Politics
1/28/2010 | Politics, Presidential Issues
Obama Touted His Administration’s Anti-Lobbying Pledge, Even Though He’s Violated It
CNS News
In his State of the Union address Wednesday night, President Barack Obama returned to his campaign themes of ethics and transparency, touting his administration as an example of one that is setting new standards.
“That’s what I came to Washington to do,” Obama told a joint session of Congress and the nation Wednesday night. “That’s why – for the first time in history – my administration posts our White House visitors online. And that’s why we’ve excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions.”
However, the Obama administration has come under scrutiny for violating that pledge. The Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-check Web site PolitiFact was quick to call Obama out regarding lobbyists.
Recommended Guests:
Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingDr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers MinistriesBishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian ChurchGary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)6/19/2009 | Gun Control, Politics
Republican: Will Sotomayor represent 'all of us'?
Associated Press
A GOP senator said Thursday he will use hearings on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court to ask whether she intends to be a justice "for all of us, or just for some of us." With the Judiciary Committee set to open hearings July 13, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Sotomayor must explain whether she believes in colorblind justice in light of a 2001 speech in which she said she hoped a "wise Latina" usually would reach better decisions than a white man without similar life experiences. Cornyn's comments came as Republicans step gingerly in the debate over President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the court.
6/17/2009 | Iran, Politics
Iran protests "interventionist" U.S. statements
Reuters
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Tehran, on Wednesday to protest at "interventionist" U.S. statements on the country's June 12 election, Fars News Agency reported. The Foreign Ministry communicated Iran's "protest and displeasure" over statements by U.S. government officials about the outcome of the presidential vote, Fars said.
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Joel Anderson, Assemblyman, California State AssemblyMajor Eric Egland, Author, The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help...Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinKamal Saleem, Shoebat FoundationWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat Foundation6/16/2009 | Politics, Iran
Iran Protester Slain
Associated Press
Gunfire from a pro-government militia killed one man and wounded several others Monday after hundreds of thousands of chanting opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marched in central Tehran to support their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since disputed elections. The outpouring in Azadi, or Freedom, Square for reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi followed a decision by Iran's most powerful figure for an investigation into the vote-rigging allegations. Security forces watched quietly, with shields and batons at their sides. But A group of demonstrators with fuel canisters set a small fire at a compound of a volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard as the crowd dispersed from the square. As some tried to storm the building, people on the roof could be seen firing directly at the demonstrators at the northern edge of the square, away from the heart of the rally.
Recommended Guests:
Joel Anderson, Assemblyman, California State AssemblyMajor Eric Egland, Author, The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help...Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinKamal Saleem, Shoebat FoundationWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat Foundation4/23/2009 | Politics, Governmental Control, Economy
Obama’s leap to socialism
The Hill
President Obama showed his hand this week when The New York Times wrote that he is considering converting the stock the government owns in our country’s banks from preferred stock, which it now holds, to common stock. This seemingly insignificant change is momentous. It means that the federal government will control all of the major banks and financial institutions in the nation. It means socialism. When the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) intervention was first outlined by the Bush administration, it did not call for any transfer of stock, of any sort, to the government. The Democrats demanded, as a price for their support, that the taxpayers “get something back” for the money they were lending to the banks. House Republicans, wise to what was going on, rejected the administration’s proposal and sought, instead, to provide insurance to banks, rather than outright cash. Their plan would, of course, not involve any transfer of stock. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) undercut his own party’s conservatives and went along with the Democratic plan, ensuring its passage. But to avoid the issue of a potential for government control of the banks, everybody agreed that the stock the feds would take back in return for their money would be preferred stock, not common stock. “Preferred” means that these stockholders get the first crack at dividends, but only common stockholders can actually vote on company management or policy. Now, by changing this fundamental element of the TARP plan, Obama will give Washington a voting majority among the common stockholders of these banks and other financial institutions. The almost 500 companies receiving TARP money will be, in effect, run by Washington. And whoever controls the banks controls the credit and, therefore, the economy. That’s called socialism. Obama is dressing up the idea of the switch to common stock by noting that the conversion would provide the banks with capital they could use without a further taxpayer appropriation. While this is true, it flies in the face of the fact that an increasing number of big banks and brokerage houses are clamoring to give back the TARP money. Goldman-Sachs, for example, wants to buy back its freedom, as do many banks. Even AIG is selling off assets to dig its way out from under federal control. The reason, of course, is that company executives do not like the restrictions on executive pay and compensation that come with TARP money. It is for this reason that Chrysler Motors refused TARP funds.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCSteve Elliott, President, Grassfire.orgJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceRick Green, President, Torch of Freedom FoundationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation NetworkJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle ForumTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateLorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project4/7/2009 | Economy, Politics
