1/10/2009: President Obama Plan For Economy Rebound Centers Around Changing America's Infrastructure As Democaratic Party Rumbles discontent On Bi-Partisan Approach..  President Elect Obama has emphasized that it will take both parties to solve the current economic crisis and has altered many aspects of his recovery plan and has embraced tax cuts and other recession busting tactics used in the past.  President-elect Barack Obama countered critics with an analysis Saturday by his economic team showing that a program of tax cuts and spending like he's proposed would create up to 4.1 million jobs, far more than the 3 million he has insisted are needed to lift the country from recession.  "If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits — and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world," he said  "I want to be realistic here. Not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace we had hoped," Obama told ABC's "This Week" for an interview set to air Sunday.  The extremist on both sides of the aisles, Republican and Democrats, are trying to grab the airwaves and make statements against his proposals.  On Talk Radio, the conservative corps are trying to attach the entire economic mess on the Democratic Congress and Senate that came into office in just 2006.  It is amazing how naive the Republican Party assumes the American public actually is.  A once proud party of Reagan has officially reinvented itself into the ridiculous democrats of the past when they had lost their way.  It will take moderation to completely fix this economy and every dollar spent must be accounted for.  The new administration owes that to the American public.  Anyone adding on earmarks or other lobbyist laden proposals needs to be exposed.  This is not the time for just dumping money without a plan into the market as we have seen in the last bailout proposal signed by President Bush and approved by the Democratic controlled Congress and Senate.  It is time to wait and let the American people get the economy rolling again with programs that will benefit those that need the relief the most, the middle class.  The recession will end when the middle class begins to spend again.  It is time to reconsider a lopsided global economy  which has destroyed American manufacturing that  has been a growing problem for much of the past decade.  Wall Street no longer has the right to self rule after the mess that they created with corruption, mismanagement and shady accounting practices.  It is time to regulate and tie tax cuts to job creation and to promote limited protectionism for American based companies at least until the rest of the world begins to pay their workers an acceptable world salary..

1/08/2009: President Obama Delivers In Depth Speech on Economy and Plans to fix it.  President elect Barack Obama provided insight into the depth of the economic problems that America is facing as he is about to take office in les than two weeks.  He stated that if nothing is done the recession could linger for years and we could lose a generation of hope and opportunity.  It is the challenge of this generation.  it appears that the message of today's address was that America can and will reach greatness again, but it will take much work and that it will take government to change it's old habits and take responsibility.  The business sector will not be able to lift America out of the current recession.  Millions are looking for work when there is much work to do. It is getting people into these jobs.  Modernization of our infrastructure is paramount to job creation in the Obama recovery plan.  President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan

12/29/2008: President Obama In July Did Provide Insight Into Gaza Situation.  “If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that,” President Elect Obama told reporters in Sderot, a small city on the edge of Gaza that has been hit repeatedly by rocket fire. “And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.”  In light of recent events in Gaza between Israeli military forces and Hamas militants.  As the situation continues to escalate Obama will walk into a hornet's nest as Israel is openly stating that Iran is aiding Hamas with the rockets that are being fired from Gaza into Iserael.  Many are wondering where President Barack Obama stands on the issue as he quietly waits to take office in less than a month.

12/24/2008: President Obama Team Clear From Corrupt Illinois Governor.  President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top aides met last week with federal investigators building a corruption case against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of trying to swap Obama's Senate seat for cash or a lucrative job.
The interviews with Obama, along with incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and adviser Valerie Jarrett, were disclosed Tuesday in an internal report produced for Obama on contacts with Blagojevich. The report supported Obama's insistence last week that there had been no inappropriate contact with the governor's office by Obama or his staff.

12/15/2008: President Obama Names More Appointments  President-elect Barack Obama will name Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan as his education secretary on Tuesday, putting a reform-minded administrator in the nation's top education post.  Mr. Duncan, who has run the Chicago schools for seven years, has managed to straddle two competing factions of the education community: the teachers unions, who push for more funding and smaller classes, and the reformer wing, which looks to hold schools and teachers more accountable for student performance and supports merit pay for teachers.  Steven Chu, the Nobel prize-winning physicist and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was designated Energy secretary and former New Jersey environmental protection commissioner Lisa Jackson will be nominated as head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.  Also named was Nancy Sutley, the Los Angeles deputy mayor for the environment and energy issues, who will become the head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Carol M. Browner, the EPA administrator under President Clinton, will be named to a White House post as a coordinator on energy issues. She will report to Obama, though the extent of her authority is unclear. She is a staunch ally of former Vice President Al Gore, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work on climate change.  Obama pledged that his administration would succeed where previous ones have lagged because the current problems were so pressing.  This time has to be different," Obama said. "This time we cannot fail."

