The Note:
Senate Fight Starts: GOP Says Senate Parliamentarian Will Kill Fix-Its Bill  —  ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: The House bill has not yet passed and already we are seeing the reconciliation fight start in the Senate.  —  Senate Republicans say they can get the whole package of reconciliation fixes …

On ABC's This Week, Karl Rove pushed the anonymously sourced allegation that the White House tried to intimidate Democrats into voting for the health care bill by sending "unsolicited emails to federal employees." However, White House officials have stated that the emails were sent out to everyone on a voluntary White House mailing list and are not specifically targeted at federal employees.

Rove: "We do know" White House sent "unsolicited" health care emails

On the March 21 edition of ABC's This Week:

ROVE: Republicans have offered a positive alternative in health care, and you didn't bother to have one meeting between March 5 of 2009 and February 25 of 2010 to discuss how the White House could involve some of those Republican ideas in the bill. Don't give us that bunk. That is another one of those false arguments offered by the White House.

In fact, you know what? The way that you have sold this bill to Democrats by threatening them. You cannot tell me that the White House didn't sanction some of these groups like MoveOn.org and others to make these kind of threats against Democrats. We do know that the White House sent out unsolicited emails to federal employees asking them to contact their legislators about this bill. I think that's not only a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act on emails, I think it's a violation, more importantly, of the anti-lobbying statutes. And that's the kind of techniques that you've been using on this bill: threats, hardball politics, and, if need be, withholding federal -- the support of the president of the United States from Democrats.

Rove's baseless claim echoes Newsmax contributor who said health care reform would encourage "slacking"

Grenell: WH "has been feverishly sending out unsolicited email messages to federal employees." The allegation was previously touted by Richard Grenell, "spokesman for the last four U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations," in a CBSNews.com "opinion" column, in which he wrote that "White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle has been feverishly sending out unsolicited email messages to federal employees in an effort to build support for President Barack Obama's health reform package over the last several weeks." Grenell continued:

DeParle's unsolicited emails have been regularly coming to some federal employees' official government email inboxes for weeks without permission or request, causing some federal employees to feel threatened by the overt political language.

The Department of State employees, who receive hundreds of official government emails every day, have complained about the annoying and partisan emails but are nervous to go public for fear of retribution. The emails are addressed to the federal employees by name and use the official .gov address.

The unsolicited emails also request that the federal employees take action in order to ensure that Obama's health reform package is passed and the federal budget isn't at risk for bankruptcy. One federal employee was so concerned about DeParle's language in one email that he questioned whether his department's budget would be cut or eliminated without passage of Obama's bill. DeParle uses scare tactics that some assume are meant as threats.

Grenell: Extending health coverage of dependents means youths "will be enticed to continue slacking." In a March 14 Newsmax column, Grenell wrote that a provision in the health care reform legislation that would allow parents to cover dependents up to age 26 would mean that "Generation Y will be enticed to continue slacking, without a job, well past college graduation." Grenell added:

One could understand extending another entitlement program through age 26 in countries where the average workweek is 30 hours per week and vacation time is guaranteed at 8-10 weeks per year. But is this new proposal anti-American? We aren't supposed to reward people who don't work hard and make sacrifices to get ahead. And we aren't supposed to guarantee anything in America but a fair shot. America is a place where you prove your commitment to your family and your community through hard work and sacrifice. It is this ethic that we call American values.

Fox Nation trumpets Grenell's fabrication: "WH Caught Sending Health Care Propaganda to Federal Employees?" On March 19, Fox Nation promoted the allegations on its front page, using this headline:

White House: Grenell's assertions are "inaccurate"

WH spokeswoman: "No one is sent unsolicited emails." An "Editor's note" added to Grenell's CBSNews.com column on March 20 stated that the "White House is disputing" the claim "that e-mails are being sent to people who don't want them." CBSNews.com also posted the following statement from Linda Douglass, the communications director for the Office of Health Reform:

Emailed updates about health insurance reform legislation are sent periodically to members of the public who sign up to receive them. No one is sent unsolicited emails. Mr. Grenell would have learned this if he had called the White House to ask who receives the emails, but he did not contact us before writing. The assertions made in his column are inaccurate.

