Obama

Money is always a topic around which the comment-sphere can easily gather.  So, the House just passed a bill to ease air-travel delays caused by the furlough of air-traffic controllers, resolving an issue that had re-ignited debate over federal spending cuts that took effect earlier this year. The bill passed the House on a 361-41 vote. The Senate legislation would give the Transportation Department, budget flexibility to reduce the number of air-traffic controller furloughs, which had caused this week's flight delays. Under the bill, the FAA would be able to redirect as much as $253 million from other areas of its budget to support staffing and operations. President Barack Obama has yet to sign the bill. While the legislators likely improved their chances for on-time flights when they return to work next month, cuts that are harming care for cancer patients, closing children out of preschool and ending food programs for the elderly seem to remain firmly in place. In passing the bill, many Republicans blamed the Obama administration while Democrats argued that the FAA debacle was another reason to replace the sequester. "We're all in this together or we're not," said Republican Peter Welch. "This picking and choosing where the winners continue to be the haves and the losers tend to be the have-nots -- it's just a spiral down, and it's a sad day in Congress that instead of attacking the real problem that we created, we carve out an exception that's going to benefit members of Congress themselves."  Normal staffing returns Sunday. Wanna see what kind of rating constituents gives government via the digital water cooler?  Scroll down!

Something new in political news this week in the media.  Caroline Kennedy seems to be heading to Tokyo to be the next U.S. ambassador to Japan. Kennedy, whose support for President Obama during his 2008 campaign was seen as crucial, had been widely talked about as a candidate for the diplomatic post, but now it seems that all is close to being offical.  It won't be the first time that Obama has rewarded a prominent political supporter with a prestigious position.  However, media reports have said that Kennedy's thin resume and the importance of Japan make it a particularly crucial example of this practice. It is said that she is not an expert on Japan nor international relations nor has she ever held public office. Kennedy doesn't even know how to speak Japanese.  It is reported that Japan is in favor of having an American ambassador of celebrated status. Kennedy’s predecessors include legendary Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield, former vice president Walter Mondale, former House speaker Tom Foley, and former Senate majority leader Howard Baker, all well-known politicans.  So, politicos and others think what?