Charlie Rangel....Once unethical and corrupt...always unethical and corrupt.
Rangel accused of misusing funds on his defense in previous ethics investigation - NYPOST.com
Monday, December 6, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Real Intent of the Obamacare Bill right the mouth of Tom Daschle
Here's Tom Daschle giving the REAL intent of the Democrats with the Obamacare Bill....the farther we get beyond the signing of the bill the more we learn about the real Democrat intent.....Time to Repeal this Bill is NOW!
Obama - What a JOKE!
What a LEADER.....He flies 7,000 miles over 14 hours to spend THREE hours on the ground in Afghanistan and only talks to Karzai by PHONE for 15 minutes...What a JOKE!....But now he can say he's been there...he's punched his ticket....he's washed his hands of this conflict for another year.....God forbid he should take some REAL TIME with the troops, BUT he probably has a tee time at the golf course in the morning.....
Obama, troops cheer each other in Afghan visit
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – President Barack Obama told U.S. troops in a surprise holiday-season visit Friday that they are making important progress in Afghanistan, and he pledged the country would never again be a "safe haven for terrorists." But a war-strategy meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scrapped at the last minute.
"You will succeed in your mission," Obama told more than 3,500 cheering troops in a huge hangar. "We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. That's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense."
Obama had traveled to Afghanistan to thank the troops and to deal with frayed relations with Karzai. But after he flew 14 hours for the visit, the White House said Obama couldn't make the short additional trip to meet with Karzai in Kabul because the weather was too bad for helicopter travel.
Instead, the two leaders spoke by telephone, Obama at the air base and Karzai in Kabul.
Obama's visit, his second to Afghanistan as president, came a year after he widened the ever deadlier war and ahead of the completion later this month of a review of the 9-year-plus conflict.
"I don't need to tell you this is a tough fight," Obama said. He met with the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and also visited wounded soldiers. He presented five Purple Hearts, military awards for wounded service members.
There are now about 150,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, roughly 100,000 of them Americans. The U.S. and its NATO partners agreed last month in Lisbon, Portugal, to begin turning over control to local Afghan authorities in 2011, with a goal of completing that transition by the end of 2014.
"We look forward to a new phase next year, the beginning of transition to Afghan responsibility," Obama said.
"Thanks to your service we are making important progress," he told the troops.
"On behalf of more than 300 million Americans, we are here to say thank you ... for everything that you do."
"We will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who will attack the United States of America again. That will never happen," he said.
Obama's visit came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained U.S. relations with Afghanistan. Leaked U.S. cables show American diplomats portraying Afghanistan as rife with graft to the highest levels of government, with tens of millions of dollars flowing out of the country and a cash transfer network that facilitates bribes for corrupt Afghan officials, drug traffickers and insurgents.
A main concern in the cables appears to be Karzai himself, who emerges as a mercurial figure. In a July 7, 2009, dispatch, U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry describes "two contrasting portraits" of the Afghan president.
"The first is of a paranoid and weak individual unfamiliar with the basics of nation building and overly self-conscious that his time in the spotlight of glowing reviews from the international community has passed," the cable says. "The other is that of an ever-shrewd politician who sees himself as a nationalist hero. ... In order to recalibrate our relationship with Karzai, we must deal with and challenge both of these personalities."
Ben Rhodes, a White House national security aide accompanying Obama, was asked about the latest release of cables.
"We've had ups and downs in terms of the public revelation of information associated with the challenges in Afghanistan," Rhodes said. "But I think precisely the fact that we've dealt with some of the very specific stories associated with the latest WikiLeaks disclosures in previous WikiLeaks disclosures, and previous books and articles, allows us to be able to weather this."
Under intense security, Obama landed in darkness after a clandestine departure from the White House on Thursday, where plans of his trip into the war zone were tightly guarded. Obama stepped off Air Force One just after 8:30 p.m. local time, clad in a leather jacket.
The White House said rough weather forced the president to abruptly drop plans to meet Karzai in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The White House determined the wind, dust and cloud cover made it unsafe for the president to fly by helicopter from the huge military complex here to the presidential palace.
Waheed Omar, a spokesman for the Afghan leader, said Karzai was "not upset" that the palace visit was scuttled. He noted that Karzai met Obama during the NATO conference in Lisbon Nov. 20 and discussed the situation in Afghanistan in detail.
In total, Obama spent about three hours on the ground in Afghanistan, about half the time he had scheduled.
Obama is expected to give a speech the week of Dec. 13 on Afghanistan upon completion of the White House review of the conflict. No big policy changes are expected.
"I wouldn't anticipate a major speech," Rhodes said aboard Friday's flight.
He said the scrapping of the personal visit with Karzai would not have consequences because of their recent visit at a NATO meeting.
In Afghanistan on Friday, reporters traveling with Obama were escorted outside the massive air field hanger to get a glimpse of the conditions that grounded Obama here. The wind was blowing strongly, kicking up dust clouds as troops streamed in to hear Obama. An American flag whipped against its pole.
Journalists who had gone to the presidential palace were told by officials that Obama was expected, and they pointed out camera angles to capture where both leaders would be standing. An American flag hung outside a doorway. U.S. armored vehicles were securing entrances to the palace. Carpets were ready to be unrolled.
At the base hospital, Obama met with platoon members from the same unit that lost six soldiers this week, the brazen killing of the soldiers by an Afghan border policeman who turned fire on his U.S. trainers.
