President Barack Obama

Obama back away from using Shovel Ready

2010-10-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Famed Obama 'Hope' poster artist losing hope

2010-09-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

Fairey, who at 40 is no kid himself, said it's easy to see why young voters are down on Obama and the Democrats. He lamented that health care reform was watered down, Tea Party activists have been emboldened, and his man has fallen short on bold campaign promises like closing Guantanamo Bay.

President Obama supporters are disappointed,exhausted over policies

2010-09-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

US loses ground in competitiveness report

2010-09-09T18:12:00.001-07:00

President Obama Approval Rating down to 41% in just 19 short months so much for change

2010-09-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Tri-C students recruited to fill the seats for Obama's appearance

2010-09-09T18:05:00.001-07:00

How Barack Obama Became Mr. Unpopular

2010-09-02T05:41:00.001-07:00

Obama: US combat in Iraq over, 'time to turn

2010-09-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

Poll: Growing number call Obama Muslim

2010-08-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans increasingly are convinced - incorrectly - that President Barack Obama is a Muslim, and a growing number are thoroughly confused about his religion.

Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 percent.

The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 percent who said that in early 2009.

The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews conducted before the controversy over whether Muslims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Center site. Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center there, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.

In a separate poll by Time magazine/ABT SRBI conducted Monday and Tuesday - after Obama's comments about the mosque - 24 percent said they think he is Muslim, 47 percent said they think he is Christian and 24 percent didn't know or didn't respond.

In addition, 61 percent opposed building the Muslim center near the Trade Center site and 26 percent said they favor it.

The Pew poll found that about three in 10 of Obama's fiercest political rivals, Republicans and conservatives, say he is a Muslim. That is up significantly from last year and far higher than the share of Democrats and liberals who say so. But even among his supporters, the number saying he is a Christian has fallen since 2009, with just 43 percent of blacks and 46 percent of Democrats saying he is Christian.

Among independents, 18 percent say Obama is Muslim - up from 10 percent last year.

Pew analysts attribute the findings to attacks by his opponents and Obama's limited attendance at religious services, particularly in contrast with Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, whose worship was more public.

Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center's director, said the confusion partly reflects "the intensification of negative views about Obama among his critics." Alan Cooperman, the Pew Forum's associate director for research, said that with the public hearing little about Obama's religion, "maybe there's more possibility for other people to make suggestions that the president is this or he's really that or he's really a Muslim."

Obama is the Christian son of a Kenyan Muslim father and a Kansas mother. From age 6 to 10, Obama lived in predominantly Muslim Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama, sounds Muslim to many.

White House officials did not provide on-the-record comments on the survey, but they prompted Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston to call The Associated Press.

Caldwell, who said he has known Obama for years, said the president is a Christian who prays every day. He said he was not sure where the public confusion about the president's religion came from, but he called false media reports about it "a 24-hour noise box committed to presenting the president in a false light."

Six in 10 of those saying Obama is a Muslim said they got the information from the media, with the largest portion - 16 percent - saying it was on television. Eleven percent said they learned it from Obama's behavior and words.

Despite the confusion about Obama's religion, there is noteworthy support for how he uses it to make decisions. Nearly half, or 48 percent, said he relies on his religion the right amount when making policy choices, 21 percent said he uses it too little and 11 percent too much.

At the same time, the poll provides broad indications that the public feels religion is playing a diminished role in politics today, with fewer people than in 2008 saying the Democratic and Republican parties are friendly toward religion.

With elections for control of Congress just over two months away, the poll contains optimistic news for Republicans. Half of white non-Hispanic Catholics, plus three in 10 unaffiliated with a religion and a third of Jews, support the GOP - all up since 2008.

The survey also found:

-The Democratic Party is seen as friendly to religion by 26 percent, while 43 percent say the same about the GOP. That's a 9 percentage point drop for Republicans since 2008, and 12 points lower for Democrats.

-Fifty-two percent say churches should stay away from politics, a reversal of the slim majorities that supported churches' political involvement from 1996 to 2006.

The poll, overseen by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, involved landline and cell phone interviews with 3,003 randomly chosen adults. It was conducted July 21-Aug. 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Obama makes clear support for ground zero mosque

2010-08-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama is weighing in forcefully on the mosque near ground zero, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it.

Hillary for Vice President?

2010-08-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

The movement is gaining traction.

President Obama celebrates 49th birthday in Chicago

2010-08-05T06:00:00.001-07:00

Obama talks race, pop culture on 'The View'

2010-07-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

Poll: Most Say Obama Lacks Clear Plans on the Oil Spill, Energy or Jobs

2010-06-24T21:33:00.001-07:00

Issa: Sestak scandal could be Obama's 'Watergate'

2010-05-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Search 18 U.S.C. § 600 : US Code - Section 600: Promise of employment or other benefit for political activity

2010-05-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Whoever, directly or indirectly, promises any employment,
position, compensation, contract, appointment, or other benefit,
provided for or made possible in whole or in part by any Act of
Congress, or any special consideration in obtaining any such
benefit, to any person as consideration, favor, or reward for any
political activity or for the support of or opposition to any
candidate or any political party in connection with any general or
special election to any political office, or in connection with any
primary election or political convention or caucus held to select
candidates for any political office, shall be fined under this
title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

President Obama offering Sestak a job was it

2010-05-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

"Obama's Katrina" talking point on Gulf oil spill

2010-05-31T11:16:00.001-07:00

Obama's Katrina?

2010-05-31T11:11:00.001-07:00

The Worst Bill Ever

2009-11-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all.

(WSJ)Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told fellow Democrats that she's prepared to lose seats in 2010 if that's what it takes to pass ObamaCare, and little wonder. The health bill she unwrapped last Thursday, which President Obama hailed as a "critical milestone," may well be the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced.
In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago. With spending and debt already at record peacetime levels, the bill creates a new and probably unrepealable middle-class entitlement that is designed to expand over time. Taxes will need to rise precipitously, even as ObamaCare so dramatically expands government control of health care that eventually all medicine will be rationed via politics.
Yet at this point, Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan "reform" and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be "universal coverage." The result will be destructive on every level—for the health-care system, for the country's fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

•The spending surge. The Congressional Budget Office figures the House program will cost $1.055 trillion over a decade, which while far above the $829 billion net cost that Mrs. Pelosi fed to credulous reporters is still a low-ball estimate. Most of the money goes into government-run "exchanges" where people earning between 150% and 400% of the poverty level—that is, up to about $96,000 for a family of four in 2016—could buy coverage at heavily subsidized rates, tied to income. The government would pay for 93% of insurance costs for a family making $42,000, 72% for another making $78,000, and so forth.
At least at first, these benefits would be offered only to those whose employers don't provide insurance or work for small businesses with 100 or fewer workers. The taxpayer costs would be far higher if not for this "firewall"—which is sure to cave in when people see the deal their neighbors are getting on "free" health care. Mrs. Pelosi knows this, like everyone else in Washington.
Even so, the House disguises hundreds of billions of dollars in additional costs with budget gimmicks. It "pays for" about six years of program with a decade of revenue, with the heaviest costs concentrated in the second five years. The House also pretends Medicare payments to doctors will be cut by 21.5% next year and deeper after that, "saving" about $250 billion. ObamaCare will be lucky to cost under $2 trillion over 10 years; it will grow more after that.
• Expanding Medicaid, gutting private Medicare. All this is particularly reckless given the unfunded liabilities of Medicare—now north of $37 trillion over 75 years. Mrs. Pelosi wants to steal $426 billion from future Medicare spending to "pay for" universal coverage. While Medicare's price controls on doctors and hospitals are certain to be tightened, the only cut that is a sure thing in practice is gutting Medicare Advantage to the tune of $170 billion. Democrats loathe this program because it gives one of out five seniors private insurance options.
As for Medicaid, the House will expand eligibility to everyone below 150% of the poverty level, meaning that some 15 million new people will be added to the rolls as private insurance gets crowded out at a cost of $425 billion. A decade from now more than a quarter of the population will be on a program originally intended for poor women, children and the disabled.
Even though the House will assume 91% of the "matching rate" for this joint state-federal program—up from today's 57%—governors would still be forced to take on $34 billion in new burdens when budgets from Albany to Sacramento are in fiscal collapse. Washington's budget will collapse too, if anything like the House bill passes.
• European levels of taxation. All told, the House favors $572 billion in new taxes, mostly by imposing a 5.4-percentage-point "surcharge" on joint filers earning over $1 million, $500,000 for singles. This tax will raise the top marginal rate to 45% in 2011 from 39.6% when the Bush tax cuts expire—not counting state income taxes and the phase-out of certain deductions and exemptions. The burden will mostly fall on the small businesses that have organized as Subchapter S or limited liability corporations, since the truly wealthy won't have any difficulty sheltering their incomes.
This surtax could hit ever more earners because, like the alternative minimum tax, it isn't indexed for inflation. Yet it still won't be nearly enough. Even if Congress had confiscated 100% of the taxable income of people earning over $500,000 in the boom year of 2006, it would have only raised $1.3 trillion. When Democrats end up soaking the middle class, perhaps via the European-style value-added tax that Mrs. Pelosi has endorsed, they'll claim the deficits that they created made them do it.
Under another new tax, businesses would have to surrender 8% of their payroll to government if they don't offer insurance or pay at least 72.5% of their workers' premiums, which eat into wages. Such "play or pay" taxes always become "pay or pay" and will rise over time, with severe consequences for hiring, job creation and ultimately growth. While the U.S. already has one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the world, Democrats are on the way to creating a high structural unemployment rate, much as Europe has done by expanding its welfare states.
Meanwhile, a tax equal to 2.5% of adjusted gross income will also be imposed on some 18 million people who CBO expects still won't buy insurance in 2019. Democrats could make this penalty even higher, but that is politically unacceptable, or they could make the subsidies even higher, but that would expose the (already ludicrous) illusion that ObamaCare will reduce the deficit.
• The insurance takeover. A new "health choices commissioner" will decide what counts as "essential benefits," which all insurers will have to offer as first-dollar coverage. Private insurers will also be told how much they are allowed to charge even as they will have to offer coverage at virtually the same price to anyone who applies, regardless of health status or medical history.
The cost of insurance, naturally, will skyrocket. The insurer WellPoint estimates based on its own market data that some premiums in the individual market will triple under these new burdens. The same is likely to prove true for the employer-sponsored plans that provide private coverage to about 177 million people today. Over time, the new mandates will apply to all contracts, including for the large businesses currently given a safe harbor from bureaucratic tampering under a 1974 law called Erisa.
The political incentive will always be for government to expand benefits and reduce cost-sharing, trampling any chance of giving individuals financial incentives to economize on care. Essentially, all insurers will become government contractors, in the business of fulfilling political demands: There will be no such thing as "private" health insurance.
***
All of this is intentional, even if it isn't explicitly acknowledged. The overriding liberal ambition is to finish the work began decades ago as the Great Society of converting health care into a government responsibility. Mr. Obama's own Medicare actuaries estimate that the federal share of U.S. health dollars will quickly climb beyond 60% from 46% today. One reason Mrs. Pelosi has fought so ferociously against her own Blue Dog colleagues to include at least a scaled-back "public option" entitlement program is so that the architecture is in place for future Congresses to expand this share even further.
As Congress's balance sheet drowns in trillions of dollars in new obligations, the political system will have no choice but to start making cost-minded decisions about which treatments patients are allowed to receive. Democrats can't regulate their way out of the reality that we live in a world of finite resources and infinite wants. Once health care is nationalized, or mostly nationalized, medical rationing is inevitable—especially for the innovative high-cost technologies and drugs that are the future of medicine.
Mr. Obama rode into office on a wave of "change," but we doubt most voters realized that the change Democrats had in mind was making health care even more expensive and rigid than the status quo. Critics will say we are exaggerating, but we believe it is no stretch to say that Mrs. Pelosi's handiwork ranks with the Smoot-Hawley tariff and FDR's National Industrial Recovery Act as among the worst bills Congress has ever seriously contemplated.

Nobel Prize not good for Obama Poll

2009-10-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Polling Numbers.com reports

65% say Obama should not have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Overall Obama job approval rating: 49% approve, 45% disapprove.

Only 43% say they would vote to reelect President Obama while 48% say they would vote for someone else.

Harry Truman ended WW2 but did not win the peace prize. Gandhi freed India from Britain but he did not win the peace prize. Even Reagan urged the Berlin Wall to come down, again no peace prize. But Obama, Gore and Jimmy Carter have each won?
Making speeches is not enough. Obama would have to do at least one of the following to be deserving of the prize: unify the two Koreas, end military rule in Burma, free Tibet, end military occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, end the genocide in Darfur, among many other potential peaceful measures.
Giving Obama the prize now just a few months into Obama's presidency is irresponsible.

10/15/09, by Proloy Bhatta

Obama WAR in Afghanistan

2009-10-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

October 13, 2009 at 9pm Frontline on PBS has done a documentary on Afghanistan strategy on whether to increase troop levels or not as we all know President Obama back in March started a new strategy. As we all know PBS is a very left wing media organization, which supports everything this President does, this documentary does appear too be a little tough on how Obama has handled this Afghan war. I would encourage all of you to tune in tomorrow night. Because if you don't you will never hear about it in the left wing media.

Read his remarks from President Obama March 27, 2009

· "Good morning. Today, I am announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This marks the conclusion of a careful policy review that I ordered as soon as I took office. My Administration has heard from our military commanders and diplomats. We have consulted with the Afghan and Pakistani governments; with our partners and NATO allies; and with other donors and international organizations. And we have also worked closely with members of Congress here at home. Now, I’d like to speak clearly and candidly to the American people.

The situation is increasingly perilous. It has been more than seven years since the Taliban was removed from power, yet war rages on, and insurgents control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Attacks against our troops, our NATO allies, and the Afghan government have risen steadily. Most painfully, 2008 was the deadliest year of the war for American forces.

Many people in the United States – and many in partner countries that have sacrificed so much – have a simple question: What is our purpose in Afghanistan? After so many years, they ask, why do our men and women still fight and die there? They deserve a straightforward answer.

So let me be clear: al Qaeda and its allies – the terrorists who planned and supported the 9/11 attacks – are in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe-haven in Pakistan. And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban – or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged – that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can.

The future of Afghanistan is inextricably linked to the future of its neighbor, Pakistan. In the nearly eight years since 9/11, al Qaeda and its extremist allies have moved across the border to the remote areas of the Pakistani frontier. This almost certainly includes al Qaeda’s leadership: Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. They have used this mountainous terrain as a safe-haven to hide, train terrorists, communicate with followers, plot attacks, and send fighters to support the insurgency in Afghanistan. For the American people, this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world.

But this is not simply an American problem – far from it. It is, instead, an international security challenge of the highest order. Terrorist attacks in London and Bali were tied to al Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan, as were attacks in North Africa and the Middle East, in Islamabad and Kabul. If there is a major attack on an Asian, European, or African city, it – too – is likely to have ties to al Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan. The safety of people around the world is at stake.

For the Afghan people, a return to Taliban rule would condemn their country to brutal governance, international isolation, a paralyzed economy, and the denial of basic human rights to the Afghan people – especially women and girls. The return in force of al Qaeda terrorists who would accompany the core Taliban leadership would cast Afghanistan under the shadow of perpetual violence.

As President, my greatest responsibility is to protect the American people. We are not in Afghanistan to control that country or to dictate its future. We are in Afghanistan to confront a common enemy that threatens the United States, our friends and allies, and the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan who have suffered the most at the hands of violent extremists.

So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you.

To achieve our goals, we need a stronger, smarter and comprehensive strategy. To focus on the greatest threat to our people, America must no longer deny resources to Afghanistan because of the war in Iraq. To enhance the military, governance, and economic capacity of Afghanistan and Pakistan, we have to marshal international support. And to defeat an enemy that heeds no borders or laws of war, we must recognize the fundamental connection between the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan – which is why I’ve appointed Ambassador Richard Holbrooke to serve as Special Representative for both countries, and to work closely with General David Petraeus to integrate our civilian and military efforts.

Let me start by addressing the way forward in Pakistan.

The United States has great respect for the Pakistani people. They have a rich history, and have struggled against long odds to sustain their democracy. The people of Pakistan want the same things that we want: an end to terror, access to basic services, the opportunity to live their dreams, and the security that can only come with the rule of law. The single greatest threat to that future comes from al Qaeda and their extremist allies, and that is why we must stand together.

The terrorists within Pakistan’s borders are not simply enemies of America or Afghanistan – they are a grave and urgent danger to the people of Pakistan. Al Qaeda and other violent extremists have killed several thousand Pakistanis since 9/11. They have killed many Pakistani soldiers and police. They assassinated Benazir Bhutto. They have blown up buildings, derailed foreign investment, and threatened the stability of the state. Make no mistake: al Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within.

It is important for the American people to understand that Pakistan needs our help in going after al Qaeda. This is no simple task. The tribal regions are vast, rugged, and often ungoverned. That is why we must focus our military assistance on the tools, training and support that Pakistan needs to root out the terrorists. And after years of mixed results, we will not provide a blank check. Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders. And we will insist that action be taken – one way or another – when we have intelligence about high-level terrorist targets.

The government’s ability to destroy these safe-havens is tied to its own strength and security. To help Pakistan weather the economic crisis, we must continue to work with the IMF, the World Bank and other international partners. To lessen tensions between two nuclear-armed nations that too often teeter on the edge of escalation and confrontation, we must pursue constructive diplomacy with both India and Pakistan. To avoid the mistakes of the past, we must make clear that our relationship with Pakistan is grounded in support for Pakistan’s democratic institutions and the Pakistani people. And to demonstrate through deeds as well as words a commitment that is enduring, we must stand for lasting opportunity.

A campaign against extremism will not succeed with bullets or bombs alone. Al Qaeda offers the people of Pakistan nothing but destruction. We stand for something different. So today, I am calling upon Congress to pass a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by John Kerry and Richard Lugar that authorizes $1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years – resources that will build schools, roads, and hospitals, and strengthen Pakistan’s democracy. I’m also calling on Congress to pass a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Maria Cantwell, Chris Van Hollen and Peter Hoekstra that creates opportunity zones in the border region to develop the economy and bring hope to places plagued by violence. And we will ask our friends and allies to do their part – including at the donors conference in Tokyo next month.

I do not ask for this support lightly. These are challenging times, and resources are stretched. But the American people must understand that this is a down payment on our own future – because the security of our two countries is shared. Pakistan’s government must be a stronger partner in destroying these safe-havens, and we must isolate al Qaeda from the Pakistani people.

These steps in Pakistan are also indispensable to our effort in Afghanistan, which will see no end to violence if insurgents move freely back and forth across the border.

Security demands a new sense of shared responsibility. That is why we will launch a standing, trilateral dialogue among the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our nations will meet regularly, with Secretary Clinton and Secretary Gates leading our effort. Together, we must enhance intelligence sharing and military cooperation along the border, while addressing issues of common concern like trade, energy, and economic development.

This is just one part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent Afghanistan from becoming the al Qaeda safe-haven that it was before 9/11. To succeed, we and our friends and allies must reverse the Taliban’s gains, and promote a more capable and accountable Afghan government.

Our troops have fought bravely against a ruthless enemy. Our civilians have made great sacrifices. Our allies have borne a heavy burden. Afghans have suffered and sacrificed for their future. But for six years, Afghanistan has been denied the resources that it demands because of the war in Iraq. Now, we must make a commitment that can accomplish our goals.

I have already ordered the deployment of 17,000 troops that had been requested by General McKiernan for many months. These soldiers and Marines will take the fight to the Taliban in the south and east, and give us a greater capacity to partner with Afghan Security Forces and to go after insurgents along the border. This push will also help provide security in advance of the important presidential election in August.

At the same time, we will shift the emphasis of our mission to training and increasing the size of Afghan Security Forces, so that they can eventually take the lead in securing their country. That is how we will prepare Afghans to take responsibility for their security, and how we will ultimately be able to bring our troops home.

For three years, our commanders have been clear about the resources they need for training. Those resources have been denied because of the war in Iraq. Now, that will change. The additional troops that we deployed have already increased our training capacity. Later this spring we will deploy approximately 4,000 U.S. troops to train Afghan Security Forces. For the first time, this will fully resource our effort to train and support the Afghan Army and Police. Every American unit in Afghanistan will be partnered with an Afghan unit, and we will seek additional trainers from our NATO allies to ensure that every Afghan unit has a coalition partner. We will accelerate our efforts to build an Afghan Army of 134,000 and a police force of 82,000 so that we can meet these goals by 2011 – and increases in Afghan forces may very well be needed as our plans to turn over security responsibility to the Afghans go forward.

This push must be joined by a dramatic increase in our civilian effort. Afghanistan has an elected government, but it is undermined by corruption and has difficulty delivering basic services to its people. The economy is undercut by a booming narcotics trade that encourages criminality and funds the insurgency. The people of Afghanistan seek the promise of a better future. Yet once again, have seen the hope of a new day darkened by violence and uncertainty.

To advance security, opportunity, and justice – not just in Kabul, but from the bottom up in the provinces – we need agricultural specialists and educators; engineers and lawyers. That is how we can help the Afghan government serve its people, and develop an economy that isn’t dominated by illicit drugs. That is why I am ordering a substantial increase in our civilians on the ground. And that is why we must seek civilian support from our partners and allies, from the United Nations and international aid organizations – an effort that Secretary Clinton will carry forward next week in the Hague.

At a time of economic crisis, it is tempting to believe that we can short-change this civilian effort. But make no mistake: our efforts will fail in Afghanistan and Pakistan if we don’t invest in their future. That is why my budget includes indispensable investments in our State Department and foreign assistance programs. These investments relieve the burden on our troops. They contribute directly to security. They make the American people safer. And they save us an enormous amount of money in the long run – because it is far cheaper to train a policeman to secure their village or to help a farmer seed a crop, than it is to send our troops to fight tour after tour of duty with no transition to Afghan responsibility.

As we provide these resources, the days of unaccountable spending, no-bid contracts, and wasteful reconstruction must end. So my budget will increase funding for a strong Inspector General at both the State Department and USAID, and include robust funding for the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction.

And I want to be clear: we cannot turn a blind eye to the corruption that causes Afghans to lose faith in their own leaders. Instead, we will seek a new compact with the Afghan government that cracks down on corrupt behavior, and sets clear benchmarks for international assistance so that it is used to provide for the needs of the Afghan people.

In a country with extreme poverty that has been at war for decades, there will also be no peace without reconciliation among former enemies. I have no illusions that this will be easy. In Iraq, we had success in reaching out to former adversaries to isolate and target al Qaeda. We must pursue a similar process in Afghanistan, while understanding that it is a very different country.

There is an uncompromising core of the Taliban. They must be met with force, and they must be defeated. But there are also those who have taken up arms because of coercion, or simply for a price. These Afghans must have the option to choose a different course. That is why we will work with local leaders, the Afghan government, and international partners to have a reconciliation process in every province. As their ranks dwindle, an enemy that has nothing to offer the Afghan people but terror and repression must be further isolated. And we will continue to support the basic human rights of all Afghans – including women and girls.

