1.) Wisconsin Dems, teachers, can get back to work now — Public school teachers and Democratic Party fundraisers in Madison shouted ugly things last night at the top of their lungs, but they couldn’t stop the simple procedural move that allowed Wisconsin Republicans to pass a bill that “stripped” public sector unions of some of their “rights.” The Senate “requires a quorum to take up any measure that spends money,” reports the AP. With 14 Wisconsin Democrats hiding in Illinois, quorum was impossible. So Republicans simply removed the spending portion from the bill. The response from Democrats in Illinois was sort of incoherent. “Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people,” said Wisconsin Senate minority leader Mark Miller. “Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten.” (more)
1.) OMB Director: ‘The budget is not just a collection of numbers’ – Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew takes a spiritual approach to his job. “The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations,” Lew wrote in the New York Times this weekend. And because the budget is a living metaphor much like the Constitution and Sarah Palin’s Facebook page, “[w]e cannot win the future”; cannot “out-educate, out-build, and out-innovate our rivals,” if we do not first get our crown chakra aligned with our spleen chakra and make some damn budget cuts. “We had to choose programs that, absent the fiscal situation, we would not cut,” writes Lew. First up: the community service block grants that gave Pres. Obama his start in politics–er, community organizing. “Since they were instituted, community service block grants have helped to support community action organizations in cities and towns across the country,” Lew writes. “Yet for the past 30 years, these grants have been allocated using a formula that does not consider how good a job the recipients are doing.” Ergo, the White House will cut funding for the program in half and insist that the process be more competitive. Why no one thought to do this at some point in the last 30 years is a question only the high budget priests can answer. (more)
Just last week, the Transportation Security Administration had an 80 percent approval rating. Then, after a few days of media scrutiny, its numbers began to crash. As The Daily Caller noted yesterday, the number of Americans who approve of the TSA dropped 16 points in a single week, and is still plummeting. (more)
TheDC’s Mike Riggs appears on Fox News’ Red Eye and discusses a mystery missile, a revolutionary cartoonist, and a special diet. (more)
TheDC’s Mike Riggs talks about Carl Paladino, gay jokes and candidates for Congress in Nazi garb on Fox News’ Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. (more)
“You can lead a boy to college but you can’t make him think,” philosopher Elbert Hubbard once said. According to a report the Department of Education released on Monday, you can’t make him pay for it, either. (more)
Despite campaign promises to the contrary, the Department of Justice under President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder hasn’t stopped raiding marijuana dispensaries operating in states where sale of the drug is legal for medical purposes. But the DOJ has demonstrated one marked change now that it’s under Democratic control: The department has stopped publicizing medical marijuana raids, both by requesting that more cases be sealed under court order and by refusing to distribute press releases. (more)
A letter from several congressmen sent to the FCC in 1998 seemingly contradicts Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s current stance on net neutrality. The letter [PDF] obtained by The Daily Caller is addressed to then-FCC Chairman William Kennard, and was sent two years after the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the largest policy overhaul of the communications industry in five decades. (more)
For a while, it looked like progressives and small government types might never stop warring over the passage of the Democrats’ health care bill earlier this year. But it seems a few members of each team — FireDogLake, the 10th Amendment Center, and a slew of marijuana activists – have finally found common cause in calling for President Obama to rescind the nomination of Michele Leonhart to head the Drug Enforcement Agency. (more)
This is the first piece in a two-part series (more)
“Salons need to integrate,” Mary Schmidt Amons declares. “We have different hair, different needs, but why do we need to be in a different salon?” (more)
Net neutrality advocates rejoiced when President-elect Barack Obama announced in November 2008 that University of Pennsylvania professor Kevin Werbach, along with Michigan law professor Susan Crawford, would facilitate the transition at the Federal Communications Commission. A Harvard Law grad, Werbach worked in the FCC’s new technology division for four years under former President Bill Clinton. In 1997, he was one of the first people to discuss policies for regulating the Internet. And during most of President George W. Bush’s two terms in office, Werbach criticized the administration’s reluctance to “reform” broadband. (more)
The Daily Caller’s Mike Riggs appeared on Fox News on July 16 to discuss the stimulus bill, unemployment benefits, and what Democrats in Congress consider to be emergency spending. (more)
Welcome to the third episode of The Daily Caller Podcast, our roundup of the week’s most interesting news hosted by TheDC Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson. Jim Treacher, Jon Ward and Mike Riggs join Tucker this week to discuss the Chamber of Commerce’s decision to reject Valerie Jarrett’s request to address the group. More importantly, the crew reacts to the earth-shattering news that TheDC has acquired KeithOlbermann.com. Be sure to forward suggestions as to what to do with the new URL to Tucker’s new email address, keith@keitholbermann.com. (more)
Welcome to the second episode of The Daily Caller Podcast, our weekly roundup of the week’s biggest news hosted by TheDC’s editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson. Reporters Jon Ward and Mike Riggs join Tucker this week to discuss Ann Coulter’s defense of Michael Steele’s comments on Afghanistan, Sarah Palin’s new “Mama Grizzlies” ad, LeBron’s move to Miami and Mike’s feelings for Helen Mirren. (more)
Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Daily Caller Podcast, a regular roundup of the week’s biggest news hosted by DC editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson. Reporters Jon Ward and Mike Riggs are on tap to discuss the GOP’s stance on extending unemployment, Robert Byrd’s journey from KKK Exalted Cyclops to the Senate’s premiere pork hoarder, and strange experiences with masseuses. Online editor Pat McMahon closes out the show with a dramatic reading of the transcript of one of the Blagojevich trial tapes. (more)
If you think $50,000 doesn’t buy what it used to, think again. For that rough sum, a professor at UCLA has agreed to draw up a report that proves opponents of the Democrats’ health-care bill aren’t motivated by a sense of fiscal responsibility or a general distrust of back-room deals, but by race. (more)
The British refer to a sudden change in a candidate’s political disposition as a “u-turn,” after Margaret Thatcher famously said: “You turn if you want to; the Lady’s not for turning.” Italians call the maneuver a voltafaccia, and demonstrated it most effectively in 1943, when the Italian military hoisted a tattered white flag and joined the Allied Forces. (more)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today happens to be Matt’s birthday. You know what he wants? A new ball-gag? The complete discography of RATT? Acceptance from his peers? No. He wants you to ask him a question. Submit it here (more)
