Charlie Spiering

President Barack Obama: NFL wide receiver

Nothing inspires voluteerism and exercise more than a slow motion video of President Obama catching a perfect spiral from New Orleans QB Drew Brees. Watch the president's new PSA ad below. Expect to see several parody mashups like this one in the days ahead....

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Read (and search) the 2,074 page Health Care Reform Bill

Senate Republicans have done a good job sharing Reid's 2,074 page version of the Health Care bill. Read it below and thanks to Scribd you can search by keyword. Try searching the word 'tax' Senate Health-Care Bill...

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UPDATED: 76,779 jobs 'not really created or saved' by the Stimulus (and counting)

View Bogus jobs 'created or saved' by the Stimulus in a larger map 11/19 UPDATE: We've added thousands more jobs in several dozen cities to our not really "created or saved" stimulus jobs map. The total number of jobs we have found to be "not really created or saved" now approaches 80,000. Several new states and the Territory of Guam have new entries. We will continue updating the map in the coming weeks. Most of the new pins on our interactive map represent such un-started, un-funded contracts, according to data taken from Recovery.gov. Because the Obama administration has been using its inflated claim of 640,000 jobs "created or saved" to make...

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Video: World War II vets visit Washington

Reason.tv's Dan Hayes has posted a great video after interviewing World War II vets traveling with the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight from Wisconsin. Honor Flight is an organziation that provides World War II vets and terminally ill patients from other conflicts free travel to Washington, D.C. to tour...

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Google's compromise: Sesame Street or the Berlin Wall?

Google has always been surprisingly random in the historical events it chooses to highlight by changing the logo on the front page. All last week they chose to highlight Sesame Street by promoting different characters from the show to celebrate the T.V. show's 40th Anniversary. If you follow these things, you'll know that Google celebrated the birthday of H.G. Wells, the USB code, Comic Con, and crop circles in the same way. On today's anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, however, Americans get another Sesame Street theme featuring the...

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Byron York gives an in-depth analysis of the Virginia, New Jersey and NY-23 races on C-span's Washington Journal

Byron York was on C-Span's Washington Journal on Sunday. For those of you who weren't watching C-Span yesterday morning, we have embedded the following...

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Brit Hume: White House attempting to 'quarantine' Fox News

Former Fox News Anchor Brit Hume is firing back at the White House for attacking the cable news channel. White House aides made a point of airing their criticism of the network during the Sunday shows earlier this week. David Axlerod claimed that the news channel was "really not news," and Rahm Emanuel suggested that Fox is "not a news organization." White House communications director Anita Dunn suggested on CNN that Fox News, is the "research arm of the Republican Party" "It is a little hard to discern a strategy behind the White House campaign of criticism of Fox News unless it's simply this - an attempt to quarantine Fox and thereby discourage...

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Baucus health care bill: 1502 pages

Not for the faint of heart. For any of our interested readers we have posted the full text of the 1502 page Baucus health care bill that passed out of the Senate Finance Commitee last week. Subject to change without notice. . ....

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Wishful thinking on Saturday Night Live with 'The Rock' Obama

SNL has always leaned left; case in point, the most recent episode reflecting wishful thinking from upset progressives who'd like to see a stronger Obama. The show brings back "The Rock" Obama played by "The Rock" (Dwayne Johnson). "The Rock" Obama chucks Senator Max Baucus out of the window for failing to insert the public option, rips off Minority Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell's arm for opposing Health Care, and threatens to smash Sen. Olympia Snowe's head for paying lip service to the Baucus bill. Once again that stupid Senate seems to be getting in the way of...

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K Street Editor Timothy P. Carney appears on C-SPAN's Washington Journal

For those of our readers who weren't up early on Sunday watching C-SPAN, here is a link to Timothy P. Carney's appearance on the Washington Journal Program together with progressive blogger Taylor Marsh. Click here for the online...

