Obama's Staff Attacks Media

President Obama and His Staff has verbally attacked Rick Santelli from CNBC for his argument against the Mortgage bailout. The Problem that the White House is having, the problem isn't selling across America.

I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU WATCH THIS VIDEO!

(CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO)

Obama not Happy with CNBC Report

It appears that President Obama was not happy with this report and has dispatched his minions to bash the broadcast. But I have to tell you what, I AGREE!!!! Why bailout the people who haven't been paying their bills, why not help us who are struggling and doing whatever it takes to make good on our commitments!!!

“I also think that it’s tremendously important that for people who rant on cable television – to be responsible and understand what it is they’re talking about. I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Gibbs said during the daily White House briefing for reporters, CBS News’ Mark Knoller reports. - CBS News

Ummmm, I think he knew exactly what he was talking about. Maybe the same thing should be addressed to the President and his Democratic Friends in Congress.

Obama's Spending will Set a World Record

Not since World War II has America spent so much money so quickly.

In the last two years, the United States has run up deficits that amount to a combined $2.5 trillion dollars -- almost a fourth of all the debt the nation has taken on in its entire history.

"It's really staggering to think we're going to have trillion-dollar deficits for the next several years," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told FOX News.

The deficit for January alone totaled $83.8 billion, worse than the $78 billion economists expected. The government had run a surplus of $17.8 billion in January 2008.

The huge deterioration in the government's finances reflects the recession, which has cut into tax revenues, and the large amounts of money being spent from the $700 billion finance rescue plan that Congress passed in October. About three-fourths of the deficit increase was related to spending on the bailout program.

With eight months left in the current budget year, the deficit already has surpassed the deficit for 2008, an imbalance of $454.8 billion that is the full-year record.

The Congressional Budget Office has forecast that the deficit for the current budget year will hit $1.2 trillion, but that estimate does not include the cost of President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan, which he signed this week.

Many private economists are forecasting that the budget deficit for the current year will hit $1.6 trillion.

"These are the first trillion-dollar deficits the world has ever seen," Brian Reidl, a budget analyst at Heritage Foundation, told FOX News.

And at some point, someone has to pay it back, and some are concerned the cost will be passed on to future generations.

"It's easy to spend somebody else's money," said David Walker, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office. "It's easier to spend someone else's money who's too young to vote and hasn't been born yet, and that's exactly what's going on."

"It's not only irresponsible," he added. "It's unethical."

America has borrowed so much that just the interest on its debt is now more than what the country spends on the war in Iraq. And the money the Obama administration is borrowing for the stimulus package adds another $350 billion in interest. - FOX News

Now is that amazing! Obama has been President for a month and the deficit is already more than what Bush ran up all of last year. President Obama is expected to run America into the first Trillion Dollar Deficit ever in the world.

Now we all have finally figured out a piece of the pie. This is the change that we heard so much about. I think we all would have like to have know that in November of last year.

Guantanamo Bay Prison not as Bad as Obama Thought

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon says the Guantanamo Bay prison meets the standard for humane treatment laid out in the Geneva Conventions, according to a report for President Barack Obama, who has ordered the terrorist detention center closed within a year.

The report recommended some changes, including an increase in group recreation for some of the camp's more dangerous or less compliant prisoners, according to a government official familiar with the study. The report also suggested allowing those prisoners to gather in groups of three or more, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not officially been released.

Some of the hard-core prisoners are not currently allowed to meet with other prisoners for prayer or socialization and are kept in their cells for 23 hours a day.

Alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed is among the prisoners who could be affected by the change. Prolonged social isolation has been known to harm mental health among prisoners.

The 85-page report by Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the Navy's second in command, was written in response to Obama's Jan. 22 executive order to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba within a year.

