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Poll: Public Shifting Blame For Recession

Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country’s current economic problems. In May, 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll, 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May, and 27 percent now say both parties are responsible. “The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month,” said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. “At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year’s midterm elections roll around..” Thirty-six percent of people questioned said that President Obama’s policies have improved economic conditions, with 28 percent feeling that the president’s programs have made things worse, and 35 percent saying what he’s done has had no effect on the economy. One... [Continued . . .]

Health Care Debate Headed To Senate Floor

Health care reform backers won a key victory Saturday night as the Senate voted to move ahead with a floor debate on a sweeping $848 billion bill. The 60-39 vote to prevent a Republican filibuster against the start of debate on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s legislation broke down along strict party lines. All 58 Senate Democrats — along with independent Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — supported bringing the measure to the floor. Thirty-nine of the 40 Senate Republicans opposed the motion. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, didn’t vote. “Tonight’s historic vote brings us one step closer to ending insurance company abuses, reining in spiraling health care costs, providing stability and security to those with health insurance and extending quality health coverage to those who lack it,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. The polarized vote set the table for a holiday season now virtually certain to be marked by acrimonious deliberations on President Obama’s top domestic priority. Top Senate Democrats, who are trying to pass a bill before the end of the year, spent much of the... [Continued . . .]

House Ethics Panel To Investigate California Democrats

The House ethics committee on Thursday announced separate investigations into whether Rep. Laura Richardson and Rep. Maxine Waters, both Democrats from California, violated rules of conduct. The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct issued statements saying it appointed investigating subcommittees in the cases of Richardson and Waters. At the same time, the panel dismissed a third case involving Rep. Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican. Richardson’s case involves whether she received preferential treatment in the foreclosure and eventual re-acquisition of her home in Sacramento, California. The committee’s announcement said the investigation would focus on whether Richardson failed to make full disclosure of her holdings and if she received an “impermissible” gift or preferential treatment in her home foreclosure and its aftermath. Waters is being investigated for allegedly seeking preferential treatment for a bank linked to her husband, the committee said. According to the panel’s announcement, the investigation will look into whether Waters or her husband benefited from any of her communications or actions involving OneUnited Bank, in which her husband... [Continued . . .]

Cheney Told FBI He Did Not Know Who Leaked Plame’s Identity

Former vice president Dick Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he had no idea who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, according to newly released FBI documents. Cheney was questioned as part of an investigation on how journalists came to know the identity of Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was a critic of the Iraq war. In the interview, Cheney responded to many questions with “I do not recall.” However, he took a few stabs at the CIA in its handling of White House allegations that Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium from Niger to manufacture nuclear weapons. Wilson was dispatched to Niger on a CIA assignment to explore the charges and later said that the Bush administration was twisting facts to support an invasion of Iraq. He implied in a newspaper article that his trip was at the behest of the vice president. Cheney’s reaction to the article was that it was “amateur hour” at the CIA, according to the FBI documents, released after the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a watchdog group in Washington, sued under the Freedom of Information Act. The 28-page summary of the Cheney interview was made public... [Continued . . .]

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