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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's latest call for reconciliation with members of the former regime came in the wake of his strong showing in the recent provincial elections.
He urged Iraqis to forgive those who worked - many by force - with Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. Those who did not commit crimes against civilians should be forgiven, he told his supporters.
Critics have pointed out that al-Maliki's offer is clearly related to his need for wider political support ahead of the parliamentary elections in December.
But the real question is how the call to include former Baathists into the political mainstream will impact Iraq's stability and political climate today.
Looks like America didn't like the Special Olympics joke!
Or maybe it's the pending Communist take-over.
Or maybe it's the clown in the Treasury Department.
In any event, Obama's approval numbers keep dropping and dropping and dropping.... it's almost 50/50 now. That didn't take long.
I take comfort in knowing Americans, though stupid for voting for the Socialist, are smart enough to realize this is not the change they voted for.
Rasmussen reports that Obama's Presidential Approval Index is now at +4. It is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.
In addition, his "total approve" number is down to 55 % and "total disapprove" number is up to 44%. Just two months ago, those numbers were an astonishing 64% and 29% respectively.
Thank you for waking up America! Now don't fall asleep on me now! We have four years to fight through!
2010 Congressional elections are right around the corner!
Yesterday, we reported a similar reaction to Obama's surrender without precondition.
Yo! Bama! Give it up! You cannot negotiate with these Islamist Extremists! They are not as turned on by you as 52% of America! You're "charm" will not work!
This morning, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed overtures from President Barack Obama on Saturday, saying Tehran does not see any change in U.S. policy under its new administration.
In January, a Department of Defense Directive laid out some of the groundwork.
DoD 1404.10 cancels the prior directive of the same designation ("Emergency-Essential (E-E) DoD U.S. Citizen Civilian Employees"), which was issued in 1992 under President Clinton. The 1992 directive specifically deals with overseas deployments of civilian personnel. It does not mention terms like "restoration of order" or "stability operations", prominently featured in the new directive.
Members of the DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce shall be organized, trained, cleared, equipped, and ready to deploy in support of combat operations by the military; contingencies; emergency operations; humanitarian missions; disaster relief; restoration of order; drug interdiction; and stability operations of the Department of Defense in accordance with DoDD 3000.05
In addition, so-called "Obama 2.0" will mobilize Obama's mass e-mail list of campaign supporters and donors to pressure local governments into supporting Obama's Socialist agenda.
Obama also established The White House Office of Urban Affairs which will work closely with radical leftist group ACORN; a promise Obama made two years ago to allow ACORN to shape his political agenda.
Last week, Obama once again called for commitment to "civilian national security capabilities."
Why do you think I called the AIGfaux-outrage a diversion? Because of stuff like this.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new "volunteer corps" and consider whether "a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people" should be developed.
The legislation also refers to "uniforms" that would be worn by the "volunteers" and the "need" for a "public service academy, a 4-year institution" to "focus on training" future "public sector leaders." The training, apparently, would occur at "campuses."
The vote yesterday came on H.R. 1388, which reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps.
It not only reauthorizes the programs, but also includes "new programs and studies" and is expected to be funded with an allocation of $6 billion over the next five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Many, however, are raising concerns that the program, which is intended to include 250,000 "volunteers," is the beginning of what President Obama called his "National Civilian Security Force" in a a speech last year in which he urged creating an organization as big and well-funded as the U.S. military. He has declined since then to elaborate.
WND reported when a copy of the speech provided online apparently was edited to exclude Obama's specific references to the new force.
The new bill specifically references the possibilities "if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service."
Such new requirements perhaps, the legislation notes, "would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."
No one, apparently with the exception of infants, would be excluded:
"The means to develop awareness of national service and volunteer opportunities at a young age by creating, expanding, and promoting service options for elementary and secondary school students, through service learning or other means, and by raising awareness of existing incentives."
According to a report by Canada Free Press, "'volunteerism' that kept America running since the days of its founding" would be "wiped out with the stroke of a pen."
"It becomes forced labor and like the practice of another era, presses American citizens of all ages and creeds, unknowingly into military service," the commentary said.
"On paper, H.R. 1388 is the 'Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act'; the more innocuous sounding 'The Give Act,' for short.
"The Give Act puts the finishing touches to Public Allies New Leadership for New Times, modeled after Saul Alinsky's 'Peoples Organizations' and operating under Michelle Obama," the commentary said.
