Caroline Kennedy has told Gov. David Paterson that she is withdrawing her name from consideration to replace outgoing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate, The Post has learned. Kennedy cited "personal reasons," according to sources.
Found out the governor is picking Cuomo?
Her stunning move comes as sources revealed that Paterson had intended to appoint her to the now-vacant seat today.
The 51-year-old Camelot daughter's decision removes the highest-profile name in the ring to step into Clinton's seat, as she departs after getting confirmed as President Obama's Secretary of State today. The surprise decision leaves a crowded field of about 15 people, mostly elected officials, vying to replace Clinton - including Long Island Rep. Steve Israel, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, upstate Rep. Kirstin Gillibrand and Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
For the first time on Tuesday, shortly after Obama was inaugurated, Paterson acknowledged publicly that he is considering state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for the slot. Cuomo has not publicly said whether he's interested in the job, but has not tamped down speculation that he's making a play for it.
Better to put Cuomo in the Senate: that way he won't come after the governor in 2010 ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2009 19:03 ||
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#1
My bet? Teddy's not doing well at all and she's heading back here to await the inevitable whenever that may be. The leeches up on Beacon Hill will be more then willing to change the succession rules back to the way they were before evil Republican governors roamed the state so she can claim his, and her father's, old seat.
Of course it's not right, but the Kennedy's are like some ancient diabolical cult up here.
THE Prime Minister has secretly paid two senior advisers - including his "boy wonder" chief of staff, Alister Jordan - special top-up payments to bolster their $200,000-plus incomes.
Despite calling on workers to defer pay claims, Mr Rudd intervened to have a salary bonus paid to Mr Jordan, his 29-year-old long-serving confidant.
Another senior adviser has also breached the Government's official salary cap, boosting his "principal adviser" salary above the top level of $192,000.
Mr Jordan has worked side-by-side with Mr Rudd for six years and is one offour Government advisers paid at the top "principal adviser" level.
With superannuation and overtime added to salaries, principal advisers earn close to $250,000 in annual income.
The revelations of the top-up payments are embarrassing for the PM, who on Monday night called on workers to show wage restraint as Australia rockets towards recession.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2009 00:00 ||
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(01-21) 17:57 PST Washington - -- President Barack Obama took the advice of constitutional lawyers and retook the oath of office Wednesday that Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed the first time around. Roberts re-administered the oath privately Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the White House Map Room. White House counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts again out of an "abundance of caution."
"We decided it was so much fun," Obama joked to pool reporters as Roberts donned his black robe. "Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked.
"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied. The oath took 25 seconds and went flawlessly, at which point Roberts said, "Congratulations, again."
Roberts had initially misplaced the word "faithfully," perhaps rattled after Obama jumped the gun a bit in reciting the first words back. Obama paused at Roberts' mistake, which Roberts then corrected, but Obama then repeated the words as Roberts first said them. Obama, who himself has taught constitutional law, said later that there was "a lot going on" at the historic moment.
The presidential oath is explicitly prescribed in the Constitution, Article II, Section One, which requires that the oath be taken as written before the president can execute his duties. It was discussed at some length at the Constitutional convention and has been taken by all 42 previous presidents. Scholars said no one doubted that Obama was president, and certainly no court would hear a challenge, but that a re-do would be recommended just to be safe.
The 20th Amendment also states that the term of the outgoing president ends at noon on Jan. 20, and the new president's term begins at that time, but the fact that the original Constitution explicitly requires the oath, and the fact that retaking it would be a simple matter, led most scholars to recommend erring on the side of caution, precedent and protocol.
Two previous presidents, Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge, retook their oaths under similar circumstances.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2009 21:47 ||
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WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, prepares to explain at his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday why he failed to pay self-employment taxes for four years, little is known publicly about his finances.
Since 2004, when he became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Geithner wasn't required to file personal financial disclosure statements, and neither the Senate Finance Committee nor aides to Obama have released similar information. So it's difficult to trace Geithner's financial condition from 2001 to 2004, when he failed to pay self-employment taxes of $34,023, information that might shed light on whether he made an honest mistake or had some reason to try to skirt tax laws.
Also, like millions of Americans, Geithner rode the housing bubble from middle class Maryland to the affluent suburbs of Westchester County, N.Y.
The lack of a more complete picture about the man who stands to become the nation's chief tax collector appears to be in conflict with Obama's repeated vow that his administration will be the most transparent ever.
Obama aides and Treasury officials didn't respond to requests for more financial information about Geithner, but without greater disclosure, some observers see possible future problems.
"The Obama administration has its first test of its open doors policy," said Lawrence Jacobs, the director of the University of Minnesota's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance. "Serious mistakes have been found in Geithner's tax filings. Will the administration come clean to reassure Americans that everything else is in order?
