Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) early Tuesday morning compared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Veruca Salt, a spoiled and greedy character in the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
"Do you remember Willy Wonka and Veruca Salt? Well she's now the speaker. Yeah, she's Veruca Salt," said Terry on Fox News' "Red Eye."
Veruca Salt meets her end in the film after throwing a fit because Wonka would not sell her father a golden-egg laying goose for her to keep as a pet.
"Instead of 'Daddy, can I have another pony?' It's 'Daddy, can I have another plane?' Of course 'Daddy' is now Chairman Murtha," Terry added. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
Terry referenced an item recently included in a House defense appropriations bill that provided for private jets accessible for members of Congress and government officials. House Democratic leaders have since struck funding for the jets.
Democrats have been criticized for adding the jet appropriation even though the Pentagon did not request funding for it.
The White House went out of it's way to praise John McCain today after the Arizona Republican called for an end to nuclear weapons.
In a floor speech today, McCain cited Ronald Reagan's stated commitment to rid the world of nuclear weapons and said the U.S. should work steadily toward that goal.
"[T]he Cold War ended almost twenty years ago, and the time has come to take further measures to reduce dramatically the number of nuclear weapons in the world's arsenals," McCain said. "In so doing, the United States can---and indeed, must--show the kind of leadership the world expects from us[.]"
President Obama quickly released a statement concurring with McCain's goal of a nuke-free world.
"I welcome Senator McCain's important statement on President Reagan's legacy and the need to move toward a world free of nuclear weapons," the President said, adding that he "look[s] forward to working with Senator McCain and the entire Congress to ensure that we accomplish these goals together for the American people and the security of the entire planet."
The President stated his desire to abolish nuclear weapons in a speech in Prague earlier this year.
The agreement between the President and his former rival comes as arms control advocates are pushing a number of treaties and international agreements--including the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and a bilateral agreement with Russia--aimed at curbing nuclear proliferation.
The CTBT, which would ban nuclear testing, is seen as the holy grail for many non-proliferation advocates. Opponents say the U.S may need to conduct tests in the future to ensure the reliability of its current stockpile.
McCain opposed the CTBT when it came up for a vote in 1999 but said during the campaign that it was time to reconsider the measure. In his speech today, he was deliberately vague, saying the treaty was one of "a number of important decisions in the coming months."
Obama, for his part, pledged during his Prague speech to push for ratification "aggressively and immediately."
As an international treaty, the CTBT needs 67 votes to pass, and McCain's support is seen as crucial in convincing a number of moderate Republicans to sign on.
The nephew of Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) has been appointed legislative liaison for the U.S. Marine Corps, a position in which he'll lobby Congress on the corps' behalf.
The announcement undoubtedly raises some eyebrows. The elder Murtha is Chairman of the subcommittee in charge of defense appropriations and thus has a huge amount of influence over the Marine Corps budget. The NY Times also reports that the two Murthas now live in the same apartment complex in Arlington.
Mr. Murtha is not the only congressman with relatives who have interests before the lawmaker's office. Representative David R. Obey, for example, the Wisconsin Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Committee, has a son who works for a national parks advocacy group. And the committee's senior Republican, Representative Jerry Lewis of California, has a brother in the government relations office of Loma Linda University, which often benefits from the special provisions known as earmarks that Mr. Lewis inserts into legislation.
Nor is Colonel Murtha the first member of the Murtha family to be in a position to profit from his uncle's influence. The congressman earmarked millions of federal dollars to an institution in his district, St. Vincent College, while the Rev. John F. Murtha, his cousin, was its president. He has directed millions more in earmarks to clients of a firm, KSA Consulting, where until about three years ago his younger brother, Robert Murtha, known as Kit, worked as a lobbyist.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) visited the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay today, coming away with favorable impressions of the facility and its staff.
Burr blogged about the trip on his Senate website this afternoon, praising the detention facility as "in keeping with our Nation's highest ideals."
See part of Burr's post below:
From my visit today, it appears to me that everything from the design of the facilities to the detailed operating procedures of the guard force, medical professionals, and support staff is well thought out and in keeping with our Nation's highest ideals.
If anyone receives mistreatment at Guantanamo, it is the guard force. They must endure frequent verbal and physical attacks from detainees while maintaining the highest standard of care for those same individuals.
Instead of focusing on closing the facility at Guantanamo Bay, we need to think long and hard about where we can hold some of these very hardened and dangerous individuals, many of whom could never be incarcerated in the United States.
Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the CIA, has collected a statement of support from one of the eight Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee--the panel he will need to clear before being confirmed by the Senate--despite cold reactions yesterday from the panel's top two Democrats.
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), a member of the committee, said today that he supports the selection of Panetta as the nation's top intelligence officer.
"Leon Panetta is an outstanding public servant, and I intend to support his nomination for CIA director. We should respect the judgment of President-elect Obama and his commitment to do what's right for our country," Bayh said in a written statement issued by his office.
Read more...
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) today cautioned that this presidential election could mark a turning point in U.S. defense policy, as it will be the first wartime presidential transition since the Vietnam era.
"This will be the first Presidential transition to occur during a time of war in many years. In addition, the next administration will face enormous budget pressures caused by an increase in the national debt that will have nearly doubled since 2001," Skelton said.
Skelton used the cautionary comment to introduce his list of the top 10 defense-related challenges the next administration will face. Skelton cautioned that the next president--whether it be Barack Obama or John McCain--must address the list of broad policy concerns in order to protect the U.S. and respect its military men and women.
The list included rebuilding America's foreign policy credibility, refocusing military efforts on Afghanistan, withdrawing from Iraq, maintaining troop readiness, reforming Defense Department coordination with the State Department, determining budget priorities for maintaining vs. modernizing equipment, and developing a more comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy that includes "communications strategies" and development assistance.
Skelton said those challenges will "require sustained spending and the partnership of the Congress" with the new administration, regardless of which party takes the White House.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) stressed that the United States should start "unwinding" its military presence in Iraq to allow the country to determine its own future.
Hagel, who visited Iraq this week with Barack Obama and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), said that the trip reinforced his belief that Iraqis understand that they'll be in charge of their country.
"And it is now time for the United States to start accepting the sovereignty of that country in ways that are real," said Hagel during a news conference in Jordan. "And that means for us to responsibly start unwinding our military presence. We have interests in Iraq. We will have interests in Iraq. But, listening to the Iraqi people and their leadership, and where they think they can go and want to go, and need to go, to build a nation that is not only sovereign and independent, but a nation that can govern itself, defend itself, and support itself."
Hagel made his remarks in Amman before introducing Obama. Both senators have supported a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq.
The United States and Iraq have agreed to pursue a "general time horizon" for removing some US troops, the White House announced Friday.
President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki talked about a timeline Thursday and agreed to seek "a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals, such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq," the White House said.
The Iraqi government is proposing that US troops fully withdraw from the country within five years, but the White House has been unwilling to talk about specifics.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the agreement shows that Iraq has "reached a point" where discussions about a transition over the control of security could take place, but added
Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed's (D-R.I.) offices announced Sunday that the two senators will accompany Barack Obama on a trip to Afghanistan and Iraq this summer.
While in Iraq, they'll look at whether the U.S. troop surge has led to "the progress necessary to resolve Iraq's political differences, provide basic services to the Iraqi people, and create long-term stability," according to a press release.
In Afghanistan, the senators will "assess the U.S.-led efforts to combat the Taliban and expand security in light of the recent rise in violence, while also assessing the political and economic situation."
Both Hagel and Reed stressed the bipartisan nature of the trip in statements.
"U.S. policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are at the center of America
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