The iPhone's iteration of Google Maps has been shown up time and time again by Google Maps Navigation on Android, but a quirk this big just has to be linked to some Skyhook database issue. According to a new report coming from NorCal, select iPhone users in southern San Francisco are seeing their GPS software linked to Boulder, Colorado, and the issue has been going on for around a week now. What's curious is that the erroneous positioning affects other third-party iPhone GPS apps as well, and an ABC report notes that a "spokesperson at AT&T said the problem is with Apple." So, have any of you SF-based iPhoners found yourself navigating to Folsom Stadium when trying to find your way to SoMa?

[Thanks, Charles]

Select SF-area iPhones insist they're in Boulder, Colorado originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Daily Breeze  | Email this | Comments

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace falsely claimed that deals for "one bank in North Dakota" and "more water supplies for farmers in central California" were "special deals" to ensure passage of health care reform legislation. In fact, the water allocations are a Department of the Interior decision based on heavier winter rainfall, and a provision that would have benefited the Bank of North Dakota was removed from the bill.

Wallace claims water allocations, bank provision are "special deals" in health care bill

Wallace cites "special deals" that are "still in the bill." On the March 21 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Wallace asked Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), "[D]idn't Speaker Pelosi end up using a lot of taxpayer money to buy votes for this bill?" Wallace listed what he claimed were "special deals" that would ensure passage of the health care reform bill, citing as examples "the one deal for the one bank in North Dakota" and "more water supplies for farmers in central California."

Will brings water-allocation conspiracy theory to ABC. Appearing on This Week, Washington Post columnist George Will stated, "Now, I understand politics is a transactional business, but some of the transactions in this -- are you a little all embarrassed about water suddenly being released to the California valley because of health care?"

Provision benefiting Bank of North Dakota is not "in the bill"

Manager's amendment removed state-owned bank provision. A proposal that would have exempted state-owned banks from a provision to eliminate federal subsidies for private lenders -- originally contained on Page 145 of the reconciliation bill -- was removed from the reconciliation bill that will be voted on by the House. From the manager's amendment:

Page 145, beginning on line 18, strike section 2213 (and redesignate the succeeding section accordingly).

Politics Daily: "Special Provision for North Dakota Bank Removed From Health Bill." A March 18 Politics Daily article reported that "Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) Thursday sought the removal of a special provision he had written into the package of fixes to the Senate health care bill that would have applied only to the Bank of North Dakota. The provision would have allowed the Bank of North Dakota to continue to originate and service student loans even though a pending overhaul says that all such loans will originate through the U.S. Department of Education, beginning July 1."

NPR: "OUT: A student-loan provision for North Dakota, from Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)." A March 19 National Public Radio article provided examples of "what's in, what's out and why" and reported that the "student-loan provision for North Dakota" is "out." According to the article, "when the exemption became controversial, Conrad asked the House to remove it."

Increased water allocation is not "in the bill": DOI announced it as a result of increased winter rain and improved storage in California

DOI: "Interior Announces Increased Water Supply Allocations in California." A decision to increase water allocation for farmers in California's Central Valley is not "in the bill," as Wallace claimed. The U.S. Interior Department announced increased water supply allocations, citing "additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir." From a March 16 Department of the Interior press release:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Bureau of Reclamation's 2010 Central Valley Project Water Supply allocations have increased throughout the valley as a result of additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir. As forecast by Reclamation on February 26, California is having a near-average water year following three years of drought.

The Department is deeply committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges -- both short term and long term -- facing water users throughout the Central Valley," said Secretary Salazar, who was joined on the teleconference by Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor. "In this case, we accelerated our reporting of updated allocations, hoping to get the best available information to agricultural water service contractors as quickly as possible. This allocation update shows improvements from the previous allocation -- just as we hoped in our recent announcement.

