-A U.S. News and World Report briefing on “Going Green: America’s Cities and the Role of Government,” to evaluate the current relationship between the federal, state and local governments over issues in sustainable development and energy efficiency.

- A discussion by the Center for American Progress on “After Copenhagen: An Update on International Climate Change Negotiations.”

- A briefing on the launch of the first lady’s nationwide anti-childhood obesity initiative with Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The D.C. area experienced record setting snowfall over the weekend of thirty inches. Sofia Sanchez and Monique Cala of Talk Radio News Service set out to Union Station to catch people’s reaction to the storm.

“The mishandling of this case is the Obama administration’s failure, and they have no one to blame but themselves. President Obama failed to respond after the terrorist attack at Fort Hood, and failed to respond immediately after the terrorist attack in Detroit,” said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) in a statement released by his office.

“Instead of lashing out politically and attempting to deflect blame, Obama and his advisers need to settle on a coherent and rational national security strategy to help secure our homeland,” Hoekstra added.

“Quite frankly I’m tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as political football,” said Brennan during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday. “They’re going out there, they’re unknowing of the facts, and they’re making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality.”

Brennan was referring to arguments made by Republicans that charging Abdulmutallab in a criminal court and giving him legal rights had prevented the intelligence community from obtaining information from him on al-Qaeda and possible future U.S. terrorist attacks. The White House responded to those allegations last week by briefing reporters about how Abdulmutallab has so far cooperated with U.S. intelligence officials.

“They were told about the fact of that cooperation as well as some information he was sharing,” Brennan said. “None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point. They didn’t say, is he going into military custody? Is he going to be Mirandized?”

In Hoekstra’s view, Brennan should have taken it upon himself to divulge such information when he spoke to the Congressman shortly after the failed attack.

“Contrary to what [Brennan] attempts to imply, he at no time informed Hoekstra that Abdulmutallab had been Mirandized nor did he seek Hoekstra’s consultation or provide any sort of meaningful briefing,” said the statement.

Brees, who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards, threw two touchdown passes, including a 2-yarder to Jeremy Shockey with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter to give New Orleans a 22-17 lead. Brees then connected with Lance Moore for a two-point conversion that extended the lead to seven.

Future Hall of Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning then drove the Colts down the field, but with the ball at the New Orleans 30-yard line, his pass intended for Reggie Wayne was picked off by Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, who returned it 74 yards for the score. Down 31-17, Manning again took the Colts down the field, but with just under one minute to go his pass for Wayne fell incomplete on fourth down, giving the Saints the ball and the win.

“We play for so much more than ourselves,” said Brees after the game. “We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region. We played for the entire ‘Who Dat’ nation that has been behind us every step of the way.”

It is not surprising that after he left Congress and the governorship he decided to make education his life’s work. He is now the president of the Alliance For Excellent Education. A recent study from the Alliance showed that every school day more than 7,000 students become dropouts, adding to about 1.3 million students who will not graduate from high school with the class they started out with in first grade. The numbers are quite shocking. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census’ statistics released in 2006, a high-school dropout would have an average annual income of $17,299. A high-school graduate would earn an average income of $26,933. If they continued on in a community college, they could earn and average of $36,645 by obtaining an Associates degree.

The Alliance’s study also pointed to the fact that when an economic downturn hits, dropouts are much more likely to be unemployed. High-school dropouts have faced the most difficulty in finding a job during a downturn in the economy. The unemployment rate for dropouts in July of 2009 was 15.4 percent, compared to 9.4 percent for high-school graduates and 7.9 percent for people with some college.

With data that will shock the objective observer, “The Harsh Truth About Public Schools” explains why more Americans are yanking their kids from the government system

The statistics for low-income families also are not pretty. The Department of Education found that high-school students of low-income families dropped out of high school at six times the rate of their peers who were from high-income families. Achievement also is part of the mix, with nearly one-quarter of the lowest-achieving students having a whopping 20 times the dropout rate.

