Jennifer Lopez Shocks and Awes D.C. in Victoria Beckham Sheath
Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony met with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Monday to discuss education in the Latino community and the college affordability legislation the House will consider this week, as well as the new Marc Anthony Scolarship Fund which funds Latino students who want to pursue higher education. But no one was thinking about politics once they got a look at Jennifer Lopez in a blush sheath dress by Victoria Beckham. This is proof positive that a women with an hourglass figure can look absolutely stunning in Victoria's dresses. Jennifer accessorized with sky high matching Christian Louboutin heels. Even Nancy Pelosi looked amazed at her fabulousness.
The Daily Mail has a full set of gorgeous
photos of Jennifer in the dress, including shots of the back which features a beautifully tailored two way zipper. Jennifer needs to buy out Victoria's entire spring collection. Stat.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi uploaded the video below to her YouTube channel earlier this year. The video is called "Speaker Pelosi Presents Capitol Cat Cam." The video includes cats exploring the Speaker's office which is interrupted after about 30 seconds by a Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video. Andrew Rasiej, founder of the political technology site Personal Democracy Forum, says, "The more you try to make the video authentic, the more inauthentic it becomes. And Nancy Pelosi's cat video is the perfect example of overdoing it, and watching one’s head disappear in a pool of quicksand."
We enjoyed watching the cats in the Speaker's office. She should have just had more footage of the cats and skipped the rick roll at the end.
Brad Pitt sent Capitol Hill staffers into a frenzy when he appeared to day to discuss his building project in New Orleans with various lawmakers. In this video, Brad stands with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Whip James Clyburn as they meet the press. Nancy looks quite happy to have Brad Pitt around. And speaking of Brad: is that a full beard he's wearing now? Is this some kind of further torture inflicted upon us by Quentin Tarantino in the name of art and his new film, Inglorious Basterds? It's time for a shave, Brad. Take a look:
Today the House of Representatives failed
to pass the $700 billion proposed bailout plan, causing the Dow Jones to plunge 778 points. Nancy Pelosi and the other House leaders, such as Republican John Boehner, seemed stunned that the bill didn't pass. Only twelve changed votes made the difference. Opposition to the plan has been growing, with the perception that the plan is bailing out Wall Street and not Main Street. However, President Bush, John McCain, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and even Newt Gingrich all say the plan is necessary to free up tight credit markets which could leave consumers without access to home loans, auto loans, small business lines of credit.
The House of Representatives delivered a stunning defeat to legislation designed to rescue the nation's troubled financial system, sweeping aside a call from President Bush to "send a strong signal" of confidence to markets at home and abroad.
The 228-205 vote Monday exposed deep unease among rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties with what would be an unprecedented intervention in the private sector. The vote came as turmoil in financial markets widened, prompting the Federal Reserve to inject new capital into credit markets and forcing the government-arranged sale of Wachovia Corp. to Citigroup.
Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 777.68 points, its biggest one-day drop in history. It ended down 7% at 10365.45, down 9.3% since crisis erupted a few weeks ago on Wall Street following the meltdown of Lehman Brothers Holdings. All 30 of the blue-chip indicator's components fell Monday.
The Bush-backed package now faces an uncertain future, though party leaders on both sides of the aisle are sure to consider revising the initiative, which Mr. Bush said Monday is needed to "keep the crisis in our financial system from spreading throughout our economy."
After the vote, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said there would be an effort to bring back another bill, with further changes. "We've got to find a true middle ground," he said. "We need everybody to calm down and relax and get back to work."
The bailout plan isn't dead yet: it could still be passed. Today's stock market plunge is a 6.98% drop. Just for comparison, The Great Depression began with a 40% drop in the stock market over two months and on October 19, 1987 (Black Monday), the Dow fell 22.6% in a single day. Credit markets are continuing to tighten and the slide in the stock market will hurt people's 401k and other retirement plans. $1.2 trillion dollars in market value was wiped out today.
On Thursday night Sarah Palin will debate Joe Biden: they had both better be ready to discuss the bailout and the economy. Any missteps could prove fatal in an election year when consumers are very jittery about the economy.
We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So Saveurinvestigated
the breakfast habits of the nation's politicians and journalists who are currently either working on or covering the financial crisis. Here's what they eat for the first meal of the day:
JOHN MCCAIN, Republican presidential nominee, Arizona senator: Coffee, cereal, and fruit.
BARACK OBAMA, Democratic presidential nominee, Illinois senator: Four to six eggs, potatoes, and wheat toast. Every now and then, fruit, bacon, and oatmeal.
TOM BROKAW, news anchor, NBC: "Breakfast varies for me, but the most consistent item is coffee—large and black, or a large cappuccino with skim milk. I'm mostly a granola and yogurt man, except about once a month, when I crave a toasted sesame seed bagel sandwich with two scrambled eggs and two strips of crispy bacon. Occasionally I'll do french toast with good maple syrup."
BILL HEMMER, FOX cohost, America's Newsroom: "I hit the same Starbucks every morning. Latte, whole milk. Two bananas. My alarm is set to AM radio. The morning news headlines get my brain going."
MAUREEN DOWD, columnist, New York Times: "I don't eat breakfast. Just coffee."
NANCY PELOSI, Speaker of the House of Representatives: Chocolate ice cream, but a chocolate doughnut will do in a pinch.
DANA PERINO, White House press secretary: "I wake up at 4:15 a.m. and hop out of bed so as not to wake my husband. A little later, he brings me English breakfast tea with honey. I arrive at the White House by 6:15 a.m. After a meeting with the national security advisor, I finally have a chance to eat—usually raisin bran or a whole-wheat English muffin. Then I have a large green tea before the rest of the day gets going."
The best answer goes to Nancy Pelosi, hands down. Chocolate consumption was clearly her secret weapon for staying awake and focused during that crazy meeting in which Treasury Secretary Paulson got down on bended knee to beg her for $700 billion (true story). As for Maureen Dowd, this explains why she's always so cranky in her columns.
