Obama Reaches out to GOP as Some Democrats Oppose Health Care Bill

President Obama and some Democratic congressional leaders had pledged to involve Republicans in health care reform negotiations, but it is looking increasingly likely that bipartisanship will be among the casualties of the rush to approve a bill.

Obama told Congress on Friday not to "lose heart" in moving quickly to hammer out legislation that would check rising health care costs and cover millions of uninsured Americans without adding to the federal deficit.

But Republican proposals have gone nowhere in Congress, and the GOP isn't signing on to the Democrats' proposals -- and that didn't stop Obama from heralding "unprecedented progress."

Three of the five congressional committees working on health care legislation passed their versions of the Democratic plan this week without winning over a single Republican vote. The House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are still discussing the proposals.

Democrats facing tough re-election bids or representing conservative districts are demanding additional measures to hold down costs. They have been unnerved by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office declaring that the legislation taking shape so far would not prevent federal spending on health care from rising. - FOX News Story

Democrats Picking Fight With Cheney - May Backfire

Vice President Dick Cheney has long been a target of Democrats for his role in developing and implementing the Bush White House's anti-terror policies, and Democratic legislators soon may get a chance to hold his feet to the fire over a secret proposal for a CIA hit squad.

The proposal never got off the ground, and President Obama's CIA director, Leon Panetta, canceled the plan last month after learning of its existence.

But Democrats in Congress have raised objections to the news that Cheney years ago reportedly directed the agency not to inform Congress about the proposal to train teams to kill Al Qaeda leaders abroad. The House Intelligence Committee announced Friday that it will launch an investigation to determine whether laws were broken.

Some congressional analysts, however, warn that if Democrats try to put Cheney on the hot seat, they risk blowback because of Americans' apparent ambivalence about Cheney's take-no-prisoners approach to fighting terrorism.

"I can't think of a situation better than to cross swords with congressional Democrats," Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University and a congressional scholar, told FOXNews.com. "As far as Cheney is concerned, his natural constituency is conservative Republicans, and they would rally to his side. This increases his stature."

And Cheney still would hold leverage if he defied an invitation or subpoena to appear, Baker said.

"It would put Cheney in the position of standing up to the bullies on Capitol Hill," he said. - FOX News Story

Even Many Democrats Don't Like the Health Care Bill

Democrats’ triumphant rollout of a sweeping health care reform bill earlier this week already feels like a distant memory.

Rank-and-file Democrats don’t like it — and aren’t afraid to say so. The speaker has already backpedaled on a key tax increase — putting her in a weaker negotiating position. And one outspoken Democratic critic doesn’t think his leaders are “even close” to the votes they need to pass it.

But perhaps the biggest blow came from Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf, who told a Senate committee Thursday that legislation offered in both chambers “significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.” In other words, it doesn’t fix the problem of runaway cost.

If Tuesday’s unveiling was a celebration, Thursday was the expected hangover. And the discontent in the House stands in contrast to the possibility of a long-awaited breakthrough in the Senate, where Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) claims to be close to a bipartisan deal.

The grumbling is reminiscent of an internal fight earlier this summer over climate change, one that produced landmark legislation, despite heavy foot-dragging by rank-and-file Democrats. But finding the votes on health care is a much greater challenge. Because this is viewed as the must-pass bill for President Barack Obama’s first year in the White House, lawmakers have a much greater incentive to shape this legislation and challenge their leaders.

But if Democrats have more days like Thursday, they’re in trouble. - Politico Story

Obama's $50 Billion Foreclosure Plan A Complete Failure

The Obama administration’s $50 billion program to curb foreclosures isn’t working, and the White House knows it.

Administration officials blame the mortgage servicers charged with carrying out the mortgage modifications and refinancing under the federal program. Many of their Democratic allies on Capitol Hill back them up, but others are criticizing the White House for fumbling the execution. Whatever the reason, the program hasn’t stopped the rising tide of foreclosures: Experts predict that at least another 2 million homes will be lost this year, and the administration’s plan has so far reached only about 160,000 of the 3 million to 4 million homes it was supposed to protect over the next three years.

That’s bad news for the economy — and bad news for the Democrats.

The Democrats’ political and policy fortunes rest on their ability to persuade voters that they’re fixing the economy. But experts say that rising foreclosures will only exacerbate the nation’s economic woes, pushing down home prices, slashing state and local tax revenues and imperiling consumer confidence.

“Everybody understands that getting out of this broader crisis requires that we stabilize our housing market and stem the tide of foreclosures,” Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said in a hearing Thursday. But in unusually harsh words for a Democrat, Dodd said that the Obama administration’s progress in stopping foreclosures has been “disgraceful” so far.

“It’s just hard to explain to the working families in America how it is we could move so fast with extraordinarily complicated deals with the huge financial institutions, and we are moving so incredibly slowly, mired in paperwork, in rules, in talking to banks back home,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). - Politico Story

Islamic Group With Al Qaeda Ties hold Conference in Chicago

A group committed to establishing an international Islamic empire and reportedly linked to Al Qaeda is stepping up its Western recruitment efforts by holding its first official conference in the U.S.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global Sunni network with reported ties to confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Al Qaeda in Iraq's onetime leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has operated discreetly in the U.S. for decades.

Now, it is coming out of the shadows and openly hosting a July 19 conference entitled, "The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam," at a posh Hilton hotel in a suburb of Chicago.

Hizb ut-Tahrir insists that it does not engage in terrorism, and it is not recognized by the State Department as a known terror group.

But some terrorism experts say it may be even more dangerous than many groups that are on the terror list.

"Hizb ut-Tahrir is one of the oldest, largest indoctrinating organizations for the ideology known as jihadism," Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told FOXNews.com.

Phares said that Hizb ut-Tahrir, rather than training members to carry out terrorist acts like Al Qaeda, focuses instead on indoctrinating youths between ages of 9 and 18 to absorb the ideology that calls for the formation of an empire — or "khilafah" — that will rule according to Islamic law and condones any means to achieve it, including militant jihad.

Hizb ut-Tahrir often says that its indoctrination "prepares the infantry" that groups like Al Qaeda take into battle, Phares said.

"It's like a middle school that prepares them to be recruited by the high school, which is Al Qaeda," he said. "One would compare them to Hitler youth. ... It's an extremely dangerous organization." - Fox News Story

Congressional Budget Office - Health care proposals would Raise Costs, Not Lower them

The director of the Congressional Budget Office issued a warning to Democrats Thursday that their health care proposals would raise costs, not lower them.

