Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

links for 2008-05-21

• GOP in danger of becoming ‘Pelosi-lite’ - S.A. Miller, Washington Times

  A top House Republican yesterday said the leadership must steer disheartened rank-and-file members from adopting a centrist or “Pelosi-lite” agenda and instead reaffirm conservative principles.

  (tags: eric_cantor republicans congress)

• Expected fireworks fizzle, ranks close around Boehner - Jackie Kucinich, The Hill

  Anticipated fireworks did not materialize at a House Republican meeting on Tuesday, a clear sign that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) holds a firm grip on his leadership post.

  (tags: republicans congress john_boehner)

• Boehner, Cole to release election plan - Patrick O’Connor, Politico

  House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and NRCC Chairman Tom Cole will unveil a series of changes Wednesday aimed at quelling criticism and positioning their party for November’s elections.

  (tags: republicans congress john_boehner)

• House Republicans: Act Like NetFlix to Find Your Brand - David All, TechRepublican

  Front-page of the Politico - House Republicans yet to seek consensus on an “agenda.” An agenda is a small, limited set of core principles that everyone in the Conference should get behind and support.

  (tags: republicans congress john_boehner)

• Republican fundraising catching up to Obama - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air

  A funny thing happened on the way to the conventions — the Republicans caught up to the Democrats for presidential-campaign fundraising, at least for the moment.

  (tags: republicans 2008 elections)

• The Best and Brightest Student Journalist - UWIRE

  This is journalism at its most pure: The 100 best student journalists in the country — hard workers, big thinkers and gifted storytellers — nominated by their peers and advisers for their potential to shape the media industry in the years ahead.

  (tags: journalism media academia)

Washington Times Plans Major Website Overhaul

I’ve been hearing good things about John Solomon ever since he took over as editor of the Washington Times in January. Soon we’ll begin to see the fruits of his labor with a new website and redesigned print edition. The paper has posted a slideshow outlining the changes to the website and print edition.

For a more detailed explanation, check out the video below featuring Washington Times President Tom McDevitt and Solomon explaining some of the biggest changes readers will see. My favorite has to be the new homepage feature called the “Cube,” which is something I’d actually like to copy for Heritage.org. The Sunday edition of the paper is also a dramatic improvement.

Here’s a complete list of changes, courtesy of Fishbowl DC.

News coverage, analysis and opinion from the nation’s capital and throughout the world that are not available elsewhere

Multimedia presentations of the news through print, video and audio

90 minutes of fresh new video every day

Original video and audio programming produced daily in The Washington Times broadcast studio

A website innovation, called the ‘Cube,’ presents a new way to navigate the news vertically by themes, in addition to traditional horizontal navigation by topics such as national, world, metro, entertainment.

Vertical navigation with the Cube enables readers to dive deeper into stories

400,000 horizontal entry points, or ‘news themes,’ into the web site

Inside the Story and Inside the Beltway, new one-hour internet radio programs broadcast on wsRadio and also at washingtontimes.com

Mobile platform distribution to a news consumer’s computer, video player

Social networking opportunity for readers to congregate around the news and interact with one another

Communities built around topics and hosted by ‘mayors’ who moderate the debate each day, with related sub-communities called neighborhoods

The ability to ‘Ask a Question’ and receive answers from our extensive archive of news and information as well as from all others participating in the washingtontimes.com interactive experience

Hat Tip: Fishbowl DC, Ben Domenech

links for 2008-05-20

• Principles Before Policies - Sen. Jim DeMint, National Review Online

  In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan singlehandedly turned around the American economy. On the heels of the lackluster Carter years that saw high inflation and a poorly performing economy, Reagan proposed sweeping income tax cuts that transformed the tax system.

  (tags: jim_demint congress reagan conservatism)

• The Local - John B. Judis, The New Republic

  The Teamsters in Chicago are continually linked to organized crime–so why is a presidential candidate from that city promising to end federal oversight of the union?

