From Redstate:

As we wake up in our newly minted Muslim nation and face Washington to say Obamau Akbar, it is our Dear Leader’s 34th birthday. Um . . . no . . . this one, not that one.

Source:

In a survey last week just after the president announced Sotomayor’s nomination, 87% of U.S. voters said they expected her to be confirmed by the Senate. Forty-five percent (45%) favored her confirmation. (see crosstabs)

By comparison, in July 2005, 71% of Americans felt Bush’s first nominee, John G. Roberts, Jr., would be confirmed, and 43% supported that confirmation. This is the highest level of initial support enjoyed by any of the previous president’s choices for the Supreme Court.

Those numbers changed very little when Bush withdrew Roberts’ nomination following the sudden death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and nominated him instead in September of that year to head the high court. In a survey at that point, 72% said Roberts would be confirmed as chief justice, while 39% supported him for the post. Roberts was confirmed later that month as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Yahoo:

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday reassured the Chinese government that its huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a strong U.S. currency.

A major goal of Geithner’s maiden visit to China as Treasury chief is to allay concerns that Washington’s bulging budget deficit and ultra-loose monetary policy will fan inflation, undermining both the dollar and U.S. bonds.

China is the biggest foreign owner of U.S. Treasury bonds. U.S. data shows that it held $768 billion in Treasuries as of March, but some analysts believe China’s total U.S. dollar-denominated investments could be twice as high.

“Chinese assets are very safe,” Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.

Prime Buzz:

“He’d be in the building, a couple of hours before the show taped, sitting in the lunchroom munching on chips and reading things and writing notes,” said Ruckus host Mike Shanin. “Off the air he was an absolute gentleman.”

In the 1990s Nadler wrote extensively about Kansas City-area politics in K.C. Jones, a newspaper he edited.  He opposed construction of the science museum at Union Station as well as other taxpayer-supported development efforts.

But Nadler was active in national conservative politics and advocacy as well.  He was president of Americas Majority, a conservative non-profit think tank, and authored numerous studies and articles on racial issues, immigration, trade, and the Iraq war.  He also produced scores of political commercials and videos, and two political biographies.

IBD:

Get ready, folks: America is about to own a car company. As of Monday, we the taxpayers will own more than 70% of GM. Whether the company will be formally renamed Government Motors remains to be seen. But that’s what it will be.

Instead of putting the failed car enterprise into bankruptcy six months ago - where Carl Icahn or Wilbur Ross could have bought it - the Bush administration chose Bailout Nation. Under Team Obama, that bailout has morphed into full-scale government ownership.

Twenty-billion dollars of TARP money is already invested in GM, with another $50 billion on the way. And that number could easily double unless GM car sales miraculously climb back to 14 million this year. That’s highly unlikely, with car sales presently hovering around 9 million a year.

Poll Tracker:

• Abortion: Christie’s supports are “pro-life” vs. “pro-choice” by 57 percent to 34 percent, while Lonegan’s are “pro-life” by 68 percent to 27 percent. (more…)
  

The State:

Don’t believe this sort of cold, heartless logic could ever dictate decision-making in the U.S. health care system? Just ask residents of Great Britain how their own socialized system functions. In the British system, actuarial calculations are undertaken for those awaiting joint replacement and other procedures with the knowledge that if the wait is long enough, a certain number of patients will die before making it to their surgery date, thereby saving the system money. (more…)

Next Right:

Republicans need more of the intellectual policy wonk types representing the Right, and it seems to me that Rob Portman is one of the more impressive Republican politicians. As Chris Cilliza said, Portman is one of the “rare breed of politician who is equally conversant — and skilled — at policy and politics.”   We should encourage that.

Naturally, the Left prefers to discourage it, so they’re rolling out the BS against Portman early.

AFP:

US President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States cannot impose its values on other countries, but argued that principles such as democracy and the rule of law were universal.

In an interview with the BBC ahead of a visit first to Saudi Arabia and Egypt and then Europe, Obama said the United States must lead by example — which firstly meant closing the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on Cuba.

Next Right:

Not Blowing the Whistle on a Solid Liberal Like Sotomayor Creates a Bad Precedent for Decades to Come. The left is trying to spin the Sotomayor nomination as a pick in the mold of what moderate conservative John Roberts was to Bush — a moderate liberal “slam dunk.” In reality, she is more like the liberal Sam Alito, whose strongly conservative tendencies were seen as a suitable replacement upon Rehnquist’s death (remembering that Roberts first had to clear a lower conservative bar to replace Sandra Day O’Connor). Is there any doubt that Sotomayor wouldn’t at least tie Ginsburg and Stevens as the biggest liberal on the Court?