As a presidential candidate, Obama criticized the detention center that human rights groups and many in the international community widely condemned for harsh treatment of prisoners during the Bush administration. The military has defended its actions, saying prisoners have been treated humanely since the center was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The report found the camp to be in compliance with the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3, the international rules that require the humane treatment of prisoners taken in unconventional armed conflicts, like the war on terrorism. The camp's controversial force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strikes was also found to be compliant with the Geneva guidelines, a second government official confirmed. - FOX News

That is what happens when you just jump in and start making changes without knowing the whole story. The decision to close the Prison has far reaching ramifications, and your justifications for closing it seem to be unfounded. You can pick and choose Isolated events to prove your point if you like, but we could have done the same thing during the election. Need we remind you of Reverand Wright?

Obama agrees with Bush in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's Justice Department sided with the former Bush administration on Friday, saying detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights.

In a two-sentence court filing, department lawyers said the Obama administration agreed that detainees at Bagram Air Base cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their detentions. The filing shocked human rights attorneys.

"The hope we all had in President Obama to lead us on a different path has not turned out as we'd hoped," said Tina Monshipour Foster, a human rights attorney representing a detainee at the Bagram Air Base. "We all expected better."

In midyear last year, the Supreme Court gave al-Qaida and Taliban suspects held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the right to challenge their detention. With about 600 detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and thousands more held in Iraq, courts are grappling with whether they, too, can sue to be released. - FOX News

It would seem that the preaching of change, means more of the same. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing. It just shows that all the Bush Bashing may not have really been appropriate. Especially since he is doing the same.

Making the Election Make Sense

I got this Email and thought I would share it with you. It really gives you something to think about,

Ice Cream & The Election (Excellent analogy!)

From a Teacher in the Nashville, TN Area.

Who worries about "the cow" when it all about the "Ice Cream?"

The most eye-opening civic lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year. The Presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class President.

We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote.

To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selections. Both Candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother.

The day arrived when they were to make their speeches, Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best.

Everyone applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down.

The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream." She surely could say more. She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it? She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream.

Jamie was forgotten, Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream, fifty-two percent of the people reacted like nine year olds. They want ice cream.

The other forty-eight percent of us know we're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess.

Housing Values Down, Property Taxes Up

We keep hearing how the Housing Values have dropped to their lowest levels in years. Virtually none of our houses are worth the same or more than they were 5 years ago.

Why haven't our property taxes dropped? You pay property taxes based on the value of your property, if the value has dropped, why hasn't the taxes dropped?

Meghan McCain Says GOP Needs to go High Tech

(CNN) — The Republican Party needs to change — at least when it comes to its use of technology, Meghan McCain says.

In a column on the Daily Beast Web site, the daughter of Sen. John McCain says the GOP is likely to continue its decline in power unless members vastly improve their tech fluency.

"This has been a source of personal frustration for me for a very long time," said McCain of the party's seeming disconnect with technology. "Unless the GOP evolves as the party that can successfully utilize the Web, we'll continue to lose influence"

McCain, who authored a popular blog on her father's Web site while he was running for president, also recounts early pushback from Republican strategists when she first sought to establish the Web site.

"Many of the established Republican strategists told me that young people would not visit my web site," she wrote. "I used to categorize many of the advisors in my father's campaign into one of two groups: those that 'respected' the Internet and those who didn't. It was a running line between me and my friends who worked on my site."

McCain also suggested the party's lack of online savvy greatly contributed to her father's defeat last November.

"The Obama administration understands that my generation spends most of its day on a laptop or a BlackBerry, and that using the Web is easy way to communicate their ideas to their constituents," she said. "Until the Republican Party joins the twenty-first century and learns how to use the Internet, its members will keep getting older and the youth of America will just keep logging on to the other side."

Several Republicans appear to have gotten the message. According to TweetCongress.org, more Republicans are now on the popular social networking site Twitter than are Democrats. And the recent election for the Republican Party Chairman heavily revolved around who was best positioned to modernize the party's use of technology. - CNN News

The GOP would do themselves some good to listen to her. They would do good to bring up some of the Young Talent in their core and get them to go High Tech.

