J.P. Freire is the associate editor of commentary. Previously he was the managing editor of the American Spectator. Freire was named journalist of the year for 2009 by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). You can follow him on Twitter here.
Besides the Spectator, Freire's work has appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Human Events, Reason Magazine, Town Hall, and The Washington Times. Freire attended Cornell University.
Go to Starbucks.
[B]ecause the discussions are not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they are not subject to disclosure on the visitors’ log that the White House releases as part of its pledge to be the “most transparent presidential administration in history.”
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Temporary Census workers may have violated the law by disclosing resident information to websites to track down respondents, according to a new report from the Commerce Departments Office of Inspector General. Under Title 13 of the United States Code, “individuals may be fined up to $5,000 and imprisoned not more than 5 years for disclosing Census Bureau data,” something they may have been doing if they inputted Census information into search engines.
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Think that President Obama would never allow BP to reap more benefit after its disaster in the Gulf of Mexico? Think again, says Nicole Gelinas. All the signs point to the president working with the British to protect BP against claims that could (justifiably) bankrupt the company:
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A euro stabilization package of nearly $1 trillion may be enough to protect Greece, Portugal and Spain from volatile credit markets, said Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to the Woodrow Wilson Center, but investors were not yet convinced Europe’s debt problems would be resolved, and even more money may be needed.
The comments follow a pattern of offering an optimistic view of the short term, even though doubts about the long term are well-founded.
According to Reuters, Bernanke offered this:
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Arizona’s “Clean Elections” act punished privately-funded candidates by rendering their fundraising moot — for every dollar a privately-funded candidate spent, taxpayers would be forced to kick in a dollar for the candidate who receives public funds.
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In the wake of Helen Thomas’s resignation, we’re confronted by a divide not between commentators and reporters, but rather between watchdogs and and purveyors of the conventional wisdom. While most news stories cite Helen Thomas’s “confrontational style” as a thing of “legend,” her record appears to be more about making news than breaking it. That glory takes away from reporting that can have a real impact, which is in steep decline.
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President Obama’s failure to shut down Guantanamo Bay despite campaign promises to do so has prompted another round of criticism, this time in the form of a new study of medical professionals’ role in “enhanced interrogation” of detainees, put out by anti-torture activist group Physicians for Human Rights. The group criticizes the administration for not sufficiently investigating the possibility of illegal medical experiments.
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Little more than 24 hours after telling the Washington Examiner that it would not release their ethics policy, a spokesman for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) has released a statement indicating a change of heart, noting the ethics guidelines would be available on the FCIC website (click here). Still missing, however, is a list of staff positions and salary levels, or a list of those hired by the commission as staff or consultants.
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In a humbling interview with the Journal Gazette, former Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., offers a defense of his advocacy of higher morality in the midst of a media onslaught calling them into question:
He said he didn’t scramble to have the video removed from his congressional website because “everything I said in the video is true.”
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This time it is actual clear-cut stealing, not just cushy benefits — the General Services Administration inspector general reports that employees of the Federal Protective services used government purchase cards to buy gold coins, flat-screen televisions, and even gym memberships. From the Washington Times:
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Blumenthal’s recent scandal over “misstating” (lying about) his non-existent Vietnam service record is especially interesting given his own scrutiny of companies that have made lesser misstatements.
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Supporting legislation that would repeal the ban on Internet gambling, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney frank said that the federal government should not “legally prevent” adults from spending their money “foolishly,” and that it “is a mistake to tell adults what to do with their own money”:
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A trial attorney with the Department of Justice’s Voting Rights Section has resigned, citing concerns about the government’s refusal to prosecute a case involving voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party. A letter of resignation obtained by The Washington Examiner from a former Justice Department employee makes clear DOJ has refused to allow attorneys in the Voting Rights Section to testify before the congressionally-chartered bipartisan U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, despite subpoenas that could result in their being held in contempt.
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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is offering constituents a 2010 “Border Security Survey.” From an email:
One of the fundamental responsibilities of our government is to secure our borders so that our citizens, no matter where they live in our country, can be safe and secure.
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At yesterday’s White House press briefing, Robert Gibbs responded to a question from Fox News with a barrage of criticism about the network’s decision to air the views of a former FEMA director (Michael Brown) critical of the current administration’s oil spill clean-up efforts. While Brown certainly deserves scrutiny, he’s not the only person to have suggested that this is Obama’s Katrina. Here’s video:
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