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President Obama to the tune of 'I am T-Pain' i-Phone app

Jimmy Kimmel recently aired a mash up rap of T-Pain and Obama health care sound bites that uses Auto-tune. Auto-tune is controversial in the music business for bringing about technology heavy music making anyone a tonal singer. The 'I-am T-Pain" app is an Apple best seller for the i-Phone. In this case it makes a very entertaining...

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SNL's Obama sketch: I won Nobel prize for not being George Bush

SNL didn't pass up the chance to mock the president for winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. In case you missed it over the weekend, I've included the clip. This marks the second week in a row that SNL mocked Obama's lack of accomplishment after last week's "to do" list sketch. Obama (played by Fred Armisen) announces in a press conference: "This prize bestowed by the Nobel committee in Norway is given annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to world peace. Jimmy Carter won it for decades of trying to find solutions to international conflicts, Al Gore won it for his years of education [the] U.S. about climate change, and us? Well, I won it for not...

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Democrats: Republicans have 'thrown in lot with terrorists' with Nobel criticism

Democrats are fiercely defending Barack Obama's award of the Nobel peace prize and bristling at any Republican mockery of the international award for the president. “The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists – the Taliban and Hamas this morning – in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize," DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse said in a statement. "Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize – an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great...

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Should Facebook remove groups that want to kill George W. Bush?

Facebook users and the national media are wringing their hands over the appalling poll that was posted on Facebook asking users if Barack Obama should be assassinated. Facebook has since taken down the poll, created by a third party user, and now the Secret Service is investigating its source. Case closed for Barack Obama, but should Facebook have offered the same courtesy to his predecessor? Several groups on Facebook are dedicated to the demise of George W. Bush. Most of the dozen or so groups dedicated to killing him however, have only a few followers, but some of them have become quite popular. For example there is a group named "We all Want To Kill George Bush" with 429...

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Video: Byron York on FOX News: Why did the media lose interest in war caskets?

Byron York was on the FOX News Channel this morning to talk about the media's sudden lack in interest covering the return of fallen soldiers to the...

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ACORN hiring a social media organizer for Bertha Lewis

When you're dealing with a firestorm of criticism there's no time to Tweet. News of the ACORN scandal has spread wildly on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in recent weeks and now it appears that Chief Executive Officer Bertha Lewis is ready to fight back. According to an ad posted today in the Washington Post job section, Lewis is looking to hire a personal tailor for her social media profiles, Duties include "Helping to create or upgrade a presence for Bertha Lewis, ACORNs Chief Organizer, on various social media, including: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc." Don't quit your day job yet, however, it appears that the job only offers...

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VIDEO: Chris Stirewalt talks health care politics on Lou Dobbs Tonight

Political editor Chris Stirewalt joins the politics panel on Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss the House resolution reprimanding Joe Wilson and health care...

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VIDEO: Kevin Mooney joins Glenn Beck to talk about ACORN

Washington Examiner's Kevin Mooney talks with Glenn Beck about the recent the recent ACORN scandal and what it means in...

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Jon Stewart slams media for missing ACORN story: 'Where the hell were you!?'

Last night, Jon Stewart featured video clips of ACORN employees advising undercover journalists posing as a pimp and a prostitute how to hide the nature of their business in their tax forms. The video clips debuted on biggovernment.com and were featured by FOX News commentator Glenn Beck. Since then the clips have circulated widely on conservative blogs and news sites and sparked a vote in the Senate to de-fund the organization. "The bad news is that ACORN appears to be a criminal organization that aids and abets criminals and get millions of dollars in taxpayer money!" Stewart said, after highlighting the clips on his show. Stewart joined conservatives in their criticism of...

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Full text of President Obama's Back to School speech

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event Arlington, Virginia September 8, 2009 The President: Hello everyone – how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one...

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Video: Chappaquiddick was one of Kennedy's favorite topics of humor

There is a lot of ruckus being raised in the blogosphere regarding Ed Klein's comments remembering that Ted Kennedy liked to joke about the horrific Chappaquiddick incident. The video is below: I don't know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, "have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?" That is just the most amazing thing. It's not that he didn't feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too. H/T NRO's Mark Hemingway ] and Hot Air's Ed Morrissey...