President Obama has said that turning the economy around will not be easy, or quick -- and it appears Wall Street agrees. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 90 points today and 800 points, or 9.7 percent, in the 10 days since the Obama administration announced major reforms to stimulate the economy, keep banks afloat and save millions of homeowners from foreclosure.

But since the banking reforms were unveiled Feb. 10, the Dow has reached a new bear market low -- the lowest since Oct. 9, 2002.

The series of announcements began last week as Treasury Secretary Geithner announced major reform to the banking system, infusing up to $2 trillion to rescue the nation's banks.

And, in Denver Tuesday, Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus plan into law, calling the legislation "the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history." - ABC News

It seems that Wall Street and the Investors don't have a whole lot of confidence in either the Tresury Secretary or President Obama.

More Racism Talk from Washington

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The highest-ranking black congressman says opposition to the federal stimulus package by southern governors is "a slap in the face of African-Americans."

Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said Thursday he was insulted when the GOP governors of several states said they might not accept some of the money from the $787 billion stimulus package. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he would accept the money.

Clyburn said he was trying to protect black Americans when he added a provision to the stimulus package that would let state lawmakers override governors who oppose it.

Clyburn's spokeswoman later said he didn't mean that he thought those governors were racially motivated, but rejecting it would hurt large black populations in their states. - FOX News

Housing Bailout, Obama's or McCain's

President Obama, in rejecting GOP alternatives to his massive economic stimulus plan, cited his electoral victory over John McCain in November as proof that Americans wanted change.

But Obama's $275 billion housing bailout plan, aimed at halting mortgage foreclosures, is drawing comparisons to a proposal championed last year by John McCain.

"I hope they took the best ideas wherever they found them. And, certainly, Senator McCain campaigned for a long time on this proposal," said Douglas Holtz Eakin, former economic adviser to McCain and author of McCain's plan.

Obama's $275 billion program offers $75 billion in incentives to lenders to lower payments by at-risk homeowners to 31 percent of their income. The other $200 billion would be drawn from money approved by last year's Congress to bolster efforts by federal lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer affordable mortgages and bring stability to the housing market.

Holtz Eakin says Obama has recognized the need to stop foreclosures before they happen. It's an idea he says McCain introduced at his second presidential debate with Obama.

"I would order the Secretary of the Treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes," McCain said.

McCain said he was following in the footsteps of Hillary Clinton, but her aides said his plan was nothing like hers.

Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan also says McCain's plan is not like Obama's, explaining that Obama's is "focused, targeted to those most at risk of foreclosure and would be far less expensive to the taxpayer than Senator McCain's plan."

Democrats said McCain's $300 billion plan would have had the government basically eat the cost of reduced property values.

"Taxpayers shouldn't be asked to pick up the tab for the very folks who helped create this crisis," Obama said on the campaign trail. "And that's the problem with Senator McCain's risky idea."

Now Obama's $75 billion plan would have the government and the finance industry share the cost of declining property values for a smaller group, though it envisions pumping $200 billion more into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which McCain criticized in the fall for supporting the Obama campaign.

"His pals there and the Democrats in Congress that refused to reform Freddie Mac and enact legislation to stop this crisis," McCain charged on the campaign trail.

Donovan, however, says the money is just a backstop.

"We have no expectation that the full amount would be needed, certainly not in the short run," Donovan said.

On that score, however, Obama officials say they are facing the problem of having to rescue institutions that are too big to fail. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the mortgage market today, Obama officials say. They account for the vast bulk of mortgages and without them mortgage rates would soar and far fewer mortgages would be available. - FOX News

Ever Wonder Why there Are so Many Illegals in the USA

The U.S. government spends tens of millions of dollars each year persuading federal circuit courts to uphold orders for thousands of illegal immigrants to leave the country, but those orders have been enforced in only one-fifth of the cases, according to sources familiar with a recent Justice Department study.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for "removing" illegal immigrants who stay in this country against the law. But the study found that more than 80 percent of the illegal immigrants whose deportation orders were upheld by a federal appeals court last year were still in the country as of five weeks ago, according to an internal Justice Department memo obtained by FOX News.

