Again, Science back in the saddle at the White House. We can now go forward into the 21st Century, instead of looking back into the 1950's. This country was, at one point, the leaders in science and technology, it helps to have a President that believes in this too.
The President and First Lady host NASA astronauts, area middle schoolers, and innovators in the field of astronomy for a night of fun, learning, and stargazing on the South Lawn. October 7, 2009.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Night of Astronomy at the White House (Video)
This should be the question, "Why are Americans cutting back on health care to save money?"
What kind of country is this? Do we have any morality? I don't care what the Republicans CLAIM about the UK, Canada, France, etc., these countries know the value of LIFE and take care of its citizens. There is no excuse for what this so called "health care system" is in this country, none. We boast and brag about being the best, which we are not, but don't give a mickey-fickey about its citizens. The very minute we allowed the health care industries to go to Wall Street was when all the humanity and empathy left from this industry.
Getting it back, as we see is a bitch, but can we is the real question. Health care is not for the very wealthy and no one else, this is a life and death matter to millions of families, but you don't get that from the health care industry.
When are we going to say enough and I mean from the top on down to who represents us to give us what we demand. Real health care reform and not a vapor.
Lastly, when are we going to get tired of bailing out banks, Wall Street, the auto industry, paying on year 8 on wars with no sight in the end, and start paying for us, the American tax payer. That is where all this outrage is going.
Many Americans have been putting off doctors' visits, forgoing medical tests and taking expired medications to save money over the past year, according to a new poll by Consumers Union.
The survey by the nonpartisan organization found that 51 percent of Americans have "faced difficult health care choices in the past year."
Despite overwhelming concern about how to pay for health care, however, there's still no clear public or political consensus on how to overhaul the system.
The Senate Finance Committee is expected to take a final vote on its plan later this week or early next week, with Democrats split over whether to create a government-run alternative to private health insurance or set up a system of co-ops, nonprofit member-run insurance companies. read more here...
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This is not what I voted for.
TomP has a diary up, "Compromise? Robust Public Option w/ State Opt-Out?"
Now, I did not know what that MEANT but after watching Sam Stein from Huffington Post on The Ed Shultz Show, the reality is that to get the 60 votes (that is what President Obama wants so he can raise his bi-partisan flag), the public option can be relegated to state level.
But get this, the state has the CHOICE if they want it or not.
As the Isley Brothers have sung, "...a bunch of bullshit going down...."
OK?
Let's be clear here and I can not type it enough. This is not what we voted for. When I say we, I am talking about Independents and Republicans who joined us to vote the Obama Administration in. This is not what we voted for.
We already saw this show, we saw it this summer, in August, with the health insurance companies backing vapor groups, they took over the health care debate in town halls across this country. We saw this.
So, does anyone expect the insurance companies to do any less than to put pressure on all these states to DENY any public option?
It is time for many of us to realize that these politicians are more crooked that a crack in the ground. And can you IMAGINE these insurance companies, wining, dining and writing checks to our lowly state legislators? They have been bought and sold for the LOVE OF MONEY. Remember the O'Jays tune? Well, it is true.
Has anyone asked themselves why, just why, it has taken so long for anything to get done in Washington, D.C.? Why just inchworm steps are taken to change anything? These politicians are shady, lost, sellouts to their lobbyists checks. Period.
Every damn poll has shown that the public option, a government run public option is wanted, yet we have the spineless Democrats in congress who will not do the right thing.
I am recovering from abdominal and intestinal surgery. I had similar surgery 15 years ago and it cost me ZERO. Yet, I did have some complications this time around, it was not for FREE. In total I am looking to spend around or over 5,000 and this is cheap for a 65,000+ procedure. Yet, there are many who have insurance which for the same procedure they will pay much more due to their insurance plan and let us not even think about those who don't have it. Lastly on this, my insurance company DID look at my history and pre-existing conditions, but THANKFULLY for Illinois it expires at 10 years. Damn, what about those that are walking around, as I did, in pain and need it but they don't hit that 10 year mark!!!! And we expect the states, which are 1/2 run by Republicans to want a public option for their constituents? No, boo-boo, this is all about money and the pressure that will come down on each and every state to demolish, dissuade any public option.
This is not what I voted for.
Finally, the CBO gives the GREEN LIGHT for Senator Max Baucus plan. Wow, I wonder if this is what the Obama White House was waiting for, more importantly is the line drawn harder in the sand.
I just drew my line, deeper, harder and unmovable on this issue.
Cross-posted @ Daily Kos
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Obama's Asia trip, next month
The President will not stop in Indonesia.
Gibbs said Obama's first stop will be in Japan Nov. 12-13, where he will have two meetings with new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Gibbs said the visit with "this key ally" will cover economic, security and other issues.
