what did Obama do as President?

(Just a couple of) the Obama Administration's accomplishments: 1. The first bill President Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to help women fight back when they don't get equal pay for equal work. 2. His Recovery Act supported millions of jobs and helped to stave off a second Great Depression. 3. He pushed for and won middle-class tax cuts that benefitted every American worker, and saved the typical family $3,600 in taxes over the last four years. 4. President Obama rescued the auto industry, and now GM and Chrysler are healthier than they've ever been. The American auto industry has added nearly a quarter of a million jobs since June 2009 -- and they most likely wouldn't exist right now without President Obama's leadership. 5. He doubled funding for Pell Grants, helping to make college more affordable for nearly 10 million families. 6. His student loan reform ended billions in subsidies to banks serving as middlemen and reinvested those savings directly into students. 7. The President established the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth up to $10,000 over four years of college. 8. His Race to the Top Initiative helped spur nearly every state to raise academic standards. 9. His tax cuts, social-welfare programs, and economic policies lifted nearly 7 million Americans above the federal poverty line in 2010. 10. President Obama has signed 18 tax cuts for small businesses since taking office. 11. We've seen 5.2 million new private-sector jobs over the last 31 months. 12. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level since President Obama took office. 13. Health care reform -- passed after decades of failed attempts by every previous President -- provides affordable health coverage to every American and will lower premiums by an average of $2,000 per family by 2019. 14. Obamacare expanded access to lifesaving preventive care such as cancer screenings and immunizations with no out-of-pocket costs for 54 million Americans. 15. Obamacare ends insurance discrimination against the 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. 16. Because of Obamacare, over 3 million more young adults have health insurance today than would if the new law hadn't passed. 17. The parents of over 17 million children with pre-existing conditions no longer have to worry that their children will be denied coverage. 18. President Obama has ordered the overhaul of federal government regulations to make them smarter, practical, and more efficient. Just a fraction of these commonsense initiatives will help save businesses $10 billion in the next five years alone. 19. His historic investments in clean energy have helped more than double the amount of electricity we obtain from wind and solar sources and helped increase biofuel production to its highest level in history. 20. President Obama is doubling fuel efficiency standards, which will save drivers more than $8,000 at the gas pump, not to mention lessen the impact of automobiles on our environment. 21. President Obama has taken unprecedented action to address climate change, reaching historic international agreements to curb carbon emissions, and taking action here at home to reduce carbon pollution from our vehicles and promote clean energy production. 22. He has taken historic action to protect our environment -- signing one of the largest expansions of protected wilderness in a generation and putting in place standards to reduce toxic air pollution that will save thousands of lives. 23. President Obama fought for and won landmark Wall Street reform that reins in the abuses that led to the financial crisis and ends the era of taxpayer bailouts and "too big to fail." 24. Wall Street reform created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the nation's first federal agency focused solely on consumer financial protection -- and the Bureau is already protecting families from unfair and abusive financial practices from Wall Street banks and shadowy corners of the financial industry. 25. As part of President Obama's commitment to transparency, the White House has posted its visitor records online for the first time ever. 26. President Obama's all-of-the-above approach to energy has helped cut the United States' dependence on foreign oil to its lowest level in 20 years. 27. President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq. 28. He announced a plan to end the war in Afghanistan and transition security responsibility to the Afghan people. 29. President Obama sent the largest security assistance package to Israel in history and funded the Iron Dome system, which is protecting Israeli homes and schools from rocket attacks. 30. President Obama rallied the international community to implement the toughest sanctions on Iran in history. 31. Through the President's historic increases in Veterans Affairs funding, he has expanded and improved healthcare and job training access for our returning veterans. 32. President Obama negotiated the New START Treaty with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in both countries. At the same time, he also secured commitments from dozens of other countries to lock down nuclear materials. 33. His administration naturalized 11,146 military service members as U.S. citizens in 2010; more than in any year since 1955. 34. President Obama set a bold new plan for the future of NASA space exploration, using the skill and ability of the private sector for short trips to the International Space Station, while building a new vehicle for exploration of distant space, and doing everything in his power to support the economy on Florida's Space Coast. 35. President Obama recognizes that tourism is one of America's largest economic engines; he's worked to encourage international visitors to come here, maintaining our security while keeping millions of Americans in good, paying jobs. 36. He has affirmed his personal support of marriage equality, directed the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA in federal courts, and took the practical and compassionate step of extending hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners. 37. He fought for and won the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, allowing gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly for the first time in history. 38. When Congress failed to fix our broken immigration system, his administration did everything in its power to improve it, streamlining the legal immigration process and announcing a policy that lifts the shadow of deportation from hard working young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. 39. Oh, and he gave the order to send troops in after Osama Bin Laden -- and has decimated al-Qaeda's senior leadership.

During the Oct 3rd. Debate Romney said” On Medicare for current retirees he (Obama) is cutting $716 billion from the program.” This is a pants on fire lie. The $716 billion was a savings which was proposed by a independent commission. Obama adopted this savings proposal. Paul Ryan supported this saving proposal and in fact used the $716 billion in savings in his own budget plan. The savings would come from over payments and reduced payments to Doctors and Hospitals not from any beneficiary’s. Why lie?

Test question

Rush Limpwade. Is;; A) stupid B) uninformed C) out of touch with what Americans know and think. D) all of the above.I

Drought worst since 1956

Drought has spread to 25 States in the USA and 39 other countries. It is reported that 40 percent of the corn crop will fail. A full 1000 record temps. were recorded in the past two months in the USA.

Global warming is real.

The Maldives is a nation made up of 1192 islands in the Indian Ocean. It is the lowest country in the world. It's average elevation is five feet above sea level. Sea level has risen by seven inches since 1900 records were started. Scientists predict that sea level will rise by two more feet by 2100. The 390,000 people there are building a floating island. The Island will rise when all the ice in the Netherlands melts. Good idea for Florida and New York. Source: Popular Science July, 2010. Page 32.

Banks fight it out in court

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co said it would "vigorously contest" a lawsuit by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which said the conglomerate's former WMC unit made inaccurate statements about the sale of two residential mortgage-backed securities.

GE was one of 17 large banks and financial institutions sued on Friday by the FHFA, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , over losses on $200 billion of subprime bonds.

Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE said in a statement on Wednesday that the two transactions federal regulators are questioning amounted to $549 million and that $66 million in principal remain on them.

GE sold the WMC subprime mortgage lending business in 2007.

Other big financial institutions targeted in the suit include JPMorgan Chase & Co , Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of America Corp , including its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch arms.

Source= (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

who owns the 2011 debt?

Jan. 20,1993 End of H.W. Bush Sr. and start of Clinton. Debt = $4.188 trillion.
Jan. 19,2001 End of Clinton start of G.W. Bush. Debt = $5.728 trillion.
Jan. 20, 2009 End of G.W. Bush start of Obama. Debt = $10.627 trillion
April 20, 2011. Debt= $14.288 trillion.

As anyone can see Debt went up 86 percent under G.W. Bush and only 37 percent under Clinton and 34 percent under Obama. Republicans own the debt.

To be fair most of Clinton's debt was caused by policy of H.W. Bush.. Clinton also
had a balanced budget for two years and Clinton used "pay Go" all of his new spending request were sent to Congress with cuts he would use to pay for his spending.

G.W. Bush did not use "pay Go" and all of his spending went directly into debt. G.W. Bush also passed a tax cut for the wealthy which was not paid for and went into debt.
All of the cost of the Iraq invasion also went into debt.

Republicans own the debt. Source= C.B.O.

Makes sense to me..

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday signed into law a stricter, four-year lifetime limit on cash welfare benefits, prompting advocates for the poor to warn that tens of thousands of residents will find themselves without cash assistance on Oct. 1.

Michigan's first-year Republican chief executive said the state will offer exemptions to the limit for those with a disability who can't work, those who care for a disabled spouse or child and those who are 65 or older and don't qualify for Social Security benefits or receive very low benefits.

Some recipients who are the victims of domestic violence also may be temporarily exempted.

Gilda Jacobs of the Michigan League for Human Services said she expects about 41,000 people to lose their cash assistance payments on Oct. 1 when the state's new budget year begins. That includes 29,700 children, according to the Michigan Department of Human Services.

"We're very, very concerned," Jacobs said. "As the days go by, new people will be meeting the 48-month limit. ... More will be falling off that cliff."

The new law will reduce the number of children and adults receiving cash assistance by nearly a fifth, from more than 221,000 to around 180,000. Enforcing a four-year limit will save the state more than $60 million annually, according to a House Fiscal Agency analysis.

