http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/chief-white-house-calligrapher-gets-paid-96725-year_706521.html

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=175125

Chief White House Calligrapher Gets Paid $96,725 Per Year

7:39 AM, Mar 6, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER

       

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With the White House closing its doors to public tour groups in order to save money for the sequester, it's worth remembering some of the other costs the White House incurs annually.
Like the "Chief Calligrapher," Patricia A. Blair, who has an annual salary of $96,725, and her two deputies, Debra S. Brown, who gets paid $85,953 per year, and Richard T. Muffler, who gets paid $94,372 every year.

In all, the White House appears to employ 3 calligraphers for a yearly total of $277,050.
Despite sequestration, there's been no announcement of the White House scaling back on calligraphers. 

Well, you can't say lunchbucket Joe isn't one classy piece - piece of ....

Joe Biden Gets Frisky with Senator's Wife

2:48 PM, JAN 3, 2013 • BY DANIEL HALPER

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/joe-biden-gets-frisky-senators-wife_693621.html

Vice President Joe Biden got a little frisky with the wife of Senator Angus King at today's ceremonial swearing-in at the Capitol: 

Biden's hand remains on King's wife, Mary Herman, for at least 20 seconds, moving down her back and to the side of her chest.

The vice president has been in the Capitol today welcoming in the new Congress.

The-1984-Manchurian-Animal-Farm Orders Pay Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal Workers

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-orders-raise-biden-members-congress-federal-workers_692223.html

Obama Orders Pay Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal Workers

12:50 PM, DEC 28, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

       

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President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.

According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he'll now make $231,900 per year.

Members of Congress, from the House and Senate, also will receive a little bump, as their annual salary will go from $174,000 to 174,900. Leadership in Congress, including the speaker of the House, will likewise get an increase.

Here's the list of new wages, as attached to President Obama's executive order:

"A new executive order has been issued providing for a new pay schedule beginning 'on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning after March 27, 2013,'" reports FedSmith.com. "The pay raise will generally be about 1/2 of 1%."

Jeryl Bier points to an example of the pay increase for average government executives:

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"Not much of an increase, but an increase all the same," Bier notes.

And the timing isn't great either: Just as President Obama and Congress try to avert going over the "fiscal cliff," he doles out pay increases to federal workers.

UPDATE: According to a senior Republican congressional aide who has reviewed the executive order and consulted with the Congressional Budget Office, Obama's pay raise will cost $11 billion. "The CBO told us that the President’s pay raise for federal workers will cost $11 billion over ten years," says the aide.

The aide explains, "On the cost-estimate, CBO says the (discretionary) cost of the .5% pay-hike the President is calling for in the Exec Order – relative to a freeze – is about $500m in FY 2013 and $11 billion over the ten years from FY 13 - FY 22.  The reason why the FY ’13 savings is only $500 million is because the pay hike as proposed by the President’s Exec Order would not go into effect until April 1^st, 2013 - when the current CR expires. So it only covers half the fiscal year. The annualized cost of the pay hike is about $1 billion/year."

Where's Hillary? - Does anyone care?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/wheres-hillary_692014.html

:37 AM, DEC 26, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

       

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On December 15, the day after the day after the shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, State Department officials notified the press that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had fallen ill. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," deputy assistant secretary Philippe Reines said in a statement to the press. 

Since then, Clinton does not appear to have been sighted in public.

On December 19, Clinton missed the State Department holiday party. “I was going to congratulate her on her record-breaking travel,” President Obama said, noting her absence. “These are not frequent-flyer miles,” he joked. “She is tireless and extraordinary.”

On the same day as her office announced her illness, they also put out word that Clinton would be missing the Benghazi hearing scheduled for December 20 on Capitol Hill. Indeed, she did miss that hearing, and another one has not yet been scheduled.

And on December 21, Clinton missed President Obama's announcement that John Kerry would be nominated as the next secretary of state. "Hillary wanted very much to be here today, but she continues to recuperate.  I had a chance to talk to her earlier today, and she is in good spirits and could not be more excited about the announcement that I’m making," Obama said at that event, again noting Clinton's absence.

Clinton's last trip, to the Czech Republic, Belgium, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, returned December 7. 

The caliph خليفة Benedict Arnold - Romney's a 'Bullshitter'

9:00 AM, OCT 25, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

       

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President Barack Obama told Rolling Stone that Mitt Romney is a "bullshitter." Mike Allen reports:

FIRST LOOK – Rolling Stone cover, “Obama and the Road Ahead: The Rolling Stone Interview,” by Douglas Brinkley: “We arrived at the Oval Office for our 45-minute interview … on the morning of October 11^th. … As we left the Oval Office, executive editor Eric Bates told Obama that he had asked his six-year-old if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. … [S]he said, ‘Tell him: You can do it.’ Obama grinned. … ‘You know, kids have good instincts,’ Obama offered. ‘They look at the other guy and say, “Well, that’s a bullshitter, I can tell.”’”

 http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-romneys-bulls_657708.html

The caliph خليفة Benedict Arnold Campaign: 'Vote Like Your Lady Parts Depend On It'

Obama Campaign: 'Vote Like Your Lady Parts Depend On It'

"Because they kinda do."

