Perry Assails Obama Policy in Middle East

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- As President Obama attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, a few blocks away Gov. Rick Perry laid into the administration’s  “naive and arrogant, misguided and dangerous” policy in the Middle East, which he claims has resulted in Palestine’s push for statehood.

“Simply put, we would not be here today at this very precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn’t naive, and arrogant, misguided and dangerous,” Perry said. “The Obama policy of moral equivalency, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a very dangerous insult.”

Perry’s remarks in New York City were his first heavily detailed foreign policy speech as he stood before a contingent of pro-Israel leaders and applied pressure on Obama, accusing him of isolating and undermining Israel.

“It is time to change our policy of appeasement toward the Palestinians to strengthen our ties to the nation of Israel, and in the process establish a robust American position in the Middle East characterized by a new firmness and a new resolve,” Perry said.

Perry said he supports a two-state solution only if it arises through direct negotiations between Palestinian leaders and Israel. Palestinian leaders are in New York this week pushing the United Nations to acknowledge its existence as an independent state, which would circumvent negotiations with Israel.

Perry expanded the speech beyond Palestine and Israel, touching on the need to stifle Iran’s ability to develop nuclear capabilities and to identify potential risks posed by the new administration in Egypt.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Lamar Alexander Stepping Down from GOP Leadership Post

United States Senate(WASHINGTON) -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., announced Tuesday that he is leaving his leadership post among Republicans in the senate.

Alexander will step down in January as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference – the third ranking Republican in the Senate. He said he does plan to run for reelection to the Senate in 2014, but will not seek another leadership post.

A former presidential candidate and governor from Tennessee, Alexander has at times broken with the rest of the Republican leadership. He endorsed a proposal from the bipartisan “gang of six” for instance, which would have raised taxes as well as cut spending.

But Tuesday Alexander argued that while he is leaving his leadership post, he is not leaving his party, referring to himself as a very “Republican Republican.”

Alexander argued against those that say the Senate is now more fractious and divisive than it has been in the past. He said that those who say that have no sense of American political history.

Alexander’s exit from the Republican leadership opens up a few slots for new blood in the leadership.
Sen. John Thune, R-SD., announced, almost immediately, that he will run for Alexander’s post.

Thune currently has the 4th post as Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.

Shortly after, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., announced that he will run to replace Thune’s position as Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, should Thune move up as expected into the #3 spot.

It is also possible that a Tea Party Republican allied with South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint could seek a leadership position, potentially the fourth-ranking Republican Policy Committee chairmanship.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Obama in New York City for UN General Assembly

The White House/Pete Souza(NEW YORK) -- President Obama is in New York City Tuesday for his first full day at the United Nations General Assembly, where he will meet with world leaders and spend the next two days on a range of issues that include Libya, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

First up is a meeting with the chairman of Libya’s new governing group, the Transitional National Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

“We put a lot of effort into Libya in the course of the last several weeks to get international support for post-Gadhafi Libya, and that’s going to be the focus of these meetings,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters Monday.

With U.S. support, the TNC was recently seated as a representative of the Libya government at the U.N.

Next, Obama will hold a bilateral meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to discuss the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the transition to Afghan security forces.  This marks the first meeting between the two leaders since the White House announced its plan for withdrawal.

Later, the president will meet with President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey.

In the evening, the president and first lady will attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at Gotham Hall in New York City.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Does Sexism Pervade the White House?

Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama, who rose to power on a message of inclusion and equality, came under fire this week when an author quoted female members of his administration as saying the White House was a sexist and "hostile" work environment.

Since excerpts leaked from the book Confidence Men, journalist Ron Suskind's take on how the Obama administration handled the financial crisis, Anita Dunn, former White House communications director, and Christina Romer, former head of the Council of Economic Advisers, have denied the substance of their remarks and said they were misquoted.

"I felt like a piece of meat," Romer was quoted in the book as saying of one meeting with Larry Summers, former chairman of the National Economic Council, complaining she was "boxed out" of the discussion.

According to the Washington Post, Dunn says in the book: "This place would be in court for a hostile workplace because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women."

The two women seemed to briefly open a window on the White House, giving a rare glimpse inside a tightly messaged administration, only to quickly close it.  Accusations, however, that Obama favors male staffers have dogged him since his election when reporters noticed he spent critical face time on the basketball court and the golf course exclusively with men.

But the whispers about how the Obama administration works behind the scenes contrast sharply with the president's public persona, the father of two daughters who appointed two women to the Supreme Court, and six women to cabinet or cabinet-equivalent positions.

Women, both Democrats and Republicans, who have worked in the White House in previous administrations describe the environment as intense and competitive.  Interviews with female officials who worked under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush said White House culture rewards the best ideas, regardless of who came up with them.

Though they haven't worked in the Obama White House, these female ex-officials said they were surprised by the way Dunn and Romer were quoted as characterizing their workplace.  They said they did not experience workplace harassment or sexism and were inclined to believe Dunn and Romer had indeed been misquoted.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Republicans Target Young Voters with Obama Attack Ads

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Republicans are targeting young people -- the heart of President Obama’s base -- with a new television spot aimed at college students and broadcast during the programs they like most.