Michigan ranked 38th in child poverty for 2009, defined as income below $21,756 for a family of two adults and two children. About 23 percent of Michigan's children lived in poverty in 2009, compared with 20 percent nationally. In 2000, only 14 percent of Michigan children lived in poverty. The average age of a child in a family receiving cash assistance is around 7 years old.

Snyder, a Republican, has said reducing the number of children living in poverty is a priority of his administration.

Are Republicans really that stupid?

During the 1980 recession Ohio had 12 percent unemployment. Now in 2010 it's about 10 percent.
Republicans blame Obama for no jobs in Ohio. The facts are clear from 2000 to 2010 Ohio lost 594,000 jobs. Democrats don't blame the Ohio Governor John Kasich for that loss he had nothing to do with it. The state of Ohio also had a median wage drop of 86 cents per hour from 2000 to 2010. Which is the highest of all the States. Obama did not cause that drop and Kasich did not cause it.

Kasich claims a net job grow of only 45,100 since he took office in January 2011.

Source= US Census Bureau data.

Repubs wanted Iraqi oil

Drafted with the assistance of BearingPoint, an American consulting firm hired by the US government, it will give major oil companies 75% of profits till the investment is paid for and 20% (double the normal rate) after that. A draft went to the US government and major oil companies in July. American and British troops will need to stabilize Iraq before major investments can begin, and probably for a decade after.

source= http://zfacts.com/p/719.html

Who said this?

"If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem." — George W. Bush, Jan. 2001.

http://zfacts.com/p/447.html

Was Bush wrong?

"In 2001, Bush told 1,300 people here that the government wouldn't miss the money. "We can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy softens," he said."

Bush lost jobs in the Private sector but gained in Gov. jobs..

During Bush’s eight years in office -- January 2001 to January 2009 -- the nation actually gained a net 1.09 million jobs. (Because there were gains in government jobs, the private sector actually lost 653,000 jobs during that period.)

Repubs will increase taxes

By Harold Meyerson, Published: August 23, source= The Washington Post

America’s presumably anti-tax party wants to raise your taxes. Come January, the Republicans plan to raise the taxes of anyone who earns $50,000 a year by $1,000, and anyone who makes $100,000 by $2,000.

Their tax hike doesn’t apply to income from investments. It doesn’t apply to any wage income in excess of $106,800 a year. It’s the payroll tax that they want to raise — to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent of your paycheck, a level established for one year in December’s budget deal at Democrats’ insistence. Unlike the capital gains tax, or the low tax rates for the rich included in the Bush tax cuts, or the carried interest tax for hedge fund operators (which is just 15 percent), the payroll tax chiefly hits the middle class and the working poor..

Debt debate

Republicans have their opinion of who won the debt debate, we all know who they think won.

Repubs. First wanted $4 trillion in cuts to spending, Obama negotiated them down to $2 trillion, I
think it's clear that they lost and Obama won on this issue. The cuts to Medicare will be only a 2 percent reduction in what Hospitals and Doctors get paid.

Repubs. Wanted a Balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, Democrats got a up or down vote from Congress at a later date, we all know how this will go. It will pass in the House but fail in the Senate, going no where. This is a clear win for Obama.

Repubs. Wanted the debt debate to come up during the 2012 election. Obama got it extended into 2013. Obama clearly won this issue.

Obama has always wanted to end the war in Iraq, he cut defense by 50 percent over 10 years. A clear win for Obama.

On the tax issue. The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire in 2012. Unless Congress extends them and the President signs off. Perhaps a real negotiation will take place then to revise the tax code and take away the obvious bias towards the wealthy.

In 2004 there were 132 million tax returns filed with the IRS. 90 percent of tax returns report incomes of less than $100,000. 9.7 million had incomes between $100,000 and $200,000. 2.3 million had incomes of between $200,000 and $500,000. Only 582,213 had incomes of between $500,000 and $2 million. Only 65,548 had incomes of between $2 million and
$5 million. Only 15,835 had incomes of between $5 million and $10 million. Only 9677 had incomes of above $10 million.

So when Republicans talk about cutting taxes they only want taxes cut for the 10 percent at the top or those who make above $100,000 a year. They are not talking about the 90 percent of tax payers who make less than $100,000.

Anyone with half a brain can see that the tax base is shrinking, from 10 to 20 percent UN-employment
shrinks the base. Taxes will need to be increased. Spending is only part of the problem.

When Bush took office the debt was $5.73 trillion, when he left office it was $10.7 trillion. A increase of $4.97 trillion all on Republicans in Congress and on G.W. Bush. Since Bush left office Obama and Congress has been funding two wars and for ten years the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Granted Obama extended those tax cuts but only to keep the economy from harm.

The stimulus plan has not had enough time past to make judgment. The bail out of the auto industry and the banks also has not had enough time past to make judgment. Those Repubs. That are saying all of that legislation was a failure do not see the big picture, they have a narrow minded point of view. The economy could have very well went into Depression if Congress had done nothing. Who knows?

the rich create the jobs

Lets take a trip back in time to 2004. More than 132 million Americans filed tax returns for that year.
This is the breakdown according to the I.R.S. A full 99.5 percent had adjusted Federal income of below $500,000. Only 0.5 percent had adjusted Federal Income of above $500,000. 582,213 made between $500,000 and $2 million. 65,548 made between $2 million and $5 million. Only 15,835 made between $5 million and $10 million. Only 9677 made more than $10 million. A full 90 percent of all reported adjusted Federal Income was for less than $100,000.

Some have said “the rich create the jobs”. Why tax the rich Higher?
The answer is simple and in most peoples minds should make perfect and logical sense. The rich do not create jobs in America. It is in fact Innovation and investment that creates the jobs. Granted the rich do play a part in the investment side for sure. The rich do invest in the Innovation of others and the rich do invest in the stock market. Some call that work. I call it speculation in the innovation of others and investment in the work done by others.

A police officer works 43 hours for $1000. A High school teacher works 43 hours for $1000. A G.P. Doctor works 13 hours and 5 mins. For $1000. Howard Stern “works” 24 seconds for $1000.
Dr. Phil McGraw “works” 2 mins. And 42 sec. For $1000. Brad Pitt “works” 4 mins. And 48 secs. For his $1000. I don't know about you but I would tax the rich higher before taxing those who that really work for a living each day of their life.

I worked hard all of my life. I know what the Government took from me as a result of my own hard work and sacrifice. I put up with a lot of crap from the wealthy owners and managers of a small company. I know first hand how much work the owners actually did while they were being paid. Mostly they just sat at there desk in a plush office and read magazines or “The Wall street journal” or they planed the next vacation or the next social affair. At “work” they would often balance there own personal check book or make personal calls to friends and relatives to pass the time. When it came to real work they would always find someone like me to do it for them. I knew how to do the work and they only knew that someone other than them had to do it.

The Company I worked for went from less than $1 million in gross annual sales to $26 million in the 23 years I was there. A salesman at this company for over 9 years made about $100,000 a year. I made about $20,000 a year average for all of my time there. In the end I was thrown out laid off and the Salesman walked away with $1 million at the time of sale of the company. I never saw the salesman do anything close to real work in all his 9 years.

Federal employees doing Ok in recession.

Obama announced a two year pay freeze a while back but Federal Employees still get the
"step increase". 2.6-3.3 percent. Congress has not approved that freeze yet.
In addition to the General scheduled employees receiving step increases, some of the governments 187,000 "wage grade" employees also will get the "step increase".
Also in June the government paid $408 million in bonuses to 359,400 people the average being $1,135 each, in physical 2009.

Seems to me the recession has not hurt federal employees all that much. I have not seen any one I know in the private sector get 2.6 percent pay increase per year.

Repubs. added $750 billion to debt.

If your Married and filing jointly and you had taxable income of over $80,000 you got $2668. Married and filing jointly and taxable income of $150,000 you got $4768.

Married and filing jointly with taxable income over $270,000 you got $8,368.
Married and filing jointly with taxable income over $400,000 you got $12,547.

Now the question is. Will you invest it to create more jobs in the U.S.A.? Or
will you and your wife take another vacation?.

add to debt

Well the Republicans added $700 billion to the National Debt with tax cuts for 1 percent of tax payers, in addition to the $2 trillion for the Iraq war. Seems they are not as worried about debt as they claimed. According to Rush this was a "major victory" for Republicans.

I don't understand how putting the problem off on our children and grand children can be considered a "major victory" but Rush is "always right". Right?

Median Family Income, 2010

The place with the highest median family income is the Washington, D.C., metro area, which includes the nation's capital, as well as wealthy suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. In 2009 families in this region earned a median income of $102,340, a 0.7% increase from 2008. D.C. also boasts a better than average unemployment rate of 5.9%, far below the September's 9.2% national average.