"If the people aren't getting removed, why the heck are we spending all the money?" asked one former Justice Department official who left with the Bush administration.

Two sources familiar with the memo accompanying the Jan. 16 study said the Justice Department spends at least $20 million each year paying litigators to argue deportation cases in federal appeals courts. But, the former Justice Department official said the total cost to taxpayers is much higher considering the price tag of flying some 300 litigators around the country and putting them up in hotels. That's not to mention the cost for federal and immigration courts to operate so they can hear the cases.

In general, people identified as illegal immigrants first appear before an immigration court, and if they are ordered to leave the country they can appeal that order to the Justice Department's Board of Immigration Appeals and then the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

About 8,000 cases made it to the U.S. Court of Appeals last year and the study tracked the 7,200 cases in which the Justice Department prevailed. The study found that despite winning those cases, only 1,375 illegal immigrants -- 19 percent -- had been removed as of last month. - FOX News

Now you have a good answer. Once they get in, we can't remove them. Even when the courts tell us to, it doesn't get done.

AG Calls Americans Cowards

The United States is "a nation of cowards" when it comes to race relations, the country's newly minted attorney general said today.

In remarks made during a speech to honor Black History Month, Eric Holder said the country remains "voluntarily socially segregated," making head-turning comments that could spark fierce dialogue and the ire of some conservatives.

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot in things racial, we have always been, and we, I believe, continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder said at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. "Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.

"This is truly sad. Given all that we as a nation went through during the civil rights struggle, it is hard for me to accept that the result of those efforts was to create an America that is more prosperous, more positively race-conscious, and yet is voluntarily socially segregated." - ABC News

This coming from a man who didn't even have the guts to do the right thing when he was an Assistant during the Clinton White House. To call Americans Cowards could have a place, but racism is more alive not from White to Black but from Black to White.

It is true that for many many years the African American population was treated very poorly by this Country. That has been over for many many years. Most of us were not around or involved in that part of American History. We have grown up with all races being equal, yet we keep hearing how racist we are. If I didn't vote for Obama, I was racist. If I don't live in a evenly mixed neighborhood I am racist.

That is not racism. There is a group called the NAACP, What if there was a group called the NAAWP, would that be racist? There is the United Negro College Fund, what if there was the Caucasian College fund, would that be racist?

Too many times Racism is brought into an equation when it doesn't exist. The more that we talk about racism and make blanket accusations of racism, the more racism will exist.

This is America, all people are equal. Just because there is a person of one race pitted against a person of another race, does not make that racism. People can just have differences in opinions.

Obama's White House, Not so Transparent

In his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama shut down his predecessor’s system for reviewing regulations, realigned and expanded two key White House policymaking bodies and extended economic sanctions against parties to the conflict in the African nation of Cote D’Ivoire.

Despite the intense scrutiny a president gets just after the inauguration, Obama managed to take all these actions with nary a mention from the White House press corps.

The moves escaped notice because they were never announced by the White House Press Office and were never placed on the White House web site.

They came to light only because the official paperwork was transmitted to the Federal Register, a dense daily compendium of regulatory actions and other formal notices prepared by the National Archives. They were published there several days after the fact.

A Politico review of Federal Register issuances since Obama took office found three executive orders, one presidential memorandum, one presidential notice, and one proclamation that went unannounced by the White House.

Two of Obama's actions on regulatory reform were spotted by bloggers, lobbying groups and trade publications after they emerged in the Federal Register.

There was no apparent rhyme or reason to the omissions. A proclamation Obama issued on February 2 for African-American History Month was e-mailed to the press and posted on the White House web site. But another presidential proclamation the same day for American Heart Month slipped by.

Such notices were routinely released by the White House press office during prior administrations — making their omission all the more unusual given Obama’s oft-repeated pledges of openness.

