Obama Supporter Jumps Off Dems' Bandwagon

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Kos and Effect

Daily Kos blog founder Markos Moulitsas is telling his fellow liberals to ditch the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because the money could be going to moderate Democrats who voted against the House health care bill.

Moulitsas writes: "Skip any donations to the DCCC. Their first priority is incumbent retention, and they're (necessarily) issue agnostic. They'll be dumping millions into defending these seats. Instead, give to those elected officials who best reflect your values."

The Politico calls it "a dangerous little challenge to the Democratic establishment... the GOP is loving the Kos post."

DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen tells Fox News, "It would be a mistake to take any measures that would jeopardize a large and vibrant Democratic majority."

Behind Schedule

Nearly 200 top positions in the administration remain vacant a full year after President Obama was elected. USA Today reports the backlog puts President Obama behind his predecessors in terms of the amount of time taken to fill key jobs.

The Senate has confirmed 366 Obama nominees, compared with 421 at this point for President George W. Bush and 379 for President Clinton. New York University professor Paul Light, a federal bureaucracy expert, says: "Obama is well on pace right now to set a new record in terms of lateness."

There is no one permanently in charge of Medicare or Medicaid at a time when the president is pushing health care reform in Congress. Mark McClellan, a former administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says the timing isn't good, "without a permanent administrator in place."

To Coin a Phrase

Sarah Palin told an audience at a Wisconsin Right to Life fundraiser Friday that there has been a lot of change of late and took a few moments to discuss the presidential $1 coins. Palin said she had been talking to a friend about how the phrase "in God we trust" had been moved to the edge of the new coins and not on either side, saying, "Who calls a shot like that? Who makes a decision like that? It’s a disturbing trend."

Politico's Jonathan Martin writes: "Unsaid but implied was that the new Democratic White House was behind such a move to secularize the nation's currency.” But in actuality, the coin's design was commissioned in 2005 when Republicans controlled Congress and was approved by then-President Bush.

Adding to that in 2007, Congress reversed the 2005 decision and moved the phrase "in God we trust" back to the face of the $1 coins.

— Fox News Channel's Lanna Britt contributed to this report.