More Gitmo Setbacks For Obama
Media reports last night and this morning (including the lead stories in all three network newscasts) describe an overwhelming 90-6 vote in the US Senate and remarks by FBI Director Robert Mueller as a severe setback for the President on the issue of the Guantanamo prison closure. ABC World News called it a "resounding defeat" and a "harsh rebuke."
DOD Official: US Should Take Detainees The Los Angeles Times reports, "Pushing back against growing congressional opposition to moving detainees to the United States," top Pentagon official Michele Flournoy "said today that closing the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would require prisoners to be moved to the US and urged lawmakers to think more strategically."
The AP reports President Obama "finds himself in a political box - at home and abroad" on closing Guantanamo.Pentagon: 74 Released Detainees "Returned To Terrorism"
The New York Times reports this morning, "An unreleased Pentagon report provides new details concluding that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials." Among "the 74 former prisoners that the report says are again engaged in terrorism, 29 have been identified by name by the Pentagon, including 16 named for the first time in the report. The Pentagon has said that the remaining 45 could not be named because of national security and intelligence-gathering concerns."
House Passes Credit Card Bill
Much of the media coverage on the credit card overhaul bill focuses on an unrelated gun provision. ABC World News reported that "as expected, the House followed the Senate today and voted in favor of tight controls on the credit card industry." The House and Senate "have both approved a measure revoking a ban on loaded guns in national parks, and they did it as part of a hugely popular Credit Card Bill of Rights. Gun control advocates are furious." The CBS Evening News called the measure "a big win for the NRA."
Fox News' Special Report reported, "In the end, 105 Democrats in the House, and 27 Democrats in the Senate joined Republicans to pass the guns in the park amendment." The New York Times reports, "Congressional leaders and administration officials decided not to contest the gun measure propelled by Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, to avoid delaying credit card legislation that the White House wanted as an important symbol of the administration's push for economic relief for consumers."
The AP reports that Obama "plans to sign" the bill this Friday. The bill "will revolutionize the market by restricting when and how a card company can raise an individual's interest rate, who can receive a card and how much time people are given to pay their bill." The Wall Street Journal notes that the "364-61 approval, following the Senate's 90-5 vote Tuesday, will ban several of the industry's most profitable practices and require clearer disclosure to cardholders about the interest they are paying."
Once Obama signs the bill as expected, it will take nine months to go into effect.
Lobbyists To Oppose New Healthcare Taxes
The New York Times reports that as the Senate Finance Committee met to discuss the new taxes for funding health reform, "lobbyists mobilized Wednesday to head off proposed taxes on employer-provided health benefits, alcoholic beverages, and soft drinks." The AP reports that "lawmakers are looking at an extensive list of spending cuts and tax increases, including a new levy on the value of job-based health insurance" and new taxes on alcohol or sugary drinks. The proposals were included in a Senate Finance Committee document Wednesday before a meeting to discuss "how to pay for expanding health insurance for an estimated 50 million uninsured Americans, a cost that could range to some $1.5 trillion over 10 years."
Headlines for May 21, 2009 *
60 Killed in Multiple Iraq Bombings
8 Afghan Civilians Killed in NATO Attack
Report: Afghan Insurgents Demand Timetable for US Withdrawal
Senate Votes Down Gitmo Closure Funding
Obama Considers "Preventive Detention" for Indefinite Jailings
Court Rules US Can Hold Prisoners Without Charge
A federal judge has ruled the government can continue to indefinitely jail prisoners without charge. In a ruling this week, US District Judge John Bates said anyone determined to have engaged in clashes with the US military or its allies, or to have belonged to the Taliban or al-Qaeda, can be held without trial. But Bates also rejected the Obama administration’s assertion it can jail anyone who “supports” those groups. The ruling came in a case challenging the jailing of several Guantanamo prisoners.
Blackwater Contractors Flee Afghanistan to Avoid Charges
Probe: US Gave KBR $83M in Bonuses Despite Electrocutions
Gaza War Crimes Probe to Hold Public Hearings
US Pledges $110M for Pakistani Refugees
Bolivia, US Hold First Talks Since Ambassador Row
4 Arrested in Synagogue, Air Base Bombing Plot
Latest From Late Night Comedians
Jay Leno: "I had the most frustrating night the other night. ... I watched the season finale of '24' with Nancy Pelosi. You know, she couldn't remember the first 23 hours. Didn't remember any of the torture -- none of it!"
Jay Leno: "Hey, President Obama has found a way to quickly close Guantanamo Bay. He's going to turn it into a Pontiac dealership."
Jay Leno: "Vice President Joe Biden is on a trip to Bosnia, Serbia, and Kosovo. The White House is calling it 'Operation Keep Biden Away From the Microphones.'"
Jimmy Fallon: "Both President Obama and Dick Cheney will give competing speeches tomorrow on national security and terrorism. It's kind of like 'American Idol' except one of them got voted off months ago."
(oh yeah, nimby means 'not in my backyard')
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