"Michelle was also a pioneer in the social entrepreneur movement – leaders who create new approaches and organize to provide new solutions to social problems. Like most things Saul Alinsky, H.R. 1388 sounds noble in stating why wide-sweeping change is necessary," the commentary said.
"H.R. 1388 goes straight to the heart of volunteerism in America, impacting everything from the lemonade stands of neighborhood children, to the residents of senior citizens homes. … The Give Act puts tow-headed school children and silver-haired seniors in the official uniform of the new State, and encompasses every walk of life in mainstreet America," the commentary said. "Whether you are young or old, or firmly believe that volunteering means you are offering your time to the good of community work, you will be pressed into Obama's National Civilian Community Corps."
Groups of such "volunteers," would, under the legislation, be "grouped together as appropriate in campuses for operational, support, and boarding purposes. The Corps campus for a unit shall be in a facility or central location established as the operational headquarters and boarding place for the unit. … There shall be a superintendent for each camp."
The plan generated this concern from Resistnet.com: "This is the equivalent of brown shirts."
Another portion of the bill talks about a "service learning" plan that will be "a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency."
A forum participant noted, "I wonder what's going to happen to those who refused to 'volunteer.' Maybe they will be put into a different 'campus.' I guess we will soon find out."
Jesus! It turns out this sort of Citizen's Police Force may already be in place in Chicago!
March 21 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar dropped the most against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners since the Plaza Accord almost a quarter-century ago as the Federal Reserve’s plan to purchase Treasuries spurred speculation that it’s debasing the greenback.
“What it introduces is the problem of the currency to the extent that the Fed is buying what isn’t desired by foreign holders,” said Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., in an interview on Bloomberg Television on March 19. “The Fed can keep interest rates where they want to keep them, at least for a 6- to 12- to 18-month period of time, but it will have consequences down the road.”
The U.S. currency weakened beyond $1.37 per euro this week for the first time since January as the central bank’s decision to increase its balance sheet by $1.15 trillion lowered yields, making American assets less attractive. The Norwegian krone and the New Zealand dollar rallied as the Fed’s move spurred advances in commodities.
The dollar depreciated 4.8 percent to $1.3582 per euro yesterday, from $1.2928 on March 13. The U.S. currency touched $1.3738 on March 19, the weakest level since Jan. 9. The dollar also fell 2.1 percent to 95.94 yen from 97.95. The euro increased for a fifth week versus the yen, gaining 2.9 percent to 130.29 after touching 130.49 yesterday, the highest level since Dec. 18.
The ICE’s trade-weighted Dollar Index dropped 4.1 percent this week to 83.84, the biggest decrease since the week in September 1985 when the U.S., U.K., France, Japan and West Germany agreed at New York’s Plaza Hotel to coordinate the devaluation of the dollar against the yen and deutsche mark.
I have no problem with setting stipulations on companies who receive government aid moving forward.
But this plan calls for Big Brother-style Government to regulate all banks, investment firms and possibly other companies!
Legislation such as the law passed last week in Congress to tax AIG bonuses is unconstitutional. and violates every free-market economic principal!
It's hard to imagine that a government who will run a $10 Trillion deficit over the next ten years will help Wall Street.
Further, Obama has detested Wall Street since the early 80s when his first job out of college was on Wall Street. In his memoir, "Dreams of My Father", Obama writes:
Eventually a consulting house to multinational corporations agreed to hire me as a research assistant. Like a spy behind enemy lines, I arrived every day at my mid-Manhattan office and sat at my computer terminal, checking the Reuters machine that blinked bright emerald messages from across the globe. As far as I could tell I was the only black man in the company, a source of shame for me but a source of considerable pride for the company’s secretarial pool.
I'm not entirely sure what the motivation is for Obama's war on investors, but it seems increasingly real.
It is unfair and unconstitutional for the White House and Congress to attempt to regulate a private company's payroll. It's ridiculous. The Government cannot tell a board of director's how to draw-up a compensation contract.
Government regulation and rules are what got us into this mess and adding stricter control is dangerous.
The fury and outrage over the AIG bonuses is not originating from Main Street -- it is a calculated Alinsky-esque political ploy created in Washington.
And it is shameful that Obama is using the AIG bonus scandal and other efforts to demonize Wall Street.
But what else should be expected from a Socialist with Communist leanings.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said.
The outlines of the plan are expected to be unveiled this week in preparation for President Obama’s first foreign summit meeting in early April.
Increasing oversight of executive pay has been under consideration for some time, but the decision was made in recent days as public fury over bonuses has spilled into the regulatory effort.