After Tokyo, Obama flies to Singapore to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting Nov. 13-15, a major forum for economies around the Pacific Rim. In Singapore, he also will become the first U.S. president to sit in on the annual meeting of leaders of ASEAN, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
From Singapore, Obama will fly to China, where he will visit both Beijing and Shanghai Nov. 15-18. While in China, Obama and President Hu Jintao will hold their third meeting to discuss regional and world issues including security, nuclear nonproliferation, energy and climate change.
Obama's final stop will be in South Korea Nov. 18-19. There he and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will have their third face-to-face meeting. North Korea will be among the items on their agenda, Gibbs said.
Source
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Stephen Colbert goes after President Obama (Video)
Oooohhhhh.....this honeymoon is OVER....
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The Road Ahead in Afghanistan - Lara Logan | ||||
| ||||
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Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and James Carville on Larry King Live (Video)
GOP Talk Show Hosts
Bachman dodges the "birther question"
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Obama to raise big money for Democrats
The best person to raise money right now is President Obama for the Democrats.
President Barack Obama puts on his fundraiser-in-chief hat again later this month.
The president is scheduled to headline a top-dollar dinner for the Democratic National Committee at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York on Tuesday, October 20, according to a Democratic source.
Obama is also the main attraction at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee-Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee joint fundraiser in Miami on October 26, according a a Democratic leadership staff source.
The president also heads back onto the campaign trail later this month. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign says the Obama will team up with the New Jersey governor later this month. The president joined Corzine at a campaign rally this summer, and on Wednesday Vice President Biden teamed up with Corzine in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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Rahm Emanuel negotiating for the White House in Conference for Health Care Insurance Reform, which way will he or the White House go?
Call me SKEPTICAL. Why? Rahm Emanuel is a Blue Dog Democrat, nothing wrong with that and warranted in some cases, but health care INSURANCE reform is not a Blue Dog negotiation issue. Why? The Blue Dogs in the House and Senate has STOOD WITH THE INSURANCE COMPANIES.
Now, there are many moving parts in negotiating and I will keep a skeptical open mind, but some things are not negotiating points, as follows:
1) Getting rid of caps on insurance policies
2) Removal of pre-existing insurance clauses
3) The government run public option
The above is non-negotiable. Why? Because people are dying every day from lack of enough insurance or no insurance, insurance coverage has capped out (a dollar amount is on MOST policies), denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, and lack of affordability in the word of competition for these public insurance companies.
If the three items listed are not in the bill, for me it is welfare for insurance companies. If the Obama White House thinks that people are asleep at the wheel, think again, they are not. President Barack Obama campaign against all three items ABOVE and strongly, if he cannot get these Democrats in order to tow the line, what does that say about him? And PLEASE, George W. Bush practically got EVERY DAMN THING pushed through with LESS numbers than Obama from his party. It is time to wield the power and twist arms, if this cannot be done for a CORNER STONE PIECE OF LEGISLATION of the Obama Agenda, it is failure. If those three very important components are not in the final bill it will be used against the Democrats from 2010 going forward.
The Democratic Party is a big tent party, we accept all visions and arguments, but the Democratic Party has been fighting for health care reform since the days of Harry S. Truman when he wanted health care for all covered by the government. Barack Obama's election was a CHANGE ELECTION. Obama did not win by 1 or 2 points but almost 8 points carrying some states that the Democrats have not won in over 40 years, like Indiana and Virginia. If the Democrats cannot understand the continuous polling numbers on what the PEOPLE want and that is a public option and all the above, then whatever happens going forward starting with the 2010 mid-term elections is not good, then they shot themselves and have to work AGAIN to gain confidence.
And if the Obama White House, which they have not rescinded, but demands that people BUY insurance from these corrupt industries, but none of the above, the joke will be on them. How can you force people to PURCHASE insurance but don't have the main components listed above for some type of reform? This is criminal and insurance welfare to these disastrous companies and I am being NICE in writing this.
Don't be dumb, Democrats, this is too easy to win.
And Dr. Paul Hochfeld on Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
h/t MinistryOfTruth
And don't miss Keith Olbermann's HOUR LONG SPECIAL COMMENT on Health Care Reform, targeting the industry, the Congress and Obama White House, tonight on MSNBC, 7PM (CST)
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Dylan Ratigan destroys Betsy McCaughey on MSNBC (Video)
Betsy McCaughey is the one who crafted this whole health care debate, which we saw all summer at heated town hall meetings with misinformation and lies. She has tap danced on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but when he was done with her, she resigned from her position. He was that effective in exposing her.
Now on MSNBC with Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) the defender of the public option, Betsy was just exposed AGAIN.
