GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal calls Obama's plan irresponsible

There they go agian, complaining and criticising without actually adding any constructiveness to the equasion. Ok, we heard you bobby - but give us an alternative, give us a nother way to solve the problem at hand rather then just giving out about the atempts being made.

Republican leaders continued their attacks on President Barack Obama's handling of the economy Tuesday, calling it irresponsible and certain to increase taxes and federal debt.

Responding in advance to Obama's televised speech to a joint session of Congress, top Republicans said the president relies too heavily on spending, and not enough on tax cuts, to try to revive the gasping economy. They said they want to work with Obama, and sometimes blamed congressional Democrats more than him. But their criticisms were sharp and plentiful.

"The way to lead is not to raise taxes and put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who gave the Republican Party's official response, said in excerpts released early. The massive economic stimulus bill recently enacted by Obama and congressional Democrats, Jindal said, will expand the government, "increase our taxes down the line, and saddle future generations with debt."

"It's irresponsible," said Jindal, who is eyeing a presidential bid in 2012.

The tone of the Republicans' response was in keeping with their nearly unanimous opposition to the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, which was backed by only three Republicans in the Senate and none in the House. Some Democrats and independents think the Republicans are blundering and misreading most Americans' sentiments about the need for massive government action to help the economy.

In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, about three-fourths said Obama was trying to be bipartisan, and almost as many faulted the response of Republican officials, which was seen as politically motivated.

Despite such findings, GOP lawmakers say they believe they will be proven right in the long run.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Tuesday that Republicans want to help Obama find "responsible solutions to the challenges facing our nation, but thus far congressional leaders in the president's own party have stood in the way."

Boehner, Jindal and other Republicans repeatedly accused Democrats of wanting to raise taxes, but the Obama-backed stimulus package has extensive tax cuts.

Jindal acknowledged that to some degree, Republicans deserved the drubbing they took in the last two national elections.

"Our party got away from its principles," he said. "You elected Republicans to champion limited government, fiscal discipline, and personal responsibility. Instead, Republicans went along with earmarks and big government spending in Washington." But that is changing, he said.

Taking advantage of his moment in the national spotlight, Jindal publicized a Web link Tuesday () allowing respondents to receive early excerpts of his planned televised response, and to donate to his political organization. Jindal also collected their e-mail and postal addresses, which could prove handy in a presidential race

McCain questions Obama about helicopter at summit

Ofcourse the man needs new Helicopters. Pimped ones with 22" alloys and a descent sound system too. McCain is only complaining cause he didn't get to pick the color. I'm sure there are many other military spendings that can and should be reviewd, but as soon as a black man wants 28 new helicopters white america gets scared and puts the brakes on. Tell them they are for killing arabs and nobody will care..

President Barack Obama never had a helicopter, which he says might explain why he's perfectly happy with the current White House fleet and doesn't need a more costly one. At the conclusion of a fiscal summit Monday, Obama faced questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, including his former presidential rival, Sen. John McCain.

McCain bemoaned cost overruns in military procurement. The new fleet of 28 Marine One helicopters being built by Lockheed Martin Corp. — now over budget at $11.2 billion — will cost more than Air Force One.

Obama said the helicopter he has now seems adequate, adding that he never had a helicopter before and "maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it."

Obama said he has already talked to Defense Secretary Robert Gates about reviewing the program and its ballooning costs.

"It is an example of the procurement process gone amok, and we're going to have to fix it," Obama said.

The Navy — which is in charge of overseeing the helicopter program — reported to Congress in January that its price tag had nearly doubled. That notification triggered a formal process mandating the program be re-certified as a national security requirement by senior Pentagon leadership.

The Navy waited nearly a year before formally disclosing the information to lawmakers as it sought to find ways to keep the program within budget. Those efforts failed.

Gates already has warned of tough cuts in the upcoming fiscal 2010 budget as the Pentagon faces the pressure of paying for two wars during a recession.

Lockheed Martin spokesman Troy Scully said in a statement, "We are committed to the program's success and are confident we can deliver the required number of helicopters compliant with the specifications that emerge from the ongoing review."

A Navy spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment Monday evening.

The helicopter, which will be outfitted with communications equipment, anti-missile defenses and hardened hulls, is dubbed Marine One whenever the president is on board. The aircraft is expected to be similar to Air Force One, unlike the 30-year-old helicopters they would replace.

