The Christian Science Monitor – President Obama’s scramble to revise a controversial health-care mandate eased, but did not end, a sharp clash with Roman Catholic Church leaders that spread to Capitol Hill and beyond.
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Can birth-control flap rekindle ‘repeal ObamaCare’ crusade?
(The Christian Science Monitor)
**Written by Doug Powers I’ll give him this much: with or without a budget, they manage to find ways to spend almost equally irresponsibly, so maybe he’s onto something : At a briefing with journalists on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Hoyer was asked, “Mr. Hoyer, around the same time of the State of the Union [on Jan. 24], I think it was the same day, Republicans were trying to hit Senate Democrats for 1,000 days without passing a budget, and then you talk about this milestone today, 400 days without a jobs bill in the Republican House. But then on Friday [Democratic Senator Harry] Reid said that he didn’t think they needed to bring a budget to the floor this year [and that] the Budget Control Act can serve as a guideline.” Hoyer said: “What does the budget do? The budget does one thing and really only one thing: It sets the parameters of spending and discretionary caps. Other than that, the Appropriations committee are not bound by the Budget committee’s priorities.” He continued: “The fact is, you don’t need a budget . We can adopt appropriations bills. We can adopt authorization policies without a budget. We already have an agreed-upon cap on spending.” They don’t need a budget, and it shows: **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Steny Hoyer: The Fact is You Don’t Need a Budget
Attorney General Eric Holder castigated an Idaho congressman while testifying before the House Oversight Committee Thursday, accusing him of committing one of the “worst things I think I’ve ever seen in Congress.” Holder was on Capitol Hill to testify in an ongoing congressional probe into the failed Operation Fast and Furious, in which weapons sold to Mexican drug cartels were not tracked, resulting in the deaths of hundreds, including a U.S. Border Patrol agent. According to National Review Online , Holder was responding to a “grandstanding presentation” by Republican Congressman Raul Labrador that “cobbled together testimony from Holder going back ten years to establish a ‘pattern’ of Holder saying, in effect, ‘I don’t know’ in testimony.” “There’s a whole bunch of things that I could say about what you just did, maybe this is the way you do things in Idaho or wherever you’re from,” Holder said. “But understand something — I’m proud of the work that I’ve done as attorney general of the United States, and looked at fairly, I think that I’ve done a pretty good job.” He continued, “Have I been perfect? No. Have I made mistakes? Yes. Do I treat the members of this committee with respect? I always hope that I do. And what you have just done is if nothing else, disrespectful. And if you don’t like me that’s one thing. You should respect the fact that I hold an office that is deserving of respect.” “And you know, maybe you’re new to this committee, I don’t know, I don’t know how long you’ve been here. But my hope would be that we can get beyond that kind of interaction, that kind of treatment of a witness whether it’s me or somebody else because I think what you just did was fundamentally unfair, just not right,” Holder said.
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Holder Berates Rep. During Hearing: ‘Maybe This Is the Way You Do Things in Idaho or Wherever You’re From’
Reuters – The Obama administration asked intelligence agencies for additional assessments of the risks of transferring five senior Taliban detainees to a third country as part of efforts to broker peace with Afghan militants, U.S. spy chiefs told Congress on Tuesday.
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U.S. assessing risks of Taliban transfer: Petraeus
(Reuters)
AP – The Obama administration is preparing to begin talks with Iraq on defining a long-term defense relationship that may include expanded U.S. training help, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s chief policy aide.
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Pentagon prepares for new military talks with Iraq
(AP)
Despite decades in Congress, Newt Gingrich has only 11 Capitol Hill endorsements—versus 72 for Mitt Romney.
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Larry Sabato: Do Endorsements Matter?
AP – House Republican leaders pleaded for elusive unity from the disparate factions in their party as they pursue a dual election-year prize of retaining their majority and denying President Barack Obama a second term.
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House GOP seeks unity in election-year challenge
(AP)
AP – In a politically explosive decision, President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected plans for a massive oil pipeline through the heart of the United States, ruling there was not enough time for a fair review before a looming deadline forced on him by Republicans. His move did not kill the project but could again delay a tough choice for him until after the November elections.
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Obama rejects Canada-Texas oil pipeline for now
(AP)
