Dems Ask Obama To Fight For EPA Regs

A group of Senate Democrats wrote to President Obama on Tuesday, urging him to oppose efforts to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate the environment.

In their letter, the Democrats called on Obama to defend provisions within the Clean Air Act that allow the EPA to clamp down on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

“These are fights worth waging,” the group wrote.

In their letter, the Democrats expressed unhappiness over Obama’s recent decision to delay the EPA from implementing a new air pollution rule.

“We are disappointed with the decision to cancel the smog pollution standard because it clearly offered strong public health benefits and the opportunity to invest in job creation,” they wrote.

The letter was co-authored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Joe Liberman (I-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

Rivlin Pleads With Congress To Act Soon On Jobs Front

At a Senate Budget Committee hearing held on Tuesday, former White House budget chief Alice Rivlin said job creation is the key to growing the nation’s limping economy and that lawmakers must be willing to achieve that goal sooner rather than later. 

“The future of the United States as a prosperous economy and world power depends on getting people back to work in productive jobs,” Rivlin said.

Rather than allowing the economy to erode standards of living across the country, Rivlin argued that it is possible to accelerate job growth, boost the economy and stabilize the nation’s debt all at the same time. 

“We have jobs that need to be done in both the public and private sectors and millions of people who want to do them,” Rivlin argued.”It would be unbelievably stupid to allow capacity to sit idle for lack of imagination and political will.”

The former Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve echoed the President Obama’s calls for immediate action on legislation that would work towards creating jobs, saying this move would aleviate some of the pressure in adopting sustainable fiscal policies.

“The faster we get people back to work, the easier it will be to move toward a sustainable budget,” Rivlin said. “We can’t afford to wait until the economy recovers before acting to rein in future deficits.”

Perry Scolds Obama's Foreign Policy

Texas Governor Rick Perry held a news conference on Tuesday to criticize President Obama’s management of America’s diplomacy efforts abroad.

Speaking in New York, where Obama is this week attending the United Nations General Assembly, the GOP presidential hopeful characterized Obama’s foreign policy — particularly regarding the Middle East — as being guided by “appeasement.”

Perry, who leads the rest of the Republican field in most polls, blasted an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to gain statehood through the UN, arguing that Obama has lent the Palestinians momentum.

“We are indignant that certain Middle Eastern leaders have discarded the principle of direct negotiations between the sovereign nation of Israel and the Palestinian leadership,” Perry said. “And we are equally indignant that the Obama administration’s Middle East policy of appeasement has encouraged such an ominous act of bad faith.”

Couple Weds Shortly After 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Expires

By Kenneth R. Bazinet

Gays and lesbians can finally serve openly in the U.S. military, now that the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that required them to stay in the closet was wiped off the books at midnight.

One couple, Navy Lt. Gary Ross, 33, and his civilian partner, Dan Sweezy, 49, wasted no time and tied the knot in Vermont shortly after the policy expired: They were declared husband and husband.

The happy couple traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., to get married in Vermont, the state that led the way for the country toward the legalization of gay marriage, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re thrilled the policy is gone,” said Ross, who wore his Navy dress blue uniform at the ceremony at the log cabin bed-and-breakfast Moose Meadow Lodge in Duxbury.

Read more by Kenneth R. Bazinet at The Baz File

Rangel Crashes Perry's Panhandling Party Uptown

By Kenneth R. Bazinet

Forget the sleazy Salahis, Rep. Charlie Rangel is the new king of the gatecrashers.

The Harlem Democrat showed up last night at what was supposed to be a hush-hush, off-the-record fundraiser for Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination at the Papasito Mexican Grill uptown in Manhattan.

“I wanted to make him feel comfortable,” Rangel said, according to Politico’s Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman.

The cowboy candidate is spending a couple of days away from his Tea Party base of supporters, panhandling in New York City with a more mainstream set of GOP backers.

The fundraiser at the Papasito restaurant and bar was for two dozen or so Hispanic businessmen, reportedly raising $50,000 for Perry’s campaign.

Read more by Kenneth R. Bazinet at The Baz File