By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON, July 15 – A key U.S Senate committee approved on Wednesday part of President Barack Obama’s plan to keep road and highway programs operating as the fund for construction and repairs comes close to zero . The Environme …

One would think Al Franken would attempt to be more serious an a Senator.. especially when so many people worked hard to steal the election for him… but, apparently he thinks this is all just an SNL skit. Sen. Al Franken is attempting to refute someone’s argument that relates to the word “abortion” not appearing in the Constitution.

Flowchart: House Democrats’ Health Plan – steppingrightup.blogspot.com 07/15/2009 All the shapes that are colored are new government bureaucracy.And Democrats think this is going to save us money?Click here to view a larger image. Obamacare should be forced on Congress, too – cassyfiano.com 07/15/2009 The nightmare known as Obamacare is coming. And Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) knowns the surest way to stop it: force members of Congress to take part in it, as well! That statement is partly in jest, but it’s got some truth to it.

Here is a roundup of stories garnering attention across Africa: Charles Taylor unsurprisingly calls the accusations against him that have found him in the dock at the special war crimes trial at the Hague lies and misinformation . Naturally we need to let the process play out. And legal standards of proof are particular. But there is not a historian of Liberia or West Africa nor is there a serious observer of West African politics who doubts Taylor’s guilt.

Max Blumenthal, son of former Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal , made quite a splash on the Internet recently when he posted a video portraying drunken Americans in Israel hurling racist epithets against President Barack Obama. One of his subjects even shouted “white power!” Blumenthal titled his video “Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem,” as if inebriated ugly Americans abroad reflect in any way on the opinions of people who live in Jerusalem.

Obama shifts into campaign mode on health care WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul cleared its first hurdle in Congress on a partisan vote Wednesday as his campaign organization rolled out television ads to build support for his top domestic priority. Obama met with Republicans at the White House in search of an elusive bipartisan [...]

Of course, that’s just a hypothetical response to a global overpopulation crisis. And, with all the pesky political, legal, and social questions – to say nothing of the technical problems – it would be almost impossible to implement.But isn’t good to know that Barack Obama’s ‘Science Czar’ leaves no stone unturned in the quest to relieve the planet of the burden of humanity?

Politico is weighing in with a story on U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd and the ubiquitous K Street lobbyists, complete with a video from the Dodd campaign. The story is at http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0709/Chris_Dodd_lobbyist_scourge.html?showall Dodd was in the Rose Garden at the White House today, standing again next to his friend, President Barack Obama, as the president talked about healthcare and the work done across the nation by nurses.

A serious question for all those watching the Sonia Sotomayor hearings: Nobody, especially Sotomayor, is really going to say anything new or dramatic, so can we skip it? No? D’oh! A wise Latina might let us, but we all know how the Republicans feel about them. On this week’s Wilshire & Washington, we confront bipartisan hackery head-on in policy, journalism, and words, and we welcome Jon Henke to our digital broadcast booth .

Sixtyfour years after he survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake has broken his silence on his memories of that day to invite President Barack Obama to attend this year’s memorial event. Go to Source