A surprisingly emotional statement from Defense Secretary Robert Gates about Rep. Jack Murtha’s passing.
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Jack Murtha. America has lost a true patriot who served his country faithfully first in uniform as a decorated combat Marine, and then as an elected representative.
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The death of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) means that Congress has lost a longtime fixture and the military community has lost a prominent voice in the House, but it’s Murtha’s Pennsylvania constituents who immediately find themselves short a congressional advocate.
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Just out from the White House:
Michelle and I were deeply saddened today to hear about the passing of Congressman John Murtha. Jack was a devoted husband, a loving father and a steadfast advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. His passion for service was born during his decorated career in the United States Marine Corps, and he went on to earn the distinction of being the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress. Jack’s tough-as-nails reputation carried over to Congress, where he became a respected voice on issues of national security. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife of nearly 55 years, Joyce, their three children, and the entire Murtha family.
Georgia’s House Republicans have a simple warning for Democratic leaders still hoping to pass health care reform this year: Our state can’t afford it.
In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the Republicans argue that the Democrats’ plans to expand Medicaid, a program funded jointly by state and federal governments, would squeeze the state’s already strapped budget and threaten other vital programs.
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As Republican leaders are urging President Obama to scrap the Democrats’ health care reform legislation and start the process from scratch, they’ve found an unlikely ally in Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The Ohio Democrat — a perennial presidential candidate — wants President Obama to consider government-sponsored, single-payer health coverage in lieu of the insurance industry-based reforms being proposed by Democratic leaders.
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Statements are beginning to dribble out from Capitol Hill following the death this afternoon of 18-term Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.). Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who in 2006 had nominated Murtha in his unsuccessful bid to become House majority leader, called the Vietnam vet “a congressional giant.”
I nominated him because of his dedication to America, his love of country, his love for the men and women who serve America and his understanding of the practical aspirations of those Americans who struggle everyday. John Murtha was a Congressional giant.
With the death of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) Monday — just three days after he’d become the longest-serving congressman in Pennsylvania’s history — Capitol Hill has lost one of its most influential lawmakers, and perhaps the most proficient earmarker of them all. Not only was the 36-year Washington veteran a close confidant of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but as chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, Murtha built a career on directing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal projects back to his downtrodden district.
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Lietzau will be central to decisions about trying the remaining Guantanamo detainees in reformed military commissions or in federal courts, and to the construction of a new terrorism detention policy.
The paranoid, mysterious Judson Phillips in the weeks leading up to the National Tea Party Convention gave way to the real, jovial Phillips this weekend.
Media accounts by Salon.com and other outlets tied the perpetrator of the Mary Landrieu phone sting to racist groups and Big Government founder Andrew Breitbart. Seven hours after the Salon story went up, Breitbart went to war.
“If all we’re doing is exporting Guantanamo to Thomson for purposes of military commissions and indefinite detention,” said one civil liberties advocate, “we’re very strongly opposed to that.”
Moderate Democrats have grown wary of big spending bills, fearing that support for such measures could haunt them on the campaign trail this year.
The path from conservative college journalism to D.C. influence is reliable.
“It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” Adm. Mullen said.
Instead of shutting down, payday lenders in some of the same states that passed reforms are making loans at higher rates than before the laws were enacted.
“This ‘legally obligated’ stuff is a lot of nonsense,” says one expert on the Wall Street bailout.
“This QDR focuses on the wars we are actually fighting, not the wars we sometimes wished we were fighting,” a Defense Department official said.
“I never met a spending freeze I didn’t like,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the chairman of the Republican conference.
Leading defense wonks call the move “ridiculous,” “completely inappropriate” and politically motivated.
“The public is mad, and they’re prepared to take it out on the establishment,” says Tony Coelho.
The potential blowback from the Landrieu sting extends to some Republican lawmakers.
A plan to update the Community Reinvestment Act comes amid charges that the legislation was responsible for the subprime crisis and the collapse of the residential real estate market.
A decade of cuts in federal combined with states mimicking Bush administration tax cuts have led states to fill revenue shortfalls with regressive tax policies.
“Al Qaeda will exploit an execution by the U.S. government as a significant propaganda victory, no matter how fair and legitimate the trial,” writes Ken Gude.
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