Shares of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin fell $3.88, or 5 percent, to $73.87 Monday.

Canada Welcomes Obama On First Foreign Trip

I think America has a lot to learn from Canada. And I think Obama is the man who would listen and learn. Anyways Norhern American relations could sure do with some improvments and I reckon Barack will make it happen.

President Barack Obama tried to calm fears about American protectionism and assure Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he wants to grow trade between the two nations during his first foreign trip as president, reports the AP.

Obama says he told the Canadian leader during talks in Ottawa that there is nothing in the stimulus package that would run counter to that goal.

Obama had caused some nervousness in Canada by pledging during the presidential campaign to renegotiate NAFTA, the trade agreement linking the U.S., Canada and Mexico, to get better labor and environmental standards.

Both leaders said Thursday that as economies around the world face challenges, it's important for the U.S. and others to resist calls for protectionism.


President Barack Obama touched down in Ottawa, Canada this morning for his first foreign visit as commander-in-chief.

The day-long trip is jampacked. So far, Obama has met with Canada's Governor-General, Michäelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In a longer lunch meeting later today, Obama will discuss a variety of issues including climate change, the Afghanistan War and trade with the leader of our northern neighbor, according to the Winnipeg Sun.

Obama made a quick entrance to Parliament Hill and failed to greet the crowd of more than 500 Canadians who gathered to catch a glimpse of the new president and prime minister, a Globe and Mail blog vented.

The two men waved ever so briefly to the assembled group from behind a newly-installed pexiglass. That's it. That's all. You can go home now.

Obama hopes to reconcile with Canada on the environmental issue, specifically, and repair the damage done by the Bush administration, the Globe and Mail reported.

A day earlier, Mr. Harper said Mr. Obama's presidency is ushering in a new era of North American co-operation against climate change after George W. Bush's inaction held back Canada's ability to tackle greenhouse-gas emissions.

In Mr. Obama's first foreign trip as President, the two leaders are expected to task officials with exploring North American co-operation on energy and the environment - which Mr. Harper's government hopes will be the first step to a broader pact.

The Washington Post reports that trade will be a major focus of the discussions today as well, especially in light of the "Buy American" clause in the newly passed Stimulus Plan that has ruffled some feathers in Canada.

A top Obama aide said this week that the president's main message to Harper will be to reassure Canadians that the United States intends to maintain a robust trading relationship with its neighbor.

"This is no time to -- for anybody to give the impression that somehow we are interested in less rather than more trade," said Denis McDonough, deputy national security adviser. "And that's what -- that's the message that he'll underscore."

Obama will also have a longer meeting with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to discuss border issues, Afghanistan and the environment, reported Canada TV.

"I don't think you advise the president of the United States, you defend Canadian interests and the key Canadian interest that I see is the border," Ignatieff said. "It's becoming a choke chain for both our economies and we have to work together to reduce the barriers between the United States and Canada."
The Globe and Mail reports that Ignatieff, who would like to be seen as a contender for the prime minister position, will benefit the most from Obama's visit because he will win valuable media time during his meeting with President Obama.

Every leader of the Opposition wants to be seen as a prime-minister-in-waiting. A presidential visit helps immensely, particularly for a leader who's still introducing himself to Canadians.

"It puts him on an equal level, at least in a visual sense, with an American president, and therefore makes him look like a stand-in for the head of government, so people can literally begin to visualize this person as prime minister," said Strategic Counsel pollster Peter Donolo.

New York Post Chimp Cartoon Racist or Not?

Im going to have to side with the New York post on this one: With all the hassle of going back and forth amending and re-amending you would think they had a team of monkeys employed on the hill figuring this all out. There in lies the joke.

That Barack Obama happens to be an African American and that racists have likend them to monkeys is in this case irrelevant. It would be ok to ridicule George Bush, because he is just an idiot. Easy target - George, you monkey!

We still need to be able to be satirical about our government, race, religion or species.

A cartoon likening the author of the stimulus bill, perhaps President Barack Obama, with a rabid chimpanzee graced the pages of the New York Post on Wednesday.