One day after a Senate panel approved its version of the health care reform plan, the first committee to do so, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf gave a dose of bad medicine to a separate committee.

Asked by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., whether costs would be lowered -- also known as "bending the curve" -- Elmendorf responded: "The curve is being raised."

Subsidies to help uninsured people would raise federal health care spending, which is already growing at an unsustainable rate, Elmendorf explained at the hearing. The Medicare and Medicaid cuts that lawmakers have offered to pay for the coverage expansion aren't big enough to offset the cost trend, particularly in the long term, he said.

House Minority Leader John Boehner seized on the comments, calling on Democrats to scrap their plans in light of the assessment.

The remarks come at an inopportune time for congressional leaders who are trying push through and merge several different health care reform plans in the coming weeks, on orders from President Obama.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voiced frustration with Elmendorf, who in recent months has unwittingly set back health care efforts with his office's unflattering analyses of the cost effects of the plans being floated.

"What he should do is run for Congress," Reid said when asked about the latest assessment. - FOX News Story

Obama and Congress Quiet on AIG Bonuses

After American International Group

paid out $165 million in bonuses to top executives in March, Congress exploded in a political orgy of outrage.

“How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” asked President Barack Obama.

“Rewarding senior executives who created this mess is nothing short of an outrage,” added House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, one of many Republicans who backed a 90 percent surtax on those bonuses.

And in a radio interview, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, suggested AIG executives “do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide.”

But when the news broke late last week about a second, $235 million round of AIG bonuses, the halls of Congress resounded largely with, well, silence.

The almost uniform congressional shrug was particularly notable following the announcement that Goldman Sachs would be setting aside an $11.36 billion compensation pool for its roughly 29,400 employees. The per-worker amount is close to what Goldman paid employees in 2007, when Wall Street was seeing record profits.

“I think people are just picking up on it,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), whose proposal to cap and tax bonuses was dropped in the last stimulus debate.

In the House, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Joint Economic Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said they were still reviewing the specifics of the payments. - Politico Story

Why aren't that out trying to tax these bonuses at 95%? Where is the huge blast of when hell freezes over fodder? What is so different this time around?

Obama Administration in High Stakes Game of Politcal Blackmail

On the defensive over the economy and health care, the White House is shooting back with a double-barreled message for its critics and skeptics.

To Republicans who say the stimulus isn’t working: Back off.

To moderate Democrats wary of health care reform: We’re watching you.

Earlier this week, the administration launched a coordinated effort to jam Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who’s argued that the government should “cancel the rest of the stimulus spending.” No fewer than four Cabinet secretaries wrote to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer — also a Republican — to ask her if she agreed with Kyl that it was time to turn off the state’s stimulus spigot.

“If you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state, as Sen. Kyl suggests, please let me know,” wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. For good measure, he attached a three-page addendum listing each of the Arizona projects paid for by the $521 million the state is getting.

Brewer knew she’d been thrown a high, hard one.

“The governor is hopeful that these federal Cabinet officials are not threatening to deny Arizona citizens the portion of federal stimulus funds to which they are entitled,” her spokesman said in a statement. “She believes that would be a tremendous mistake by the administration. And the governor is grateful for the strong leadership and representation that Arizonans enjoy in the United States Senate.” - Politico Story

Surtax on Rich Could be Used to Pay Down the Debt

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she is open to reducing the rate of the proposed surtax on wealthy Americans by "squeezing" more savings out of the current health care system.

But Pelosi quickly added that the federal government could also use that surtax money to pay down the deficit — a comment sure to rankle moderate Democrats already fretting about being forced to take a vote on a major tax increase.

Democrats in the House have introduced a surtax of 1 percent to 5.4 percent on the wealthiest Americans to help offset the $1 trillion price tag of their ambitious health care bill. But the speaker acknowledged Thursday that its authors are still combing the landscape for more savings. If they find enough additional money, Pelosi said they could reduce the surtax, which is expected to generate $544 billion over the next 10 years, after Democrats on both sides of the Capitol have given it lukewarm reviews.

Democrats in both chambers face a crucial conundrum as they head into the committee debate: In vowing to pay for the bill, they need to raise tax revenue and force spending cuts to offset other reforms that could cost the federal government slightly more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. But the current revenue measures are proving to be a tough sell among the rank and file because it would put them on the record as supporting a tax increase.

The Congressional Budget Office has made that job even harder by refusing to acknowledge changes in the bill that, Democrats argue, would save the government even more money, like a pledge from drug makers to pony up $30 billion to close a coverage gap under Medicare. - Politico Story

Democratic National Committee Spends Money Attacking Democrats

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted the Democratic National Committee Thursday for its decision to run ads against Democratic senators concerned about President Obama's health plan.

On Wednesday, the DNC's "Organizing for America" committee — President Barack Obama’s campaign-in-waiting — announced that it would begin running ads in the home states of Democrats like Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who has expressed concern about the cost of the legislation.

Asked about the ads, Reid responded: "It's a waste of money."

When a reporter pressed Reid on the matter, he said: "It's a waste of money to run ads from Democrats against Democrats."

Reid said he hadn’t seen the ads himself.

The ads are running on national cable stations and on local networks in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska,

North Dakota, Ohio — states home to centrist-minded Democrats and Republicans.

The spots do not mention the senators by name. - Politico

Health Care Debate - Race Against Obama's Polling Numbers

Who’s got something new to say?

Surely not members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, not four days into hearings that have provided neither light nor heat. Certainly not Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who’s doing her job in not saying much of anything (since it’s no longer even news -- or even relevant -- that she’s underwhelmed in her debut).

And maybe not Democrats on health care, who are marching deeper into legislative weeds, and have the scratches to show for it.

Timelines may not be settled, but this is a race against political clocks: the August recess and the election cycle are making the own pace. (The 2009 cycle is already upon us, with President Obama campaigning with Gov. John Corzine, D-N.J., and Vice President Joe Biden appeared with gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, D-Va., on Thursday.)

More broadly, health care reform is shaping up as a race against President Obama’s poll numbers: If he can’t get something done when he’s at 60 percent-plus, will he be able to coax Congress into action at 50? 45?

Among the many problems at this stage of hard choices: The stakeholders -- those who claimed those seats at the table -- are starting to ask for their checks. And the president can’t offer up a bipartisan group -- or even a united party -- to coax them to stay for another few rounds.