12/11/2008: President Obama On The Illinois Governor Scandal  President-elect Barack Obama has made a public statement that no members of his transition team were involved in the "Pay to Play" Scandal that has rocked the state of Illinois political scene.  Investigators have stated that there is no evidence suggesting that President Elect Obama has any connection to the scandal and in fact the taped conversations that are shockingly brazen in dialogue stated that the only thing Obama would be willing to offer is his gratitude.  In kinder words than the actual transcript the embattled governor stated that the senator position was too valuable to just give away.  With lawmakers nationwide calling for his immediate resignation, embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich cruised in to work Thursday morning like it was just any other normal day. Obama himself Thursday said the governor should relinquish his post. "I hope that the governor himself comes to the conclusion that he can no longer effectively serve and that he does resign," Obama said at a morning news conference in Chicago. The President-elect, under fire for a tardy response to the corruption scandal in his home state, said he had not spoken to Governor Rod Blagojevich about the vacant Senate seat and promised to disclose any contacts between his staff and the Governor’s office. “I had no contact with the Governor’s office. I did not speak to the Governor about these issues. That I know for certain,” Mr Obama told a tightly controlled press conference in Chicago.  “What I want to do is to gather all the facts about any staff contacts that may have taken place between the transition office and the Governor’s office and we’ll have those in the next few days and we’ll present them.  “But what I’m absolutely certain about is that our office had no involvement in any deal-making around my Senate seat . . . That would be a violation of everything that this campaign has been about, and that’s not how we do business.” Mr Blagojevich, who was back at work yesterday after being freed on bail after his arrest on Tuesday, stands accused of a “political crime spree” that included an alleged effort to “sell” Mr Obama’s vacated Senate seat, which he has sole power to fill.  I will add this.  It has been a very entertaining week from the Republican side that has basically done as much as possible to connect the corruption of the governor to the President Elect.  It would be nice to see a stronger Republican party that is for the good of the people rather than looking the old democrat party that whined and cried for years during the Bush administration.  At this point in American history I would find it hard to say proudly that I am a Republican or a Democrat.

12/08/2008: President Obama "Days of Pork...As A strategy Are Gone."   President-elect Barack Obama issued a warning Sunday to officials around the country who want to fund projects with federal dollars: no more business as usual. In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said: "What we need to do is examine: What are the projects where we're going to get the most bang for the buck? How are we going to make sure taxpayers are protected?  "You know, the days of just pork coming out of Congress as a strategy, those days are over."  The president-elect on questions about a possible bailout of the auto industry. "It makes no sense for us to shovel more money into the problem if you have not seen an auto industry that is committed to restructuring -- restructuring that, frankly, should have been done 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago," he told reporters.  He added: "Congress is doing the exact right thing by asking for a conditions-based assistance package that holds the auto industry's feet to the fire, gives them some short-term assistance, but also insists that that assistance leads to some very difficult choices involving all the stakeholders ... including management, labor, shareholders, creditors, and so on. Obama remarked later in an interview regarding the management of the big 3.  " If this management team that's currently in place doesn't understand the urgency of the situation and is not willing to make the tough choices and adapt to these new circumstances, then they should go."  When you hear this much harder stand against reckless spending, make sense assistance to struggling keystone industries it is the exact opposite of the stance that was argued throughout the election.  It is much more a dead center approach of a "Make Sense" strategy that President elect Obama has been employing rather it be selecting his cabinet to his stances on the economy.  Regardless if you are a  Democrat or a Republican, you have to be feeling good about the energy and independence of this incoming administration.

12/06/2008: President Obama Asks America To Rise To The Challenge  President-elect Barack Obama said that the old Washington way will not solve our problems.  America has to become more competitive in the world and has to become more efficient.  The money given for modernizing infrastructure will either be used for it's intended purpose or the states will lose the funding.  Every Child should be able to get online as it is crucial for educating our children to make America more competitive in the future.  President Obama also said that schools and other government buildings are going to have to be modernized and will be part of  his stimulus plan.  President elect Obama is saying everything that America wants to hear as difficult times have fallen on the world.  It appears that he is current on the pulse of the problems facing America rather than the traditional months behind.  The reason I make this point is because it was only yesterday that George Bush said " yeah it looks like we have entered a recession."  Well Every American that struggles to keep their jobs, home and provide for their families have known for over a year that we are in trouble and in a recession.  It was their jobs lost and their homes taken away.  It is very disturbing that the current administration has not done anything to help families of America while billions upon billions are being thrown at greedy banks, automakers, as well as wasteful state governments more than likely in the coming months.  Where is the American taxpayer's lifeline?  I guess we are only good when it comes to picking up the check.  I just hope that big oil doesn't need a bailout now that oil prices have fallen so much. Sorry just a little sarcasm.