The officials said that the administration was still debating the details of its plan, including how broadly it should be applied and how far it could range beyond simple reporting requirements. Depending on the outcome of the discussions, the administration could seek to put the changes into effect through regulations rather than through legislation.
One proposal could impose greater requirements on the boards of companies to tie executive compensation more closely to corporate performance and to take other steps to assure that outsize bonuses are not paid before meeting financial goals.
The new rules will cover all financial institutions, including those not now covered by any pay rules because they are not receiving federal bailout money. Officials say the rules could also be applied more broadly to publicly traded companies, which already report about some executive pay practices to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last month, as part of the stimulus package, Congress barred top executives at large banks getting rescue money from receiving bonuses exceeding one-third of their annual pay.
Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were released last month from federal prison after serving more than two years in solitary confinement for the non-fatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. President Bush commuted the sentences of the two border guards Jan. 19 and his order went into effect yesterday. They had spent the last month in home confinement and are now finally free.
Glenn Beck has covered this story for years and was at the forefront of the movement to get President Bush to commute their sentences.
These two men are truly American heroes. Welcome back!
Michael Steele, despite marred in a Rush Limbaugh faux-media-induced scandal, out-raised his Lib counterpart Tim Kaine!
The Revolution will not be televised!
In its first full month under the chairmanship of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee only raised $3.26 million in February, according to figures released by the committee this afternoon.
The total lags behind the February fundraising total at the Republican National Committee, which raised $5.1 million during the month.
RNC chairman Michael Steele, who faced a tumultuous first month as chairman, will get to claim an early fundraising victory over his Democratic counterpart.
The DNC fundraising total is down considerably from the $5.5 million the committee raised two years ago under former chairman Howard Dean. A Democratic operative notes that the low total isn’t surprising, given that Kaine faced limits on his fundraising with the Virginia General Assembly in session.
The committee has also not utilized President Obama's formidable e mail list, Organizing for America, for fundraising. And Obama has not yet hosted any fundraisers for the DNC.
The DNC now has $8.6 million in its campaign coffers, and holds $6.9 million in debt. The RNC has over $24 million cash-on-hand.
Chip Reid hammered Robert "Peter Griffin" Gibbs today. Peter fumbles like I've never seen him fumble before! How does Obama keep sending this guy out there everyday?
How does Gibbs keep sending himself out there everyday?
I'm glad that Chip (CBS), Jake Tapper (ABC) and Major Garret (FOX) are asking tough questions.
Maybe the rest of the White House Press Pool will join forces soon!
This is bad! They have absolutely no answers for their AIG lies!
It's a long video, but worth the wait.
The relevant fumblin', bumblin, stumblin' is at the 15:28 mark.
Q So he's not really feeling frustrated that this week the message kept slipping away and getting only chatter.
MR. GIBBS: I didn't go to California, but it looked like he was having a good time.
Q On Geithner, is the administration sticking to -- are you sticking to this March 10th date for when he found out about this? Because I -- he was asked about it in Congress a week before -
Q It was March 9th.
Q March 9th. He was asked a week before, specifically.
MR. GIBBS: And I think the Treasury Department addressed that in the newspaper this morning. Look, I think there's -- there has been -- obviously, the Treasury has talked about taking responsibility for knowing more about the timeline.
Q When Secretary Geithner talked about that yesterday, he really parsed words. He said, on Tuesday, March 10th, I was informed about the full scale and scope of these specific bonuses. He's not saying that was the first time he learned about it --
MR. GIBBS: Well --
Q A very careful parsing of words here, suggesting he did know about it before then.
MR. GIBBS: No, I -- I think if you read carefully the report you're discussing, the Treasury Secretary takes responsibility, as the President does --
Q But he's sticking by that October 10th date -- excuse me, March 10th date --
MR. GIBBS: Right, I --
Q -- even though he clearly knew about it before then. He was asked about it in Congress --
MR. GIBBS: But, again -- but again, Chip --
Q -- and he was overseeing the AIG bailout. I mean, is it --
MR. GIBBS: What committee --
Q It just doesn't seem credible.
MR. GIBBS: That was Ways and Means?
Q Yes. But he was specifically asked the question.
MR. GIBBS: No, I understand. I understand. And I think he's addressed that and I think that's addressed in both the reports today and what he said yesterday. Chip, we're -- we understand and the President shares the outrage and the frustration that everybody has. The administration is taking steps to recoup money that's gone out, as well as to put in place a financial stability plan and to seek progress on getting our economy moving again.
