Paul Calls White House Pressure On BP 'Un-American,' Says That 'Sometimes Accidents Happen'
In an interview on ABC News’ Good Morning America today, host George Stephanopoulos pressed GOP Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul on “how far” he would “push” his Anti-Government views. Playing a clip of Paul telling Fox Business that he wants to “get rid of Regulation” and “get the EPA out of our coal Business down,” Stephanopoulos asked if Paul believed “the EPA should not be allowed to tell Oil companies they can’t use...

Progressive Breakfast: What's Next For Wall Street Reform?
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what Progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, Health Care, green Energy, Financial Reform, affordable education and Retirement security. After Senate Passage, Lobbyists Eye House-Senate Conference Bill now heads to conference to be reconciled with House version. TPMDC's Brian Beutler on what to expect: "...House and Senate aides expect that the legislation the President signs will call for several,...

Morning Must Reads: Rolling
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza --Rand Paul was on ABC's "Good Morning America" this morning to run a bit of damage control. It was kind of brutal . He standoffishly dodged the Civil Rights questions before shifting to a defense of BP and a critique of the Minimum Wage. Again, the merits of his Small Government philosophy aside, Dr. Paul appears to have a tin ear for politics outside his comfort zone. --Interesting nugget: Yesterday's passage of Financial Reform hinged on the vote of...

BP hammered after posting live spill cam
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After days of badgering from lawmakers seeking greater access to video footage of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, BP Thursday made a live camera available for the public to view the disaster site 5,000 feet below water. The camera is moved periodically. Some of the shots show Oil gushing from pipes or the above the Well head. The new video has drawn scrutiny on BP's claim of how many barrels of Oil were leaking out daily. Lawmakers seized the opportunity to...

SSP Daily Digest: 5/21 (Morning Edition)
CT-Sen : Yet another thing the New York Times appears to have gotten wrong: Dick Blumenthal was on his college swim team, and no, he never claimed to have been the captain. In light of recent revelations, SSP is retracting the accusation we made in our first post on the NYT article that Blumenthal "lied." Subsequent information has show that the NYT's piece was misleading, at best. NV-Sen : Chicken Lady is up on the air with an ad attacking Crazy Lady, aka enriched weapons-grade wingnut...

First lady's questioner wants White House visit
SILVER SPRING, Md. — A second-grader who sprung a question on First Lady Michelle Obama about Immigration said Thursday she'd like to visit the White House. The 7-year-old put a human face on the issue Wednesday when she told the First Lady during an Elementary School visit that her mother had said President Barack Obama was "taking everybody away that doesn't have papers." Then she said her mother "doesn't have papers." Mrs. Obama tried to reassure her that the president was working to...

ThinkFast: May 21, 2010
With Louisiana officials voicing “desperation” as Oil is “showing up on shore as Tar Balls, sheens and gooey slicks,” the EPA has told BP to “immediately select a less toxic dispersant than the one it is now using to break up Crude Oil gushing from a ruined well in the Gulf of Mexico.” Officials also ordered BP to “ release and post all data related to the month-old Spill and monitoring efforts on a public Web site.” “After days of...

US House Morning Whip-Up, May 21, 2010
Another week in Congress has come and gone (sigh) and still no sign- not even a flicker-of a House Budget resolution. Perhaps Democrat Rep. Scott Murphy put it best yesterday: "I'm troubled by rumors that the House is considering the possibility of not submitting a Budget this year for the first time in decades... We need to make tough choices and we need to make them now."

Kevin Costner may hold key to oil spill cleanup
The " Kevin Costner solution" to the worsening Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico may actually work, and none too soon for the president of Plaquemines Parish. Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting Oil Spills that he began working on while making his own maritime film, "Waterworld," released in 1995. Two decades later, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard plan to test six of his massive, stainless steel centrifugal Oil separators next week. Plaquemines Parish...

Rand Paul: Obama's criticism of BP 'un-American'
BC-US—Rand Paul, 2nd Ld-Writethru,0439 Rand Paul: Obama's criticism of BP ‘un-American' Eds: ADDS photo link. Moving on financial and general news services. AP Photo KYER107 By MICHELE SALCEDO Associated Press Writer Washington (AP) — Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Gulf Oil Spill Friday as putting “his boot heel on the throat of BP” and “really un-American.” Paul's defense of the Oil...

Rand Paul: Obama's BP Comments Sound 'Really Un-American' (VIDEO)
After walking back his criticism of the Civil Rights Act yesterday, Rand Paul has been making the rounds defending himself against Democrats who have "trashed" him "up and down" with their "talking points." On Good Morning America today, Paul also steered the conversation toward something more recent, President Obama's criticism of BP following the Oil Spill. Paul said: "This sort of, you know 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,' I think that sounds really un-American in his...

GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul scorches Obama for criticizing BP, says it sounds 'un-American'
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul is shown during an interview at his campaign headquarters after winning his Party's Primary Election in Bowling Green, Ky., Wednesday, May 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke) (AP) Washington — Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Gulf Oil Spill Friday as putting "his boot heel on the throat of BP" and "really un-American." Paul's defense of the Oil company came during an interview in...