The war in Afghanistan is the nation's longest after Vietnam, launched in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Obama said he wanted to personally thank the troops at a time when millions back home are thinking of holiday peace, not war. This has been the deadliest year to date for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. More than 450 have been killed in 2010.
The president's visit comes nearly a year to the day after he announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to try to gain control — and then get the United States out — of a worsening conflict.
The U.S. now has about 100,000 forces in Afghanistan, a record total. More than 1,300 U.S. forces have died here since the war began, and more of them in 2010 than in any other year as the fight against the Taliban has grown even fiercer.
Obama's plan is to start pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan in July. The goal is to shift control to Afghan authorities by the end of 2014, a deadline embraced by NATO partners, who have 40,000 of their own forces in harm's way.
Yet much depends on the hastened training of Afghan forces amid the fighting. And the progress is precarious.
Obama, troops cheer each other in Afghan visit
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – President Barack Obama told U.S. troops in a surprise holiday-season visit Friday that they are making important progress in Afghanistan, and he pledged the country would never again be a "safe haven for terrorists." But a war-strategy meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scrapped at the last minute.
"You will succeed in your mission," Obama told more than 3,500 cheering troops in a huge hangar. "We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. That's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense."
Obama had traveled to Afghanistan to thank the troops and to deal with frayed relations with Karzai. But after he flew 14 hours for the visit, the White House said Obama couldn't make the short additional trip to meet with Karzai in Kabul because the weather was too bad for helicopter travel.
Instead, the two leaders spoke by telephone, Obama at the air base and Karzai in Kabul.
Obama's visit, his second to Afghanistan as president, came a year after he widened the ever deadlier war and ahead of the completion later this month of a review of the 9-year-plus conflict.
"I don't need to tell you this is a tough fight," Obama said. He met with the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and also visited wounded soldiers. He presented five Purple Hearts, military awards for wounded service members.
There are now about 150,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, roughly 100,000 of them Americans. The U.S. and its NATO partners agreed last month in Lisbon, Portugal, to begin turning over control to local Afghan authorities in 2011, with a goal of completing that transition by the end of 2014.
"We look forward to a new phase next year, the beginning of transition to Afghan responsibility," Obama said.
"Thanks to your service we are making important progress," he told the troops.
"On behalf of more than 300 million Americans, we are here to say thank you ... for everything that you do."
"We will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who will attack the United States of America again. That will never happen," he said.
Obama's visit came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained U.S. relations with Afghanistan. Leaked U.S. cables show American diplomats portraying Afghanistan as rife with graft to the highest levels of government, with tens of millions of dollars flowing out of the country and a cash transfer network that facilitates bribes for corrupt Afghan officials, drug traffickers and insurgents.
A main concern in the cables appears to be Karzai himself, who emerges as a mercurial figure. In a July 7, 2009, dispatch, U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry describes "two contrasting portraits" of the Afghan president.
"The first is of a paranoid and weak individual unfamiliar with the basics of nation building and overly self-conscious that his time in the spotlight of glowing reviews from the international community has passed," the cable says. "The other is that of an ever-shrewd politician who sees himself as a nationalist hero. ... In order to recalibrate our relationship with Karzai, we must deal with and challenge both of these personalities."
Ben Rhodes, a White House national security aide accompanying Obama, was asked about the latest release of cables.
"We've had ups and downs in terms of the public revelation of information associated with the challenges in Afghanistan," Rhodes said. "But I think precisely the fact that we've dealt with some of the very specific stories associated with the latest WikiLeaks disclosures in previous WikiLeaks disclosures, and previous books and articles, allows us to be able to weather this."
Under intense security, Obama landed in darkness after a clandestine departure from the White House on Thursday, where plans of his trip into the war zone were tightly guarded. Obama stepped off Air Force One just after 8:30 p.m. local time, clad in a leather jacket.
The White House said rough weather forced the president to abruptly drop plans to meet Karzai in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The White House determined the wind, dust and cloud cover made it unsafe for the president to fly by helicopter from the huge military complex here to the presidential palace.
Waheed Omar, a spokesman for the Afghan leader, said Karzai was "not upset" that the palace visit was scuttled. He noted that Karzai met Obama during the NATO conference in Lisbon Nov. 20 and discussed the situation in Afghanistan in detail.
In total, Obama spent about three hours on the ground in Afghanistan, about half the time he had scheduled.
Obama is expected to give a speech the week of Dec. 13 on Afghanistan upon completion of the White House review of the conflict. No big policy changes are expected.
"I wouldn't anticipate a major speech," Rhodes said aboard Friday's flight.
He said the scrapping of the personal visit with Karzai would not have consequences because of their recent visit at a NATO meeting.
In Afghanistan on Friday, reporters traveling with Obama were escorted outside the massive air field hanger to get a glimpse of the conditions that grounded Obama here. The wind was blowing strongly, kicking up dust clouds as troops streamed in to hear Obama. An American flag whipped against its pole.
Journalists who had gone to the presidential palace were told by officials that Obama was expected, and they pointed out camera angles to capture where both leaders would be standing. An American flag hung outside a doorway. U.S. armored vehicles were securing entrances to the palace. Carpets were ready to be unrolled.
At the base hospital, Obama met with platoon members from the same unit that lost six soldiers this week, the brazen killing of the soldiers by an Afghan border policeman who turned fire on his U.S. trainers.
The war in Afghanistan is the nation's longest after Vietnam, launched in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Obama said he wanted to personally thank the troops at a time when millions back home are thinking of holiday peace, not war. This has been the deadliest year to date for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. More than 450 have been killed in 2010.
