Republicans Won’t Let Obama Get Things Done and Then Republicans Complain Obama Can’t Get Things Done: The president is going to the Midwest to deliver pro-jobs speeches, which leads Congressional Republicans to declare he’s all talk and no walk. Of course, the truth is that Republicans are trying to eviscerate the very programs that will create jobs (NYT paywall link):
Congressional Republicans are moving to gut many of President Obama’s top priorities with the sharpest spending cuts in a generation and a new push to hold government financing hostage unless the president’s signature health care law is stripped of money this fall.
As Mr. Obama prepares to deliver a major economic address on Wednesday in Illinois, Republicans in Washington are delivering blow after blow to programs he will promote as vital to a more robust economic recovery and a firmer economic future — from spending on infrastructure and health care to beefing up regulatory agencies.
Oh Sure Yeah, This Is Totally Believable, NSA: The agency searching an entire world of e-mails claims it’s impossible to search it’s own e-mails in response to a public records request. “There’s no central method to search an email at this time with the way our records are set up, unfortunately,” NSA Freedom of Information Act officer Cindy Blacker reportedly said.
Another Victory for Freeways: Judge rules that state’s climate goals can’t be applied to the region’s transportation plan:
Almost 50 percent of Washington’s climate pollution is attributable to the transportation sector. Yet, under PSRC’s Transportation 2040 plan (T2040), there will be no change in vehicle miles traveled per capita in 2040 compared to the baseline. PSRC’s plan continues to favor widening local roadways and state highways and supporting low-density development on the urban fringe. T2040 contains almost 1000 miles of new and expanded roadways, leaving cities without funds to complete the comprehensive networks of transit, pedestrian, and bicycle infrastructure.
Was This Car Fire in the Central District a Hate Crime? “After the flames were extinguished, crews noticed something written on the car’s trunk—racially charged slurs—that lead them to treat the arson as a hate crime.”
In Goodspaceguy News: He has a blog, you know. It’s colonizespace.blogspot.com and its tag line is “Our Spaceship Earth.” The candidate for King County Executive’s latest crusade is pressuring the county-owned TV station show the video voters guide statements. As he puts it, ” in order to promote excitement and enthusiasm for our mail-in election, King County Television showed zero of the video voter guide presentations. King County Television is doing a wonderful job of keeping this election a secret.”
The Internet Needs More Time-Wasting Lists: “13 Photos That Shatter Your Image of Famous People,” is a perfectly serviceable waste of 13 minutes.