Rand Paul: Obama's criticism of BP 'un-American'
Washington (AP) - Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Gulf Oil Spill Friday as putting "his boot heel on the throat of BP" and "really un-American." Paul's defense of the Oil company came during an interview in which he tried to explain his controversial take on Civil Rights law, an issue that has overtaken his campaign since his victory in Tuesday's GOP Primary. "What I don't like from the president's administration is this...

Rand Paul: Obama's Criticism of BP is "Un American" since "Accidents Happen"
At a time when the the general consensus is that most politicians and Americans consider British Petroleum responsible for the massive Gulf Oil Spill — and some members of both parties are saying the administration needs to get tougher on the company — Kentucky Republican candidate Rand Paul says President Barack Obama’s increasingly tougher Talk about GP is “un American.” Rather, he suggests, the attitude should be: “…accidents...

No Doubt About It ... There's a Rat at the White House
  A picture is worth a thousand words … it is official folks, there is a rat at the White House. Drudge via the Gateway Pundit Many have suspected it for months and now its official, from the AP : In his battle with the titans of Wall Street, President Barack Obama almost got upstaged by a rat. But he didn’t even seem to notice. Assuming that’s what it was, scurrying in front of his podium Thursday in a sun-drenched Rose Garden. Obama had just begun an afternoon...

Fievel Goes West Wing? Rodent Joins Obama at White House
(Credit: AP) As President Obama lauded the progress of Financial Reform legislation yesterday from the White House Rose Garden, he received a little company. Mr. Obama made an eight-minute statement yesterday to emphasize his commitment to Financial Reform . He was so focused, he didn't seem to notice the furry rodent that zoomed in front of the podium as he spoke. The creature scurried from the bushes to the right of the president, just outside of the Oval Office, and dashed past Mr....

Obama Effects Media Blackout at White House
Not having a genuine News Conference since July would be remarkable for the least transparent administration, let alone one that made openness a signature campaign issue. But not everyone in the leftist Press is exercising such restraint about Obama's media blackout. CBS News' Chip Reid decided to ask Obama a question following his signing of the Freedom of the Press Act. Doing his best Hugo Chavez, Obama said, "I'm not doing a Press Conference today, but we'll be seeing you guys during the...

Meek: $25 Mil From BP Not Enough to Encourage Tourism, Give $75 Mil More
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a candidate in the Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate, said $25 million set aside for advertising to lure tourists to Florida in the wake of the recent disastrous Oil Spill is not enough. Meek told reporters Thursday that he sent a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, asking for $75 million more to address efforts to encourage Tourism. Meek’s staff reportedly did research that found it would cost $100 million to advertise in such cities as New York, Los Angeles...

Gulf oil spill: BP forced to acknowledge larger spill size
BP's success at drawing Oil from a leaking pipe has proved that official estimates of the size of the Gulf of Mexico Spill have been too low. The company effectively admitted as much Thursday when it said that a tube inserted into the broken pipe connected to its blown-out well is collecting as much as 5,000 barrels of Oil and 15 million cubic feet of Gas a day, even as a live video feed shows large volumes continuing to billow into gulf waters. "There's still Oil leaking there. We're not...

Rand Paul: Obama BP criticism 'un-American'
Source: MSNBC.com Washington - Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul said Friday that President Barack Obama's criticism of BP in the wake of the Gulf oil debacle sounds "really un-American." Paul, already facing a backlash over remarks earlier this week about Civil Rights legislation, criticized the Obama Administration for declaring it will put its "boot heel on the throat of BP." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs used similar language shortly after the spill. In an interview...

Obama's special guest at the White House
President Obama's remarks on Wall Street regulations yesterday featured a special guest, though we're not exactly sure who -- or what -- it was. Some kind or rodent -- maybe a rat, maybe a mouse, perhaps a mole -- scurried in front of Obama's podium , drawing chuckles from reporters and rapid clicks from camera people. Members of White House camera crews reported seeing the same suspect a week ago, just before Obama spoke about the Gulf Coast Oil Spill. Yes, there are exterminators at the...

There’s a mole in the White House
Washington -- Mr. President, look out for that mole! Not the kind that steals state secrets and passes them to our enemies -- but the furry kind that had the bad form to scurry across the steps right below President Obama's feet yesterday as he addressed reporters in the Rose Garden. The gray, short-tailed rodent made its debut before a bank of TV cameras and reporters awaiting Obama's comments on Wall Street Reform, suddenly scampering across the stone steps outside of theOval Office before...

White House data trove celebrates first birthday
There may not be cake and balloons, but today marks the first anniversary of the White House's online data retrieval system, data.gov . The web site, run out of the Office of Management and Budget, brings together Federal Government computerized data in one central location. It began with 47 data sets on May 21, 2009, and now has 250,000. The multiplier effect doesn't end there. Since its creation, data.gov has inspired similar efforts by countries from Britain to Australia; states from Maine...

White House Not Sure Salahis Got The Memo
White House officials learned last night that the gatecrasher Salahis were stopped not far from the White House. “I shook my head,” said spokesman Robert Gibbs, describing his reaction to the news. “Once again the Salahis were not on the guest list.” Gibbs thinks the Salahis have not yet figured out that they are not welcome at the White House “It seems to me their 15 minutes of fame were up about six months ago,” Gibbs said. The Secret Service statement is...

The Return Of The White House Party Crashers
There was a State Dinner at the White House last night, so, of course, it was time for Tariq and Michelle Salhi to do their thing: This time the White House