In War Powers Act Debate, Obama and Boehner Throw Past Quotes At One Another Revealing Inconsistencies

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At the White House briefing today, press secretary Jay Carney read from a past quote by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to make the argument that Boehner wasn?t always so aggressive when it came to asserting that the president should seek congressional authorization for military actions consistent with the War Powers Act.

The quote was from April 28, 1999, when President Bill Clinton had the U.S. military involved in military intervention in the Balkans. Boehner?s office issued the statement in a press release titled ?Don't Tie Hands of Future Presidents Over Kosovo President is Proper Architect of U. S. Foreign Policy - For Better or For Worse.?

Said then-Rep. Boehner in a statement: ?The President of the United States is, and should remain, the chief architect of America?s foreign policy and the Commander-in- Chief of our armed forces. As distressed as many of us are over the Clinton Administration?s ill-conceived strategies in the Balkans, Congress must resist the temptation to take any action that would do further damage to the institution of the presidency itself. Invoking the constitutionally-suspect War Powers Act may halt our nation?s snowballing involvement in the Kosovo quagmire. But it is also likely to tie the hands of future presidents who will need the authority to lead in crises with less ambiguous implications for our national security. A strong presidency is a key pillar of the American system of government - the same system of government our military men and women are prepared to give their lives to defend.?

Carney called it ?noteworthy? that the views expressed in the Speaker's letter to President Obama this week ?stand in contrast to the views he expressed in 1999 when he called the War Powers Act, quote, ?constitutionally suspect,? unquote, and warned Congress to, quote, ?resist the temptation to take any action that would do further damage to the institution of the presidency.?� I make an observation about that because I think it is worth noting in the current context.?

Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck responded, saying that ?regardless of any personal concerns, the speaker took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.� He has an institutional obligation to enforce the laws of the land ? all of them ? and protect the important role Congress plays in our national security policy.� He is fulfilling his duty to Congress and the American people, and ? thus far ? the White House has not done the same.?

Buck then referred a reporter to comments by then-Sen. Obama at DePaul University in October 2007, when he heralded the need for an assertive Congress in terms of the War Powers Act.

?After Vietnam, Congress swore it would never again be duped into war, and even wrote a new law -- the War Powers Act -- to ensure it would not repeat its mistakes,? then-Sen. Obama said. ?But no law can force a Congress to stand up to the president. No law can make senators read the intelligence that showed the president was overstating the case for war. No law can give Congress a backbone if it refuses to stand up as the co-equal branch the Constitution made it.?

-Jake Tapper

June 16, 2011 in Jake Tapper, John Boehner, Libya, President Obama Permalink Share User

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Source: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/06/in-war-powers-act-debate-obama-and-boehner-throw-past-quotes-at-one-another-revealing-inconsistencie.html

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iPad on iOS 5, the video

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by Steven Sande

The release of iOS 5 is still a few months away, but we're getting a good idea of the feature set of the new mobile operating system from a number of videos that have been put together. The latest video comes from Gizmodo, and shows iOS 5 in use on the iPad.

The video (which inexplicably ends abruptly after about 3 minutes) was made by Woody Jang, who shows off everything from undocking and splitting the keyboard to notifications and "Dictionary Everywhere." It's a tasty introduction to iOS 5 running on your favorite tablet, the iPad.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/06/16/ipad-on-ios-5-the-video/

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I Ruined The Economy And All I Got Were These Lousy Tax Cuts

That?s the title of a report by David Dayen. Key takeaway:

Republicans theorize that a deficit deal would increase confidence in the business sector and financial markets, spurring economic growth all by itself. But there?s ample reason to suspect this ?expanding by contracting? theory. Sadly, the Obama Administration appears to have swallowed it. Last week, several White House officials, including Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling, stressed deficit reduction as the primary component of their economic-growth strategy, and repeatedly claimed that reducing the deficit would generate ?confidence.?

?

?I think it?s bogus,? said Mishel, of EPI. ?And it reflects what happened in the Clinton era, when you elevate a tactic to the level of principle. They feel politically forced into shifting to deficit reduction. And they now rationalize this as good for jobs. And I think they all know better.?

Mike Konczal adds,

Someone noted that with Goolsbee leaving all of the big names surrounding economic policy are no longer economists but lawyers and people associated with Wall Street. And it is also telling that, with the Larry Summers editorial from the weekend, all of the economists you?d recognize who have left the administration are calling for more stimulus, while it is those there now calling for confidence.

It?s worth noting, too, that it?s not even good politics. Having made the ?pivot? from jobs to deficits because they thought it was what voters wanted to see, they?ll now get beat up over ? not focusing on jobs.

Opinionator

The True Cost of Tomatoes

Some long-overdue improvement in the working conditions of Florida tomato-harvest workers.

Ross Douthat

Privacy and the Weiner Scandal

What does his downfall tell us about sexual privacy in a digital age?

Source: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/i-ruined-the-economy-and-all-i-got-were-these-lousy-tax-cuts/

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Obama Rewards Big Campaign Donors: Today?s Q?s for O?s WH ? 6/15/2011

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BRUCE:� A new study by the Center for Public Integrity found that nearly 200 of the president's donors landed plum government jobs and advisory posts, won millions of dollars in federal contracts for their businesses and attended elite White House meetings.� Do you have any response?

�� ���CARNEY:� Well, I would simply say that this administration looks for the most qualified candidates who represent Americans from all walks of life when it makes appointments.� The administration also has across the board the toughest ethics standards in history, including a bold commitment to transparency, which I have discussed frequently from here.

Now the people we have appointed - the president has appointed to key positions all have sterling academic credentials, years of public service and private sector experience that make them eminently qualified for the positions to which they were appointed.�

������And I would make the point here that having enacted these ethical high ethical standards, the highest in history, and having pursued and delivered on a level of transparency that is unprecedented, it is important to note that being a supporter does not qualify you for a job or guarantee you a job, but it does not disqualify you, obviously.

