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Bollywood says goodbye to Bush with ‘mock documentary.’ - 01/07/2009 06:57 PM

Reuters reports that “Bollywood is ready with a farewell present” for President Bush, releasing a “film that takes pot shots at the outgoing U.S. president.” The movie, called “The President is Coming,” tells the story of six Indians vying for a chance to shake hands with Bush. The film’s trailer includes this exchange (near the [...]

After Protesting Congress’ Recess, Stearns Asks Pelosi To Reschedule Votes So He Can Attend Football Game - 01/07/2009 06:00 PM

In August, Congressional Republicans staged a series of political stunts on the floor of the House of Representatives to express their displeasure with the House Democrats going into summer recess “without voting on whether to end the 26-year ban on [oil] drilling along the US coastline” (The House subsequently let the ban expire). Among the [...]

Bush already packing up to leave the White House. - 01/07/2009 05:16 PM

President Bush has repeatedly said that he plans to “sprint to the finish,” remaining active and engaged until the very last day of his presidency. However, it appears that he may be beginning to check out early. In yesterday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said that the President has already started packing [...]

White House Asked Howard To Stay In Blair House To Give ‘Some Plausible Reason’ For Refusing Obama - 01/07/2009 04:25 PM

In December, President-elect Obama asked the White House if he and his family could move into Blair House — the White House’s guest house — a week early, so that his daughters Malia and Sasha could start school. The White House rebuffed them, saying the house was already booked for another guest. A White House [...]

Democrats ‘scrambling to push out’ pro-Israel resolution. - 01/07/2009 03:47 PM

Just as Israel is indicating it conditionally welcomes an Egyptian-French cease-fire proposal, Democrats in Congress are “scrambling to push out” a “non-binding resolution supporting Israel’s goal” in the Gaza military operations: U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, told JTA he was looking at such a resolution, which is being drafted [...]

ThinkFast: January 7, 2009 - 01/07/2009 03:00 PM

A government spokesman said today that Israel “welcomes” a proposal from France and Egypt to end the fighting in Gaza that has gone on for 12 days. The precise details of the proposal are currently unknown. Earlier this morning, Israel “briefly suspended its fighting” and “agreed to do so for three hours each day to [...]

Bush laments pushing for Social Security reform two days after citing it as his biggest accomplishment. - 01/07/2009 02:00 AM

Yesterday the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes reported that during a private meeting with President Bush last Friday, Bush cited his failed push to privatize Social Security as his biggest domestic policy achievement. However, yesterday in an interview with conservative columnist Cal Thomas, Bush seemed to change his mind, saying he wished he had focused on [...]

Republican Senator: Blagojevich should appoint Moseley Braun instead of Burris. - 01/07/2009 01:15 AM

Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) suggested that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) should appoint former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D) to Barack Obama’s open seat instead of Roland Burris: “She’s non-controversial, she has been here, she’s an African-American, she clearly has not been picked by the governor, and she would be appointed by virtue of her past [...]

Pence Challenges Americans To ‘Check’ His Facts: Guess What? He’s Got Them Wrong - 01/06/2009 11:36 PM

Appearing on CSPAN’s Washington Journal this morning, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), the third ranking Republican in the House, repeatedly claimed that the solution to the economic crisis was to “do what Ronald Reagan did” and implement “across-the-board permanent marginal tax reductions.” Towards the end of his interview, however, a caller challenged Pence’s idea, saying that [...]

House language becomes gender neutral. - 01/06/2009 10:40 PM

In its new package of rule changes, the House has finally decided to make its official language gender neutral, recognizing the growing representation of women in Congress (including as Speaker of the House). Gone are references to “he,” “chairman,” and phrases such as “his duties.” From the resolution: Read the full list of changes here [...]

Bush will use federal funds to install security gate to protect his Dallas home. - 01/06/2009 09:51 PM

After he leaves office on Jan. 20, President Bush will be giving up his photo-op Crawford ranch and moving to the affluent Dallas neighborhood known as Preston Hollow. Newsweek noted that the Bush family has “found a friendly pocket” in a Texas county that went for Obama. But Bush isn’t taking any chances. He will [...]

Bush Rewards Iraq War Loyalists Blair, Howard, And Uribe With His Departing Medals Of Freedom - 01/06/2009 09:00 PM

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino announced that “President Bush will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and former Prime Ministers Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and John Howard of Australia.” Perino noted that the three leaders have been strong allies of Bush foreign policy: The President is [...]

Laura Bush’s memoir fetches less than Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush’s. - 01/06/2009 08:04 PM

Scribner announced yesterday that it would publish the memoirs of Laura Bush in 2010. Today, the New York Post reports that the First Lady “received an advance of $1.6 million” on the book deal, far less than the several million that it was expected to fetch. Gawker notes that Bush’s deal “is not only a [...]

Bush: Rumsfeld did an ‘outstanding job.’ - 01/06/2009 07:21 PM

This morning, during his speech at the Armed Forces Farewell Ceremony, President Bush took a minute to single out Donald Rumsfeld, saying he did an “outstanding job” as Defense Secretary: Mr. Vice President, I am proud to serve with you for eight years. The military has had no staunch a defender in my administration than Vice [...]

The Return Of Schiavo: Conservatives Plan To Revive Embarrassing Debacle To Block Obama’s DOJ Nominee - 01/06/2009 06:30 PM

One of the saddest, most hysterical crusades by conservatives over the past few years involved their intervention in the case of critically brain-damaged woman Terry Schiavo. Conservatives — including former Senate majority leader Bill Frist and former House majority leader Tom DeLay — brought the personal tragedy to national attention in 2005 by trying [...]

Timber company backs out of controversial road deal with Forest Service. - 01/06/2009 06:10 PM

Last week, ThinkProgress noted that Forest Service chief Mark E. Rey, who is a former lobbyist for the timber industry, was trying to “push through a change in U.S. Forest Service agreements that would make it far easier for mountain forests to be converted to housing subdivisions.” The last-minute rule change would primarily have benefited [...]

Feinstein And Rockefeller To Obama: We Liked Bush’s Appointees More - 01/06/2009 05:10 PM

Yesterday, word leaked that President-elect Obama had selected Leon Panetta to head the CIA. Panetta was selected for “his managerial skills, his bipartisan standing, and the foreign policy and budget experience he gained under President Bill Clinton,” the New York Times reported. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee praised Panetta [...]

Hugh Hewitt’s ode to President Bush. - 01/06/2009 04:28 PM

In a new piece for Politico today, right-wing pundit Hugh Hewitt pens a paean to President Bush, saying that he remains in the small minority who approve of the job the President is doing. “Count me among the 30 percent, which will soon be 40 percent — and then more than 50 percent much [...]

Levi Johnston resigns his position after allegations that Sarah Palin helped him skirt the rules. - 01/06/2009 03:52 PM

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Levi Johnston, boyfriend of Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol, has quit his oil field job over questions about his eligibility to work in an electrical apprenticeship program. On Sunday, Dan Fagan – an Anchorage radio talk show host – questioned how Johnston was eligible to take part in the [...]

ThinkFast: January 6, 2009 - 01/06/2009 03:00 PM

Yesterday, the Secretary of the Senate rejected Roland Burris’s appointment to the legislative body “because his certificate of appointment was missing the signature of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.” White has refused to sign the certificate, siding with Senate leadership in believing that Burris should not be seated. Burris, nevertheless, is heading to Washington [...]