In places like San Jose, Calif., (No. 3) and San Francisco (No. 5), the effects of the recession are more obvious. San Jose, part of the country's biggest tech hub, saw median family income drop 6.5% to $96,443. San Francisco, a financial center which also relies heavily on the tech industry, experienced a decrease of 3.7% to $90,734.

Wealthy suburbs on the East Coast also saw negative growth, even though incomes are still high. In second-ranked Greenwich, Conn., (No. 2) and the surrounding areas that make up the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., Metropolitan Statistical Area, median family income plummeted by 6.7% to $98,118.

So will next year's numbers look better for the rest of the country? If you consider unemployment rates, the prospects aren't good: Overall U.S. unemployment rates have climbed from 5.8% in 2008 to 9.3% in 2009 and an estimated 9.7% in 2010. But Shierholz says there will be more places showing recovery, even if the country at large still struggles. "On average the median income will come down a bit," she says. "But there will be metro areas that see improvement."

Anchorage, Alaska, metropolitan statistical area
Median family income: $83,180

hate-mongering will run wild

Keeping the story alive, and trying to invalidate the first African-American president (one with a Kenyan-born father) — well, that's the point, says Jerrold Post, director of the political psychology program at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

"This whole us-versus-them psychology is central to politics, and hate-mongering leaders will exploit this to the fare-thee-well," Post says.

Obamas birth printed in the local paper

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111194869

More info on health care reform.

The new health care reform law is chock-full of new taxes and tax increases that will
affect many individuals and businesses, but it will be years before most of these hikes take a bite out of your -- or your company’s -- wallet. The law also has tax breaks to help both individuals and small businesses pay for insurance.

1. A new 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services on services provided after
June 30, 2010.

2. The new law gives small firms tax credits as incentives to provide coverage, starting this tax year. Employers with 10 or fewer workers and average annual wages of less than $25,000 can receive a credit of up to 35% of their health premium costs each year through 2013. The credit is phased out for firms larger than that and disappears completely if a company has more than 25 employees or average annual wages of $50,000 or more.
Beginning in 2014, small firms that sign up with one of the health exchanges to be created can receive a credit of up to 50% of their costs.

3. A requirement that businesses include the value of the health care benefits they provide to employees on W-2s, beginning with W-2s for 2011.

4. Elimination of a deduction employers now take for providing Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage to their retirees to the extent that the federal government subsidizes the coverage. This will not take effect until 2013.

5. Doubling the penalty for nonqualified distributions from health savings accounts, to 20%, beginning in 2011.

6. A limit on the amount that employees can contribute to health care flexible spending accounts to $2,500 a year, but the cap won't take effect until 2013.

7. A ban on using funds from flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements or health savings accounts for the cost of over-the-counter medications, starting in 2011.

8. Imposing a 0.9% Medicare surtax on wages of single taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year and couples earning over $250,000, starting in 2013, as well as a 3.8% Medicare tax on their unearned income. The new law defines unearned income as interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, royalties, and rents. Tax-exempt interest won’t be included, nor will income from retirement accounts.

9. A hike in the 7.5% floor on itemized deductions for medical expenses to 10%, beginning in 2013. But taxpayers age 65 and over are exempt from the cutback through 2016.

10. A new 40% excise tax, beginning in 2018, on high-cost health plans, levied on the
portion that exceeds $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families.

11. A new tax on individuals who don't obtain adequate health coverage by 2014. The tax is be phased in over three years, starting at the greater of $95, or 1% of income, in 2014, and rising to the greater of $695, or 2.5% of income, in 2016.

12. Providing a refundable tax credit, once the individual mandate takes effect in 2014, to help low-income folks purchase coverage. To be eligible, a person's household income must be between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, generally around $11,000 to $44,000 for singles and $22,000 to $88,000 for families.

13. A nondeductible fee charged to businesses with 50 or more employees if the firms fail to offer adequate coverage. The fee will equal $2,000 times the number of employees, though it won’t count the first 30 workers in that calculation.

Copyrighted, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.

Did we kill Bin Laden yet?

After all we know Bin Laden planned Sept. 11Th. Did we find in Iraq WMDs? Did we install democracy in Iraq yet?
These Republican goals have not been attained. These were goals Bush and Cheney both supported. War dead in Iraq since invasion March 19, 2003. = 4389 brave Americans.
Tax payer dollars spent on Republican goals all went into tax payer debt.
2003- $53 billion
2004- $75.9 billion
2005- $85.5 billion
2006- $101,7 billion
2007- $130.8 billion
2008- $141.1 billion
2009- $94.8 billion
2010- $64.5 billion

All went into Debt.

Repubs block jobless benifits again.

WASHINGTON – As Congress raced to leave Washington for its Easter recess, a Republican senator blocked a stopgap bill to extend jobless benefits, saying its $9 billion cost should not be added to the national debt.

As a result, some people who have been out of work for more than six months will at least temporarily lose benefits. Newly jobless people won't be eligible to sign up for generous health insurance subsidies.

At the center of the battle is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who's insisting that the measure be "paid for" so as not to add to the nation's $12.7 trillion debt.

"What we are doing is stealing future opportunity from our children," Coburn said Thursday.

Where was this "conservative" when Bush passed tax cuts for the wealthy and the money to invade and occupy Iraq? All of this spending went into debt.

More Facts on Health Care reform law.

If you have Health Insurance you keep what you have. If you are on Medicare you stay on Medicare. Medicare benefits will not have a new lifetime capped and there are no death boards. Doctors will not all leave the country. Your wait time will not be increased by this law. If your on Medicare you will not be turned down for any needed in Hospital Service. As it is now and as it always has been Medicare will not pay for some Hospital services and you will be told in advance that Medicare will not pay.
If you have a Medicare gap policy and you like it you can keep it as is. Your premiums on your Medicare gap policy will not increase.

Health Care facts

In 2010 …
For people with health insurance coverage, your insurer will no longer be able to:
* Rescind your policy after you get sick (huh, who allowed them to do that before?)
* Limit your lifetime benefits
* Make you pay co-pays or deductibles for preventive services
* Exclude pre-existing conditions for your children (what about for you? wait 'til 2014)
* Spend less than 85 cents of every premium dollar on health services in the large group market or less than 80 cents in the small group and individual market.
For people without insurance, the bill
* Sets up a new federal, "high-risk" insurance pool that those with uninsurable medical problems can enroll in, funded with $5 billion. (Many states have such pools, but very few are able to afford the premiums, and it's unclear whether this new federal plan will be any more affordable.)
* For those 26 years old or younger, allows them to remain on their parents' insurance policies.
For older adults who hit the "donut" hole of Medicare drug coverage, the program will provide a $250 rebate (the first step in the legislation's plan to eliminate this nasty policy by 2020).
For small businesses (fewer than 25 workers) with average wages of less than $50,000, the feds will provide tax credits of up to 35% of their premiums. Considerable research shows that such tax incentives (a form of subsidy) result in very few newly insured workers; subsidies have to reduce the effective price of insurance a lot more, say 60-80%, to get much benefit.
For communities, the bill:
* Increases funding by $11 billion over 5 years for community health centers and for placement of doctors and nurses in areas with too few of them.
* Provides new funding for a "Prevention and Public Health Fund" to expand public health programs and a new grant program to support community-level efforts to reduce chronic diseases and other health disparities, especially in rural areas.
* Requires not-for-profit hospitals to better account for the benefit they provide their communities (in return for not paying taxes like other businesses) and how they meet community needs.
Don't see your favorite (or most hated) provision … health insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion, individual mandate, Maserati health plan tax?

Hello all

Sorry been gone a while. Had my 5th. open heart. Doing well now but was knocked on my butt in April and May..

The Obama plan, how it will work.

How the Obama plan works, Feb. 1,2009

The withholding tax for most Americans earning up to $150,000 a year will be reduced resulting in higher net pay quickly. Higher net pay is disposable income spent quickly. Checks for net pay could go up $12-$13 a week. The total stimulus package is $819 billion. A full 33 percent or $275 billion will go into tax cuts. A full 90 percent or about 9.7 million of the total of 132 million tax payers in 2004 make less than $100,000.

Other provisions are; Aid to States, Infrastructure projects, Education, health care and alternative energy projects... All of these create jobs or protect existing jobs.

The remaining 66 percent or $ 544 billion will go into unemployment benefits adding a extra $25 a week. This is also disposable income which families will spend. A family of four that gets food stamps would get a extra $79 a month to spend on food. Billions of dollars will go directly to States to help pay for health Care and other expenses without raising State taxes. Aid to the States for education will help States to keep down property tax increases. Aid to States also prevents States from cuts in the States workforce. This keeps people working.

A $87 billion provision in the stimulus plan goes to help States with Medicare costs. The stimulus also creates $79 billion State fiscal stabilization fund to be used half in 2009 and half in 2010. This provides a buffer for the States in the long term. The stimulus also has $30 billion for infrastructure which is long overdue among Republicans who oppose the legislation and have for 8 years. Our roads and bridges are crumbling and every American knows that. Water projects, millitary building projects will also create jobs.

The stimulus also includes $ 140 billion in new spending on educations. Which includes. for school renovation $20 billion. $13 billion for two years on title I schools. Republicans have always opposed Federal spending on public education, that's why property taxes went up in every State. What good is it to reduce Federal taxes then increase State taxes by the same amount?. It's all taxes. When people buy a new home they always consider Taxes and Insurance.

Republicans want more tax cuts for the wealthy and less tax cuts for the working class, that has not changed in 30 years to my memory. Republicans want capital gains taxes eliminated so that the wealthy can take stock dividends as nontaxable income. Republicans also want no capital gains taxes on the profit from the sale of a house. This is not earned income. They do not work for this money.

This is a good plan. It is also a “main street” plan. We voted and Democrats won, this is exactly what we voted for and Republicans need to wake up to that fact. For seven of Bush's 8 years Republicans controlled Congress. Republicans caused this mess in the first place.

Who caused this mess in our economy?

Subprime mortgages caused the current economy to be such a mess. Go back in History to 1999 it was Phil Gramm and Republicans that caused this mess. Gramm legislation (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) was passed by the Republican controlled Senate and passed much to the delight of the banking industry's lobbyist and as a payoff to the Republicans for past campaign contributions.

A full 100 percent of all Republicans voted for this bill including John McCain. The act repealed part of “The Glass-Steagall act of 1933” this act was passed to prevent speculation which caused the bank collapse in 1929. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allowed more banks mergers and moved them directly into the stocks, bonds and insurance markets.

In 2000, Gramm was able to pass the “Commodity Futures Modernization Act. It expanded futures trading and created new investments for speculation, including energy trading. It was energy trading that caused the Enron scandal. It also created the credit default swap.

These two pieces of deregulation passed by Republicans have resulted in the biggest financial crisis since 1929, a failing world economy, loss of 1.8 million jobs in 2008 and the current bailout help now being passed and considered by Congress.

beware of the "bait and switch" ploy

The the Ohio Attorney Generals office, Consumer fraud Division.

At some time before Nov. 24, 2007 someone from Verizon Wireless called my cell phone. The person who called told my wife that she was eligible for a free phone ungrade if she would come into the office and get the free phone.

On Nov. 24, 2007 my wife and I went into the office at 1272 Delaware Avenue.

We were then told by Steve Lewis that they were out of the free phone. Steve Lewis offered us a new Motorola phone Model W-385 a more expensive phone and gave his word that we would get a $50 rebate if we paid the $95.84 higher cost. Invoice number 9609. We paid with a Credit Card.

We agreed to pay the additional cost on the word of Steve Lewis that we would get a $50 rebate.

We also agreed to a new two year contract which would expire on 11.24/2009.

On Nov. 27,2007 we returned the Motorola and got a LGVX8350 model VX8350. My wife did not like the Motorola, we paid a additional $21.30 in cash. Total upgrade cost's of $117.14. The invoice number was 9675. The Salesperson was “Marion General” and the final transaction was date and time stamped by user MBORG at 5:46 PM. The transaction was later modified on December, 19, 2007 by user AYEATER.

On January 20, 2007 we received a notice from Verizon Wireless. “thank you for participating in this promotion, unfortunately we could not honor your request due to the following reasons. Invalid Purchase date.” This was our second rejecting from the Verizon rebate contractor in El Paso, TX.

This was our second notice and “on appeal” and the first notice was also reported to the store.

On January 21 I visited the Verizon Wireless office at 1272 Delaware Avenue a third time. The second time was when we got the first notice that “we would not get the rebate.” I ask to speak to the manager, the person there told me “they could not do anything about the notice from the Verizon Contractor and that person suggested I call them directly”. That person claimed “he owned the store and could not refund the rebate”, as promised by his sales person.

May I point out that Verizon has a “worry Free Guarantee” printed on the back of every employee business card that states in item number 3. “If you ever have a problem, it becomes our problem the first time you call” This statement could violate the “truth in advertising” laws of the State of Ohio, since the Verizon Vendor, or sales person seemed to me to be very dis-interested in my problem with the rebate promise not being kept the first time I reported that problem to the Vendor.

I know Sales employees are paid commission on sales. I also know bait and switch when I see it. The bate was the free phone. The Verizon Store may or may not have been out of the free phone at the time of my visit, I have no way of knowing if that was the truth.

I also know “step up” the customer sales contact very well. It's part of all sales training. We agreed to the step up to another, more expensive phone but only with the condition that we would get the rebate of $50. We did not agree to the step up in additional calling features that was presented by the sales person.

Please investigate this bate and switch ploy. Have other Customers had this same problem with this same Vendor.? We would like as our own remedy to get the $50 rebate we were promised by the sales person, Steve Lewis.

Aug. 27, 2009, Update, the rebate policy for the State has been changed. The old purchase date now applies. Regardless if you exchange the phone.

Big News never makes the front page

Congress should ask Cheney to resign now. Congress should also subpoena former White House Press secretary Scott McClellan and ask him questions under oath. Congress should also subpoena the transcript of his new book “What Happened” due out in April.

In this Book Scott McClellan admits that he was told to lie and cover up TREASON. He was told to make a false statement by GW Bush and Dick Cheney. Articles of impeachment against Cheney should now be amended to include the charge of treason.

McClellan also admits that in a 2003 news conference in which he said “aids Lewis Libby, Carl Rove, Andrew Card and V.P. Dick Cheney were not involved in the leaking of C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame”. McClellan now claims he “unknowingly passed on false information”.

This is in fact a conspiracy and Valerie Plames Law suit is now proven to be based on facts. Source= AP by Matt Apuzzo..

Iraq war

3867 dead now since 2003. 4698 Army Deserters. During Viet Nam there were 33,094 deserters and we lost 58,000 brave Americans.
Democrats have passed 60 times legislation to set a date to end the occupation of Iraq, Republicans have blocked every effort. Democrats have done what the voters ask in 2006 they have tried to set a date to end the occupation of Iraq.. The last vote was 53-45 which was seven votes short of the 60 votes needed. Now all democrats need to do is cut off the money, pass no legislation to fund Iraq. Republicans own this occupation.

Democrats Position on issues, 2008

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Hillary Clinton warned Democrats not to ``oversell'' plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, setting a cautious tone on the war that was echoed by the party's two other leading presidential candidates.

Clinton and her main competitors for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama and former Senator John Edwards, agreed in a debate this morning that pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq can't be accomplished in just a few months and that any withdrawal must be balanced by security concerns.

`It is so important that we not oversell this,'' Clinton said at the ABC News-sponsored forum in Des Moines, Iowa. Edwards concurred, saying it ``would be hard'' to move troops out within six months, as suggested by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, while Obama said U.S. options are limited.

George Bush drove the bus into the ditch and there are only so many ways you can pull that bus out of the ditch,'' the Illinois Democrat said.

The debate was the first among the Democrats running for president held in the state that traditionally kicks off the official nomination contests with its party caucuses in January.

The candidates continued a discussion about whether Obama has enough experience to be president, and Clinton, of New York, was questioned about whether polls showing more than 40 percent of the public views her unfavorably suggest she is too polarizing a figure to lead the party to victory in 2008.

In a previous debate, Obama said he would be willing to meet unconditionally with hostile foreign leaders during his first year in office.

Debate on Experience

In today's forum, Clinton said no president ``should give away the bargaining chip of a personal meeting with any leader,'' and Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware said he stood by an earlier statement that Obama isn't ready for the job.

``To prepare for this debate I rode in the bumper cars at the state fair,'' Obama, 46, said, drawing laughter from the audience. Critics aren't arguing with ``the substance of my positions,'' the first-term senator said. ``I think that there's been some political maneuvering taking place over the last couple of weeks.''

Clinton, 59, took her turn on defense when the candidates were asked whether Democrats should be worried that nominating the former first lady will hurt the party.

Lobbyist Donations

The nation needs someone who ``can break out of the political patterns that we've been in over the last 20 years,'' Obama said. Edwards, 54, a former senator from North Carolina who is trailing Clinton and Obama in national polls and in raising money, suggested her ties to lobbyists will prevent her from being able to change Washington.

``These people will never give away power voluntarily,'' he said, renewing his call for Clinton to foreswear lobbyist contributions. ``We have to take their power away from them.''

Clinton said her critics are making an ``artificial distinction,'' because while Edwards and Obama don't take money directly from lobbyists they accept donations from law firms that hire lobbyists. ``It's the people who employ the lobbyists who are behind all the money in American politics,'' she said.

She said comments made last week by Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's political adviser, that Clinton enters the primary season with higher negative poll ratings than any previous frontrunner show she is the best candidate to beat the Republicans next year.

Nuclear Weapons

Clinton also defended comments she made in a Bloomberg News interview in 2006 that she would rule out using nuclear weapons against Iran. She criticized Obama for a recent comment that he wouldn't use nuclear weapons against terrorists.

``This was a brush back against this administration which has been reckless and provocative,'' she said of her earlier statement, whereas Obama's remark was on ``hypotheticals'' that shouldn't be addressed by a presidential candidate.

On the war, Richardson was alone in saying U.S. troops should withdraw from Iraq in six to eight months, leaving no residual forces behind to protect civilian personnel.

Biden led the other Democrats in disagreeing. ``It's time to start to level with the American people,'' Biden said. ``If we leave Iraq and we leave it in chaos, there'll be regional war. The regional war will engulf us for a generation.''

Clinton said Biden is ``absolutely right,'' cautioning that ``this is going to be very dangerous and very difficult'' and ``a lot of people don't like to hear that.''

Edwards said a timetable of nine or 10 months is more reasonable. Obama said Biden is right and that ``this is not going to be a simple operation.''

When the eight candidates were asked whether there was a major issue where they didn't tell the whole truth, Clinton and Edwards cited their votes to authorize Bush to use military force in Iraq.

Clinton said while she thought at the time that her vote was an ``appropriate approach.'' Looking back on it ``I wouldn't have voted that way again,'' she said. ``Obviously for me that is a great regret.''

Edwards said that he had a ``huge internal conflict'' about the war authorization that he didn't express at the time.

My words follow, anyone who knows politics knows you need to win to advance your own agenda. If you know politics then you would know there are many times you vote only to advance your own agenda. If Democrats would have voted no on troop funds Republicans would have used that vote to make Democrats look bad in 2008, the Republicans would have went ahead anyway since they had the majority then. The troops were already in harms way when the vote was taken. This makes the NO vote by Democrats a "NO WIN" vote. Republicans know this to be true, they would have beat the Democrats to death with it in 30 seconds adds on TV and said the Democrats voted no on funding the troops and the Democrats are weak on fighting terror.

Gross Federal Debt, In 2007 dollars

Click here for chart.

Then left click on Federal Budget 101, than left click on Charts. Then left click on national Debt.

"we do not negotiate with terrorist" GW BUSH

The U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq sat down Tuesday for a second round of groundbreaking of talks on stabilizing Iraq, a session marred by a tense exchange over American allegations that Iran is fueling the violence.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the meeting with an impassioned appeal for help from the two nations to stabilize Iraq and warned that militants from al-Qaida and other terror groups in Iraq were now fleeing and finding refuge elsewhere.

"We are hoping that you support stability in Iraq, an Iraq that doesn't interfere in the affairs of others nor wants anyone to meddle in its own affairs," he said, according to excerpts of al-Maliki's remarks released by his office.

"The world ... must stand together and face this dangerous phenomenon and its evils, which have gone beyond the borders of Iraq after terror and al-Qaida groups received strong blows and are now running away from the fight and moving to other nations," he said.

In Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iraqi independence and an end to the U.S. troop presence were central to ending violence in Iraq, state media reported.

"American officials would rather find their own solution to a problem of their own creation than agree to Iran's realistic approach," Hosseini was quoted as saying by the Web site of the state broadcasting company.

Hosseini also rejected American allegations that that Iran was arming and training Iraqi militants.

The Dunce in the White House

His former Harvard Business School professor recalls George W. Bush not just as a terrible student but as spoiled, loutish and a pathological liar.

By Mary Jacoby

September 16, 2004 | For 25 years, Yoshi Tsurumi, one of George W. Bush's professors at Harvard Business School, was content with his green-card status as a permanent legal resident of the United States. But Bush's ascension to the presidency in 2001 prompted the Japanese native to secure his American citizenship. The reason: to be able to speak out with the full authority of citizenship about why he believes Bush lacks the character and intellect to lead the world's oldest and most powerful democracy.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/09/16/tsurumi/index.html

"I don't remember all the students in detail unless I'm prompted by something," Tsurumi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I always remember two types of students. One is the very excellent student, the type as a professor you feel honored to be working with. Someone with strong social values, compassion and intellect -- the very rare person you never forget. And then you remember students like George Bush, those who are totally the opposite."

The future president was one of 85 first-year MBA students in Tsurumi's macroeconomic policies and international business class in the fall of 1973 and spring of 1974. Tsurumi was a visiting associate professor at Harvard Business School from January 1972 to August 1976; today, he is a professor of international business at Baruch College in New York.

Trading as usual on his father's connections, Bush entered Harvard in 1973 for a two-year program. He'd just come off what George H.W. Bush had once called his eldest son's "nomadic years" -- partying, drifting from job to job, working on political campaigns in Florida and Alabama and, most famously, apparently not showing up for duty in the Alabama National Guard.

Harvard Business School's rigorous teaching methods, in which the professor interacts aggressively with students, and students are encouraged to challenge each other sharply, offered important insights into Bush, Tsurumi said. In observing students' in-class performances, "you develop pretty good ideas about what are their weaknesses and strengths in terms of thinking, analysis, their prejudices, their backgrounds and other things that students reveal," he said.

One of Tsurumi's standout students was Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., now the seventh-ranking member of the House Republican leadership. "I typed him as a conservative Republican with a conscience," Tsurumi said. "He never confused his own ideology with economics, and he didn't try to hide his ignorance of a subject in mumbo jumbo. He was what I call a principled conservative." (Though clearly a partisan one. On Wednesday, Cox called for a congressional investigation of the validity of documents that CBS News obtained for a story questioning Bush's attendance at Guard duty in Alabama.)

Bush, by contrast, "was totally the opposite of Chris Cox," Tsurumi said. "He showed pathological lying habits and was in denial when challenged on his prejudices and biases. He would even deny saying something he just said 30 seconds ago. He was famous for that. Students jumped on him; I challenged him." When asked to explain a particular comment, said Tsurumi, Bush would respond, "Oh, I never said that." A White House spokeswoman did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In 1973, as the oil and energy crisis raged, Tsurumi led a discussion on whether government should assist retirees and other people on fixed incomes with heating costs. Bush, he recalled, "made this ridiculous statement and when I asked him to explain, he said, 'The government doesn't have to help poor people -- because they are lazy.' I said, 'Well, could you explain that assumption?' Not only could he not explain it, he started backtracking on it, saying, 'No, I didn't say that.'"

If Cox had been in the same class, Tsurumi said, "I could have asked him to challenge that and he would have demolished it. Not personally or emotionally, but intellectually."

Tax payer paid Contractors getting cash in Iraq.

In Iraq, up to 180,000 contractors
Estimates of the number of private security personnel and other civilian contractors in Iraq today range from 126,000 to 180,000 – nearly as many, if not more than, the number of Americans in uniform there. Most are not Americans. They come from Fiji, Brazil, Scotland, Croatia, Hungary, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, and other countries.

"A very large part of the total force is not in uniform," Scott Horton, who teaches the law of armed conflict at Columbia University School of Law, said in congressional testimony last month. In World War II and the Korean War, contractors amounted to 3 to 5 percent of the total force deployed. Through the Vietnam War and the first Gulf War, the percentage grew to roughly 10 percent, he notes. "But in the current conflict, the number appears to be climbing steadily closer to parity" with military personnel. "This represents an extremely radical transformation in the force configuration," he says.

Until recently, there has been little oversight of civilian contractors operating in Iraq. The Defense Department is not adequately keeping track of contractors – where they are or even how many there are, the Government Accountability Office concluded in a report last December. This is especially true as military units rotate in and out of the war zone (as do contractors) and institutional memory is lost.

This lack of accountability has begun to change with a Democrat-controlled Congress. As part of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act passed last year, Congress now requires that civilian contractors who break the law – hurt or kill civilians, for example – come under the legal authority of

the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So far, however, the Pentagon has not issued guidance to field commanders on how to do this.

Proposed bills in the House and Senate would require "transparency and accountability in military and security contracting." For example, companies would be required to provide information on the hiring and training of civilian workers, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would have to issue rules of engagement regarding the circumstances under which contractors could use force.

Senior commanders acknowledge the value of contractors, especially those that are armed and ready to fight if attacked.

Usama Bin Laden roots..

President Bush, remarks at a round table with Arab and Muslim Americans leaders. Sept. 10th. 2002

"All Americans must recognize that the face of terror is not the true face of Islam. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It's a faith that has made brothers ans sisters of every race. It's a faith based upon love not hate." Most Muslims prefer a peaceful and inclusive vision of their faith, not the violent sectarianism of Bin Laden and his followers.

From the book "The Soviet war in Afghanistan, history and harbinger of future war" by Mohammed Yahya Nawwroz and Lester W. Grau, Sept. and Oct. 1995.

"The Afghanistan conflict lasted for 1979 to 1989. This gave Islamist extremist a rallying point and training field. A Communist government in Afghanistan gained power in 1978 but was unable to establish enduring control. At the end of 1979, the Soviet government sent in military units to ensure that the country would remain securely under Moscow's influence. The response was an Afghan national resistance movement, supported by the USA and the CIA with arms and training, that defeated the Soviet forces."

Young Muslims from all over the world flocked to Afghanistan to join the "Holy War", the jihad, against the invaders. The largest numbers came from the middle east. Some were Saudis, and among them was 23 years old Usama Bin Laden.

From the book " the 9/11 commission report. Chapter two page 54 and 55..

Do you love the liar?

Warm temperatures melted an area of western Antarctica that adds up to the size of California in January 2005, scientists report.

Satellite data collected by the scientists between July 1999 and July 2005 showed clear signs that melting had occurred in multiple distinct regions, including far inland and at high latitudes and elevations, where melt had been considered unlikely.

“Antarctica has shown little to no warming in the recent past with the exception of the Antarctic Peninsula,” said Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado, Boulder. “But now large regions are showing the first signs of the impacts of warming as interpreted by this satellite analysis.”

Changes in the ice mass of Antarctica, Earth's largest freshwater reservoir, are important to understanding global sea level rise. Large amounts of Antarctic freshwater flowing into the ocean also could affect ocean salinity, currents and global climate.

NASA’s QuikScat satellite detected snowmelt by radar pulses that bounce off of ice that formed when snowmelt refroze (just as ice cream turns to ice when it is refrozen after being left out on the counter too long.)

Maximum high temperatures of 41 degrees Fahrenheit that persisted for about a week in Antarctica caused a melt intense enough to create an extensive ice layer.

Evidence of melting was found up to 560 miles inland from the open ocean, farther than 85 degrees south (about 310 miles from the South Pole) and higher than 6,600 feet above sea level.

Water from the melted snow can penetrate cracks and the ice, lubricating the continent’s ice sheets, sending them toward the ocean faster and raising sea levels, the scientists said.

“Increases in snowmelt, such as this in 2005, definitely could have an impact on larger scale melting of Antarctica's ice sheets if they were severe or sustained over time,” Steffen said.

No further melting has been detected through March 2007.

Penelofer's said this on Yhaoo,

If I did, I'd have to love you. You do not know what you are talking about. No one is saying those things aren't true. It is the cause and solution that are being questioned.

Please visit moveon.org and watch video

This video says it all. It says it well. It is short and to the point.

Do you still support a liar?

Bush will soon veto more money for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. By his action Bush is effectively doing more harm to our troops, there families and the commanders that are in harms way. Bush refuses to withdraw from the occupation of Iraq. Last November the voice of the American people, in majority, was made clear to Bush and the Republicans in Congress. They have now chosen to ignore the people and that vote.
According to a Bush speech made march 23rd. "April 15th. our troops will face significant disruptions and so will there families." According to Pentagon accountants and Army Gates, the $498 billion the Pentagon has in 2007 money will be fine for all of 2007. In late July the Petagon will move money around if needed. The Veto is a political ploy by Bush and the Republians to paint Democrats as being wrong about ending the occupation of Iraq.
I don't think much of Draft dodgers like Bush and Cheney and I also have no repect for a liar. Never on any issue has Bush given the American people the truth.

Watch this case close

By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condo Rice could join Vice President Dick Cheney as a potential witness in the perjury trial of Cheney's former top aide, as jury selection began on Tuesday in the case which has cast a spotlight on how the White House justified war in Iraq.
The names of Cheney, Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, appeared on a long list of government officials and news reporters who may be called as witnesses or whose names may come up in the trial of Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Libby is charged with lying to investigators during a probe to determine who leaked the classified identity of a CIA operative whose husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly criticized the Bush administration's use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.
Theodore Wells, one of Libby's lawyers, said political issues would be unavoidable during the trial.
Wilson "has become in effect the poster child for the issue of whether the Bush administration lied to the American public," Wells said. "From Day One this trial is going to be about ... Mr. Wilson's allegations."
Cheney has already said he expected to testify. Others on the list include White House political advisor Karl Rove, former CIA director George Tenet and former Pentagon secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald asked one potential juror if she would have trouble seeing Rice as a credible witness if she were to testify.
Rice served as Bush's national security adviser during that time.
Libby's defense team plans to argue that he was too preoccupied with national-security matters to accurately remember conversations he may have had about the CIA operative, Valerie Plame..

Impeachment is the only course...

Posted on Yahoo questions by Chucky and Lucky,

Actually...there was no flight 93 that was shot down. They simply shot a missile into the ground. George Bush President of the United States is a man without honor. He has spread shame on America, it's Constitution, and it's People. It is a highly embarrassing situation for every Good American. This Man has spun completely out of control and he needs to be stopped immediately. President Bush has reduced and discounted himself to nothing more then a mere "pedophile" and "War Criminal." Here is a list of just a "few" of the crimes President Bush has committed....
1) Seizing power to wage wars of aggression in defiance of the U.S. Constitution, the U.N. Charter and the rule of law; carrying out a massive assault on and occupation of Iraq, a country that was not threatening the United States, resulting in the death and maiming of hundereds of thousands of Iraqis, and thousands of U.S. G.I.s.

2) Lying to the people of the U.S., to Congress, and to the U.N., providing false and deceptive rationales for war.

3) Authorizing, ordering and condoning direct attacks on civilians, civilian facilities and locations where civilian casualties were unavoidable.

4) Instituting a secret and illegal wiretapping and spying operation against the people of the United States through the National Security Agency.

5) Threatening the independence and sovereignty of Iraq by belligerently changing its government by force and assaulting Iraq in a war of aggression.

6) Authorizing, ordering and condoning assassinations, summary executions, kidnaping, secret and other illegal detentions of individuals, torture and physical and psychological coercion of prisoners to obtain false statements concerning acts and intentions on governments and individuals and violating within the United States, and by authorizing U.S. forces and agents elsewhere, the rights of individuals under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

7) Making, ordering and condoning false statements and propaganda about the conduct of foreign governments and individuals and acts by U.S. government personnel; manipulating the media and foreign governments with false information; concealing information vital to public discussion and informed judgment concerning acts, intentions and possession, or efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction in order to falsely create a climate of fear and destroy opposition to U.S. wars of aggression and first strike attacks.

8) Violations and subversions of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, both a part of the "Supreme Law of the land" under Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, in an attempt to commit with impunity crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes in wars and threats of aggression against Afghanistan, Iraq and others and usurping powers of the United Nations and the peoples of its nations by bribery, coercion and other corrupt acts and by rejecting treaties, committing treaty violations, and frustrating compliance with treaties in order to destroy any means by which international law and institutions can prevent, affect, or adjudicate the exercise of U.S. military and economic power against the international community.

9) Acting to strip United States citizens of their constitutional and human rights, ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to counsel, without charge, and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the Executive of a citizen as an "enemy combatant."

10) Ordering indefinite detention of non-citizens in the United States and elsewhere, and without charge, at the discretionary designation of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Defense.

11) Ordering and authorizing the Attorney General to override judicial orders of release of detainees under INS jurisdiction, even where the judicial officer after full hearing determines a detainee is wrongfully held by the government.

12) Authorizing secret military tribunals and summary execution of persons who are not citizens who are designated solely at the discretion of the Executive who acts as indicting official, prosecutor and as the only avenue of appellate relief.

13) Refusing to provide public disclosure of the identities and locations of persons who have been arrested, detained and imprisoned by the U.S. government in the United States, including in response to Congressional inquiry.

14) Use of secret arrests of persons within the United States and elsewhere and denial of the right to public trials.

15) Authorizing the monitoring of confidential attorney-client privileged communications by the government, even in the absence of a court order and even where an incarcerated person has not been charged with a crime.

16) Ordering and authorizing the seizure of assets of persons in the United States, prior to hearing or trial, for lawful or innocent association with any entity that at the discretionary designation of the Executive has been deemed "terrorist."

17) Engaging in criminal neglect in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, depriving thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and other Gulf States of urgently needed support, causing mass suffering and unnecessary loss of life.

18) Institutionalization of racial and religious profiling and authorization of domestic spying by federal law enforcement on persons based on their engagement in noncriminal religious and political activity.

19) Refusal to provide information and records necessary and appropriate for the constitutional right of legislative oversight of executive functions.

20) Rejecting treaties protective of peace and human rights and abrogation of the obligations of the United States under, and withdrawal from, international treaties and obligations without consent of the legislative branch, and including termination of the ABM treaty between the United States and Russia, and rescission of the authorizing signature from the Treaty of Rome which served as the basis for the International Criminal Court

May God Bless America!

hey all have another laugh.

Carl posted this question.

s Diebold To Blame For Senator Johnson's Brain Surgery?
Did "Bushco" cause it? Or was it the "New World Order?" Or was it "Skull and Crossbones" from Yale? Did Rove plan this?

Did they do it just to get the Senate back to the Republicans?

This was my reply,

It was cell phone use.
BTW, what sort of person is happy when people get sick?
Same sort that would say "I hope you choke to death".
I see your still at level 3 with only 6 percent best answers. I still enjoy the 10 percent best answer position of being your superior.
Source(s):
http://silverseed.blogspot.com/...
a not for profit blog with no spam and no ads.

Carl Calisnikov then posted this personal attack.

Look at this guy. Observe how angry and bitter he is. Why does he think that having more "levels" than me means something? I feel bad for this guy when he writes to me like this, I really PITY him. You should too. We should all be lucky that this isn't us.

I said nothing about my Level being 7. He likes to add stuff not there. He must also have a comprehension problem. He also did not address the debate with any substance other than personal insults. I am not angry or Bitter at all, we won in November. I was just wondering what kind of person would rejoice over anyones illness and this guy is so pittyful un educated, he does not even know, the Senate will not change hands unless the Senator dies in Office.

GW Bush. What's the plan?

WASHINGTON - The Army, strained by unrelenting violence in Iraq and operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, is considering ways it can speed up the creation of two combat brigades while shifting personnel and equipment from other military units.
Under the plan being developed, the new brigades could be formed next year and be ready to be sent to Iraq in 2008, defense officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans were not final.
The Army's chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, told a commission Thursday that he wants to increase the half-million-member force beyond the 30,000 troops authorized in recent years. And he warned that the Army "will break" without thousands more active duty troops and greater use of the reserves.
Though Schoomaker didn't give an exact number, he said it would take significant time, saying 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers could be added per year. Schoomaker has said it costs roughly $1.2 billion to increase the Army by 10,000 soldiers.
My words follow; before Nov. elections Bush ask Democrats "what is your plan for Iraq? Now Bush admits he has no plan for Iraq, but he's working on one. "it's hard work".

Read The Iraq Study group report.

By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt - Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.
Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.
But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents.
Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, told the AP most of the Saudi money comes from private donations, called zaqat, collected for Islamic causes and charities.
Some Saudis appear to know the money is headed to Iraq's insurgents, but others merely give it to clerics who channel it to anti-coalition forces, the officials said.
In one recent case, an Iraqi official said $25 million in Saudi money went to a top Iraqi Sunni cleric and was used to buy weapons, including Strela, a Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The missiles were purchased from someone in Romania, apparently through the black market, he said.
"There isn't any organized terror finance, and we will not permit any such unorganized acts," said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. About a year ago the Saudi government set up a unit to track any "suspicious financial operations," he said.
But the Iraq Study Group said "funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states."
Saudi officials say they cracked down on zakat abuses, under pressure from the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The Iraqi officials, however, said some funding goes to Iraq's Sunni Arab political leadership, who then disburse it. Other money, they said, is funneled directly to insurgents. The distribution network includes Iraqi truck and bus drivers.

Open letter to Senator Barbara Boxer

Thank you for your hard, honest work and the updates you send. I was happy to contribute what I could to your pac for change.
Sadly as I write you today we have 2930 dead in the occupation of Iraq. Now Impeachment is the only course of action. Nancy Pelosi has said she will not support that course of action, she is wrong, it's the only course that is in fact best for America.
Before election President Bush was waiting on the ISG report to take decisive action. Now he has dismissed that, he now claims to be waiting on his own White House report. Meanwhile more die.
I see no change in the Bush Policy of "stay the course". Please reply to my email.
Your friend jack in Ohio

thank God for small favors

Thank God the 109th. Congress has ended. No other Congress in the History of our Country worked less than this Congress. No other Congress in History has done more damage to America then this Congress. The harm done to America may be in fact irreversible. The 10 year projected debt is $9 trillion and the occupation of Iraq will cost working class tax payers $2 trillion over the next ten years. Now the evil doers can go home for another month of vacation. They can spend part of the $165,000 plus benefits we gave them to screw us all over.

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Dec.9, 2006
WASHINGTON - In its last hours of GOP control, Congress passed a raft of bills big and small, most significantly a sweeping bill reviving expired tax breaks, extending trade benefits for developing countries and protecting doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments.
The Senate cleared the bill for President Bush's signature early Saturday by a 79-9 vote. Final adjournment followed after the House and Senate cleared away a bevy of other legislation, including bills reauthorizing health research programs at the National Institute of Health and an overhaul of fisheries management. Speaker Dennis Hastert Rill, R-Ill., gaveled the House to a close for the last time about 3:15 a.m.; the Senate limped to a close about 4:40 a.m.
Republicans dumped an unfinished budget on the Democrats about to take power, with the Senate barely meeting a midnight deadline to pass a stopgap spending bill putting the government on autopilot until Feb. 15.
The failure to pass budget bills for domestic agencies, said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., amounted to "a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times."
The House easily passed the tax and Medicare provisions — along with a plan to open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. The vote was 367-45. It passed the trade legislation by a narrower 212-184 vote.
he sweeping votes reflected widespread bipartisan support for extending expired tax breaks, including the research and development tax credit for businesses, sales tax deductions for people in states without income taxes, the tax deduction on college tuition, a tax credit for hiring welfare recipients and others facing difficulties finding jobs and tax credits for alternative energy producers and purchases of solar energy equipment by homeowners and businesses.
All told, the tax cuts would cost $38 billion over five years.
Also driving the massive bill forward was an effort to prevent a 5 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors from taking effect Jan. 1. The GOP-crafted solution to the problem was criticized as an accounting gimmick since it would double the cost of fixing the problem again next year.
On the rest of the budget, work remained unfinished on nine of 11 spending bills, requiring the stopgap funding bill to put 13 Cabinet departments on autopilot through Feb. 15 frozen at or slightly below current levels.
Democrats now face difficult choices and weeks of work on the leftover budget, which totals $463 billion and must be passed at Bush's strict budget limits.
"They are leaving us with a tremendous mess," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters. "We have alternatives, none of which are very good."
Democrats made good on a promise to block an automatic congressional pay raise until the minimum wage is increased. Under pressure from future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Reid, GOP leaders added language to the stopgap funding bill language stopping the pay raise slated for Jan. 1 until Feb. 16.
Now, if the pay raise goes into effect Feb. 16, members would lose about $320 of their anticipated $2,800 annual increase. That raise would be $3,300 if Congress acts to boost the cost-of-living allowances for all federal employees in 2007. Currently, rank-and-file members get $165,200.

Republicans don't get it, they never will get it.

Army Capt. Shawn English 35 years old is now dead, he was killed in a Bomb explosion in Iraq early Sunday morning. He now joins the over 2900 dead in the occupation of Iraq. His wife Trisha and three Sons, Nathan, 7, Noah, 5, and Austin, 3 were notified Sunday evening.
Many Republicans have told me that "people die in war". They have also told me "more die in Auto accidents in the USA than war". Another one is "we are fighting terrorist in Iraq, so we don't fight them here in the USA". What is wrong with these people? These Service Members who are being killed are not being killed by face to face combat with Terrorist's. They are being killed by Cowards who hide to do the dirty work behind our backs. The Cowards will not face our service men in a fair fight. IDE's are getting our Service men killed in Iraq. Not auto accidents. These people do not get it, they never will get it. If we were not occupying Iraq this person would not be dead. That may be too simple for some to understand. Let me put it another way. Our service members are not the worlds police force, we should not be in the Nation Building business.
Now for those Republicans who said "people get killed in war". I want you to go and face this wife and her 3 kids and you explain to them why you support the occupation of Iraq at any cost. Also try the one about "more people get killed in auto accidents in the USA" but say it to there face.

In Ohio Democrats (we) are the majority.

Story by Jonathan Riskind and Jim Siegel Columbus Dispatch. Dec. 3rd. 2006.