Most of the documents were posted to the White House web site Tuesday night, after Politico inquired about their absence. “It was a simple oversight,” a spokesman, Ben LaBolt, said.

One order Obama signed Feb. 5 expanded the National Economic Council to 25 people by adding the Secretary of Health and Human Services; Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; senior adviser Valerie Jarrett; “climate czar” Carol Browner and two other officials.

Another order the president signed the same day added two slots to the Domestic Policy Council, bringing it to a total of 26 people. Some slots were reassigned. The chief technology officer was among those added to the panel, while “AIDS Policy Coordinator” was removed. It was unclear if that was a substantive change, simply reflected plans to keep the AIDS czar post at the State Department, or perhaps both.

Another Obama executive order, signed January 30, canceled two Bush-era executive orders relating to regulatory review. The White House did release chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s memo halting regulations in the works at federal agencies, but didn’t release another Obama memo setting a 100-day deadline for agency heads to recommend a new regulatory review process. The memo indicates that Obama may want to do some things differently on the regulatory front than the last Democrat in the White House, Bill Clinton.

Also waylaid was a notice Obama signed February 4 extending sanctions against some nationals of Cote D’Ivoire because of what he termed “the massacre of large numbers of civilians, widespread human rights abuses, significant political violence and unrest, and attacks against international peacekeeping forces leading to fatalities.” - Politico.com

Obama's White House, Not so Transparent!

Obama, Another Promise Broken

President Obama first proposed a $3,000 tax credit for businesses that add to their payroll when he was campaigning for president and the U.S. economy had taken a serious nosedive. After winning the election and taking office, he began working on a stimulus bill with Congress. But this idea soon stalled and appears to be dead.

It never got any significant support in Congress, even from Democrats. Lawmakers said they were concerned the credit wasn't enough of an incentive to get companies to hire additional workers. Tax policy analysts said the credit would be an administrative nightmare to implement. Companies might eliminate a job and then create it again later in hopes of getting the tax credit.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference on Jan. 14, 2009, that both Democrats and Republicans had problems with the measure.

"If you have a company and you're selling fewer shingles, $3,000 isn't going to get you to hire somebody when your sales are shrinking," Schumer said.

The credit was never part of the stimulus legislation as far as we saw, and it was not included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Obama signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009. Likewise, we see no indication that this idea might re-emerge. So for now, we rate it Promise Broken. - Politifact.Com

Thank God this Promis is Broken. I didn't believe that he would do it anyways, but could you imaging just how big the Spending (Stimulus) Bill would have been?

Burris in Deep Trouble

The Senate Ethics Committee has opened an inquiry into seemingly conflicting statements made by Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., who was appointed by disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill President Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat.

A Senate source compares the preliminary inquiry to a Grand Jury investigation.

The source tells me the Senate Ethics Committee generally opens investigations because "it has reason to believe a violation within the jurisdiction of Committee has occurred."

Even more problematic for Burris, the Republican state attorney in Springfield, Ill., is going to review the case for possible perjury charges.

Back in January, Burris gave a sworn affidavit saying he had no contact with Gov. Blagojevich's staff about this Senate seat. He's now revised that story at least three times.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune Monday, Burris acknowledged for the first time that he sought to raise campaign funds for Blagojevich at the request of the governor’s brother at the same time he was making a pitch to be appointed to Obama's Senate.

Today, Burris said he welcomes the Senate investigation and denied any wrongdoing despite acknowledging that he agreed to raise campaign funds for Blagojevich.

"I have nothing to hide ... I welcome the opportunity to go before any and all investigative bodies to answer any questions they have," he said.

"There were never any inappropriate (contacts) between me and anyone else ... and I will answer any and all questions to get that point across to keep my faith with the citizens of Illinois. "
In theory, U.S. Senators in Washington could move to censure Burris or move to expel him.

But that's very unlikely. They'll probably wait to see if any charges are filed against him in Illinois.