12/01/2008: President Obama Makes It Official  President-elect Barack Obama introduced Sen. Hillary Clinton, his nemesis in the 2008 Democratic presidential race, as his secretary of state on Monday. She possesses an extraordinary intelligence and toughness, and a remarkable work ethic," said Obama, speaking at a news conference in Chicago where he has been managing his transition.  In introducing his national security team, Obama said he will keep Robert Gates as secretary of defense. "I will be giving Secretary Gates and our military a new mission as soon as I take office: responsibly ending the war in Iraq through a successful transition to Iraqi control," Obama said. The president-elect also formally nominated Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations. Obama named retired Gen. Jim Jones as his national security adviser.  A smiling Clinton said, "I will give this assignment, your administration and our country my all." She thanked her New York constituents. She also said the U.S. must be "a force for positive change."

11/28/2008: President Obama  Promises help is on the way and Reports leaning to Keep Gates For One Year as Secretary of Defense?  President-elect Barack Obama was staying in Chicago for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday Thursday and squeezing in some holiday shopping, a day after trying to reassure Americans about the ailing economy as stores braced for a rough season.  "Help is on the way," he proclaimed Wednesday at his third news briefing on the economy this week. Fifty-five days away from taking office, he declared he would have an economic plan ready for action "starting day one."

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce his pick for secretary of defense on Monday, a senior Pentagon official told FOX News.  FOX News and other news agencies have reported that current Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to accept an offer to remain in the post for at least one year. The senior Pentagon official did not confirm those reports.  As for Gates, Obama has found the ideal figure to help him organize his planned withdrawal from Iraq, and to bless it.  What's most striking about Obama's approach to foreign policy is that he is less an idealist than a realist who would advance American interests by diplomacy, by working to improve the country's image abroad, and by using military force prudently and cautiously.

11/24/2008: President Obama Builds Economy Team To Tackle Global Economic Crisis  President-elect Barack Obama promised on Monday to jolt the faltering U.S. economy with a costly stimulus package next year and introduced the team that will help him navigate the global financial crisis. President Elect Obama named his top economic advisers, confirming Timothy Geithner as the next treasury secretary.  Mr Obama said that having served in senior roles at Treasury, the IMF and the New York Federal Reserve, Mr Geithner would offer "an unparalleled understanding of our current economic crisis, in all of its depth, complexity and urgency".  Lawrence Summers, a former treasury secretary, will be the new head of the White House's National Economic Council, tasked with coordinating the president's economic plans.  Christina Romer, a co-director at the National Bureau of Economic Research, will chair President's Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

11/22/2008: President Obama Has been Very Busy with Appointment selections for Cabinet and releasing his latest You Tube address that focuses on Job Stimulation.  President-elect Barack Obama has directed the Transition's economic team to develop the details of a bold plan to save or create 2.5 million American jobs by 2011 in his weekly You tube address that we post every Saturday after it's release. The President-elect has directed the Transition's economic team to develop the details of a plan for a two-year, nationwide effort to strengthen our economy. It will center around jobs rebuilding crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools, and making America a leader in alternative energy.  After another week of devastating economic news, it's clearer than ever that dramatic action is needed to chart a new path for our economy that gets jobs and wages growing again.   In other Cabinet news, it appears that Hillary Clinton is very close to being tagged as U.S. Secretary of State.   Obama is poised to name much of his economic team Monday and Tuesday in events in Chicago.  President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as Treasury Secretary on Monday.  Geithner , 47, would assume chief responsibility for tackling an economic slowdown and credit crunch that threaten to create the deepest recession in more than a generation. In his current post in New York, he has played a key role in the government's response to the financial crisis and has worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.  Officials said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state.
 

11/20/2008: President Obama selects Arizona Governor Napolitano as new Homeland Security Chief.  Tom Dashle as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Her responsibilities would include such high-profile and hot-topic issues as immigration enforcement, federal disaster response, and airport security.  As a border-state governor, Ms. Napolitano brings experience to the role of immigration enforcement. She vetoed several tough illegal immigration bills put forward by state Republicans. She also supported the comprehensive reform efforts in Washington that were ultimately shot down last year by opponents of illegal immigration. Napolitano has been skeptical that building a fence along the border will solve the immigration problem. She once said, “You build a 50-foot wall, somebody will find a 51-foot ladder.”  U.S. President-elect Barack Obama  also has chosen former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle to lead his drive to overhaul the U.S. health system. Daschle's nomination as secretary of health and human services would have to be confirmed by the Senate.
 