Going forward, we will not blindly stay the course. Instead, we will set clear metrics to measure progress and hold ourselves accountable. We’ll consistently assess our efforts to train Afghan Security Forces, and our progress in combating insurgents. We will measure the growth of Afghanistan’s economy, and its illicit narcotics production. And we will review whether we are using the right tools and tactics to make progress towards accomplishing our goals.

None of the steps that I have outlined will be easy, and none should be taken by America alone. The world cannot afford the price that will come due if Afghanistan slides back into chaos or al Qaeda operates unchecked. We have a shared responsibility to act – not because we seek to project power for its own sake, but because our own peace and security depends upon it. And what’s at stake now is not just our own security – it is the very idea that free nations can come together on behalf of our common security. That was the founding cause of NATO six decades ago. That must be our common purpose today.

My Administration is committed to strengthening international organizations and collective action, and that will be my message next week in Europe. As America does more, we will ask others to join us in doing their part. From our partners and NATO allies, we seek not simply troops, but rather clearly defined capabilities: supporting the Afghan elections, training Afghan Security Forces, and a greater civilian commitment to the Afghan people. For the United Nations, we seek greater progress for its mandate to coordinate international action and assistance, and to strengthen Afghan institutions.
And finally, together with the United Nations, we will forge a new Contact Group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that brings together all who should have a stake in the security of the region – our NATO allies and other partners, but also the Central Asian states, the Gulf nations and Iran; Russia, India and China. None of these nations benefit from a base for al Qaeda terrorists, and a region that descends into chaos. All have a stake in the promise of lasting peace and security and development.
That is true, above all, for the coalition that has fought together in Afghanistan, side by side with Afghans. The sacrifices have been enormous. Nearly 700 Americans have lost their lives. Troops from over twenty other countries have also paid the ultimate price. All Americans honor the service and cherish the friendship of those who have fought, and worked, and bled by our side. And all Americans are awed by the service of our own men and women in uniform, who have borne a burden as great as any other generation’s. They and their families embody the example of selfless sacrifice.

The United States of America did not choose to fight a war in Afghanistan. Nearly 3,000 of our people were killed on September 11, 2001, for doing nothing more than going about their daily lives. Al Qaeda and its allies have since killed thousands of people in many countries. Most of the blood on their hands is the blood of Muslims, who al Qaeda has killed and maimed in far greater numbers than any other people. That is the future that al Qaeda is offering to the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan – a future without opportunity or hope; a future without justice or peace.

The road ahead will be long. There will be difficult days. But we will seek lasting partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan that serve the promise of a new day for their people. And we will use all elements of our national power to defeat al Qaeda, and to defend America, our allies, and all who seek a better future. Because the United States of America stands for peace and security, justice and opportunity. That is who we are, and that is what history calls on us to do once more.

Thank you, God Bless You, and God Bless the United States of America."

Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize

2009-10-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

Times of London
The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself.

Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.

Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.

The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s decision to “strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to “reset” relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.
East-West relations are little better than they were six months ago, and any change is probably due largely to the global economic downturn; and America’s vaunted determination to re-engage with the Muslim world has failed to make any concrete progress towards ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

There is a further irony in offering a peace prize to a president whose principal preoccupation at the moment is when and how to expand the war in Afghanistan.

The spectacle of Mr Obama mounting the podium in Oslo to accept a prize that once went to Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Mother Theresa would be all the more absurd if it follows a White House decision to send up to 40,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. However just such a war may be deemed in Western eyes, Muslims would not be the only group to complain that peace is hardly compatible with an escalation in hostilities.

The Nobel committee has made controversial awards before. Some have appeared to reward hope rather than achievement: the 1976 prize for the two peace campaigners in Northern Ireland, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, was clearly intended to send a signal to the two battling communities in Ulster. But the political influence of the two winners turned out, sadly, to be negligible.

In the Middle East, the award to Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt in 1978 also looks, in retrospect, as naive as the later award to Yassir Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin — although it could be argued that both the Camp David and Oslo accords, while not bringing peace, were at least attempts to break the deadlock.

Mr Obama’s prize is more likely, however, to be compared with the most contentious prize of all: the 1973 prize to Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho for their negotiations to end the Vietnam war. Dr Kissinger was branded a warmonger for his support for the bombing campaign in Cambodia; and the Vietnamese negotiator was subsequently seen as a liar whose government never intended to honour a peace deal but was waiting for the moment to attack South Vietnam.

Mr Obama becomes the third sitting US President to receive the prize. The committee said today that he had “captured the world’s attention”. It is certainly true that his energy and aspirations have dazzled many of his supporters. Sadly, it seems they have so bedazzled the Norwegians that they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.

School Students Taught Pro-Obama Songs

2009-09-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

school students learning songs praising Barack Obama for his "great accomplishments" and efforts to "make this country's economy No. 1 again"

The Story of Stuff

Obama's Automotive Task Force

2009-09-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

This could be a scandal of epic proportions and one that makes Nixon's Watergate or Clinton 's Monica Lewinsky affair pale by comparison. Why was there neither rhyme nor reason as to which dealerships of the Chrysler Corporation were to be closed? Roll the clock back to the weeks just before Chrysler declared bankruptcy. Chrysler, like GM, was in dire financial straights and federal government graciously offered to "buy the company" and keep them out of bankruptcy and "save jobs." Chrysler was, in the words of Obama and his administration, "Too big to fail," same story with GM.

The feds organized their "Automotive Task Force" to fix Chrysler and GM. Obama, in an act that is 100% unconstitutional, appointed a guy named Steve Rattner to be the White House's official Car Czar- literally, that's what his title is. Rattner is the liaison between Obama, Chrysler, and GM.

Initially, the national media reported that Chrysler had made this list of dealerships. That is not true. The Washington Examiner, Newsmax, Fox New and a host of other news agencies discovered that the list of dealerships was put together by the "Automotive Task Force" headed by no one other then Mr. Steve Rattner. Now the plot thickens. Remember earlier we said earlier that there was neither rhyme nor reason why certain dealerships were closed? Actually there's a very interesting pattern as to who was closed down. Again, on May 27, 2009, The Washington Examiner and Newsmax exposed the connection. Amazingly, of the 789 dealerships closed by the federal government 788 had donated money, exclusively, to Republican political causes, while contributing nothing to Democratic political causes. The only "Democratic" dealership on the list was found to have donated $7,700 to Hillary's campaign, and a bit over $2,000 to John Edwards. This same dealership, reportedly, also gave $200.00 to Obama's campaign. Does that seem a little odd to you?

Steve Rattner, the guy who put the list together. Well he happens to be married to a babe named Maureen White. Maureen happens to be the former national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As such, she would have access to campaign donation records from everyone in the nation, Republican or Democrat. But of course, this is just a wacky coincidence, we're certain.

Then comes another really wacky coincidence. On that list of dealerships being closed down, a weird thing happed in Arkansas , North Louisiana, and Southern Missouri . It seems that Bill Clinton's former White House Chief of Staff, Mack McClarty, owns a chain of dealership in that region, partnered with a fellow by the name of Robert Johnson. Johnson happens to be founder of Black Entertainment Television and was a huge Obama supporter and financier. These guys own a half dozen Chrysler stores under the company title of RLJ-McClarty-Landers. Interestingly, none of their dealerships were ordered closed - not one- while all of their competing Chrysler/Dodge and Jeep dealership were! Eight dealerships located near the dealerships owned by McClarty and Johnson were ordered shut down. Thus, by pure luck, these two major Obama supporters now have virtual monopoly on Chrysler sales in their zone. Isn't that amazing? Go look in The Washington Examiner, the story's there, and it's in a dozen or so other web-based news organization, this isn't being made up.

Now if you thought Chrysler was owned by Fiat, you are truly mistaken. Under the federal court ruling, 65% of Chrysler is now owned by the federal government and the United Auto Worker's union- Fiat owns 20%. The other 15% is still privately owned and presumably will be traded on the stock market. Obama smiles and says he doesn't want to run the auto industry.

As horrifying as this is to comprehend, and being as how this used to be the United States of America , it would appear that the president has the power to destroy private businesses and eliminate upwards of 100,000 jobs, just because they don't agree with his political agenda. This is Nazi Germany stuff, and it's happening right here, right now, in your /our back yard. There are voices in Washington demanding an explanation, but the "Automotive Task Force" has released no information to the public or any of the senators demanding answers for what has been done. Keep your ear to the ground for more on this story. If you've ever wanted to make a difference about anything in your life, get on the phone to your national senator or representative in the House and demand an investigation on this.

Benjamin Franklin had it right when he said, "All that's necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Car Czar No More

An amazing thing happed as this story was going to press. Obama's Car Czar, Steve Rattner, resigned on July 13 and was promptly replaced by former steel workers union boss Ron Bloom. According to CBS News, Rattner left "to return to private life and spend time with his family." Treasure Secretary Tim Geithner said, "I hope that he takes another opportunity to bring his unique skills to government service in the future." By the way, Rattner is under investigation for a multi-million dollar pay-to-play investment bank scandal in New York . Uh-oh! But, we're certain that had nothing to do with his resignation. And, according to several news sources out there, there are rumors he's being investigated for what could be pay-to-play scandal involving the closing of Chrysler and GM dealerships. Really? Again, that couldn't have anything to with his resignation- that's ridiculous! Like CBS said, this guy just wants to spend more quality time with his family. Obama has thirty-two personally appointed "czars" that answer to no one but him, all of whom are acting without any Constitutional authority. But hey, we're sure they all have "unique skills," as Tim Geithner likes to say.

Provided by True Facts Reader

Left wing Radical working in the White House

2009-09-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

President Obama's "green jobs" adviser is distancing himself from the "9/11 truthers" -- Americans who say the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks may have been an inside job -- releasing a statement late Thursday that says he didn't read carefully a petition he signed in 2004 calling for an investigation into the Bush administration's knowledge of an impending attack.

In the statement, Van Jones also apologized again for several inflammatory remarks he made prior to joining the Obama administration. It was his second apology in two days.

"In recent days some in the news media have reported on past statements I made before I joined the administration -- some of which were made years ago. If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize. As for the petition [9/11 statement] that was circulated today, I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever."

Whether he agrees with the views expressed, Jones was a signatory on a 2004 statement calling on then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and others to launch an investigation into evidence that suggests "people within the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war."

The statement asked a series of critical questions hinting at Bush administration involvement in the attacks and called for "deeper inquiry." It was also signed by former Rep. Cynthia McKinney and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans.

An aide to Jones told FOX News on Thursday night that the green jobs czar "did not carefully review the language in the petition." The aide did not say when Jones signed the petition or when he became aware of the controversy.

Jones' second mea culpa comes after a Wednesday apology in which Jones said he uttered "offensive words" in February when he called Republicans "assholes." He said the remarks "do not reflect the views of this administration" and its bipartisan aims.

But such statements just scratch the surface of Jones' past commentary, and could present a dilemma for the Obama administration as it struggles to pass health care reforms and other priorities, including a climate change bill championed by Jones.

Jones has consistently leaned on racially charged language, pointing the finger at "white polluters and the white environmentalists" for "steering poison" to minority communities, as he makes the case for lifting up low-income and minority communities with better environmental policy.

A declared "communist" during the 1990s, Jones once associated with a group that looked to Mao Zedong as an inspiration.

Jones' exceptional past is reminiscent of associations noted during the presidential campaign, when then-Sen. Barack Obama doggedly fended off claims that he was tied to radicals and overzealous activists.

But with now-President Obama entering the perhaps trickiest phase of his young presidency -- building the kind of consensus around health care reform that President Clinton could not -- a divisive figure could prove disfiguring.

"In this environment, I think the Obama administration should be very careful of its dealings with anybody who can be labeled communist accurately," said Christopher C. Hull, an adjunct government professor at Georgetown University who runs the public affairs firm Issue Management.

"That's just going to play to the political sensibility that those on the right have that the Obama administration is socialist, literally socialist. ... It is unwise to bring in people who actually do label themselves socialist or communist."

Jones has mellowed considerably since the '90s. In some respects, he is about as mainstream as environmentalists come -- with recognition streaming in from high places over the past few years.

He's won plaudits from former Vice President Al Gore, who declared, "I love Van Jones," in an interview with The New Yorker.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio penned the write-up on Jones when the presidential adviser was featured in Time magazine's 100 "Most Influential People."

"Steadily -- by redefining green -- Jones is making sure that our planet and our people will not just survive but also thrive in a clean-energy economy," DiCaprio wrote.

Jones was also named one of the magazine's "Heroes of the Environment 2008." He's earned a slew of other recognitions from other publications and institutions. He was even named one of Salon.com's "Sexiest Men Living" in late 2008.

Plus he's the author of the 2008 New York Times best-seller, "The Green Collar Economy."

Now a member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, his book's central premise is that environmentalism and green jobs can lift up the economy and lift up low-income Americans.

He is the founder of Green for All, which focuses on creating green jobs in poor areas. He helped the city of Oakland pass a "green jobs corps" program in 2007. Green jobs is also one platform of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which he co-founded in 1996.

He also co-founded Color of Change, an advocacy group that focuses on black issues, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In Thursday's statement, Jones addressed his work current work.

"My work at the Council on Environmental Quality is entirely focused on one goal: building clean energy incentives which create 21st century jobs that improve energy efficiency and use renewable resources."

Jones' history has drifted between mainstream activism surrounding issues of race, poverty and the environment, and activity he has described as "revolutionary."

Originally from Tennessee, Jones graduated from Yale Law School in 1993. But his life took a turn after he was swept up in arrests during a rally following the Rodney King verdict.

Jones has claimed he was monitoring police activity at the time, but that he met people in jail who changed his thinking.

"I met all these young radical people of color -- I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was like, 'This is what I need to be a part of,'" he said in a 2005 interview with the East Bay Express. Jones told the newspaper he stayed in San Francisco, and for the next 10 years worked with a lot of the people he met in jail. Months after the King verdict came down, Jones said, "I was a communist."

At the time he became involved with a group called Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), which described itself as committed to Marxist and Leninist ideas. He also started putting pressure on police in San Francisco, monitoring and drawing attention to allegations of police brutality. He was quoted accusing the police department of "killing black people."

He became a vocal critic of the federal government during the Bush administration. He and groups he was associated with assailed "U.S. imperialism" after the Sept. 11 attacks and called the assumption that an Arab group was responsible a "rush to judgment." He later co-signed the petition calling for an investigation into government involvement in the attacks.

For conservative critics, he has -- as Hull warned -- served as a ready target.

"You can't nominate all of these czars ... and then say, well, you know, I'm not responsible for all these people," said conservative commentator Ann Coulter. "People will start to blame Obama."

The White House has voiced great confidence in Jones, announcing in March that the "green jobs visionary" would in his new role advance the goal of improving energy efficiency and tapping renewable resources.

Some Parents Choose Not to Allow Their Kids to Hear Obama's National Address

2009-09-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Regine Gordon doesn't want her 6-year-old son to hear from President Obama next week.

Gordon, of Tampa, Fla., is among a growing number of parents across the country who are troubled by the president's plan to address elementary, middle and high school students in an online and televised speech Tuesday.

"It's a form of indoctrination, and I think, really, it's indicative of the culture that the Obama administration is trying to create," Gordon told FOXNews.com on Thursday. "It's very socialistic."

After writing letters to her congressmen and school officials, Gordon said her son, David, will be allowed to participate in an alternative activity at Gorrie Elementary School during Obama's address, which comes on the first day of school for many children.

"I'm waiting to hear from his teacher, but I have told them to go ahead and I'd like [David] to go do something else," Gordon said. "It's kind of like going through the children to get to their parents. Children are very vulnerable and excited. I mean, this is the president. I think it's an underhanded tactic and indicative of the way things are being done."

But some parents won't be allowed to "opt-out" their kids everywhere. At least one school district, Tempe Elementary School District No. 3 in Arizona, is not permitting parents to pull their children out of class during Obama's speech.

"I have directed principals to have students and teachers view the president's message on Tuesday," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Arthur Tate Jr. said in a statement Thursday. "In some cases, where technology will not permit access to the White House Web site, DVDs will be provided to classes on subsequent days. I am not permitting parents to opt out students from viewing the president's message, since this is a purely educational event."

The White House said Wednesday that the president's address is intended to be an inspirational, pro-education message to all students at the beginning of the school year. But critics objected to the language of one of the lesson plans, for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 6, which suggested that students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." Another assignment for students after hearing the speech was to discuss what "the president wants us to do."

The suggestion about writing letters has since been changed to: "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals."

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the changes to the language are intended to make the lesson plans clearer. He added that the speech the president's speech will not be a policy speech, but is intended to encourage kids to work hard and commit to school.

But that hasn't assuaged concerns of Michelle Moore of St. Louis, who says she's considering keeping her two daughters out of the classroom at Lindberg High School when Obama begins to speak.

"I have to sign permission slips for my kids to watch R-rated movies in school," Moore said, explaining that she felt parents were being blindsided by the president's address. "It was simply presented, 'Hey, we're going to do this, this is when it's going to air and you're going to show it to your kids.'"

Moore suggested that the speech be issued as a DVD to students so they can view it with their parents at home, adding that the first day of classes for many students will be a harried affair.

"That's their first day," she said. "I would think they have plenty of other things to do."

The idea of having Obama speak directly to children without so much as a permission slip being sent home just "makes you feel a little funny," said Beth Milledge of Winterset, Iowa. She said she plans on going to school with her 8-year-old son to watch the address with him.

"I want to know how it's being presented," she said. "I'm all for my child having respect for the president, but why wouldn't he show us the speech first and then go from there?"

Dana Loesch, spokeswoman for the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, has started a campaign to ask schools to provide an alternative to the speech for parents who do not wish their children to experience a presidential address in school. Loesch has urged parents to contact schools directly to find out if the "partisan presentation" will air in their child's classroom.

"It went straight from the Department of Education right to the principals," Loesch told FOX News. "There's a lot of parents who have spoken to me [and] they've talked to their principals, and it kind of 'weirded' them out a little because this is also the first that protocol has been skipped."

Several school districts contacted by FOXNews.com, including those in Milwaukee and St. Louis, said individual teachers will decide whether to air the address in their classrooms.

"We're allowing teachers to decide," an Austin, Texas, school official told FOXNews.com. "But most of the kids will be at lunch. It's not going to be a big issue here."

In Austin, school district officials say a speech by any sitting president is worthy of "Americans' time, attention and consideration," according to a statement by the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to FOXNews.com. Teachers who believe the address will be beneficial to their students will allow viewing in the classroom.

"It is AISD's expectation that viewing of this Web address will vary by campus and by classroom," the statement continued. "Parents will be advised by their campus principals to alert the school if they have a specific desire to have their child included in, or removed from, the viewing of the president's remarks."

Parents in Milwaukee will have the option to remove their children by "simply informing the school of their preference," spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said.

Virginia Department of Education spokesman Charles Pyle told the Associated Press that a number of school divisions asked the agency for guidance this week after parents concerned with the address contacted local officials.

The department says it's up to districts to determine whether a school or class views the address, and teachers who choose to incorporate the president's speech into their lessons are also free to develop their own classroom activities, the Associated Press reports.

Other districts, including those in New York City and Boston, won't even have classes that day. Officials at the Philadelphia School District declined comment.

National Parent Teacher Association President Chuck Saylors told FOXNews.com the presidential speech is something that should have happened years ago.

"Regardless of who is in the White House, when the president of the United States wants to give the students a beginning-of-the-year, do-your-best type of presentation, it should be supported," he said. "[But] if parents want their children to opt-out, they're certainly in their rights to do that."

Several statewide parent teacher associations, including those in Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee and others, did not respond to requests for comment on how their members are advising teachers how to present the presidential address in class.

Gainell Rogers, president-elect of the Utah Parent Teacher Association, said she has "confidence in the decisions" of local school officials.

"We believe that decisions in the best interest of students are most effective when made at the local level," Rogers told FOXNews.com. "Each local school district will decide what is best for their students and patrons and those decisions will reflect input from parents."

When will Obama come clean on the Birth Certificate?

2009-08-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

This document purports to be a Kenyan certification of birth for Barack Obama, allegedly born in Mombasa, Kenya, in 1961
The document lists Obama's parents as Barack Hussein Obama and Stanley Ann Obama, formerly Stanley Ann Dunham, the birth date as Aug. 4, 1961, and the hospital of birth as Coast General Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya.

Statements made by Obama's Grand mother from a Kenyan newspaper
One explanation is that Obama's mother Ann Dunham, flew to Kenya in 1961 with Obama's father to meet his family. According to some news reports, Ann Dunham, was not accepted well by her husband's family because she was white:
"Obama's family did not take to Stanley Ann Dunham Obama very well, because she was white, according to Sarah Obama. Shortly after she arrived in Kenya Stanley Ann decided to return to Hawaii because she later said, she did not like how Muslim men treated their wives in Kenya. However, because she was near term the airline would not let her fly until after the birth of her baby. Obama's grandmother said the baby—Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.—was born in Kenya and that shortly after he was born, Stanley Ann returned to Hawaii."

There is also a discrepancy in what hospital Barack Hussein Obama was born in, even if he was born in Hawaii. Reports by his own sister in two separate interviews state that he was born at two different hospitals -- Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital--in Honolulu

Obama's grandmother, brother and sister, who live in Kenya, state they were present during Obama's birth in the African country."

So, who is lying? Barack? His grandmother? His sister?