WSJ: Salazar said, "Winter rains have helped replenish the state's biggest reservoir." In a March 17 article, The Wall Street Journal noted that California's Central Valley had been experiencing severe drought and that the "increase is made possible, Mr. Salazar said, in part because winter rains have helped replenish the state's biggest reservoir, Lake Shasta, which now stands at 81% of capacity, compared with 55% a year ago." Salazar also "said he moved up the announcement by a week or so 'because people on the ground and farming need to have certainty.' " The Journal reported that Salazar's announcement "further eas[ed] drought concerns in a state where El Niño rains have raised the mountain snowpack after three severely dry years."

AP: "Interior secretary: Recent storms mean California farmers, cities will get more water." In a March 17 article, the Associated Press wrote, "A series of drenching storms have replenished many of California's reservoirs, freeing up more water for parched farms and cities throughout the state, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday."

March 11, 2010 ABC News Rated 4.0733 / 5 | 384 views | 10 comments

Click here to watch the videoSubmitted By: truth-is-the-nemesisTags: how can Men Be so cruel to women?

La nouvelle sitcom de ABC s'apprête à débarquer en France.

Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.

• Although there's been no official offer yet, Barry Manilow has expressed an interest in appearing on Glee and allowing the show to use his songs.
• Star Trek nerd-dom has reached an all time high... or low depending on your perspective. A microscopic replica of the Enterprise D has been constructed at one-billionth (pinky on lower lip, Dr. Evil fans) scale.
• Check out this video from ABC which covers the vile things Ben Linus has done on Lost all set to the song "Ben" which is Michael Jackson's ode to a rat.
• While everyone seems to be wondering if Conan O'Brien will end up at Fox, two companies have approached the former Tonight Show host about doing a syndicated show.
• Good news for Amy Poehler and her husband Will Arnett: their second child is on the way, but it looks like Poehler's character on Parks and Recreation will not be doing the same.
• ...and speaking of babies, Wonder Years star (and recent Big Bang Theory guest star) Danica McKellar is expecting her first child.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Malas noticias para FlashForward. El doble capítulo que la ABC estrenó el pasado jueves apenas ha cosechado seis millones y medio de espectadores durante sus dos horas de emisión aun a pesar de tener poca competencia en su horario, lo que se traduce en mínimo histórico y quedando como tercera opción de la noche.

Personalmente, no entiendo muy bien estos datos tan bajos. Bien es cierto que la serie venía acusando un desgaste y que ya en su despedida en diciembre marcó mínimo de audiencia, por no decir que los cuatro meses de parón hacen mella en la memoria de la gente, pero no deja de resultar paradójico que el dato más bajo se haya alcanzado justo en el que probablemente sea el mejor capítulo emitido hasta la fecha.

Y es que por fin han comenzado a revelar misterios, dando continuidad a muchos de los cliffhangers que habían quedado estancados en capítulos anteriores, algo de lo que muchos nos habíamos quejado pensando que los guionistas nos tomaban por tontos. Por otro lado, el rollo sentimental ha pasado a un segundo plano, priorizando la acción y el avance de la historia sobre el desmayo, avanzando en todos los frentes abiertos al principio.

Cuenta este capítulo con muchas escenas espectaculares sobre el desmayo, que tanto nos gustan a los espectadores, y por fin se le ha dado protagonismo en la serie a Dominic Monaghan, centrándose en su personaje, su familia, su historia y su relación con el desmayo global. Una interpretación magistral de nuestro Charlie particular, que por fin empieza a cobrar importancia en el avance de la trama.

Con los datos en la mano, y pensando que a partir de ahora la serie no hará otra cosa que bajar en audiencia, tan sólo puedo consolarme pensando que, al menos, tendremos un final cerrado a final de temporada, si es que llega a emitirse completamente. Estos malos augurios, por el contrario, suponen una buena noticia para ‘V’, que ahora lo tiene mucho más fácil para asegurarse la renovación. Al menos, no tendremos que renunciar a ambas. Desde luego, el que no se consuela…

En ¡Vaya Tele! | Kit para principiantes de FlashForward