Q Let me just ask you specifically. When he says, on March 10th he was informed about the full scale and scope, is he saying that's the first he learned about it at all?
MR. GIBBS: Chip, the question is predicated on the report in the paper and I think the report in the paper answers your question.
Q So he did know about it before then? 20:54
MR. GIBBS: Chip, I will -- can somebody go get a dollar and buy Chip a newspaper so that he can read the report? Again, I think it's pretty clear --
Q Been read.
MR. GIBBS: Excellent. Then I believe it's been answered.
Q Robert, can I follow on that real quick? Why did you tell us that it was March 10th, then, that you found out? The statement from the White House was very specific, he found out March 10th.
MR. GIBBS: Again, I would point you to the report that the Secretary of the Treasury takes responsibility, as does the administration, with knowledge about the structure and the scope of those bonuses.
Q But we were accidentally or however misinformed about the day that he found out.
MR. GIBBS: Well, let's -- let's not -- I'm just going to leave it at that. I think the report is pretty clear and so are the answers.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran played down President Barack Obama's new video message to the Iranian people on Friday, saying it welcomed the overtures but warned that decades of mistrust can't easily be erased.
Obama released the video to coincide with the major Iranian festival of Nowruz, a 12-day holiday that marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year in Iran. In the video, which has Farsi subtitles, Obama said the U.S. is prepared to end the strained relations if Tehran tones down its combative rhetoric.
But in the first government reaction to the video, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's press adviser said "minor changes will not end the differences" between Tehran and Washington.
"Obama has talked of change but has taken no practical measures to address America's past mistakes in Iran. If Mr. Obama takes concrete actions and makes fundamental changes in U.S. foreign policy toward other nations including Iran, the Iranian government and people will not turn their back on him," Ali Akbar Javanfekr told the Iranian state-run English-language Press TV satellite station.
It wasn't clear how many Iranians were able to see the video, which was not aired on state television in Iran on Friday. It was likely shown on Farsi-language TV stations beamed in from outside of the country, but many Iranians don't watch television in the first days of long Nowruz holiday that is normally filled with family gatherings or vacations away from home.
Iranians could see the video on the White House Web site, but other popular video sharing sites like YouTube are blocked in Iran.
Targeting individuals because they do not agree with the policy or popular opinion is the first step to the destruction of this nation. While it may be unpopular to support these retention bonuses, I DO. These were commitments that were made for performing a specific function in relation to the services provided by these individuals.
Individuals, our government has begun to target individuals, does this frighten anyone as much at is frightening me? What have we done? What have we become? What will we be? This congress and this administration just crossed the line of our personal freedoms. It will not stop ether this I can assure you, they will not stop until they have defined their version of a "maximum wage". That is right,their objective is to have a maximum wage, but don't tell our president who set up a $500,000 book deal after his election, remember these rules do not apply to him.
there are many who still believe in this administration but that will change with each piece of liberty that is taken from us. Each piece of our children's future and each piece of their children's future. It is time to wake up to what is going on and stop the blind admiration!
Support him if you like, but please, please question him and have the guts to question these decisions and policies. Follow closely what is happening not just what you hear in the main street media. Look beyond the smoke and mirrors at the man behind the curtain. I heard for 6 years about the disgust from the left that the previous administration lied. Obama and his administration lie day after day and the left allows it because the pride of their decisions has blinded their judgement. Listen closely, it is okay. Time to move behind pride and accept what is right and what is wrong. This administration is wrong, period.
Rep. Waters appeared on The Joe Scarborough Show this morning to discuss the AIG Bonus scandal.
"They've got some explaining to do. I think the President is going to have to clarify to the American public what took place between the Treasury and Mr. Dodd. There appears to have been some kind of agreement that they would protect AIG from having to give those bonuses." she said.
"I don't know who said what and when. Chris Dodd said he wrote the language but that he was pressured practically by Treasury. Maybe the President is not up to speed on what's going on but I think it is going to have to be clarified."
The best part is when Mika simply says, "Wow". (She is an slobbering Obama Maniac, by the way.)
with Persian captions] President Obama's special video message for all those celebrating Nowruz, or "New Day." This year, the President wanted to send a special message to the people and government of Iran, acknowledging the strain in our relations over the last few decades. After committing his administration to a future of honest and respectful diplomacy, he addresses Iran's leaders directly.
VIDEOTAPED REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN CELEBRATION OF NOWRUZ
THE PRESIDENT: Today I want to extend my very best wishes to all who are celebrating Nowruz around the world.