Obama Health Plan to Cover 12 Million Illegals

2009-07-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

By: David A. Patten
Newsmax
On Friday, Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized health care under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Barack Obama.
The House Ways and Means Committee nixed the Heller amendment by a 26-to-15 vote along straight party lines, and followed this action by passing the 1,018-page bill early Friday morning by a 23-to-18 margin, with three Democrats voting against the plan.
The Democratic plan will embrace Obama’s vision of bringing free government medical care to more than 45 million uninsured people in America – a significant portion of whom are illegal aliens.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, costs under the Obama plan being proposed by the House will saddle citizens with $1.04 trillion in new federal outlays over the next decade.
Congressional Democrats and Obama have argued that their health plan is necessary to contain rising health care costs.
But, last Thursday, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf testified before the Senate Budget Committee and warned lawmakers that the proposed “legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs."
A key factor increasing costs is that Democratic plan provides for blanket coverage to as much as 15 percent of the U.S. population not currently insured, including illegals.
Democrats had insisted throughout the health-care reform debate that illegals would be ineligible for the so-called public option plan that is to be subsidized by taxpayers.
"We're not going to cover undocumented aliens, undocumented workers," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters in May. "That's too politically explosive."
Republicans, however, point out that the Democrats, by refusing to accept the Heller amendment, would deny health agencies from conducting simple database checks to verify citizenship. Many states give illegals driver licenses, which will be sufficient to get free health care under the plan.
Critics also contend that millions of illegals who already have counterfeit Social Security cards or other fraudulent documents. There is no enforcement mechanism in the legislation, experts say, to prevent illegals who use fake IDs to obtain jobs from also obtaining taxpayer-subsidized health insurance.
GOP representatives introduced the amendment to provide a way to weed out non-citizens from the program.
A description of the amendment on Heller's Web site state it would "better screen applicants for subsidized health care to ensure they are actually citizens or otherwise entitled to it."
The Web post added, "The underlying bill is insufficient for the purpose of preventing illegal aliens from accessing the bill’s proposed benefits, as it does not provide mechanisms allowing those administering the program to ensure illegal aliens cannot access taxpayer-funded subsidies and benefits."
The Heller amendment would have required that individuals applying for the public health care option would be subject to two systems used to verify immigration status already in use by the government: The Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.
The two systems cross-reference Social Security numbers and employment information to establish whether an individual is a U.S. citizen.
Critics: Free Health Care Means More Illegals
A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that an overwhelming 80 percent of Americans oppose covering illegals in any public health care bill.
Anti-immigration activists say the availability of low-cost benefits, including health insurance and in-state tuition, will only lure more immigrants to come to the United States.
Political analyst Dick Morris, in his recently released best-selling book “Catastrophe”, warns that giving illegal free health care will lead to a flood of new illegals who can take advantage of such a benefit not offered in their home countries.
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, agrees with that sentiment, writing, "Each state and federal elected official must know that illegal aliens should not be given licenses, in-state tuition, mortgages, bank accounts, welfare, or any other benefit short of emergency medical care and law enforcement accommodations before they are deported."
But a small fraction of illegals end up deported, as many make widespread use of fake IDs to easily gain access to government benefits programs.
"Experts suggest that approximately 75 percent of working-age illegal aliens use fraudulent Social Security cards to obtain employment," wrote Ronald W. Mortensen in a recent Center for Immigration Studies research paper. Mortensen says one of the big misconceptions about illegals is that they are undocumented.
James R. Edwards Jr., co-author of The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform, recently wrote on National Review Online that "it's hard to envision how health reform can avoid tripping the immigration booby trap."
Edwards says none of the legislation under consideration actually requires any state, federal, or local agency to check the immigration status of those who apply for the program.
The assumption is that companies have vetted their employees to ensure they are eligibility for legal employment – a difficult task for employers given the active market in fraudulent documents. Thus Edwards maintains "some of the money distributed … inevitably would go to illegal aliens."
The estimates of illegal aliens in the United States without health insurance vary. The most commonly cited statistic, attributed to the Center for Immigration Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, holds that 15 percent to 22 percent of the nation's 46 million uninsured are illegal aliens. That would be between 6.9 million and 10.1 million people. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama claimed the nation United States has 12 million or more undocumented aliens.
John Sheils of the Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm owned by UnitedHealth Group, recently told National Public Radio that about 6.1 million illegals – about half of all illegals in the United States – lack documentation and therefore would not be legally eligible for benefits under the current health care reforms.
Sheils says the other half of the nation's illegals – 5 million to 6 million – use false documents to obtain on-the-books employment. Many of them are already insured under their employers' plans, he added.
"A lot of those people are getting employer health benefits as part of their compensation," Sheils told NPR.
Certainly, some contend that undocumented workers who are gainfully employed and receiving benefits such as health insurance are contributing to society. But the fact remains that, once equipped with a fake ID, a person in the United States illegally can obtain both a job and the benefits that go with it.
Estimates of the cost of providing illegals with medical care vary. Most uninsured illegals who need medical attention obtain it from hospital emergency rooms. And several states are already straining under the huge burden of paying for the health costs of illegal aliens.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in 2004 California's estimated cost of unreimbursed medical care was $1.4 billion. Texas estimated its cost at $850 million annually, and Arizona at $400 million.
Non-border states shoulder heavy burdens as well. Virginia's annual cost of providing health care for undocumented workers is approximately $100 million per year, FAIR reports, while Florida's health care cost is about $300 million annually.
One of the ironies of the proposed legislation is that it would fine American citizens who opt not to purchase insurance coverage, but would exempt illegals from such fines. This is presumably due to the fact that they are not supposed to participate in the program anyway.
Even if no illegals were likely to benefit from health care reform, Democrats have made it clear that amnesty is the next item on their ambitious legislative agenda.
"I've got to do health care, I've got to do energy, and then I'm looking very closely at doing immigration," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declared in June.
Reid explained the urgent need for amnesty in terms very similar to those that Democrats have used to press for health care reform. "We have an immigration system that's broken and needs repair," Reid said.
Immigration expert Edwards, for one, says health-care reform may itself need serious medical attention before it is healthy enough pass through Congress.
"The American people may soon realize how much health reform will benefit immigrants and cost the native-born," he writes. "When that happens, the volatile politics of immigration could derail universal health care."

Now White House joins 'birth hospital' cover-up for Obama

2009-07-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today refused to confirm that a letter posted by the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu – purportedly from President Obama claiming the facility as his birthplace – is, in fact, real.
The issue arose today when Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, asked Gibbs about the letter, which the hospital also used in a magazine fundraising article.
However, when WND reported on the posted images and questioned their authenticity, the hospital concealed the online image, and then refused to confirm the letter even exists.
Gibbs' answer came in response to Kinsolving's question, which begins at the 55:27 mark into the video recorded by C-SPAN:
While you and the president were overseas on July the 7th, there was on the Internet a copy of a letter on White House letterhead dated January the 24th, 2009, with the signature "Barack Obama," which stated, "The place of my birth was Honolulu's Kapi'olani Medical Center." And my question is, can you verify this letter? Or if not, would you tell us which Hawaiian hospital he was born in, since Kapi'olani, which used to publicize this, now refuses to confirm?

Gibbs said, without responding directly to the question about the veracity of the letter, "Goodness gracious. I'm going to be, like, in year four describing where it is the president was born. I don't have the letter at my fingertips, obviously, and I don't know the name of the exact hospital."
Join the petition campaign to make President Obama reveal his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate!
When Kinsolving asked when Gibbs could check, he responded.
"I will seek to interview whoever brought the president into this world. But can we just – I want to do this once and for all, Lester. Let's just do this once and for all. You can go on this – I hope you'll take the time not just to Google 'President, January 24, Hawaii hospital, birth' and come up with this letter, but go on the Internet and get the birth certificate, Lester, and put…"
When Kinsolving pointed out the image posted on various website's was not a birth certificate or a certificate of live birth, but a different "Certification of Live Birth" document, Gibbs said, "I know. Just a document from the state of Hawaii denoting the fact that the president was indeed born in the state of Hawaii."
But under Hawaiian law at the time of the president's birth, such documents were available for babies not even born in Hawaii.

Obama states in the purported letter that he was born at Kapi'olani. The letter was posted by the medical center for nearly six months on its website before being electronically hidden once WND publicized it.
Now the hospital refuses to confirm that a real document even exists. But a similar – although not identical – image purporting also to be a letter from Obama claiming Kapi'olani as his birth place appeared in the hospital's Inspire Magazine:

Then Gibbs, amidst a repeating chorus of guffaws and giggles from the White House press corps, started lecturing the WND correspondent, who is among a handful of the most senior correspondents on the White House assignment, about journalism.
"You know, Lester, I – I want to stay on this for a second, Lester, I want to stay on this for a second, because you're a smart man, right?" said Gibbs.
"Hypothetical," said an unidentified reporter.
"All right, all right, settle down in here. Only I get to make jokes like that," said Gibbs.
"Lester, let's finish this one. Do all of your listeners and the listeners throughout this country the service to which any journalist owes those listeners, and that is the pursuit of the noble truth. And the noble truth is that the president was born in Hawaii, a state of the United States of America. And all of this incredible back-and-forth – I get e-mails today from people who inexplicably can figure out very easily the White House e-mail address, and want proof of where the president was born," Gibbs said.
Then Gibbs, amidst a repeating chorus of guffaws and giggles from the White House press corps, started lecturing the WND correspondent, who is among a handful of the most senior correspondents on the White House assignment, about journalism.
"You know, Lester, I – I want to stay on this for a second, Lester, I want to stay on this for a second, because you're a smart man, right?" said Gibbs.
"Hypothetical," said an unidentified reporter.
"All right, all right, settle down in here. Only I get to make jokes like that," said Gibbs.
"Lester, let's finish this one. Do all of your listeners and the listeners throughout this country the service to which any journalist owes those listeners, and that is the pursuit of the noble truth. And the noble truth is that the president was born in Hawaii, a state of the United States of America. And all of this incredible back-and-forth – I get e-mails today from people who inexplicably can figure out very easily the White House e-mail address, and want proof of where the president was born," Gibbs said.
"Lester, the next time you ask me a question I'm going to ask you what reporting you've done to demonstrate to your listeners the truth, the certificate, the state, so that they can look to you for that momentous search for the truth, and you can wipe away all the dark clouds and provide them with the knowing clarity that comes with that certainty," Gibbs said.
However, WND has reported that a wide range of Obama documentation – along with Obama's birth certificate – are not available, including Obama's kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records and his adoption records.
WND has reported that just within the last week, at least two reports have cited Obama's birth in Kenya. Wikipedia also was found to have been reporting on Obama's birth in Kenya, before a series of scrubs placed his birth in Honolulu.
And that came on the heels of several online information sites changing the president's supposed birthplace from one hospital in Hawaii to another, after WND broke the news of the letter said to be from the White House.
When WND exposed doubts about the authenticity of the letter because it was created with HTML computer code, the hospital which for nearly six months proudly declared Obama was born at its facility and used that claim as a major fund-raising tool commenced an active cover-up, hiding that White House letter from its original webpage and refusing to confirm such a letter actually exists.
WND has yet to be able to identify any physician or medical attendant present at Kapi'olani Hospital in 1961 who can recall Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, giving birth to Barack Obama at the hospital or who can identify the name of the attending physician.

To date, Obama has not revealed his original long-form, hospital-generated "Certificate of Live Birth" that includes details such as the name of the medical facility and the doctor who delivered him.
Here is an actual Hawaii birth certificate from 1963 (the same era as Obama's birth), which while redacted includes detailed information documenting a birth, including the name of the birth hospital and the attending physician. Beneath it is the short-form "Certification of Live Birth" offered by Obama as proof of his Hawaiian birth. It is possible to have been born outside of Hawaii and still obtain the latter form, but not the former:

WND has reported on dozens of legal challenges to Obama's status as a "natural born citizen" – challenges that all have been confronted by attorneys acting on the president's behalf to keep his records sealed.
The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."
Some of the lawsuits question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.
Complicating the situation is Obama's decision to spend sums estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoid releasing a state birth certificate that would put to rest all of the questions.
Among the cases have been several from Democrat Philip Berg, who has alleged that not only is Obama ineligible to be president, he was unqualified to be the senator from Illinois and should be prosecuted under the False Claims Act.
The key question in the dispute also is being raised on billboards nationwide.

The billboard campaign follows an ongoing petition campaign launched several months ago by WND Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah.
They are intended to raise public awareness of the fact that Obama has never released the standard "long-form" birth certificate that would show which hospital he was born in, the attending physician and establish that he truly was born in Hawaii, as his autobiography maintains.

Barack Obama's books 'too dangerous for prisoners to read'

2009-07-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an American al-Qaeda member, is serving a 30-year sentence for conspiring to commit various terrorist acts, including the murder of George W Bush, who was then president of the United State.
Last year, before Mr Obama's victory in the presidential election, Abu Ali requested his biographical Dreams from My Father and the more policy-oriented The Audacity of Hope.

Citing guidance from the FBI, the authorities at the "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, decided that both books contained information that could jeopardise national security.
Officials mentioned specific pages – but not passages - that were objectionable, singling out a page in Dreams from My Father and 22 in The Audacity of Hope. Half of them were in a chapter devoted to foreign affairs.
Abu Ali later went on hunger strike in protest at his treatment and prison officials said on Thursday that the books were subsequently deemed appropriate following a review of their contents.
However, evidence of their original ban has been included in court papers relating to Abu Ali's resentencing hearing next month.
Joshua Dratel, his lawyer, said the rejection was an example of the harsh conditions imposed on inmates at the supermax prison.
"Imagine an existence controlled by characters created by Louis (sic) Carroll, and that would approach that which Mr Abu Ali faces each day for the duration of his sentence," Mr Dratel wrote.
In a short, handwritten note on a prison complaint form, Abu Ali argued that the two rejections "violate my 1st amend. rights".
The rejections, as well as other restrictions on family visits, prompted a hunger strike by Abu Ali that has since ended, according to Mr Dratel.
Inmates at the supposedly impregnable prison are usually kept in their cells in solitary confinement for 22 or 23 hours a day.

Barack Obama meets Jewish leaders over 'tough line' on Israel

2009-07-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

By Alex Spillius in Washington
President Barack Obama has called a meeting with leaders of American Jewish groups who are concerned at his new tough line on Israel and perceived softness on Iran.

Iran's nuclear threat and the president's demand for a freeze on Israeli settlement expansion in the Palestinian West Bank were expected to dominate the meeting at White House.
Officials had originally tried to keep the meeting secret after it was arranged late last week, but hastily added it to the official schedule after the news leaked out.

Though it is not unusual for a US president to meet Jewish groups, the timing of the event reflected rising anxiety among a constituency that overwhelmingly supported Mr Obama in last year's election that he would not be the most dependable of allies.
"American Jews more or less agree with the president on settlements, but it's the focus on criticising Israel that's disconcerting," said an organisation leader ahead of the meeting.
Mr Obama, though reiterating America's commitment to Israel, has been tougher than any of his predecessors on the settlement issue, while he has favoured a gentler tone towards Iran, whose president has threatened to annihilate the Jewish state.
A June 4 speech in Cairo the president made to the Muslim world particularly alarmed some Jewish groups.
Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations which asked for the meeting, said in a recent interview: "There's a lot of questioning going on about what he really believes and what does he really stand for."
He told Newmax.com: "Even people close to him have said to us that there were parts of the speech that bothered them."
He said the most troubling aspect of the speech was the president's equating of the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews, with the suffering and "dislocation" suffered by the Palestinians since the creation of Israel.
"There's no comparison between the Holocaust, even if it was an indirect one, and what happened to Palestinians," Mr Hoenlein declared.
The guest list, drawn up by the White House, included three liberal Jewish groups invited to the White House for the first time.

Is Obama checking out a 16 year old ???? you decide

2009-07-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

Click on Video link above

Obama's honeymoon is fading fast

2009-07-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Although the national media isn't talking about the Presidents approval rating I will. With spending at an all time high with this administration during the first six months of this year. Were seeing that once 70% approval rating slowly drop to the mid 50's (Gallop at 57%) to a low 61% with some polls, but what's really interesting is the percentages of unhappy Americans with the directions of this country. Gallop shows the state of the nation poll reflecting 30% satisfied and 67% dissatisfied with the direction of the economy. Even President Carter had a 62% approval rating during July of his first term. But what is most interesting is While 42% of Americans say that their views on political issues have not changed in recent years, 39% say their views are now more conservative and 18% say they are more liberal. With Voters now trusting Republicans more than Democrats on eight out of 10 key electoral issues, including, for the second straight month, the top issue of the economy. They've also narrowed the gap on the remaining two issues, the traditionally Democratic strong suits of health care and education. (Rasmussen report)

President Obama Job Approval with different poll watchers

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/

Public growing unhappy with tax and spend President Obama

2009-07-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, taken since the climate change bill was passed on Friday, Fifty-six percent (56%) of Americans say they are not willing to pay more in taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming. Fifty-two percent (52%) of all adults say it is more important to keep the cost of energy as low as possible then it is to develop clean, environmentally friendly sources of energy. Sixty-three percent (63%) state creating jobs is more important than taking steps to stop global warming. For 22%, stopping global warming is more important. So why is the President so hard pressed to only listen to the small left wing of his party. When campaigning he stated he would listen to the people, and not be like President Bush when it comes to pushing his own agenda without a care in the world for what you think. This bill is supposed to be intended to reduce heat-trapping gases that some scientists say cause global warming. Even its supporters on the left say the measure, which includes a so-called “cap and trade” plan,” will have a major impact on the economy by raising taxes on middle class.
President Obama over the past 6 months has pressed upon the American people the need for every bill he has asked for from the congress pushing the government spending to trillions and trillions of dollars; even with the stimulus spending bill President Obama warned the American people if congress didn't pass the bill then we would be facing 8.5% unemployment, here we sit today just under 10%.

The president when campaigning promised he would not raise taxes on those making less then $250,000 thousand, but even then senator Obama changed that figure to suite the crowed he was campaigning to at that time. If the senate passes this bill all Americans will see their rates raised by a President only worried about his own agenda and not the promise made to Americans; While campaigning that he would not raise taxes on folks making less then $250,000, "Shame on you President Obama"

"Radio Canada" assassination of President Barack Obama

2009-05-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's public broadcaster was wrong to show a skit that joked about the possible assassination of President Barack Obama and suggested he could be a thief, an industry panel ruled on Monday.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor Résumé

2009-05-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — Federal judges are rarely famous or widely celebrated. Yet during a brief period in 1995, Judge Sonia Sotomayor became revered, at least in those cities with major league baseball teams.

Europeans up in arms over U.S spending habits

2009-03-30T21:58:00.001-07:00

As we enter the eve of the G-20 meeting, the couple of months of Obama's presidency have raised the anxiety levels in parts of Europe. There is talk among many Europeans country leaders that President Obamas policies on his record spending could weaken the economy of all countries in the long run. With Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who holds the rotating EU Presidency, described U.S. fiscal spending as a "road to hell." Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed skepticism about using heavy borrowing to solve a global crisis she has no intention of injecting more money. Even Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker of France said "Recent U.S. calls on Europe for an additional budgetary effort do not suit us.'' , and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he is "a little bit worried" about his country's big investment in U.S. debt.

From a Interview with the Financial Times newspaper
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ‘we cannot borrow forever’ throwing too much money into reviving global economic growth would make the recovery unsustainable, She added: “We must look at the causes of this crisis. It happened because we were living beyond our means ... governments encouraged risk-taking in order to boost growth.

“We were spending too much to create growth that was not sustainable. It isn’t just that the banks took over too many risks. Governments allowed them to do so by neglecting to set the necessary [financial market] rules.
I for one never thought in my lifetime I would ever hear the amount of complaining by Socialist Europeans about the way the United States is going about spending there way out of a crisis. The calls from all countries to President Obama to halt the spending are going on deaf ears; President Obama is determined to listen only to the extreme left wing of his party regarding the restructuring of the United States giving the government control over private institutions within this administration. But President Obama who stated his administration would listen to the cries of American people doesn't seem to care about what others think unless you are on board with the way the administration wants to spend our tax dollars.

Americans free fall from Grace

2009-03-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

All I have heard from the Obama administration over the last few days has been about the reversal of freedoms of all classes of people by the destruction of the so-called privileged classes of our country by saying greed is bad, that if you have the will to build or create a successful profit for your business that you are taking from those who are the have nots of our society. The United States was built on the idea that every American has the same opportunity to earn a good wage, and that good competition would increase wealth for all people living in America.

The Obama Administration has also changed the way foreign policy is handled by embracing the worst of the worst dictators and allowing them to control the agenda. Now China is controlling the waterways of the Oceans, Russia is in talks with Cuba and other South American countries in our hemisphere about opening up bases to patrol our boarders and to spy on the United States. North Korea will continue to build nuclear missiles until they can reach the west coast of the United States, and Iran will continue to build there own nuclear missiles in its quest to rid the middle east of Israel. The Administration has chosen to not call those few people who killed 3,000 Americans on 911 terrorists because they don't want to offend so these terms like "terrorism" and "September 11" Global War on Terror are out and these new terms are "overseas contingency operations", “man-caused disasters” and yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Mexico's Leaders that it is the fault of the United States with regards to the violence that has taken over that countries' cities and is now crossing over into the communities of the United States by there own drug lords. This is just the beginning of America losing its identity by letting other countries control the agenda on foreign policy.

The United States, if left up to the Obama Admintration the word "change" that Americans were looking for will change how Americans visualize moral values, and the social ideals with the socializing of our country by taxing those who work hard. By socializing our government, Banks, and corporations allowing unions to have more power to control more businesses who then can funnel those union dues to the Democratic Party so that they can maintain the government influence over the United States.

When Does the Campaign Stop and the Governance Begin?

2009-03-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

By Red County Contributor Tearesa Trujillo
The president will visit Orange County, California today. One of the most conservative bastions in the nation is in the spotlight as the forty-fourth President of the United States tries to sell his economic stimulus package to the nation.
He is visiting a county where six out of the seven congress members voted against the stimulus. Only Democrat Loretta Sanchez supported additional government bailout and unprecedented spending as a band-aid for the bad economic outlook.
The Orange County Register was reporting on the rock concert vibe of people waiting in line for the coveted town hall tickets at the Orange County Fairgrounds.
This feels more like a campaign swing through California than a serious trip by a president eager to govern. Obama is proud of the fact he is a great campaigner but hasn't really shone as a president.
And that leads me to an important question.
When does the campaign stop and the governance begin?
The president has been in office less than two months. He inherited a much more sober nation than the one he campaigned in. The economic turmoil has only increased as the president, his Treasury Secretary, and his economic advisors have made doom and gloom predictions that have collectively caused the American public to recoil at the notion of spending one dime more than is absolutely necessary in their personal lives.
All of this is going on while the government is on the biggest spending spree in government history. International leaders have decried American spending on both governmental and individual levels. Yet, Obama continues to press ahead with a massive government spending plan to cure the nation's woes.
"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy," the president reported on January 9, 2009. This was twelve days before he took office. Last week, 200 prominent economists responded to this statement in a signed public letter denouncing the president's stimulus package. The complete list of economist can be found here: http://www.cato.org/special/stimulus09/cato_stimulus.pdf
The Cato Institute advertisement states:
"With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true.
Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."
The list includes a Nobel laureate and prominent economists from major universities. The signers of the letter actually call the president out on his statement that, "There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy."
In the religion of Obama there is no disagreeing with the messiah's proclamations. But, in an open and free society we can disagree. There seems to be plenty of economists willing to stand up to the rising tide of Obamaisms.
The candidate that promised change is using the economic crisis to remake America with back door deals, massive earmark spending, money laundering to foreign banks and investors through the now government controlled AIG, and other tactics that looks too much like the business as usual Washington D.C.
The promised transparency has been thrown to the wind as Obama has now signed at least five major bills without the promised web posting and five day waiting period. The nearly 1100 page stimulus bill, and major change in how and when employees can file a suit over sexual harassment and/or discrimination, and the largest appropriations bill in history, were all signed without the transparency promised.
We have all had an opportunity to see what change means to Barack Obama. Change means much, much more of business as usual in Washington D.C. Change means saddling the taxpayers with massive debt for generations of Americans. Change means that we all lose when our take home pay buys less and our tax bill goes up.
We need a president who governs, not a president who looks good campaigning long after the election is over.
Get to work Mr. President.

