Happy Birther to You!

From Salon:

President Obama released his long-form birth certificate months ago, but leading Birther activist Orly Taitz is still insisting to anyone who will listen that the president is not a natural-born citizen. Last Thursday she traveled to Capitol Hill to make her pitch to staffers for some of the most influential conservative members of Congress, some of whom were apparently quite receptive to her message.

Taitz told me she flew on the red-eye from her home state of California to Washington  for a series of meetings on Thursday with aides to Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Allen West (R-FL), and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK), among others.

“The ones that were most positive was a meeting with two counsels for Marco Rubio. They read all the pleadings, they are aware of the issues,” said Taitz, reached at her Orange County dental office.

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Crap Shoot

From the Los Angeles Times:

They want to repeal the healthcare overhaul, pare back financial regulations, slash federal spending and curtail the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency. In essence, they want to challenge the agenda of the Obama administration at every turn.

The new GOP chairmen of key House committees such as Appropriations, Budget, Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Government Reform believe they have a mandate to check the size and scope of government.

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The Wedding Panners

From POLITICO:

Republicans in California are remaining largely silent on last week’s ruling overturning Proposition 8. But a band of conservative House members didn’t waste a minute in their day back in Washington, highlighting their opposition to gay marriage.

Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas, Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Steve King of Iowa and John Fleming of Louisiana told reporters on Tuesday that the California federal judge who overturned Prop. 8 acted against the will of voters in striking down the state’s ban on gay marriage.

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Zero for Heroes

From the New York DAILY NEWS:

WASHINGTON – Congress turned thumbs down on the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act on Thursday night, raising doubts it will ever pass.

Most Republicans refused to back the measure, calling it a “slush fund,” and saying it was another example of Democratic overreach and an “insatiable” appetite for taxpayers’ money.

The bill would spend $3.2 billion on health care over the next 10 years for people sickened from their exposure to the toxic smoke and debris of the shattered World Trade Center.

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Inherit the wind? Or, just blow me!?

From OpEd News, written by Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL):

Conyers Opens Door to Inherent Contempt for Rove

Karl Rove has simply refused to appear, as he is legally required to do. His actions, endorsed by the Bush/Cheney Administration, are a challenge to our system of checks and balances and Congress must respond to this type of outrageous behavior with appropriate severity.

Today, Judiciary Chairman John Conyers courageously stated today that inherent contempt will remain an option for the House of Representatives so long as Rove and this Administration refuses to abide by the law.

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Gonzogate Meets Watergate

From Politico:

Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee compared President Bush to the late President Richard Nixon in a legal motion filed today in federal court, as part of their civil contempt lawsuit against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers for failing to comply with panel subpoenas. The subpoenas were issued as part of the committee’s probe into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

“Not since the days of Watergate have the Congress and the federal courts been confronted with such an expansive view of executive privilege as the one asserted by the current presidential administration and the individual Defendants in this case,’ said House General Counsel Irv Nathan and other House lawyers in their 45-page motion.

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Let’s call this Executive-privilege-claim-doesn’t-hold-watergate.