These are scary numbers, but even scarier is what happens in terms of the drain on local and state economies. States with high dropout rates can’t collect as many taxes, they have to spend more on the social safety net, and it is harder to attract business with a population that does not have the skills businesses need. The Alliance For Excellent Education also found some other startling statistics. According to their study, high-school graduates are less likely to be teen parents and less likely to commit crimes or rely on government health care. High-school graduates use less public services such as food stamps or housing assistance. It is well-known that it costs almost double to keep somebody in prison for a year than it does to pay for a year of solid education.

President Bush made education a centerpiece of his administration and raised awareness of the need for educational standards. The National Assessment of Educational Progress tests have been able to track changes in educational achievement. It has been a good start, but there is not enough money and early childhood education put behind this effort. It has also has focused on elementary and middle grades and not enough about the higher grades.

Way back in the ’60s, film director Fred Weisman made a documentary called “Hight School.” Watching the documentary, you see students being completely turned off to the educational process. This should have been a wake-up call – and although the documentary has stood the test of time, our educational policies have not.

Gov. Sarah Palin and the tea-party people can talk all they want about how great this country is and can be; however, greatness takes real work and real money. If we do not put our resources behind education and make our high schools responsive to students and to our country’s needs, we will lose our place in the global economy. Gov. Wise points out that 30 years ago the United States was the world leader in both quantity and quality of high-school and college graduates, but now the United States’ 15-year-olds have fallen to 15th of 29 OECD countries in reading literacy. In mathematics literacy, American 15-year-olds ranked 24th of 29 in OECD countries. This is shocking and shameful, and no matter what the rhetoric, without laser-beam attention to this problem we will continue to lag behind other industrialized countries and lose our competitive advantage as a nation. We can’t afford not to put all our efforts behind improving our high schools.

Last November, a General Assembly resolution called on both parties to investigate, after the Goldstone report into the Gaza fighting suggested war crimes might have occurred on both sides and called for credible investigations by all parties involved.

In his report to the Assembly, Ban included documents form Israeli and Palestinian investigations and said he hoped “the resolution has served to encourage investigation by the government of Israel and the Palestinian side that are credible and in conformity with international standards.”

However he concluded that: “the processes initiated are still ongoing…As such, no determination can be made on the implementation of the resolution by the parties concerned”

Human rights group Amnesty International criticized Ban for missing an opportunity to advance accountability in Gaza, arguing that the responses the Secretary General received clearly demonstrated that neither side had conducted investigations “that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards”

The Secretary General’s spokesperson was unable to say if or when conclusive reports on the matter would be completed, stating that any further action was dependent on the General Assembly and member states.

White House officials said Friday that the minor dip in unemployment, although not good enough, does show that the U.S. is moving in the right direction.

In a conference call with reporters, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer and Small Business Administrator Karen Mills said that the president’s top priority is getting small business initiative legislation at his desk as soon as possible.

According to Mills, one of the key factors in the jobs bill is the small business wages tax cut. Mills stated she believes that the cut will serve as an incentive that will drive employers over the hump and begin hiring.

“One of the important things to realize about [the tax cut] is it is aimed at firms that are expanding employment,” Romer said. “We are trying to increase employment as quickly as possible.”

Both Mills and Romer stressed that, in order to see major changes materialize, it will require Congress to collaborate in tackling additional programs.

A bill that will strip antitrust exemption for health insurance companies was presented Friday by Representatives Tom Periello (D-Va.) and Betsy Markey (D-Colo.)

“The two page bill would end special treatment for the insurance industry that allows them to fix prices, collude with each other and set their own markets without fear of being investigated,” said a statement put out by Markey and Periello.

Due to the merging of 400 health care insurers, 95 percent of health insurance markets are ‘highly concentrated.’ The new bill would force health insurers to compete, said Periello.