The drawing, from famed cartoonist Sean Delonas, is rife with violent imagery and racial undertones. In it, two befuddled-looking police officers holding guns look over the dead and bleeding chimpanzee that attacked a woman in Stamford, Connecticut.

"They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," reads the caption.

An email to Delonas and a call to the New York Post went unreturned. The cartoon appears both on the New York Post website and page 12 of the Wednesday paper.

At its most benign, the cartoon suggests that the stimulus bill was so bad, monkeys may as well have written it. Others believe it compares the president to a rabid chimp. Either way, the incorporation of violence and (on a darker level) race into politics is bound to be controversial. Perhaps that's what Delonas wanted.

Rev. Al Sharpton has weighed in on the cartoon in a statement:
"The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that "Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill."

"Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?"

Obama signs stimulus bill, readies homeowner plan

Lots of news of stimulus bill being signed awaiting aproval, being approved, being amended. Mean while we are all sitting here waiting for the results. How long will it take is the real question!

President Barack Obama put his own indelible imprint on the nation's distressed economy Tuesday, signing the huge recovery package into law, readying a $50 billion proposal to help homeowners fend off foreclosure and awaiting emergency restructuring plans from flailing automakers. Obama said the sprawling legislation, which congressional Democrats pushed to passage last week over near-unanimous opposition from Republicans, would "set our economy on a firmer foundation."

Obama's first major piece of legislation, it's a $787 billion mix of tax cuts and one of the biggest public spending programs since World War II.

"I don't want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems. Nor does it constitute all of what we have to do to turn our economy around. But today does mark the beginning of the end, the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs," Obama said.

The setting for the signing was the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, with solar panels on its roof, underscoring the investments the new law will make in "green" energy-related jobs. Workers in solar, wind, and other renewable-energy industries joined Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the bill-signing ceremony.

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the White House was open-minded about another stimulus effort. But he stressed that there were no plans in the works for one.

Meanwhile, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC raced to complete recovery plans they were due to submit as part of their deal to receive billions of dollars in government loans. It was not clear they would make Tuesday's deadline.

The two automakers have been living off a combined $13.4 billion in federal bailout loans. They must persuade the administration that they can remain viable. Detroit's third major automaker, Ford Motor Co., did not request government help.

With the economy dominating Obama's first weeks in office, the president on Wednesday will unveil another part of his recovery effort — a $50 billion plan to help stem foreclosures.

All the activity also is allowing Obama to get away from Washington, with its intense partisan wrangling, and be cheered by people who may benefit from the huge government intervention.

Obama planned to outline his plan to help struggling homeowners in a speech in Arizona, one of the states hardest hit by home foreclosures that are at the center of the nation's economic woes.

The $50 billion program was mentioned last week by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as part of a wide-ranging financial-sector rescue plan that could send $2 trillion coursing through the financial system. But details were not announced at the time.

Obama's announcement is expected to include details about how the administration plans to prod the mortgage industry to do more in modifying the terms of home loans so borrowers have lower monthly payments.

More than 2.3 million homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year, an 81 percent increase from 2007, and analysts say that number could soar as high as 10 million in the coming years, depending on the severity of the recession.

As for Tuesday's stimulus package, it will pump money into highway, bridge and other infrastructure projects, health care, renewable energy development and conservation.

It includes a $400 tax break for most individual workers and $800 for couples, including those who do not earn enough to pay income taxes. It will distribute tens of billions of dollars to states so they can head off deep cuts and layoffs and will provide financial incentives for people to start buying again, from first homes to new cars to shoes and cereal. It also provides help to poor people and laid-off workers, with increased unemployment benefits and food stamps, and subsides for health insurance.

Separately, GM and Chrysler raced to finish restructuring plans to present to the federal government but seemed unlikely to complete deals with debtholders and union workers by the government-imposed deadline on Tuesday.

Gibbs, Obama's press secretary, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wouldn't rule out bankruptcy for Detroit automakers. Gibbs said the administration looks forward to reviewing GM and Chrysler's restructuring plans. Gibbs said it is important for the economy to have a strong and viable auto industry and that it's up to automakers to make choices about what is most helpful to their recovery.

GM earlier received $9.4 billion in government loans and Chrysler $4 billion. GM picked up the second installment of its loans, $4 billion, on Tuesday, according to Gibbs.