The ad  “What’s Your Plan,” produced by the College Republicans National Committee and run in Iowa during reality shows, late night comedy programs and sportscasts, uses the president’s own words to play on the fears of young people about entering the workforce when unemployment is stubbornly high.

In the ad, a clip of the president saying “winning the future” plays repeatedly as several young people look straight-lipped into the camera.

“Bro,” says one young man, “you’re LOSING my future.”

President Obama received 61 percent of the youth vote in 2008, but the CRNC believes the weak economy has opened the door for the GOP to target young people.

“The climate is prime and we are the organization best positioned to make an impact on the youth vote,” Alex Schriver, national chairman of the CRNC, told ABC News.

Schriver said young people could be convinced to vote Republican because the “policies of the Obama administration disproportionately and in an adverse way affect young people.  We were sold on a message of hope and change, but now young people are without jobs and can’t afford to pay their bills.”

The ad cost $40,000 and appeared on cable news and broadcast channels in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Waterloo.  The ad was also on ESPN and Comedy Central.

CRNC, which is an independent organization and no longer a part of the Republican National Committee, has not endorsed a candidate.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

In New Ads, Democrats Use Jobs Act to Court Hispanic Voters

Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The Democratic National Committee is intensifying its use of the American Jobs Act to shore up support among President Obama’s base, even as Obama says the bill is not about political posturing.

The DNC Monday unveiled a new Spanish-language TV and radio ad to air in three battleground states -- Nevada, Colorado and Florida -- touting the act’s benefits to the Hispanic community.

“In the face of Republicans, the president can’t do it alone,” the Spanish-speaking narrator tells the audience, seeking their support. “Read the plan. Stand together for more jobs.”

DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida said in a statement that the jobs bill would be a boon to Hispanic construction workers.

“The Republican Party is offering no new solutions for Hispanics,” Wasserman Schultz said. “They simply want to double down on the failed policies that brought our economy to the brink of a depression and hurt millions of American families, including far too many Latinos.”

Obama won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote nationwide in 2008. His campaign believes turnout among Hispanics in battleground states could a key factor in 2012.

The new ads follow a broader Democratic media blitz on Obama’s jobs plan launched earlier this month in eight battleground states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

A DNC website developed in conjunction with the bill, americanjobsact.com, also outlines its projected impact on five constituencies deemed critical to Obama’s 2012 campaign: women, Latinos, African-Americans, veterans and low-income families.  The White House has also distributed fact sheets on the legislation tailored to the same audiences.

Meanwhile, Republicans have been also courting Hispanic voters with Spanish-language ads in Colorado, Nevada, Florida and New Mexico, hoping to capitalize on economic malaise to draw support away from Democrats.

The Republican National Committee says it plans a new campaign targeting Hispanic voters “very soon.”

“We feel the economic issue right now is huge with the Hispanic community and we need to make sure our side is visible,” RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Obama Administration to Inform Congress About Taiwan F-16 Deal This Week

Erik Simonsen/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The Obama administration plans to inform Congress later this week about whether or not the United States will sell new F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan or upgrade its existing fleet, a senior U.S. official said Monday.
 
The administration provided an advance briefing on Capitol Hill on Friday, which soon leaked stories that the U.S. will upgrade the existing fleet and decline to sell Taiwan new planes.
 
The official would not confirm those reports, and would not speak for attribution since Congress has not yet been formally notified of the decision.
 
“Our view is that something has gotten lost in translation over the last couple of days on this issue. First, the U.S. is profoundly committed to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and that commitment remains unwavering. Second, the scale and pace of def article sales to Taiwan over the past two and a half years is unprecedented,” the official said, noting that arms sales to Taiwan under the Obama administration will be double what they were under President George W. Bush’s second term.
 
While not confirming the leaked reports, the official said upgrading the existing fleet will provide the same quality plane as newer models, but at a cheaper price and would allow for 145 upgrade planes instead of only 66 new ones.
 
The sale of fighter jets to Taiwan has been controversial on a number of fronts. China remains opposed to any arms sales to Taiwan and Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, had pushed for the new planes because they were being built in his state.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Dead on Arrival? Congress Divided on Obama’s Plan to Raise Taxes

ABC News Radio(WASHINGTON) -- Congressional Republicans lashed out against President Obama’s revamped plan to reduce the nation’s deficit, criticizing him for “political posturing” and “undermining” bipartisan negotiations on deficit reduction with a “partisan” proposal, while Democratic lawmakers commended the president for offering “a serious approach” that creates jobs “in a fiscally responsible way.”

Republicans said the president’s plan would raise taxes on both small businesses and private capital, and by declining to support structural changes to entitlements, it ignores warnings from the financial markets about the country’s debt crisis, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to further credit downgrades.

In a written statement following the president’s remarks from the White House Rose Garden Monday morning, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called out Obama for lacking leadership, expressing his disappointment that the president continues to fight for tax increases on job creators.