MSNBC Video
h/t Daily Kos
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Obama says, "Terrorists are still plotting...." (Video)
Well, this is all about the bad news out of Afghanistan. For me, terrorists will ALWAYS BE PLOTTING, the thing for the United States is to thwart it so it is not able to magnify. Continuing a war in Afghanistan, eventually, is a no win situation for this President. The domestic front is riddled with problems, people see the government continuing to spend money on wars that are becoming a vapor for some, unemployment has magnified but the real scare is that there are NO JOBS out here. For many Afghanistan is just more money being spent for what? Oh, yes, Osama bin Laden. If found, or if he is alive, would be a physical win and we can shut all this down. But if we never find him, are we going to continue on this course and continue to spend, as Barack Obama has said, "10 billion dollars a month?"
Eventually, all this needs to END.
President Obama at the National Counter Terrorism Center outside of Washington, D.C.
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FOX News Shepard Smith takes down the GOP talking points on the public option (Video)
Shepard Smith is a lonely voice on Fox for health care. h/t to Daily Kos.
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U.S. behind in preventable deaths
Is this a shock? No. This information has been out here for a while. As long as the insurance companies in this country have the strangle hold of the U.S. citizens, it will always be like this. Getting sick in this country has become unaffordable. The Democrats in Congress can try to water down a bill, do it at your own risk starting in 2010. People voted for change not increments. This is 2009, not 1993.
As Congress presses forward with landmark legislation to revamp the nation's health-care system, lawmakers are grappling with a troubling question:
Are Americans dying too soon? The answer is yes. When it comes to "preventable deaths" -- an array of illnesses and injuries that should not kill at an early age -- the United States trails other industrialized nations and has been falling further behind over the past decade.
Although the United States now spends $2.4 trillion a year on medical care -- vastly more per capita than comparable countries -- the nation ranks near the bottom on premature deaths caused by illnesses such as diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, influenza, ulcers and pneumonia, according to research by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund published in the journal Health Affairs.
During last week's marathon health-care debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) bemoaned the findings.
"All of these countries have much lower costs than we do," he said, pointing to a giant blue chart showing the United States in last place. "And they have higher quality outcomes than ours." read more here...
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Orly Taliz, dreaming of deposing President Barack Obama
The Birther Queen is dreaming of deposing President Barack Obama. All I can type is that, "She will remain in a dream....."
Emerging into the dry Southern California sunshine, Taitz -- dentist, lawyer, wife of a software executive, mother of three and a leading proponent of the so-called birther campaign against President Obama -- walks briskly past her law office, which is conveniently beside the dental practice. Inside the law office is a modest conference room with a table, eight chairs, a couple of abstract paintings and a houseplant. It is here that Taitz dreams of deposing the U.S. president, proving that he is a citizen not of this country but of Kenya, maybe, or possibly Indonesia, perhaps even -- who knows? -- that he is secretly controlled by Saudi Arabia.
"My children are so excited . . . that the president of the United States will have to appear in Mom's office in Rancho Santa Margarita," says Taitz, whose English is richly Russian-accented; she grew up in the former Soviet republic of Moldova.
And if the conference room proves too small to accommodate the presidential entourage and she has to travel to Washington to question the man she refers to as a "usurper," that's okay. Taitz will fly pretty much anywhere to make her argument. The ends of the Earth, one senses, would not be too far away.
It's a lot to take on, but she has help; assisting with her legal filings is Charles E. Lincoln III, a disbarred lawyer and self-described "anarchist." Leaving the office, Lincoln gets in the back seat and Taitz maneuvers her Lexus through the tidy "Real Housewives"-type landscape to a bakery with outdoor seating. For five hours she will discuss her legal crusade, eventually moving to lunch at T.G.I. Friday's.
Do you get the jist? Good luck, Taliz.
Read it all, here
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The worry about unemployment, it is real....
The Obama Administration received bad news once entering the Oval Office, the unemployment numbers were at 700K a clip, a month, and the Bush Administration did very little to stop it. Well, the TARP package was the only inkling that got the Bush Administration up in arms, mainly because Wall Street was taking a nose dive.
I give the Obama Administration credit, they have worked hard to curtail the continuous 700K a month unemployment numbers, but the other end of the puzzle is that those out of work have not been able to find work and if they have found work it has been at drastically cut wages.
Many understand that Obama inherited this problem, but there is something about elections and being out of work for a long time that hardens many. These voters need to see some recourse, rebound by this time next year. If not, they will probably not even show up to the polls. These are the people that the Democrats need to win next year and they know it.
The search for further remedies is part of a two-track effort in the White House and Congress. Democrats are also considering plans to continue through 2010 the extra unemployment assistance and health benefits available to people who are out of work for long periods. Also likely to be retained, some officials say, is a popular $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers that was included in the $787 billion stimulus law and has helped rouse a housing market that nonetheless remains shaky.