The Obama team had weighed appointing a "car czar." But Sunday night, the White House instead announced a task force to oversee the companies' restructuring.

The back-to-back government moves to try to lift the economy from a crippling recession had been eagerly awaited by Wall Street. But with the programs now being put in place, investors seemed concerned the impact might not be fast enough or big enough and stocks tumbled on Tuesday to near their November lows.

Barack Obama looks to Abraham Lincoln while launching presidency

And why not? Abraham Lincolon represents everything that is good about America, Why wouldn't Obama want to cash in on some of that 'feel god factor'. There are worse presidents to follow. And I think Obama is certainly, or will prove to be, just as historic. I think he should grow a beard and wear a stove pipe hat.



When Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign, he did it in Abraham Lincoln's hometown. When he arrived in Washington, he followed the train route Lincoln used in 1861. When he needed a Bible for his swearing-in, Obama picked Lincoln's.

Heck, even Obama's lunch on Inauguration Day was modeled after Lincoln's favorites, right down to the seafood stew.

Clearly, the 44th president wants Americans to know how much he admires the 16th.

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin thinks that reflects Obama's genuine affinity with Lincoln — for his willingness to learn and grow, his ability to communicate with the nation, his insistence on having strong-willed, independent advisers.

"Somehow Lincoln has worked himself into Obama's heart and mind, and it's a good thing to have Lincoln as your mentor," said Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Team of Rivals," a Lincoln book that Obama says has influenced his thinking on how to govern.

But for a new president trying to reassure people during another time of crisis, highlighting Lincoln can also be a signal to the nation: If one skinny Illinois lawyer could guide the country through the Civil War, then maybe another one can handle today's problems.

In a sense, Obama has associated himself with one of the most popular political brands in Illinois, says Bruce Newman, an expert on political marketing at DePaul University. Evoking Lincoln reassures voters that Obama shares their values and will try to emulate their hero.

Obama spent Wednesday evening at a performance saluting the renovation of Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. He reminded the crowd that even in the middle of the war, Lincoln insisted on devoting scarce resources to finishing the Capitol as a symbol that the nation would emerge united.

"For despite all that divided us — North and South, black and white — he had an unyielding belief that we were, at heart, one nation and one people," Obama said.

Obama is hardly the first president to display an affection for Lincoln, whose 200th birthday is Thursday.

Teddy Roosevelt, for instance, was sworn in wearing a ring that contained a strand of Lincoln's hair, and he surrounded himself with busts of Lincoln. Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon identified with him, too.

Historian Richard Norton Smith said admiring Lincoln is practically routine for presidents, particularly embattled ones. "I'm not sure how much it matters to voters. I suppose it's better to associate yourself with Lincoln than Millard Fillmore," he said.

But no other president can match the emotional connection of a black man following in the footsteps of the president who ended slavery. It helps complete what Smith called "the unfinished part of the Lincoln agenda" — bringing America closer to real racial equality.

Then there are the more mundane links.

Both Lincoln and Obama were lawyers who served in the Illinois Legislature. Both had brief Washington careers before running for president. Both started out as relative unknowns who were criticized as inexperienced, yet managed to win the White House.

Obama has highlighted his interest in Lincoln at key moments.

He launched his presidential campaign in at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where Lincoln served. He returned there to reveal his pick for vice president. He quoted Lincoln in his campaign speeches and in his victory speech on election night.

He has kept up the Lincoln emphasis since then, even making an unannounced nighttime visit to the Lincoln Memorial with his family a few days before his inauguration.

On Thursday, Obama was delivering remarks at the Lincoln bicentennial celebration at the Capitol Rotunda. He planned to return to Springfield on Thursday night to deliver the keynote address at the Abraham Lincoln Association's annual banquet.

Smith, who was the first director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, sees a potential risk in Obama's public admiration of Lincoln.

"To the extent that you are seen as wrapping yourself in the Lincoln flag or, worse, presenting yourself as a latter-day Lincoln, you set the bar terribly high and you invite legitimate criticism," said Smith, now a scholar in residence at George Mason University.

But both he and Goodwin said they think Obama has successfully walked that tightrope so far.

"It's not that he's comparing himself with Lincoln," Goodwin said. "It's rather that he's just saying, here was a man who ... faced a time of crisis and came through it so extraordinarily, and I can learn from him."