"The risk here is that the Obama administration, only hours old, could be tainted by the stain of hypocrisy, claiming to be open, but practicing the same old game of secrecy."
Based on a review of real estate records of homes bought and sold by Geithner and his wife, Carole, the couple wasn't rolling in cash during the years of his tax omissions, when he worked at the International Monetary Fund as part of a 20-year public service career. Carole Geithner has worked as a clinical social worker when she wasn't looking after their two children. Such work typically isn't high-paid.
Questions about Geithner's mishandling of his tax matters could dominate the hearing before the Senate Finance Committee because of some of the circumstances. Geithner paid $16,732 in back taxes and interest for the years 2003 and 2004 after an Internal Revenue Service audit, but didn't amend his 2001 and 2002 returns, which reflected the same error, at that time.
He made amends for the 2001 and 2002 omissions, paying $25,970 in self-employment taxes and interest, but only after he was nominated to serve as Treasury secretary.
The IMF circulated documents to Geithner offering extra pay to cover his U.S. self-employment taxes. He filled out the forms and received the extra cash, but he didn't pay the taxes.
Geithner earned $398,200 as president of the New York Fed, and the taxes might seem to be a minor issue for the couple. If their home purchases in earlier years are an indication, however, finances were more challenging earlier in the decade when the unpaid taxes may have been an issue.
The couple bought a home in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Md., in 1992 for $275,000, taking a mortgage of $202,300. Through a series of refinancings and the sale of two properties, they climbed the economic ladder until they bought a house for $1.6 million in Larchmont, N.Y., in 2004.
All of the Geithners' mortgages -- from big banks including Nationsbanc, which is now Bank of America; Chase Manhattan, which is now J.P. Morgan Chase; and Wells Fargo -- carried adjustable-rate mortgages with the risk that annual rate increases could raise their interest payments to as much as 11.25 percent, though the couple tended to refinance or sell their homes before ever they faced a rate adjustment.
They also took out second mortgages, now known as home equity lines of credit, borrowing a total of nearly $1 million in 2002 on their second Bethesda home, which they bought a year earlier for $1,085,000.
In 2004, they sold that house for $1.45 million and bought their current house in the New York suburb of Larchmont with a $1 million Wells Fargo mortgage, later adding a $400,000 home equity line of credit, also from Wells Fargo.
#1
The last four paragraphs appear to explain the non-payment of income taxes. Gaining approval for a "home equity loan" of nearly 93% of inital sale prive (purchased only one year previously) is a pretty good trick I'd say. This fellow should be able to get us out of debt in two or three months!
#2
This guy is the epitome of why people get in trouble. His extreme leveraging of finances for the 1.6 million house with variable rates etc etc, is an example of why we as a nation are in such fiscal trouble.
So if you want to send the right message, give him a thumbs down for treasury secretary.
but if you want to see this kind of smoke and mirrors financing, then you have the right guy. He WILL be a team player.
A pox on all their houses.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/21/2009 21:16 Comments ||
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Obama is the lord and when you die you'll go to Washington.
The Promise Land?
President Barack Obama is similar to the Biblical character of Joshua and Martin Luther King Jr. was like Moses, boxing promoter Don King told CNSNews.com on Tuesday.
Celebrities, including Jay-Z, Smokey Robinson, Don King, Denzel Washington, and Oprah Winfrey, spoke with CNSNews.com in the hours before the inauguration just a few feet from the rostrum where Obama was sworn-in as the nations 44th president. They spoke about how Obama had changed their lives and which Biblical character they think he most resembles.
I would say that he would be Joshua going across to the Promised Land, King told CNSNews.com. Martin Luther King Jr. went to the mountaintop like Moses, and he said, I might not get there with you, but I can see the Promised Land. But we gonna get to the Promised Land. So Joshua carried them across. Martin Luther King, Jr. was prevented from going into the Promised Land.
There are so many Biblical figures who had the same task, popular R&B singer and songwriter Smokey Robinson told CNSNews.com. I really dont know. I just think he is himself and he will go down in world history not Biblical history as a world leader who brought people together. Look around you. The world is here.
I would say any one of the Biblical leaders, said Denzel Washingtons mother, Lennis Washington, who was attending the inauguration with her son on Tuesday. The apostle Paul, Moses, John the Baptist any one of them. Seriously, he is like one of those apostles for our day. He came to lead us to the original design of what we are supposed to do on this earth.
Denzel Washington, however, was reluctant to draw a parallel between Obama and a Biblical character.
What Biblical character? Washington said. As Mr. Obama has said, its not about him. Its about us. Its about what we do collectively.
Other celebrities present at the ceremony shared thoughts with CNSNews.com on how Obama had specifically changed their lives.