This holiday is both an ancient ritual and a moment of renewal, and I hope that you enjoy this special time of year with friends and family.
In particular, I would like to speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nowruz is just one part of your great and celebrated culture. Over many centuries your art, your music, literature and innovation have made the world a better and more beautiful place.
Here in the United States our own communities have been enhanced by the contributions of Iranian Americans. We know that you are a great civilization, and your accomplishments have earned the respect of the United States and the world.
For nearly three decades relations between our nations have been strained. But at this holiday we are reminded of the common humanity that binds us together. Indeed, you will be celebrating your New Year in much the same way that we Americans mark our holidays -- by gathering with friends and family, exchanging gifts and stories, and looking to the future with a renewed sense of hope.
Within these celebrations lies the promise of a new day, the promise of opportunity for our children, security for our families, progress for our communities, and peace between nations. Those are shared hopes, those are common dreams.
So in this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran's leaders. We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.
You, too, have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right -- but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization. And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create.
So on the occasion of your New Year, I want you, the people and leaders of Iran, to understand the future that we seek. It's a future with renewed exchanges among our people, and greater opportunities for partnership and commerce. It's a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater security and greater peace.
I know that this won't be reached easily. There are those who insist that we be defined by our differences. But let us remember the words that were written by the poet Saadi, so many years ago: "The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence."
With the coming of a new season, we're reminded of this precious humanity that we all share. And we can once again call upon this spirit as we seek the promise of a new beginning.
Not only did he upset millions of Americans with his Special Olympics gaffe, he pissed off the Governator's wife!
Tim Shriver, Chairman of The Special Olympics, is the brother of Maria Shriver, First Lady of California. They are the nephew and niece, respectively, of John, Robert and Ted Kennedy.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver (JFK's sister), the mother of Tim and Maria, founded The Special Olympics.
After comparing his bowling to the Special Olympics on "The Tonight Show" Thursday, President Obama called Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver to apologize before the program even aired.
“He expressed his disappointment and he apologized, in a way that was very moving,” Shriver said on ABC's “Good Morning America.”
“It’s important to see that words hurt, and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seen as humiliating or a put-down of people with special needs do cause pain, and they do result in stereotypes."
Obama told Shriver he wants to have some Special Olympics competitors over to the White House for basketball or bowling.
Shriver is the son of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, President Kennedy's sister.
The president had been making an attempt at self-deprecating humor in his appearance on Jay Leno's show by saying that a recent 129 he scored in the White House bowling alley had been "like Special Olympics, or something."
He and his staff quickly recognized the mistake and moved to limit the damage.
While Obama called Shriver, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters flying back to Washington with Obama on Air Force One that the president had “made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics.”
“He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world,” Burton said.
Aside from the regrettable appearance of a president even implicitly poking fun at the disabled, Obama’s comments came on the same day that he had appeared with California First Lady Maria Shriver, an early supporter and the sister of Tim Shriver.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the athletic competition for the disabled in 1968. Even before the Special Olympics remark, the idea of a light-hearted late-night turn was something of a risk for a president in the midst of a recession.
As a kid growing on the south side of Chicago, Michelle Obama remembers being ridiculed for trying to be educated and get good grades.
"I wanted an "A". I wanted to be smart. I wanted to be the person who had the right answer. And I didn't care if it was cool - 'cause I remember there were kids around my neighborhood who would say 'ooh - you talk funny. you talk - like a white girl.' I heard that growing up my whole life.”
She added: "I was like, I don't even know what that means, but I'm still gettin' that "A".
It was the first lady’s way of encouraging a dozen kids at an inner city high school in the nation’s capital, to pursue better lives – no matter what anybody thinks.
President Obama, in his taping with Jay Leno Thursday afternoon, attempted to yuk it up with the funnyman, and ended up insulting the disabled.
Towards the end of his approximately 40-minute appearance, the president talked about how he's gotten better at bowling and has been practicing in the White House bowling alley.
He bowled a 129, the president said.
"That's very good, Mr. President," Leno said sarcastically.
It's "like the Special Olympics or something," the president said.
When asked about the remark, the White House said the president did not intend to offend.
"The president made an off-hand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said. "He thinks the Special Olympics is a wonderful program that gives an opportunity for people with disabilities from around the world."
Wait a minute, I thought they didn't know about these bonuses until March 5th?
So, he lied? The tax cheat lied? No way!?
The bonus contracts were written in March of last year and included a provision that required most bonuses to amount to 100 percent of their 2007 bonuses.