Obama can do more than learn from Lincoln, said Springfield attorney Richard Hart, president of the Abraham Lincoln Association. He can also remember during dark times that Lincoln succeeded against the longest of odds.

"I hope he can have Lincoln as his pal as he goes through that lonely process of being president," Hart said. "I hope that Lincoln provides some strength to him."

$3 trillion - Obama, Federal reserve and Senate attack

That sure is a lot of money, will it fix the problem. I would like to hear your comments on this one. I do like the very american comment in the last paragraph though: "The goal of this program is to make it easier for consumers to buy cars" -When the economy is faltering the enviroment goes out the window - Let them buy cars! problem solved...

WASHINGTON – On a single day filled with staggering sums, the Obama administration, Federal Reserve and Senate attacked the deepening economic crisis Tuesday with actions that could throw as much as $3 trillion more in government and private funds into the fight against frozen credit markets and rising joblessness.

"It's gone deep. It's gotten worse," President Barack Obama said of the recession at a campaign-style appearance in Fort Myers, Fla., where unemployment has reached double digits. "The situation we face could not be more serious."
If any more emphasis were needed, Wall Street investors sent stocks plunging, objecting that new rescue details from the government were too sparse. The Dow Jones industrials dropped 382 points.

The president spoke shortly after Senate passage of an $838 billion emergency economic stimulus bill cleared the way for talks with the House on a final compromise. In a display of urgency, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel traveled to the Capitol for meetings that stretched into the night with Democratic leaders as well as moderate senators whose views — and votes — will be key to any deal.

Separately, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlined plans for spending much of the $350 billion in financial bailout money recently cleared by Congress, and the Federal Reserve announced it would commit up to $1 trillion to make loans more widely available to consumers.
Taken together, the events marked at least a political watershed if not an economic turning point — the day the three-week old administration and its congressional allies assumed full control of the struggle against the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
The vote was 61-37 in the Senate to pass the stimulus, with moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania joining Democrats in support.

Even before the vote, Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Obama at the White House to go over the task ahead.
The Democratic leaders have long pledged to have legislation on Obama's desk by mid-month, and some Democrats said there was an informal target of Wednesday for agreement on a bill that would likely wind up in the range of $800 billion.
The political urgency bumped up against other obstacles, though.
The House measure includes roughly $70 billion more spending than the Senate's, but it lacks Senate-approved tax breaks totaling more than $100 billion for new car buyers, home purchasers and upper middle income families.

In a further obstacle, Collins and other Senate moderates — in both parties — signaled they will work to hold the cost of the final bill below $800 billion. That's less than the $820 billion in spending and tax cuts combined in the bill that cleared the House as well as the $838 billion legislation the Senate wrote.
Additionally, Obama has campaigned particularly energetically to include funds for school construction in the bill. At the insistence of Collins, the Senate measure omitted money for that purpose, and it wasn't clear whether she had eased her position on the presidential priority.
Whatever the cost of the final bill, it will add to the deficit, and that created another little-mentioned dilemma for the administration and Democrats.
Future spending bills on domestic programs or tax cuts will probably have a far more difficult time gaining the support necessary to pass without offsetting spending cuts or tax increases that would hold the deficit level.
Obama has campaigned energetically in recent days for passage of the stimulus bill, at the White House, on visits to other federal agencies, in his trip to Florida and a similar appearance Monday in a high-unemployment area of Indiana.

Reid depicted a president deeply involved in the compromise effort as well. He said Obama had "certain set ideas as to what he thinks should be done" but declined to elaborate.
The president set the context for the unfolding events Monday night at his first presidential news conference when he said, "With the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life."
Geithner outlined some of the details, although he and aides left numerous questions unanswered.
"We have to both jump-start job creation and private investment, and we must get credit flowing again to businesses and families," Geithner said at a news conference. He pledged to "fundamentally reshape" the financial industry bailout that began last fall under the Bush administration, and he announced that at least $50 billion would be spent helping homeowners facing foreclosure. He also said new steps would hold banks accountable for their use of bailout funds.