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Novak's last days as a Washington reporter

As Robert Novak's last reporter, I remember the fateful day that we received his order to close up the office. Before his first stroke, Novak had just returned from a speaking engagement late one Friday afternoon. Instead of finishing his column on the plane as was his custom, he had given up due to computer issues and was tired and cantankerous. We worked late into the evening to finish his column and I knew something was wrong when he kept cussing out the computer for 'changing the words.' When I offered to type the column for him, he abruptly refused my assistance and kept at it. His final column was riddled with errors and I quickly patched it up and sent him home to Geraldine and...

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Obama's Montana town hall not quite the 'Wild West'

Barack Obama's town hall in the Bozeman, Montana area is not as 'bold' of a trip into the Wild West as described by Politico's Carole E. Lee this morning. Bozeman, Montana is a college town with many resident yuppies and is a home for multi-millionaires looking to buy their own piece of the West. Although the event is in the Bozeman suburb of Belgrade, a short drive takes you to the popular Big Sky Ski Resort or to the Yellowstone Club, a posh invitation-only playground for millionares. Although it's since gone bankrupt, at one time it cost a minimum of $250,000 to join, plus the cost of a $5 million to $35 million mountainside home. Billionaire Ted Turner owns hundreds of thousands of...

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J.P. Freire defends gun rights on MSNBC

Washington Examiner Associate Editor of Commentary J.P. Freire explains to MSNBC's David Shuster why citizens have the right to carry firearms and why it may be a good idea to bring one to a town hall....

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Michael Barone on Fox: Support for the Democratic plans has been dropping like a stone

Washington Examiner's Michael Barone talks about the public backlash against Democratic health care reform on Fox News' 'Special...

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Video: J.P. Freire discusses Sarah Palin's future on MSNBC

Washington Examiner's J.P. Freire talks with MSNBC's Contessa Brewer about Sarah Palin's...

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Obama's "stupidly" comment overshadows health care presser

President Obama has now drawn a lot of attention to the recent controversy regarding Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest as he was breaking into his own home. "I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three — what I think we know separate and apart from this incident — is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact." Now that the officer who made...

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When quoting T.V. shows is racist

While picking through wire copy last week, I was puzzled when the Associated Press pulled the trigger on a story highlighting Sen. Tom Coburn's 'racist' remarks during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor. During the hearing, Sen. Coburn said, "You'll have lots of 'splainin' to do," alluding to a popular line from Ricky Ricardo in 'I Love Lucy.' Ricardo was played by Cuban-born actor Desi Arnaz and since Sotomayor is of Hispanic decent, the AP thought they had a great story. Although the story fizzled, James Taranto notes that the Associated Press did the exact same thing the very same day. What caught our attention about this AP story was the...

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Jackson dominates Obama in media coverage; Facebook

It's no suprise that Michael Jackson has dominated national news coverage, but the media obsession with all things Jackson has far surpassed their interest in the Obama administration. The Project for Excellence in Journalism notes: For the second week in a row, Michael Jackson generated more headlines than Barack Obama, showing up as a lead newsmaker in 14% of the week’s stories compared with only 4% for the president. The All Facebook blog also notes that Jackson surpassed the president as the most popular person on Facebook with over 6.4 million...

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Fired WaPo blogger Dan Froomkin finds a home at Huffington

The Huffington Post has hired ousted liberal Washington Post blogger Dan Froomkin as an Assistant Editor. Glen Greenwalt reports: Froomkin will oversee a staff of four five reporters and an Assistant Editor, guide The Huffington Post's Washington reporting, and write at least two posts per week to be featured on its main page and Politics page. I learned last night of the hiring and spoke to both Arianna Huffington and Froomkin this morning. It appears that The Huffington team was quick to capitalize on the tidal wave of sympathy generated by liberal blogs after he was fired from his position at the Washington Post. His 'White House Watch' blog was famous for his sharp attacks...

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Video: Byron York tells Fox News that Gov. Sanford's political career is 'toast'

Washington Examiner's Byron York joins the political panel on Fox News Special Report with Bret...