������So we stand by all of our appointments.� We believe they are enormously qualified for the jobs that they hold.

����� BRUCE:� And how does that square with what the president said in his Presidential announcement speech in 2007?� He said, quote, "The cynics and the lobbyists and the special interests" have "turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.� They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills.� They get the access while you get to write a letter.?� He said, ?the time for that politics is over.?�

�� CARNEY:� Well, right.� We were talking about -- you asked me about supporters of the president who may have been donors who have gotten positions.� And I would point out to the fact that those ? the people who got those positions got them because of their credentials. They also happen to be donors in some cases.�

������There are obviously numerous and far more - far many more cases of people who weren't donors who were appointed to jobs.� And that's a lot different from the problem that exists in Washington, and existed in Washington, with special interests having lobbying success here in terms of the effect that has on legislation that's produced in Congress and signed into law.

����� So - and we have been incredibly aggressive in that.� I mean, we are - again, you - it is important to remember the kinds of transparency - the kind of transparency we have made a regular practice here, including releasing the - (inaudible) - logs, that is something that was never done before in terms of visitors to the White House, and the other measures we've took - taken in terms of the - what you can and cannot do in the wake of serving in this administration in terms of lobbying and that sort of thing.� So we believe that we've taken important measures that qualify the praise that this administration has gotten for its high ethical standards. And we stand by that.

June 15, 2011 in Jake Tapper, President Obama, Today's Qs for Obama's WH | Permalink | Share | User Comments (15)

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Posted by: Denbo | Jun 15, 2011 4:57:55 PM

Posted by: Peter | Jun 15, 2011 4:34:28 PM

Posted by: Chuck | Jun 15, 2011 4:23:39 PM

Posted by: Rafe | Jun 15, 2011 3:50:26 PM

Posted by: wheresmymoney | Jun 15, 2011 3:49:59 PM

Posted by: Rafe | Jun 15, 2011 3:47:45 PM

Posted by: J.R. | Jun 15, 2011 3:46:51 PM

Posted by: J.R. | Jun 15, 2011 3:44:54 PM

Posted by: Rafe | Jun 15, 2011 3:42:51 PM

Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor widens under Obama:

"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saw her net worth rise 62 percent last year, cementing her status as one of the wealthiest members of Congress. Pelosi was worth at least $35.2 million in the 2010 calendar year, according to a financial disclosure report released Wednesday. She reported a minimum of $43.4 million in assets and about $8.2 in liabilities. For 2009, Pelosi reported a minimum net worth of $21.7 million. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) also remained a multimillionaire. He reported that his minimum net worth in 2010 was close to $2.1 million."

Posted by: Fascist Hyena Jun 15, 2011 3:40:01 PM

Would it be frowned upon if Jake slapped one of those "I'd rather be golfing" bumper stickers on the Presidential limo?

Posted by: Larry Jun 15, 2011 3:38:47 PM

the people who got tho$e po$ition$ got them becau$e of their credential$

Posted by: DJ Jun 15, 2011 3:36:47 PM

This guy isn't much better than Robert "I'll have to get back to you on that" Gibbs.

Posted by: Rafe Jun 15, 2011 3:33:41 PM

Holy smoke. I was saving judgement on Jake and Co, but they really seem to be trying to get answers.

Posted by: Rafe Jun 15, 2011 3:32:07 PM

And these are the same people that want companies that apply for government contracts to disclose who their employees donated money to. I wonder if they might just use that information to determine who they'll give the government contract to. I guess I must just be too cynical.

Hope and change, hope and change, indeed!

Posted by: Jose Jun 15, 2011 3:29:46 PM

Source: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/06/obama-rewards-big-campaign-donors-todays-qs-for-os-wh-6152011.html

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Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 166

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Cruising: Jo Martin captures a boy riding his tricycle on Melrose Avenue, just east of La Brea Avenue, in West Hollywood on June 10.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

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The best in investigative and insightful reporting.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/reader-photos-southern-california-moments-day-166.html

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To See Ourselves As Others See Us

Rudy Giuliani, 2008:

You have got to see the trap. Otherwise we are in for a disaster. We are in for Canadian health care, French health care, British health care.

David Cameron, now:

Ask a Briton to describe ?American-style? healthcare, and you?ll hear a catalog of horrors that include grossly expensive and unnecessary medical procedures and a privatized system that favors the rich. For a people accustomed to free healthcare for all, regardless of income, the fact that millions of their cousins across the Atlantic have no insurance and can?t afford decent treatment is a farce as well as a tragedy.

But critics here warn that a similarly bleak future may await Britain if a government plan to put more power in the hands of doctors and introduce more competition into the NHS succeeds ? privatization by stealth, they say.

So frightening is the Yankee example that any British politician who values his job has to explicitly disavow it as a possible outcome. Twice.

?We will not be selling off the NHS, we will not be moving towards an insurance scheme, we will not introduce an American-style private system,? Prime Minister David Cameron emphatically told a group of healthcare workers in a nationally televised address last week.

In case they didn?t hear it the first time, Cameron repeated the dreaded ?A?-word in a list of five guarantees he offered the British people at the end of his speech.

Source: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/to-see-ourselves-as-others-see-us/

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The Power of Minus

David Altig points out that given the recent decline in gasoline prices, we?re likely to see a negative headline inflation number by June. What will the inflationistas say?

But then, we did have negative headline inflation, even on an annual basis, for much of 2009. Somehow that didn?t stop the inflationistas from panicking.

Of course, all this is why we need something like core inflation, so as not to overreact to short-run fluctuations.

Source: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/the-power-of-minus/

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