One element of the administration's approach calls for using as much as $100 billion in federal bailout funds to give banks, hedge funds or other investors the incentive to purchase so-called toxic assets carried on the books of other financial institutions. The goal is to return struggling banks to health so they can resume making loans, and an administration fact sheet said the amount of government and private funds combined will be "on an initial scale of up to $500 billion, with the potential to expand up to $1 trillion."
The Federal Reserve announced it would commit up to $1 trillion to purchase bonds or other assets backed by consumer loans. The Treasury will guarantee a portion of the Fed investment by putting up $100 billion, an increase from a $20 billion commitment that Bush administration had announced.

The goal of this program is to make it easier for consumers to buy cars or obtain student loans, small business loans or other types of credit that have dried up in recent months.
Geithner said $50 billion in bailout funds would be dedicated to an effort to prevent mortgage foreclosure of "owner-occupied middle class homes." Few details were provided.

‘No Stimulus Petition’ is blowing up as Obama faces full-court press

The two hottest searches on Google today are for Americans for Prosperity and No Stimulus Petition, which links you to the anti-Obama stimulus package movement and an online petition. Evidence enough that Barack Obama faces an uphill battle for the hearts and minds, as his White House has allowed the anti-stimulus package forces to define the legislation and the terms of battle. Classic framing theory, and surprising to see just how rookie the Obama Administration handled it.

One reason is likely that he won’t/can’t stand up publicly to the self-destructive House Democrats. Sure, less than 1 percent of the House bill was really pork. But it was pork that was indefensible, and at a total tab of more than 800 billion, it was pork that individually ran into the tens of millions of dollars.

Out in Real America, that kind of cash is still big money and can’t be p’shawed away so easily. For the past week, my email inbox has been stuffed with pointed, funny and (mostly) successful anti-stimulus propaganda: The Libertarian Party, “America’s third largest party tonight urged Senate Republicans and Democrats to scrap plans their joint plans for a $780 billion package of wealth transfers and expanded government spending;” the National Black Republicans, “The fierce urgency of pork;” and the new House Republican plan website that “details the smarter, simpler stimulus plan proposed by House Republicans that will create twice the jobs at half the price “

So as Obama preps for his Fort Myers dog-and-pony on Tuesday and a prime-time news conference tonight to try to take back the high ground in his first major legislative battle, here are 10 Talking Points for what he must say and commit to do:

1. Obama must admit that the House leadership screwed up and included some projects that it shouldn’t have, and that he is disappointed in his Democratic colleagues, that even in the toughest of times, they can’t break their habits.
   
   
2. After that, Obama must say that even if the Democrats are guilty of throwing the first punch, Republicans responding disproportionately by going nuclear. The rhetoric from the GOP has been transparently clear, that, for many of the Republican congressmen, this is about giving Obama a black eye and not about what’s best for the U.S. economy.
   
   
3. Then admit that it is a failure of your first two weeks in office that you didn’t enforce your voter mandate for change properly by bitch-slapping both sides.
   
   
4. Announce that the bill must shrink further. The public has gotten the message that borrowing all this money is going to screw up our country in about a decade. Hell, even the Congressional Budget Office is saying this. And cutting either the Senate plan or the House plan further is going to require you to cut some welfare-related spending, in food stamps and health care. (Florida alone is in line for more than $5.3 billion in such funds.) Yes, those monies would go directly into the economy, as poor people have no choice but to spend them right away. But voters aren’t going to buy borrowing lots of cash today to expand safety nets. It seems to make more sense to build infrastructure, which will always be there once built, vs. providing safety-net help, a more ephemeral expenditure.
   
   
5. Obama must reject the tax cut-happy Republican plans as being, at best, inefficient in achieving short-term economic stimulus. Yes, go ahead and bring up President Bush’s poorly thought out stimulus tax rebate last year that gave us all $600 or $1,200 or some amount in between or lower and that mostly found its way into saving accounts or paying down credit card debt without any impact in the broader economy.
   
   
6. Play up the personal tax cuts in the House package, a $500 per worker cut that would be paid out in lower withholding over a period of months. Yes, it’s not instant stimulus; but studies overwhelmingly show that when workers believe they will have more money going forward (rather than in a one-time check) they are more likely to spend additional dollars into the economy. So in simple language, Obama has to tell the peeps: A one-time rebate wastes our valuable borrowed money, and my plan will give you a little more for a longer time.
   
