Recently in Politics Category

They may have to move the final vote to Sunday or next week:

A House leader says Democrats haven't yet lined up enough votes to pass their health care overhaul bill.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland says the vote that House Democrats had scheduled for Saturday could slip to Sunday or early next week.

Hoyer acknowledged to reporters Friday that Democratic leaders don't yet have the 218 votes needed to pass President Barack Obama's historic health overhaul initiative.

He yelled "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great) then opened fire on the unarmed military personal waiting to be processed for deployment. He was taken down by a female civilian police office. He's alive but paralyzed. From USA Today:

An Army psychiatrist who had counseled troops and was upset about being deployed to Iraq shouted "Allahu Akbar!" and opened fire on an unarmed crowd at Fort Hood Army base Thursday afternoon, killing 13 people and wounding 30, military officials said.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. citizen born in Virginia to Jordanian parents, was wounded by a civilian police officer responding to a shooting rampage that is believed to be the worst ever at a U.S. base, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of Fort Hood.

[...]

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin, was briefed by military officials and said Hasan had taken some unusual classes for someone studying about mental health.

"He took a lot of extra classes in weapons training, which seems a little odd for a psychiatrist," McCaul said.

Hasan had come to the attention of federal law enforcement officials at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The official said investigators were trying to confirm that Hasan was the author of the postings, one of which was a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. One of the officials said federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize seizure of Hasan's computer.

You can also read more about the shootings and response here.

BTW, I agree with this guy that Obama didn't handle the tragedy in a very presidential way. He knew the nation was awaiting his words and he gives a shout out? Pretty weird.

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

Evidently, the Republicans aren't the only ones purging moderates:

Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is out as keynote speaker for the Palm Beach County Democratic Party's annual fund-raising dinner next week because party leaders dislike her stance on health care reform, county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel said today.

We are learning quite a bit about the Ft. Hood shooter . He was a psychiatrist from Maryland, a Muslim (maybe Syrian or Jordanian) and upset that he was being deployed to the Middle East:

Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, said the senator had been told that Malik Nadal Hasan, who has been identified as a the shooting suspect at Fort Hood, was upset about his upcoming deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

[...]

A defense official speaking on condition of anonymity says Hasan was a mental health professional -- an Army psychologist or psychiatrist.

You can get updates on Twitter @FtHoodShootings.

I'm a little surprised that NJ booted Corzine. I guess I shouldn't have been given our history. We'll take high taxes and massive government spending for a while and then we say, "Enough!" It happened with Florio in 1993 and we did it again last night. Corzine was corrupt, raised taxes beyond what we could bear (NJ is taxed at a higher rate than NY), spent way too much of the tax payers' money (NJ spends more than PA) and caused many companies to leave the state (we have the highest unemployment in the region). And with all that, he promised to raise our taxes again if re-elected.

But Republicans shouldn't look at this as an embrace of the Republican party, Christie was just a viable alternative to Corzine. This is very much a blue state and here's proof:

Despite warnings that harsh economic realities would finally lead to a 'no' vote on borrowing money to fund open space programs, Garden State voters approved the measure Tuesday, albeit by a smaller margin than in previous years.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, 52 percent of voters said yes to the "Green Acres" ballot question that asked them to approve borrowing $400 million for open space initiatives. More than 1.5 million votes were cast.

Though, if I were a House member, I would not dismiss the Christie win as only being about Corzine. Corzine was voted out for high taxes, spending and jobs, Democrats in Washington might want to keep that in mind for 2010. Even Obama can't help you get re-elected (less than 20% said Obama influenced their vote).

Update: Wow! It's so freaky to see NJ that red!