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

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.

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

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

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

Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid

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.

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

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

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.

Historic Obama Election Nov 4, 2008

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.

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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.