The unemployment and health benefits are otherwise due to expire at the end of this year, and the homebuyer’s credit at the end of November. Extending the unemployment and health benefits alone through next year could cost up to $100 billion. Additional measures would raise the price tag at a time when the White House and Congress are confronting growing pressure to avoid adding to already high deficits.
Yet Democrats are more anxious about stemming the loss of jobs and creating new ones.
With economists forecasting that unemployment could hit 10 percent before job growth returns, perhaps in mid-2010, Democrats face month after month of bad news on the jobs front in a midterm election year, when a president’s party typically loses Congressional seats. Charlie Cook, a longtime nonpartisan election analyst, said last week that he was raising the odds of Democrats losing their House majority to about 50-50.
I am a realist and look at things hard. Since President Obama assumed the Office of the Presidency, my main worry has always been the unemployment numbers and lack of finding a job. Health care, climate control, Afghanistan, will have decisions and we will move on, but for the average American who can not find a job this hits hard and squarely. Not being able to pay for your mortgage, health insurance, car payments, etc., is a reality to every person that wakes up every day. The unemployment numbers must turn around, but not without JOBS and ones with a LIVING WAGE.
That is the real hurdle the Obama Administration has to jump over.
Source
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Monday, October 5, 2009
GOP getting tired of Michael Steele
Well, the GOP dooes not like Steele dabbling in policy, since he continues to put his foot in his mouth, now the ultimatum. Stick with state issues, get out of POLICY.
GOP leaders, in a private meeting last month, delivered a blunt and at times heated message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele: quit meddling in policy.
The plea was made during what was supposed to be a routine discussion about polling matters and other priorities in House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office. But the session devolved into a heated discussion about the roles of congressional leadership and Steele, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting.
The congressional leaders were particularly miffed that Steele had in late August unveiled a seniors’ “health care bill of rights” without consulting with them. The statement of health care principles, outlined in a Washington Post op-ed, began with a robust defense of Medicare that puzzled some in a party not known for its attachment to entitlements.
Elected Republicans urged Steele to focus on the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia and other political matters, such as fundraising, rather than on attempting to establish party policy.
Steele was taken aback by the comments from Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Senate GOP conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Senate GOP policy Chairman John Thune of South Dakota and grew defensive during the 10-minute discussion, according to two people in the room.
Well, the GOP jumped on having a "black figure head" or minority if you wish and they ended up with one who continues to gaffe, not stay on their pages and does what he wants. Now the GOP attempt to reel him in, but I know they would prefer to have someone else in Steele's position, but when you play the "race card" as the RNC did, they have no choice but to DEAL WITH HIM.
Source
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Sunday, October 4, 2009
Meet the Press, October 4, 2009 (Video and Transcript)
President Obama warns Tehran that it must grant complete access to UN inspectors within two weeks. Will Iran meet these conditions? Plus, pressure mounts to articulate the way forward in Afghanistan. We'll talk exclusively to U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice. In addition, a political roundtable: David Brooks, E.J. Dionne, Rachel Maddow and Mike Murphy.
Transcript
MTP: Take Two, 2010 Mid-Term Elections
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The real story is unraveling about the Chicago Olympic bid....
For President Obama to go to Copenhagen at the last minute, something must have been said for him to make the decision to go. After reading this article, it is all about throwing Chicago and its intel under the bus, from the White House.
I knew that Chicago getting dumped in the very first round smelled like fingerprints of Chicago politics all over it. I was not for Chicago getting the bid because I am from a city that is broken on just about every city political level with corruption. Many Chicagoans were one eye "ok" and the other eye "hell no" when it comes to Mayor Daley and crew orchestrating the Olympics. All you have to do is look at the city and its major problems to be skeptical. Finally, the killing of Derrion Albert, an honor student beaten to death going home from school and the shocking video went viral, just did it for me. Chicago's problems with teens getting killed at school, going to school, coming back from school has escalated the past three years. Did that help Chicago? I don't think it mattered with the IOC, but this killing is bothering many in the Chicagoland area. So....
Why did Obama who resisted getting involved with the Olympics go?
"The intelligence that we had from the U.S. Olympic Committee and Chicago bid team was that it was very close and therefore well worth our efforts," said Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House advisor. "The message was that . . . a personal appeal from the president would make a huge difference."
In the end, Obama's whirlwind appearance before the IOC proved a disappointment. Chicago lost out to Rio de Janeiro, finishing last among the four finalists. Since the defeat, the White House has defended the trip as a worthy investment of the president's time.
But Obama and his advisors were not sold on the idea until just a few days before Air Force One took off for Copenhagen.
[snip]
Throughout, the Chicago team was pushing for the president to make the trip. Daley and Patrick Ryan, chairman of Chicago 2016, were among those who told the White House that the nose count showed a presidential visit might close the sale, Jarrett said.