The G20 moves the world a step closer to a global currency
Telegraph.co.uk
A single clause in Point 19 of the communiqué issued by the G20 leaders amounts to revolution in the global financial order. "We have agreed to support a general SDR allocation which will inject $250bn (£170bn) into the world economy and increase global liquidity," it said. SDRs are Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic paper currency issued by the International Monetary Fund that has lain dormant for half a century. It has been a good summit for the IMF. Its fighting fund for crises is to be tripled overnight to $750bn. This is real money. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director, said in February that the world was "already in Depression" and risked a slide into social disorder and military conflict unless political leaders resorted to massive stimulus. He has not won everything he wanted. The spending plan was fudged. While Gordon Brown talked of $5 trillion in global stimulus by 2010, this is mostly made up of packages already under way. But Mr Strauss-Kahn at least has resources fit for his own task. He will need them. The IMF is already bailing out Pakistan, Iceland, Latvia, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Bosnia and Romania. This week Mexico became the first G20 state to ask for help. It has secured a precautionary credit line of $47bn.
Recommended Guests:
Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate4/7/2009 | Foreign Policy, Politics
Obama Says U.S. Poised for New Chapter of Engagement
In a humble finish to his first foreign trip, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that despite its flaws and imperfections the U.S. is poised for a "new chapter in American engagement" with Muslims and the rest of the world. President Barack Obama speaks during a student roundtable discussion at the Tophane Cultural Centre in Istanbul, Turkey. Addressing college students in Turkey's largest city, Mr. Obama rejected the stereotype that America is selfish and crass. "I'm here to tell you that's not the country I know and not the country I love," the president said. "America, like every other nation, has made mistakes and has its flaws, but for more than two centuries it has strived" to seek a more perfect union. Mr. Obama made those opening remarks before taking questions, telling students he would keep the session short because of the Muslim call to prayer. Mr. Obama repeated his pledge to rebuild relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world. "I am personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement," he said. "We can't afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us." The Turkish stop capped an eight-day European trip that senior adviser David Axelrod called "enormously productive," including an economic crisis summit in London and a NATO conclave in France and Germany. ... Mr. Obama told the college students he sees nothing wrong with setting his sights high on goals such as mending relations with Iran and eliminating the world of nuclear options -- two cornerstone issues of his trip.
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G-20 Leaders Eye More IMF Funds, Tighter Rules
Associated Press
Leaders from around the globe made headway Thursday on tackling the world's worst financial crisis since the 1930s, with early signs of agreements to give more money to the International Monetary Fund and to take a closer look at regulating hedge funds. Two people close to the negotiations said leaders had agreed on giving more fund to the IMF so it could help developing economies reeling from currency woes and the effects of the global downturn. They also said France and Germany had successfully persuaded the Group of 20 leaders to back stronger financial regulations to avoid a repeat of the current crisis. As President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined other leaders at a working breakfast in the city's east Docklands district, protesters began gearing up for a second day of demonstrations, gathering outside the London Stock Exchange near St. Paul's Cathedral. Riot police took up their positions as well, ringing the stock exchange. Obama and Brown expressed confidence Wednesday that world leaders would come up with a strong agreement to address financial regulation, growth, and troubled banks. But that optimism was marred by a split with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who refused calls for more government spending and insisted the meeting must instead take concrete steps on tougher financial regulation.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate4/2/2009 | Politics, Taxes
Americans of Faith in 1500 Cities are Doing Something ReAL
USNewswire
Just two weeks after mobilizing, Renewing American Leadership (ReAL) announced today that it is helping to bring the faithful out to join the fiscal in over 1,500 cities across America. In each of these cities, Americans who are "TEA'd" -- Taxed Enough Already -- will join the Tea Party Day rallies planned for April 15 -- the IRS deadline for filing income tax returns to show their support for protecting the family budget from the Federal Budget. As Renewing American Leadership's efforts continue to grow, they are asking churches and faith organizations that believe the American family is Taxed Enough Already to Tell Every American to attend a Tea Party Day rally in their town on April 15. "If enough Americans come together we can get America back on the right track toward prosperity and freedom," said Newt Gingrich. "I hope every American who cares about the future of our great nation will show up to a Tea Party Day Rally." "The response has been overwhelming," said Rick Tyler, ReAL's Founding Director. "People of faith understand that an ever-expanding government is not only a threat to the family budget but also to religious freedom." People and organizations can join the effort by visiting www.teapartyday.com.
