ThinkFast: April 13, 2009

Before Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates, President Obama twice authorized the military to use force to rescue him. “Obama first gave permission around 8 p.m. Friday, and upgraded it at 9:20 a.m. Saturday,” expanding the order “to encompass more military personnel and equipment that arrived in the Indian Ocean to engage the pirates.” The AP writes that Obama passed his first national security test.

The Obama administration plans to “ratchet up pressure on Congress to pass climate change legislation this year by declaring its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions through the Environmental Protection Agency.” In 2007, the Supreme Court said the EPA could regulate CO2 emissions, and Obama “has given the EPA the green light” to declare them a danger to public health and welfare.

In Afghanistan, Ahmad Wali Karzai a “female provincial legislator was shot dead Sunday in the restive southern province of Kandahar.” A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred as she was heading home from work.

Prosecutorial misconduct in Ted Stevens’s case does not mean he is “innocent.” One of the jurors in the case, Colleen Walsh, wrote on her blog as if speaking to Stevens, saying: “You may be innocent on corruption charges which were never brought up. But you are still guilty of not disclosing some of your major gifts to the public.”

“The private student lending industry and its allies in Congress are maneuvering to thwart a plan by President Obama to end a subsidized loan program and redirect billions of dollars in bank profits to scholarships for needy students.” The private loan industry “has begun lobbying aggressively to save a program that has generated giant profits with very little risk.”

Michael Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, “says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country.” Astrue said that “governors are hurting their own states” by furloughing workers to help balance state budgets, calling the response “completely illogical.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is pushing the House Republicans’ message through a coordinated and disciplined group of committee-level communications staffers. Boehner’s spokesman said the communications meetings were part of his “‘entrepreneurial insurgency’ tactics to communicate Republicans’ better solutions to the American people.” “The committee communicators are in the vanguard of that effort,” he said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, laid-off workers over the age of 45 “were out of work 22.2 weeks in 2008, compared with 16.2 weeks for younger workers.” Further, after finding new employment, “they typically experience a much steeper drop in earnings than their younger counterparts.”

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said on CNN yesterday that the U.S. is on track to withdraw combat troops by August 2010 but the pace could adjust depending on stability. He added that U.S. troops may have to remain in Iraqi cities after the June 31 deadline but said “ultimately it will be the decision of Prime Minister Maliki.”

And finally: Glenn Beck announces his long-awaited comedy tour! Calling himself a “poor man’s Seinfeld,” Beck said he will be taking his entertainment act on the road for six live performances over six days during the first week of June.

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