Let me be clear, if Chicago had gotten the Olympics it would have been Go U.S.A., all the way, with one eye on who is scammin' who, on the Daley Crew. Sorry, that is how it is here. President Obama was within his right to root for Chicago, his home town, using the excuse of the other countries sent in their top leaders is warranted. But in the end you do not let your man, the President; go out on the limb for a loss. It was a loss, temporary, but a loss. You don't set him up like that. And on Meet the Press, Mike Murphy, one of the more centrist Republicans said, "...you know Valerie Jarrett is running the White House...it was amateur staff week... you know who is running the White House...you never send the President of the United States around the world and you don't know the outcome...."
I don't know who is running the White House, that is debatable and the wording of amateur staff is a tad bit strong, but I agree that you don't send the President of the United States abroad and don't know the outcome. It is a loss, a minor one in the end, but one that President Obama will not do again.
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Saturday, October 3, 2009
Obama's War
Coming on PBS Frontline, October 13, 2009. All about Obama's choice to fight in Afghanistan. It is as Ben Smith @ Politico states, "sobering".
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Rio de Janeiro's and Chicago's Master Plan Pitch for 2016 Olympics (Video)
Makes me want to get on a plane right now to Rio!!!!
Chicago's Master Plan
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Employers are betting on your life, to profit from their employees death (Video)
Yes, this is a low as it can go. Known as dead peasants life insurance
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President Obama's Weekly Address, October 3, 2009 (Video and Transcript)
Health Reform Urgent for the Economy
The President discusses ongoing efforts to spur job creation. He also explains why health insurance reform is needed not just for long-term economic stability, but in the immediate future, discussing statistics on how costs will continue to skyrocket and hurt small businesses even next year.
download .mp3 | download .mp4 (108 MB) | transcript | Vimeo Video
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Friday, October 2, 2009
Conservatives show their anti-American feelings about losing the 2016 Olympics (Video)
Conservatives cheer that Chicago loses the 2016 Olympic bid. I had my own reasons for Chicago not getting the bid, being from here, but if they got it I would have been happy. In fact, I never heard of anyone from either party HAPPY that any U.S. city lost the Olympic bid, until now. Obama had a right to go swing for the fences for his hometown and an American city that happens to be Chicago. To polarize this is too much, seeing this sends a negative message all around which will not be good for the GOP and scores no political points for the GOP, in the end.
Source
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President Obama's remarks on the loss of the 2016 Olympic Bid and the bad Unemployment Numbers (Video)
Senator John Ensign (R-NV) in HUGE trouble
From Rachel Maddow:
The worse part of this is Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) was the middle man attempting to pay off Ensign's mistress and knew the implications. The full article is here. The problem with Ensign is that he KNEW that paying his mistress' husband and family off was ILLEGAL. Right now the issue is can he survive and will he be re-elected. And Republican Leadership in D.C. have distanced themselves from Ensign.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell passed on several opportunities to defend two embattled GOP senators Friday as a new report raised questions about Sen. John Ensign's efforts to cover up his affair with a campaign aide.
McConnell refused to answer several questions about the report, which provided new details of the aftermath of the nine-month affair that Ensign had with campaign aide Cynthia Hampton, the wife of the senator's chief of staff at the time. Ensign eventually dismissed them both.
The Republican leader also refused to comment on new details that Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., tried to broker a payment of restitution from Ensign to the Hamptons.
McConnell, R-Ky., had been asked about a report in The New York Times that said Ensign tried to get Doug Hampton, his lover's husband, a lobbying job to try to contain the damage. The Hamptons later went through Coburn to seek an $8.5 million settlement from the Nevada Republican before the affair became public, the paper said.
Other Senate Republicans took McConnell's lead: none immediately came to the defense of their embattled colleagues.
It was not immediately clear what Ensign's political future held. The Senate Ethics Committee automatically opened a preliminary investigation into his conduct after receiving a complaint from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in June. The panel, which conducts business in strict confidentiality, can launch investigations on lawmakers on its own without receiving a complaint from an outside party.
The Times report raised questions about whether Doug Hampton lobbied Ensign and whether the senator facilitated the arrangement. Federal criminal law imposes a one-year ban on former congressional aides lobbying their ex-bosses or office colleagues. read more here...
And this is what will nail Ensign to the wall:
Now, Ensign is making himself scarce again, after The New York Times reported that he helped Hampton find work as a lobbyist and that Hampton lobbied Ensign on behalf of his clients. Hampton told the newspaper that he and Ensign were aware of a ban on Hampton's lobbying his former boss or Ensign's staff, but chose to ignore it.