4/2/2009 | Economy, Politics
Congress Poised to Adopt Obama's Pared-Back Budget
Associated Press
Democrats controlling the House and Senate are on track to give President Barack Obama a key victory by adopting slightly pared-back versions of his $3.6 trillion budget. Passage of the companion plans, expected Thursday, would provide the young administration with a symbolic boost, even though the budget blueprints provide little guidance on how to craft subsequent Obama initiatives to reshape the U.S. health care system or combat global warming. House Democrats are pressing a plan to make it easier to use "fast-track" rules to expedite passage of health care legislation backed by Obama, even as their GOP rivals in the Senate won a key vote Wednesday emphatically rejecting such an approach on global warming. Republicans in both chambers are putting forward alternatives that are more generous with tax cuts and stingier with spending, but none of the plans -- Obama's, House and Senate Democrats', or the competing GOP outlines -- would succeed in tamping down the deficit much below $500 billion within five years. ... the 2010 budget plans are remarkably light on detail, offering little guidance on how to pay for a health care overhaul or an extension of Obama's signature $400 tax credit for most workers.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate3/31/2009 | Economy, Politics
An Economic Wake-Up Call
Too many Americans are turning a blind eye to the seriously radical agenda that President Obama is unfolding, motivated by their wholesome and patriotic desire to let the new President enjoy the benefit of all doubts. However, the Obama team’s decision to push the envelope of the honeymoon period by front-loading an unprecedented number of truly extreme proposals demands that we engage in critical thinking and not just sentimental forbearance. Yesterday, a series of radical proposals was unveiled by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposing an extraordinary restructuring of not only our financial system but more broadly our entire economic system. It struck me as the kind of wake-up call that we simply cannot ignore, and yet it appears from the morning-after news coverage in the major national newspapers that we are doing precisely that.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate3/18/2009 | Economy, Politics
Some Dems want brake in Obama plans
POLITICO
Barack Obama’s Big Bang Theory of Governance is starting to face its first big test among the new president’s fellow Democrats. At the White House Tuesday morning, Obama began the day with a sharp push-back against the idea that his uncommonly ambitious agenda on health care, energy and other initiatives is too much, too soon. As Obama’s remarks echoed on Capitol Hill, it soon became clear that the skeptics are not just Republicans. There is rising doubt among Democrats — particularly moderates already concerned about the big costs and deficits called for in Obama’s budget — that either Obama or Washington have enough bandwidth this year to stimulate the economy, overhaul the failed financial sector and move on to a far-reaching domestic agenda. ...Democrats’ comments were muted, with few directly criticizing Obama for being too ambitious. But several lawmakers made clear that they have trouble with Obama’s logic that deep economic troubles make it more urgent, not less, to take on expensive projects such as health care and education reform.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate3/18/2009 | Economy, Politics
A chaplain at Hospice by the Sea in Boca Raton has resigned, she says, over a ban on use of the words "God" or "Lord" in public settings.
