qaeda leader imprisoned at U.S. facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Monday that if Pelosi's accusations are not true, she may need to step down.

"She made some outrageous accusations last week where she said that the CIA lied to her and lied systematically over a period of years. That is a very, very serious charge," Hoekstra said Monday on CNN's "American Morning.

Watch Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, hammer House Speaker Pelosi 4:33

Swine flu over 5000 cases in US

According to AFP via Google Hosted News

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government reported Monday more than 400 new cases of swine flu to take the nation's total number of infections above 5,000, and said it remained on guard for an autumn upsurge.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the number of confirmed and probable cases in 47 states plus Washington's District of Columbia now stood at 5,123, up from 4,714 on Friday.

A teacher at a New York school who had been in critical condition for days died Sunday after being infected with the A(H1N1) virus, taking the US death toll to six. Only Mexico has suffered more deaths from the disease.

The CDC has downgraded a travel warning for Mexico but Anne Schuchat, director of the agency's center for immunization and respiratory diseases, took issue with media reporting that is now playing down the outbreak.

"The H1N1 virus is not going away, despite what you may have heard," she told reporters, stressing that the number of confirmed cases in the United States may be only the "tip of the iceberg."

"Unfortunately based on the trends we're seeing, we do expect more illness, more hospitalizations, and more deaths," Schuchat said, with more than 200 people already requiring hospital treatment in the United States.

The CDC quit doing a separate state by state map two days ago. They are now throwing swine flu in with other flu statistics. This graph shows the explosion of swine flu in the last two weeks. Swine flu cases are the dark blue part of the stacked bar.

Gallop poll now shows Republicans tied with Democrats in party affiliation

In a sign of dissatisfaction with President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress, the most recent Gallop poll now shows Republicans have tied with Democrats in party affiliation. From Gallop Polling:

Ultra liberal NYT columnist Maureen Dowd accused of plagiarism

Maureen Dowd has been accused of plagiarism. The story is she plagiarized a blogger. Here are the details from Founding Blogger:

Daily Kos diarist SusanG is claiming the NYT plagiarized a blogger.

Maureen Dowd, Pulitizer Prize winner. Today. New York Times:

More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Josh Marshall. Blogger. Last Thursday. Talking Points Memo:

More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when we were looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.

She nailed Joe Biden for the same offense in 1987.

Maureen Dowd has now credited the story to the blogger and made a partial confession.

Pro-life protesters interrupted Barack Obama at Notre Dame Commencement(video)

Barack Obama was interrupted at Notre Dame Commencement today by pro-life protesters.(video)

He looks a little peeved.