Weekly Jobless Claims Drop; Continuing Claims Hit Record

2009-03-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

The nation’s economic situation proved to still be slumping after a government report showed the number of workers collecting state unemployment benefits surged to a record high.
The Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 646,000 for the week ending March 14. Analysts were expecting 652,000 new claims.
The number of people staying on state benefits jumped by 185,000 to hit a record 5.47 million for the week ending March 7.
The four-week average for new claims jumped to 654,750 -- a 26-year high -- while the four-week average of continuing claims rose to 5.25 million. Continuing claims have increased 10 times in the last 12 weeks and are up 19% since last year.
The slight dip in initial claims doesn’t leave much to celebrate, according to Mark Lieberman, senior economist for FOX Business “Despite the week-week dip, the four-week moving average increased again, and is 58% higher than the weekly average during the 2001 recession and 51% higher than the weekly average during the 1990-91 recession.”
The government also revises last week’s report up to 658,000 from 654,000.

The buffoon President with his sorry Administration

2009-03-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

President Obama over the past few days along with the stupid press Secretary Gibbs has been telling the media pool how outraged they have been over these AIG bonuses, while all the time knowing that the Stimulus Bill President Obama had too ............................The buffoon President with his sorry Administration

Obama Defends Health Care, Education Budget Plans

2009-03-17T12:59:00.001-07:00

Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth

2009-03-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Another President Nomination Withdraws

2009-03-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Chas Freeman, the former ambassador appointed to be the military's top intelligence analyst, has withdrawn his name following complaints from Democratic and Republican lawmakers who said he was too entangled in foreign affairs to handle the job.

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, who originally appointed Freeman to the post of National Intelligence Council chairman, announced the move in a statement Tuesday, saying he accepts the decision "with regret." The announcement came just hours after Blair defended Freeman before a Senate committee.

But Freeman released a lengthy statement of his own, accusing his critics of trying to destroy his credibility with libelous attacks.

"I have concluded that the barrage of libelous distortions of my record would not cease upon my entry into office," he said. "The effort to smear me and to destroy my credibility would instead continue." He said the attacks would prevent the National Intelligence Council from functioning effectively with him at the helm.

Freeman had become a political lightning rod since he was tapped two weeks ago for the post.

Lawmakers had objected to several controversial statements Freeman has made about Israel and Iraq. And they said the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia was too close to that country, as well as to China.

Freeman said he never accepted payment from any foreign government, including Saudi Arabia and China. He suggested he had fallen victim to what he called the "Israel Lobby."

"The libels on me and their easily traceable e-mail trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired, still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in the Middle East," he said. "The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth."

Freeman has in the past compared Israelis to "colonists" and accused the United States of bringing the "Palestinian experience" of humiliation to Iraq.

In his resignation statement, Freeman said: "There is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government -- in this case, the government of Israel."

Lawmakers had questioned Freeman's fitness for the intelligence post over the past two weeks, leading the inspector general for the director of national intelligence to agree to examine Freeman's foreign ties. At the time, Blair said the inquiry would put to rest any questions about Freeman.

But a number of top lawmakers, most of them Republicans, suggested Freeman's conflicts could be disqualifying.

Among their concerns were:

-- Freeman's role as president of the Middle East Policy Council, a think tank they say received funding from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fuad A. Rihani, a consultant for the bin Ladin family's Saudi BinLadin Group, also sits on the group's board of directors -- another trouble spot for Freeman's critics. And they complained the council did not disclose its donors.

-- Freeman's role on a board for the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation, owned by China, and that company's reportedly $16 billion agreement with Iran to develop a gas field in the Middle Eastern country.

The controversy surrounding Freeman heated up last week when Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said he wanted Freeman to withdraw his name. That was after he wrote to Blair on Monday expressing his doubt that Freeman could restore credibility to the national intelligence estimates, or NIEs, the intelligence reports Freeman would be involved in producing.

"I am ... deeply concerned that an individual who reportedly holds radical and extreme views would be chosen to oversee NIEs, the IC's most comprehensive and authoritative intelligence assessments," Hoekstra wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by FOXNews.com.

Hoekstra applauded Freeman's decision to withdraw his name, but called the process "yet another breakdown in the Obama administration vetting."

As NIC chairman, Freeman would have been responsible for drawing from assessments from all 16 intelligence agencies and formulating mid-and-long-term strategic intelligence plans.

More than a dozen lawmakers had already called for an investigation by the time Blair's inspector general, Edward Maguire, decided to launch one. Democratic Rep. Steve Israel, N.Y., first urged Maguire to launch a probe in a letter Saturday. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Israel also asked Maguire to look into Freeman's work with the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation and its deal with Iran.

Blair argued that Freeman's rich background would make him an asset to the intelligence community and other foreign policy analysts had dismissed the criticism of him as a smear campaign.

Freeman has a formidable resume of foreign policy positions that include U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia under George H.W. Bush and assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs -- a position that earned him public service awards for his role in creating a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system. Freeman also served as Richard Nixon's chief translator in China in 1972.

Blair's office said he did not seek White House approval for the appointment, which did not require Senate approval.

But statements the former ambassador made over the last three decades on U.S. peace efforts in the Middle East and Iran's threat to the international community had also prompted some to question his objectivity in a role that requires it.

In a speech to the Pacific Council on International Policy in October 2007, Freeman said the U.S. has "abandoned the role of Middle East peacemaker to back Israel's efforts to pacify its captive and increasingly ghettoized Arab populations."

"We wring our hands while sitting on them as the Jewish state continues to seize ever more Arab land for its colonists," he said.

In reference to the Iraq war, Freeman said, "Now the United States has brought the Palestinian experience -- of humiliation, dislocation, and death -- to millions more in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"By invading Iraq, we transformed an intervention in Afghanistan most Muslims had supported into what looks to them like a wider war against Islam. We destroyed the Iraqi state and catalyzed anarchy, sectarian violence, terrorism and civil war in that country."

Also, The Weekly Standard recently posted a 2006 e-mail from Freeman to a listserv in which he said the Chinese government was "overly cautious" in its effort to "intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud" during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

FOX News' James Rosen contributed to this report

The president did not make any pledge to eliminate earmarks, WHAT ?

2009-03-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

President Obama on Wednesday announced new reforms he said would prevent wasteful earmarks, but spoke in support of the practice and defended what he called an "imperfect" spending bill passed by Congress -- one loaded with thousands of earmarks.

The president did not make any pledge to eliminate earmarks or reduce them. Rather, he and House Democrats announced new reforms to subject them to greater scrutiny and transparency.

"Done right, earmarks have given legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their district, and that's why I have opposed their outright elimination," Obama said. "But the fact is that on occasion, earmarks have been used as a vehicle for waste, and fraud and abuse. Projects have been inserted at the 11th hour, without review, and sometimes without merit, in order to satisfy the political or personal agendas of a given legislator, rather than the public interest."

Obama said the reforms would require lawmakers seeking earmarks to post them on their Web sites in advance, so the public and press can review them. He said each earmark should be "open to scrutiny" at public hearings.

"If my administration evaluates an earmark and determines that it has no legitimate public purpose, we will seek to eliminate it," Obama said.

He also said all earmarks for for-profit companies should be subject to competitive bidding requirements.

"The awarding of earmarks to private companies is the single most corrupting element of this practice," Obama said.

The announcement comes after Congress passed a $410 billion spending package. Obama said he plans to sign the bill, despite the billions of dollars worth of earmarks in it. Taxpayers for Common Sense estimated the package contained 8,570 disclosed earmarks worth $7.7 billion.

"I am signing an imperfect omnibus bill because it's necessary for the ongoing functions of government," Obama said, adding that he would use it as a "departure point" for enacting new reforms.

He did not respond to a question asking why he is not signing the spending bill in public.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who opposed the earmarks in the bill, criticized his former election opponent Wednesday for not pledging to "use his veto pen" to stop pork-barrel projects.

"The president's rhetoric is impressive, but his statement affirms we will continue to do business as usual in Washington regarding earmarks in appropriations legislation," he said in a written statement. "This is an opportunity missed."

The 1,132-page bill has an extraordinary reach, wrapping together nine spending bills to fund the annual operating budgets of every Cabinet department except Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs. Among the many earmarks are $485,000 for a boarding school for at-risk native students in western Alaska and $1.2 million for Helen Keller International so the nonprofit can provide eyeglasses to students with poor vision.

Most of the government has been running on a stopgap funding bill set to expire at midnight Wednesday. Refusing to sign the newly completed spending bill would force Congress to pass another bill to keep the lights on come Thursday or else shut down the massive federal government. That is an unlikely possibility for a president who has spent just seven weeks in office.

The $410 billion bill includes significant increases in food aid for the poor, energy research and other programs. It was supposed to have been completed last fall, but Democrats opted against election-year battles with Republicans and former President George W. Bush.

The measure was a top priority for Democratic leaders, who praised it for numerous increases denied by Bush. It once enjoyed support from Republicans.

But the bill ran into an unexpected political hailstorm in Congress after Obama's spending-heavy economic stimulus bill and his 2010 budget plan, which forecast a $1.8 trillion deficit for the current budget year.

The bill's big increases -- among them a 14 percent boost for a popular program that feeds infants and poor women and a 10 percent increase for housing vouchers for the poor -- represent a clear win for Democrats who spent most of the past decade battling with Bush over money for domestic programs. Republicans, though, had called on Obama to veto the measure.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Carter VS Obama what's the difference

2009-03-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

Carter preached a message of hope and renewal, and the Media was in love with this man giving him wide spread support, this obscure figure received support from the Liberal Media, which allotted him favorable coverage wherever his campaign took him. With the media's help Carter won key primary election victories, making him into a rock star among the masses. This rock Star image helped him reach his goal by winning the presidency and being the countries new President-Elect in less then 9 months.
President Carter took office January 20, 1977, one of the very first Executive Orders was to give unconditional amnesty to Vietnam War Draft Evaders. He also fired 800 CIA agents including George Bush Sr.

Carter Quote:"The Republican party is a party with a narrow vision, a party that is afraid of the future." The new President's approval ratings was around 70%, which didn't last very long. Even though the press was giving his new agenda all of there support with lots of coverage. the new President,was an experience former Govenor who still suffered from political inexperience. He was very quick to retreat under fire, very indecisive, and was not interested in opposing points of view, when it came to his own polices. In less then four Great years of this Administration President Carter managed to alienate Wallstreet and the Federal Reserve. Because of this administrations polices the American people were given a recession that gave them record high unemployment in double digits, inflation, and interest rates around 17%. Not only was his Domestic policy in disarray, but so was his foreign policy. The Carter Doctrine gave great verbal warnings to the Soviet Union to behave correctly. Carter Quote: "War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." The Carter Doctrine allowed Tehran to hold the United States hostage with the failed negotiations for our US embassy staff who were being held hostages in Tehran since Nov. 4th 1979. During President Carters Re-Election Bid he threw a hail marry pass, and unded up with a disastrous attempt at military rescue in April 1980. This gave americans one more good reason to elect former Governor Ronald Reagan. This Country is in for a long rocky road ……………

Obama Offers to Scrap Missile Shield If Russia Cooperates on Iran

2009-03-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

President Obama offered to consider scrapping plans for a missile defense shield in Europe if Russia helps rein in Iran's nuclear program, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.

The article said Obama wrote to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to tell him Russia's aid in resolving the threat from Iran would make the missile shield plans unnecessary, according to an account from Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

A senior administration official told FOX News that Obama sent a letter to Medvedev but "we won't comment on the specifics."

Obama inherited plans to build the system in Poland and the Czech Republic from the Bush administration, but the new administration has equivocated over the project. Though the plans were put in place to deter nations like Iran and North Korea from launching attacks and developing nuclear weapons, Russia has interpreted the planned installation as a threat.

The senior administration official said the U.S. will continue to "consult with the Czech Republic and Poland on the program," but will also continue to review the plan.

"We'll be evaluating the future of the program based on a number of factors ... whether it will work, whether it will be cost-effective, whether it will reduce the threat and whether that threat can be reduced though diplomacy with Russia and our NATO allies," the official said.

Reuters reported last month that the Obama administration would at least review the plans for a missile defense shield in Europe, provided Russia helps curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Clinton is expected to meet with Russia's foreign minister in Geneva later this week.

State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said last month that the U.S. wants to "engage" Russia on the issue of the missile defense and review their proposals to "counter missiles from rogue states."

Nominee Ron Kirk to Pay $10,000 in Back Taxes

2009-03-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade.

WASHINGTON -- Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to make his payments, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday.

The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling of speaking fees that he donated to his alma mater, and for his deduction of the full cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team.

The disclosure made the former Dallas mayor the latest in a string of top-level Obama administration appointees found to have underpaid their taxes, following Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle, who withdrew as candidate for Health and Human Services secretary. Nancy Killefer, Obama's pick for chief performance officer, also bowed out amid tax problems.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the underpayments, which were uncovered by the committee's staff in a review of Kirk's nomination papers.

Despite the error, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued a statement calling Kirk "the right person for this job," and said he would attempt to have the nomination moved through the panel quickly.

Kirk routinely gave any speaking fees he earned to Austin College, the committee said, and did not list them on his tax returns.

Instead, the committee said he should have listed the fees as income, then claimed them as charitable donations. The estimated effect was to reduce Kirk's tax bill by an estimated $5,800, according to the report.

Kirk also deducted more than $17,000 as entertainment expenses for the cost of Mavericks' tickets. The committee said he substantiated about $9,900 of that amount, and will owe about $2,600 in taxes on the balance.

The committee said that last fall, Kirk amended his income tax return for 2006, paying an additional $2,188 in tax and $139 in interest after a notification from the Internal Revenue Service. The return was filed by a paid tax preparer, the panel added.

The daunting task of deciding who gets to be saved from Foreclosure

2009-02-24T10:08:00.001-08:00

Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdraw his name in protest over economic stimulus package

2009-02-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Another Obama Appointee Withdraws Citing Tax Troubles

2009-02-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

President Obama’s choice for the position of chief White House performance officer has withdrawn from consideration for the post, an administration official said Tuesday, after coming forward with concerns about her tax returns.

Nancy Killefer, appointed by the president last month to a new position to scrutinize government spending, told the administration on Monday that she intended to step down from the position at the Office of Management and Budget. An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the announcement was not finalized, confirmed that Ms. Killefer’s withdrawal came because of questions with her taxes. Update: In her resignation letter to Mr. Obama, she described the problem as a tax-related issue stemming from Washington, D.C. unemployment.

The Presidents Stimulus plan hits the skids

2009-02-03T15:57:00.000-08:00

Feb 3,2009

With public opinion turning sour over a big-government economic recovery package, some taxpayer advocates and officials are posing the question that seemed verboten in Washington just a week ago:

Who needs a stimulus?
said Michael Steele, newly elected Republican National Committee chairman, in an interview with FOXNews.com Tuesday.

A Gallup poll released Tuesday finds a strong majority of Americans want Congress to pass some form of stimulus, but have severe doubts about the measures currently being considered to boost the economy.

Though Republican senators are trying to negotiate an alternative bill with Democrats as debate gets underway in their chamber, the unanimous opposition of the House GOP last week to a $819 billion bill signaled that some lawmakers are prepared to reject a stimulus outright, rather than engage in what appears to be an uphill fight for significantly reduced spending.
Most Americans are now looking for major revisions in the way the government is approaching the recession.
A Gallup poll out Tuesday showed that a majority of Americans want Congress to either reject or make "major changes" to the economic stimulus package on Capitol Hill.
The poll, conducted from Friday through Sunday, found that 75 percent of Americans want Congress to pass some version of the plan. But the survey reflected deepening doubts about the effectiveness of the programs and spending items currently being considered by federal lawmakers. Only 38 percent of those polled favored the existing stimulus proposal, down from a slight majority holding that view in the Jan. 28 Gallup survey.
Thirty-seven percent want major changes and 17 percent reject the plan outright.
"This idea that the public is not excited about this package ... is really having an effect on Capitol Hill," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told FOX News, adding that most of the Senate suffers from a "herd mentality" and is swayed by public opinion.
"There's nothing inevitable about this," said Phil Kerpen, director of policy at Americans for Prosperity. "The American economy is enormously resilient and it's always recovered in the past."
Americans for Prosperity has launched a petition on the Web site called NoStimulus.com to oppose what it calls the "big-government pork-barrel spending bill."
The conservative Cato Institute also recently took out a group of ads with a statement, signed by 200 economists, saying they "do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance."
The Senate is currently debating a nearly $890 billion version of the bill, and top Democrats wanted to add $25 billion in highway and mass transit funds during debate Tuesday. Republicans want more provisions to make housing more affordable.
President Obama said Tuesday that the nation can't afford the "same partisan gridlock" on the measure, and assured that the "vast majority" of investment would be made in the next 18 months.
With such a clamoring for the bill, Kerpen said, realistically, he expects a stimulus of some form to pass. But he said the bill in its current form was dealt a "severe and perhaps mortal blow in the House" that could lead to a much different version on the Senate side.
Steele said his party members could possibly sell the program to their constituents if it contains more tax relief. Steele said he wants the plan to eliminate the capital gains tax, for instance. But he told FOXNews.com that Republicans should continue to lock arms against the bill if it retains the "wacky spending" items in the bill now.
Steele said the economy would likely recover within a couple years anyway, and government actions like the first stimulus package last year and the $700 billion financial bailout have produced, "In a word, nothing."
"I think if the government were to get out of the way and let the small business community and corporations of America weed themselves through this process, it's survival of the fittest," Steele said.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that banks have generally not used the money they received through the financial rescue package to increase lending as was intended. The article reported that banks receiving government money on average cut back on lending more sharply than those that did not receive funding. However, Citigroup announced Tuesday it will make $36.5 billion available for credit cards and home loans.
The Gallup poll also found that even with a stimulus package, only 10 percent of people think the economy will improve this year as a result of the plan. Fifty-three percent said the plan will either have no effect on their families or make their financial situations worse.
The poll reflects a substantial partisan divide, with 59 percent of Democrats calling for passage without changes while 43 percent of Republicans want major changes and another 35 percent reject it.
But even Democratic leaders on the Hill are calling for significant changes. Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson told FOX News he's looking to strip out "tens of billions" of dollars worth of spending items from the bill.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a top Obama ally, told FOX News Tuesday that some of the spending is uncalled for in this package.
"We've got to cut some of the spending for programs," she said. "This is not the place to increase spending on programs."
She criticized billions for programs like alternative energy loans and the Census Bureau.
"We may have to fund the Census Bureau but not in a stimulus bill," she said. "That's the problem here. We have got to be disciplined about making sure this bill does only two things: Get money directly into the economy and create jobs. Period. That's it," McCaskill said.
FOXNews.com's Judson Berger contributed to this report.

Team Obama Pictures

2009-02-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

Geithner questioned about former housekeeper, taxes

2009-02-03T15:19:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Members of the Senate Finance Committee met Tuesday with treasury secretary nominee Tim Geithner over concerns involving his personal taxes and the immigration status of a former housekeeper, transition officials said.

Timothy Geithner has been nominated for the post of treasury secretary in the Obama administration.

The Geithners employed a housekeeper whose employment authorization document expired about three months before she stopped working for them in October 2005, according to a written statement from the Senate Finance Committee.
Later, the housekeeper, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was granted a green card, transition officials said.
The second concern involves Geithner's taxes while he worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to a statement released by the committee, Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes while the IMF paid him from 2001 to 2004.
In 2006, the Internal Revenue Service audited Geithner for tax years 2003 and 2004, and he paid $16,732 for the taxes and interest for those years, the statement said. After Obama nominated him for treasury secretary, Geithner voluntarily amended his taxes for 2001 and 2002, paying $25,970 for those taxes and interest, the committee said.
The presidential transition team told Finance Committee staff about Geithner's taxes early last month, the committee said.
Don't Miss

As an international organization, the IMF does not withhold money from employees' paychecks to pay Social Security and Medicare. U.S. employees are required to pay them on their own.
Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House spokesman, called Geithner's tax issue a "common mistake."
"The president-elect chose Tim Geithner to be his treasury secretary because he's the right person to help lead our economic recovery during these challenging times," Gibbs said in a written statement. "He's dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction. That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed."
The Finance Committee said it would continue to review Geithner's tax returns and other information ahead of a nomination hearing.
"When errors or issues of concern are discovered, transparency is vital to allow members of the committee and the entire Senate to fully review and assess the relevant information before hearings and votes occur," the committee said.
"I believe that these errors, although serious, do not rise to the level of disqualification. He is an extremely competent man," said committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana. "The errors were, in my judgment, honest mistakes. He did not in any way intentionally make those mistakes."
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, also said the mistakes were "not at all disqualifying."
"Tim came to the committee, admitted he had made some mistakes, and was very contrite," he said. "I continue to strongly support his nomination and given the tough economic conditions, hope we can confirm him as quickly as possible

Daschle Withdraws Nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary

2009-02-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Daschle Withdraws Nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary
With "sadness and regret," President Obama has accepted the decision of Tom Daschle to withdraw his nomination to be health and human services secretary.

Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for health and human services secretary Tuesday, after fielding mounting criticism over his failure to pay more than $130,000 in taxes.
The move marked a stunning turnaround from the day before, when Daschle mounted a campaign to retain allies on Capitol Hill and President Obama told reporters he "absolutely" stands by the former South Dakota senator.
But the president accepted Daschle's withdrawal with "sadness and regret" Tuesday morning, according to a White House statement.
"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I," Obama said. He added that the "mistake" should not diminish the "many contributions" Daschle has made to the country.
Watch FOX News' Chris Wallace interview President Obama on Special Report with Bret Baier at 6 p.m. ET.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the move was Daschle's decision, and that the president still has confidence in the vetting process.
It was unclear whether Daschle, with his deep network of ties in the Senate stemming in part from his time as majority leader, would have been able to weather the criticism over his tax problems in confirmation. Sources told FOX News that concern was growing that even if Daschle was confirmed his tax lapses would detract from the drive for health care reform.
Daschle said in a statement that his presence would have complicated that effort.
"If 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction," Daschle said. "Right now, I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction."
Daschle had also been tapped to be Obama's health czar but he apparently will not be taking on that role either.
"I will not be the architect of America's health system reform, but I remain one of its more fervent supporters," Daschle said.
Daschle was one of Obama's earliest supporters on the campaign trail.
Senators were reluctant to state publicly any opposition to Daschle's nomination in recent days. But that started to crack Tuesday morning, as Republican Sen. Jim DeMint called for Obama to withdraw the nomination -- becoming the first senator to say that the former majority leader's tax problems are disqualifying.
DeMint told FOX News that Daschle's failure to pay $134,000 in federal taxes reflects a "problem with integrity" that the government cannot afford to tolerate. DeMint spoke out against Daschle as a number of prominent newspapers, including The New York Times, called for the South Dakota Democrat to drop his bid.
Daschle has since paid $146,000 in back payments and interest, and apologized on Monday for what he called income tax errors.
Lawmakers on Tuesday expressed surprise at Daschle's decision to withdraw.
"I'm too emotionally upset to answer," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, when asked for his reaction.
"I think he would have been confirmed," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., the man charged with navigating Daschle's nomination through the Senate. "I'm surprised."
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said Daschle did the "honorable thing" by preventing an "arduous political struggle."
"It's just the kind of class move you'd expect from a person like Tom Daschle," Durbin said.
Republican Sen. John Ensign said Daschle saved Obama from "being embarrassed" by stepping aside.
The New York Times, in its editorial, complained that Timothy Geithner was already confirmed as treasury secretary despite his tax problems.
"It would send a terrible message to the public if we ignore the failure of yet another high-level nominee to comply with the tax laws," the Times wrote.
Several other newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also called for Daschle to withdraw. Some officials expressed other concerns about Daschle. Politico.com reported Tuesday, for instance, that Daschle was pushing the businessman who supplied him with a free car and driver -- much of the source of his tax woes -- for a job in the Obama administration.
Daschle was also drawing ridicule for an unearthed1986 campaign ad that showed the former senator driving an old, beat-up Pontiac to work -- to stress his distance from the world of "BMW's and limos" in Washington. "Maybe he's sentimental, or just cheap. Whatever the case isn't it too bad the rest of Washington doesn't understand a penny saved is a penny earned?" the narrator in the ad says.
Daschle is not the only high-profile nominee to withdraw his name. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary amid an ethics investigation in New Mexico.
Obama's pick to be the White House's first performance officer, Nancy Killefer, also withdrew her nomination on Tuesday because of her own tax liabilities, namely a $946 tax lien imposed by the D.C. government for failure to pay $298 in unemployment compensation tax on household help.
Noting the importance of the post, Killefer wrote in her withdrawal letter to the president that "my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid."
FOX News' Major Garrett, Trish Turner and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Eric H. Holder Jr. Attorney general

2009-02-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Eric H. Holder Jr.
Confirmation: Confirmed Feb. 2
Chosen for: Attorney general
Will bring to the job: A heavyweight résumé bursting with legal and law enforcement credentials. Mr. Holder has spent most of his career as a federal prosecutor, and his friends say his views on the law and the role of government align closely with Mr. Obama’s.
Is linked to Mr. Obama by:Mutual friends and shared experiences, though Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama did not meet until 2004, when they were seated next to each other at a small dinner party in Washington. Mr. Holder has said he immediately “clicked” with Mr. Obama over the dinner, hosted by Ann Walker Marchant, niece of Vernon E. Jordan Jr., one of the city’s superlawyers. Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama attended Columbia as undergraduates (although Mr. Holder, at 57, is 10 years older than the president-elect). Each had an immigrant father (Mr. Holder’s parents are from Barbados). Another connection: Mr. Holder is close to Valerie Jarrett, an Obama confidant and co-chairwoman of the Obama transition team. During the campaign, Mr. Holder was part of a vice-presidential advisory team that helped pick Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware as Mr. Obama’s running mate.
In his own words:“Loyalty is something I value an awful lot. And so my decision to support Barack was not necessarily a difficult one, but I had to be really moved by him. My inclination would be support Senator Clinton, but I was overwhelmed by Barack.” (From a recent profile in American Lawyer magazine.)
Used to work as:Deputy attorney general under Janet Reno in the Clinton administration. Had been United States attorney for the District of Columbia; a federal judge on the superior court bench in Washington; and a prosecutor in the Justice Department’s public integrity section, which investigates political corruption. In recent years, Mr. Holder has worked as a partner at Covington & Burling, representing big-name clients like the National Football League, Chiquita Brands International and Merck.
Carries as baggage:His role in President Bill Clinton’s controversial pardon of Marc Rich, the fugitive financier, who in 1983 fled to Switzerland rather than face tax evasion charges. The pardon bypassed the usual Justice Department process, and so Mr. Holder, as deputy attorney general, had no direct role in it. But when queried about his view of the pardon, Mr. Holder told the White House he was “neutral, leaning towards favorable.” The comment was later seized on by Democrats to defend the pardon and by Republicans to blast Mr. Holder for endorsing the most heavily criticized pardon of Mr. Clinton’s presidency, in part because it turned out that Mr. Rich’s former wife, Denise Rich, donated large amounts of money to Mr. Clinton’s presidential library.
Résumé includes:Born Jan. 21, 1951, in the Bronx and raised in New York City ... attended public schools and graduated from Stuyvesant High School ... graduated from Columbia University and Columbia Law School ... married to Sharon Malone, an obstetrician in Washington ... the couple has three children.

Irritated President Obama 'Stares Down' Reporter

2009-01-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

When a reporter tried to quiz President Obama on Thursday about a lobbyist chosen for a top Defense Department job, the president quickly became agitated.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama paid a surprise visit to members of the White House press corps Thursday evening when he walked through their working area of the West Wing, but he quickly became agitated when he was confronted with a question by one of the journalists.

According to reports, when the Politico's Jonathan Martin asked the president about his nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, Obama refused to answer, saying he was not there to take questions.

"I came down here to visit. I didn't come down here -- this is what happens. I can't end up visiting you guys and shaking hands if I am going to grilled every time I come down here," the president said.

Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter's shoulder and staring him in the eye.

"All right, come on," he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. "We will be having a press conference, at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys -- that's all I was trying to do," Politico.com reported.

The situation came to a close when a cameraman in the room interrupted, declaring: "I'd like to say it one more time: 'Mr. President.'"

The nominee in question, William Lynn, is a former lobbyist for defense contractor Raytheon, a pick Obama made in contradiction to his much-heralded anti-lobbying rules.

Obama was willing to field lighter questions, though.

Yes, he's discovered the gym in the White House residence. No, he hasn't played basketball yet on the outdoor White House court because it's been too cold.

The president's walk-through came without notice, causing a bit of a wild scene. Reporters started running toward him, wary of missing a single word. When one reporter who hadn't spotted Obama yet asked what everyone was rushing toward, another one responded: "The big guy."

Obama made it to the back of the briefing room, in a narrow hallway, where he shook hands.

"I've got to say, it's smaller than I thought," the president said as he looked around for the first time.

He introduced himself to those whom he didn't already know from the long campaign trail and said it would take a little while to learn everyone's names.

The president then continued on, walking by the media outlets' booths on the same floor.

Obama asked about the reasoning behind why certain media outlets had work space where they did. When he got an answer involving the intricacies of press corps protocol, Obama responded: "This is worse than the Middle East here -- who's sitting where and all that stuff."

As he walked through the area where journalists have lunch, Obama noticed a pair of vending machines that dispense soda and junk food.

"Looks like you have some healthy snacks, guys," Obama said.

Then he walked through the basement quarters, where several other news outlets set up shop. He said that was smaller than he expected too.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bill Richardson

2009-01-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

Bill Richardson
Has withdrawn as nominee for: Secretary of commerce
Would have brought to the job: While in Congress, he served as a roving diplomatic troubleshooter for President Bill Clinton, and was later named ambassador to the United Nations in December 1996. He earned a reputation as a tough and inventive negotiator, especially when dealing with America’s most entrenched adversaries, among them Iraq, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba. In the 1990s, he negotiated the release of a downed American pilot imprisoned in North Korea, some Red Cross workers held in Sudan and two American contractors detained by Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Is linked to Mr. Obama by:Despite intense courtship by the Clintons and having served in Mr. Clinton’s cabinet, Mr. Richardson endorsed Mr. Obama during the epic primary battle. He also helped deliver the pivotal Hispanic vote in New Mexico for Mr. Obama, which helped flip the state to Democratic from Republican and ensure a Democratic victory.
In his own words:“I choose bold. I choose action. I choose what’s right for the people. I choose to make a difference.”
Used to work as:Since 2002, he has been the popular governor of New Mexico. In the Clinton administration, he served as ambassador to the United Nations, then as energy secretary. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination this year, but withdrew after coming in fourth in the Iowa and New Hampshire nominating contests.
Carries as baggage:He said he was dropping out of consideration because of an ongoing investigation of a company that has done business with New Mexico. A federal grand jury in the state is investigating accusations that Mr. Richardson’s administration gave substantial contracts to a California financier who contributed heavily to the governor’s political action committees, The New York Times reported in December, citing a person familiar with the grand jury proceedings. Also, Mr. Richardson has no landmark achievement as a diplomat and has said, in hindsight, that he was wrong on several important issues: the first invasion of Iraq (which he opposed), the second (which he supported), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (which he helped pass). In the late 1990s, he was secretary of the Department of Energy during the disastrous security breeches at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the widely criticized prosecution of scientist Wen Ho Lee.
Also known for:By most accounts, he is the country’s most influential Latino politician. Hispanic groups are pushing hard for him to become secretary of state.
Résumé includes:Born Nov. 15, 1947, in Pasadena, Calif. ...was a major league prospect as a baseball pitcher with a wicked curve. ...graduate of Tufts, where he also earned a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. ...during the governor’s race in 2002, he made the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of hands shaken in a single day (13,392 in eight hours at the New Mexico State Fair.) ...met his wife, Barbara Flavin, while hitchhiking in the late 1960s near Boston.

Obama: Quit Listening to Rush Limbaugh if You Want to Get Things Done

2009-01-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

True Facts News: Obama: Quit Listening to Rush Limbaugh if You Want to Get Things Done

Obama creates an e-mail trail, raising questions about access to his electronic messages

2009-01-24T01:46:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama is the first wired president, ready to exchange e-mail with close friends and advisers. When do the rest of us get to read them?

We may have to wait until as late as 2028, depending on when Obama leaves office as president. That's according to leading presidential historians who make their living hunting through records at the National Archives and Records Administration.

White House lawyers maintain that Obama's messages are subject to the Presidential Records Act, a post-Watergate law intended to stop former presidents from carting away the records of their time in office. But the law also gives ex-presidents exclusive access to their own records for lengthy periods, allowing them to cash in on memoirs that rely on material the public hasn't seen.

"Basically, anything that Obama's thumbs tap out into the ether is of historical value and has to be saved," said Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, a private Washington-based group that seeks to open government information to the public.

Obama's electronic circle of friends includes some senior staffers and some personal friends who "are able to BlackBerry with the president so he can stay in touch with them," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Friday.

Historians already are drawing parallels between Obama's e-mails and the communications habits of some of his predecessors. President Richard Nixon dictated late-night memos on important and mundane subjects, giving historians an opportunity to peer inside the administration of the only president to resign from office.

"I wrote a whole chapter in my book from those late-night memos," said University of Wisconsin Professor Stanley Kutler, author of "The Wars of Watergate."

Under the Presidential Records Act, former presidents and vice presidents can restrict access to some of their records, including confidential communications with advisers, for up to 12 years. If Obama were to serve two full terms, that would put the release date for many of his records at 2028.

Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush made such claims. Former President Bill Clinton was more open, waiving some of the privileges invoked by Bush and Reagan.

Five years after a president leaves office, the public can begin requesting documents. Reagan released huge chunks of material after only five years, including many on his meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 2001, President George W. Bush gave former presidents and vice presidents more authority beyond the 12-year period to claim executive privilege. Obama overturned Bush's order on his first full day in office this week. Bush's order enabled the withholding of papers that contained military, diplomatic or national security secrets, communications among the president and his advisers or legal advice.

No terrorists please

2009-01-24T01:37:00.000-08:00

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) — Across Europe, President Barack Obama's decision to shut the Guantanamo Bay prison has raised an awkward question: Which EU states that railed against the camp will offer new lives to released prisoners?

The U.S. Defense Department says about 50 of the 245 prisoners awaiting freedom cannot go home again on security or political grounds, raising the need to find an alternative place to send them. But European Union members long critical of Guantanamo shied away Friday from any firm commitments to help.

Ireland has joined Portugal, France, Germany and Switzerland in saying it probably would participate in an EU-organized plan that might take shape at a summit of foreign ministers Monday in Brussels.

But it already appears likely that Europe will leave some of Guantanamo's inmates in limbo behind a policy of: No terrorists please.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said European Union members should agree on terms and conditions for housing at least some of the 50 "as a logical consequence of our arguing for the closure of Guantanamo."

He emphasized, however, that "no one is talking about terrorists or anything like that coming to EU countries. We're talking about non-combatants — people who clearly have no history of any terrorist activity."

Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said in a written statement to The Associated Press that all EU countries thinking of taking ex-prisoners "will have to have regard to difficult security issues which arise." He declined an AP request to explain what those concerns were and how EU leaders could overcome them.

Ahern said in his prepared remarks he expects the Brussels talks to promote "a united and positive response at EU level to any request made by the new U.S. administration for help in bringing about the closure of Guantanamo."

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said the Obama administration was carrying on diplomatic contacts begun on Bush's watch with "allies and partners, including a number of European countries," about the transfer of some detainees. He declined to discuss any specifics.

Diplomatic and security officials across Europe acknowledge that in the Obama era their nations risk exposure of double standards — complaining of American injustice, but presuming that ex-Guantanamo prisoners are too hot to handle themselves. Most nations in the 27-country bloc remain in the position of waiting for an EU request that they might prefer never comes.

Italy, whose conservative government long supported former President George W. Bush's "war on terror," is among those skeptical that Europe will easily embrace fugitives from Azerbaijan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Chad, China, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

"Here we have the first example of how this new Obama politics will demand more of Europe — not less — than Bush's so-called unilateralism," said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who declined to add Italy to the list of willing destinations for ex-Guantanamo inmates. "America will probably ask some European countries to take in these people, who will no longer be at Guantanamo but won't be free to wander the streets of New York."

Switzerland, which has made positive public comments about an EU-wide initiative, now cautions that such a decision is really up to authorities within its individual cantons. And those local authorities are sounding cool on the idea.

Karin Keller-Suter, vice president of the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors, said its members "would expect a thorough security examination" before any ex-Guantanamo prisoners win admission to Switzerland.

In France, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner mirrored the Irish line that the EU must lead the way. He said France would cooperate in principle — but would adopt a "case by case" approach to sheltering ex-inmates.

A few European nations say, bluntly, that the United States created the Guantanamo problem itself and should bear the consequences on its own, too.

"I've spent most of my waking hours the last three years in this post cleaning up after the U.S.," said Swedish Migration Minister Tobias Billstrom, who argued that Sweden had already made a home for thousands of Iraqi refugees since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. "I think that the U.S. perhaps should start to do some cleaning on its own before asking for help from others."

Obama will abandon or reverse pro-life policies

2009-01-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

On Monday, the eve of Obama’s inauguration, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops unveiled a letter urging him to retain federal policies that protect healthcare workers’ conscience rights, ban funding of stem-cell research that destroys human embryos, and block foreign aid to overseas organizations promoting abortion.
The ad comes amid heightened anxiety that Obama will abandon or reverse pro-life policies established by President George W. Bush.

The ad reads
"This child's future is a broken home. He will be abandoned by his father. His single mother will struggle to raise him. Despite the hardships he will endure this child will become the 1st African-American President." The ad ends with a photograph of President Obama and this message: "Life: Imagine the Potential."

"We are committed to not only reducing abortion, but to making it unthinkable as an answer to an unintended pregnancy," George wrote to Obama. "If your goal is to reduce abortions, that will not be achieved by involving the government in expanding and promoting abortions."

Obama to Lift Ban on Overseas Abortion Funding

2009-01-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

President Obama is expected to sign the executive order one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.

President Obama on Friday is expected to lift a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama will sign the executive order one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Liberal groups welcomed the decision while abortion rights foes criticized the president, who was long expected to make this move during his first week in office.
The so-called Mexico City policy requires any non-governmental organization to agree before receiving U.S. funds that they will "neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations."
It is also known as the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that even talk about abortion if there is an unplanned pregnancy.
The policy was first instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and continued by President George H.W. Bush. The policy was reversed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and re-instated by President George W. Bush in 2001.
Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the gag rule during the presidential campaign. Clinton is to visit the U.S. Agency for International Development, through which much U.S. foreign aid is disbursed, later on Friday.
Organizations that had pressed Obama to make the abortion-ban change were jubilant.
"Women's health has been severely impacted by the cutoff of assistance. "President Obama's actions will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning," said Tod Preston, a spokesman for Population Action International, an advocacy group.
Anti-abortion groups criticized the move.
"President Obama not long ago told the American people that he would support policies to reduce abortions, but today he is effectively guaranteeing more abortions by funding groups that promote abortion as a method of population control," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee.
Obama has spent his first days in office systematically signing executive orders reversing Bush administration policies on issues ranging from foreign policy to government operations. On Thursday, he signed three executive orders to rein in secretive U.S. counterterror policies and end harsh interrogations.

President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address

2009-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Life with President Obama

2008-12-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

Celebrating Christmas with Obama

The President who Stole Christmas

What Change!!!!

Russia has thrown down a new gauntlet to Barack Obama

2008-12-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

In announcement that it will sharply increase production of strategic nuclear missiles

The latest of a series of combative moves by the Kremlin, a senior government official in Moscow said the Russian military would commission 70 strategic missiles over the next three years, as part of a massive rearmament programme which will also include short-range missiles, 300 tanks, 14 warships and 50 planes.

Military experts said the planned new arsenal was presumed to consist of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) rather than submarine-launched missiles. If this is the case, the plans represent a fourfold increase in the rate of ICBM deployment. The arsenal will include a new-generation, multiple-warhead ICBM called the RS-24. It was first test-fired in 2007, with first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov boasting it was "capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defence systems".

The new missiles will be part of a £95bn defence procurement package for 2009-2011, a 28% increase in arms spending, according to Vladislav Putilin of the cabinet's military-industrial commission. There will be further increases in spending in the following two years.

The new military procurements follow the war in Georgia in August. Russian forces easily routed Georgian troops, but the conflict exposed weaknesses in the Russian army, including outdated equipment and poorly co-ordinated command structures. The defence ministry said it would carry out drastic reforms, turning the army into a more modern force.

Vladimir Putin on Monday urged cabinet officials to quickly allocate funds for new weapons and closely control the quality and pace of their production. Military experts said the construction of 70 long-range nuclear missiles in the next three years represented a Russian attempt to strengthen its bargaining position with Washington, in talks aimed at agreeing new nuclear weapons cuts when the current treaty in force, Start I, expires next December.

Moscow's strategy appears to be to challenge Obama's new administration as soon as it takes office on 20 January. On the day Obama was elected the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, announced plans to station short-range Iskander missiles in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave as a counter to American installation of its missile defence system in eastern Europe.

Ruben Sergeev, an expert on disarmament issues, said Moscow was afraid of falling behind in a new arms race.

"Russia is decommissioning its old liquid-fuel missiles from the Soviet era at a rate of several dozen every year," he said. "The Kremlin knows that if it doesn't increase production of ICBMs rapidly now then it will have no chance of getting a new arms reduction treaty out of the US, which has much greater quantities of missiles." Negotiations on a successor to Start I have been bogged down in detail, and hamstrung by the Bush administration's lame duck status.

The chief US negotiator, John Rood, said last week that the latest sticking point was Russian insistence that the new treaty cover long-range delivery systems, such as bombers and missiles, intended for conventional arms as well as nuclear warheads. The US wants the treaty to focus solely on nuclear warheads.

Moscow has also signalled that it would supply Tehran with new surface-to-air missiles in defiance of US opposition. Washington has asked for more information on the sales, fearing the weapons being sold include long-range S-300 missiles, which have a 120km (75 mile) range. They could threaten US planes in Iraq, and could also protect Iranian nuclear sites from aerial attack.

The US has set aside its own plans for military action against Iran for now, but US officials hoped that fear of an Israeli strike would make Iran more amenable to suspending its enrichment of uranium.

Arms treaties
Start I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, July 1991, limited US and Soviet Union to long-range nuclear arsenals of 6,000 warheads on 1,600 delivery systems. Expires 5 December 2009.

INF Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty 1987 banned missiles such as the US Cruise with range of 3,500 miles.

Start II Signed 1993, supposed to ban multiple warheads on long-range missiles. Russian Duma delayed ratifying and it never came into force.

Start III Negotiated in 1997 to reduce nuclear stockpiles to 2,000-2,500 warheads, but fell apart over the US missile defence system. Talks resumed in 2007.

Sort Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, or 2002 Moscow Treaty, cuts US and Russian arsenals to 1,700-2,200 operationally deployed warheads each. No verification procedures.

President-elect team Barack Obama says his own investigation shows no wrong doing by his own team

2008-12-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

Washington(AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top aides met last week with federal investigators building a corruption case against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of trying to swap Obama's Senate seat for cash or a lucrative job.

The interviews with Obama, along with incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and adviser Valerie Jarrett, were disclosed Tuesday in an internal report produced for Obama on contacts with Blagojevich. The report supported Obama's insistence last week that there had been no inappropriate contact with the governor's office by Obama or his staff.

Obama delayed releasing his report until U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's staff had completed the interviews with Obama and his two top aides, incoming White House attorney Greg Craig said in the review he wrote for Obama.

Obama, who was accompanied by lawyer Robert Bauer in the interview, had no contact with the governor or his aides, the report states. Prosecutors have said Obama is not implicated in the case.

"We are satisfied there was nothing inappropriate that took place here, either in terms of conversations or communications or contacts, between transition officials and the governor's office," Craig said after releasing the report.

Emanuel was the only Obama transition team member who discussed the Senate appointment with Blagojevich, and those conversations were "totally appropriate and acceptable," Craig said Tuesday. No one on Obama's transition team discussed any deals or had any knowledge of deals, Craig's report said.

Sources have said Emanuel is not a target in the case. Jarrett also is not a target of the federal investigation, a transition official said. Both were accompanied by lawyers for their interviews with the prosecutor's staff, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Craig's report identified close Obama friend Eric Whitaker as someone approached by one of Blagojevich's top aides to learn "who, if anyone, had the authority to speak for the president-elect" about the Senate appointment.

The report states that Obama told Whitaker that "no one was authorized to speak for him" and that "he had no interest in dictating the result of the selection process."

Blagojevich was charged on Dec. 9 with plotting to use his governor's authority to appoint Obama's Senate replacement and make state appointments and contracts in exchange for cash and other favors. He has denied any criminal wrongdoing and has resisted multiple calls for his resignation, including one from Obama.

Blagojevich attorney Edward M. Genson, who has said allegations that the governor was trying to sell or trade the Senate seat are built on nothing but talk, said Obama's report proves his point.

"I've said from the beginning that there was nothing inappropriate, and this just corroborates what I've said," Genson said.

Prosecutors have accused Blagojevich of scheming with aides and advisers to reap some personal benefit in the Senate appointment, starting days before Obama's Nov. 4 election through Dec. 5. Their conversations are characterized and quoted in the criminal complaint, including discussions about swapping the appointment if Obama provided a Cabinet post, an ambassadorship and help raising millions for a private foundation that Blagojevich could tap for personal use.