Neither Hampton nor his attorney, Daniel J. Albregts, returned telephone calls to The Associated Press for comment. Ensign's office responded to the Times story with an e-mail noting that it had previously been publicized that the senator helped Hampton get two jobs. Ensign's office did not reply to further questions.
From Hardball:
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Washington Doesn't Get It: We Need More Jobs
Ouch. And I mean a big ouch.
I have been writing consistently about the bleak job news. The Obama Administration has been preparing us for 10% unemployment, but the question is this, "How long are people going to sit out and continue for this to be ok?"
Right now, Obama has temporary cover called the Bush Administration, but by this time next year that cover will be gone. Next year, Americans will want to start seeing MOVEMENT in job growth and wages. If we don't, the economy will continue in a free fall, people will start to point that finger at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and all that fairy dust that many have on Barack Obama will disappear.
This is from Dan Froomkin, Huffington Post, a must worth read:
Nowhere is the massive disconnect between Washington D.C. and the rest of the country more striking than when it comes to the issue of jobs.
Inside Washington, it is almost universally considered a foregone conclusion that unemployment will remain near, at, or even above 10 percent -- not just for months, but for years to come. (The unemployment rate in September, we just found out this morning, ticked up yet again, to 9.8 percent.) As White House economic guru Larry Summers dispassionately told reporters last month (while otherwise taking credit for turning the economy around), "The level of unemployment is unacceptably high and will on all forecasts remain unacceptably high for a number of, for a number of years."
This situation creates no sense of urgency in Washington. Ask Summers what he's going to do about it, for instance, and he hems and haws about recovery act programs that have yet to take full effect. To our political elite, jobs are simply nowhere near as critical an issue as the other economic indicators, the stock market, or the financial health of the nation's top bankers.
Outside the Beltway, however, it's a different story. According to a new poll by Hart Research Associates for the Economic Policy Institute, unemployment and the lack of jobs "remains the dominant problem on the economic agenda for voters across party lines." In fact, it's not even close. Asked to name the most important economic problem facing the country, registered voters cited unemployment twice as often as they mentioned the deficit or even the cost of health care; and four times as much as the housing crisis or problems with the banking system.
A whopping 83 percent see unemployment as either a fairly big or very big problem; and 81 percent say the Obama administration hasn't done enough to deal with it. read more here....
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Obama, McChystal on Air Force One
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meets with General Stanley McChrystal and his wife
President Barack Obama summoned his top commander in Afghanistan for a 25-minute meeting aboard Air Force Oneon Friday as part of his review of a war strategy that has divided the president's national security team.
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Obama met just before the president returned to Washington from Copenhagen, where he was pitching the International Olympic Committee on Chicago's bid to host the 2016 games.
McChrystal had been in London, where he said in a speech Thursday that insurgents are gaining strength in Afghanistan and more troops are needed to "buy time" for the Afghan military and police forces to prepare to take control of the country in 2013. read more here....
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The Lie Factory, the Republicans, per Rep. Alan Grayson (Video)
from the Ed Schultz Show....
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Unemployment rises to 9.8%, officially.
Bad news day, today.
No Olympics, no big deal, but the unemployment numbers continuing to rise and no jobs in sight for many Americans. Not good news, all around.
The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983, as employers cut far more jobs than expected.
The report shows that the worst recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain and underscores one of the biggest threats to the nascent economic recovery: that consumers, worried about job losses and stagnant wages, will restrain spending. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the nation's economy.
Most analysts expect the economy to continue to improve, but at a slow, uneven pace. Government stimulus efforts, such as the Cash for Clunkers auto rebates, likely boosted the economy in the July-September quarter, but economists worry that growth will slow once the impact of such programs fades. read more here....
Job Losses Far More than Expected. U6 Hits 17%
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Former McCain Campaign Manager states, Palin in 2012 would be catastrophe for GOP
The way I am reading this is that Steve Schmidt, former McCain 2008 Campaign Manager is giving himself an inoculation shot, EARLY. Why? The book is not due until mid-November, but some of the complaints that Palin had about the management of the McCain Campaign was warranted and he was the top gun, so any criticism will be focused on him front and center.
As part of the Aspen Institute’s Washington Ideas Forum in Washington, DC this morning, Steve Schmidt was asked about Sarah Palin’s upcoming book, “Going Rogue,” and about her 2012 potential.
"I think that she has talent," Schmidt said, "but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012," according to the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.
Schmidt added that it was not "inconceivable that she could be Republican nominee for president of the United States."
But, according to Stein, Schmidt said it would be "fairly inconceivable" that she could end up being president. "In fact, were she to be the nominee we could have a catastrophic election," said Schmidt.
Catastrophic? We knew if she was Vice-President in 2008 after her television performances and lack of knowledge that she would be catastrophic as "one heart beat" away from the presidency. So, dumping on her now is kind of hypocritical to me, because Schmidt knew who he got when he convinced McCain to pick her and that is not much politically or policy wise. And now, he wants to dump on her prior to her book coming out? Remember Schmidt, it was your campaign decision to pick her and put her in the spot she is in now, not the other way around.
And Palin's book? It will be a hot mess, she did not write jack, but gave a lot of hot button one-liners that the ghost writer jumped on to make a memoir. She will talk about everyone, it won't depend on which party you are in, if you made her an enemy she will call you out. In other words, nothing new from her.
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Chicago's bid for 2016 Olympics a "NO GO" (Video)
I kinda knew that Rio had the inside track, being that the Olympics Games never were in South America. Next, the IOC knew before FLOTUS, Michelle Obama even appeared in Copenhagen for the pitch. And now, Chicago knocked out in the first round.
Chicago was eliminated in the first ballot of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, a stunning defeat for the city that was expected to be one of the two finalists. Not even the presence of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama — nor a long list of celebrities — was enough to help the United States’ third-largest city.
Chicago had seemed to pick up momentum in the last few days, with many International Olympic Committee members seemingly charmed by Mrs. Obama. But when IOC president Jacques Rogge announced the results of the first vote, Chicago’s name was announced.
Tokyo was the next city eliminated, leaving Madrid and Rio de Janeiro as the remaining cities eligible as IOC voting continued.
Earlier, Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid made final pitches to the International Olympic Committee, with President Barack Obama and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pitting their star power against each other in emotional pushes for their cities. read more here.....
And President Obama? He stood up to lobby for his country. Loser, Mayor Daley, who put the pressure on the White House to get involved in this and now look at it. Personally, I wrote earlier that I wished the President would not get involved and that FLOTUS was enough, well just look what happened. In the end, a lesson learned for President Obama, the Obama White House and Chicago politics.
FLOTUS address to the IOC for 2016 Olympic bid
POTUS address to the IOC for 2016 Olympic bid
POTUS & FLOTUS pitch to the IOC in Copenhagen, Denmark, transcript
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Thursday, October 1, 2009
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama's schedule in Copenhagen, Denmark, October 2, 2009
CEST
8:10AM THE PRESIDENT arrives in Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup
Open Press
8:50AM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY deliver remarks at the Chicago 2016 presentation
Bella Center
Open to IOC-credentialed media
9:40AM THE PRESIDENT, along with other Chicago 2016 panel members, participates in a question and answer session with IOC members
Bella Center
Open to IOC-credentialed media
10:00AM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY attend informal reception with IOC members
Bella Center
Travel Pool Coverage
10:45AM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY are greeted by HM Queen Margrethe II and HRH Prince Consort Henrik
Christiansborg Palace
Travel pool spray
11:20AM THE PRESIDENT meets with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Christiansborg Palace
Pool spray at the top
12:55PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Copenhagen, Denmark en route Andrews Air Force Base
Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup
Open Press
EDT
2:00PM In-Town Travel Pool Call Time
3:15PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Andrews Air Force Base
Out-of-Town Travel Pool Coverage
3:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at The White House
South Lawn
Open Press (Pre-set 3:00PM - Final Gather 3:15PM - North Doors of the Palm Room)
4:00PM THE PRESIDENT delivers brief remarks
Rose Garden
Open Press (Pre-set 3:30PM - Final Gather 3:45PM - North Doors of the Palm Room)
Briefing Schedule
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route Andrews Air Force Base.
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President Obama On Progress Made During P5+1 Meeting (Video)
Upon conclusion of the P5+1 meeting regarding Iran, President Obama sends a strong message on behalf of the international community: Iran must take “concrete action” in regards to its nuclear program. October 1, 2009.
Transcript
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Obama Administration to ban texting by truckers and school bus drivers
I mean, you are driving a big rig or have a bus load of school children and you got to take your eyes off the road to text??? YES, BAN IT IMMEDIATELY. These drivers are hazardous on the road!!
The Obama administration said Thursday it will seek to ban text messaging by interstate bus drivers and truckers and push states to pass their own laws against driving cars while distracted.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the administration also would move to put restrictions on cell phone use by rail operators, truck drivers and interstate bus drivers.
"Driving while distracted should just feel wrong — just as driving without a seat belt or driving while intoxicated," LaHood said at the end of a two-day conference on the problem. "We're not going to break everyone of their bad habits — but we are going to raise awareness and sharpen the consequences." read it here...
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Senator Lindsey Graham is just tired of Glenn Beck
All the nastiness, much coming from the Republican/GOP side, eventually will end one way or another. The Republicans were successful in driving President Obama's numbers down, but unsuccessful in raising their numbers up. At this point, President Obama's numbers have recovered some but mostly stabled, on the other hand the Republican's numbers are still in the tank. Knowing all this, you will then realize that what you are doing is not working. This has been the Republican's problems, the public though appears asleep are not always asleep, and when you have the internet for folks to perform their own fact check, eventually what comes out of your mouths are painted as lies and the public moves on.
