National debt: 'Time for gridlock is over'
Washington - As lawmakers continued to butt heads over how much spending should be cut over the next seven months, a few senators on Tuesday were trying to keep the focus where they think it belongs - the next several decades.
"The time for gridlock is over. We do not have time to go around the bush and around the bush and around the bush to debate the specifics of our perfect solutions," said Republican Sen. Mike Crapo.
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Activist says he targeted NPR because of Juan Williams firing
(CNN) – UPDATE: National Public Radio CEO Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday, according to the organization's website. This comes the day after tape was released of an NPR senior executive slamming the tea party and saying NPR would be better off without federal funding.
The conservative activist responsible for producing an undercover video showing a National Public Radio senior executive slamming the Tea Party as "racist" and "scary" is speaking out about why he went after the organization.
Late Tuesday evening, the executive in question, Senior Vice President for Fundraising Ron Schiller, issued an apology and said that his already-announced resignation would be effective immediately, instead of in May as planned. Schiller had announced last week that he was leaving NPR for a job with the Aspen Institute.
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Senate GOP shoring up votes for deep spending cuts
Washington (CNN) - Senate Republican leaders Tuesday put pressure on GOP moderates balking at voting for a budget-slashing bill passed by House Republicans.
Democrats had planned to vote Tuesday on the House bill – which would cut government spending by $61 billion-as well as a competing, scaled-down, measure proposed by Democrats but Senate leaders indicated late Tuesday the vote would likely slide until Wednesday.
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Obama headlines party fundraiser in Boston
Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) - President Barack Obama plays the role of fundraiser-in-chief Monday evening, helping the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raise an estimated $1 million.
The president headlines a DCCC fundraiser at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Among those joining Obama at the event are House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Steve Israel, the DCCC chairman. Tickets for the event range from $5,000 per person for dinner to $50,000 per couple for dinner, a photo line, and a VIP reception. A source with knowledge of the event says around $1 million will raised at the dinner.
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Gibbs pulls out of DNC contention as Kaine inches closer to Senate bid
Washington (CNN) - Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is taking himself out of the running for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, telling CNN in an exclusive interview that if DNC chief Tim Kaine steps down to run for the U.S. Senate he will not be a candidate for the post.
"I had an opportunity to do that when my name got floated six months ago," Gibbs told CNN in a telephone interview. "I am not going to run the DNC."
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Obama defends education spending plans
Dorchester, Massachusetts (CNN) - President Barack Obama insisted Tuesday that education spending needs to be spared from the growing drive for fiscal austerity, telling an audience of students and teachers in Massachusetts that cutbacks would ultimately prove self-defeating.
"We need to come up with a budget that forces government to live within its means," Obama said. But we "cannot cut back on job-creating investments like education."
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Democratic Reps. protest Obama budget cuts
Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) – Hours before President Obama was to fly to Boston to push his administration's education initiative, two congressmen from the president's own party held a press conference to protest the administration's proposed budget cuts to a program to help the poor afford heating oil.
Massachusetts congressmen Jim McGovern and Michael Capuano joined former Democratic congressman Joe Kennedy to criticize the administration's attempts to cut in half the $5.1 billion budget to fund LIHEAP, the low income energy assistance program.
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Cantor defends Peter King
Washington (CNN) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Tuesday defended Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King for holding a series of hearings on the "radicalization" of the American Muslim community and that community's response to it.
The number two House GOP leader pointed to the 2009 attack at Fort Hood by a Muslim American soldier on fellow U.S. soldiers, and maintained that King's committee's job is to deal with potential threats to U.S. security.
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DNC hits Romney over Obama economy jabs
(CNN) - The Democratic National Committee is hitting back at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney who penned an op-ed criticizing the economy under the Obama administration in the Boston Herald Tuesday.
A statement from the DNC juxtaposed Romney's words with what they call a "fact check."
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What exactly does Obama want?
Washington (CNN) - President Obama, one might argue, is someone we've gotten to know over the past two years. At first, he was Zelig incarnate, seemingly everywhere, all the time. That's calmed down a bit, but by now his nature is clear: a deep temperamental caution, served with a side order of prudence.
And that probably shouldn't be a complete surprise. After all, we signed a complex contract when we elected Obama the candidate: One part "Cool Hand Luke," the other, an audacious character full of the promise of transformation. We wanted the best of both worlds - a president without the bravado of a Bush, but with the smarts and ambition of a Clinton.
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