WATER COOLER
The Water Cooler is written by Washington Times staffers.
Latest Blog Entries
PICKET: (VIDEO) Obama - Business owners not responsible for their own success but I killed bin Laden
President Barack Obama is taking heat for slamming business owners who credit themselves for their own successes. He told supporters in Roanoke, Virginia on Friday.
PICKET:(VIDEO) Obama - 'If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen'
President Barack Obama addressed supporters in Roanoke, Virginia on Friday afternoon and took a shot at the business community. President Obama dismissed any credit business owners give themselves for their success.
GREEN: Rep. Camp and Sen. Hatch denounce ending welfare work requirements
Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan Republican and Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday denouncing any attempts to weaken welfare law. HHS announced that it was encouraging states to seek "waivers" of the section of the Social Security Act that governs administration of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
GREEN: Ending welfare reform -- letter to states
The Administration for Children and Families sent a letter to state offices inviting them to apply for waivers to their work requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Despite the high rate of success in reducing the number of people receiving these benefits, the letter states that "The Secretary is interested in using her authority to allow states to test alternative and innovative strategies, policies, and procedures that are designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families."
WISER: Reducing the debt — spending cuts vs. tax increases
With the spending debate in Washington often centered around what would constitute a "balanced" approach to reducing the debt, a report released by the American Enterprise Institute in 2010 found that successful attempts to restore fiscal solvency are more likely to include spending cuts that outweigh tax increases.
GREEN: End of welfare reform
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced an attempt to override the work requirements that were a key accomplishment of Republicans' welfare reform in 1996.
PICKET: Reps. Tim Scott and Allen West defend ALEC against leftist smear campaign
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) lost five more corporate donors this week as a result of a smear campaign from a leftist organization known as “Color of Change.” The group, founded by former White House green jobs czar Van Jones, set out to intimidate ALEC’s corporate donor base this year by framing ALEC’s support of state voter ID laws and ALEC’s former work on state stand your ground legislation as racist.
PICKET: Rep. Emanuel Cleaver condemns racist attack against Romney as 'ignorant' and 'embarrassing'
A video satire produced by a liberal group led by a former New York Times reporter and former Media Matters executive says that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is not liked by blacks, reports The Washington Examiner. The producers say Romney is "so white he makes "Wonder Bread look like pumpernickel."
PICKET: (AUDIO) Rep Hastings 'hopes' Justice Roberts has additional security since hcr decision
Congressman Alcee Hastings, Florida Democrat, excoriated Republicans during a meeting of the House rules committee on Monday night when members of the committee debated procedure for the House repeal vote of the Affordable Care Act this week. Hastings excoriated GOP members for the repeal vote and accused Republicans for not having a plan follow any repeal.
PICKET: Obama '09 - (VIDEO) You don't raise taxes on anyone during a recession
In the 2009 video above, President Barack Obama said that, "you don't raise taxes" on anybody during a recession.
WISER: DHS-sponsored report criticized for description of 'extreme right-wing' ideology
A report released earlier this year by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, has raised some eyebrows recently on the Internet and blogosphere for its characterization of terrorists with an "extreme right-wing" ideology.
PICKET: Axelrod - Romney ‘Most Secretive Candidate’ Since Nixon
Senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod told ABC News Radio White House correspondent Ann Compton on Thursday he thinks that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is "the most secretive candidate that we’ve seen, frankly, since Richard Nixon."
PICKET: Rasmussen - 84 pct of adults 'proud' to call themselves Americans
Songwriter and singer Lee Greenwood did not need a Rasmussen poll to tell him lyrics of his 30 year old single "God Bless The USA" polls very well with the country too. According to a Rasmussen, however, 84 percent of American adult are "proud" to call themselves Americans. Only seven percent do not feel that way and nine percent are not sure.
WISER: Obama vs. Bush on White House pay
The White House payroll of $37.8 million has declined since Obama first entered the Oval Office in 2009, when a staff of 487 employees earned total wages of $39.1 million. But how does this compare to George W. Bush's administration?
PICKET: Mexico's poll workers ask voters for ID at polls
Mexican voters go to the polls today and are electing a new president. Most are hoping for a leader who will find a way to provide better security to Mexicans from violence stemming from the drug cartels. Polls show Institutional Revolutionary Party's candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leading two other left leaning presidential contenders.