Source:

For more than half a century, highway advocates have been the loudest voices on transportation policy, but that may change this year as some lawmakers push to include more funding for public transit in the next authorization bill. (more…)

Big Hollywood:

Mamet tells us that while working on the political play November (which opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York in early 2008 and starred Nathan Lane) he started thinking about politics - specifically, how politics manifested in the clash between his two protagonists, a president who holds a realist (conservative) world view, and his Utopian (liberal) minded speech writer. (more…)

Jeff Stein:

Iran supplied U.S. diplomats with the location of Taliban military units in Afghanistan after the initial bombing campaign in the fall of 2001 failed to rout them, according to former officials in the George W. Bush administration. (more…)

Detroit source.

Bill Tammeus on May 28:

I mention this today because it was on this date in 1958 that the Presbyterian Church in the United States merged with the Presbyterian Church of North America, forming the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. I remember this happening. I was 13 years old at the time. But I didn’t notice that it made any kind of difference in what went on in my local church. (more…)

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Source:

OK, you don’t feel sorry for the retiree with $3 million. It doesn’t matter. She can choose where to live, and driving her from Maryland means she’s not buying in local stores, attending the symphony, or paying sales and income tax. (more…)

Source:

In “the new GM,” ownership is:

• 60% of equity goes to the U.S. Government.  USG also gets $8.8B in debt and preferred stock.
• UAW’s retiree pension/health plan (the “Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association”) gets 17.5% of equity, plus:
  • warrants to buy another 2.5% of equity;
  • a $2.5 B note (three installments, ending in 2017); and
  • $6.5 B in perpetual preferred stock (9% coupon). (more…)
    

Politics Nation:

Today, the press secretary was posed with such a hypothetical: what if GM could save money by outsourcing jobs to China? Would President Obama, who promised the company would make more cars in the United States, allow that as the company’s majority shareholder?

“Yes,” Gibbs answered simply.

Club for Growth:

After being in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) for almost 84 years, General Motors is getting kicked off the popular stock index. So is Citigroup. The two companies will be replaced by Cisco Systems and Travelers Co.

The Hill:

Business leaders are scheduled to meet next week with a prominent Democratic senator who has proposed a compromise on a contentious union bill that industry has heavily lobbied against.

According to a schedule obtained by The Hill, executives are visiting Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) next Wednesday as part of a lobbying push against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), legislation that would make union organizing much easier if passed. Business leaders from 12 different states, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are flying into Washington next week to lobby against the bill.

RCP:

WCCO-TV reports that Pawlenty will not seek a third term. The decision is sure to trigger speculation that the “hockey dad” will focus his energies on a 2012 presidential bid. It may also ratchet up pressure on Pawlenty, who will eventually have to sign a certification of election in the contested Minnesota Senate race.

CNN:

Obama lost to Republican presidential candidate John McCain by 11 percentage points and close to 1 million votes. Still, that margin is less than more than half of what it was when the state’s favored son George W. Bush was on the presidential ballot.

In his letter Monday, Kaine specifically cited Texas’ large Hispanic organization and the grassroots infrastructure put in place by the Obama campaign in 2008 as reasons the traditionally-considered red state may turn blue.

“In so many ways, I believe Texas is poised to move towards our column, just as Virginia has,” Kaine said.

AP:

SINGAPORE (AP) - North Korea’s progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is “a harbinger of a dark future” and has created an urgent need for more pressure on the reclusive communist government to change its ways, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday.

He said the North’s nuclear program does not “at this point” represent a direct military threat to the United States and he does not plan to build up American troops in the region. But the North’s efforts pose the potential for an arms race in Asia that could spread beyond the region, he added.

Club for Growth:

Someone recently mentioned the presidential line of succession to me, and since we have a new president, I thought it might be worth putting up on the blog. The ranking of the cabinet seats is based on the date the respective agencies were established, but I still find it interesting (and troublesome) that the Secretary of Interior is higher up than the Secretary of Homeland Security.

# Office Name
1 Vice President Joe Biden
2 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
3 Senate President pro tempore Robert Byrd
4 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (more…)

Prime Buzz with story.

CNN:

With just over a week until the Democratic primary, Bill Clinton’s former strategist sent out a fundraising e-mail on Monday on behalf of Bill Clinton’s former money man, telling supporters that McAuliffe is “the strongest possible nominee” out of the three Democrats seeking the nomination. Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran are also on the Democratic ballot.

Times Online:

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, is to stand down from the Cabinet to focus her efforts on saving her Commons seat after bruising revelations over her parliamentary expenses.

A source close to Ms Smith said that she told Gordon Brown of her intention to resign two months ago amid a controversy over her second home claims. The source said that she had “hurt” by the controversy, which included the humiliation of having to refund taxpayers for two blue movies watched by her husband.