For the past 16 years Republicans have controlled Ohio. Due to gerrymandering, the drawing of districts to favor one party over the other. According to FairVote.com. Democrats won nearly 53 percent Congressional votes statewide but only about 39 percent of Ohioans will be represented next year by Democrats in Congress. Republicans captured 11 of the 18 congressional seats. Assuming Republican Debora Pryce keeps her win of 1055 votes over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th. District recount. Districts 7 and 12 were much the same. Democrats won Franklin County but lost in the districts total votes.
In Franklin County for example Pryce got 91,411 votes Kilroy got 98,964 votes. That's win for Kilroy by a margin of 7553 votes. But because of Gerrymandering and votes from outside Franklin County the grand total was Pryce 110,714 and Kilroy 109,659. A total win margin of 1055 win for Pryce.
The grand totals for Ohio were Democrats= 2,032,692 and Republicans= 1,826,809.

As you can see Republicans can not win in fair elections. Democrats (we) are the Majority in Ohio.
My words follow. Now I ask you. How can Debra Pryce claim victory and take the office she knows was gained by Gerrymandering? It was not won in a fair election. How can David Hobson (R)and and Pat Tiberi (R) claim victory and take office when they know they lost in Franklin County and the office was gained by Gerrymandering?.

What is the new Direction of Congress?

What we have here is a failure to communicate. Bush is showing no signs of "working with Democrats" if he is I don't see them. Bush is also showing no signs of any "compromise" with the newly elected Democrats. Is this what Bush calls "working together"?
Now he is asking Congress for another $100 billion for Iraq. This would be In addition to the $70 billion already approved by Congress last year. Also it is in addition to the $498 billion approved for defense spending in 2007. We are "not going to do anything to limit funding or cut off funds", said Senate Democratic leader (D) N., Harry Reid. Democrats fear being cast as unsympathetic or nonsupporting of U.S. Troops. Now I ask you. Would Republicans really do that? Would they accuse Democrats of not supporting the troops in Iraq? Vietnam cost $663 billion when adjusted for inflation to todays dollars. Iraq has cost American Tax payers $350 billion so far. We have over 30,000 wounded and 2885 dead.
I have a plan for Iraq. Since Bush has said over and over "what is the Democrats plan?" Now here it is for Bush and all Republicans to see. Pull Out Now. Simple enough for even Bush to understand.
To withdraw now is not to "cut and run" as Bush and the war mongers try to paint it. To withdraw from the occupation of Iraq is the part of the Bush war plan that was missing from the start. A exit plan. Colin Powel knows this, he is not stupid.
Americans should pull back into the North and defend the Kurds. All Sunii should move South. Or be forced South. Food and water distribution could be used to lure Sunii South, easy. This would leave Baghdad in Shiite control. If the Sunii all move South then the killing in Central Iraq would stop dead. Our troops could train Iraqis in Northern Iraq and mount a quick strike approach to sectarian violence if that breaks out. Since about 635,000 Iraqis civilians are dead and 450,000 have went to Jordan to live this should not be all that hard to accomplish.
What do you do when 3 kids can not get along. You make them sit apart. Anyone with half a brain knows this. I wounder if our leaders understand this?
The Kurds want the oil money, the Shiites want the oil money, the Sunii's want the oil money. So divide it 3 ways. A per capita income should be given each group but only if they go to there corner and sit down and only if they play nice. A Census should be taken.
NBC now calls Iraq as being in "Civil War", a first for conservative bias TV. No Conservative Bias TV news is calling it what it really is "The occupation of Iraq", they all use the PC term "war on Terror". Or the PC term "The Iraq war". As far as I know Congress authorized the use of force to look for WMD and get rid of Saddam. Congress has not declared war on Iraq and has not authorized the occupation of Iraq.

is the ACLU really evil as Republicans say?

“I don’t want it, we shouldn’t have had it, not interested in it,” said Daniel J. Baur, the acting director of the counterintelligence field activity unit, which runs the Talon program at the Defense Department. “I don’t want to deal with it.”
Mr. Baur said that those operating the database had misinterpreted their mandate and that what was intended as an antiterrorist database became, in some respects, a catch-all for leads on possible disruptions and threats against military installations in the United States, including protests against the military presence in Iraq.
“I don’t think the policy was as clear as it could have been,” he said. Once the problem was discovered, he said, “we fixed it,” and more than 180 entries in the database related to war protests were deleted from the system last year. Out of 13,000 entries in the database, many of them uncorroborated leads on possible terrorist threats, several thousand others were also purged because he said they had “no continuing relevance.”
Amid public controversy over the database, leads from so-called neighborhood watch programs and other tips about possible threats are down significantly this year, Mr. Baur said. While the system had been tightened, he said he was concerned that the public scrutiny had created “a huge chilling effect” that could lead the military to miss legitimate terrorist threats.
Mr. Baur was responding to the latest batch of documents produced by the military under a Freedom of Information Act request brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups. The A.C.L.U. planned to release the documents publicly on Tuesday, and officials with the group said they would push for Democrats, newly empowered in Congress, to hold formal hearings about the Talon database.
Ben Wizner, a lawyer for the A.C.L.U. in New York, said the new documents suggested that the military’s efforts to glean intelligence on protesters went beyond what was previously known. If intelligence officials “are going to be doing investigations or monitoring in a place where people gather to worship or to study, they should have a pretty clear indication that a crime has occurred,” Mr. Wizner added.
The leader of one antiwar group mentioned repeatedly in the latest military documents provided to the A.C.L.U. said he was skeptical that the military had ended its collection of material on war protests.
“I don’t believe it,” said the leader, Michael T. McPhearson, a former Army captain who is the executive director of Veterans for Peace, a group in St. Louis.
Mr. McPhearson said he found the references to his group in the Talon database disappointing but not altogether surprising, and he said the group continued to use public settings and the Internet to plan its protests.

Open Letter to US Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Story by Ron Hutcheson, McClatchy Newspapers
President Bush at the 20 nations summit was ask about his Iraq policy. His National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley said, "Bush was firm in his views and in terms of the foreign policy of the country that we would be continuing that foreign policy along the same lines."

My words follow, In other words "stay the course."
These are the names of the fallen in Iraq. These brave Americans gave all for there country. They gave there life in Iraq. Nov. 7th. was a notice sent by the American people to withdraw from the occupation of Iraq. Seems Bush and his administration did not get the message.
Army Pfc Daniel Alman II, 20
Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy Brown, 21
Marine Sgt. Brian Burgess, 35
Army Staff Sgt. Richwell A. Doria, 25
Army Col. Thomas H. Felts Sr. 45
Army Spc. Justin R. Garcia,26
Marine Lance Cpl. Mario D. Gonzalez, 21
Army Sgt, Fist Class Schuyler B. Haynes, 40
Army Staff Sgt. William S. Jackson II, 29
Army Sgt. Courtland A. Kennard, 22
Army Sgt. Jang H. Kim, 20
Army Staff Sgt. Misael Martinez, 24
Army Staff Sgt. Gregory W.G. McCoy, 26
Army Spc. Mitchel T. Mutz, 23
Army Sgt. First Class Tung M. Nguyen, 38
Army Sgt. Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez, 22
Army Spc. Eric G. Palacious Rivera, 21
Army Sgt. First Class Rudy A. Salcido, 31
Army Capt. Rhett W. Schiller, 26
Marine Lance Cpl. Michael D. Scholl, 21
Marine Lance Cpl. Kristopher C. Warren, 19
Since 11 days have past since the elections on Nov. 7th. Democrats and Congress are both responsible for theses new lost service members in Iraq. Democrats are in the majority in the new Senate they could and should cut off funding for Iraq.
The Democrats do not have the votes to end a filler buster in the Senate but they should have already made the proposed legislation known to Republicans and the GW Bush administration. By Democrats not taking action, they are in fact not representing the will of the people in office.
Democrats should also now raise the issue of changes in the rules of the Senate to end the Filler Buster with a simple majority vote. Republicans raised this issue first when they wanted appointments of Bush's Conservative Judges confirmed by the Senate. Notice that I am no longer asking for Impeachment of Bush and Cheney. There may be room for a compromise on that issue. Any Congressman can bring up that issue in the House but if Democrats don't bring it up then Democrats should get something in return for not moving forward on that issue.

Our forces number about 147,000 now and they should be removed from the sectarian fighting which is in fact Civil war in Iraq. They could be moved North and defend the Iraqi Kurds. The Pentagon has made plans known to send another 57,000 troops to Iraq, for some the 2nd. and 3rd. tour in Iraq. Now is the time to draw the line in the sand. If the Pentagon and the Bush Administration is permitted by Congress to send in 57,000 more than they just don't get it. Part of the 147,000 should come home in a draw down of the total. I would be interested to know if Rumsfeld approved this added 57,000 troops and decided to keep that quite until after elections. Someone should ask him both if he did approve and when did he approve?