WATER COOLER
The Water Cooler is written by Washington Times staffers.
Latest Blog Entries
PICKET: '05 Kelo decision a failure; CT site remains a dump
Should it be any surprise that six years after the horrible landmark Supreme Court's 2005 case Kelo v. City of New London, which brought about the decision that governments could seize private property for the sole reason of "economic development," the Fort Trumbull site in question is today a total dump, where "economic development" by the local government has ceased to ever happen?
MILLER: Rumsfeld on China's problems, one child policy
Donald Rumsfeld says he's not overly worried about China. "I read all this stuff about China like it's forty feet high," the former Defense Secretary said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Convention in Alaska. "China's got troubles." He listed the major troubles facing the Asian giant, including: Border problems with Russia, India and Vietnam; military power over the government; the disparity between the coast and the inner part of the country; diverse ethnic groups in the country; government corporations and the one-baby policy.
PICKET: AP '08 Flashback - Deja Vu 'Obama says he didn't know aunt was living in U.S.'
The reaction from the president about his uncle is no different than his reaction about his Aunt Zeituni, Onyango's sister.
PICKET: Obama's labor relation board imposes new notification rules
The administration's National Labor Relation Board has brought about new rules in the work place as we head into labor day weekend.
EXCLUSIVE: MILLER: Rumsfeld on Libya and Syria
EXCLUSIVE: Don Rumsfeld may be out of Washington, but he's got a keen eye on foreign policy and national security. The former secretary of defense in the administration of President George W. Bush believes that the Obama administration's mistakes in Syria and Libya stem from lack of leadership, not having a clear mission and faulty coalition building.
PICKET: NY amusement park faces likely legal battle over Muslim headscarfs
As a result of a brawl (video above) that broke out at their amusement park, Westchester New York's Rye Playland, could be facing legal issues from local Muslims.
PICKET: Gibson Guitar CEO - Obama admin told us our problems would 'go away' if we used foreign labor
U.S. authorities raided Gibson Guitars recently over the instrument maker's use of allegedly illegal imports of wood. According to a Wall Street Journal interview, though, Henry Juszkiewicz, chief executive officer of Gibson contends, "a broker probably made a mistake in labeling the goods but that the sale was legal and approved by Indian authorities."
PICKET: Obama agrees to move joint session date
President Barack Obama cedes to Speaker John Boehner's suggestion to have a joint session of Congress next Thursday instead of next Wednesday.
PICKET: Boehner to Obama on joint session date: No
Speaker of the House John Boehner sent a letter back to President Obama regarding the president's request for a joint session of Congress on September 7.
PICKET: Allen West calls Rep. Carson's rhetoric 'racist'
Rep. Allen West defended the tea party on Wednesday morning when Fox and Friends played clips of various Democratic black lawmakers, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, attacking the tea party movement and lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are aligned with the tea party. The Florida Republican, a maker popular with the tea party, also said he was beginning to "reconsider" his membership in the CBC at that point.
PICKET:RNC Chair calls Obama's proposed joint session date a 'political ploy'
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus went after President Obama's proposed date for the Joint Session Congress which conflicts with the Republican Presidential debate in California on September 7. The Wisconsin Republican called it a "thinly veiled political ploy."
Limbaugh: (audio) Boehner must say 'no' to Obama on Joint Session date
President Barack Obama sent a letter to both Speaker of the House John Boehner, Ohio Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, requesting a Joint Session of Congress on September 7. However, many are wondering why the President is requesting this date, as it conflicts with the upcoming GOP presidential debate at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, California.
PICKET: Rep. West 'reconsiders' Congressional Black Caucus membership
After watching several video clips on Wednesday of fellow black lawmakers attack the tea party, Rep. Allen West, Florida Republican, told Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy,to think about is reconsidering my membership in the Congressional Black Caucus."
MILLER: Alaska's regulation stanglehold
Gov. Sean Parnell just wants Washington bureaucrats to leave Alaska alone. The Republican sailed out to our cruise ship when it stopped in the state's capital of Juneau to speak at the Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC). The state's tenth governor, who succeeded Sarah Palin, said that Alaska contributes 11 percent of the the nation's daily consumption of oil from its North Slope, and he wants to increase that.
PICKET: Did president's uncle benefit from 1980's Dukakis fake ID policy for illegals?
Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr brought up on his Monday's show that Onyango Obama, President Obama's long lost half uncle who was arrested by Framingham, Massachusetts police last week, charged with DUI, and found to have a warrant out on him by immigration authorities at ICE, has a valid social security number and a Massachusetts driver's license.