Dr.Tom Sullivan, a pediatrician, spoke on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics, saying they strongly encourage passage of this legislation

“Children stand a better chance of getting what they need if the exemption is repealed,” said Dr. Sullivan. “The legislation we are discussing today will subject health insurers and medical malpractice insurers to the same good competition laws that apply to virtually every other organization.”

Paygo
The president will likely sign the paygo legislation that passed yesterday Tuesday or Wednesday.

Deficit Reduction Commission
Obama will be signing an executive order to establish a deficit reduction commission. Gibbs quipped that they would have liked to set it up legislatively, but some members of Congress felt differently about it this week than they did last week.

Unemployment
When discussing the new unemployment numbers, Gibbs reminded reporters that this has been the worst recession in modern memory coupled with the most job losses.

D.C. Snowstorm
During the opening days of his presidency, Obama mocked D.C. for panicking over a couple inches of snow. In regards to the projected 26 inches that are coming Gibbs said: “Even a transplant from Hawaii to Chicago has respect for a forecast of 2 feet of snow.”

Haiti
There are no plans for the president to go to Haiti.

Senate Republicans
Gibbs took aim at Republican Senators Bond and Shelby. As for Shelby, Gibbs said the hold he put on 70 qualified nominees is mind-boggling and essentially described his as the poster-child for what is wrong with D.C. Gibbs called for Bond to issue an apology following remarks the Senator made insinuating that law-enforcement officials leaked information on the underwear bomber’s interrogation.

According to the newly released data, jobs were gained in temporary help services, retail and the health care industry. The federal government provided 33,000 jobs. This includes 9,000 temporary positions for census workers.

Job losses were felt in the construction, transportation and warehousing industries.

“We are making progress, but the road to recovery will be long, and will not be easy,” said Joint Economic Committee Chairman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) during a hearing Friday morning.

In January, 14.8 million Americans were unemployed, a drop from 15.4 million the previous month.

TRNS Reporter Brishel Prichard contributed to this story

Newly-sworn in Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.) talks to the press just moments after taking his oath of office. Brown shares his views on the economy, healthcare reform and the military’s controversial “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) was sworn in Thursday evening at the Senate Chambers, making him the 41st Republican Senator and thus breaking the Democrats’ supermajority.

After the swearing-in ceremony, the new Senator met with reporters to touch on some of the issues that are circling Capitol Hill.

Brown said that he was eager to begin working, and he added that the jobs bill needs the most work, saying that “not one single job has been created in the past year.”

Brown also emphasized the importance of bipartisanship in the House and Senate. He said that in order to accomplish anything and assist the American people, collaboration and compromise are key.

Although, when asked if, procedurally, he could be the 60th vote on initiatives like the health reform bill, Brown answered, “I’m not the 60th vote, I’m the 41st.”

The GOP Senator, who won the seat held for decades by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, spoke highly of tax cuts for small businesses.

“Tax cuts are not the problem for the economy, it’s the answer,” Brown said.

“I don’t think its the same problem,” said Brown. “Corporations in this country combined have sales of $10 trillion dollars. Total union dues amount to $6 billion.”

“That’s a difference between the span of my hand and the height of the Empire State Building,” added Brown. (0:14)

“Corporate CEOs should face the camera and tell the public they sponsored the commercial,” said Brown during a conference call with reporters. “If a corporation uses a front group … then the funder of that association has to be on.” (0:18)

Repubican Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) announce their support for a one-year moratorium on earmarks along with a Constitutional Amendment to balance the budget.

The requirement would be part of legislation introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) aimed at countering the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which granted corporations permission to openly fund campaign ads.

“Corporate CEOs should face the camera and tell the public they sponsored the commercial,” said Brown during a conference call with reporters Thursday. “If a corporation uses a front group … then the funder of that association has to be on.”

If passed, the bill will also require the consent of shareholders prior to an ad’s production and prevent foreign companies or government from channeling money for campaign spots.

Although the Court’s 5-4 decision also allows unions to fund ads, Brown contends that this is not as pressing of a concern.