The president's visit comes nearly a year to the day after he announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to try to gain control — and then get the United States out — of a worsening conflict.
The U.S. now has about 100,000 forces in Afghanistan, a record total. More than 1,300 U.S. forces have died here since the war began, and more of them in 2010 than in any other year as the fight against the Taliban has grown even fiercer.
Obama's plan is to start pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan in July. The goal is to shift control to Afghan authorities by the end of 2014, a deadline embraced by NATO partners, who have 40,000 of their own forces in harm's way.
Yet much depends on the hastened training of Afghan forces amid the fighting. And the progress is precarious.
The Same Old Obama, Reid and Pelosi....Still Corrupt, Untruthfull and they DON'T give a Damn about the American People!
The Corrupt, Back Room Dealing, tactics of Obama, Reid and Pelosi...nothing has changed since the election one month ago...they really do NOT care how the American People Feel or what they want....It's more of the same....They all need to go in 2012!....Obama First!
The Senate's Secret Santa Agenda
Today the Labor Department released its monthly jobs report, which showed that the U.S. economy added an anemic 39,000 jobs this month and that the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent. That marks the 19th month in a row that the unemployment has been over 9 percent, a post–World War II record.
So how is this lame duck Congress, a Congress that was thoroughly rejected at the polls just last month, greeting this news? By raising taxes on the American people by $700 billion. Is this what the American people want? Not at all. According to Gallup, only 31 percent of Americans believe the best approach for dealing with the economy is raising taxes. The vast majority of Americans (62 percent) believe that the best way to fix the economy is either through deficit reduction (39 percent) or lower taxes (23 percent). But neither of those items is on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D–NV) agenda.
So what legislative gifts is Reid planning on giving the American people this Christmas? No one knows for sure, but Reid’s wish list is long.
New START. Just this week we learned not only that Russia has moved tactical nuclear weapons closer to our NATO European allies but also that the State Department has been negotiating with Russia on missile defense “cooperation.” This after claiming for months that New START in no way limited our missile defense options. But before the ink was even dry on the treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted that “linkage to missile defense is clearly spelled out in the accord and is legally binding.” The Heritage Foundation has identified at least five sections of the treaty that limit missile defense. If the Administration has nothing to hide on this issue, then it should have no problem releasing the treaty negotiation records to confirm what U.S. negotiators were saying about missile defense.
Higher Spending. Last night the Senate approved a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government running through December 18. The Senate could easily pass a CR that would fund the government at current levels through early next year, but that is not want the left wants. A short CR would allow the next Congress to reduce discretionary spending to 2008 levels, thus saving the American taxpayers $100 billion in new debt. But the left wants an omnibus spending bill that will allow them to increase discretionary spending and deliver earmarks to their constituents.
Higher Taxes. Lost in the debate over personal income tax rates are the slew of other taxes set to rise on January 1. Taxes on dividends, capital gains, and estates are just some of the higher tax rates Americans will face under President Obama’s tax plan. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has estimated the impacts of the Obama tax hikes and found they would (1) decrease inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) by $1.1 trillion by 2020; (2) decrease business investment by $33 billion a year; (3) decrease personal savings by $38 billion in 2011 alone; (4) decrease consumer spending by $706 billion through 2020; and (5) kill an average of 693,000 jobs a year through 2020.
Higher Energy Prices. The left is still desperate to appease its environmentalist base, so Reid has also promised a vote on nationwide renewable electricity standards (RES), too. Mandated renewable electricity necessarily costs more than traditional electricity, because otherwise a mandate would not be necessary to force people to use it. And what would these higher energy prices do to the economy? A Heritage Foundation analysis of 22.5 percent RES by 2025 found that (1) household electricity prices would jump 36 percent; (2) industry prices would rise by 60 percent; (3) national income (GDP) would be cut by $5.2 trillion between 2012 and 2035; and most importantly (4) RES would kill more than 1 million jobs.
Amnesty. No leftist wish list would be complete without legislation providing amnesty to illegal immigrants. This week Reid introduced yet another version of the DREAM Act, which would provide amnesty to any illegal alien who attended any college for just two years. None of these amnesty proposals has been reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and none of them has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office. Reid is clearly a firm believer in the Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) maxim: You have to vote for the bill to find out what is in it.
This would be an ambitious leftist wish list any time of the year, but cramming it all into four weeks—just one month after the American people thoroughly rejected the left’s agenda at the polls—is particularly audacious. The only way Reid can get all this done before the next Congress is sworn in is to repeat the exact same backroom deals he used to get Obamacare passed last Christmas Eve. The American people can expect to see more Cornhusker Kickbacks, Louisiana Purchases, Gator Aids, and Cash for Clotures.
Reid should stop playing Santa now and listen to his colleague from Nebraska, Sen. Ben Nelson: "Most of the [legislation] being dealt with right now should be held over until 2011, because we should be focused on jobs, taxes, and debt reduction. … I think we can hold off on START; I don’t want it to crowd out taxes, debt reduction, and jobs." With unemployment at 9.8% the American people have received enough surprise gifts from this Democratic Congress.
The Senate's Secret Santa Agenda
Today the Labor Department released its monthly jobs report, which showed that the U.S. economy added an anemic 39,000 jobs this month and that the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent. That marks the 19th month in a row that the unemployment has been over 9 percent, a post–World War II record.
So how is this lame duck Congress, a Congress that was thoroughly rejected at the polls just last month, greeting this news? By raising taxes on the American people by $700 billion. Is this what the American people want? Not at all. According to Gallup, only 31 percent of Americans believe the best approach for dealing with the economy is raising taxes. The vast majority of Americans (62 percent) believe that the best way to fix the economy is either through deficit reduction (39 percent) or lower taxes (23 percent). But neither of those items is on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D–NV) agenda.
So what legislative gifts is Reid planning on giving the American people this Christmas? No one knows for sure, but Reid’s wish list is long.
New START. Just this week we learned not only that Russia has moved tactical nuclear weapons closer to our NATO European allies but also that the State Department has been negotiating with Russia on missile defense “cooperation.” This after claiming for months that New START in no way limited our missile defense options. But before the ink was even dry on the treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted that “linkage to missile defense is clearly spelled out in the accord and is legally binding.” The Heritage Foundation has identified at least five sections of the treaty that limit missile defense. If the Administration has nothing to hide on this issue, then it should have no problem releasing the treaty negotiation records to confirm what U.S. negotiators were saying about missile defense.
Higher Spending. Last night the Senate approved a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government running through December 18. The Senate could easily pass a CR that would fund the government at current levels through early next year, but that is not want the left wants. A short CR would allow the next Congress to reduce discretionary spending to 2008 levels, thus saving the American taxpayers $100 billion in new debt. But the left wants an omnibus spending bill that will allow them to increase discretionary spending and deliver earmarks to their constituents.
Higher Taxes. Lost in the debate over personal income tax rates are the slew of other taxes set to rise on January 1. Taxes on dividends, capital gains, and estates are just some of the higher tax rates Americans will face under President Obama’s tax plan. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has estimated the impacts of the Obama tax hikes and found they would (1) decrease inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) by $1.1 trillion by 2020; (2) decrease business investment by $33 billion a year; (3) decrease personal savings by $38 billion in 2011 alone; (4) decrease consumer spending by $706 billion through 2020; and (5) kill an average of 693,000 jobs a year through 2020.
Higher Energy Prices. The left is still desperate to appease its environmentalist base, so Reid has also promised a vote on nationwide renewable electricity standards (RES), too. Mandated renewable electricity necessarily costs more than traditional electricity, because otherwise a mandate would not be necessary to force people to use it. And what would these higher energy prices do to the economy? A Heritage Foundation analysis of 22.5 percent RES by 2025 found that (1) household electricity prices would jump 36 percent; (2) industry prices would rise by 60 percent; (3) national income (GDP) would be cut by $5.2 trillion between 2012 and 2035; and most importantly (4) RES would kill more than 1 million jobs.
Amnesty. No leftist wish list would be complete without legislation providing amnesty to illegal immigrants. This week Reid introduced yet another version of the DREAM Act, which would provide amnesty to any illegal alien who attended any college for just two years. None of these amnesty proposals has been reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and none of them has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office. Reid is clearly a firm believer in the Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) maxim: You have to vote for the bill to find out what is in it.
This would be an ambitious leftist wish list any time of the year, but cramming it all into four weeks—just one month after the American people thoroughly rejected the left’s agenda at the polls—is particularly audacious. The only way Reid can get all this done before the next Congress is sworn in is to repeat the exact same backroom deals he used to get Obamacare passed last Christmas Eve. The American people can expect to see more Cornhusker Kickbacks, Louisiana Purchases, Gator Aids, and Cash for Clotures.
Reid should stop playing Santa now and listen to his colleague from Nebraska, Sen. Ben Nelson: "Most of the [legislation] being dealt with right now should be held over until 2011, because we should be focused on jobs, taxes, and debt reduction. … I think we can hold off on START; I don’t want it to crowd out taxes, debt reduction, and jobs." With unemployment at 9.8% the American people have received enough surprise gifts from this Democratic Congress.
The Left Abandons Obama, American Hates Him, he's got himself in a Pickle....!
By Jon Ward - The Daily Caller
Washington was home to an odd double-tiered reality Thursday, where the House passed a tax cut bill designed to please their base but widely referred to as “symbolic” because it cannot pass the Senate, the Senate scheduled a vote Saturday on the same, and left-wing groups nonetheless viciously decried their party for surrendering to political certainties.
“It’s a tangled web of disaster,” said one organized labor official of the situation.
Liberal groups and activists – many of them among the “professional left,” thus dubbed by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs – were left howling with rage after a late-day statement from Gibbs. They saw in Gibbs’ words capitulation to Republican demands that President Obama extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels, instead of letting taxes go up for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families bringing in more than $250,000 a year.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House Budget Director Jack Lew are in ongoing negotiations with a bipartisan group of four lawmakers.
Gibbs said talk of an imminent deal was “inaccurate and premature,” in an attempt to head off anxiety and anger among Democratic lawmakers and groups that Obama was getting ready to give away the store. The White House told reporters earlier in the day they were working to get things like an extension of unemployment insurance passed in exchange for any possible concessions.
But while Gibbs praised the Democratic-controlled House for passing a bill to extend current rates only for individuals who make $200,000 or less a year and families making $250,000 or less, the subtext of his statement was clear that the White House does not believe they can get such a bill through the Senate.
“The president continues to believe that extending middle class tax cuts is the most important thing we can do for our economy right now and he applauds the House for passing a permanent extension. But, because Republicans have made it clear that they won’t pass a middle class extension without also extending tax cuts for the wealthy, the president has asked Director Lew and Secretary Geithner to work with Congress to find a way forward,” Gibbs said.
Democratic Senate aides also said the votes did not exist for the House bill. But some of Obama’s harshest critics were equally condemning of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.