New York Post
ALL the world's a stage, wrote Shakespeare, and in the world of Washington, the curtains have opened on the most elaborate farce of the year. Welcome, taxpayers, to the Kabuki Theater of AIG Outrage - where DC's histrionic enablers of taxpayer-funded corporate bailouts compete for Best Performance of Hypocritical Indignation. Over the weekend, cloaked in their finest populist costumes, the Beltway's hair-sprayed and powdered politicians and White House aides took to the airwaves to inveigh against $165 million in employee-retention payments made by the government-backed insurance giant. The checks were mailed Friday, but the March 15 bonus deadline had been on the Capitol Hill radar screen since December. But it wasn't until last week that the hapless court jester of the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, scrambled to rein in the payments. ...Geithner, the primary architect of the original $85 billion AIG bailout last fall, "reluctantly" approved the bonuses. And now his outraged boss has ordered him to scour every legal nook and cranny possible to get the money back. ...Two weeks ago, Team Obama forked over another $30 billion for the basket-case company after it reported $61.7 billion in fourth-quarter losses. That's on top of the first $85 billion round and the second $38 billion round under George W. Bush - both of which Obama supported. (Obama, by the way, collected more than $101,000 in AIG campaign contributions.) ...Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the corporate crony who is the largest recipient of AIG donations, is now leading the charge to tax the retention payments in order to recoup the $450 million the company is paying to employees in its financial-products unit. But Dodd, it turns out, was for protecting AIG's bonuses before he was against them.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate3/3/2009 | Economy, Foreign Policy, Politics
Brown woos Obama on global deal
The Sunday Times
GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a “global new deal” to lift the world out of recession. As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president’s inauguration, the prime minister has hinted that he is ready to make further tax cuts to boost the UK economy. Brown will meet Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Aides say he has both to demonstrate to a sceptical British public that he commands the respect of the president, and to persuade the American political establishment that global action is needed to rescue the US economy. ...Many US politicians believe economic policy should put America first, and have shown little interest in concerted global action. Brown will argue for a renewal of the transatlantic relationship, with the two powers working together to solve global economic problems. The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century “global new deal” will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
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Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate3/3/2009 | Foreign Policy, Israel, Politics
U.S. Supports Two-State Solution in Mideast, Clinton Says
Associated Press
JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. will vigorously pursue the creation of a Palestinian state. Mrs. Clinton is making her first visit to the region as the top U.S. diplomat. She spoke Tuesday alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni ahead of a meeting later in the day with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jeruslaem. Mr. Netanyahu's criticism in the past of peace talks with the Palestinians and the possibility of Palestinian independence has raised concerns that his new government could clash with the U.S. Mrs. Clinton said earlier in the day that the U.S. would work with any Israeli government. But she said the U.S. "will be vigorously engaged in the pursuit of a two-state solution every step of the way." Mrs. Clinton also said the U.S. will dispatch two envoys to Syria for "preliminary conversations." The statement is the most significant sign yet that the Obama administration is considering restoring ties with Damascus. She said there is "no way to predict" the direction U.S.-Syria relations will take, but thinks "it is a worthwhile effort to go and begin these preliminary conversations." Mr. Netanyahu, leader of the hardline Likud Party, is putting together a new coalition government and is expected to be sworn in as prime minister within weeks. His criticism of U.S.-led Mideast peace talks during the recent election campaign has raised fears that his government could clash with the Obama administration. Mrs. Clinton sought to play down such concerns, saying the U.S. is ready to work with any Israeli government. "We will work with the government of Israel that represents the democratic will of the people of Israel," she said after meeting Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres.
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Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VotePaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat FoundationWilliam Sutter, Executive Director, The Friends of Israel3/3/2009 | Economy, Politics
The Obama Economy
The Wall Street Journal
As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem. Americans have welcomed the Obama era in the same spirit of hope the President campaigned on. But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if not stopping, what would otherwise be the normal process of economic recovery. From punishing business to squandering scarce national public resources, Team Obama is creating more uncertainty and less confidence -- and thus a longer period of recession or subpar growth. The Democrats who now run Washington don't want to hear this, because they benefit from blaming all bad economic news on President Bush. And Mr. Obama has inherited an unusual recession deepened by credit problems, both of which will take time to climb out of. But it's also true that the economy has fallen far enough, and long enough, that much of the excess that led to recession is being worked off. Already 15 months old, the current recession will soon match the average length -- and average job loss -- of the last three postwar downturns. What goes down will come up -- unless destructive policies interfere with the sources of potential recovery. ...So what has happened in the last two months? The economy has received no great new outside shock. Exchange rates and other prices have been stable, and there are no security crises of note. The reality of a sharp recession has been known and built into stock prices since last year's fourth quarter. What is new is the unveiling of Mr. Obama's agenda and his approach to governance. Every new President has a finite stock of capital -- financial and political -- to deploy, and amid recession Mr. Obama has more than most. But one negative revelation has been the way he has chosen to spend his scarce resources on income transfers rather than growth promotion. Most of his "stimulus" spending was devoted to social programs, rather than public works, and nearly all of the tax cuts were devoted to income maintenance rather than to improving incentives to work or invest.