“I don’t think its the same problem,” Brown said. “Corporations in this country combined have sales of $10 trillion. Total union dues amount to $6 billion.”

Added Brown, “that’s a difference between the span of my hand and the height of the Empire State Building.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that PAYGO will soon be at President Barack Obama’s desk.

“Today we [passed] on the floor of the House Pay-As-You-Go,” Pelosi said. “Remember this: this is a very important day and judge Congress by its adherence to this important legislation. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren.”

Under PAYGO, the government will be required to offset spending by making cuts elsewhere.

Pelosi said that a jobs bill remains a high priority. The House’s version was passed in December of 2009 and is currently awaiting Senate approval.

Next on the agenda is legislation to deny antitrust exclusions for insurance companies. In an effort to disrupt collusion and price fixing, Pelosi said that legislation should be passed next week while efforts with a larger health care reform bill stall.

“When signed into law [antitrust legislation] will increase competition, give consumers more choices and, we believe, lower costs for health care in our country,” Pelosi said.

According to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the budget for fiscal year 2011 requested by President Barack Obama will help stabilize the country’s financial situation.

“The President’s budget proposes a series of actions that would begin to put us back to a responsible, sustainable fiscal path,” said Geithner Thursday during an appearance before the Senate Budget Committee.

In his testimony, Geithner detailed the Administrations plans to create more jobs, which includes tax cuts and credits for businesses that hire new employees, $30 billion from TARP funds to give capital to small banks and $5 billion towards investments in clean energy factories.

Geithner also outlined strategies to help stabilize the nation’s economy such as a three year freeze on all non-security discretionary funds which is projected to reduce deficits by $250 billion in ten years. The budget will also invest in more law enforcement to investigate international tax evasion.

“This is a question of will, not ability,” said Geithner. “The American people want to see us do this together-to work to solve the problems that we all face and to get the economy back on track.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced the appointment of Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) as Chairman of the Republican Leadership, filling a position that has been vacant for years. Walden’s duties will include participating in regular GOP strategy meetings and other key projects.

“The American people expect Republicans to develop sound policy alternatives, and I am eager to help contribute to the good work already being done in that area,” Walden said during an appearance with Boehner Thursday.

Walden’s first big project will be the House GOP Congressional Transparency Initiative, which is geared towards making the house more accountable and open.

When asked about the proposed Debt Commission, Boehner said, “Republicans cannot be expected to rubber stamp a back room deal on a bipartisan commission for debt reduction.”

“Republicans will not blindly abandon our commitment to the American people, and throw out our principles,” he added.

U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag said Thursday that the steps currently being taken to reduce the national deficit, although effective, are not enough.

The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to those who have an income of $250,000 or more will expire as scheduled, Orszag said. In the coming decade, this will reduce the deficit by nearly $700 billion.

Transitioning to a clean energy future by eliminating fossil fuel subsidies delivered through the tax code will reduce the deficit by about $40 billion in the next ten years.

And the three-year freeze of non-security discretionary spending will further reduce the deficit an additional $250 billion, solidifying a $1.2 trillion reduction in national deficits.

“Even with that $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, the deficit remains higher than we’d like it to be,” Orszag said. “[This] is why we are calling for the creation of a bipartisan fiscal commission to put forward recommendations to get us the rest of the way to a stable debt trajectory.”

Orszag added that this would involve overall deficits of roughly 3 percent of the economy by 2015.

According to Orszag, deficit reduction is evident in the coming decade but he remains skeptical about the long-term fiscal challenge, saying that the root cause of the country’s deficit is the rate at which health care costs are growing.

“We are eager to continue to work with Congress to finally enact comprehensive health reform legislation, Orszag said. “[This] helps to reduce the deficit, not only over this decade, but equally important, puts in place the infrastructure that will allow us to decrease deficit by increasing amounts thereafter.”

Speaking Thursday in New York, Droutsas said his government had already announced major structural changes to deal with the crisis, including a new tax system to discourage tax evasion, raising the retirement age to 67 for public pensions and freezing wages for civil servants.

Droutsas also said the government would try to scale down the many bureaucratic levels of the Greek public sector, in which many unions are on strike or planning strikes to protest the changes. Droutsas said it was natural the new mesures would meet with some resistance because they affect so many people directly, but he expressed confidence the government will be able to work with other parties and has the support of the population and the European Union.

The Greek Alternate Foreign Minister also told reporters the current reunification talks in Cypress remain a priority issue for his government. On a recent trip to the divided Mediterranean island, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called on both the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to accelerate the negotiation process. Although the Secretary General said a solution was “within reach” during his visit, Droutas believes the present stage of discussion does not allow for overwhelming optimism, adding that the latest proposals by Turkish Cypriot leaders were outside the framework that had been earlier discussed.

A statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will soon find a home in the U.S. Capitol’s statuary hall.

“The Rosa Parks statue will be a fitting tribute to the American hero inside the most visible symbol of the America democracy,” said Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.) during a ceremony Thursday honoring the late-Parks’ 97th birthday.

Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give her seat on the bus to a white man in segregated Alabama.

“Happy birthday, Rosa Parks. By sitting down, you showed us how to stand up,” added Jackson.

Each U.S. state is permitted to place two statues in the Capitol. Statuary hall, a room that once served as the House floor when former President Abraham Lincoln served in Congress, is a highly visited section of the building. Jackson steered a bill to place the stature in the highly-visible location in 2005.

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who attended the ceremony, encouraged people to travel to her state to view a piece of Parks’ legacy.

“I … want to mention and invite you, if you are not from Michigan, to come to Henry Ford and Dearborn where the bus, where she made her standing is on display.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) introduced a bill that would tax bonuses distributed by financial institutions bailed out by the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The bill would place a 50 percent tax on bonuses over $400,000. Some of the companies that would be hit include Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.

The bill would require a tax on the bonuses even if the companies have already paid back the money initially received through TARP.

“If your going to get that kind of bonus, you can share it 50-50 with the people who helped bail you out. We believe that’s fair, reasonable and its not any example of what people will call class warfare,” said Webb.

Both Senators hope for bipartisan support on the bill.

“We have a situation now that’s just too serious to continue to handle that way,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on Thursday. “It’s not an exaggeration to say our country is on the edge of a financial cliff.”

DeMint and fellow GOP Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and George LeMieux (R-Fla.) unveiled their party’s latest attempt to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington, calling on Congress to support a one-year moratorium on earmarks along with a Constitutional Amendment to balance the federal budget.

“What we’re doing here today, is to try and challenge everyone in the Senate — Republican and Democrat — to join us in those steps that we can take…to address our growing deficit,” said DeMint.

“Everything is gonna get cut…it’s gonna be painful, but I guarantee you that we can cut the agencies of government…by 20 percent even, maybe 30 percent,” added LeMieux.

McCain, a noted opponent of federal earmark spending, blasted President Barack Obama for supporting using unspent Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds to fuel a jobs bill which could total over $100 billion.

“The President says he’s gonna have a spending freeze next year, and in the very next breath proposes a hundred billion dollars in new spending called a ‘jobs bill.’ It’s out of control.”

The hard part now for the 11 cosponsors of the measures will be to actually practice what they preach. Graham, for example, has a known record of not being averse to requesting earmarks. As recently as 2009, he helped secure nearly 10 million dollars to fund construction of a fitness center inside Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Graham, however, said he’s willing to bite the proverbial bullet in the short-run.

“It would be tough for us all, but it’s the right thing for the future. So I don’t mind an earmark system in the future that’s transparent, that’s logical and fits within a balanced budget.”

“The message wasn’t ‘don’t do health care.’ More than half the people polled said they liked health care and we should do it,” said Schumer. Instead, Schumer said, the message was to “focus immediately on jobs, the economy, helping the middle class.” (0:22)