“Robert Gibbs” on The Daily Caller

I wondered yesterday whether Robert Gibbs jumped or was pushed and noted that President Barack Obama’s words indicated that it was “not an entirely voluntary departure”. (more)

Happy New Year! Unless, that is, you’re Keith Olbermann and you don’t know the meaning of happiness. Let’s take a look at Olbermann’s first week in the 2011 anchor chair at “Countdown.” (more)

The talk is of jobs and fixing the nation’s fiscal problems, but both sides in Washington are keeping their powder dry at the moment, looking for political advantage over the other. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is ending his term as chairman of President Barack Obama’s economic advisory panel next month, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday. (more)

Now who gets the flak jacket? (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says he is resigning his job as the president’s chief spokesman. (more)

1.) Your grandmother drives faster than the new Republican majority — Welcome to the Lowered Expectations dating service, where nobody’s profile picture reflects what he looks like in real life. First up: The House’s Republican majority. Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor promised $100 billion in spending cuts. Late Tuesday, unnamed GOP aides downgraded that amount to roughly $50 billion, reports the New York Times, “because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law.” The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward, after attending Cantor’s press availability on Tuesday, reported that Republicans may be relying on Obama to do their cutting for them: “Once we get to the State of the Union I expect this president to put some action behind the words he’s been about,” Cantor said yesterday afternoon. “When pressed numerous times for whether there will be specific spending cuts proposed and regulations put under the axe prior to the State of the Union,” Ward added, “Cantor mentioned only an already announced five percent reduction to congressional office budgets that will save $35 million.” Hear that noise? That is the sound of the Tea Partiers sharpening their knives. (more)

The Washington Post is reporting that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs may be leaving his job in the next few weeks. (more)

The 2010 campaign provided enough memorable moments to fill out a list all by itself. Christine O’Donnell, Joe Manchin shooting the cap and trade bill, Aqua Buddha: It was that kind of year. (more)

White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs called the last month of Congress a time of bipartisanship, attributing the large amount of legislation pushed through in the lame duck session to Democrats and Republicans coming together to get things done for the American people. (more)

HONOLULU (AP) — A politically rejuvenated President Barack Obama arrived here late Wednesday for a 10-day family vacation in his home state. (more)

“All Over Washington” (more)

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that the tax deal passed through the House early Friday morning was not a bitter pill to swallow because it had more in it that President Obama wanted than stuff Republicans did.  (more)

It’s inevitable. A new party is forming. (more)

1.) Romney joins growing chorus of anti-something-something conservatives — The number of conservatives who are opposed to the tax cut deal is growing. On Monday, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney joined radio host Hugh Hewitt, the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer, and Senators Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint in opposing the bill on the grounds that “the temporary nature of the taxrate extension would limit the positive economic impact and correspondingly make the deficit worse,” writes The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward. Romney, like the others mentioned above, has also raised red flags about unfunded spending contained in the bill. Coincidentally, you could say the same thing about Romneycare. (more)

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama will remain in Washington for as long as Congress stays in session, and that likely means later than the scheduled start of his Christmas break, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday. (more)

1.) Michael Steele decides that he has done enough damage to the RNC — It appears that RNC Chairman Michael Steele spent some time reviewing his contributions to the health and wealth of the Republican Party this past weekend. What else could have catalyzed his decision–forthcoming tonight, a little birdie told FOX News–to not run for a second term as RNC failman? According to FOX, Steele “sent an e-mail to committee members Saturday night with the subject line, ‘conference call,’ in which “he asked members to join him ‘for a private conference call’ Monday evening.” Perhaps Steele will review his greatest hits before bowing out? Or maybe he has plans to anoint a successor! All we know is that the field of Steele challengers (Reince Priebus, Ann Wagner, Maria Cino, Saul Anuzis, and Gentry Collins, oh my!) will all need to find new campaign slogans: “I’m NOT Michael Steele” isn’t going to cut it now! (more)

The fat lip President Obama received last week on the basketball court is similar to the fat lip America has received from the latest WikiLeaks release of sensitive State Department communications. Both are embarrassing because they reveal vulnerabilities and actions best not made public. Neither is a debilitating injury when properly treated. The president’s fat lip only required a few stitches. America’s fat lip, however, requires major surgery. (more)

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP) — In a rousing holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama on Friday told cheering U.S. troops in Afghanistan they’re succeeding in their vital mission fighting terrorism. But after he flew in secrecy for 13 hours to get here, foul weather kept him from nearby Kabul and a meeting to address frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (more)

Washington was home to an odd double-tiered reality Thursday, where the House passed a tax cut bill designed to please their base but widely referred to as “symbolic” because it cannot pass the Senate, the Senate scheduled a vote Saturday on the same, and left-wing groups nonetheless viciously decried their party for surrendering to political certainties. (more)