Times Online: Ministers have dropped a plan to force a pet tax on the country’s six million owners which was intended to tackle the menace of dangerous dogs. Only a week ago Hilary Benn, Environment Secretary, and Alan Johnson, Home Secretary, proposed a compulsory third party insurance for all dogs to pay for injuries to [...]
Roll Call: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that she has not yet made a decision on whether to use a special procedure to enact the Senate’s health care bill without a separate vote, but she noted that Republicans used similar procedures when they were in charge. “I didn’t hear this ferocity the hundreds of [...]
Roll Call: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking all female Democratic Members to attend a hastily called meeting Wednesday morning but isn’t saying what the meeting is about. Pelosi’s office sent an e-mail out Tuesday evening requesting that all female Democrats come to the Members-only meeting at 10 a.m. An aide to one Democratic Member [...]
Politico: First lady Michelle Obama had tough words for grocery manufacturers Tuesday, telling them to “step it up†in their efforts to provide healthier foods to children and curb obesity. At a conference at Washington’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, Obama talked about her own efforts on the childhood obesity front, explaining that her goal was to [...]
Fox News: Special Report’s Bret Baier will interview President Obama on Wednesday in an exclusive conversation scheduled just days ahead of the House of Representatives’ critical vote on landmark health care legislation. The interview will run uninterrupted in its entirety on Wednesday’s Special Report at 6 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel. Baier will discuss [...]
Jerusalem Post: Hamas on Tuesday called on Palestinians to launch an intifada to prevent the “Zionist plot” to take over Jerusalem. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, urged the Palestinians to join forces against Israel’s “intentions” to drive out Muslims and Christians fromJerusalem. “What happens [...]
Politico: The so-called “Slaughter solution†for enacting health care reform without a conventional House vote on an identically worded Senate bill would be vulnerable to credible constitutional challenge, experts say. No lawyer interviewed by POLITICO thought the constitutionality of the “deem and pass†approach being considered by House Democrats was an open-and-shut case either way. [...]
The Telegraph: The president will refuse to make fund-raising visits during November elections to any district whose representative has not backed the bill. A one-night presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds which would otherwise take months to accumulate through cold-calling by campaign volunteers. Mr Obama’s threat came as the [...]
Bloomberg: March 16 (Bloomberg) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, still shoring up support for legislation to overhaul the U.S. health- care system, vowed that Democrats will be ready to pass the bill when the time comes. “When we bring the bill to the floor, we will have the votes,†Pelosi told reporters yesterday. Leaders plan [...]
Downtown Gilbert GILBERT, Ariz. — The national Alliance Defense Fund says a town code that bars religious assemblies in private homes in the Arizona community of Gilbert is unconstitutional. The Oasis of Truth church began meeting at Pastor Joe Sutherland’s house in November and rotated homes several times a week for Bible study and fellowship. [...]
Bloomberg: March 16 (Bloomberg) — U.S. employers won’t hire enough workers this year to lower the jobless rate much below the level of 9.7 percent reached in February, three Obama administration economic officials said today. The proportion of Americans who can’t find work is likely to “remain elevated for an extended period,†Treasury Secretary Timothy [...]