“New fault lines are opening up everywhere you look,” Time’s Karen Tumulty writes. “It's all a sign that the season for hard decisions has arrived. . . . If the President wants to accelerate the process, he may have to abandon his original hands-off strategy and start getting more deeply involved.”

Into the danger zone: “A party-line Senate committee vote on legislation to remake the nation’s health care system underscored the absence of political consensus on what would be the biggest changes in social policy in more than 40 years,” Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn report in The New York Times. “But the partisan split signified potential trouble ahead. Republicans on the panel, who voted unanimously against the measure, described the idea of a new public insurance option as a deal-breaker.” - ABC News Story

CIA Scandals - Political Cover for Democrats?

WASHINGTON -- As other countries watch the United States lacerate its intelligence service -- for activities already investigated or never undertaken -- perhaps they admire America's commitment to democracy and the rule of law. More likely, I fear, they conclude that we are just plain nuts.

The latest "scandals" involving the Central Intelligence Agency are genuinely hard to understand, other than in terms of political payback. Attorney General Eric Holder is considering appointing a prosecutor to investigate criminal actions by CIA officers involved in the harsh interrogation of al-Qaeda prisoners. But the internal CIA report on which he's said to be basing this decision was referred five years ago to the Justice Department, where attorneys concluded that no prosecution was warranted.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are indignant that they were never briefed about a program to assassinate al-Qaeda operatives in friendly countries. Never mind that the program wasn't implemented, or that the United States is routinely assassinating al-Qaeda operatives using unmanned drones. And never mind, either, that Leon Panetta, the new CIA director -- fearing a potential flap -- briefed Congress about the program soon after he became aware of it. There was a flap anyway -- with a new hemorrhage of secrets and a new shudder from America's intelligence partners around the world. - Real Clear Politics Story

Obama Changes the Game to Sell Success

By KARL ROVE

So what's a president to do when the promises he made about his economic stimulus program fail to materialize? If you're Barack Obama, you redefine your goals and act as if America won't remember what you said originally. That's a neat trick if you can get away with it, but Mr. Obama won't. His words are a matter of public record and he will be held to them.

When it came to the stimulus package, the president and his administration promised, in the words of National Economic Director Larry Summers, "You'll see the effects begin almost immediately." Now it's clear that those promised jobs and growth haven't materialized.

So Mr. Obama is attempting to lower expectations retroactively, saying in an op-ed in Sunday's Washington Post that his stimulus "was, from the start, a two-year program." That is misleading. Mr. Obama never said if his stimulus were passed things might still get significantly worse in the following year.

In February, Mr. Obama said this about the goals of his stimulus package: "I think my initial measure of success is creating or saving four million jobs." He later explained the stimulus's $787 billion would "go directly to . . . generating three to four million new jobs." And his Council of Economic Advisors issued an official analysis showing that the unemployment rate would top out in the third quarter of this year at just over 8%.

That quarter began on July 1, and unemployment is now 9.5%, up from 7.6% when Mr. Obama took office. There are 2.6 million fewer Americans working than there were on the day Mr. Obama was sworn in. The president says now that unemployment will exceed 10% this year, and his advisers say it will remain high through much of next year. - Wall Street Journal Story

Obama Barely Clings to 51% Approval

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 29% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-six percent (36%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –7 (see trends).

Thirty-two percent (32%) now say the country is heading in the right direction That’s down eight points from the 2009 peak and the lowest since February.

...

Overall, 51% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove. - Rasmussen Reports Story

Health Care Fight Set to Begin

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are preparing to advance legislation that would deliver on President Barack Obama's promise to remake the nation's costly health care system and cover some 50 million uninsured by taxing and penalizing the wealthy and employers.

On the heels of the Senate health committee's approval Wednesday of a plan to revamp U.S. health care, three House committees with jurisdiction over the issue were shifting into action.

Votes were planned Thursday in the Education and Labor and Ways and Means committees on a $1.5 trillion plan that majority House Democrats presented this week. The legislation seeks to provide coverage to nearly all Americans by subsidizing the poor and penalizing individuals and employers who don't purchase health insurance.

A third House committee, Energy and Commerce, also was considering the measure Thursday, but the road was expected to be rougher there. A group of fiscally conservative House Democrats called the Blue Dogs holds more than half-a-dozen seats on the committee -- enough to block approval -- and is opposing the bill over costs and other issues.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., who chairs the Blue Dogs' health care task force, said the group would need to see significant changes to protect small businesses and rural providers and contain costs before it could sign on. "We cannot support the current bill," he said. - FOX News Story

Health Care Tax Could Put Taxes at 57% in New York

Congressional plans to fund a massive health-care overhaul could have a job-killing effect on New York, creating a tax rate of nearly 60 percent for the state's top earners and possibly pressuring small-business owners to shed workers.

New York's top income bracket could reach as high as 57 percent -- rates not seen in three decades -- to pay for the massive health coverage proposed by House Democrats this week.

The top rate in New York City, home to many of the state's wealthiest people, would be 58.68 percent, the Washington-based Tax Foundation said in a report yesterday.

That means New York's top earners, small-business owners and most dynamic entrepreneurs will be facing new fees and penalties.

The $544 billion tax hike would violate one of President Obama's ironclad campaign promises: No family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s. - FOX News Story

Welcome to the America that Obama is Destroying. Can you imagine paying more than half of what you make to the Government. BULL****! You want to talk about job killers and revolt.

I have often been criticized for saying that America is slowly heading back to Civil War, but at the rate things are going I believe we may be moving there quickly. You cannot have as divided a Country as we have right now and keeping doing stupid stuff. Driving the Deficit into unheard of numbers, national debt rising faster than it ever has in history, raping people of their wealth to support those that don't have it, People aren't going to continue to stand by and watch it happen.

Say what you want about whether Obama is Socialist, when you start talking about people paying these ridiculous taxes so people who don't have money can get stuff for free, HELLO, that is socialist.

Obama and Democrats Prepared to Tax the Rich, Really Tax Them - 45%

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats scrambling for ways to pay for overhauling health care would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to levels not seen since the 1980s, breaking one of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges.

The tax increase would be limited to the top 1.2 percent of earners -- families that make more than $350,000 a year. But it would raise a total of $544 billion over the next decade, covering a little more than half the cost of the health care plan.

