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Townhall.com...
Washington
Beat
By Katie Pavlich
June 21, 2011
HUNTSMAN
IN, PERRY CIRCLING
Jon
Huntsman is the latest man to join
the ever-expanding GOP presidential field as he announced his bid for
the White
House in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty this week. Huntsman worked
as an
ambassador to China for the Obama Administration and supports cap and
trade. In
his announcement speech, Huntsman avoided attacking President Obama by
name and
focused on providing solutions to deal with the national debt.
Meanwhile,
the rumors surrounding
Texas Governor Rick Perry jumping in the race keep getting louder. Over
the
weekend, Perry gave a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference in
New
Orleans that focused on his record in the Lone Star state.
FDA
ROLLS OUT GROSS WARNING LABELS
If
we didn’t have the government, we
wouldn’t know smoking is bad for you, well, according to the
government. This
week, the FDA made official its requirements that cigarette companies
display
graphic images as warning labels on each cigarette carton sold and on
every
cigarette advertisement starting in September. The goal of the new
labels?
“Increase
awareness of the specific
health risks associated with smoking, such as death, addiction, lung
disease,
cancer, stroke and heart disease; encourage smokers to quit; and
empower youth
to say no to tobacco.”
Thanks
to the feds for stating the
obvious and something we have known for years: cigarettes aren’t good
for you.
PRESIDENT
OBAMA STILL IGNORING
CONGRESS, WAR POWERS ACT ON LIBYA
Not
surprisingly, President Obama has
shrugged off Congress, his administration’s Office of Legal Counsel and
the
legal advise from attorneys at the Pentagon surrounding the War Powers
Act and
its application to Libya. Both sides of the aisle came together this
week to
denounce President Obama’s attitude towards Libya and asked for answers
surrounding the continuing U.S. mission there. Dennis Kucinich and
Allen West
are on the same page here, so you know Obama’s doing something wrong.
INVESTIGATION
INTO OPERATION FAST AND
FURIOUS JUST GETTING STARTED
This
week, House Oversight Committee
Chairman Darrell Issa held the first Congressional hearing about the
Obama
Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Operation
Fast
and Furious. An operation where the government was willingly putting
semi-automatic weapons into the hands of killers, resulting in the
deaths of
two federal agents and countless innocents in Mexico.
The
hearing opened up a slew of
questions and Issa is just getting started in gathering of information
about
the lethal project, however, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich
couldn’t
answer one simple question: Who in Washington authorized Operation Fast
and
Furious? In his opening statement, Weich said that the Justice
Department had
complied and cooperated with the Oversight Committee, adding the DOJ
had
provided information requested through subpoenas from Issa in his
investigation. The problem is, the Justice Department has not complied
and has
refused to give the Chairman any valuable information surrounding the
case.
Issa has said he believes Eric Holder knew about this operation and
won’t stop
until information requested is provided and justice is served. ATF
Director
Kenneth Melson is expected to resign over the scandal.
OBAMACARE
WAIVERS ENDING
If
you want a get out of ObamaCare
free card, you better get it now. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services announced this week applications to get out of the government
takeover
of healthcare at least until 2014, is September 22. At this point,
1,433
waivers covering 1.3 million people have been issued, mostly to unions
and big
corporations.
FINALLY,
WEINERGATE COMES TO AN END
Rep.
Anthony Weiner has resigned. That
is all.
QUOTE
OF THE WEEK
President
Obama on NBC News talking
about the lack of job growth in America:
“There’s
some structural issues with
our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more
efficient with a lot fewer workers,” he said. “You see it when you go
to a bank
and ... you use an ATM, you don’t go to a bank teller. Or you go to the
airport, and you’re using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate.”
-Katie
Pavlich is the News Editor for
Townhall.com
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