U.S. Coast Guard Says No Apology Needed For Drill

By Julianne LaJeunesse, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Reports of fired shots on the Potomac River were enough to scare civilians and news agencies in Washington, D.C. on the eighth anniversary of September 11, 2009.

Reports of the shots came just before 10 am Friday morning, and by noon, the U.S. Coast Guard released a statement explaining that the incident was actually a training exercise that did not consist of fired shots.

In the statement, U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Currier said that while the agency was sensitive to the anniversary of September 11, 2001, an apology for planned training exercises was unnecessary.

"I am not issuing an apology because, althought it is unfortunate that it escalated to this level, what you're seeing here is the result of a normal training exercise," Currier said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that when it comes to keeping the nation safe, he tends not to question law enforcement- even on September 11th.

White House Morning Meeting

Visitor Logs

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the White House decision to release visitor logs "as important a transparency mechanism as has been instituted in decades" and said that for future administrations it would be "difficult if not impossible to walk away from." He said that visits will not be included in the release if they fall into one of three categories: family visits, such as friends of Malia and Sasha; national security exceptions, such as covert operatives; and meetings with people like potential Supreme Court nominees. Gibbs said that all decisions to withhold records under the national security exception will be reviewed by the White House Counsel's office each month. He also said that visit logs "held back" for people such as nominees will be later released, and the White House will disclose how many records are being held back.

Gibbs cited the number of records—70–100 thousand per month—as a reason for not releasing the visit logs for the entire administration. Gibbs said that he would check with the Counsel's office about whether the same disclosure policies would apply to Camp David and Air Force One. The records will include the visitor's full name, whom he or she met with, and the time of entry and departure.

School Address

Gibbs said the upset over President Obama's address to school kids is "a little bit of the silly season," and that if telling kids to study hard and stay in school is a political message, someone should tell the NBA. Gibbs noted that Presidents Reagan (in 1988) and H. W. Bush (in 1991) also addressed school children. Responding to schools that are not going to be showing the address, Gibbs said that "there are school districts that won't let you read Huckleberry Finn," but he also said there could be logistical reasons for some schools refusals.

Jobs Report

On the new jobless numbers out this morning, Gibbs said that the country is "continuing to see a slowing of the pace of job loss," pointing out that new jobless claims are about one-third what they were in January. He attributed the slowing to manufacturing numbers being up, new home sales being up, and consumer confidence being up.

Van Jones

Gibbs refused to discuss the Van Jones allegations, saying only that the "Truther" statements are not something the president agrees with and confirming that Van Jones continues to work in the administration.

Boehner Accuses White House Of Lying About Stimulus

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

During a press conference Wednesday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.) said President Obama and Vice President Biden have been telling lies about why the Stimulus package hasn't reversed the nation's spiraling unemployment rate.

“I found it interesting in the last couple of days, the Vice President and the President mentioned the fact they didn't realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in. Now this is the biggest fabrication I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress. I’ve sat through those meetings at the White House with the President, the Vice President, trust me there’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn't know how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.

Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio.), Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wa) cautioned that the recent legislation put forth by the Democrats will do nothing but increase taxes which, in the long term, will hinder consumer spending.

“Republicans know and the American people know that what we need is fiscal discipline in Washington D.C and we need to give the American people a tax relief, working families, small businesses and family
farms need more of their hard earned money to put this economy back on its feet,” said Pence.

As for health care, McMorris-Rodgers explained that “We cannot forget that doctors are the experts, we must guard that relationship between the doctor and his patient; it is one of the most valued relationships
that we have,” adding that “We can reform health care, and we can give options to the uninsured without the federal government setting up shop as a big health insurance company or the health care gate keeper.”

New Study On Healthcare Reform Shows Economic Advantages

A new White House study shows that the economic advantages of reforming healthcare could be beneficial for the majority of Americans. According to Dr. Christina Romer, the chair of the Council for Economic Advisors, expanding coverage for all Americans would not only help with controlling healthcare costs but it would have an enormous effect on lowering the deficit.

“Doing healthcare reform well, is incredibly important for the economy...this is a realistic goal, albeit a challenging one,” said Romer.

By having reform more Americans will be able to see their physician on a regular basis, Romer said. This would improve life expectancy and keep people working which will presumably have a strong impact on the economy.

The fifty-one page report focuses on slowing the growth rate of costs, primarily due to changing provider incentives, health information technology and providing the incentives for consumers so that they can make better choices. There were no short term effects of healthcare reform discussed.

The report can be found at the White House website.

White House Reports Stimulus Success

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $787 billion piece of legislation intended to stimulate the U.S.economy, has met with modest success within its first 100 days, according to a report released by the Office of the Vice President.

“This is no simple task, and the economic troubles that we face are the result of years of neglect. We can’t reverse that damage in a hundred days, but we are starting to turn the corner,” said Rob Nabors, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, during a conference call with reporters.

Jared Bernstein, Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President, said that the recent decrease in job losses nationwide is a sign of the Recovery Act’s progress.

“In every state across this country people are at work who would not have been for the measures in this act," Bernstein said.

Bernstein touted a number of programs that will presumably continue to fuel job growth, including: training for green jobs, infrastructure investment and fiscal support for states.

“The Federal Government has allocated $112 billion thus far for these activities. That’s a tremendous dose of medicine for an economy that’s finally showing some signs of breaking it’s fever,” he said.