The bill unveiled by House Democratic leaders Tuesday would create three new tax brackets for high earners, with a top rate of 45 percent for families making more than $1 million. That would be the highest income tax rate since 1986, when the top rate was 50 percent.

The plan would honor Obama's campaign promise not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000. But it would break an Obama pledge that no one -- including the wealthy -- would pay higher taxes than they did in the 1990s. The pledge, as listed on Obama's campaign Web site, was: "No family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s." - FOX News Story

Social Security Execs Party it up On the Taxpayer

Claiming they needed to learn how to reduce stress because of a growing number of death threats being made against them, nearly 700 executives from the Social Security Administration (SSA) gathered for a lavish three-day conference in Phoenix, AZ last week, costing taxpayers about $700,000.

"We received threats against our employees by people who are in the American public," said SSA Regional Commissioner for San Francisco Peter Spencer in defense of the conference. He said "there is a tremendous amount of stress involved in the job that we do."

The conference, which included a performance by a motivational dance company that was captured on tape by Phoenix affiliate ABC15, was held at the Arizona Biltmore, a hotel described as the "Jewel of the Desert" with an oasis of 39 acres of lush gardens, swimming pools and a golf course. SSA executives were invited to join in the dancing.

But the partying didn't stop there. Some of the government managers brought along their relatives, and there was a night excursion to a local casino.

Even top Social Security administrator Michael Astrue made a special guest appearance. His spokesman said he flew coach, and the SSA said it arranged the lowest rate possible for the event.

Critics were incensed with the spending, especially during a financial crisis, and took issue with the idea that executives saved as much money as possible.

"Actually, they didn't do it as low cost as possible," said David Williams of the watchdog Citizens Against Government Waste group. "Because as low cost as possible would be a video teleconference. It would not be flying people in from all around the country to have this conference." - ABC News

Obama Pushing Hard on Health Care

President Obama called on Congress Wednesday to "buck up" and pass a health care reform package, decrying the "naysayers" and the "cynics" for defending what he described as a broken system.

Despite resistance from virtually all Republicans to the latest health care proposals pitched by Democrats, Obama said he was "confident" that Congress could pass out a bill in the coming weeks and declared, "We are going to get this done." He said the American people are on board and are awaiting Washington to take the next step.

The president is trying to build momentum for a comprehensive reform package and short-circuit attempts to delay the bill -- discontent over the package seemed to build as Obama was out of the country last week.

But taking a stern tone, Obama accused his health care critics of "defending the status quo." He said he wants the House and Senate to pass out bills before the August recess, so that they can settle on one unified bill that he can sign shortly after lawmakers return from break.

"This is a problem that we can no longer defer," Obama said, flanked by nurses. "Deferring reform is nothing more than defending the status quo -- and those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is that they're defending."

He described the current system as one in which costs are skyrocketing as thousands lose coverage, saying the status quo is "not an option" for Americans anymore.

Obama issued the fresh call for action in the Rose Garden, just a few hours after a Senate panel became the first to act on the president's push for legislation. He used that progress, which he hailed as a "major milestone," to try to pressure other lawmakers to move the ball forward.

"The naysayers and the cynics still doubt that we can do this. But it wasn't too long ago that those same naysayers doubted that we'd be able to make real progress on health care reform. And thanks to the work of key committees in Congress, we are now closer to the goal of health reform than we have ever been," Obama said.

In a party-line vote that reflected deep concerns over costs, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-10 Wednesday, with all Republicans on the committee opposing, to pass a $600-billion version. It would expand coverage by requiring individuals to get insurance and employers to contribute to the cost. - FOX News Story

Tax the Rich, Then Tax them More

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- There may be reasons to tax the rich more, as a lot of people in Washington are talking about doing.

But to raise taxes on them, and only them, to pay for the country's most ambitious proposals like health care reform, is a problem, experts say.

If nothing else, it makes for some bad math.

"We don't have enough rich people. We could tax the wealthy to extraordinary levels. But we cannot afford everything we want," said Ken Kies, a former director of the Joint Committee on Taxation and currently a tax lobbyist for businesses including insurers.

Yet, rich households are the focus of several revenue generating proposals to help pay for health care reform and other endeavors.

Income surtax: Key committees in the House on Tuesday released a proposal that would impose an income surtax on high-income families -- an additional tax on income over a certain threshold.

The surtax applied in full would range from 1% to 2% for couples making between $350,000 and $500,000. It would range from 1.5% to 3% for couples making between $500,000 and $1 million. And it would be 5.4% for families making more than $1 million.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the provision could raise $544 billion over 10 years.

Millionaire's tax: The Senate is said to be considering a "millionaire's tax" of 5% levied on single filers making more than $500,000 and joint filers making more than $1 million. - CNN News Story

Group Files Suit in Wisconsin to Ban - In God We Trust

The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block an architect from engraving "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington.

The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in western Wisconsin, claims the taxpayer-funded engravings would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

The House and Senate passed identical resolutions this month directing the Architect of the Capitol to engrave "In God We Trust" and the pledge in prominent places at the entrance for 3 million tourists who visit the Capitol each year.

The resolution came in response to critics who complained Congress spent $621 million on the new three-story underground center without paying respect to the nation's religious heritage. The center opened in December after years of construction.

The foundation is seeking a court order to stop the engravings, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cost less than $100,000.

"In God We Trust" has been the national motto since 1956 and has appeared on U.S. currency since 1957.

The lawsuit says both the motto and the words "under God" in the pledge were adopted during the Cold War as anti-communism measures. Engraving them at the entrance to the U.S. Capitol would discriminate against those who do not practice religion and unfairly promote a Judeo-Christian perspective, it says.

Members of Congress who supported the measure swiftly denounced the lawsuit.

"This lawsuit is another attempt by liberal activists to rewrite history and deny that America's Judeo-Christian heritage is an essential foundation stone of our great nation," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

Rep. Daniel Lungren, R-Calif., said he was expecting a lawsuit but called the claims "patently absurd."

The foundation also is challenging the constitutionality of the National Day of Prayer in federal court. - FOX News

Clinton - Secretary of State or Obama Mascot?

WASHINGTON -- Eclipsed by a globe-trotting president, a foreign policy-savvy vice president and a bevy of special envoys, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is struggling to re-emerge this week as the Obama administration's diplomatic heavyweight.

Clinton is trying to retake center stage as the top foreign policy voice of the U.S. government after four frustrating low-profile weeks during which a fractured elbow forced her to cancel two overseas trips.