Obama changed my life in the same way he has changed your life, hip-hop artist Jay-Z told CNSNews.com.
He has changed my life just like he has changed your life, agreed Robinson. If you are an American citizen, he has changed all of our lives. America has changed our lives.
We are at last showing the world that we are who we say we are, said Robinson, when asked to be more specific. Its truly a wonderful day for the world.
He makes me want to be a better human being, said media mogul and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Only King told CNSNews.com that Obama had not changed his life.
No, said King. America changed my life. Barack Obama is just a part of the American scene, and what this means to me is that America is looking colorblind. They are no longer suffering from myopia. What we are talking about here is much more profound than just a guy who happens to be American and happens to be black.
WASHINGTON Gov. David A. Paterson said on Tuesday that he would announce no later than Saturday whom he would appoint to fill the Senate seat that is being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Mr. Paterson, speaking to reporters here shortly after President Obama was sworn in, said he had all but decided on his choice Monday afternoon but planned to mull it over for a few more days. I have a good idea now which direction I want to go, Mr. Paterson said.
Then, explaining why he would wait to reveal his choice, he added: I thought that with something this serious that when I came to a point of view that I wouldnt react to it immediately. So since Im going to be here for another couple of days, I thought I would see if it feels the same way when I come back on Wednesday as it did, I guess toward the end of yesterday afternoon, when I think I started to come to a point of view.
There has been much speculation that the governor plans to appoint Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy. Like Mr. Paterson, Ms. Kennedy attended the inaugural ceremony on Tuesday, but has otherwise kept a low profile in Washington.
Several Democrats close to the governor dismissed any suggestion that Senator Kennedys health could influence Mr. Patersons choice, but one friend of the governors said it might. It might pull at his heart strings in terms of Caroline. It just might, said the friend, who spoke anonymously to offer a candid assessment of how Mr. Paterson may react.
In an interview later in the day with CBS News, Mr. Paterson shed a little more light on his selection process.
Mr. Paterson said that Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo was indeed under consideration, although both men have been coy about whether Mr. Cuomo was actively seeking it. Asked about the possibility that the ambitious Mr. Cuomo would run against him for governor next year if Mr. Paterson did not pick him, Mr. Paterson said he did not think so. Hes told me that he doesnt want to run against me, Mr. Paterson said. I would think thats the case.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Is Regis Philbin in contention?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
01/21/2009 12:16 Comments ||
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The $825 billion government stimulus package unveiled by congressional Democrats on Friday contains billions of dollars in government spending supposedly designed to create jobs and stimulate the economy.
However, the package also contains a host of items congressional leaders rarely mention, including hundreds of millions of dollars for cable TV boxes, new windows in government housing, and day care, among numerous other economic stimulus programs.
Which is the whole point ...
Drafted by Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the stimulus proposal -- the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill" -- claims that without the massive federal spending, America will face "economic chaos."
"Without this package, we are warned that unemployment could explode to near 12 percent," Obey said in a statement accompanying the bill's release. "With passage of this package, we will face a large deficit for years to come. Without it, those deficits would be devastating and we face the risk of economic chaos.
"Tough choices have been made in this legislation and fiscal discipline will demand more tough choices in years to come," the statement concludes.
This is increasing nonsense. The country's infrastructure could use the help, but the kind of stuff in this bill isn't going to do a lot of good.
The bill promises $275 billion in tax cuts and $550 billion in what it describes as thoughtful, targeted investments.
Anytime a politician tells you that his bill is 'thoughtful' and 'targeted', you know it's horse hockey.
"This package is the crucial first step in a concerted effort to create and save 3 to 4 million jobs, jumpstart our economy, and begin the process of transforming it for the 21st century with $275 billion in economic recovery tax cuts and $550 billion in thoughtful and carefully targeted priority investments," the statement reads.
Among those "priority investments" are:
-- $650 million to help Americans upgrade to digital cable after the official transition to digital television on Feb. 17, 2009.
Why do we need that? Americans can upgrade on their own, and most already have. A converter box is 20 bucks: we have 30 million homes without converters?
-- $44 million to repair and improve the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.
-- $276 million to upgrade and modernize information technology at the State Department.
-- $3.1 billion to fund "infrastructure projects" on federal land, including $1.8 billion for the National Park Service, $650 million for the U.S. Forest Service, and $300 million for the National Fish Hatcheries.
-- $600 million for NASA, including $400 million for projects such as "satellite sensors that measure solar radiation critical to understanding climate change."
-- $1.9 billion for the Department of Energy for "basic research into the physical sciences," including nuclear physics and fusion energy.
-- $209 million for maintenance work at the federal Agricultural Research Service's research facilities across the country.
-- $400 million in repairs to various "national treasures," including $200 million for revitalizing the National Mall, $150 for maintenance at the Smithsonian Institution, and $50 million to make up for a lack of philanthropic support for the arts.
-- $850 million for "wildland fire management," including $550 million to states for "volunteer fire assistance," "city forest enhancements" and "wood to energy" projects.
-- $400 million for "habitat restoration" projects to be doled out by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
-- $2.7 billion for "rural water and waste disposal" grant programs for providing loans for digging wells or extending municipal water services in rural areas.
-- $2 billion to provide day care services to 300,000 additional low-income children, ostensibly while their parents are at work.
-- $1.2 billion to create an estimated 1 million summer jobs for young people.
-- $2.5 billion to upgrade government-owned housing projects with new insulation, windows, and furnaces.
-- $6.2 billion to weatherize the homes of low-income people to make them more energy efficient.
-- $2.4 billion for projects demonstrating carbon-capture technology.
-- $600 million to "prepare our country for universal healthcare" by training more doctors, dentists, and nurses.
-- $1.5 billion to build new "Community Health Centers."
-- $20 billion to provide "nutrition assistance" for middle-income families and to lift restrictions on how long people can receive food stamps.
-- An undisclosed amount to "provide 100 percent federal funding through 2010 for optional State Medicaid coverage of individuals (and their dependents) who are receiving unemployment benefits or have exhausted those benefits."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Steve, I think that's the price for a private industry converter box; the government issued converter boxes would be $120, at least. Extra overhead, you know.
#5
Why do we need that? Americans can upgrade on their own, and most already have.
That cost is for both hardware and the installation. The mismanagers of the city I live in have chosen the Fire Fighters to install the boxes at their normal Union wages. And thats after the city raised taxes double digits specifically saying that without the increase the Fire Department would no longer be able to operate at a safe level. Their justification dont worry itll be paid for by Federal revenue I shit you not!
#11
Glenmore, have you ever been to West Virginia? They've got a lot of stuff plastered with the name of their favorite Exalted Cyclops, and he hasn't had the decency to drop dead yet.
As the outcome of the Minnesota Senate race heads to trial, Democrat Al Franken and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman have embraced the public spotlight after avoiding attention during the weeks-long recount.
Franken arrived in Washington on Friday to celebrate President-elect Barack Obama's Inauguration -- and to raise money for the campaign's post-election legal challenges.
He has been a regular at inaugural festivities and hosted an inaugural brunch fundraiser Sunday at the Willard Hotel, which cost the 350 attendees $1,000 per plate. The brunch featured several senators, including Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Franken toured Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Saturday and met with wounded soldiers for several hours.
Coleman, meanwhile, has taken to the airwaves to personally make the case that he can overcome his 225-vote deficit in court after keeping a low profile during the recount process.
He made two appearances on conservative talk shows last week to publicize his argument.
"When all the votes are counted, I feel pretty confident," Coleman told Minneapolis conservative talk show host Jason Lewis on Friday. "The other side is saying, 'OK, now we've got enough votes. We're temporarily ahead in this recount. Let's call it quits.' Democracy doesn't work that way."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel gestures prior to the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, in Washington, January.
Evidently, long bacon is Northern English slang for thumbing ones nose or cocking a snook, but done with two hands. Cocking a snook is performed by spreading the fingers of one hand, touching the tip of your nose with your thumb while sighting your opponent along the tips of your other fingers, and waggling your fingers in the most annoying way possible. Long bacon adds the other hand for extra emphasis, thumb touching the little finger of the first.
#1
Aides making above $100,00 include the high-profile jobs of White House chief of staff, national security adviser and press secretary. Other aides who work in relative anonymity also fit into that cap, if Obama follows a structure similar to the one George W. Bush set up.
Slick is back. It doesn't cap, it only freezes, and instead of reporting clearly that it was a carry over of the Bush administration, it allows the worshiping MSM to show the One has assuaged the masses with a display of 'thrift' in these times.
#2
Phew, good thing he's serious about containing expenses. Too bad he didn't start yesterday with his 175 Million masturbatory lovefest, 4 times larger than the 2004 bash.
We are a nation of idiots, and deserve what is coming...
Posted by: Francis ||
01/21/2009 18:30 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(01-21) 17:57 PST Washington - -- President Barack Obama took the advice of constitutional lawyers and retook the oath of office Wednesday that Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed the first time around. Roberts re-administered the oath privately Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the White House Map Room. White House counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts again out of an "abundance of caution."
WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, prepares to explain at his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday why he failed to pay self-employment taxes for four years, little is known publicly about his finances. 
The $825 billion government stimulus package unveiled by congressional Democrats on Friday contains billions of dollars in government spending supposedly designed to create jobs and stimulate the economy. 
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel gestures prior to the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, in Washington, January.