11/18/2008: President  Barack Obama will appoint Eric Holder to attorney-general  Eric Holder supported Mr Obama from early on in his presidential campaign and now he is selected as the U.S. Attorney General.  He worked for the Clinton Administration as deputy attorney general. The one knock on Mr. Holder is that In 2000, Mr Holder controversially advised President Clinton - on the last day of his administration - that he was "neutral, leaning towards favorable" about pardoning fugitive financier Marc Rich.  He later stated that if he had been given more time to review the case he would not have been against it. Many right wing party members are wondering where is the "Change" that was promised from candidate Barack Obama as it appears as he is raiding the old Clinton cabinet for candidates to fill his own cabinet.  However regardless everyone should agree that Eric Holder is a very capable appointment to the position of U.S. Attorney General.

11/16/2008: President Elect Obama So Far Making Some Very Good Choices As He Builds His Executive Branch  Pete Rouse will serve as Senior Advisor, and both Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff.  "These individuals are important additions to a team with the experience and ability to help our nation overcome pressing challenges at home and around the world," said President-elect Barack Obama. The response to Hillary Clinton possibly soon being named as Secretary of State is being received with very much support from just about everyone in politics. Former Nixon and Ford Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Clinton would be an "outstanding" selection, Bloomberg News reported.  Many Republicans including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Obama already having his own "pit bull" in Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff at home, the addition of Hillary Clinton is equally as strong for his representation abroad.  Hillary has already proven she is plenty tough enough to represent America.  I have actually grown to respect the senator for her moderate and hard working ethics.

11/14/2008: William Ayers Speaks Out About His Relationship With President Obama.  1960s radical Bill Ayers appeared Friday on "Good Morning America" and spoke at length about his past relationship with Barack Obama.  "I knew Barack Obama, absolutely. And I knew him probably as well as thousands of other Chicagoans," Ayers said. "And like millions of other people worldwide, I wish I knew him better right now."  Ayers, now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, calmly dismissed any belief that he and Obama are covering up a deeper bond.  "This idea that we need to know more, like there's some dark hidden secret, some secret link, is just a myth, and it's a myth thrown up by people that wanted to exploit the politics of fear," Ayers said. "And I think it's a great credit to the American people that those politics were rejected. The idea that we should continue to be frightened and worried and barricaded is falling down, and it should."  Check out:  The Weather Underground Organization:  Bill Ayers' Group.  What are the facts and what is the fiction.  You decide.

11/14/2008: President Elect Obama Has Discussed Role For Hillary Clinton  According to the latest reports President elect Obama has been discussing a possible role of Secretary of State for his once Democratic Primary opponent Hillary Clinton.  The strength of this possible choice is her automatic recognition and ability to work with so many types of opinions.  Though Hillary did not gain the opportunity to challenge for the general election, her support of Barack Obama channeled many of her followers to get behind the new president elect.  She showed her ability to heal the wounds of the campaign in a smooth transition for her supporters as she led them to the Obama campaign.  This is a great choice. She is regardless what some pundits may say, a very well respected stateswoman world wide.  I think the ball is in her court.  She should take it. Just cross your fingers that Bill keeps himself busy with his international work and not in the media spotlight himself for things he might say or do.

11/11/2008: President Elect Obama Reportedly Asks Bush to Bail Out Auto Industry  According to the New York Times  President-elect Barack Obama asked President George W. Bush during a White House meeting for immediate aid for the struggling US auto industry. During their private meeting, Bush said he could support some aid in exchange for approval of a free-trade agreement with Colombia, the Times said, citing unnamed people familiar with the discussion.  However, neither Obama nor Democrats in Congress -- who been blocking the trade pact -- seem willing to bend on Colombia, the Times wrote.

11/10/2008: President Elect Obama Meets With President Bush At White House  The outgoing president and first lady Laura Bush greeted Obama and his wife Michelle with smiles and handshakes as they arrived to begin a tour of what will be their new home after Obama is sworn in on Jan. 20.  The two entered the oval office for a private meeting without aides to discuss the financial crisis, Iraq, Afghanistan and other issues affecting America.  In recent days Obama aides have made statements concerning rolling back many of President Bush's executive orders including  limits on stem cell research and orders that expand oil and gas drilling in some areas.

11/06/2008: Rahm Emanuel Chief of Staff  President elect Barack Obama picks long time friend and former President Clinton advisor Rahm Emanuel that helped lead the Democrats to majority control in 2006 to be his Chief of Staff.  His reputation as a fighter will serve well to help protect the newly elected Obama from vigilant groups inside the two parties that will push his administration to support their agenda. Emanuel was elected to congress in 2002  Obama has also formally announced is transition team, which will be headed by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, longtime Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse, Obama's Senate chief of staff.  The three will be assisted by an advisory board comprising individuals with significant private and public sector experience, including Indian-American Sonal Shah who works for Google.org on its Global Development team.

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