  (tags: obama 2008 unions corruption)

• Talking Versus Doing - David Brooks, New York Times

  In 1965, Mancur Olson wrote a classic book called “The Logic of Collective Action,” which pointed out that large, amorphous groups are often less powerful politically than small, organized ones.

  (tags: obama 2008 farm)

• Where Do VP Candidates Stand on Farm Bill? - Nachama Soloveichik, Club For Growth

  To his credit, John McCain has said that he would veto the Farm Bill if elected president. This is in keeping with McCain’s dogmatic opposition to wasteful government spending and special-interest subsidies.

  (tags: mccain obama 2008 farm veep)

Follow Pittsburgh Sports Teams on Twitter

My good friend Bill Beutler gave me an ingenious idea tonight as I was watching the Detroit Red Wings advance to the Stanley Cup finals over the Dallas Stars. With the computer on my lap and Twitterrific spitting out updates, I began typing a note on Twitter about my hopes that the NHL’s Western Conference finals would go to a seventh game. Then it occurred to me to search for Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars on Twitter. Sure enough, @detroitredwings and @dallasstars were both on Twitter.

But when I searched for my favorite sports teams, the Penguins, Pirates, Panthers and Steelers, I found nothing. Given the high intensity of Pittsburgh sports fans, it left me somewhat surprised. But I also saw an opportunity to fill the void.

You see, just yesterday Bill wrote about a couple of popular blogs, Glenn Reynolds’ Instapundit and Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish, that he was following via Twitter. Like Bill, I too find that my online-reading habits have changed over the past few years. I’m now more inclined to follow people’s work on Twitter than I am from their blog directly.

That’s one of the reasons I created @Heritage on Twitter for those who wanted to follow the many products of The Heritage Foundation — from our research papers and blog posts to video clips and event notifications. It’s also why I created @UticaNY. Just a few years ago, I would read the Observer-Dispatch, WKTV and local blogs every day. Now, I just don’t have the time. Twitter offers a great solution to give me the news in pieces as it’s happening.

The same goes for my favorite Pittsburgh teams. Rarely do I visit the sports pages of Post-Gazette or Tribune-Review, but I haven’t lost interest. In fact, I’m more excited about the Penguins now than at any time since the championship seasons of 1991 and 1992. Again, Twitter offers a solution.

Starting tonight I’m using Twitterfeed to pull in news stories from each team’s website as well as headlines from Yahoo! Sports and the Post-Gazette. For the Panthers, I’ve even tapped in to Rivals.com feed for college football and basketball news. If you’re a Pittsburgh sports fan, I hope you’ll enjoy a new way to follow your team.

Pittsburgh Penguins (@Pittsburgh_Pens)

Pittsburgh Pirates (@LetsGoBucs)

Pittsburgh Steelers (@Stillers)

Pittsburgh Panthers (@PittPanthers)

Once again, thanks to Bill for idea. I hope these turn into more than just automatic updates. I’d love to offer the same kind of personalized updates as the people behind @detroitredwings and @dallasstars.

links for 2008-05-19

• GOP Drinking Its Bath Water - Robert Novak, Human Events

  Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, at age 38 and having served less than five terms, did not leap over a dozen of his seniors to become ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee by bashing GOP leaders.

  (tags: republicans congress spending farm)

• Democrats for School Choice - Editorial, Wall Street Journal

  When Florida passed a law in 2001 creating the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program for underprivileged students, all but one Democrat in the state legislature voted against it.

  (tags: education)

Blame It on the Weather

Exactly one year ago I was pillorying John McCain for his amnesty bill for illegal aliens. Today on Townhall I explain why conservatives should be worried about his global warming bill — one that would have severe consequences for the U.S. economy.

links for 2008-05-17

• Energy’s Prevailing Winds - Philip Klein, American Spectator

  T. Boone Pickens has spent a lifetime in the oil business. Shortly after graduating from Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) in 1951, Pickens went to work for Phillips Petroleum.

  (tags: energy policy)

• Pity Party - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

  Big picture, May 2008: The Democrats aren’t the ones falling apart, the Republicans are.