On a day when it appeared when the Prime Minister’s control of events was looking particularly shaky, it emerged that another minister was also heading for the exit. Tom Watson is standing down as Cabinet Office minister but will continue to advise the Prime Minister and help organise campaigns.

Next Right:

“Governor Sanford is the most articulate Republican out there right now and the other Republicans ought to pay attention,” said Luntz a couple of days ago on Fox. “Or if they don’t, their numbers will continue to languish.”

Teagan Goddard:

Vanity Fair interviewed Nancy Reagan for her perspective on a wide range of subjects, including her view of the Obamas and the Bushes.

On the Obamas:

Michelle Obama called Nancy Reagan for “advice” and “suggestions,” and in the course of a 45-minute conversation, Mrs. Reagan encouraged Mrs. Obama to have lots of state dinners. In contrast, the Bushes were “famously averse” to entertaining at the White House.

She feels President Obama missed an opportunity when he did not invite her to the ceremony announcing his reversal of Bush’s policy on embryonic-stem-cell research. Said Mrs. Reagan: “I would have gone, and you know I don’t like to travel. Politically it would have been a good thing for him to do. Oh, well, nobody’s perfect. He called and thanked me for working on it. But he could have gotten more mileage out of it.”

Bloomberg:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may discuss his proposal to create a new world currency when he meets counterparts from Brazil, India and China this month, Natalya Timakova, a spokeswoman for the president, told reporters by phone today. Medvedev first proposed seeking alternatives to the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency in March. (more…)

Wired:

Why does Google even need a chief economist? The simplest reason is that the company is an economy unto itself. The ad auction, marinated in that special sauce, is a seething laboratory of fiduciary forensics, with customers ranging from giant multinationals to dorm-room entrepreneurs, all billed by the world’s largest micropayment system. (more…)

Source:

“Almost seven months after a U.S. Senate election that was too close to call, five justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday on whether problems with absentee ballots justify reversing a lower-court ruling that declared Al Franken (D) a 312-vote winner over Norm Coleman (R), the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

“A decision upholding the lower-court ruling could end the protracted struggle and allow Franken to join the Senate, giving Democrats an invincible majority. A ruling for Coleman wouldn’t return him to the Senate, but could keep his hopes alive and delay a final decision for months.”

CNN:

The committee is launching radio ads Monday against Rep. Brian Bilbray of California’s 50th congressional district; Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania’s 15th congressional district; Rep. Peter King, New York’s 3rd congressional district; Rep. Thad McCotter, Michigan’s 11th congressional district; Rep. Tom Rooney, Florida’s 16th congressional district, and Alaska’s Rep. Don Young. The ads will run for a week, according to the DCCC

Jaltcoh:

Disclaimer: I specify that these are cliches for “women” to avoid only because they’re the ones whose profiles I’ve looked at. I’m not saying men don’t make the same mistakes; I’m simply not qualified to judge their profiles.
….
10. “Looking for someone at least 6 feet tall.” Do you really want to limit yourself to 15% of the male population? Are you sure you’d reject someone who’s 5′11″-even if he’s intelligent, attractive, interesting, and successful? Also, consider how you’d react to a man’s profile that said he’s not interested in women over a specific body-mass index or under a specific bra size. If your reaction would be, “Ugh, how shallow!” … then think twice about specifying height.
….
13. “I hate liars.” Really? How odd-I love them!
….
16. “Looking for a partner in crime.” This is adorable … the first time you read it. And maybe the second or third time. Once you’ve read it 100 times, not so much.

CQ Politics with story.

WSJ:

The phrase “bankrupt General Motors,” which we expect to hear uttered on Monday, leaves Americans my age in economic shock. The words are as melodramatic as “Mom’s nude photos.” And, indeed, if we want to understand what doomed the American automobile, we should give up on economics and turn to melodrama.

Politicians, journalists, financial analysts and other purveyors of banality have been looking at cars as if a convertible were a business. Fire the MBAs and hire a poet. The fate of Detroit isn’t a matter of financial crisis, foreign competition, corporate greed, union intransigence, energy costs or measuring the shoe size of the footprints in the carbon. It’s a tragic romance-unleashed passions, titanic clashes, lost love and wild horses.

Club:

Susquehanna Polling and Research just did a poll on the Pennsylvania Senate race. Among registered voters, Specter leads by only nine points, 46% to 37%. (more…)

Pro Sports Daily:

“If he’s judged healthy enough to return within the next few days, Orlando Magic all-star point guard Jameer Nelson will play against the team he was instrumental in beating twice this season - the Los Angeles Lakers - in the NBA Finals.

Game 1 is Thursday night in Los Angeles.

General Manager Otis Smith told the Sentinel on Sunday that Nelson would only play if he passes “a litany of tests” and the club is comfortable with a decision that won’t risk his future.