   
7. And then promise longer-term tax adjustment when the economy rebounds. No reason to bankrupt the nation even further now, but folks deserve a reward for buckling down during this period. (Jeffrey Sachs disagrees, saying that taxes in the future will have to rise.) The only way to do this kind of cut is to follow through on your promises to critically analyze government functions and right-size the federal government.
   
   
8. Tell your Democratic congressional leaders to beef up (just a little) tax breaks for small companies. The House plan had a pretty good cut but it could be better, and it would both stimulate the economy and NFIB Republicans happy.
   
   
9. Talk a lot about the hundreds of billions in bricks-and-mortar projects that will transform our communities and nations to prepare us for the century ahead. The roads. The better energy grid that will allow us to really use solar and wind technologies under development. The transit systems that will take pollution-spewing cars off the roads. Naysayers are branding such government spending as “socialism,” but Salon has a nice answer to that in this slideshow. The projects, and the science/engineering innovation that they will fuel, will pay both short-term and long-term dividends.
   
   
10. Did I mention to talk about the science and engineering for the infrastructure? This is our generation’s shot “at putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.” The infrastructure spending isn’t just about cutting the backlog of planned state construction projects, although there is some of that; it is about a new future direction for the nation’s energy and transportation. And is anybody out there really happy either with energy or transportation?

Generals Seek To Reverse Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Decision

The worst thing you could possible do as a president, in my opinion, is to change your election winning policies. It seems Barack has the brains to realize this and the strenth to stick to it.

Gorege W, might have been puppeted by his advisors but president Obama seems to know what he wants. Don't be bullied! -

CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21.

But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting.

Obama's decision to override Petraeus's recommendation has not ended the conflict between the president and senior military officers over troop withdrawal, however. There are indications that Petraeus and his allies in the military and the Pentagon, including Gen. Ray Odierno, now the top commander in Iraq, have already begun to try to pressure Obama to change his withdrawal policy.

A network of senior military officers is also reported to be preparing to support Petraeus and Odierno by mobilising public opinion against Obama's decision.

Petraeus was visibly unhappy when he left the Oval Office, according to one of the sources. A White House staffer present at the meeting was quoted by the source as saying, "Petraeus made the mistake of thinking he was still dealing with George Bush instead of with Barack Obama."

Petraeus, Gates and Odierno had hoped to sell Obama on a plan that they formulated in the final months of the Bush administration that aimed at getting around a key provision of the U.S.-Iraqi withdrawal agreement signed envisioned re-categorising large numbers of combat troops as support troops. That subterfuge was by the United States last November while ostensibly allowing Obama to deliver on his campaign promise.

Creator of iconic Obama portrait arrested

Isn't that a bummer.. "On his way to his first solo exhibition" - And now he faces 3 years in prison. One would hope that President Obama puts in a nice word for him at his trial.

The artist who created an iconic red, white and blue portrait of President Barack Obama that appeared on thousands of posters and T-shirts was arrested in Boston on graffiti charges on Saturday.

Shepard Fairey, a Los Angeles artist whose "Hope" image of Obama hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, was arrested on Friday night while traveling to the Institute of Contemporary Art to kickoff his first solo exhibition.

Police accuse Fairey of damaging property with graffiti in several locations and issued warrants for his arrest on January 24, Boston police spokesman James Kenneally said.

An arraignment is scheduled on Monday. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to three years in jail, Kenneally said.

Fairey made headlines this week when The Associated Press claimed his Obama portrait infringed on its copyright to a photograph used for the artwork and that it should be compensated for its use.

Fairey has acknowledged that his image was based on an April 2006 Associated Press photograph of Obama.

Fairey was to appear as a guest disc jockey at a museum event on Friday to launch the 20-year retrospective of his artwork. He spent the past two weeks in Boston installing the exhibit, giving public talks and creating outdoor art including a banner on the side of City Hall, according to a museum statement.

The museum said Fairey was arrested "in connection with his efforts posting his art in various areas around the city."

"We believe Shepard Fairey has made an important contribution in the history of art and to popular thinking about art and its role in society," the statement said.

Barack Obama appoints gay man to office

Go Obama! An openly gay black man to office. Can it get any better? well it can, he has managed to get the word faith in there as well. To bad he isn't jewish or muslim or worse, openly atheist!?. That would realy infuriate the religous south.
oh well, Black and gay is good enough. small steps.

Obama names Fred Davie to council on faith-based and neighborhood partnerships

Fred Davie, the openly gay president of Public/Private Ventures, has been named to serve on President Barack Obama’s Policy Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Davie will work to provide objective, nonpartisan advice to the president on a variety of public policy matters, including strategies to increase the effectiveness of social services delivered by community and faith-based organizations.

Public/Private Ventures is an organization that creates and strengthens programs to improve the lives of residents in low-income communities. P/PV is composed of research, policy and program development experts who specialize in education, employment, prisoner reentry, juvenile justice, public health, youth development and more.

President Barack Obama speaks about spending

Here is some more news on President Barack Obamas comments on the stimulus plan. He speaks of spending but is his wallet where his mouth is. I dont understand, poltics or finance, but would you just fix the problem already! You cant make it much worse than Gorege W Bush already has. God Luck to you and here follows the article in full

President Barack Obama's soft-sell pitches to Republicans haven't gotten him very far on his economic stimulus plan, so he's resorting to a sharper tone that is at odds with his vow to make Washington less partisan.


Stopping just short of a take-it-or-leave-it stand, Obama has mocked the notion that a stimulus bill shouldn't include huge spending. He's also defended earmarks as inevitable in such a package. And he's pointedly reminded Republicans about who won the November election.
The heightened rhetoric reflects White House frustration that Obama's earlier efforts, which included high-profile visits to House and Senate Republicans last month, yielded not a single House GOP vote for the legislation. In the Senate, Obama and his allies were battling Friday for just a handful of Republican votes to avoid a bill-stopping filibuster.





"He's going on offense," Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said after listening to Obama's more combative speech Thursday at a House Democrats' retreat. "I think the president decided that it's time to lay out the facts to the American people, as he did going into the campaign, and take control of this debate."
"We can't sit back and just let them define us," Clyburn said.
Some Democrats believe Republicans have done just that by highlighting questionable items in the roughly $900 billion package and using them to depict it as a pork-laden extravagance that won't do enough to stimulate the economy quickly.
Obama and his Democratic allies agreed to kill a few such provisions, such as money to resod the National Mall, in hopes of winning some Republican senators' support. Around midweek, however, Obama began changing his tone. Democrats need not apologize or compromise further except on small items, he said.
Some critics, he said at Thursday's retreat, contend the bill "is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one."
Ratcheting up the sarcasm, the president said: "So then you get the argument, 'well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.' What do you think a stimulus is?"
"That's the whole point," he said, as the audience hooted and applauded.
Obama warned Republicans not to "come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis." Americans, he said, "did not vote for the false theories of the past, and they didn't vote for phony arguments and petty politics."
"They sent us here to bring change," he said.
Congressional Democrats in close touch with the White House say Obama would welcome more Republican support for the stimulus bill but has lost patience and feels Republicans have slapped his open hand of friendship. White House officials now talk of trying to win just the few GOP Senate votes needed to cut off a filibuster and pass a bill that could be reconciled with the House version.
Both sides, it seems, are ready to let voters -- and history -- cast their judgments on a dispute where the two sides differ widely. Both sides say polls support their positions.
Backers of the Obama stimulus plan "haven't been listening to the American people, who clearly want major changes in this bill," said House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.
House GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana said Friday he was disappointed that Obama had abandoned bipartisanship and "resorted to tough political rhetoric to pass the Democrats' so-called stimulus bill."
Democrats, however, say Boehner and Pence are trapped in an echo chamber of conservative talk shows and rock-ribbed Republican districts.
"There's a great disconnect between the way this plan is being perceived by the American people and the way it's being bantered about ... on the cable channels," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
While Obama is aiming harsher words at Republicans in general, he has kept the fight from becoming personal.
Asked Friday who Obama felt was being "petty," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs demurred, and simply cited the need to stop job losses.
But Gibbs did not quarrel with a description of Obama's new tone as a "fist-in-a-velvet-glove approach."
"The president's tone denotes the economic crisis that we face," Gibbs said.
Even some of Obama's strongest supporters don't know if the tougher tone will prove more effective than the softer tone.
"It's a work in progress," Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., said of the stimulus package, which must be reconciled by the House and Senate. With Obama continuing to make personal appeals to lawmakers, he said, "it's still cooking."