Are we to believe that this was not known when Tim Geithner brokered the AIG bailout last fall?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner acknowledged Thursday that his department asked Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to insert language in a stimulus bill that would ensure AIG workers would get their bonuses.
Already under fire for his handling of the issue, Geithner said Treasury officials spoke with Dodd about a provision to the economic stimulus bill that would protect the AIG bonuses, because government officials were concerned about lawsuits from AIG employees.
“But we also worked with him to strengthen the overall framework,” Geithner said. “And his bill has this very important provision we’re relying on now to go back and see if we can recoup payments that were made that there was no legal ability to block.”
Dodd said this week that he inserted the bonus provision after a Treasury official asked for it. He refused to name who at Treasury made the request – and Geithner also refused to name names, but indicated that it was not him personally.
“I did have with other officials some conversations with Chairman Dodd as he was going through this process, but other provisions,” Geithner told CNN’s Ali Velshi.
Really? So Dodd lied. Geithner lied. But Obama is innocent?
With new estimates due Friday from the Congressional Budget Office, the White House is being warned to expect a grim set of deficit projections, adding well over $1 trillion on top of the red ink already conceded in President Barack Obama’s 10-year spending plan.
Refusing to be swayed by the numbers, top aides to the president met Wednesday evening in the Capitol with House Democratic allies on moving the plan ahead, including an effort to use expedited budget procedures to advance Obama’s healthcare initiative past Senate filibuster threats.
But New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, warned that the growing debt burden reflected in CBO figures is too big to be easily dismissed.
“The CBO re-score is going to be an eye-opening event for a lot of people who want to finesse this,” Gregg told POLITICO. “You cannot finesse the coming fiscal calamity we are facing, the size of the debt in the out years and the size of the deficit in the out years.” Gregg refused to discuss any of the CBO estimates.
But behind the scenes, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has begun to aggressively raise warnings with the administration and his colleagues about the data.
CBO said Wednesday that it has yet to complete its formal scoring of the Obama budget. But some data, including a revised economic baseline, have been provided to Congress, and Conrad appears to be using these numbers to map out where he believes the figures will end up.
In 2014, at which point the White House projects a deficit of $570 billion, it’s now expected that CBO will show a number in excess of $700 billion. Five years later, in 2019, Obama’s budget concedes that the deficit will have widened to $712 billion; Democrats expect CBO to put the number over $1 trillion.
The cumulative impact could be substantial. The White House has already conceded that the Obama budget will produce deficits of about $6.9 trillion over 10 years. If the CBO projections were to add in the range of $1.5 trillion more, as some Democrats expect, that would be more than a 20 percent increase and would surely affect debate in Congress.
The Constitution says the government can’t interfere in private contracts–and the AIG bonus agreements were struck in early 2008, when the company wasn’t under government control
The Fourth Amendment guards against searches, arrests, and seizures of property without a specific warrant or a "probable cause" to believe a crime has been committed. Some rights to privacy have been inferred from this amendment and others by the Supreme Court.
Where is the crime? No penalties were written into the original TARP bailout.
This act also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment! You cannot just tax one individual more than another because you don't like it!
Acting swiftly, the Democratic-led House approved a bill Thursday to slap punishing taxes on big employee bonuses at firms bailed out by taxpayers. In some cases the bonuses might be taxed 100 percent leaving the recipients with nothing.
The bill would impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses given to employees with family incomes above $250,000 at American International Group and other companies that have received at least $5 billion in government bailout money.
"We want our money back now for the taxpayers," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, chairman of the tax writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he expected local and state governments to take the remaining 10 percent of the bonuses, nullifying the payouts.
The vote to tax back most of the bonuses was 328-93. Voting "yes" were 243 Democrats and 85 Republicans. It was opposed by six Democrats and 87 Republicans.
Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said the bill was "a political circus" to divert attention from why the administration and congressional Democrats had not done more to block the bonuses.
Diversion indeed and a complete violation of liberty. Has Congress failed to read The Constitution like it failed to read the stimulus bill?
Cap and trade bills are nothing short of a government re-engineering of the American economy. With its aggressive targets to reduce emissions from fossil fuel use, it would put the nation on a path of serious economic harm not justified by any benefits.
Not to mention, science has yet to show that "cap and trade" will actually do anything for so-called "climate change".
And now it's gonna screw us two-fold? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Officially the most incompetent, arrogant, radical, dishonest, and dangerous President in U.S. History!