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Video: Washington Examiner's J.P. Freire debates stimulus spending on MSNBC

Here to make their case are Brian Beutler with talkingpointsmemo.com and the J.P. Freire, associate editor of the Washington Examiner's commentary...

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Video: Byron York returns to the Glenn Beck Program to discuss AmeriCorp

Byron York discusses his latest column on the AmeriCorp firing mess with Glenn...

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Video: Glenn Beck interviews Byron York about the AmeriCorp incident

Washington Examiner's Byron York discusses what happened behind the scenes as the Obama administration fired AmeriCorp's Inspector...

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Video: Jon Voight calls Obama a 'false prophet' at Republican fundraiser

Actor Jon Voight, who hosted last night's GOP fundraiser dinner, delivered a particularly harsh rebuke to Obama, saying he was "embarrassed" by the president and that Obama's leadership would cause the "downfall" of the country. "We are becoming a weak nation," he said, calling Obama a "false prophet" and his administration the "Obama oppression." He also noted that the youth and the media for falling prey to Obama's "false haloistic...

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Dick Cheney on gay marriage: "People ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish"

Dick Cheney hinted at the National Press Club recently that same sex marriage should be decided at the state level. From Real Clear Politics: As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. But I don't have...

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Sarah Palin 'feels sorrow' for the Tiller family

AK governor Sarah Palin released the following statement concerning the death of abortion doctor George Tiller. I feel sorrow for the Tiller family. I respect the sanctity of life and the tragedy that took place today in Kansas clearly violates respect for life. This murder also damages the positive message of life, for the unborn, and for those living. Ask yourself, 'What will those who have not yet decided personally where they stand on this issue take away from today's event in Kansas?' Regardless of my strong objection to Dr. Tiller's abortion practices, violence is never an answer in advancing the pro-life message....

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The Washington Examiner draws fire from Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann attacks the Washington Examiner on MSNBC's...

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Poll: New Yorkers prefer scandal ridden Spitzer to Gov. Paterson

A recent Marist poll shows that New Yorkers miss scandal ridden Eliot Spitzer and actually prefer him over New York Governor David Paterson. From the Washington Wire: What’s worse for Paterson is that a majority, 51%, say they would prefer former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer to be back in the office. Spitzer resigned in March 2008 after he was caught up in a prostitution sting operation. A majority, 50%, of registered Democrats would prefer Spitzer. Among Republicans, 55% prefer Spitzer....

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Democrats score political points with Kemp's death

Newly minted Democrat Senator Arlen Specter in a Sunday appearance on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer angered many on the right for using Kemp's death to score political points. From the show's transcript: I’ve been the spear carrier to increase medical research. And I’ve even established a Web site, Specterforthecure.com, to try to get people to put more pressure on Congress to join me in getting more funding. If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. Senator Durbin noted on Fox News Sunday, that Kemp's legacy should teach the GOP a lesson. I hope that Jack's...

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Welcome to Obama motors

President Vice Chairman Jim Press sure knows how to put a positive spin on bad news. From the AP: "Maybe some people have some worries about the longevity of the company," he said. "Well, heck, now the president of the United States, the U.S. government, is not only going to back our warranties, they're going to be an investor in forming our new company." I can't imagine how funny that would sound in a car commercial. . . Additionally, it appears that GM is not far away as the New York Times notes: Fresh from pushing Chrysler into bankruptcy, President Obama and his economic team are hoping that the hard line they took last week gives them leverage to force huge...

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After swine flu gaffe, Biden sent to his safe zone

Vice President Joe Biden has had a roller coaster week. After getting credit for convincing Arlen Specter to join the Democratic party, Biden was looking pretty good until he stumbled over his swine flu update, telling the nation he didn't want his family to travel on a train or an airplane because of the threat. Although the White House tried to talk over his off-the-cuff statement, Sen. 'Amtrack' Biden has been the subject of criticism for the last couple of days, including a stinging letter of outrage from the New York Post. It may be time to get the heck out of Dodge while things cool down. . .Today, Biden's office announced plans for a overseas trip to southeastern Europe. From...