Her diminishing presence abroad and at home, followed by her startling public criticism of the White House this week for delaying a major State Department appointment, has prompted a flurry of speculation whether her influence is waning inside President Barack Obama's Cabinet.

Clinton is set to deliver what aides bill as a major policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Wednesday. A day later she heads off on an around-the-world trip as she attempts to shake the perception among a growing number of foreign policy observers that she has been sidelined as a major player inside the Obama Cabinet.

"Her role so far has been more in the field of public relations than in policy formation," said Reginald Dale, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "She is seen as glamorous and in many countries as a valuable symbol of the United States, but it is not at all clear that she has an in-depth influence on foreign policy."

"She needs to decide if she wants to be the administration's mascot or have an impact on actual policy," he said. "If she wants to have an impact the speech may be a way of claiming her stake."

Clinton's frustration was perhaps evident on Monday when in a rare fit of pique, she lashed out at the White House for failing to quickly nominate someone to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The post is considered critical to what Clinton refers to as "smart power," the combination of defense, diplomacy and development that the administration wants to guide its foreign policy. - FOX News Story

House Dems Propose $1.5 Trillion Dollar Health Bill

WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leaders, pledging to meet the president's goal of health care legislation before their August break, are offering a $1.5 trillion plan that for the first time would make health care a right and a responsibility for all Americans. Left to pick up most of the tab were medical providers, employers and the wealthy.

"We cannot allow this issue to be delayed. We cannot put it off again," Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, said Tuesday. "We, quite frankly, cannot go home for a recess unless the House and the Senate both pass bills to reform and restructure our health care system."

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wanted floor debate to begin a week from Monday. With the Senate Finance Committee still struggling to reach consensus, that timetable could slip. Even so, it underscored a renewed sense of urgency.

Obama himself was driving the action, going off-script to push the issue during a speech in Michigan and scheduling a Rose Garden news conference for Wednesday to make more comments on the topic.

"There's going to be a major debate over the next three weeks," Obama said in Warren, Mich., deviating from his prepared text on new spending for community colleges. "And don't be fooled by folks trying to scare you saying we can't change the health care system. We have no choice but to change the health care system because right now it's broken for too many Americans."

All involved were mindful of the dwindling days before Congress leaves town. Obama wants legislation through the House and Senate before then to slow rising costs and extend coverage to some 50 million uninsured Americans. - FOX News Story

Obama's Economic Forcast are too Optimistic, Economist Warn

President Barack Obama’s economic forecasts for long-term growth are too optimistic, many economists warn, a miscalculation that would mean budget deficits will be much higher than the administration is now acknowledging.

The White House will be forced to confront the disconnect between its original, upbeat predictions and the mainstream consensus about how the economy is likely to perform in a new budget forecast to be unveiled next month.

Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, said in a POLITICO interview that the administration — like many independent economists — did not fully anticipate the severity and pace of this recession. She said the White House will be updating its official forecasts

.

The new numbers will come as part of a semiannual review that, under ordinary circumstances, is the kind of earnest-but-dull document that causes many Washington eyes to glaze over.

This time, however, the new forecasts — if they are anything like what many outside economists expect — could send a jolt through Capitol Hill, where even the administration’s current debt projections already are prompting deep concerns on political and substantive grounds.

Higher deficit figures also would arrive at a critical moment in the health care debate, as lawmakers are already struggling to find a way to pay for the president’s nearly $1 trillion reform package. - Politico Story

Goldman Sachs Turns Huge Profit

Goldman Sachs this morning announced huge profits during its second-quarter: a whopping $3.44 billion, vastly surpassing analyst predictions of a $2 billion profit.

The stock market was poised for a sharply higher open today, thanks to the surprisingly higher profits from Goldman. The firm's stock was trading around 150 points today, up more than triple from a low of 52 points a share in November.

In this troubled economy, just how did Goldman do it?

"They've taken bets. They put their money behind those bets, and they've made a tremendous amount of profit," said Seamus McMahon, president of McMahon Advisory LLC.

CEO Lloyd Blankfein pointed to "improving financial market conditions and a deep and diverse client franchise" as a reason for the massive profits.

Investors are interested to see if massive bailouts helped banks get their finances back in order. Goldman Sachs was the first major U.S. bank to report its earnings, and will be followed by JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup later this week. - ABC News Story

Thanks to all of our money, Golden Sachs has turned things around. Here is a company that rightfully should have been bankrupt and gone. But, hey we loaned them Billions so that they could survive their own stupidity and they have turned it around.

The big question is, what did we get for our money? How many of the people who drove the company to bankruptcy are now living the good life thanks to us?

Obama Wants $12 Billion for Community Colleges

(AP) President Barack Obama is proposing a multibillion-dollar investment in the nation's community colleges, a $12 billion effort to help the two-year institutions reach, teach and train more people for "the jobs of the future."

Mr. Obama was outlining his four-part program in a speech Tuesday afternoon at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich.

Under the initiative, schools could qualify for "challenge grants" so they'll have money to give new programs a try, or expand training and counseling.

Dropout rates would be addressed by designing programs to help students who want to earn an associate's degree or transfer to a four-year institution do so.

Money would be spent to renovate outdated facilities or build new ones, and to develop online courses and make them freely available to students and others who want to use them.

The total federal cost is $12 billion over a decade. Of that, $9 billion would go toward challenge grants and addressing dropout rates. Half a billion, or $500 million, would go toward online education. The remaining $2.5 billion would be used to spark $10 billion in renovation and construction nationwide, said James Kvaal, an Obama economic policy adviser.

Some of the money could be available by the 2010 budget year that begins Oct. 1. - CBS News Story

I have a new plan. I am running for President of the US and here is my plan.

I am instituting a 100% Tax on everyone. Every penny you make you send to Me the Government. I in turn will give you everything that I think you deserve. Since some of you are much more driven to work harder than some, that is good because you will make up for their laziness and lack of drive. Everyone will be given too equally. (Not really everyone, Us in Government and our Friends will take more, but it is our plan!)

Don't worry about anything, I will give you transportation, housing, health care, food, security, and everything that I feel you will need.

For those of you that don't want to work hard and earn your way, make sure that you push your neighbor to get out there and work extra hard to cover you.

Sounds like the direction we are headed now doesn't it.

What ever happen to working hard and earning your way. Why is it that those that have worked hard and earned it have to share it with those that have not?

