ObamaOdrama

Fox News Reports:

WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress capped President Obama’s 100th day in office by advancing a $3.4 trillion federal budget for next year, one-third of which is borrowed, that prevents Republicans from blocking his proposed trillion-dollar expansion of government-provided health care during the next decade.

House of Representatives and Senate votes to adopt the nonbinding budget blueprint are only a first step toward Obama’s goal of providing health care coverage for all Americans. The budget plan sets the parameters for subsequent tax and spending bills expected to boost clean energy programs and student aid and extend many of President George W. Bush’s tax cuts.

The Senate adopted the plan by a 53-43 vote just hours after a 233-193 House tally.

Oh by the way, that $400 tax credit Obama promised… Democrats cut it from the plan.

According to the AP, Kansas Gov. Kalthleen Sebelius has been confirmed to serve as the nation’s health and human services secretary.

The 65-31 vote came after Democrats urged quick action so that Sebelius could get to work leading the federal response to the flu outbreak. Sixty votes in the 100-seat Senate were necessary for approval.

Republican opponents cited Sebelius’ pro-abortion stances and raised concerns about whether Obama administration plans to overhaul the nation’s health system would lead to rationing of care.

Sebelius was the final Obama Cabinet pick awaiting confirmation.

What did Rahm Emanuel say again? Never let a serious crisis go to waste…

Jake Tapper reports the Obama administration announced the Pentagon would turn over 44 photographs depicting potential detainee abuse of  prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The photographs are part of a 2003 Freedom of Information Act request by the ACLU for all information relating to the treatment of detainees — the same battle that led, last week, to President Obama’s decision to release memos from the Bush Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel providing legal justifications for harsh interrogation methods that human rights groups call torture.

Courts had ruled against the Bush administration’s attempts to keep the photographs from public view. ACLU attorney Amrit Singh tells ABC News that “the fact that the Obama administration opted not to seek further review is a sign that it is committed to more transparency.”

Singh added that the photographs “only underscore the need for a criminal investigation and prosecution if warranted” of U.S. officials responsible for the harsh treatment of detainees.

Bless you ACLU… you always go out of your way to support the guys trying to kick Americas in the nuts.  Now you have a friend in the White House who appreciates your good work.

Calling the ACLU push to release the photographs “prurient” and “reprehensible,” Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal, former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production, tells ABC News that the Obama administration should have taken the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

“They should have fought it all the way; if they lost, they lost,” Lowenthal said. “There’s nothing to be gained from it. There’s no substantive reason why those photos have to be released.”

If you think there is nothing to be gained from this, you just aren’t looking at it from the right perspective.

Obama’s national intelligence director, Dennis Blair, told colleagues in a private memo last week that harsh interrogation tactics did produce “high-value” information leading to a deeper understanding of al Qaeda.

Blair’s assessment that the interrogation methods did produce important information was absent from a version of his memo released to the media last Thursday. Also absent was a line in which he empathized with his predecessors who originally approved some of the harsh tactics.

“I like to think I would not have approved those methods in the past,” he wrote, “but I do not fault those who made the decisions at that time, and I will absolutely defend those who carried out the interrogations within the orders they were given.”

Obama paid his first visit to CIA Headquarters Monday in an effort to show his support for the agency concerned by his recent authorization to release classified CIA documents related to harsh interrogation techniques including waterboarding.

Obama acknowledged the release of the memos has been difficult for the intelligence community. But he told the CIA staff not to be discouraged that they’ve made mistakes.

“I have fought to protect the integrity of classified information in the past and I will do so in the future,” said Mr. Obama. “And there is nothing more important than protecting the identities of CIA officers. So I need everybody to be clear - we will protect your identities and your security as you vigorously pursue your missions.”

During a question and answer session with reporters Tuesday, Obama did not rule out charges against former Bush administration officials who wrote the opinions justifying the “harsh” interrogation techniques.

So much for this being a time for reflection, not retribution…