“Pitting one group of Americans against another is not leadership. The Joint Select Committee is engaged in serious work to tackle a serious problem: the debt crisis that is making it harder to get our economy growing and create more American jobs. Unfortunately, the President has not made a serious contribution to its work today,” Boehner stated. “This administration’s insistence on raising taxes on job creators, and its reluctance to take the steps necessary to strengthen our entitlement programs are the reasons the president and I were not able to reach an agreement previously, and it is evident today that these barriers remain.”

As the president outlined his proposal, the White House warned that he would veto any final deficit reduction package that made cuts to Medicare without bringing about tax increases on those in wealthy income brackets and corporations. The bulk of the savings in the president’s plan comes from $1.5 trillion through new taxes for high-income earners, and $580 billion in cuts to entitlement programs.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the Republican co-chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, said that “by issuing a veto threat as [deficit reduction] talks have begun in earnest, the president is again undermining the work of the Joint Select Committee.”

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blasted Boehner for injecting his opinions into the committee’s deliberations in such a “public fashion” during a speech at the Economic Club of Washington.

“We have 12 people who are doing their upmost so that we don’t have sequestration,” Reid said Thursday. “I am disappointed that Speaker Boehner would get involved with this Super Committee in a public fashion. I don’t think he should do that. I am not going to do that.”

Democrats across the aisle praised the president for striking a balanced approach to deficit reduction, and said his guidance was welcomed at the “Table of 12.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., co-chair of the Joint Select Committee, called the president’s proposal “a serious approach to tackling the deficit and creating jobs” and said the president’s input “is certainly welcome as this Committee works on a balanced and bipartisan plan that can pass through Congress and get signed into law by the president.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., credited Obama for outlining “a bold and balanced plan” that she believes would reduce the deficit while promoting jobs and economic growth.

“By calling for reforms that will ensure that all Americans contribute their fair share, and by strengthening Medicare, the president is ensuring that we aren’t balancing our budget on the backs of the middle class and seniors,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The president has put forward proposals that would create jobs and do so in a fiscally responsible way, while we address our long-term deficit. We must get to work putting the American people back to work.”

The so-called Super Committee, which began its quest to identify at least $1.5 trillion in savings, is set to meet next on Sept. 22. Tom Barthold, the chief of staff at the Joint Committee on Taxation, is set to testify on revenue options and reforming the tax code.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Bachmann’s Former Campaign Manager Becoming Her Chief Critic

Stephen Morton/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Ed Rollins was running Rep. Michele Bachmann’s GOP campaign two weeks ago, but today it’s hard to find anyone doing more harm to her presidential hopes.

When Rollins gave up his post as campaign manager on Labor Day, a campaign spokesman blamed his move on health concerns and noted that he would continue working for her as “a valuable senior adviser.”

But in the two weeks since then, Rollins seems to be delivering a lot more verbal barbs than “valuable advice.”

He told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Monday that the Minnesota congresswoman lacks the “ability or the resources” to stay in the race longer than the Iowa caucuses, scheduled for February 2012 as the first leg of the nomination process.

He ripped Bachmann last week for suggesting that the HPV vaccine Gardasil — mandated by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in an effort to prevent cervical cancer (and overturned by the state legislature) — could cause mental retardation, a claim widely refuted by medical experts. Rollins told MSNBC’s Hardball that “the quicker she admits she made a mistake, the better.”

Rollins was already hitting out at his former boss even the same day he left Bachmann’s campaign.
“Legitimately, it’s a Romney-Perry race,” he said Sept. 5 on CNN.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that Rollins now says he has virtually no involvement with Bachmann’s campaign. In an interview four days ago on CNN, John King asked Rollins to rate his involvement with the Bachmann campaign on a scale of 1 to 10, with “one” being not involved and “10″ being very involved.

Rollins’ response? “Two or three.”

Ultimately, it’s nothing new for Rollins to rip his former bosses. He also went on public rants against Mike Huckabee when the former Arkansas governor decided not to run for president. But this instance is far more damaging because Bachmann is an actual candidate.

While Rollins is the most prominent and vocal critic of Bachmann these days, he is hardly the only former staffer of hers who is now speaking out. At least one other former Bachmann chief of staff — Ron Carey — has said unkind things on TV and in newspaper interviews about his former boss. And with Bachmann notorious for a high turnover rate as a boss, namely in her congressional office, more critics might soon emerge.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

NY Asst. Attorney General a Fetish Worker?

George Doyle/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A New York assistant attorney general who has brought lawsuits against Bank of America and Royal Bank of Canada has come under fire for her salacious personal life -- one that involves whips, dominating, and S&M.

Alisha Smith, 36, who won a $5 billion combined settlement from the banks through her work in the Investor Protection Bureau of the AG's office, has been suspended from work without pay for possibly earning money in her side job as a dominatrix performer, according to the New York Post.

A story in the Post alleges that Smith works as a performer at S&M events and may have violated internal rules of the department that require employees to consult with supervisors when earning more than $1,000 for outside work.

A spokesman for the attorney general's office confirmed that the employee has been suspended without pay.

Smith would not return calls for comment.

It is unclear whether Smith was actually paid for performing.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio