From HARPER'S WEEKLY February 3, 2009:

"This day is a victory for all Iraqis," said an Iraqi general in Kirkuk. "I don't know whom to vote for," said an inmate at Basra's Ma'qal prison, "but a sheikh wrote this number on my hand, and I will vote for this number."

Failure to pay taxes will apparently fell at least one of President Obama's appointees.

Nancy Killefer, who was slated to be the White House's first chief performance officer, is withdrawing her nomination Tuesday, aides to President Obama say.

Administration officials declined to immediately say why Killefer was pulling out, but it's almost certainly related to tax troubles.

The former McKinsey consultant faced a nearly $950 lien in 2005 on her Washington, D.C. home for not paying taxes on household help.

The lien was disclosed when Killefer was appointed in early January to a new OMB position aimed at streamlining government and rooting out waste and inefficiency.

But that was before revelations that two other more high-profile Obama appointees had failed to pay thousands in taxes, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle

Now, with Geithner having survived what was largely a party-line confirmation vote and Daschle battling to keep his nomination alive, White House officials seemed to have decided that they could not have a third prominent official in the administration who failed to pay taxes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdrp8vIoofA

A previous Tom Daschle campaign ad showcased how Daschle drove to work daily for 15 years in an old Pontiac.

Especially cuz "we" can't butt-phuque the Pukes by choosing him?

He's rich and lucky.

I feel like Paul Revere!

daschle is out, it was DeMint breaking ranks on FOX this morning combined with the 5 editorials that did it, and Obama getting pushed HARD...the dam broke

and when Obama announced Gregg, the press called after him about tax evaders!!! heh

my post here, no linkage yet, live on fox

so much for fully supporting him lol Gibby didnt want another adversarial presser shortly betcha..

I wish Hill were tapped form the git go but nooooo Tom had to have payback...

om Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary.

That's according to a joint White House statement from President Barack Obama and his former nominee.

Obama said Tuesday he accepted the withdrawal "with sadness and regret."

Daschle has been battling for his nomination since it was disclosed he failed to pay more than $120,000 in taxes.

He said he's withdrawing because he's not a leader who has the full faith of Congress and will be a distraction.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, said he and about eight other lawmakers want at least $50 billion in the stimulus package for programs aimed at fighting housing foreclosures.

Link

No details.

This from ABC news:

By now, most people have probably heard about or seen Jennifer Hudson's flawless performance of the national anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl.

What they may not know is the reason why it was flawless: Hudson lip-synched the anthem to a previously recorded track.

She did so at the request of the pre-game show producer Rickey Minor. Minor told The Associated Press that he insisted Hudson and Faith Hill, who sang "America the Beautiful" before the anthem, use the tracks the National Football League requires them to submit a week before the game.

Proper winter has snow covering the barren ground, which is cleanly frozen solid.  I get a thrill out of driving on sloppy roads and calculating the changes in stopping distance and such.  

President Obama worked to win Republican support of his economic stimulus bill by calling in Democratic congressional leaders and telling them to make concessions to their GOP colleagues.

A group of centrist Democrats is emerging as a potential force to reshape the bailout package by teaming up with moderate Republicans to reduce the overall cost of the bill and funnel more money to rebuilding the nation's infrastructure.

Assuming at least 1/3 of them are in the work-force working full-time, that's over 1.3 million people a year potentially dropping out of the workforce even if the employment picture was robust - and taking their 401(k) with them.

Was the housing bubble was a smoke-screen to cover the losses by the big banks from the retiring boomers?

That would be TOTALLY AWESOME!!

not a good thing

link

Iran said Tuesday that it had launched its first domestically produced satellite, a move that has prompted concerns in the United States and other nations about Iran's nuclear ambitions and its ability to deploy long-range ballistic missiles.

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, said the satellite was launched using a Safir-2 rocket, pictured at a launch pad at an undisclosed location on Monday.

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, said the satellite was launched using a Safir-2 rocket, pictured at a launch pad at an undisclosed location on Monday.

The launch on Monday, coinciding with celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, also creates an early challenge for President Obama, who has sought to strike a conciliatory tone toward Iran by conditionally offering dialogue after years of tensions. The United States and other nations believe Tehran wants to develop nuclear weapons, a charge that Iran's leaders deny.

Iran said Tuesday that it had launched its first domestically produced satellite...

[snip]

The satellite, which weighed about 60 pounds, is named Omid, or Hope, IRNA said, and was sent into space as a "data-processing satellite project" that began in March 2005 as "the first practical step toward acquiring national space technology."

[snip]

That would make it part of the exclusive club of states that can loft objects into orbit, which now numbers at least nine.

The response:

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood called the reports a matter of "great concern" and potentially in violation of United Nations agreements limiting Iran from missile activity.