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FOX show 'Lie to Me' tops prime time Obama presser

Looks like FOX made the right decision in foregoing Obama's 100 day Hallmark presser and running their new crime drama 'Lie to Me' instead. From TV Newser: FOX, the only one of the Big Four networks that did not carry Pres. Obama's news conference last night, finished first in the 8pm ET hour with a new episode of "Lie to Me." The drama averaged 7.9 million Total Viewers, according to Nielsen overnights....

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Sarah Palin joins Twitter, but doesn't follow Katie Couric

Looks like celebrity politician Sarah Palin signed up for Twitter yesterday joining Oprah, Miley Cyrus, and her former running mate John McCain on the popular micro-blogging platform. Palin is already following FOX News buddies, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly and spreads around the media love by following David Gregory of NBC's Meet the Press, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, and the breaking news feed for CNN. Curiously, however, she doesn't seem to be following Katie Couric, or anybody from CBS. She also is following a wide variety of politicians including Gov. Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sen. Jim DeMint. McCain, although a...

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Specter proposed ban on switching parties in 2001

The LA Times cleverly looks back to when Jim Jeffords switched parties in 2001 causing the GOP to lose majority status. Needless to say Arlen Specter was not very happy. "If somebody wants to change parties, they can do that," Specter said at the time. "But that kind of instability is not good for governance of the country and the Senate." The piece also details Specter's efforts in the Senate to change the rules preventing further party switches. Read the full piece...

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Create your own captions: The White House is on Flickr

The White House is on Flickr, allowing anyone to download and share White House glamour shots.The photos are even open to comments which is a brave move. Judging by some of these shots, Obama has found plenty of time for R and R in between dealing with pirates, stopping swine flu, and saving the world economy.I've highlighted some of the funnier ones below. Images courtesy of Flickr The President and Vice President practice putting I thought you said lunch was on you this time! Tossing the pigskin in the Oval Office HELP! I'm being attacked by a...

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Sen. Kerry: 'Specter is guts and grit personified'

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) made the following statement today on Senator Arlen Specter: “This is a big moment. When Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party, he was the canary in the coal mine warning of Bush era ideological excess, and Senator Specter’s decision eight years later signals its tipping point. This is now officially a Republican Party where moderates need not apply, and a Democratic Party under President Obama that welcomes all perspectives and is determined to find consensus to move America forward. “Arlen Specter is guts and grit personified, and he remains as independent as ever. He’s always been a thoughtful voice on everything from science...

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Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switching to the Democratic Party

From the AP: Several officials say veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania intends to switch parties, advancing his own hopes of winning a new term next year while pushing Democrats one step closer to a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority. The sources said an announcement could come later in the day — or Wednesday. The officials who provided the information did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss his plans. Specter is a 79-year-old veteran of five Senate terms, and one of only a handful of moderate Republicans left in Congress in a party made up largely of conservatives. Assuming Minnesota Al Franken ultimately succeeds in...

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Sen. Webb: Pot legalization should be 'on the table'

Sen. Jim Webb has stated on CNN that marijuana legalization should be on the table, as he made his case for criminal justice reforms. From The Hill's Michael O'Brien "Well, I think what we need to do is to put all of the issues on the table," Webb said this morning on CNN if asked if marijuana legalization would be part of his criminal justice reform efforts. "If you go back to 1980 as a starting point, I think we had 40,000 people in prison on drug charges, and today, we have about 500,000 of them," the first-term Virginia lawmaker said. "And the great majority of those are nonviolent crimes — possession crimes or minor...

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Developing: Secret Service clears D.C. Tea Party protest

Just walked up to the Tea Party in Lafayette Park, and was surprised to see that police tape was up, the park was cleared, and police were patrolling the borders. Jake Tapper of ABC noted on Twitter that reportedly somebody threw tea bags over the White House fence. 3:15 PM Update: Our own White House Correspondent Julie Mason reports further...

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