Obama's Unemployment Problem

President Obama says unemployment is likely to tick up for several months as the economy recovers from its deepest downturn in decades.

The president said Tuesday that renewed employment typically lags behind other signs of improvement as a swooning economy turns around.

More than 2 million jobs have been lost since Congress passed Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. The unemployment rate stands at 9.5 percent, the highest in 26 years.

Obama said the single biggest challenge for the U.S. and other nations is the creation of enough jobs that pay good wages.

He spoke in the Oval Office after meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. - FOX News

I think that we were all sold Ocean Front Property in Arizona on this one. Obama sold us all on the idea that the massive Stimulus package was needed to save all of these jobs and stop the job loss. Hell, I remember the remark about Caterpillar hiring people back if the Stimulus got through. It had to be done and it had to be done RIGHT NOW!!!

Now we are all being told that it is working! What? Working? You call more than 2 million jobs lost since it's signing, the highest jobless rate in 26 years Working? Are you kidding me?

Obama's Health Care not Transparent as Promised

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said several times that he intended to negotiate health care reform publicly. In fact, he said, he'd televise the negotiations on C-SPAN, with all the parties sitting at a big table. That way, Americans would be more engaged in the process and insist on real change.

"That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are, because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process," Obama said at a debate in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2008.

The special interests and lobbyists, he said, "will resist anything that we try to do. ... And the antidote to that is making sure that the American people understand what is at stake."

We missed this promise when we first made our database, but thanks to thorough reporting on it from the McClatchy News Service , we're adding it now. (Read their story .)

The McClatchy report showed that, so far, substantial negotiations on health reform have been held behind closed doors. These include two agreements with the drug industry and hospitals to reduce costs over the next 10 years. In Congress, some of the committee bill writing sessions have been open, but negotiations are also taking place behind closed doors. That's routine in Congress. Much of the difficult negotiations take place in private sessions, before bills come to committee or the House or Senate floor.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told the McClatchy reporters that Obama "has demonstrated more transparency than any president," but that "I don't think the president intimated that every decision putting together a health care bill would be on public TV."

Maybe not every decision, but he made it clear that he wanted negotiations, especially with those representing the for-profit health care industry, to take place in the open. We were able to find four additional instances where he made the same promise during public appearances in 2007 and 2008. And in one case, he said he'd do it in his first 100 days.

"People say, 'Well, you have this great health care plan, but how are you going to pass it? You know, it failed in '93,'" Obama said on Aug. 21, 2008, at a town hall in Chester, Va. "And what I've said is, I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process." - Politifact Story

Clinton - Vetting Process 'Ridiculous'

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed a rare flash of frustration Monday — calling the vetting process for Obama administration nominees "ridiculous" and "a nightmare."

At a question-and-answer session with staff from the U.S. Agency for International Development, a woman asked her when the agency would be getting a new administrator and "why it's taking so long."

"Let me say it's not for lack of trying," Clinton replied. "The process — the clearance and vetting process — is a nightmare," she told the staff. "It takes far longer than any of us would want to see. It is frustrating beyond words."

The secretary said she "pushed very hard last week, when I knew I was coming here, to get permission from the White House to be able to tell you that help is on the way and somebody will be nominated shortly." But, she said, "the message came back, 'We're not ready.'"

"Anyone who has gone through it or looked at this process will tell you that every administration it gets worse," she added.

"Some very good people just didn't want to be vetted," she explained. "You have to hire lawyers, you have to hire accountants. I mean, it is ridiculous!" - CNN

Labor Leaders push Obama for Second Stimulus

n a meeting with President Obama today at the White House, top labor leaders pushed for a second stimulus package to create more jobs.

“Since the onset of the recession, this country has lost an astounding 6.5 million jobs and $14 trillion in wealth. We support the President's recovery and reinvestment program, and we believe it should be substantially reinforced with more stimulus, creating millions of good jobs that cannot be outsourced,” the National Labor Coordinating Committee (NLCC) said in a statement after the meeting.

A labor official said Obama did not commit to any future stimulus package.

The president met for approximately an hour this afternoon with more than a dozen labor leaders, including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, SEIU President Andy Stern and Change to Win Chair Anna Burger.

Obama used his weekly address last Saturday to quell the calls for a second stimulus bill and said the Recovery Act “has worked as intended.”

“As I made clear at the time it was passed, the Recovery Act was not designed to work in four months – it was designed to work over two years,” he said in the address. “We must let it work the way it’s supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity.” - ABC News Story

Your Stimulus Dollars at Work - at Small Unknown Airports

(CBS) Small, Rural Airports Get Big Payouts While Safety Violations at Major National Airports Get Little Attention

If you want to know your federal stimulus package dollars are already having an impact, you might want to look up. The small planes you spot could be bound for one of the hundreds of tiny airports that have landed big money from the government, as CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

In upstate New York, there's a tiny airport owned by the Williamson Flying Club, a private social club for local pilots.

Club President Joe Ebert is pleased to show off their brand new $400,000 runway, paid for by your tax dollars.

It's all new, he says, and it's all part of $1.1 billion in stimulus money handed out to more than 300 airports around the nation.

"We were looking for projects that airports in areas around the country desperately needed to be done for safety and security concerns," said Department of Transportation press secretary Sasha Johnson.

Yet some of the projects hardly seem urgent. And taxpayers may be surprised to find "that airports they never heard of in communities they will never visit are getting some of the maximum stimulus grants," says Michael Grabell of the non-profit journalism group ProPublica.

In fact, more than $350 million is being spent on little-used airports or ones catering to recreational flyers, corporate jets and remote communities. - CBS News Story

Obama Threatening Veto of Own Defense Budget

It's not every day that a president threatens to veto his own defense spending bill.

But that's the rare position President Obama finds himself taking after senators made an 11th hour addition of $1.75 billion to buy seven F-22 fighter jets whose price tag has ballooned to about $350 million apiece.

The fifth generation fighter jet has been overtaken by the newer F-35, critics argue, and Obama wants to keep with the recommendation of former President George W. Bush and cap the purchase at 187 jets.

The president's not alone in opposing the change. He's also got the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, and his former GOP rival Sen. John McCain -- a war hero himself -- on his side.

But with jobs on the line, other senators are putting up a fight for the F-22. - FOX News Story

Obama Wants Health Care Bill Now

WASHINGTON -- Moving forcefully on his top domestic priority, President Barack Obama told a powerful Senate chairman on Monday he wants legislation ready in the Finance Committee by week's end, according to numerous Democratic officials.