12:44 PM, OCT 2, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

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This is posted on an Obama campaign website:

"Vote like your lady parts depend on it," the text in the image says. Underneath, the text reads: "Because they kinda do."

UPDATE: The image has been removed from the Obama website.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-campaign-website-vote-your-lady-parts-depend-it_653393.html

Kids Question The calafia: Unsure Where The caliph خليفة Benedict Arnold Is, and Where The caliph خليفة Benedict Arnolds Will Move IfThe caliph خليفة Benedict Arnold Loses

9:06 AM, SEP 14, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

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First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by a Virginia YMCA yesterday where she met with elementary and middle school kids. The kids had tough questions for the first lady, including the whereabouts of the president of the United States. She did not immediately know.

From the pool report: 

Asked where he was, she said, “he’s at work,” then asked the adults, “Where is Barack Obama?” She was told he’s in Colorado today.

When asked by a kid where the Obamas would live if President Obama loses, "The First Lady said they could figure that out later," according to the pool report.

Michelle Obama was also asked whether she likes Barack Obama. “I do like Obama, I like him a lot,” Michelle Obama said.

Another kid wondered if she's the president. “I am not a president. I am married to the president,” she said.

At the Y, she told the kids to "eat your vegetables."

“I love to come to the Ys and see what’s going on.” She then tells them to have a great year in school and “eat your vegetables.” She called the stop “a nice break in my day.”

More from the pool report:

The First Lady then moved on to an elementary-grades class of kids, who were also very surprised – one kept screaming “oh my God, I’m going to die.”

As she entered the room, one boy pointed at her and yelled “Obama.” The First Lady said “No, I’m his wife.”

She again moved around the tables, asking kids about their age, grade and interests. Several asked about her dog Bo, and about her own children, who she said would be home from school soon.

One table had several football fans. “I’m from Chicago, so I love the Bears,” said the First Lady. The kids pointed out a staffer who was wearing a Bears shirt and is from Chicago. The First Lady asked him where in  Chicago he’s from. ...

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Another boy asked her if she thinks Obama will get outrun by Mitt Romney. “I watch TV,” he said by way of explanation, adding that he sees a lot of Romney on TV. 

“He does have a lot of commercials,” the First Lady answered.

 http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/kids-question-michelle-obama-unsure-where-president-and-where-obamas-will-move-if-president-loses_652327.html

Press Coordinates Question to Ask Romney

3:47 PM, SEP 12, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

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The blog RightScoop.com has audio of the press coordinating which question to ask Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at his press conference this morning on the events in Libya and Egypt. “[N]o matter who he calls on we’re covered on the one question,” an unidentified journalist says. 

Here's the transcript:

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: …pointing out that the Republicans… *unintelligible* …Obama….

CBS REPORTER: That’s the question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: *unintelligible*

CBS REPORTER: Yeah that’s the question. I would just say do you regret your question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Your question? Your statement?

CBS REPORTER: I mean your statement. Not even the tone, because then he can go off on…

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then if he does, if we can just follow up and say ‘but this morning your answer is continuing to sound…’ – *becomes unintelligble*

CBS REPORTER: You can’t say that..

**Later**

CBS REPORTER: I’m just trying to make sure that we’re just talking about, no matter who he calls on we’re covered on the one question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you stand by your statement or regret your statement?

 http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/press-coordinates-question-ask-romney_652241.html

El Presidente I on El Presidente II: 'A Few Years Ago, This Guy Would Have Been Carrying Our Bags'

5:51 PM, SEP 2, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

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Former President Bill Clinton tried to get former senator Ted Kennedy to endorse Hillay Clinton for president in the 2008 election by describing Barack Obama this way: "A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags." 

This anecdote is revealed in a New Yorker article on the relationship between Bill Clinton and Obama:

Tim Russert told me that, according to his sources, Bill Clinton, in an effort to secure an endorsement for Hillary from Ted Kennedy, said to Kennedy, “A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags.”

Clinton is giving a keynote address at the Democratic convention this week in Charlotte, North Carolina.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/bill-clinton-obama-few-years-ago-guy-would-have-been-carrying-our-bags_651489.html

El Presidente - Over 100 Million Now Receiving Federal Welfare

2:40 PM, AUG 8, 2012 • BY DANIEL HALPER

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A new chart set to be released later today by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details a startling statistic: "Over 100 Million People in U.S. Now Receiving Some Form Of Federal Welfare."

"The federal government administers nearly 80 different overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs," the Senate Budget Committee notes. However, the committee states, the figures used in the chart do not include those who are only benefiting from Social Security and/or Medicare. 

Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large--and growing--chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. "Among the major means tested welfare programs, since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011," says the Senate Budget Committee. "Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade."

The data come "from the U.S. Census’s Survey of Income and Program Participation shows that nearly 110,000 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011. (These figures do not include other means-tested benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the health insurance premium subsidies included in the President’s health care law. CBO estimates that the premium subsidies, scheduled to begin in 2014, will cover at least 25 million individuals by the end of the decade.)"

This is not just Americans, however. "These figures include not only citizens, but non-citizens as well," according to the committee.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-100-million-now-receiving-federal-welfare_649589.html