I want all Obama voters lynched! This is war! We warned you! What the hell were you thinking!!!!!!!
President Obama's climate plan could cost industry close to $2 trillion, nearly three times the White House's initial estimate of the so-called "cap-and-trade" legislation, according to Senate staffers who were briefed by the White House.
A top economic aide to Mr. Obama told a group of Senate staffers last month that the president's climate-change plan would surely raise more than the $646 billion over eight years the White House had estimated publicly, according to multiple a number of staffers who attended the briefing Feb. 26.
"We all looked at each other like, 'Wow, that's a big number,'" said a top Republican staffer who attended the meeting along with between 50 and 60 other Democratic and Republican congressional aides.
The plan seeks to reduce pollution by setting a limit on carbon emissions and allowing businesses and groups to buy allowances, although exact details have not been released.
At the meeting, Jason Furman, a top Obama staffer, estimated that the president's cap-and-trade program could cost up to three times as much as the administration's early estimate of $646 billion over eight years. A study of an earlier cap-and-trade bill co-sponsored by Mr. Obama when he was a senator estimated the cost could top $366 billion a year by 2015.
A White House official did not confirm the large estimate, saying only that Obama aides previously had noted that the $646 billion estimate was "conservative."
"Any revenues in excess of the estimate would be rebated to vulnerable consumers, communities and businesses," the official said.
The Obama administration has proposed using the majority of the money generated from a cap-and-trade plan to pay for its middle-class tax cuts, while using about $120 billion to invest in renewable-energy projects.
Mr. Obama and congressional Democratic leaders have made passing a climate-change bill a top priority. But Republican leaders and moderate to conservative Democrats have cautioned against levying increased fees on businesses while the economy is still faltering.
House Republican leaders blasted the costs in the new estimate.
"The last thing we need is a massive tax increase in a recession, but reportedly that's what the White House is offering: up to $1.9 trillion in tax hikes on every single American who drives a car, turns on a light switch or buys a product made in the United States," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner. "And since this energy tax won't affect manufacturers in Mexico, India and China, it will do nothing but drive American jobs overseas."
This is what I keep telling you people!! Wake the hell up!
As he empathized with recession-weary Americans, President Obama arranged in the days just before he took office to secure a $500,000 advance for a children's book project, a disclosure report shows.
The terms of the book deal were disclosed in a Senate financial disclosure report filed Tuesday.
Analysts say there don't appear to be any rules that would bar such transactions after a president takes office, but it's unclear whether an incoming or sitting president has ever signed a book deal upon entering the White House.
"I don't recall any sitting president entering into a book deal," said campaign finance lawyer Jan Baran, former general counsel to the Republican National Committee. "They all have historically done that after they leave office.
"I recall the only ones who did sign book deals while living there were first ladies, and my recollection is they gave it to charity."
Mr. Obama approved the $500,000 advance on Jan. 15. The advance is against royalties under a deal with Crown Publishing, a division of Random House. The project calls for an abridged version of his book "Dreams From My Father" for middle-school-aged children, according to the disclosure.
(CNN) -- Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN Wednesday that he was responsible for language added to the federal stimulus bill to make sure that already-existing contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money were honored.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, appears on CNN's "The Situation Room" on Wednesday.
Dodd acknowledged his role in the change after a Treasury Department official told CNN the administration pushed for the language.
Both Dodd and the official, who asked not to be named, said it was because administration officials were afraid the government would face numerous lawsuits without the new language.
Dodd, a Democrat, told CNN's Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer that Obama administration officials pushed for the language to an amendment designed to limit bonuses and "golden parachutes" at those companies.
"The administration had expressed reservations," Dodd said. "They asked for modifications. The alternative was losing the amendment entirely."
On Tuesday, Dodd denied to CNN that he had anything to do with adding the language, which has been used by officials at bailed-out insurance giant AIG to justify paying millions of dollars in bonuses to executives after receiving federal money.
He said Wednesday that the "grandfather clause" language "seemed like innocent modifications" at the time. "I agreed reluctantly," Dodd said. "I was changing the amendment because others were insistent."
Dodd said he did not speak to high-ranking administration officials and the change came after his staff spoke with staffers from Treasury.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners could be released into the United States while others could be put on trial in the American court system, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday.
Holder, who was chosen by President Barack Obama to lead the administration's efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within a year, said the review of what to do with each of the prisoners had begun.
About 240 terrorism suspects, including suspected planners of the September 11 attacks, are being held in the prison. Many have been detained for seven years without charges and some were subjected to interrogation techniques denounced by critics as torture.
