Clinton Pledges $900 Million to Help Palestinians

Obama Kicks Up White House Entertaining
Since Barack Obama became president, the white house has served as a regular entertainment venue, especially on Wednesdays.
Clinton Pledges $900 Million to Help Palestinians
ABC News' Martha Raddatz Reports From Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt: Speaking to an international donors conference set up to aid the Palestinians in war-torn Gaza, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today pledged $900 million in U.S. aid, saying, "We gather...
Southern conservatives like their pork

by Frank James

Taxpayers for Common Sense has e-mailed reporters its database of earmarks in the omnibus $420 billion spending bill currently being debated in the Senate and here's one conclusion to draw from it: Republican senators from the South may hate Big Government but they sure love Big-Government pork.

By one measure, three of the top five senatorial earmarkers were southern conservatives, Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker from Mississippi and one from David Vitter of Louisiana. Sens. Mary Landrieu, also of Louisiana, and Tom Harkin of Iowa were the two Democrats in the top five.

Stephen Ellis, TCS's vice president, sent this note with the database:

Here's the database you all have been waiting for ... the FY09 Omnibus earmarks (8,570 worth $7.7 billion). Since the Senate started debate on the bill today, we tabulated the Senate recipients of earmarksfrom top to bottom. So you'll find the Mississippi delegation at the head of the pack followed by the Louisiana delegation hot on their heels...

This is version one, it is accurate, but we will add more detail, house member totals and track down the states of many of the earmarks (we have to do a little digging in some cases where they are not described). So check back frequently. And remember, this is just the Omnibus and does not include the three FY09 spending bills that passed back in the fall (Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs) that had more than 2,000 earmarks worth $6.6 billion.

Obama To Rescind Provider Conscience Regulation

The outgoing Bush administration issued a rule that protects healthcare workers who refuse to administer services or prescriptions that go against their beliefs. Abortions and contraceptive medications are at the heart of the ruling, which President Obama plans to withdraw.