However, the real problem now for Burris is political. He is now guaranteed to have a serious primary rival when he runs for the Senate seat in 2010.

He may even face so much pressure that he won't be able to build enough support to run.

One Democratic source put it this way: "He's in deep sh*t."

--George Stephanopoulos - ABC News

Congress & Their Spouses Jet Setting on the Tax Payer

ABC News' Jonathan Karl and Kirit Radia report:

A senior State Department official today issued a lengthy defense of one of the Congressional trips highlighted in a story last night on ABC News' World News with Charles Gibson. ABC's story, however, did not question the validity of the meetings, just the high cost of shuttling members of Congress and their spouses around the world on military jets.

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried sent an unsolicited statement to ABC responding to the story's mention of a recent (ongoing, really) congressional delegation to Europe headed by Rep John Tanner, D-Tenn.

"I know and appreciate first hand the hard and valuable work these legislators do to advance our foreign policy. Imagine my surprise, then, when I heard that ABC News slammed one of the best-prepared, most tasks-and-results-oriented Congressional Delegations that I know. Bad call by ABC," he said.

Fried argues the trip was necessary to consult with NATO parliamentarians in Brussels, the OSCE in Vienna, the George Marshall Center in Germany (based near a Bavarian ski resort), and the OECD in Paris.

"Should we boycott any of these institutions? I thought we needed to reach out to Europe, building the ties to help us manage together the tough problems America and Europe face. Is it better to stay at home? Would that be the new leadership the President speaks of? To be blunt: the time is past for cheap shots," Fried wrote.

Fried's statement, however, does not address the practice of sending members of Congress and their spouses abroad on private military jets, a travel option exponentially more expensive than commercial air travel.

For example, if a charter jet were to take Rep Tanner and his group on the same trip it would cost over $200,000.

The exact costs for the military jet travel are a tightly guarded secret, but would cost even more than a charter plane. Neither Congress nor the Pentagon would reveal exactly how big the bill is.

Before departing for Europe Tanner told ABC News "This is not something that we are going 'oh let's go here, lets go there.' There is a reason we are going to every stop." - ABC News

OK, Could someone please explain to me just what in heck these people in Washington are thinking? You have the President spending Millions flying around the Country Selling the Economy, Now you have members of Congress flying around the globe with their spouses. Are any of these really necessary in light of the Economic mess we are in. On top of that, why isn't Congress flying on Commercial Jets or at least Charters that put the money into the Economy.

By the way, why is it Top Secret how much it costs for this trip? Besides isn't Obama suppose to be making things like this more transparent. Maybe it is Hillary and the State Department wearing the pants. Of Course there is Pelosi also.

Senator Burris is an outright Liar

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris now acknowledges attempting to raise money for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich — an explosive twist in his ever-changing story on how he landed a coveted Senate appointment from the man accused of trying to sell the seat.

Burris made the admission to reporters on Monday, after releasing an affidavit over the weekend saying he had more contact with Blagojevich aides about the Senate seat than he had described under oath to the state House panel that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment. The Democrat also said in the affidavit, but not before the panel, that the governor's brother asked him for fundraising help.

Though Burris insists he never raised money for Blagojevich while the governor was considering whom to appoint to the seat President Barack Obama vacated, the revelation that he had attempted to do so is likely to increase calls for Burris' resignation and an investigation into whether he committed perjury before the panel. Illinois Democrats have forwarded documents related to Burris' testimony to a county prosecutor for review. - ABC News

This guy is a snake. He is just as bad as the man who appointed him. They need to oust him right away if they have any plans to clean up Politics in that state.

Post Master General Makes More than President

(CBS) While the fortunes of the U.S. Postal Service spiral down, the personal wealth of the Postmaster General seems to be on the rise, according to a report in the Washington Times.

The newspaper reported that Postmaster General John E. Potter has received pay raises of 40 percent since 2006 and a bonus last year of $135,000.

His current salary is $263,575.

