Drudge Retort: MURPHY's blog

The $100 Million Bribe For Landrieu' Health Care Vote?

MURPHY — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:25:15 -0500

ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports:

What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?

Here's a case study.

On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for "certain states recovering from a major disaster."

The section spends two pages defining which "states" would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that "during the preceding 7 fiscal years" have been declared a "major disaster area."

I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.

Official: Craig To Step Down As White House Lawyer

MURPHY — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:44:18 -0500

The White House's top lawyer is announcing his resignation on Friday, senior administration officials said.

White House counsel Greg Craig has been the subject of questions about his future since late summer, dogged by talk that President Barack Obama's promise to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay military prison by January went awry under Craig's leadership.

Recanvassing NY-23 Race Tightens Hoffman Could Overturn

MURPHY — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:48:10 -0500

Washington -- Conservative Doug Hoffman conceded the race in the 23rd Congressional District last week after receiving two pieces of grim news for his campaign: He was down 5,335 votes with 93 percent of the vote counted on election night, and he had barely won his stronghold in Oswego County.

As it turns out, neither was true.

But Hoffman's concession -- based on snafus in Oswego County and elsewhere that left his vote undercounted -- set off a chain of events that echoed all the way to Washington, D.C., and helped secure passage of a historic health care reform bill.

Unholy Union: SEIU Andy Stern And Obama WH

MURPHY — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:39:59 -0500

The Friday before Halloween, in response to requests from the public, the White House released records of the visitors it had received between January and July. George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and Serena Williams were among the famous names on the list. But the man who appeared most frequently is less well-known. His name is Andrew Stern, and during the first six months of Obama's tenure, he visited the White House 21 times about three times per month. Most of these visits included an intimate meeting with the president or other senior officials. Among outsiders, Stern enjoys unrivaled access to the White House. And the more you know about him, the spookier that sounds.

Ft. Hood Jihadist Told Military Doctors OK To Kill Infidels

MURPHY — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:52:45 -0500

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 at America's Fort Hood military base, once gave a lecture to other doctors in which he said non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.

He also told colleagues at America's top military hospital that non-Muslims were infidels condemned to hell who should be set on fire. The outburst came during an hour-long talk Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, gave on the Koran in front of dozens of other doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC, where he worked for six years before arriving at Fort Hood in July.

Anita Dunn To Step Down WH Communications Director

MURPHY — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:01:32 -0500

White House communications director Anita Dunn will step down from her post at the end of the month and Dan Pfeiffer, her deputy, will take over, according to sources familiar with the move.

Dunn, a longtime Democratic media consultant, took over the job on an interim basis earlier this year when Ellen Moran abruptly left the post to take a job at the Commerce Department. Dunn will return to Squier Knapp Dunn, the consulting firm where she is a partner, but will remain as a consultant to the White House on the communications and strategic matters.

The move will be formally announced later today.

Call This Horror By Its Name: Islamist Terror

MURPHY — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:44:16 -0500

On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting, "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!") committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.

What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Fort Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of nondenominational shoplifting.

This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it's an act of terror. Period.

23rd NY Bill Owens Breaks 4 Promises in 24 Hours

MURPHY — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:29:18 -0500

Congressman-elect Bill Owens was sworn in at noon today.

Owens indicated in a press release released shortly afterwards that he was now in favor of the the "Affordable Healthcare for America Act" bill in direct contrast to his earlier position during the election campaign.

According to Politico.com, Mr. Owens assured voters that he felt the public option had no place in the health care reform bill. Contrary to that position, Mr. Owens now indicates that he intends to vote in favor of the bill even though it now contains a public option.

Fiorina Launches Senate Bid vs. Boxer

MURPHY — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:33:57 -0500

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who was pushed out of her job in 2005, is running for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Barbara Boxer. "As California's senator, economic recovery and fiscal accountability will be my priorities," said Fiorina, an adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. "I will not settle for a jobless recovery."

Scozzafava Suspends NY 23rd Campaign

MURPHY — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:31:32 -0400

Republican Dede Scozzafava has suspended her bid in next Tuesday's NY 23 special election, a huge development that dramatically shakes up the race. She did not endorse either of her two opponents -- Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democrat Bill Owens.

Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, John Edwards And Oprah--Oh My!

MURPHY — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:32:52 -0400

The White House on Friday released a small list of visitors to the White House since President Barack Obama took office in January.

No previous administration has released such a list, though the information out so far is incomplete. Only 500 names out of the tens of thousands who have visited the Obama White House were made public. Like the Bush administration before it, Obama is arguing that any release is voluntary, not required by law, depsite two federal court rulings to the contrary.

Palin Paid $1.25 Million for Book

MURPHY — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:31:25 -0400

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was paid at least $1.25 million for her upcoming memoir, according to financial disclosure filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. The money is a retainer, an upfront payment of all the money she'll earn on the book Going Rogue: An American Life.

Grayson Calls Female Lobbyist 'K Street Whore'

MURPHY — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:54:23 -0400

Rep. Alan Grayson (D.-Fl.) described Federal Reserve advisor and former Enron lobbyist Linda Robertson as a "K Street whore" during an interview last month on the Alex Jones Show. "Here I am the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist, and this lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics," he said.

Analyzing Hoffman And The 23rd NY District

MURPHY — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:09:48 -0400

Campaigns & IntegrityAn upstate New York congressional candidate seeks to right the Republican ship.I do not live in New York's 23rd congressional district, and I've never hiked the Adirondacks, which run through it. I've never met Doug Hoffman, who is running for Congress there, and hadn't heard his name until fairly recently. But he's my guy this November. Since I'm not a constituent, my support for a candidate is about integrity, as it is in a few other races I'm following closely.

Slight Of Hand By Obama WH-Real Reason For Attack On FOX

MURPHY — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:09:00 -0400

The Obama administration has attacked Fox News in order to prevent government corruption stories broken on Fox from bleeding into the other media, which are all-consumed with daily updates on Levi Johnston's Playgirl spread and Carrie Prejean's breast implants.