The PJMorning Report
Each morning Pajamas Media will give you vital news and opinions you will not see compiled anywhere else. Picked by PJM’s Washington bureau chief Richard Pollock.
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Here are some of the key news developments this morning:
Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit has been released to Egyptian authorities after five years in Palestinian captivity. Is Israel pivoting toward Cairo with the exchange, hoping it will be a force for stability in the region as Turkey tilts towards Iran?
Solyndra’s federal trustee tells court he does not trust its board. The Department of Justice’s official trustee in the Solyndra bankruptcy proceedings says he does not trust the Solyndra’s board of directors. The trustee made the claim yesterday before a federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware. The company’s core assets will be auctioned off in early November.
Liberal Wa Po hits Obama bus tour as a political “campaign swing.” Obviously the Washington Post political reporter traveling with the president in North Carolina didn’t get the memo the trip was supposed to be a “non-partisan.” He reports the President “returned to this critical battleground state for the second time in as many months on a bus tour that made clear — in pageantry and message — that his campaign is already in full swing.” The President is traveling in a lavishly outfitted federally financed $1.1 million bus. Hear the Jeopardy chime? Which attribute is it that the White House seems to be showcasing: arrogance, stupidity, desperation or all of the above?.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is taking off the gloves with Attorney General Eric Holder at a private D.C. breakfast this morning. He is expected to address “The Rule of Law under Attack– from Stealth Amnesty to the Fast and Furious Scandal.” Senator Grassley is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department. The AG, by the way, speaks tonight in DC at a gala dinner of the Council of the Inspectors General gala dinner. It’s the “Integrity and Efficiency 14th Annual Awards Ceremony.”
Harrison Ford this morning shows up on the Hill at a bi-partisan Senate General Aviation Caucus meeting calling for more federal subsidies for general aviation — Gee what happened to taxing evil private jet owners? The actor who has been seen behind the wheel of an aircraft in a number of thrillers, in real life is a pilot flying fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. He speaks before the Senate General Aviation Caucus, which include both Democrats and Republicans.
Anti-Semitism grows at Occupy rallies. Last night Abe Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League National Director’s called upon Occupy Wall Street protesters to forcefully condemn Anti-Semitic signs and statements found at their rallies. He said in a statement that he urged “organizers, participants and supporters of these rallies to condemn such bigoted statements clearly and forcefully.” While the MSM was quick to accept charges of racism by the Tea Party, it has been largely silent about the many overt anti-Jewish comments being aired at different Occupy sites, including in Washington, D.C.
Illinois is the nation’s worst deadbeat state. Illinois is so heavily in debt it is failing to pay 166,000 bills on time. According to an analysis of state records completed by AP, the state is currently in arrears to the tune of $5 billion. Some plead for the money, others get it through political connections. Will this be the “new normal” for heavily indebted states like California to New York? Not a good track record for President Obama’s state.
NPR: Louisiana Gov. Jindal is enroute to a smashing victory this Saturday? NPR blogger Ken Rudin predicts that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal (R) “en route to a smashing re-election victory” this Saturday. Rudin say what’s most remarkable is that “no Democrats have filed for any statewide office as well.”
Another GOP debate, this one aired by CNN and anchored by Anderson Cooper in Nevada. Are we bored already?
Thieves stole Obama’s teleprompter and $200,000 in equipment in Henrico, VA. It was later found abandoned in a nearby airport. This from the “How Did It Happen” department.
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