The updated compensation package was approved by the Postal Board Of Governors and was filed in December, the newspaper reported, adding that Potter's total windfall in 2008 was $800,000 - more than double that of President Barack Obama.

"It's easy to freeze your pay when salaries were running as hot as a dragster the previous year," said Pete Sepp, vice president of the National Taxpayers Union, told the newspaper.

"There is something to be said for attractive compensation. But at the same time, the Postal Service has a government guaranteed monopoly on the delivery of first-class mail, and UPS and FedEx don't have that. Because of that, there is a fundamental difference in the Postal Service's business model and that of package delivery firms," he said.

Some of the added perks Potter received were $69,253 for security, in addition to deals on life insurance, airline travel and parking, the newspaper reported.

Just last month Potter, who is the nation's 72nd Postmaster General, taking the post in 2001, told Congress that huge deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery per week.

As mail volume dwindles and costs rise, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year and, "if current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year," Potter said in testimony for a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

Overall mail volume was 202 billion items last year, more than 9 billion less than in 2007, the largest single volume drop in history. - CBS News

Not a bad job all considered. The Government has given you a Monopoly on most of the Business, you are supported by the Government, and you get hefty pay raises and bonuses even when your business is in the Red. Hey sounds like Wall Street!

Obama Campaigning Across America

In a time when the Government is spending Billions and Trillions of Dollars we don't have, President Obama has obviously decided that wasting money on Campaigning around the Country is OK.

It Costs hundreds of Thousands up to the Millions for these trips that he continues to take. What is the purpose? He is traveling around not building hope, last couple of weeks he has gone to hard hit areas to tell them the economy is bad and it is going to get worse. What is this going to accomplish?

I guess when you get a new toy you want to get out and play. Who cares it isn't your money your spending, it's the taxpayers money. How many jobs could we be saving by spending that money on more important things?

President & the Economy

For weeks now we have heard the President talk about how bad the Economy is. It is in crisis and we need the Stimulus now. We can't wait, we need it now.

Hell it was such a hurry that it was voted on by members of the House and Senate without any of them even reading it.

They had to vote right away, so why is it 4 days later and the President hasn't gotten around to signing it. If it was truly such an emergency then why not sign it right away? He signed the equal pay bill quicker than this. He signed to close gitmo quicker than this.

When the President goes on every possible TV Outlet and tells you it is going to get worse and worse, what does he expect to happen? He is selling doom and gloom. Whether it be intentional or not, people will tighten up their wallets because the President says so. That is just poor leadership.

Passage of Stimulus Drives Consumer Confidence Down

Following Congressional passage of the economic stimulus bill, consumer confidence has fallen to another record low.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures consumer confidence on a daily basis, fell two points on Sunday and another point on Monday to 55.7. This is the third time in February that the daily Consumer Index has fallen to a record low. Confidence is down a point from a week ago, down six points from a month ago, and thirty-one points since the financial industry meltdown began in mid-September. During that time, confidence in the nation’s banking system has plummeted. - Rasmussen.com

Obama now Saying it Will Take Time

(Reuters)- President Barack Obama's aides warned Americans on Sunday not to expect instant miracles from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill he will sign this week, but said it would help eventually.

Obama is due to sign the bill passed last week by Congress in Denver on Tuesday. It was the first major legislative victory of his young presidency, which could rise or fall with its success or failure.

"There will be signs of activity very quickly," David Axelrod, the White House senior adviser, said on "Fox News Sunday." "But it's going to take time for that to show up in the statistics. The president has said it's likely to get worse before it gets better."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs used similar language on CBS' "Face the Nation." - ABC News

Amazing how you push and push telling everyone that this will jump start the economy quickly. This will save or add 3.5 million jobs. Now they are saying, it will get worse before it gets better. This will take time.

What 3.5 million jobs are you talking about. We can lose 10 million jobs, but hey if it wasn't for the Trillion Dollars in Debt I spent we would have lost 13.5 Million?