“He could [pass the House bill], if he was willing to do what fighting entails,” Adam Green, with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told The Daily Caller. “Scheduling a vote is not fighting.”
Reid late Thursday night filed cloture on the House bill, as well as on an amendment to extend the current tax rates for everyone making under $1 million a year, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat. A cloture filing sets the Senate to vote Saturday on whether to end debate and proceed to a final vote on the two measures.
Reid is not expected to get the 60 votes he needs to pass either one.
Jane Hamsher, a liberal blogger known for her bracing criticism of her own party for insufficient conviction, let loose on what she called a “stunt.”
“We’re headed for extending ALL the tax cuts for 2-3 years, because that’s what Obama really wants. The rest is just political theater designed to appease the chumps base,” she wrote. “Meanwhile, as entertaining as all of this is to political junkies, 2 million people are set to lose their unemployment benefits by the end of the year. Which nobody, in the midst of their partisan game playing, seems to give a shit about.”
“It’s Christmas time, you bastards. People can’t feed their kids. You continue to shovel trillions of dollars at the banks. And all of you — [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, Reid, Obama — you fail the test not only of leadership, but of basic human compassion. Of having any kind of a moral compass,” Hamsher continued.
Jed Lewison at DailyKos.com said that “the question is whether President Obama is willing to stand up, fire up the nation, and drag his plan across the finish line by holding Senate Republicans accountable if they choose to filibuster middle-class tax cuts.”
“Apparently, the answer [to] that question is ‘no,’ at least based on this statement from Robert Gibbs,” Lewison wrote.
Green said after Gibbs’ statement that the PCCC would be increasing a TV ad buy in Iowa, using Obama’s own promise in 2007 to let the upper bracket cuts expire against him.
And MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group that claims five million members, launched its own video ad titled, “We want Obama back.”
“Mr. President, please do not compromise with the Republicans about extending the Bush tax cuts,” one woman in the MoveOn video said. Another woman said, “I am in the highest tax bracket. We don’t need the money. The country does.”
Hamsher told TheDC that she would not be pacified if Obama extracted concessions from the GOP on unemployment insurance or on ratification of a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.
“It just means he got what he wanted all along — and didn’t fight for anything better,” she said via e-mail.
But one of the largest and most influential liberal think tanks in Washington, the Center for American Progress, said compromise with the GOP, as distasteful as it might seem, was probably the only option.
“If the price of a significant continuation of unemployment benefits and other needed legislation is a short extension of the bonus tax breaks for the wealthy, you probably have to take that deal — offensive though it may be,” said Michael Ettlinger, CAP’s vice president for economic policy.
Tellingly, however, Organizing for America, the advocacy arm of the Democratic National Committee that grew out of the Obama campaign and often joins groups such as MoveOn.org in political and policy fights, has been basically silent on the tax cuts. The issue was nowhere on the front page of their website late Thursday.
Within the White House, administration officials said they were confident that the president remains popular with much of his base, despite the protests of the quite vocal “professional left.” Obama continues to receive approval ratings in the high 80s or low 90s with Democratic voters in most opinion polls they said.
But another liberal group, Americans United for Change, trotted out poll numbers from CBS News that showed only 26 percent of Americans support extending all of the tax cuts.
The current brackets are 10,15, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent, and are scheduled to go up to 15, 28, 31, 36 and 39.6 percent if the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year.
Washington was home to an odd double-tiered reality Thursday, where the House passed a tax cut bill designed to please their base but widely referred to as “symbolic” because it cannot pass the Senate, the Senate scheduled a vote Saturday on the same, and left-wing groups nonetheless viciously decried their party for surrendering to political certainties.
“It’s a tangled web of disaster,” said one organized labor official of the situation.
Liberal groups and activists – many of them among the “professional left,” thus dubbed by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs – were left howling with rage after a late-day statement from Gibbs. They saw in Gibbs’ words capitulation to Republican demands that President Obama extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels, instead of letting taxes go up for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families bringing in more than $250,000 a year.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House Budget Director Jack Lew are in ongoing negotiations with a bipartisan group of four lawmakers.
Gibbs said talk of an imminent deal was “inaccurate and premature,” in an attempt to head off anxiety and anger among Democratic lawmakers and groups that Obama was getting ready to give away the store. The White House told reporters earlier in the day they were working to get things like an extension of unemployment insurance passed in exchange for any possible concessions.
But while Gibbs praised the Democratic-controlled House for passing a bill to extend current rates only for individuals who make $200,000 or less a year and families making $250,000 or less, the subtext of his statement was clear that the White House does not believe they can get such a bill through the Senate.
“The president continues to believe that extending middle class tax cuts is the most important thing we can do for our economy right now and he applauds the House for passing a permanent extension. But, because Republicans have made it clear that they won’t pass a middle class extension without also extending tax cuts for the wealthy, the president has asked Director Lew and Secretary Geithner to work with Congress to find a way forward,” Gibbs said.
Democratic Senate aides also said the votes did not exist for the House bill. But some of Obama’s harshest critics were equally condemning of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.
“He could [pass the House bill], if he was willing to do what fighting entails,” Adam Green, with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told The Daily Caller. “Scheduling a vote is not fighting.”
Reid late Thursday night filed cloture on the House bill, as well as on an amendment to extend the current tax rates for everyone making under $1 million a year, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat. A cloture filing sets the Senate to vote Saturday on whether to end debate and proceed to a final vote on the two measures.
Reid is not expected to get the 60 votes he needs to pass either one.
Jane Hamsher, a liberal blogger known for her bracing criticism of her own party for insufficient conviction, let loose on what she called a “stunt.”
“We’re headed for extending ALL the tax cuts for 2-3 years, because that’s what Obama really wants. The rest is just political theater designed to appease the chumps base,” she wrote. “Meanwhile, as entertaining as all of this is to political junkies, 2 million people are set to lose their unemployment benefits by the end of the year. Which nobody, in the midst of their partisan game playing, seems to give a shit about.”
“It’s Christmas time, you bastards. People can’t feed their kids. You continue to shovel trillions of dollars at the banks. And all of you — [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, Reid, Obama — you fail the test not only of leadership, but of basic human compassion. Of having any kind of a moral compass,” Hamsher continued.
Jed Lewison at DailyKos.com said that “the question is whether President Obama is willing to stand up, fire up the nation, and drag his plan across the finish line by holding Senate Republicans accountable if they choose to filibuster middle-class tax cuts.”
“Apparently, the answer [to] that question is ‘no,’ at least based on this statement from Robert Gibbs,” Lewison wrote.
Green said after Gibbs’ statement that the PCCC would be increasing a TV ad buy in Iowa, using Obama’s own promise in 2007 to let the upper bracket cuts expire against him.
And MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group that claims five million members, launched its own video ad titled, “We want Obama back.”
“Mr. President, please do not compromise with the Republicans about extending the Bush tax cuts,” one woman in the MoveOn video said. Another woman said, “I am in the highest tax bracket. We don’t need the money. The country does.”
Hamsher told TheDC that she would not be pacified if Obama extracted concessions from the GOP on unemployment insurance or on ratification of a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.
“It just means he got what he wanted all along — and didn’t fight for anything better,” she said via e-mail.
But one of the largest and most influential liberal think tanks in Washington, the Center for American Progress, said compromise with the GOP, as distasteful as it might seem, was probably the only option.
“If the price of a significant continuation of unemployment benefits and other needed legislation is a short extension of the bonus tax breaks for the wealthy, you probably have to take that deal — offensive though it may be,” said Michael Ettlinger, CAP’s vice president for economic policy.
Tellingly, however, Organizing for America, the advocacy arm of the Democratic National Committee that grew out of the Obama campaign and often joins groups such as MoveOn.org in political and policy fights, has been basically silent on the tax cuts. The issue was nowhere on the front page of their website late Thursday.
Within the White House, administration officials said they were confident that the president remains popular with much of his base, despite the protests of the quite vocal “professional left.” Obama continues to receive approval ratings in the high 80s or low 90s with Democratic voters in most opinion polls they said.
But another liberal group, Americans United for Change, trotted out poll numbers from CBS News that showed only 26 percent of Americans support extending all of the tax cuts.
The current brackets are 10,15, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent, and are scheduled to go up to 15, 28, 31, 36 and 39.6 percent if the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year.
Stop extending Umemployment!
IF I were the Republicans and I was forced to pass extended unemployment I would it was totally paid for and not adding to the deficit and I would make it clear that this is the LAST extension to unemployment that would be allowed....all we are doing is creating a welfare state...if you don't think folks will stay home and collect rather than going out and finding a job then you are naieve as Obama....I can't wait until January when the Republicans have some REAL POWER to impact policy.....these bleeding heart Democrats are killing the United States...
Obama Wants Jobless Aid in Tax Cut Deal
Published December 02, 2010 | Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A critical compromise to head off a year-end tax increase for millions of Americans took shape fitfully Thursday in private talks between the White House and congressional Republicans punctuated by outbursts of partisanship.
An extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed appeared likely to become part of any deal. Additionally, Democrats sought to expand the package with a tax break providing as much as $400 for individual working people and $800 for couples -- even if they pay nothing to the IRS.
Two days after he and newly empowered Republicans exchanged pledges of cooperation at the White House, President Barack Obama expressed optimism about the prospects for agreement in time for enactment by year's end.
Still, he cautioned, "That doesn't mean there might not be some posturing over the next several days."
Not long after Obama spoke, Democrats ignited a partisan row in the House with legislation that would prevent taxes from rising on lower- and middle-income wage earners but allow them to go up for people at higher incomes.
Given Republican objections, that measure has no chance of passing the Senate. But Democrats there insisted on voting on it as a way to dramatize their support for the measure and, officials said, register unhappiness with Obama.
The president has already signaled he will accede to Republican demands for extending tax cuts at all income levels, making votes on the Democratic-backed bill purely symbolic and angering some of the rank-and-file in his party.
But Obama was juggling a pair of top-priority items -- winning enough support from reluctant Republicans to ratify a new arms control treaty with Russia was the second -- and his leverage was reduced in tax negotiations as a result.
The House tax cut measure drew withering criticism from Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who will become the speaker when Republicans take power in January. "I am trying to catch my breath so I don't to refer to this ... as uh, chicken crap, all right?" he said.
"But this is nonsense, all right? The election was a month ago," he said, referring to voting that swept Democrats from power in the House and reduced their majority in the Senate.
The bill passed, 234-188, largely along party lines.
The vote was followed by a meeting in which Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Budget Director Jacob Lew and senior lawmakers discussed the compromise plan to extend existing cuts for taxpayers at all income levels.
The outlines of the measure include an extension of income tax cuts enacted while George W. Bush was president for an as-yet-undetermined period of time, perhaps two or three years. The bill is expected to apply to personal income tax rates as well as capital gains, dividends, the alternative minimum tax, the so-called marriage penalty and more.
Any agreement on legislation extending tax cuts to those at upper income levels would mark a surrender on the part of the president, who has long argued the provision isn't warranted in view of the $700 billion cost to the deficit.
At the same time, any measure that was limited to an extension of two or three years would leave Republicans with less than the permanent tax cuts they have long sought.
Attempts to schedule a series of Senate votes on the measure for Friday faltered when an unidentified Republican objected. Instead, they were set for Saturday.
The impetus for an extension of expiring jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed came from the Democrats, although Republicans have signaled they are willing to agree as long as the cost doesn't add to federal deficits.
Without action by Congress, unemployment benefits will run out this month for 2 million people, and several million more will lose them later in the winter. The benefits average $310 a week and go to unemployed workers who have been without jobs for 26 weeks or longer. The checks cut off after 99 weeks.
Earlier Democratic efforts to extend the program into 2011 have been blocked by Republicans demanding offsetting spending cuts.
In addition, officials said Democrats at the negotiating table were seeking extension of the $400-$800 tax break, originally passed as part of the 2009 economic stimulus measure. They also want to extend two other measures in the bill: a tuition tax break for college students and a cut for businesses that hire the unemployed.
Taken together, the day's events amounted to political theater in which Obama and lawmakers in both parties adjusted to the results of midterm elections in which Republicans won control of the House and cut deeply into the Democratic majority in the Senate.
For Obama, that has meant entering into negotiations with Republicans whom he has long held at arms length, particularly those in the House.
For Republicans, it has meant working with the president -- whom they have vowed to defeat in 2012 -- on legislation to accomplish the economic renewal that was the promise of their 2010 campaign.
For their part, Democrats bristled at the prospect of Obama making concessions they had long opposed, and they made it clear, particularly in the Senate, that they would play a role in shaping legislation to their liking.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he would oppose legislation that cuts taxes for upper-income taxpayers, even if it includes an extension of unemployment benefits and the accompanying tax cuts for the poor that the administration is seeking.
Another Democrat, Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, said, "In an institution where we control -- still control -- the House, the Senate and the White House, we ought to pass unemployment compensation."
In the House, outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed, and assailed Republicans for wanting to cut taxes for those at upper incomes.
"The tax cut for middle-income families will create jobs because people will spend that money, again, inject demand into the economy, and create jobs ... while the record shows, and recent history acknowledges, that the tax cuts at the high end did not create jobs," said Pelosi, who will become minority leader come January.
Obama Wants Jobless Aid in Tax Cut Deal
Published December 02, 2010 | Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A critical compromise to head off a year-end tax increase for millions of Americans took shape fitfully Thursday in private talks between the White House and congressional Republicans punctuated by outbursts of partisanship.
An extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed appeared likely to become part of any deal. Additionally, Democrats sought to expand the package with a tax break providing as much as $400 for individual working people and $800 for couples -- even if they pay nothing to the IRS.
Two days after he and newly empowered Republicans exchanged pledges of cooperation at the White House, President Barack Obama expressed optimism about the prospects for agreement in time for enactment by year's end.
Still, he cautioned, "That doesn't mean there might not be some posturing over the next several days."
Not long after Obama spoke, Democrats ignited a partisan row in the House with legislation that would prevent taxes from rising on lower- and middle-income wage earners but allow them to go up for people at higher incomes.
Given Republican objections, that measure has no chance of passing the Senate. But Democrats there insisted on voting on it as a way to dramatize their support for the measure and, officials said, register unhappiness with Obama.
The president has already signaled he will accede to Republican demands for extending tax cuts at all income levels, making votes on the Democratic-backed bill purely symbolic and angering some of the rank-and-file in his party.
But Obama was juggling a pair of top-priority items -- winning enough support from reluctant Republicans to ratify a new arms control treaty with Russia was the second -- and his leverage was reduced in tax negotiations as a result.
The House tax cut measure drew withering criticism from Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who will become the speaker when Republicans take power in January. "I am trying to catch my breath so I don't to refer to this ... as uh, chicken crap, all right?" he said.
"But this is nonsense, all right? The election was a month ago," he said, referring to voting that swept Democrats from power in the House and reduced their majority in the Senate.
The bill passed, 234-188, largely along party lines.
The vote was followed by a meeting in which Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Budget Director Jacob Lew and senior lawmakers discussed the compromise plan to extend existing cuts for taxpayers at all income levels.
The outlines of the measure include an extension of income tax cuts enacted while George W. Bush was president for an as-yet-undetermined period of time, perhaps two or three years. The bill is expected to apply to personal income tax rates as well as capital gains, dividends, the alternative minimum tax, the so-called marriage penalty and more.
Any agreement on legislation extending tax cuts to those at upper income levels would mark a surrender on the part of the president, who has long argued the provision isn't warranted in view of the $700 billion cost to the deficit.
At the same time, any measure that was limited to an extension of two or three years would leave Republicans with less than the permanent tax cuts they have long sought.
Attempts to schedule a series of Senate votes on the measure for Friday faltered when an unidentified Republican objected. Instead, they were set for Saturday.
The impetus for an extension of expiring jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed came from the Democrats, although Republicans have signaled they are willing to agree as long as the cost doesn't add to federal deficits.
Without action by Congress, unemployment benefits will run out this month for 2 million people, and several million more will lose them later in the winter. The benefits average $310 a week and go to unemployed workers who have been without jobs for 26 weeks or longer. The checks cut off after 99 weeks.
Earlier Democratic efforts to extend the program into 2011 have been blocked by Republicans demanding offsetting spending cuts.
In addition, officials said Democrats at the negotiating table were seeking extension of the $400-$800 tax break, originally passed as part of the 2009 economic stimulus measure. They also want to extend two other measures in the bill: a tuition tax break for college students and a cut for businesses that hire the unemployed.
Taken together, the day's events amounted to political theater in which Obama and lawmakers in both parties adjusted to the results of midterm elections in which Republicans won control of the House and cut deeply into the Democratic majority in the Senate.
For Obama, that has meant entering into negotiations with Republicans whom he has long held at arms length, particularly those in the House.
For Republicans, it has meant working with the president -- whom they have vowed to defeat in 2012 -- on legislation to accomplish the economic renewal that was the promise of their 2010 campaign.
For their part, Democrats bristled at the prospect of Obama making concessions they had long opposed, and they made it clear, particularly in the Senate, that they would play a role in shaping legislation to their liking.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he would oppose legislation that cuts taxes for upper-income taxpayers, even if it includes an extension of unemployment benefits and the accompanying tax cuts for the poor that the administration is seeking.
Another Democrat, Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, said, "In an institution where we control -- still control -- the House, the Senate and the White House, we ought to pass unemployment compensation."
In the House, outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed, and assailed Republicans for wanting to cut taxes for those at upper incomes.
"The tax cut for middle-income families will create jobs because people will spend that money, again, inject demand into the economy, and create jobs ... while the record shows, and recent history acknowledges, that the tax cuts at the high end did not create jobs," said Pelosi, who will become minority leader come January.
Great Job Barack!.....Another month of Disasterous Job Performance....
Great Job Barack.....Your Program is really working...you are driving this nation into that ditch you are always talking about....Big Government, Big spending, socialism really works doesn't it?????? You need to be impeached for incompetence!
Jobless Rate Rises to 9.8 Percent, Highest Since April
Published December 03, 2010
The nation's jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent in November, the highest since April, as the latest data showed employers hiring at a slower pace and the number of long-term unemployed staying about constant.
The worse-than-expected report from the Labor Department comes in the middle of a tense debate on Capitol Hill over how to extend the Bush tax cuts and whether to extend federal jobless benefits to millions. President Obama is expected to discuss the numbers at the White House late Friday morning.
Many economists had predicted the addition of nearly 150,000 jobs in November. But the report showed employers added just 39,000, a sharp decline from the 172,000 created in October. The weakness was widespread. Retailers, factories, construction companies, financial firms and the government all cut jobs last month.
As a result, the jobless rate which has been stuck at 9.6 percent for three months crept once again toward 10 percent. The jobless rate has now topped 9 percent for 19 straight months, the longest stretch on record.
House Republican Leader John Boehner, issuing a statement minutes after the report crossed Friday morning, argued that the numbers make the case for why all of the Bush tax cuts should be extended.
"As economists and small business owners have warned, the last thing our economy needs right now is a job-killing tax hike," he said.
The economy has recently flashed signs of gaining momentum with busier factories, rising auto sales and a good start to the holiday shopping season. But that didn't translate into mass hiring in November.
In fact, private companies -- the backbone of the economy -- created 50,000 jobs. That was down significantly from the 160,000 private-sector jobs created in October and was the smallest gain since January.
All told there were 15.1 million people unemployed in November. Of them, 6.3 million fell in the long-term unemployed category -- which counts those who have been without a job for 27 weeks or more.
Adding those unemployed people to others who are working part time but would prefer full-time jobs and those who have given up looking for work, 17 percent of the labor force is "underemployed." That was the same as October. Still, the figure remains close to a record high set last year.
Another grim figure: There was a record 1.3 million "discouraged" workers in November. Those are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available to them.
Jobless Rate Rises to 9.8 Percent, Highest Since April
Published December 03, 2010
The nation's jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent in November, the highest since April, as the latest data showed employers hiring at a slower pace and the number of long-term unemployed staying about constant.
The worse-than-expected report from the Labor Department comes in the middle of a tense debate on Capitol Hill over how to extend the Bush tax cuts and whether to extend federal jobless benefits to millions. President Obama is expected to discuss the numbers at the White House late Friday morning.
Many economists had predicted the addition of nearly 150,000 jobs in November. But the report showed employers added just 39,000, a sharp decline from the 172,000 created in October. The weakness was widespread. Retailers, factories, construction companies, financial firms and the government all cut jobs last month.
As a result, the jobless rate which has been stuck at 9.6 percent for three months crept once again toward 10 percent. The jobless rate has now topped 9 percent for 19 straight months, the longest stretch on record.
House Republican Leader John Boehner, issuing a statement minutes after the report crossed Friday morning, argued that the numbers make the case for why all of the Bush tax cuts should be extended.
"As economists and small business owners have warned, the last thing our economy needs right now is a job-killing tax hike," he said.
The economy has recently flashed signs of gaining momentum with busier factories, rising auto sales and a good start to the holiday shopping season. But that didn't translate into mass hiring in November.
In fact, private companies -- the backbone of the economy -- created 50,000 jobs. That was down significantly from the 160,000 private-sector jobs created in October and was the smallest gain since January.
All told there were 15.1 million people unemployed in November. Of them, 6.3 million fell in the long-term unemployed category -- which counts those who have been without a job for 27 weeks or more.
Adding those unemployed people to others who are working part time but would prefer full-time jobs and those who have given up looking for work, 17 percent of the labor force is "underemployed." That was the same as October. Still, the figure remains close to a record high set last year.
Another grim figure: There was a record 1.3 million "discouraged" workers in November. Those are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available to them.
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