Recommended Guests:
Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate2/24/2009 | Economy, Politics
Obama to address Congress, nation on economy
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Barreling ahead on a mammoth agenda, Barack Obama is ready to offer a detailed sketch of the first year of his presidency, casting the nation's bleeding economy as a tangle of tough, neglected problems. In a prime-time speech from the House of Representatives, Obama will make his case Tuesday that much more has to be done to turn around the economy — a message he knows he must explain. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama will provide more details about his financial stability plan and measures to help the economy while delivering "a sober assessment about where we are and the challenges we face." ...Already, the nation is nearly dizzy keeping up with what's emerged from Washington during Obama's first weeks as president, from a staggering $787 billion stimulus plan to a revamped bailout for the financial sector to a rescue plan for struggling homeowners. ...The president will push for movement on ensuring health coverage for all Americans. He will seek to expand educational opportunities, and diversify the country's energy sources, and contain sacred entitlements like Social Security, and halve the soaring budget deficit in four years.
Recommended Guests:
Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate2/13/2009 | Economy, Politics
Will the stimulus actually stimulate? Economists say no
Mcclatchy
WASHINGTON — The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won't stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists. "I think (doing) nothing would have been better," said Ed Yardeni, an investment analyst who's usually an optimist, in an interview with McClatchy. He argued that the plan fails to provide the right incentives to spur spending. ...A Republican-backed proposal that would've provided a $15,000 tax credit to first-time homebuyers also was scaled back dramatically. Instead, the compromise provides first-time homebuyers a tax credit of up to $8,000, and it doesn't have to be repaid over the life of the mortgage. Incentives already in place offer buyers a $7,500 credit that must be repaid, so the bill is an improvement, but short of what many economists think is necessary. Another reason that some analysts frown on the stimulus is the social spending it includes on things such as the Head Start program for disadvantaged children and aid to NASA for climate-change research. Both may be worthy efforts, but they aren't aimed at delivering short-term boosts to economic activity. "All this is 25 years of government expansion jammed into one bill and sold as stimulus," said Brian Riedl, the director of budget analysis for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research group.
Recommended Guests:
Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate2/13/2009 | Politics
Democratic Senator Predicts None of His Colleagues 'Will Have the Chance' to Read Final Stimulus Bill Before Vote
CSNNEWS.com
(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted on Thursday that none of his Senate colleagues would "have the chance" to read the entire final version of the $790-billion stimulus bill before the bill comes up for a final vote in Congress. “No, I don’t think anyone will have the chance to [read the entire bill],” Lautenberg told CNSNews.com. Of the several senators that CNSNews.com interviewed on Thursday, only Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) claimed to have read the entire bill--and he was speaking of the preliminary version that had been approved by the Senate, not the final 999-page version that the House-Senate conference committee was still haggling over on Thursday afternoon. When CNSNews.com asked members of both parties on Capitol Hill on Thursday whether they had read the full, final bill, not one member could say, "Yes." And only one--Voinovich--volunteered that he had actually read the version of the bill that had passed the Senate. Both Republicans and Democrats told CNSNews.com they were eager to read the unseen bill--once they could get get their hands on a copy of the final legislation. ...Some lawmakers said one of the reasons they would not vote for the bill was because there would be no time to study it before it came up for a vote. “The Democrats have thrown this at us very last-minute,” said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). “That’s why the rule of thumb in the United States Congress should be, ‘When in doubt, vote no,’ because the devil is in the details and that’s why this stimulus is not worthy of support.”
2/12/2009 | Economy, Politics
Economic stimulus package on track for final votes
Breitbart.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Economic stimulus legislation at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan is on track for final votes Friday in the House and Senate after a dizzying final round of bargaining that yielded agreement on tax cuts and spending totaling $789 billion. Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track." The $500-per-worker credit for lower- and middle-income taxpayers that Obama outlined during his presidential campaign was scaled back to $400 during bargaining by the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Couples would receive $800 instead of $1,000. Over two years, that move would pump about $25 billion less into the economy than had been previously planned. Officials estimated it would mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks this year when withholding tables are adjusted in late spring. Next year, the measure could yield workers about $8 a week. Critics say that's unlikely to do much to boost consumption. "The most highly touted tax cut in the original proposal now translates into $7.70 a week for middle-class workers," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Recommended Guests:
Karin Agness, Founder and President, Network of enlightened Women (NeW)David Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom RingLowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstituteJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate