Pelosi Breaks Pledge to Put Final Health Care Bill Online for 72 Hours Before Vote

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was “absolutely” committed to doing so.
House members are still negotiating important issues in the bill–whether it will provide taxpayer-funding for abortions, for example. Pelosi is pushing for a Saturday House vote, and a number of big changes will be introduced, likely less than 24 hours before the vote takes place (if in fact it does). The Rules Committee hasn’t yet released its resolution, or rule, that must be passed before the bill can move from committee to the floor. The rule will set the terms of debate and determine what amendments are in order… MORE

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) – A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with — from the economy to the war in Afghanistan — are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday’s Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America’s first black president…. MORE

When will President Obama step up and to quote Don Corleone “Be a man.” The left bashed Bush for eight years, and essentially ran against his memory and legacy when Obama took the White House. John McCain was no George W. Bush, but that didn’t matter he was Republican, and guilty by association.

So the left got their wish and got Barack Hussein Obama in the White House, made history by electing the first African (some say born in Kenya) American President. Well I guess they should have been careful about what they had wished for, because they got it, and now they have to deal with it.

But they are avoiding that as much as possible. The inexperienced executive has used the Bush legacy to pay-off those who helped him by bailing out just about everyone. The Wall Street crowd got their billions, the auto unions got theirs, ACORN got it’s share, AIG got it’s dividend, and Chris Dodd and Barney Frank are still in their seats, but most likely not for long. So, Obama has made his bed, and now it is time to lie in it. Stop blaming the previous administration! Be a man, and stand-up for the failing policies that you claim to believe in. If you cannot do that, then stop with the socialist, re-distributive, pseudo-European economic policies and focus on America.

You may not like George W. Bush, but no one can deny that he stepped up after the tragedies of 911 and became the man. He rose to the occasion, and dealt with the cards, and never once blamed the dealer. It would have been easy to blame the attacks on the previous administration who had ignored the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the waves of anti-western sentiment being created by radical Muslim factions such as Al Qaeda, but the Bush White House didn’t. They stood firm and dealt with the present, instead of looking for protection in blaming the past.

You can’t blame the man, when you are the man… you have to step up and be the man, or simply move aside.

Brophinator

While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was calling conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh too “divisive” to own a professional football team, rapper Snoop Dogg was appearing in television ads for ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown.”

I guess Goodell and other higher-ups within the league weren’t concerned with having a man possessing multiple felony charges against him including murder do commercials for the highly-watched Sunday pre-game show on the nation’s leading sports cable network…. MORE

President Obama and members of Congress told federal agencies earlier this year to avoid awarding funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to contractors with troubled histories of work for the federal government.

But that isn’t happening at numerous agencies, a Washington Post analysis shows. So far, 33 federal departments and agencies have awarded more than $1.2 billion in stimulus contracts to at least 30 companies that are ranked by one watchdog group as among the most egregious offenders of state and federal laws. MORE

Suit claims East St. Louis passed up white police chief over race
“The suit against Mayor Alvin Parks, City Manager Robert Betts and the city itself does not identify Grimming by name or qualifications. But the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Thomas E. Kennedy III, said it was Grimming, and that Parks told his clients “the city wasn’t ready to hire a white police chief.” MORE

I wonder if The Reverend Jesse “That’s my baby” Jackson or Al “Mega Phone” Sharpton will show up in protest?

NEW YORK Here are the top 25 newspapers in the country ranked by daily (Monday-Friday) circulation for the six months ending September 2009 from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The percent change compares the same six-month period ending September 2008.

Go here for more on this list by E&P Senior Editor Jennifer Saba, and here for a list of the top 25 papers on Sunday. For a list of the top 10 gainers this time around, go here.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL — 2,024,269 — 0.61%
USA TODAY — 1,900,116 — (-17.15%)
THE NEW YORK TIMES — 927,851 — (-7.28%)
LOS ANGELES TIMES — 657,467 — (-11.05%)
THE WASHINGTON POST — 582,844 — (-6.40%)

DAILY NEWS (NEW YORK) — 544,167 — (-13.98%)
NEW YORK POST — 508,042 — (-18.77%)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE — 465,892 — (-9.72%)
HOUSTON CHRONICLE — 384,419 — (-14.24%)
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER — 361,480 — N/A

NEWSDAY — 357,124 — (-5.40%)
THE DENVER POST — 340,949 — N/A
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC — 316,874 — (-12.30%)
STAR TRIBUNE, MINNEAPOLIS — 304,543 — (-5.53%)
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES — 275,641 — (-11.98%)

The PLAIN DEALER, CLEVELAND — 271,180 — (-11.24%)
DETROIT FREE PRESS (e) — 269,729 — (-9.56%)
THE BOSTON GLOBE — 264,105 — (-18.48%)
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS — 263,810 — (-22.16%)
THE SEATTLE TIMES — 263,588 — N/A

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE — 251,782 — (-25.82%)
THE OREGONIAN — 249,163 — (-12.06%)
THE STAR-LEDGER, NEWARK — 246,006 — (-22.22%)
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE — 242,705 — (-10.05%)
ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) TIMES — 240,147 — (-10.70%)

More than $2.3 million in federal economic stimulus grants have gone to eight Tampa Bay area cosmetology and massage schools to pay tuition for the hairdressers, masseuses and nail technicians of tomorrow. MORE