These officials said Obama made his wishes known to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., at a White House meeting attended by administration officials and senior Democratic lawmakers.

It was not immediately clear whether Obama expressed a preference for a bipartisan measure -- which Baucus has been laboring over for months -- or a bill tailored more to Democratic specifications.

The conversation underscored Obama's determination to push legislation through both houses of Congress before lawmakers go home for a summer break late this month or in August.

The officials who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss private meetings.

Scott Mulhauser, a spokesman for Baucus, said the senior Democrat "has stressed the Finance Committee will be ready when it has a mark (proposal) that can ensure quality, affordable care for every American, lower costs -- and pass the Senate."

Despite objections from conservative and moderate Democrats, prospects for House action along the president's timetable are better than in the Senate.

There, majority Democrats are readying legislation, to be introduced as early as Tuesday, that would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

The measure would spend billions of dollars subsidizing lower income individuals and families who cannot afford coverage, in an attempt to cut dramatically into the ranks of the uninsured. - FOX News Story

Sounds like a desperate man ready to forget about the quality of the bill just to be able to tout that he got a health care bill through. Why not take the time and get the bill right?

The Answer, his clout in Washington is dropping fast.

CIA Program / Congress Flap - No More than Democratic Diversion

A secret intelligence program canceled by CIA Director Leon Panetta in June was meant to find and then capture or kill al-Qaida leaders at close range rather than target them with air strikes that risked civilian casualties, government officials with knowledge of the operation said Monday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the program, said the spy agency's program never got off the ground.

Panetta canceled the effort on June 23 after learning of its existence, its failure to yield results, and the fact that Congress had been unaware of the program since its inception in 2001, according to one official with direct knowledge of the plan.

That official said former President George W. Bush authorized killing al-Qaida leaders shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and that Congress was made aware of that. However, the official said, Panetta also told members of Congress that according to notes that he had been given on the early months of the program, then-Vice President Dick Cheney directed the CIA not to inform Congress of the specifics of the secret program. - ABC News Story

Budget Deficit Tops $1 Trillion for First Time Ever

WASHINGTON -- Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever.

The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation, and already pressuring the value of the dollar.

The Treasury Department said the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to nearly $1.1 trillion.

The deficit has been propelled by the huge sum the government has spent to combat the recession and financial crisis, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. Paying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is also a major factor.

America's soaring deficits are making some foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, and this could make them reluctant lenders down the road. - WISN.com

First time ever! It happens on Obama's watch, but he will neither take the blame for it or offer solutions for it.

Obama - "We're whipping folks back into shape" - Health Care

The president faces a number of hurdles in his push for health care changes, as the effort has gone from platitudes and rhetoric to cold, hard legislation, with tough choices on how the program will be paid for, or whether it will include a public, government-run health insurance plan. Obama wants to see health care legislation pass through both the House and Senate before the August recess, but Republicans, and even some Democrats, say that is unlikely.

The president today had stern words for those critics.

"It's the same Washington thinking that has ignored big challenges and put off tough decisions for decades. And it is precisely that kind of small thinking that has led us into the current predicament," Obama said while announcing Dr. Regina Benjamin as his pick for U.S. Surgeon General. "So make no mistake. The status quo on health care is no longer an option for the United States of America."

"We are going to get this done. Inaction is not an option. And for those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don't bet against us," he said. "I understand people are a little nervous and a little scared about making change. ... The muscles in this town to bring about big changes are a little atrophied, but we're whipping folks back into shape." - ABC News Story

Obama Family Lives it up on Taxpayer Dime

(CNSNews.com) – America may be in the midst of a deep recession, and the nation may be facing unprecedented deficit spending and debt, but the White House will not reveal the cost to taxpayers of the European vacation that first lady Michelle Obama and the president’s two daughters, Malia and Sasha, took last month.

Travel by an American first lady typically includes the military passenger jet that carries her and the children, Secret Service personnel to provide security, and a separate cargo plane to haul official vehicles.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s tour of Paris with her children included a convoy of 20 vehicles, according to news reports. She also moved by “motorcade” through London.

The full cost of such a trip would also include the expense of meals and lodging for Secret Service agents and possibly other staff.

In response to inquiries from CNSNews.com last week about the cost to taxpayers of the first lady’s European vacation, the White House did not provide a figure. - CNSNews Story

LONDON - U.S. first lady Michelle Obama made an unannounced visit to London on Monday after attending D-Day commemorations in Europe.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said Obama had a private meeting with Sarah Brown, the prime minister's wife, at 10 Downing Street.

She did not meet with the prime minister, a spokesman for Brown's office said.

Obama was accompanied by her two daughters, Sasha and Malia, on her whirlwind visit to London, but her husband, President Barack Obama, was already back in the United States after a trip to the Middle East and Europe. - Huffingting Post

Obama - "We Import More Oil Today than every before" - WRONG!!!!

In an interview with Novaya Gazeta , a Russian newspaper, President Barack Obama was asked what caused the economic crisis. Obama answered that oil imports were partly to blame.

"Our economy did not fall into decline overnight," he said in the July 6, 2009, interview. "We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before."

Obama said the same thing on February 24, 2009, during his first address to Congress.

At first, it sounded plausible to us that the United States would be importing more oil these days. But as our friends at FactCheck.org first pointed out , crude oil and petroleum imports have actually declined in recent years after peaking in 2005 and 2006. FactCheck cites the Energy Information Administration, a branch of government that keeps an enormous database of all things energy-related, and we confirmed it on the EIA's Web site.

In two decades, imported oil will be down by about 20 percent, according to a March 2009 EIA report.

And in April 2009, the American Petroleum Institute said that imports have fallen to their lowest levels in three years.

The reason?

"The big one is the decline in consumption," said Ron Planting, an economist with the API, a trade group representing oil and natural gas companies. "Our figures through May are that domestic consumption has declined 4.7 percent from a year ago."

Through 2008, high gas prices spurred the decline, he said. Now, it's the recession.

The proliferation of gasoline-ethanol blends and a 4.4 percent increase in domestic oil production have also contributed, Planting said.