The administration faces intense political resistance to the idea of bringing the prisoners to the United States as part of closing the detention camp. The administration seeks to transfer some detainees to Europe or other countries while freeing others.
Holder told reporters at the Justice Department that the administration's review, made on a case-by-case basis, would determine whether the prisoners need to be put on trial or whether they can be released.
"For those who are in that second category, who can be released, there are a variety of options that we have. Among them is the possibility that we could release them into this country," he said.
Holder said it was possible the 17 Chinese Muslims who have been held for years at Guantanamo, and two or three others prisoners, could be freed in the United States.
The 17 members of the Uighur ethic group have been cleared for release but have nonetheless remained at Guantanamo while the United States tries to find a country willing to take them. The U.S. government has said it cannot return them to China because they would face persecution there.
Face persecution in China!? Good! Maybe the Chinese have the balls lack the Obama Administration lacks!
I demand that someone be fired over the AIG bonus "scandal"!
And it's not anyone who works for the company.
Tim Geithner needs to go!
Team "O" wants us to believe that they did not know about the AIG bonuses until two weeks ago, March 5th.
This is all a big fat fu*king lie! Who are they trying to kid? Seriously!
This is preposterous that President Obama is blasting AIG and his "outrage" is creating chaos!
Chris Dodd knew about it when he secretly placed an amendment into the CRAPUulus Socialism Bill over a month ago? Did no one bother to read it?
Oh wait, they didn't! President Obama signed the bill! Are you telling me that neither he nor anyone on his staff read the bill?
Our President is either a bold-face liar or an incompetent fool! We have a President who is not understanding what he is signing? How dangerous is that!
The bonus contracts were written in March of last year and included a provision that required most bonuses to amount to 100 percent of their 2007 bonuses.
Are we to believe that this was not known when Tim Geithner brokered the AIG bailout last fall?
I don't care if Geithner is under-staffed or not! If you can't stand the heat, get out! This is bullsh*t and I'm sick of the incompetance of this administratio so far.
The speaker of the House told a group of both legal and illegal immigrants recently that enforcement of immigration laws in the United States is "un-American."
The illegal immigrants in the audience chanted “Si sepuede” (Spanish for “Yes we can!”).
These Liberals have no clue what it means to be Patriotic or American.
Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama all of them. It's sickening!
EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently told a group of both legal and illegal immigrants and their families that enforcement of existing immigration laws, as currently practiced, is "un-American."
The speaker, condemning raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, referred to the immigrants she was addressing as "very, very patriotic."
"Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families?" Pelosi told a mostly Hispanic gathering at St. Anthony's Church in San Francisco.
"It must be stopped....What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American."
Pelosi said she was invited to the church by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., as part of his 17-city, cross-country tour called United Families, which he says is intended to put a human face on the immigration debate.
"We think that families are the cornerstone of our society and our nation, and an immigration system should preserve those families, not destroy them," Gutierrez told FOX News Capitol Hill Producer Chad Pergram on Tuesday.
Fannie and Freddie announced today that like AIG, it will award retention bonuses to some execs.
Will these mortgage giants receive the same "peasants with pitchforks" backlash as AIG?
Somehow I doubt it. Congressmen like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank are ultimately responsible for the failures of Fannie and Freddie.
Stocks rallied today as The Fed announced it's injecting $1 Trillion into the housing market.
Specifically, it will buy more mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The central bank will buy an additional $750 billion, bringing its total purchases of these securities to $1.25 trillion. It also will boost its purchase of Fannie and Freddie debt to $200 billion.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it will inject about $1 trillion into the economy in a bold effort to help the battered housing market and lift the country out of recession.
At the same time, the Fed left a key short-term bank lending rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. Economists predict the Fed will hold the rate in that zone for the rest of this year and for most -- if not all -- of next year.
In a new program, the Fed said it will buy up to $300 billion of long-term bonds, a move that should boost Treasury prices and drive down their rates.
That would ripple through and lower rates on other kinds of debt. The last time the Fed set out to influence long-term interest rates was during the 1960s.
And expanding an existing program, the Fed said it will buy more mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The central bank will buy an additional $750 billion, bringing its total purchases of these securities to $1.25 trillion. It also will boost its purchase of Fannie and Freddie debt to $200 billion.
"This is not only going to keep mortgage rates low for a long period of time," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "The mere announcement may produce a honeymoon effect and bring mortgage rates down to even lower levels in the coming days."
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