But Obama's report says none of Blagojevich's aides reached out to the president-elect's staff. Only the contact with Whitaker is noted in the report.

Emanuel's contacts with the governor and his staff are identified in Obama's report.

During Emanuel's interview Saturday with federal authorities, he listened to a taped recording of at least one conversation he had with Blagojevich's office, according to a transition official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss information not included in the report.

Craig's report states that Emanuel had "one or two telephone calls" with Blagojevich and four conversations with John Harris, the governor's chief of staff who later resigned after being charged in the federal case. Craig told reporters Emanuel said he couldn't be sure it was only one call.

Harris' lawyer, James Sotos, declined to comment Tuesday.

Emanuel left for a long-planned family vacation in Africa on Tuesday and was not available for comment.

The report was released in Washington while Obama was vacationing in Hawaii. The president-elect did not make himself available for questions.

The report said Obama authorized Emanuel to pass on the names of four people he considered to be highly qualified to take over his seat - Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Obama later offered other names of what he thought were qualified candidates, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Urban League Director Cheryle Jackson, the report said.

"Mr. Harris did not make any effort to extract a personal benefit for the governor in any of these conversations," the report said. There was no discussion of a Cabinet position, creation of a nonprofit foundation for Blagojevich, a private sector position or of any other personal benefit for the governor, according to the report.

The report said that earlier, Emanuel recommended Jarrett for the Senate seat without Obama's knowledge, and Jarrett later accepted a job as a senior White House adviser.

Obama's report states Jarrett did not have any contact with the governor or his staff about the appointment, and had no sense Blagojevich was seeking something in exchange. But she discussed the appointment with Tom Balanoff, the head of the Illinois chapter of the Service Employees International Union, the report states.

SEIU officials are referenced, but not named, in an FBI affidavit filed with the federal complaint against Blagojevich. Blagojevich is quoted as discussing some of his schemes with a union official.

Balanoff, believed to be one of the unnamed parties referenced in the affidavit, told Jarrett that he spoke to the governor about her possible appointment to the Senate, the Obama report says. In that conversation, Balanoff also told Jarrett that the governor "raised with him the question" of being appointed Obama's health and human services secretary.

Balanoff said he told Blagojevich that wouldn't happen, and Jarrett agreed, the report states.

There was no suggestion to Jarrett that the Senate appointment was linked to the Cabinet post, the report states.

Blagojevich mentioned in a Nov. 5 conversation with an aide taped by the FBI that he would take the HHS job or "various ambassadorships" in exchange for appointing Obama's choice, according the affidavit. The affidavit states he discussed again days later with an unnamed SEIU official, believed to be Balanoff.

The governor told advisers in a Nov. 10 discussion that "it was unlikely" Obama would give him the HHS appointment or an ambassadorship, and he discussed other favors he could seek, according to the complaint.

Obama's report also addresses confusion over earlier statements by David Axelrod, a top adviser who had said at one point that Obama discussed the Senate appointment with Blagojevich. Axelrod had discussed potential recommendations for the Senate appointment with Obama and Emanuel, and "was under the impression" that Obama would offer those to Blagojevich.

"He later learned that it was Mr. Emanuel who conveyed those names," the report states.

Craig revealed his findings in a memo to Obama. The memo was dated Tuesday, but a transition official said an initial copy was given to Obama on Dec. 15. On that day, Obama announced that the report was ready but that he was withholding it from the public for a week at the request of prosecutors still conducting their investigation.

The report is based on the Obama team investigating itself, and was conducted by interviewing staff and taking their answers about any contacts at their word. Gibbs said this was consistent with the charge given to Craig by the president-elect.

A transition official said Craig doesn't have the legal power to more thoroughly investigate and try to corroborate the accounts The official spoke on condition of anonymity to more freely discuss the thinking behind the inquiry.

---

Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven and Ben Feller in Washington, and Mike Robinson in Chicago, contributed to this report.

Obama's change message may Ground NASA's Next Moon Mission?

2008-12-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

Getting into a shouting match with the HR rep is not exactly the best way to land a job. But according to the Orlando Sentinel, that's just what happened last week between NASA administrator Mike Griffin and Lori Garver, a member of Barack Obama's transition team who will help decide if Griffin keeps his post once the President-elect takes office. If the contretemps did occur, it could help doom not only the NASA chief's chances, but the space agency's ambitious plans to get Americans back to the moon.

The mere fact that the story is making the rounds reflects the very real friction between NASA and the transition team — which has sparked a groundswell of support among space agency employees to keep the boss. Within NASA, there is a real concern that while the Obama campaign rode the call for change to a thumping victory in November, change is precisely what the space agency does not need. (See photos of different countries' space programs here.)

The stagnant NASA of the past 20 years has been poised to become a very new NASA — thanks, in many respects, to the outgoing Bush Administration. In 2004, the President announced a new push to return astronauts to the moon and eventually get them to Mars. Many skeptics saw the hand of political whiz Karl Rove in that, suspecting that the whole idea was just a bag of election year goodies for space-happy states like Florida and Texas, as well as for voters nostalgic for the glory days of Apollo. But Bush, NASA and Congress did mean business, and eventually came up with a plan under which the space station would be completed and the shuttle would be retired by 2010. That would free up about $4 billion per year, which would be used to pay for a new generation of expendable boosters as well as a 21st century version of the Apollo orbiter and lunar lander for those rockets to carry. (Read about the space moon race here.)

"At the time, the shuttle had flown 290 people, and out of those 14 were dead — nearly one in 20," says Scott Horowitz, a four-time shuttle veteran who designed the Ares 1, one of the new boosters. "We needed something that was an order of magnitude safer."

NASA has moved with uncharacteristic nimbleness in the last five years and is already cutting metal on the new machines in the hope of having crews in Earth orbit by 2015 and on the moon by 2020. Schedules have slipped some — the original plan was to launch the orbital missions in 2014 — and costs have swollen, though so far not dramatically. (See the Top 50 space moments since Sputnik.)

"We've been moving in the right direction since the Columbia accident [in 2003]," says Chris Shank, NASA's chief of strategic communications. "The concern is that we'll lose that." Lately, that concern appears well-placed.

The Obama team picked Garver to run the NASA transition, in part because of her deep pedigree and long history at the space agency, which saw her climb to the rank of associate administrator. But Garver started as a PAO — NASA-speak for a public affairs officer — and never got involved in the nuts and bolts of building rockets. She is best known by most people as the person who in 2002 competed with boy-band singer Lance Bass for the chance to fly to the International Space Station aboard a Russian rocket. Neither of them ever left the ground.

Garver's lack of engineering cred is especially surprising in light of the eggheads with whom Obama has been surrounding himself — most recently, Nobel prize winning physicist Steven Chu, who has reportedly been tapped to be Secretary of Energy. Garver is also not thought to be much of a fan of Griffin — who is an engineer — nor to be sold on the plans for the new moon program. What she and others are said to be considering is to scrap the plans for the Ares 1 — which is designed exclusively to carry humans — and replace it with Atlas V and Delta IV boosters, which are currently used to launch satellites but could be redesigned, or "requalified," for humans. Griffin hates that idea, and firmly believes the Atlas and Delta are unsafe for people. One well-placed NASA source who asked not to be named reports that as much as Griffin wants to keep his job, he'll walk away from it if he's made to put his astronauts on top of those rockets.

NASA is right to be uneasy about just what Obama has planned for the agency since his position on space travel shifted — a lot — during the campaign. A year before the election he touted an $18 billion education program and explicitly targeted the new moon program as one he'd cut to pay for it. In January of 2008, he lined up much closer to the Bush moon plan — perhaps because Republicans were already on board and earning swing-state support as a result. Three months before the election, Obama fully endorsed the 2020 target for putting people on the moon. But that was a candidate talking and now he's president-elect, and his choice of Garver as his transition adviser may say more than his past campaign rhetoric.

The dust-up between Griffin and Garver is said to have occurred last week at a book launch party in Washington when, according to the Sentinel, a red-faced Griffin told Garver she was "not qualified" to make engineering decisions. Horowitz, who was not at the party but knows the NASA boss well, says he doubts that Griffin raised his voice.

"I think that's bulls---," he says. "I believe that anything he was asked he was very honest in answering because he's a systems engineer. And Lori Garver is not equipped to make technical judgments on the architecture of a space exploration system." The unnamed NASA source concedes that Griffin can be brutally honest and occasionally tactless, but insists that his shouting is simply improbable. The Obama transition office did not return an e-mail seeking comment from Garver.

For now, says the NASA source, both present and former astronauts as well as some NASA contractors are quietly — and sometimes not so quietly — lobbying for Griffin to stay. But the incoming administration is not saying anything so far. It was President John F. Kennedy who famously committed Americans to reaching the moon. Now it is Obama — who so often invokes the themes and style of JFK — who may decide if we go back.

By Jeffrey Kluger time

Obama future Pardons list already started

2008-12-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama’s promise on Guantanamo Bay prison camp

2008-12-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

(Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama’s promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for suspected terrorists will force the new president to decide what to do with inmates who can’t be tried for war crimes yet are deemed too dangerous to be released.

About 250 detainees remain at the prison camp opened on a U.S. Navy base in Cuba after the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 520 others have been repatriated or sent to another country. Obama said Nov. 16 on CBS he will close the prison as part of an effort, including a ban on torture during interrogations, “to regain America’s moral stature in the world.”

Logistically, Obama may be able to “close Guantanamo pretty quickly” once he finds facilities on the mainland to house the prisoners, said Matthew Waxman, a former Defense Department official who teaches law at Columbia University. “The bigger issue is on what legal basis are you going to hold them?”

More than 100 inmates can’t be put on trial because of a lack of evidence and the Bush administration considers them too dangerous to release. Legal experts suggest several options, such as keeping them under the Bush administration designation of “unlawful enemy combatant,” labeling them prisoners of war or asking Congress to create a new type of preventive or administrative detention.

Obama has called for trying detainees in civilian or regular military courts instead of the military war-crimes tribunal created in 2006. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of al-Qaeda’s Sept. 11 attacks, and four co-defendants are scheduled to appear before a tribunal next week, possibly their last hearing if Obama quickly abolishes or replaces the war-crimes courts.

Defense Secretary

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will remain in Obama’s administration, said at a news conference yesterday that closing Guantanamo should be a “high priority” and that new legislation will be needed to keep released detainees from seeking asylum in the U.S. In May, Gates said the U.S. was “stuck” with Guantanamo because some inmates couldn’t be charged or released.

Adjusting the legal status of the Guantanamo detainees means “you are not just going to close the base and give everyone an airline ticket,” said Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who has supported expanding due-process rights of Guantanamo inmates.

Closing Guantanamo won’t “happen as quickly as people would like. It’s such a Gordian knot,” said Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California, a former prosecutor who has pushed for changes in detainee policy.

Obama’s first step should be to announce a plan to close Guantanamo, then review all detainee files to determine which ones can be prosecuted, said Jennifer Daskal, counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch.

Coerced Evidence

That will depend on whether the evidence meets the higher standards of proof required in those courts, including a ban on evidence obtained by coercion, experts say.

Such legal determinations may complicate the prosecution of such “high value” detainees as Mohammed, who has alleged during courtroom appearances that he was tortured in CIA custody.

The CIA said he was one of three inmates subjected to waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning. If his statements on the Sept. 11 attacks are barred from use in court, Mohammed still could be taken to trial on 1996 criminal charges of conspiring to blow up U.S. airliners en route to the Far East.

In addition to the Sept. 11 defendants, 12 other people await trials before the military tribunals. The Pentagon is preparing to bring war-crimes charges against as many as 80 detainees altogether.

The new administration then should “move quickly to repatriate or resettle others,” Daskal said.

Resettlement

Resettlement won’t be easy. The Pentagon has determined that at least 60 Guantanamo detainees are releasable if the U.S. can persuade other countries to accept them.

In the last seven months, almost 20 have been released. The latest is Salim Hamdan, a former bodyguard and driver for al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hamdan, convicted of providing material support for terrorism, was sent from Guantanamo to Yemen in November to serve the final month of his 5 1/2-year sentence.

More than 100 inmates are classified as not releasable because they can’t be put on trial and they also pose a threat to national security.

“There are some real concerns” these detainees “will join the fight against us” or will be tortured if returned to their homeland, Schiff said.

“Clearly some are more of a threat than others” and the Obama administration may have a different view on whether releasing a particular detainee would endanger U.S. security, said Anthony Clark Arend, a government and foreign service professor at Georgetown University.

Enemy Combatants

The new administration may decide to continue to hold this group as enemy combatants subject to periodic administrative review, though Obama criticized the procedure in 2006.

Federal judges in Washington are considering about 200 Guantanamo inmates’ challenges to their detention, and the Supreme Court has signaled there may be a limit on indefinite detention. One judge last month ordered the release of five inmates on grounds the government didn’t prove they were enemy combatants.

Obama could also ask Congress to create a new legal status called preventive or administrative detention. Waxman said that would be “politically controversial” and trigger a debate about “the dangers to our legal system and legal principles that flow from institutionalizing a system of detention without trial.”

Alternatively, the Obama administration could declare these detainees to be prisoners of war, which would remove them from the jurisdiction of federal courts.

Geneva Conventions

Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war must be released once hostilities end. President George W. Bush declared that al-Qaeda terrorists weren’t traditional POWs -- soldiers who could be relied upon not to attack the U.S. once their country ceases the hostilities of war.

“The real challenge when you are dealing with non-state actors and terrorists in a so-called war on terror” is that they “want to continue to challenge you,” Arend said.

For inmates awaiting trials before the military tribunals, a fresh review of their cases by new political leadership at the Pentagon may enable some to be tried in federal courts or under military court-martial, said Schiff, a former prosecutor.

The Obama administration “may well face extremely difficult, shattering choices” of dropping some cases because the evidence doesn’t meet higher standards of proof, said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, and is president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

The new administration “may have to allow one or two people to escape justice in order to accomplish a larger goal” of restoring confidence in U.S. rule of law, Fidell said.

Dodd acknowledged the difficulties the new administration faces in closing the prison camp. Still, he said, “the most important point is closing the place” because “that message is the one that is going to resonate.”

Obama picks Gov. Bill Richardson as commerce secretary

2008-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama named New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as commerce secretary on Wednesday, placing a second former campaign rival in his new Cabinet.

Obama called Richardson a leading "economic diplomat for America. During his time in state government and Congress, and in two tours of duty in the Cabinet, Bill has seen from just about every angle what makes our economy work and what keeps it from working better."

Richardson, 61, was United Nations ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, and he is in his second term as New Mexico's governor. He also served seven terms in the House of Representatives.

One of the nation's most prominent Hispanic politicians, Richardson pledged - in English and Spanish - to work to renew the economy.

If confirmed by the Senate, will become the latest former Democratic primary opponent to join Obama's Cabinet. The incoming chief executive has chosen another adversary-turned-ally, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to be his secretary of state. Obama also chose former rival Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.

Obama is considering another Hispanic politician, California Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra, to be U.S. Trade Representative, according to two Democratic officials speaking on a condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement for the position.

New Mexico's Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, a Democrat will become the state's first female governor when Richardson leaves to assume his new post. Denish will take over for the remainder of Richardson's term, which runs through 2010.

In neighboring Arizona, the ascension of a Democratic governor will put the state in the hands of a Republican governor.

Under Arizona state law, the move of Gov. Janet Napolitano to secretary of Homeland Security will mean a Republican, Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer, will assume the reins there.

The president-elect has moved quickly to fill out his Cabinet, having named more than half of it in the month since he was elected the country's 44th president.

An energy secretary and United Nations ambassador in President Bill Clinton's administration, Richardson was a contender for the State Department job, but Obama offered him the post as commerce secretary after choosing the former first lady as his top diplomat.

Richardson sought the Democratic presidential nomination this year but eventually dropped out and endorsed Obama.

On Monday, Obama announced his foreign and national security team, led by Clinton and current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Republican. A week ago, Obama named his economic team, led by Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary. In the coming weeks if not days, he plans to announce former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as health and human services secretary.

The upper echelon on his Cabinet now is in place.

Among those posts yet to be disclosed if not chosen: the heads of the Interior, Transportation, Labor, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments. Obama also has yet to name his intelligence team, including his director of national intelligence and CIA chief.

President Elect obama’s ho-pocrisy: when it comes to his music.

2008-12-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

Obama recently told Rolling Stone magazine that Jay-Z and Ludacris are "great talents and great businessmen".The President Elect listens to Ludacris and other rapers while working out.

"It would be nice if I could have my daughters listen to their music without me worrying they were getting bad images of themselves," the candidate said.

LUDACRIS LYRICS

“Ho”

[Chorus]
Hooooooooo (Ho)
Youza Hoooooo (Ho)
Youza Hoooooo (Ho)
I said that youza hooooo (Ho)
[Repeat 1x]

[Ludacris]
You doin ho activities
With ho tendencies
Hos are your friends, hoes are your enemies
With ho energy to do whacha do
Blew whacha blew
Screw whacha screw
Yall professional like DJ Clue, pullin on my coat tail
an why do you think you take a ho to a hotel?
Hotel everybody, even the mayor
Reach up in tha sky for tha hozone laya
Come on playa once a ho always
And hos never close they open like hallways
An heres a ho cake for you whole ho crew
an everybody wants some cuz hoes gotta eat too

[chorus x2]

[Ludacris]
Cant turn a ho into a housewife
Hos dont act right
Theres hos on a mission, an hoes on a crackpipe
Hey ho how ya doin, where ya been?
Prolly doin ho stuff cuz there you ho again
Its a ho wide world, that we livin in
feline, feminine, fantastical, women
Not all, just some
You ho who you are
Theres hoes in tha room, theres hoes in tha car
theres hoes on stage, theres hoes by tha bar
hos by near, an hos by far
Ho! (But can i getta ride?!)
NO! (Cmon, nigga why?!)
Cuz youza

[chorus 2x]

[Ludacris]
You gotta run in your pantyhos
Even your daddy knows
that you suckin down chocolate like daddy-o’s
You hos are horrible, horrendous
On taxes ya’ll writin off hos as dependents
I see tha ho risin
it aint surprisin
its just a hoasis
with ugly chicks faces
but hos dont feel so sad and blue
cuz most of us niggaz is hos too

[chorus x2]

(Ho)
Muthafuckas im so tiired of yall niggaz always talkin
bout hos this, hos that, you tha muthafuckin ho nigga
I wasnt no ho last night

(Pimp)
Ho, bring yo ass!

(Ho)
Ok, hold on
get that man a grammy! i think we can all see the artistic merit there.

maybe obama hasn’t condemned ludacris’ behavior because of the sheer time commitment it would entail. it would take weeks to catalog every harmful line the artist has sung. plus, the press conference would be mostly bleeped out, so what’s the point?

here is what i have concluded: obama doesn’t mind when ludacris calls his daughters hos. he minds when imus calls his daughters hos (or cute, depending on whether his daughters dress more like the girls from rutgers or tennessee).

ludacris’ entire discography is available by searching google for “ludacris discography” (without quotes). there, you will find that about 1/3 of the song titles directly discuss vulgar sexual behavior or innuendo. the other 2/3 just mention the subjugation of women within the songs themselves, not the titles. here are a few of my favorite titles:

girls gone wild
move bitch
pimpin all over the world
hoes in my room
and of course,i haven’t explored them to see which ones are the most offensive.

Obama Quote of Imus;
imus] didn’t just cross the line. [imus] fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America. The notions that as young African-American women….that that somehow makes them less beautiful or less important. It was a degrading comment. It’s one that I’m not interested in supporting….What we’ve been seeing around this country is this constant ratcheting up of a coarsening of the culture that all of have to think about….Insults, humor that degrades women, humor that is based in racism and racial stereotypes isn’t fun….And the notion that somehow it’s cute or amusing, or a useful diversion, I think, is something that all of us have to recognize is just not the case….as a culture, we really have to do some soul-searching to think about what kind of toxic information are we feeding our kids.

Our Proud President of the United States "Change is comming"

President Elect The Message of Change has many faces

2008-12-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

President Elect Obama over his primary campaign for the last two years had stated it was time for change in Washington to bring in fresh new faces and clean up Washington.

Take a good look at some of the 17 people our nation’s president-elect chose last week for his Transition Economic Advisory Board. And then try saying with a straight face that these are the leaders who should be advising him on how to navigate through the worst financial crisis in modern history. First, there’s former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. Not only was he chairman of Citigroup Inc.’s executive committee when the bank pushed bogus analyst research, helped Enron Corp. cook its books, and got caught baking its own. He was a director from 2000 to 2006 at Ford Motor Co., which also committed accounting fouls and now is begging Uncle Sam for Citigroup- style bailout cash.Two other Citigroup directors received spots on the Obama board: Xerox Corp. Chief Executive Officer Anne Mulcahy and Time Warner Inc. Chairman Richard Parsons. Xerox and Time Warner got pinched years ago by the Securities and Exchange Commission for accounting frauds that occurred while Mulcahy and Parsons held lesser executive posts at their respective companies. Mulcahy and Parsons also once were directors at Fannie Mae when that company was breaking accounting rules. So was another member of Obama’s new economic board, former Commerce Secretary William Daley. He’s now a member of the executive committee at JPMorgan Chase & Co., which, like Citigroup, is among the nine large banks that just got $125 billion of Treasury’s bailout budget.

Now here is his national security team list

Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York and former First Lady, will serve as Secretary of State. March 8, 1992 WHITEWATER, Whitewater runs deep - investigation into Bill and Hillary Clinton's real estate investments that may have involved abuse of government funds
Secretary Robert Gates, the current Secretary of Defense, will continue to serve in that role.
Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General and a former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, will serve as Attorney General. In 1993, President Clinton nominated Mr. Holder to become the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Mr. Holder to serve as Deputy Attorney General, the number two position in the United States Department of Justice. Then came the Pardon of Marc Rich during the Clinton administration.

Janet Napolitano, Governor and former U.S. Attorney for Arizona, will serve as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. This pick is not an a surprise for the President Elect the Bills she has vetoed include one denying in state tuition and day care for illegal aliens, and one allowing law enforcement to enforcement to enforce immigration law on May 20. On May 10 she also vetoed a bill making English the official state language which would have allowed the state to save money by not having to provide all official documents in multiple languages and would have encourage assimilating immigrates into the American culture more effectively. But the Governor did endorse the senate amnesty bill.

Her statement on the Bill"The status quo is not acceptable, and when I hear those who are opposed to the bill call it amnesty, I really want to say to them what we have now is silent amnesty, because nothing is being done with those who are already illegally in this country, and we have no system to do anything with those already illegally in this country," she said.

Janet Napolitano is one of the reasons that nothing is being done to end illegal immigration. She silently stands by and watches as her state is inundated with illegal aliens taking advantage of the Arizona taxpayers and then blames it on the federal government.

Dr. Susan E. Rice, Born November 17, 1964 (age 44) Political Party Democrat a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Obama for America campaign, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, will serve as Ambassador to the United Nations.
served in the Clinton administration in various capacities: at the National Security Council from 1993 to 1997 then appointed as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs until Clinton left office in 2001.

General Jim Jones, USMC (Ret), former Allied Commander, Europe, and Commander of the United States European Command, will serve as National Security Advisor.

If you were Hoping for Change… Don’t hold your Breath

Pardon Is Back in Focus for the Justice Nominee

2008-12-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

New York Times Story Eric H. Holder Jr. faced questions from a Congressional committee in 2001 about the efforts to secure a presidential pardon for the financier Marc Rich.

President-Elect Obama's Cabinet taking on Old Clinton look

2008-11-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

A picture of President-elect Barack Obama"s Cabinet became clearer Friday, with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson emerging as a likely pick for commerce secretary.

As word spread Friday that Sen. Hillary Clinton was expected to accept the secretary of state position, senior Democratic officials said Obama intended to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his Treasury secretary to confront the nation"s intense economic turmoil.

Obama has moved with unusual speed to select officials for his administration. One Democrat said John Podesta, a leader of the transition team, had told Senate aides Friday that Obama hoped for speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly after Jan. 20.

The president-elect, who has repeatedly referred to the economic crisis as the top priority for his new administration, was considering Lawrence Summers "” a former Treasury secretary and onetime Harvard University president "” as an economic adviser. Economic posts also seemed likely for Obama"s top two economic advisers during his campaign, Austan Goolsbee and Jason Furman.

While speculation has been rampant about most top-level appointments, there has been relatively little about Obama"s choice for defense secretary. His aides encouraged speculation before the election that Robert Gates, who now holds the position, would remain in office for an interim period.

/>Other Cabinet selections so far include former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota as secretary of health and human services and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, likely to be named as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Napolitano was an early supporter of candidate Obama among the ranks of Democratic governors, as was Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Sebelius has figured prominently in recent days in speculation as possible secretary of labor.

Additionally, retired Gen. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, was among those under consideration for national security adviser. James Steinberg, an Obama campaign aide who served in Clinton"s White House, was another possibility, according to officials.

The possible Cabinet role for Richardson may calm anxiety that is running high among Latino leaders because Obama has yet to name a Latino to a top White House or Cabinet position.

This is also on the minds of senior transition officials "” including Obama"s designated chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel "” who are said to be considering Latino candidates for several Cabinet posts.

"The Obama transition team and the chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, understand the role that the Latino vote played in this election, and I think we will see representation in the Obama Cabinet and at the White House," said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza.

At least four Latino candidates are said to be under consideration to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; Adolfo Carrion Jr., a longtime New York pol and Bronx borough president; Saul Ramirez Jr., a former deputy HUD secretary; and Nelson Diaz, who has been a judge and a HUD general counsel.

With Cabinet positions up in the air, Obama"s team has been filling out the ranks of the White House staff.

Obama named Patrick Gaspard as his political director. Gaspard was Obama"s national political director during the general election campaign, and has long ties to labor.

Other appointments included: Jackie Norris as chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama; Catherine M. Russell as chief of staff to Vice President-elect Joe Biden"s wife Jill; Cynthia Hogan, as counsel to the vice president, and Moises V. Vela Jr. as director of administration for the vice president.

No Public Schools for President-elect Barack Obama

2008-11-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Obama children, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, will attend Sidwell Friends School, a private Quaker school that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended a decade ago.

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen a private school for their two daughters, opting for an institution that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended a decade ago.

Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, will be attending Sidwell Friends School, a private Quaker school with a campus in northwest Washington for grades 5-12 and another in suburban Bethesda, Maryland, for kindergarten through fourth grade. Malia is in fifth grade and Sasha is in second grade, suggesting that the girls would attend schools at different locations.

"A number of great schools were considered," said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. "In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now."

She said Sidwell can provide the security and privacy that the girls will need as part of the new first family. She also said that Sasha and Malia had become good friends with Vice President-elect Joe Biden's grandchildren, who go to the school.

Michelle Obama and her daughters visited Sidwell and another elite private school, Georgetown Day, earlier this week. The soon-to-be first lady visited both schools last week, without her daughters.

Lelyveld said that while public schools were considered, the Obamas felt that a private school was in the best interest of their children. The two girls currently attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where Michelle Obama is on the board.

Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy, went to a public school, but Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton chose Sidwell for Chelsea. Hillary Clinton later said she received "unfortunately, good advice" that the press would bother Chelsea if she attended public school.

Messages left with school administrators on Friday were not immediately returned. A woman who answered the phone at the home of Bruce Stewart, Sidwell's head of school, said he was not home. But she said the school would not release a statement before Monday.

Al Gore III, the son of former Vice President Al Gore, also attended Sidwell, where tuition is $28,442 at the lower school and $29,442 at the middle and upper schools.

President-elect Obama economic plan aiming to create 2.5 million jobs

2008-11-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

In the weekly Democratic radio address, President-elect Obama outlines economic plan aiming to create 2.5 million jobs by January 2011.

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday outlined his plan to create 2.5 million jobs in coming years to rebuild roads and bridges and modernize schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

"These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis; these are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address. The economic recovery plan being developed by his staff aims to create 2.5 million jobs by January 2011, and he wants to get it through Congress quickly and sign it soon after taking office.

He called the plan "big enough to meet the challenges we face" and said that it will jump-start job creation but also "lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy."

Aides said the economic plan outlined Saturday went further that the president-elect has gone before.

A trio of crises -- housing, credit and financial -- have badly damaged the economy, and financial analysts have projected the country's economic hardships will continue through much of 2009.

Obama acknowledged Saturday that evidence is growing the country is "facing an economic crisis of historic proportions." He noted turmoil on Wall Street, a decrease in new home purchases, growing jobless claims and the menacing problem of deflation.

He said he was pleased Congress passed an extension of unemployment benefits this week, but added, "We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again."

Figures out this week showed new claims for jobless aid had reached a 16-year high. "If we don't act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," Obama said.

He cautioned, "There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better." But Obama said Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, "is our chance to begin anew."

Obama said getting congressional approval for his broad economic plan will not be easy.
"I will need and seek support from Republicans and Democrats, and I'll be welcome to ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle," he said. "But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action."

Across the country, Americans "are lying awake at night wondering if next week's paycheck will cover next month's bills," people are showing up at work to clear out their desks and retirees are watching their life savings disappear, Obama said.

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to 542,000. That marked the highest level since July 1992 and provided fresh evidence of a rapidly weakening job market that is expected to get even worse next year.

In this country's darkest hours, the American people have risen above their divisions to solve their problems, he said.

"We have acted boldly, bravely, and above all, together," Obama said. "That is the chance our new beginning now offers us, and that is the challenge we must rise to in the days to come. It is time to act. As the next president of the United States, I will."

Pres.-Elect Obama's Transition to the White House

2008-11-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

As Inauguration Day quickly approaches, a daunting transition to-do list awaits the Obama administration.

Nearly 8,000 jobs waiting to be filled. Empty file drawers. Missing computer hard drives. Even furniture piled in the hallways.

The most powerful office in the world has less than three months to come into being, essentially from scratch.

"It is a very weird thing to walk into," said White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, who helped President Bush build a new government eight years ago. "There are no papers, no books. You have computer equipment but there's nothing on there. You've got a telephone but you just sort of barely know what everybody else's phone number is."

Bush's White House started working nearly a year before Election Day to get the government in shape to be handed off. Aides to President-elect Obama also began planning before the voting, just in case their candidate won. But everything accelerates into overdrive now that the 77-day presidential transition clock has started ticking.

Everything on the daunting transition to-do list will certainly not be checked off by Jan. 20, when President-elect Obama walks through the door of the White House as President Obama. But much must be done, especially naming staff and officials.

Put aside that it's the first wartime presidential transition in 40 years and that the country is gripped by fierce economic troubles. Consider that only days after taking over the Oval office, Obama must present to Congress his first budget request for the entire government.

After 232 years, America can be quite quaint about the transfer of power from one administration to the next. Even when a different party is taking over, there are tried-and-true rituals to be indulged.

There's the White House meeting between the outgoing and incoming commander in chief, usually accompanied by a parallel confab between their spouses. This time it's taking place much sooner than is typical, Today will be less than a week after Election Day.

What White House spokesman Tony Fratto called "a very special meeting in our democracy" brings the new guy to the White House in a way he never has visited before. Obama will be treated to a tour of his new home and office with the eyes of someone about to move in, and with the man holding the secrets known by only the small club of presidents as his guide.

In other words, Obama will get to hear and see the good stuff: maybe the weapons cache hidden in the West Wing or classified communications capabilities or the instructions for summoning a cup of coffee. The president-elect gets to, in that hackneyed cliche of campaigns, actually measure the drapes.

Incidentally, one design item that might draw particular interest is the rug in the Oval Office.

Each new occupant gets to custom-design a new one. Bush frequently cites that duty as a) his first presidential decision and b) one that revealed something he believes central to his personal character and approach to leadership. As he likes to tell it, Bush delegated the rug-picking to his wife with orders to have it reflect optimism, so the cream-colored concoction that covers his floor resembles a sunburst.

Another transfer-of-power tradition is the remarkable chain of events prescribed for Inauguration Day. It could be called Moving Day on steroids.

The night before, the Bush White House staff will leave their offices for the last time, turning in badges and keys. They will be unable to get back into the White House unless for a crisis.

The next day, as soon as Bush leaves the White House to go to the Capitol to watch Obama take the oath, and while Obama rides in the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and sits in the reviewing stands outside his new residence, an army of workers will box up and cart off the Bush-related contents of the building, personal and professional. Obama's, likewise, are brought in.

As mandated by federal law, the institutional memory of the place is wiped almost entirely clean. The Presidential Records Act of 1978 requires that all documents leave the White House with the outgoing president, except some in the National Security Council and the counsel's office.

That's not to say there aren't cheat sheets -- lots of them -- to help the new team.

Bookshelves in the office of White House deputy chief of staff Blake Gottesman are now covered with thick three-inch binders. Four of them, the thickest, spell out in detail the most daunting task of any incoming White House -- choosing 7,840 presidential appointees, and shepherding the 1,177 of those that need Senate confirmation through the Capitol Hill process.

Some estimate that 40,000 people will flood the new White House with resumes for those jobs in the first few weeks, and 75,000 in the first few months. A hint of how huge the task is: No administration has had confirmed more than about 25 Cabinet and sub-Cabinet personnel by April 1 or more than about 240 by its eighth month.

An additional dozen or so binders fill a separate long cabinet in Gottesman's office, coming from each part of the Executive Office of the President, such as the press shop and the congressional liaison group.

In addition, the NSC has prepared extensive briefing materials on every global hot spot imaginable, complete with contingency options for several possible emergency scenarios, said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more freely describe the preparations. Bolten also said that members of Obama's staff will be invited to attend at least one "tabletop exercise" at the White House, a regular simulation of an emergency such as a terrorist attack or disease outbreak.

Obama's team started receiving information about key issues even before Election Day. Those briefings -- and efforts such as establishing side-by-side workspace for Treasury Department's $700 billion financial rescue program -- now are ramping up more each day.

Bolten said this earlier and more intense transition activity is crucial because of the dire times. The goal is something akin to a relay race, where "we are carrying the baton but the next runner will be running before we actually hand them that baton."

Bush aides are also under orders to leave the place tidy, and not repeat the acts of minor vandalism that slightly marred the transition from President Clinton to Bush.

"We will vacuum, we will clean our desks, we will take the gum out from under the conference tables," Bolten joked.

Obama's Heightened Security Turns Neighborhood Into Virtual Fortress

2008-11-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

Secret Service has taken over once easy-going Chicago area where president-elect resides.

Reported By FoxNews
President-elect Barack Obama's Chicago neighborhood has become a very different place to live now that Secret Service agents have turned the once easy-going area into a virtual fortress to protect the next president, The Times of London reported.

Assassination fears surrounding Obama, codenamed "Renegade" by his security on the campaign trail, mean that he may become the most heavily guarded president in history. After months of shaking hands with strangers, the President-elect delivered his victory speech from behind bulletproof glass in Chicago's Grant Park.

Streets around his mock-Georgian mansion in enclave by the University of Chicago have been closed. The main thoroughfare has been shut down because it passes his yard.

Visitors to the synagogue that faces his house must put their names on a list 24 hours before they attend so that their identities can be checked.

"I live one block away. I get carded to go on my block," said Adrienne Stone, 33, a U.S. Air Force veteran. "I have become accustomed to the Secret Service being everywhere. I don't get a lot of sleep. There are helicopters overhead. But he deserves this. We have lost too many leaders before their time," she said.

The United States has seen the assassination of four presidents -- Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. Eight others have survived attempts on their lives.
Reported By FoxNews

Farrakhan Says Obama Presidency Will Bring 'New Beginning'

2008-11-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

Americans can expect a "new beginning" when Barack Obama officially takes over the White House, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said on Sunday.

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan says the U.S. can expect a "new beginning" under the leadership of President-elect Barack Obama.

The 75-year-old is scheduled to make a speech on that topic Sunday at Mosque Maryam, the Chicago-based movement's headquarters.

The address is called "America's New Beginning: President-elect Barack Obama."

Farrakhan has praised Obama and publicly supported his bid for the White House, which Obama's campaign quickly denounced.

In February, Farrakhan called Obama the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better at a Chicago Saviours' Day event.
foxNews Reported

Reported 10/13/08 by True Facts News Louis Farrakhan Calls Obama the Messiah

Ralph Nader Calls Obama an Uncle Tom

2008-11-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Ralph Nader told a TV reporter that President-elect Barack Obama has to choose between being "Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations," a remark he refused to apologize for later in a heated interview later with Fox News' Shepard Smith.

Ralph Nader is a washed up far left wing wack case, with no class what-so-ever, to disagree with ones views or polices is one thing. but to call the First black President of the U.S a Uncle Tom is another.

Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid

2008-11-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid wages and the use of spreading the wealth when not getting all their money.

Indianapolis - Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

A former spokesman for the Obama campaign said 375 people were hired as part of the Vote Corps program and said people signed up to work three-hour shifts at a time. Three hours of canvassing got workers a $30 pre-paid Visa card.

The workers showed up to get their cards Wednesday morning at 10:00 am.

The large gathering of around 375 people prompted police to call in extra officers and set up temporary barricades. The barricades helped keep the crowd from spilling out onto Meridian Street. Police say the several hundred people in line were for the most part orderly.

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.

Some people weren't satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them.

"They say that they gonna call you or they going to mail it to you, but I don't know. We'll see what happens," said Antron Grose.

"Talking about they'll mail it to us. I ain't worried about that, man. They're not going to mail nothin'," said Martin.

Obama Bought White House for $650 Million

2008-11-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

Reported By News Max
By: Jim Meyers
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign smashed all previous fundraising records, raking in more than an astounding $650 million from some 3 million donors and giving him a huge advantage over rival John McCain.
But questions abound regarding the legality of many of the donations that helped propel him to victory.
And one question is: Did Obama “buy” the election?
Obama’s fundraising haul was more than twice the amount Democrat John Kerry raised in 2004, and more than twice what George Bush and Al Gore combined brought in during the 2000 presidential campaign.
“Nobody could have imagined numbers like this or participation like this,” veteran fundraiser Alan Solomont told Bloomberg.com.
Obama’s fundraising effort was in high gear from the very start, bringing in $24.8 million for the primary during the first three months of 2007, compared to $19.1 million for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
By the end of 2007, Obama had raised $102 million. He won the Iowa primary on Jan. 3, 2008, and raised another $36 million that month.
Almost half of Obama’s money came from people donating $200 or less, compared with 34 percent for McCain, Bloomberg reported.
Obama on two occasions promised to work with McCain on an agreement to accept public financing. McCain did accept public financing, limiting his ability to raise private donations, but in June Obama reneged on his vows, enabling him to raise unlimited amounts from donors.
The press by and large did not hold Obama accountable for the broken promises. But McCain sharply criticized him, saying: “Twice he looked the American people in the eye and said he would sit down with me before he abandoned public financing. He didn’t mean a word of it. When it was in his interest to break his promise, he tossed it aside like it didn’t mean a thing.”
Obama’s fundraising “revolutionized the way presidential campaigns are financed and may kill the Watergate-era system of providing public money for the general election,” Bloomberg observed.
Free to raise unlimited funds, Obama’s campaign brought in at least $200 million in September and October, more than doubling the amount available to McCain.
Obama’s huge edge in finances enabled him to devote nearly three times as much as McCain to advertising, with the Democrat spending $21.5 million to McCain’s $7.5 million from Oct. 21 to Oct. 28 as Election Day neared.
On the day before the election, Obama ran 3,410 ads in seven competitive states, while McCain ran only 1,900.
Obama also far outspent McCain on staff salaries, helping him to open field offices and fund a get-out-the-vote effort.
But an investigation by Newsmax correspondent Kenneth R. Timmerman has uncovered numerous examples of questionable donations, including those originating from foreign sources in apparent violation of laws forbidding candidates from accepting foreign money.
On Sept. 29, Timmerman first disclosed that more than half of the $426.9 million Obama had raised at that point came from small donors whose names the Obama campaign would not disclose — making it impossible to verify that donors were not surpassing the $2,300 an individual can contribute to a candidate for the general election.
The Federal Election Commission cited a series of $25 donations from a contributor identified as “Will, Good” from Austin, Tex. A Newsmax analysis of the master file for the Obama campaign discovered 1,000 separate entries for Mr. Good Will, totaling $17,375.
Similarly, a donor identified as “Pro, Doodad” gave $19,500 in 786 separate donations. The donor listed his employer as “Loving” and his profession as “You.” Some of Doodad Pro’s donations were refunded by the campaign, but as of Sept. 20 more than $11,000 had not been returned.
Timmerman disclosed that the FEC compiled a database of potentially questionable overseas donations totaling $3.38 million. The funds came from such places as Abu Dhabi, Beijing, and Ethiopia.
In June, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a speech in which he claimed foreign nationals were contributing to Obama’s campaign.
Timmerman also reported that donors from the Gaza Strip had contributed $33,000 to the Obama campaign through the purchase of Obama T-shirts they had shipped to Gaza.
Timmerman published a new report on Oct. 8, disclosing that an investigation of Obama’s campaign finance reports turned up more than 2,000 cases in which individuals made donations far above the legal limit of $2,300 per election.
For example, in August the campaign filed a report listing a single donation from a Debra Myers in “Rancho Palos Verde, Calif.,” for $28,500, and a $28,500 contribution from a donor identified as Woodrow Myers Jr.
The Obama campaign said it had refunded both donations on Sept. 30, the day after Newsmax published Timmerman’s first report.
Timmerman followed up with a new report on Oct. 19, disclosing that more than 37,000 Obama donations appeared to be conversions of foreign currency, totaling as much as $63 million.
The red flag was the odd amounts donated by a number of suspected foreign donors. One contributor gave $188.67, $1,542.06, $876.09, $388.67, $282.20, $195.66, and $118.15.
“They are obviously converting from local currency to U.S. dollars,” said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center.
On Oct. 21, Timmerman revealed that the Obama campaign had accepted contributions from donors identifying themselves as King Kong, Daffy Duck, and Bart Simpson — without any apparent effort by the campaign to screen them out as suspect donors.
An individual using the name “O.J. Simpson” donated to the campaign on Oct. 14, giving his occupation as “convict.” The campaign sent O.J. a thank-you note.
Other donors with clearly fictitious names include “Dertey Poiiuy,” “Mong Kong,” “Fornari USA,” and “jkbkj Hbkjb.”
Timmerman reported on Oct. 29: “A Newsmax investigation of Obama/Biden campaign contributors, undertaken in conjunction with a private investigative firm headed by a former CIA operations officer, has identified 118 donors who appear to lack U.S. citizenship.
“Some of these ‘red flag’ donors work for foreign governments; others have made public statements declaring that they are citizens of Cameroun, Nigeria, Pakistan, Canada, and other countries.”
Frederick W. Rustmann Jr., the former CIA operations officer, told Newsmax: “Hillary and McCain demanded proof of citizenship of all their donors. Obama did not, so he benefitted by receiving an enormous amount of money from foreign donors who wanted to influence the U.S. election process.”
The conservative Heritage Foundation has taken the first step in what could be an in-depth investigation of Obama’s fundraising efforts, demanding that the FEC audit the Obama campaign.
The foundation issued a release on Tuesday declaring: “No doubt there is great ‘cause’ to be concerned about Obama’s fundraising effort.”
The foundation also pointed to a test by the independent National Journal to determine the veracity of allegations that the Democrat’s online fundraising system literally was designed to facilitate fraud.

U.S. Stocks Tumbles 486 Points after a Historic Presidential Election of Barack Obama

2008-11-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

The stock market posted its biggest plunge following a Presidential Election, with euphoria vanishing into a cloud of negativity. its worst post-election plunge on record. In the aftermath of an election there is often a bounce in terms of confidence. Those that supported the winner are in a good mood and most of the public greets the new leadership with a mix of hope. These voters are now back to their normal duties as consumers and workers and now they want some justification for feeling positive. But this year has been different. There was no incumbent running this time and thus no authority figure pulling out all the stops. Both the candidates attacked the policies of the past and essentially neutralized the messages from the White House while Congress spent most of its energy distancing itself from the very actions it was being forced to take.
The Jimmy Carter Presidency tried "tough love" and tried to tell people just how bad things were. He became noted for his downbeat assessments and calls for people to sacrifice. His successor was Ronald Reagan who approached his Presidency as one in which he needed to inspire and motivate. The US population tends to respond better to the inspirational message.
President-Elect Obama needs to act fast, and with a message that starts to reverse the negative attitudes without sugar coating anything. The two most important actions the President-elect Obama could take would be to choose the economic team that will manage the economy and start making remarks that serve to rally the consumer that is fearful and paralyzed by a there future.

January’s 2009 Agenda for Democrats starts with the Elimination of your 401K

2008-11-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

Powerful House Democrats in July 2008 were eyeing new proposals to overhaul the nation's $3 trillion 401(k) system, including the elimination of most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks that 401(k) investors receive. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, are looking at redirecting those tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute. Under the plan, all workers would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government. The employee would be limited to max 5% investment of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would offer a lousy 3 percent return a year, adjusted for inflation. The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated. With the majority in the House and Senate in control by the Democrats, this program will be on Priority Fast Track.

Well it appears the democrats are following in the same steps as the cash-strapped Argentina (socialist system )who just did it in the name of protecting workers' retirement accounts.

This plan was originally proposed by Theresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, and presented to Miller and McDermott last july 2008 at a House hearing.

Obama did promised to solve this problem by making "rich people" pay more into Social Security while reducing their benefits, transforming a retirement plan into a wealth transfer plan.

In one move, the hated private market would be deprived of the capital that makes "capitalism" possible, and the government would have the money to fund the massive expansion of government programs, subsidies and tax "cuts" promised by Barack Obama.

Russia to Deploy Missiles in Response to U.S. Missile Shield

2008-11-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

Associated Press
Wednesday, November 05, 2008

MOSCOW — Russia will deploy missiles near NATO member Poland in response to U.S. missile defense plans, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday in his first state of the nation speech.

Medvedev also singled out the United States for criticism, casting Russia's war with Georgia in August and the global financial turmoil as consequences of aggressive, selfish U.S. policies.

He said he hoped the next U.S. administration would act to improve relations. In a separate telegram, he congratulated Barack Obama on his election victory and said he was hoping for "constructive dialogue" with the incoming U.S. president.

Medvedev also proposed increasing the Russian presidential term to six years from the current four, a major constitutional change that would further increase the power of the head of state and could deepen Western concern over democracy in Russia.

The president said the Iskander missiles will be deployed to Russia's Kaliningrad region, which lies between Poland and the ex-Soviet republic of Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, but did not say how many would be used. Equipment to electronically hamper the operation of prospective U.S. missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic will be deployed, he said.

He did not say whether the short-range Iskander missiles would be fitted with nuclear warheads and it was not clear exactly when the missiles would be deployed.

"Mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egoistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions of certain members of the international community," he said shortly after starting the 85-minute speech, making it clear he was referring to the United States.

The president said Georgia sparked the August war on its territory with what he called "barbaric aggression" against Russian-backed South Ossetia. The conflict "was, among other things, the result of the arrogant course of the American administration, which did not tolerate criticism and preferred unilateral decisions."

Medvedev also painted Russia as a country threatened by growing Western military might.

"From what we have seen in recent years, the creation of a missile defense system, the encirclement of Russia with military bases, the relentless expansion of NATO, we have gotten the clear impression that they are testing our strength," Medvedev said.

He announced deployment of the short-range missiles as a military response to U.S. plans to deploy missile-defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic — former Soviet satellites that are now NATO members.

Speaking just hours after Obama was declared the victor in the U.S. presidential election, Medvedev said he hoped the incoming administration will take steps to improve badly damaged U.S. ties with Russia. He suggested it is up to the U.S. — not the Kremlin — to seek to improve relations.

"I stress that we have no problem with the American people, no inborn anti-Americanism. And we hope that our partners, the U.S. administration, will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia," Medvedev said.

Tension in Russian-American relations has been driven to a post-Cold War high by Moscow's war with U.S. ally Georgia.

On the financial crisis, Medvedev said overconfidence in American dominance after the collapse of the Soviet Union "led the U.S. authorities to major mistakes in the economic sphere." The administration ignored warnings and harmed itself and others by "blowing up a money bubble to stimulate its own growth," he said.

Medvedev said the president's tenure should be lengthened to six years to enable the government to more effectively implement reforms. He said the term of the parliament also should be extended by a year to five years, and that parliament's power must be increased by requiring the Cabinet to report to lawmakers regularly.

The proposals were Medvedev's first major initiative to amend the constitution since he was elected in March to succeed his longtime mentor Vladimir Putin.

Putin, who is now prime minister and has not ruled out a return to the Kremlin in the future, has favored increasing the presidential term.

Historic Obama Election Nov 4, 2008

2008-11-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

Barack Hussein Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States, this historic election made U.S History. The first African American, a 47-year-old man from the state of Illinois. His 52.1% majority has given him a mandate for his change message, although we as Americans are still unsure what this will mean in regards to foreign policy or economic policy. When President Bill Clinton ran and won he too promised tax cuts for the middle class but once he took office the first thing he did was cut the capital gains tax, and not give the tax cuts that were promised during the primary. President-Elect Obama will need to get an eye opener once he takes office in January 2009. Obama will be the new Teflon President because certain segments of the Media, and our population will give him a pass on everything does. Barack Obama's Senior Advisers have already drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency amid at concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harboring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.

Like this supporter below

The sudden financial crisis and the prospect of a deep and painful recession have increased the urgency inside the Obama team to bring people down to earth, after a campaign in which his soaring rhetoric and promises of "hope" and "change" are now confronted with the reality of a stricken economy. His own Senior adviser has already stated that the first few weeks of the transition, and immediately after the election, is critical, "so there's not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair." The Senior aide stated "The first hundred days is going to be important, but it's probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference," he said. He (Obama) has also been reminding crowds in recent days how "hard" it will be to achieve his goals, and that it will take time.Obama with one eye looking at his re-election bid 2012, and the other eye on the Senate and House mid-term elections in 2010, will have too lead from the center to keep his Democratic liberal Senate and House in check, as to not upset the apple cart with Voters. But that will be hard with the likes of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

As for The Republican Party's role,they will rebuild in the shadow of the frustrations of the Obama presidency, so Republicans must go down to their grass roots, get in touch with their base and rebuild an opportunity to win national elections.

Election Night Transcript of Speech Barack Obama Nov. 4th 2008

2008-11-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

BARACK OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.

(APPLAUSE)

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

(APPLAUSE)

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

(APPLAUSE)

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.

(APPLAUSE)

Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton...

(APPLAUSE)

... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

(APPLAUSE)

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years...

(APPLAUSE)

... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady...

(APPLAUSE)

... Michelle Obama.

(APPLAUSE)

Sasha and Malia...

(APPLAUSE)

... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us...

(LAUGHTER)

... to the new White House.

(APPLAUSE)

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

(APPLAUSE)

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe...

(APPLAUSE)

... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

To my chief strategist David Axelrod...

(APPLAUSE)

... who's been a partner with me every step of the way. To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics...

(APPLAUSE)

... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy...

(APPLAUSE)

... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

(APPLAUSE)

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

(APPLAUSE)

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

(APPLAUSE)

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

(APPLAUSE)

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

(APPLAUSE)

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

(APPLAUSE)

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see?

What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Closing arguments against the Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama

2008-11-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury. It now becomes my duty, as well as my privilege, to address you on behalf of the RNC, people who cling to their Guns and Religion, all of the Joe the Plumbers, and regular Voters all across the United States. This case against Senator Obama and the evidence you will hear today is very compelling. You will hear in Senator Obama’s own words talk about his relationships with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, his refusal too admit that he was close friends with an unrepentant terrorist. We will also hear from The Jeremiah Wright in his distaste for the American way of life as well as here from Senator Obama on his denials that Jeremiah Wright said any of those horrible things about Americans. This case will also show when he was a community organizer that he sat on the Board with Bill Ayers.

Not willing to salute the U.S Flag

The rise of the “ONE”

OR

Country First

Democrats vs. Obama

Barack Obama the Community Organizer

Obama's Priest

Father Micheal Pfleger, Attacks Clinton

Obama's ChurchSays America Rapes BlackPeople; AttacksHillary

Best of Jeremiah Wright's Sermons

Obama Will Not Denounce Church

'The View' Audience Angry At Obama's Lies

Another Obama mentor, Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, calls for the murder of white people.

Joe Biden Ads

Joe Biden 2008 Final Edition

We're not electing Barack Obama to be Class president

BIDEN SAYS AD MOCKING MCCAIN WAS TERRIBLE by Associated Press Monday, September 22, 2008

Even Joe Biden does not believe in Barack Obama!

Hillary Clinton Campaign AD 3 A.M
>

CNN Busted Obama For LYING On His Ads About McCain

He is not the “ONE”

Barack Hussein Obama refuses to salute US flag

The evidence against Senator Obama is very strong and I hope once you see the tapes you will reject his Presidential bid.
Get out and Vote………………… this Man is Not Fit To Be President.

Part 2 Closing arguments against the Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama

2008-11-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Obama's Tax Cut

Obama states he will give a tax cut to 95% of voters out there, but what he doesn't tell you that 40% of those voters ( 55 million of them ) don't pay taxes now. So its not really a tax cut but a an extension of welfare.

Hitting Big Oil with a Win Full Tax credit:
The last time this country experimented with such a tax was the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980. According to a 1990 Congressional Research Service study, the tax depressed the domestic oil industry, increased foreign imports and raised only a tiny fraction of the revenue forecasted. It stunted domestic production of oil by 3% to 6% and created a surge in foreign imports, from 8% to 16%.

So big business or small business is not a friend to obama because his plan for growing America’s economy to say that we need to tax excess profits from any American business that grows fast and does well and then redistribute that money to average American folk is ok to do, but look at where we are at right now today, corporations closing down, big corporations lying off thousands of employees.

Obama wants to increase capital Gains Tax, even President Bill Clinton saw the down side the down side to raising capital Gains he lowered it from 28% to 20% the fact is since 1986 the top 1% has paid 23% in 1986, 33% in 2003 and 40% in 2007. How much more should we spread the wealth? How is Obama to going to stop corporations from passing those taxes to taxpayers in the prices of consumer goods? Think about it.

Then came joe the Plumber

Other Americans relating to Joe the Plumber

Other Americans relating to Joe the Plumber

Bill Clinton and John McCain on the Mortgage Crisis

Obama talking about his teen drug use

Obama: "Small towns cling to guns or religion"

Barack Hussein Obama refuses to salute US flag

The evidence against Senator Obama is very strong and I hope once you see the tapes you will reject his Presidential bid.
Get out and Vote………………… this Man is Not Fit To Be President.

Obama Lays Plans to Kill Expectations After Election Victory

2008-11-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Confident in an Election Day win, the campaign looks to lower supporters' expectations on concerns their hopes of 'change' are unrealistic, a senior aide says

By Tim Reid, The Times of London

Barack Obama's senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week's election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harboring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.

The sudden financial crisis and the prospect of a deep and painful recession have increased the urgency inside the Obama team to bring people down to earth, after a campaign in which his soaring rhetoric and promises of "hope" and "change" are now confronted with the reality of a stricken economy.

One senior adviser told The Times that the first few weeks of the transition, immediately after the election, were critical, "so there's not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair."

The aide said that Obama himself was the first to realize that expectations risked being inflated.

In an interview with a Colorado radio station, Obama appeared to be engaged already in expectation lowering. Asked about his goals for the first hundred days, he said he would need more time to tackle such big and costly issues as health care reform, global warming and Iraq.

"The first hundred days is going to be important, but it's probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference," he said. He has also been reminding crowds in recent days how "hard" it will be to achieve his goals, and that it will take time.

"I won't stand here and pretend that any of this will be easy -- especially now," Obama told a rally in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday, citing "the cost of this economic crisis, and the cost of the war in Iraq." Obama's transition team is headed by John Podesta, a Washington veteran and a former chief-of-staff to Bill Clinton. He has spent months overseeing a virtual Democratic government-in-exile to plan a smooth transition should Obama emerge victorious next week.

The plans are so far advanced that an Obama Cabinet has been largely decided upon, with the expectation that most of his senior appointments could be announced shortly after election day.

Obama's Aunt Reportedly Living Illegally in Boston

2008-11-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

The Illinois senator's aunt has been residing in Boston public housing since her request for asylum was denied four years ago.

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.

Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.

Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.

Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.

The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.

Onyango is not a relative whom Obama has discussed in campaign appearances and, unlike Obama's father and grandmother, is not someone who has been part of the public discussion about his personal life.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, said the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case.

Onyango's case -- coming to light just days before the presidential election -- led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday's election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.

The unusual directive suggests that the Bush administration is sensitive to the political implications of Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.

One of the sources acknowledged he was not a supporter of Obama or John McCain and said he has no plans to vote on Tuesday. He said that was not a motive for releasing the information.

Kenya is in eastern Africa between Somalia and Tanzania. The country has been fractured in violence in recent years, including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed 1,500 people.

The disclosure about Onyango came just one day after Obama's presidential campaign confirmed to the Times of London that Onyango, who has lived quietly in public housing in South Boston for five years, was Obama's half aunt on his father's side.

It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.

Report: Clerk Charged with Misconduct for Unlawfully Accessing Information on 'Joe the Plumber'

2008-10-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

A records clerk in Ohio has reportedly come under fire for illegally accessing information on "Joe the Plumber" through a statewide database.

A records clerk in Ohio has been charged with gross misconduct after unlawfully using a state database to access information on the man famously known as "Joe the Plumber," the Toledo police department confirmed to FOXNews.com.

Julie McConnell, a long-time records clerk with the department's investigative services bureau, used the database -- called the Law Enforcement Automated Data System or LEADS -- to access information on Joe Wurzelbacher.

Wurzelbacher, a 34-year-old Ohio man looking to buy a plumbing business, rose to political fame after questioning Barack Obama on his "spreading the wealth" remarks during an Oct. 12 rally in Holland, Ohio. He has since become a symbol for John McCain's campaign, which says Obama proposes to raise taxes on small businesses.

McConnell allegedly used the LEADS database to confirm Wurzelbacher's address at the request of a local television reporter, Toledo police Chief Mike Navarre told FOXNews.com.

"You can't use that database unless it was for law enforcement purposes," Navarre said.

"If Wurzelbacher was a witness to a crime or a victim of a crime or a suspect to a crime and we needed to confirm his address, we could go in there to get it," he said.

An internal investigation into McConnell's activity was launched when the Toledo police received a phone call from the Ohio Highway Patrol, questioning why information on Wurzelbacher was accessed, Navarre said.

Similarly, a state agency director in Ohio has also come under under fire for reportedly authorizing a check on a state child-support computer system to determine if Wurzelbacher was up-to-date on any ordered child-support payments.

Navarre described McConnell as a "good employee," who has been with the department for 13 years.

"There was no ill intent here. There was no political purpose here. She was simply trying to do someone a favor," said Navarre, adding that the information McConnell provided was public record.

A disciplinary hearing is being scheduled for McConnell, who has not yet been found guilty.

"The level of discipline has not yet been determined yet," Navarre said.

Obama’s infomercial with paid Actors ?

2008-10-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

Its quite clear our economy is in the tank and Americans are struggling, we didn’t need to see that in his infomercial by paid Actors. What we needed to hear was clear polices that will make the future for all Americans better. Obama didn’t breakdown his policy and truly explain his Tax plan. That’s what I was waiting for, his assertion that taking from the rich and giving it the middle class or poor makes no sense. Right now 45% of all Americans pay no taxes whatsoever, nothing. So the 95% figure Obama uses means nothing, and that part he should of explained. A year ago he stated folks making less then 300k would see a tax cut then it went to 250k then to 200k in his infomercial and Joe Biden the other day stated 150k, what is it, what’s the plan. It sounds like there just shooting from the hip, There is no substance to his plan.

Obama quote: "Here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we'll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. "

So how will he cut those taxes for families making less then 200k ? how much of a tax credit is he going to give companies for every new employee ?, and how much will it cost ? tax breaks for companies to keep jobs from going over seas, and how much? freezing foreclosures for 90 days, how do you do this when these people are out of work or they qualified for a Stated Income loan and can’t qualify going Full Doc using paystubs.

Obama only gives talking points with no hard facts or figures on how he is going to accomplish this goal ?.

Obama quote: "That's why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year."

Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. But his plan does not lower premiums by $2,500. his using smoke and mirriors on the voters.

Obama quote: "I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care."

Ok, his statement “I also believe” is not the same meaning as guaranteed health care coverage for all. He mentions children but not adults.

The 5 million spent on this infomercial would have been better spent on giving 10,000 familes currently having a tough time making there house payments a check for $500.00 dollars each. This would have been a better way of him to explain how spreading the wealth works.

Obama Speaks Of Rev. Wright In This 1995 Interview

2008-10-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

In a 1995 interview, Barack Obama lavished praise on Reverend Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright, calling him a “wonderful man” and “the best of what the black church has to offer.”

Now lets here from this great church

Barack Obama’s night of his first 30 minute infomercial

2008-10-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama’s night of his first 30 minute infomercial even has some in his Liberal media talking about Obama’s broken promise to except Public financing In November 2007, in an interview with “common cause” when asked "If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?" Obama answered Yes.
"In February 2007 Obama wrote: I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

June 19, 2008 Sen. Barack Obama announced that he would not enter into the public financing system, despite a previous pledge to do so.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us; Barack Obama has made many pledges in his run for state office of Illinois and his U.S Senate seat election where promises were broken. The change candidate does change his mind a lot on breaking promises with his voters.

Despite all that, and despite his lead in national and most battleground polls, the campaign decided to plunk down between $3 and $5 million to buy half-hour blocks of time at 8 p.m. tonight on NBC, CBS, FOX, Univision, BET, MSNBC and TV One for delivery of his final argument to the voters.
I must give kudos to ABC for not going along with this nonsense, if Fox had not did this they would of been called Racist or in the bag for McCain so I believe this the only reason they are running this ad of Obama.

Today, Obama is dominating the television ad wars. As of Oct. 22, Obama placed 150% more ads than McCain in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to the Nielsen Co.

Could it seem to some voters like overkill?

I believe so, if Obama sits down and can tell us his real intentions on his tax cut without the same talking points he tends to say all the time and get into substance by breaking down the numbers like Ross Perot did in 2002 he my do well, but he won’t. The biggest risk in airing the infomercials, according to the strategists, is that Obama could irritate people by interrupting their regular television viewing habits.

Perot’s programs drew an average audience of 11.6 million viewers, or 4.6 percent of viewers nationwide, according to Nielsen. His one simulcast on ABC and CBS on Nov. 2, 1992 attracted 26 million viewers, Nielsen found.

Quote from Campbell Brown CNN One year ago, he made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits. Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word. He broke his promise and he explained it by arguing that the system is broken and that Republicans know how to work the system to their advantage. He argued he would need all that cash to fight the ruthless attacks of 527s, those independent groups like the Swift Boat Veterans. It's funny though, those attacks never really materialized. For this last week, Sen. Obama will be rolling in dough. His commercials, his get-out-the-vote effort will, as the pundits have said, dwarf the McCain campaign's final push. But in fairness, you have to admit, he is getting there in part on a broken promise.

Quote from Obama supporter today
DEMS' CAMPAIGN-FINANCE HYPOCRISY
By BOB KERREY
ON the question of public funding of presidential campaigns, we Democrats who strongly support Sen. Barack Obama’s candidacy and who previously supported limits on campaign spending and who haven't objected to Obama's opting out of the presidential funding system face an awkward fact: Either we are hypocrites, or we were wrong to support such limitations in the first place.I'm sad to report that hypocrite is a more accurate label. Bob Kerry

Ross Perot's used his own money his self-financed candidacy tapped national attitudes as a successful Texas businessman with no political experience (he had never held elected office, worked in a bureaucracy, or studied public policy), Perot was the ultimate outsider. Perot's response was aggressive television advertising campaigns, including conventional, 30-second spots and half-hour paid "infomercials." The strategy portrayed Perot as a down-to-earth outsider who was not afraid to discuss issues and present real solutions. Perot frequently focused the infomercials on deficit reduction, his pet project. The presentations often included Perot's colorful graphs and appealing humor.

Am not sure Obama can be so graphic on his policies because his shooting from the hip with the message of change with no real policy. His character is suspect and so is his policy. And his supporter’s don’t care because all they here is the word change, by using the argument he is not committing to anything and if his not committing to anything then he can’t be accused of not keeping any promises.

Judge rules Ohio homeless voters may list park benches as addresses

2008-10-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

We can thank these two for allowing more voter fraud Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and Democrat Secretary of State of Ohio Jennifer Brunner

Obama, in 2001 Interview, Lamented Failure of Civil Rights Movement to Redistribute Wealth

2008-10-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

In a radio interview in 2001, Barack Obama said the civil rights movement failed when it became so dependent on the Supreme Court that it never got around to working toward redistributing income.

FoxNews,Drudge Report
A 7-year-old radio interview in which Barack Obama discussed the failure of the Supreme Court to rule on redistributing wealth in its civil rights rulings has given fresh ammunition to critics who say the Democratic presidential candidate has a socialist agenda.

The interview -- conducted by Chicago Public Radio in 2001, while Obama was an Illinois state senator and a law professor at the University of Chicago -- delves into whether the civil rights movement should have gone further than it did, so that when "dispossessed peoples" appealed to the high court on the right to sit at the lunch counter, they should have also appealed for the right to have someone else pay for the meal.

In the interview, Obama said the civil rights movement was victorious in some regards, but failed to create a "redistributive change" in its appeals to the Supreme Court, led at the time by Chief Justice Earl Warren. He suggested that such change should occur at the state legislature level, since the courts did not interpret the U.S. Constitution to permit such change.

"The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of basic issues of political and economic justice in this society, and to that extent as radical as people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical," Obama said in the interview, a recording of which surfaced on the Internet over the weekend.

"It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it has been interpreted.

"And the Warren court interpreted it generally in the same way -- that the Constitution is a document of negative liberties, says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf, and that hasn't shifted.

"And I think one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was that the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and organizing activities on the ground that are able to bring about the coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change, and in some ways we still suffer from that," Obama said.

The 2001 interview evokes recent questioning by Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, the Ohio man who asked Obama about his proposal to raise taxes on people making more than $250,000. Obama told Wurzelbacher he wants to hike taxes on the wealthy so that the government can spread the wealth.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said Monday the comments on the tape have "nothing to do with Obama's economic plan or his plan to give the middle class a tax cut."

"Here are the facts. In the interview, Obama went into extensive detail to explain why the courts should not get into that business of 'redistributing' wealth. Obama's point -- and what he called a tragedy -- was that legal victories in the civil rights led too many people to rely on the courts to change society for the better. That view is shared by conservative judges and legal scholars across the country," Burton said..

"As Obama has said before and written about, he believes that change comes from the bottom up -- not from the corridors of Washington. ... And so Obama's point was simply that if we want to improve economic conditions for people in this country, we should do so by bringing people together at the community level and getting everyone involved in our democratic process," Burton continued.

John McCain's campaign said the tape proves that Obama is too liberal for the White House.

Now we know that the slogans 'change you can believe in' and 'change we need' are code words for Barack Obama's ultimate goal: 'redistributive change,'" said McCain-Palin senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin.

"Barack Obama expressed his regret that the Supreme Court hadn't been more 'radical' and described as a 'tragedy' the court's refusal to take up 'the issues of redistribution of wealth.' No wonder he wants to appoint judges that legislate from the bench," Holtz-Eakin continued.

National Review reporter Byron York, a FOX News contributor, said the U.S. government already has a progressive tax system that gives money earned by one group to another group, but it's a matter of degree. He added that Obama's outlook on that system hasn't changed.

"It seems clear from listening to this that the Obama of 2001 and probably the Obama of today feels that the government doesn't do that enough, and I think that's probably the big point in this tape," York said.

"You've got to take him at his word," York added. "It seems to me that the tape shows that this is simply a goal he has had for a long time."

In a speech in Cleveland on Monday, McCain said the Obama interview is just another indication that the Democrat wants to increase sharply the amount of government spending.

"Today, he claims he will only tax the rich. But we've seen in the past that he's willing to support taxes that hit people squarely in the middle class, and with a trillion dollars in new spending, the most likely outcome is that everyone who pays taxes will be paying for his spending," McCain said.