  (tags: republicans elections politics)

• McCain Gives and McCain Takes - Mark Impomeni, Political Buzz

  Republican presidential nominee John McCain has been giving a series of speeches recently to both define himself to the general electorate and highlight his positions on issues that he intends to campaign on in the fall.

  (tags: mccain 2008)

links for 2008-05-16

• Roll Call Launches New Website - Charlie Mitchell, Roll Call

  For more than 50 years Roll Call has been your No. 1 source for accurate and nonbiased news, scoops, compelling analysis and behind-the-scenes stories about the Capitol Hill community.

  (tags: media \)

• Washington Times Plans Sweeping Redesigns - Joe Strupp, Editor & Publisher

  The Washington Times, a daily that turned 25 last fall, plans to unveil a string of sweeping redesigns that will include a weekly national security section, a new electronic edition, and a Sunday paper that leads with a magazine-style opening section.

  (tags: media)

• Blogs Selected For 2008 Democratic National Convention ‘State Blogger Corps’

  Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean today announced the blogs selected to participate in the DemConvention State Blogger Corps during the four-day event in August.

  (tags: blogs democrats campaigns politics)

• Democrats for Voter Identification - Jon Henke, QandO

  Funny, the Progressives don’t seem so worked up when Barack Obama works his religion on the campaign trail.

  (tags: voter_id democrats elections)

• McCain widens dialogue on blogs - Stephen Dinan, Washington Times

  Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign is trying to tap a new audience of potential voters by taking his campaign message to liberal and nonpolitical issues-based blogs, which reach millions of readers but don’t often delve into conservative politics.

  (tags: mccain 2008 blogs)

links for 2008-05-15

• Is Obama Too Far Left on Taxes? - Teddy Davis, ABC News

  The centrist Democratic group instrumental to former President Clinton’s rise to the White House in 1992 has some advice for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.: get to the center, starting with taxes.

  (tags: obama 2008 taxes)

• Obama talks tough on Detroit - Justin Hyde, Detroit Free Press

  To hear Sen. Barack Obama tell it, his speech to the Detroit Economic Club last May pitching tougher fuel-economy standards was a Daniel-in-the-lion’s-den moment, one that he has replayed for crowds from Oregon to North Carolina.

  (tags: obama 2008)

• Maybe Obama should worry - Nedra Pickler, Associated Press

  Barack Obama is in hot pursuit of general election voters, hoping America won’t notice he got his head handed to him in West Virginia.

  (tags: obama 2008 elections)

• The Place to Discuss Our Fundamental Principles - Fred Thompson, Townhall.com

  Spending some time on the campaign trail has confirmed a couple of thoughts I’ve had before I entered the Republican primary race.

  (tags: fred_thompson conservatism)

links for 2008-05-14

• If housing bill makes it out the door, veto it - Editorial, Orange County Register

  President Bush has threatened to veto a mortgage crisis “relief” bill that the House passed Thursday, 266-155, in the face of that threat. If the Senate doesn’t change the bill substantially – and perhaps even if it does – he should carry through on t

  (tags: housing congress bush)

• Constituency of One - David Freddoso, National Review Online

  Of all of the current Congress’s attempts to manage the U.S. economy — housing bailouts, “stimulus” packages, an energy bill that bans light bulbs — the farm bill is probably the most exasperating.

  (tags: farm congress)

• McCain’s common ground with evangelicals - Stephen Dinan, Washington Times

  For John McCain, global warming is the magic silver bullet, the issue that will unite liberals, moderates and evangelical conservatives into a powerful electoral force that will push him into the White House.

  (tags: mccain 2008 global_warming)

• McCain’s Assault on Reason - Roy Spencer, National Review Online

  John McCain’s global-warming speech on Monday made it clear that there will be no presidential candidate this year willing to question the assertion that global warming (a.k.a. “climate change”) is manmade, or the assertion that we can fix global wa

  (tags: mccain 2008 global_warming)