Maybe, Graham is now the first Republican who has just had enough of the continued bullshit and lies that have festered from all these, "conservative talk show hosts."
Today at the Washington Ideas Forum sponsored by the Atlantic, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sharply criticized “talk radio, MoveOn.org, the 24-hour news cycle” for the polarization in politics. He then specifically mentioned Fox News hosts Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck:Can you imagine writing the Constitution — you know, O’Reilly says Ben Franklin’s giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment? [Graham said]
Without missing a beat, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg next asked for Graham’s thoughts on Glenn Beck.
“Only in America can you make that much money crying,” Graham said.
Graham also claimed that Beck is “not aligned with any party as far as I can tell. He’s aligned with cynicism. And there’s always been a market for cynicism.” Watch it:
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FLOTUS, Michelle Obama pitching Chicago for the 2016 Olympics in Copenhagen, Denmark, Day Two (pictures)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama meets with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge at a hotel in Copenhagen, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. Michelle Obama has joined the Chicago 2016 bid team who are competing with Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro for the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The IOC will choose the winning city in a vote on Friday, Oct. 2, in Copenhagen.
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama shakes hands with Denmark's Prince Henrik, the husband of Denmark's Queen Margrethe, center, outside the Royal Palace in Copenhagen, Thursday Oct. 1, 2009.
FLOTUS in Copenhagen, Demark, Day One
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New job loss numbers continues the bad news for the economy
The economy may be on the mend for the economists, but out here in the real world, not so much. The job loss continues, the job fairs continues to bring out folks in the thousands, many 2-year colleges are seeing a boom of older students out of jobs, unemployment continues to extend, and the phrase, "there are no jobs out there" is becoming common.
First-time claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week in the U.S., a sign employers are reluctant to hire and the job market remains weak.
The Labor Department says initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 551,000 from 534,000 in the previous week. Wall Street economists expected an increase of 5,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Ohio reported one of the largest drops in claims. read more here...
And the auto industry went back into the dumps since the closing of the Cash for Clunkers program.
Major automakers reported September sales declines on Thursday, revealing a tough hangover from this summer's buying spree driven by big discounts to consumers.
General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC posted the biggest slowdowns during the month. Hyundai bucked the trend, reporting a 27 percent rise in sales last month over last year.
"It was a more difficult month than we anticipated," Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, told reporters during a conference call."
This is back to reality for the auto industry and for some folks sad to see GM closing down its Saturn line. One of their more reliable auto lines with devoted and repeat customers. Just a shame.
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Dick Cheney on the hot spot
A federal judge orders the FBI interview of Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States, be released to the public. This is the first of many "releases" that will eventually come out.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the FBI must publicly reveal much of its notes from an interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative.
Cheney agreed to be interviewed by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in June 2004 during the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity after her husband publicly criticized the Bush administration. Both the Bush and Obama administrations said they wanted to keep the interview confidential because future presidents, vice presidents and their senior staff may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could became public.
But U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled there was no justification to withhold the entire 67 pages of FBI records documenting Fitzgerald's interview since the Plame leak investigation has concluded. He said that limited parts could be withheld to protect national security and private communications between the president and vice president.
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Insurance executives stated the public option will not bankrupt them
And the Republicans are taking up for what? And why?
Insurance executives during a September meeting assured investors that, no matter what happens in health system reform, their companies would continue to exist.
A few days later, before members of Congress, a panel of executives for some of the same companies laid out reasons why the companies should continue to exist.
The timing was coincidental. But as the debate over health system reform began to narrow in focus, health plans appeared confident that their business model would stay essentially the same, and could even get a boost from reform.
With the potential for a public plan that would compete with private plans in flux, and a requirement for people to have health insurance gaining traction, executives told investors that reform could represent a large pool of new customers, rather than a threat to profits
.
"We think the ability to reform the insurance markets has the potential to bring a substantial number of new customers to the market," Aetna Chief Executive Officer and Chair Ronald Williams told investors and analysts at the New York conference, hosted by Morgan Stanley
The boost from reform is the mandatory purchase of health insurance. This is a stickler, one that President Obama has not REMOVED from the many remarks, speeches he has made. So, if the American Public MUST purchase this insurance, like car insurance, then there should be no problem with a government run public option. Right?
Right now, the Republicans and the Republican-Lite Democrats are hell bent on preserving the status quo, with very little change. These people are trying to sell incremental or baby steps in any possible way to the public. At this point, the feeling of the Democratic Party and many Independents is good luck in trying that one.
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