image courtesy of Harvard University

from CBC.ca

U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, a person familiar with the president’s thinking said Sunday night, positioning the court to have three female justices for the first time.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been made public. Obama was expected to announce his choice at 10 a.m. ET Monday in the East Room of the White House.

Kagan would have to be confirmed by the Senate, which is dominated by Obama’s Democrats. With 59 votes, they have more than enough to confirm her, but are one shy of being able to halt any Republican stalling effort.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

Barack Obama promised change. Then he took on one of Washington’s toughest issues: health care. During his first year in office, he found himself making one deal after another with Capitol Hill’s powerful insiders–lobbyists and influential members of Congress. He angered his political base, watched his popularity sink, and nearly failed to pass the bill. In Obama’s Deal, FRONTLINE follows the story of the president’s historic victory and offers the first in-depth look at how the Obama administration operates. Veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush’s War, Dreams of Obama, Inside the Meltdown) provides a sobering view inside Obama’s deals and reveals the realities of American politics, the power of special interest groups, and the role of money in policy making.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

“She’s a very distinguished woman, and she’s to be admired. But at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made.”

However I’m fascinated by Sarah Palin…the political equivalent of the Energizer Bunny…she just keeps going and going. And to make the story more interesting, I was down in Atlanta this week and heard an ad from a right wing organization called Newsmax.com offering the Palin book for $4.95 (plus $5.95 s/h) and decided I  had to have it. What the heck…I might not agree with her…but she is unstoppable.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

Dear Bill,

Tonight I voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009.

For more on why I voted in favor of health insurance reform and for a Q&A about the legislation, please visit my website: http://israel.house.gov/healthcare.

I believe we need health insurance reform in the United States for two key reasons.

First, the cost of health care is simply too expensive for too many Long Island families and businesses. The average Long Islander has seen their health insurance premiums increase 80% in ten years.

Recently, Long Island businesses have been hit with double-digit premium increases. As a result, more companies are forced to cut payroll, trim raises, or increase employee contributions. Some have told me if this continues, they will have to consider cutting health insurance altogether.

Without this bill, the average Long Island family will see their health costs increase $1,800 every year. In a region with unacceptably high property taxes and energy costs, we simply cannot afford to allow health care to continue skyrocketing. The best way to bring down those costs is to give consumers more choices and require insurance companies to compete for your business.

Second, we must end the insurance industry practice of denying coverage due to preexisting conditions. We must stop the “sticker shock” you get when you open an insurance company statement and learn that you’ll have to pay for a greater share of services that you assumed were covered. We must ensure you are getting the coverage you pay for.

As always, I look forward to hearing your views and opinions.

Sincerely,

Steve Israel

Member of Congress

From TVB: Television Broadcast

NEW YORK: Political ad spending could buck a trend this year and rise 11 percent on the power of hot-button issues. Most TV stations have expected fourth-quarter political ad spending to be down from last year’s traditional windfall from a presidential election. Wells Fargo analysts say spending in the segment could $3.3 billion this year, up 11 percent from last year when many media outlets benefited from Barack Obama’s presidential race with John McCain. Broadcasters are expected to reap $2.1 billion of the total.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

photo courtesy of AmberEttinger via TwitPic

Ok…so here’s the deal…

About a week or two before our “Building a Brand in Digital Media…” breakfast (that included Amber Lee Ettinger a/k/a “The Obama Girl”) I had remembered that the Brooklyn Cyclones were honoring the 44th President  of the United States with a game where they would rename the team “The Barackln Cyclones” and among other things they would be giving out Barack Obama Bobblehead dolls and stuff like that….so I had a brainstorm…Call Ben Relles…the brains behind barelypolitical.com and ask what he thought of the idea…using the Cylcones game as  a way to cross promote the breakfast and at the same time, give Amber a chance to have some fun and give the Cyclones a bit more ammo for the game.

Well…apparently I must have done something right…Ben loved the idea…Amber loved the idea and Dave Campanaro (Communications Director of the Cyclones) and Steve Cohen (GM of the Cyclones) also thought it was an awesome idea…and the rest they say is history.

So, there I was, with my good buddy Mark Weintraub (fellow Mets fan) standing along the first base line at Keyspan Park…hanging with Amber, Ben, Mr. Faux President and the Cyclones…it was awesome…we had a blast.

But here is the downside…something that I don’t seem to be able to figure out. As the “Master Connector” I basically brokered the deal…the Cyclones had no idea how to connect with The Obama Girl…and the BarelyPolitical people didn’t even know who the Cyclones were…not to mention Barack Obama night….so now they do…and it was a great evening.

I guess what I am thinking here is…and without sounding like a jerk “what’s in it for me?” and “Why do I do these things?” Apparently this is my life story…coming up with all these cool ideas but no way to monetize them…no way to make a living…or is there?

I was lamenting with a friend the other day about it…as I have with many of my friends who know what I am all about…and they all say the same thing “Bill, don’t give up…don’t stop being who you are and don’t stop doing the things you do!” But my answer is simple, I’ve been in this business what will be 30 years this Summer and I have been doing these “networking” events for 3 years this month and while I love doing them, its difficult to make a living…or is it?

Ok…so I’m reaching out to you…my friends…my members…my readers…what am I doing wrong? or better yet…what can (or should) I be doing better?

So on the eve of my first non-media event, “Breakfast with Danny Meyer” I find myself thinking alot about who I am and what I do…but how long can I keep going before Im completely in the whole?

I know there are those of you who appreciate me and what I do…and I thank you all for that. I just hope something will click soon…or I might have to make some drastic changes.

Sincerely,

Bill

from Newsday.com

U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 2003 photo provided by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. (AP / May 26, 2009)

President Barack Obama tapped U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, officials said, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

President Barack Obama’s administration has created pages on Facebook and MySpace, the most popular social-networking sites, along with Twitter, where users post short text messages, the White House said on its blog. The pages had already attracted more than 100,000 fans or followers yesterday — mostly on Facebook.

The effort builds on the president’s official Web site, WhiteHouse.gov, which debuted in 1994. The White House also uses YouTube, Google Inc.’s video-sharing site, and Flickr, Yahoo! Inc.’s photo service. As a candidate, Obama relied on Twitter and Facebook to reach constituents, especially younger voters.

“WhiteHouse.gov is an important part of the administration’s effort to use the Internet to reach the public quickly and effectively — but it isn’t the only place,” the White House said on its blog post. “Technology has profoundly impacted how — and where — we all consume information and communicate with one another.”

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

Alexei Oreskovic/REUTERS

Google CEO is back at work for Obama.

The White House announced on Monday that Schmidt has been appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

The 20-member group consists of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers who will help the President and Vice President formulate policy in areas where understanding of science, technology and innovation is key, the White House said in a statement.

Schmidt, who has a Ph.D. in computer science, is among a group of largely academic types specializing in everything from climate change to biology. Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s head of research, is the other prominent tech industry executive in the group.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

LINK TO OBAMA’S INAUGURATION SPEECH

(thanks to Les Blatt)

Check out the new whitehouse.gov