So Obama needs to check his figures. Twice this year, he has said that oil imports are higher than ever, but studies by the government and the energy industry show that's not true. As a result, we give Obama a False. - Politifact

Obama's Great Diversion - Bush / Cheney

After trying for months to shake off the legacy of their predecessors and focus on their own priorities, Obama administration officials have begun to concede that they cannot leave the fight against terrorism unexhumed and are reluctantly moving to examine some of the most controversial and clandestine episodes.

The acknowledgment came amid fresh disclosures about CIA activity that had been hidden from Congress for seven years, the secrecy surrounding a little-understood electronic surveillance program that operated without court approval, and word that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. favors naming a criminal prosecutor to examine whether U.S. interrogators tortured terrorism suspects.

The way ahead for an administration grappling with severe economic trouble and health-care reform is all but certain to prove controversial, and perhaps difficult to control, for leaders who have foundered in their approach to national security policy.

Fears expressed by President Obama and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, that looking back at the Bush administration would force the country into divisive arguments won new footing yesterday as conservative lawmakers challenged even small steps that Obama and his attorney general appear on the verge of taking. - CBS News Story

As Obama continues to watch his multitude of failures over the first months in his presidency and watching his political clout fall with his polling numbers he has to grab some cover.

So now comes the attacks on Bush / Cheney. Divert the media and the American people from our mistakes and Divide the Country.

Change we can believe in! Leadership?

Cubs Heading for Bankruptcy?

The Chicago Cubs organization is considering filing for bankruptcy in a move that could expedite its sale, according to a Bloomberg report Monday.

The Tribune Co., the team's owner, filed for bankruptcy protection in December. A filing by the Cubs would be separate from its parent company and could insulate the team from the Tribune's creditors, four sources told Bloomberg.

The Cubs bankruptcy would be a "legal maneuver to clear the team from any future liability in the Tribune bankruptcy," the report states, citing two sources. Tribune CEO Sam Zell used the Cubs as collateral in his deal to take the publisher private in 2007, according to Bloomberg.

The team is reportedly on the market for $900 million and Incapital LLC Chairman Tom Ricketts is seen as a frontrunner, according to the report. - CBS News

I think that the Taxpayers should buy the team. We have GM (Government Motors), I lost count of how many banks, why not the Cubs?

Just kidding, but don't put it past OBAMA!!!!

Congress Approved of Secret CIA Plan

Congress originally authorized the CIA to develop the secret counterterrorism program that is now drawing fierce criticism from House Democrats who say they were kept in the dark all along, a former senior intelligence official told FOX News on Monday.

The program, which sources told FOX News was a plan to capture or kill Al Qaeda operatives, also never came close to being operational, the intelligence official said.

"This was not a program. It never began," the former official said. "The authority was given by Congress to develop this idea. ... There was no need to brief it. It wasn't a reality."

Democrats want an investigation into the program, particularly following reports that former Vice President Dick Cheney was the one who ordered it kept secret.

After CIA Director Leon Panetta told congressional lawmakers that he canceled the program, House Democrats also called on Panetta to retract his statement that the CIA does not mislead Congress. Panetta made that statement after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed the CIA lied to Congress.

The former intelligence official suggested House Democrats made the demand for the sake of providing Pelosi political cover. - FOX News Story

Obamanomics Driving America Down, China up?

There's no question that current government policies for taxes, spending and regulation are causing the United States to lose competitiveness in the global race for capital, prosperity and growth.

Of course, China has been moving in the direction of free-market capitalism for years. To some extent, this shows the positive benefits of America's free-trade policies and its open-mindedness in helping nurture not only Chinese growth, but also middle-class prosperity worldwide.

But what's particularly galling about Obamanomics is that we may well be losing our competitive edge with Europe. While Europe is ever so slightly moving toward Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the United States is shifting toward an overtaxed and overregulated model that smacks of Francois Mitterrand. That's something no one should want to tolerate.

Heavy government controls at home, along with an income-leveling social policy couched in economic-recovery terms, is no way to run a railroad. At the simple stroke of a computer key, world investment flows to its most hospitable destination. That includes a reliable currency. But in President Bush's last year and President Obama's first, the United States has become a less hospitable destination for global capital. That should worry everybody.

But let's first look to the China story.

We know that China is already our principal banker, to the tune of nearly $1 trillion. As President Obama's record spending and borrowing continues -- he'll be the greatest bond salesman in American history -- our financial reliance on China grows daily. But that's not all.

Fortune magazine recently reported that the number of U.S. companies in the world's top 500 fell to the lowest level ever, while more Chinese firms than ever made the list. Thirty-seven Chinese companies now rank in the top 500, including nine new entries. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. firms has fallen to 140, the lowest total since Fortune began the list in 1995. This is not good. - Rasmussen Reports Story

Obama's Polling Numbers Still in Free Fall

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 28% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –7 (see trends).

Check out our review of last week’s key polls to see “What They Told Us.”

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates also available on Twitter.

Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Forty-six percent (46%) disapprove. For other barometers of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers or review recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls. - Rasmussen Reports Story

Obama's Failing, Blame it on Bush and Cheney?

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A one-time aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested Sunday that recent reports about Cheney and the CIA are a distraction designed to avert attention away from the policy struggles of the Obama administration.

Related: Cheney and alleged secret CIA program 'a problem,' Senator says

“This is very suspect timing,” Republican strategist and former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “The president’s agenda is almost in shambles. His [poll] numbers are dropping. Isn’t it coincidental; they gin up a Cheney story.”

Matalin also said that the Executive branch has some authority under the nation’s intelligence laws to not disclose information to Congress under certain circumstances. “The more people that know, the more it leaks . . . and then the enemy knows what it is,” Matalin said of details about other intelligence programs that were leaked to the media.

“Every time they get in trouble . . . they dredge up a Darth Vader story,” Matalin also said, making a reference to past comparisons between Cheney and the villain in the “Stars Wars’ movies. - CNN News Story

I have to agree, it does seem a little like the Obama Spin Machine is in High Gear after a week of free falling polling numbers, all of sudden they are all throwing Bush Era issues into the News. I agree that it is a dismal attempt to get the pressure off of Obama and his failing policies.

Latoya Jackson - My Brother Was Murdered

Two British tabloids quote LaToya Jackson as saying she believes her brother Michael Jackson was murdered as part of a conspiracy to steal his fortune.

She reportedly says her brother's assets of more than 1 billion dollars made him a tempting target and that cash and jewelry worth roughly $2 million was taken from his home after his death.

Her comments were published Sunday. The News of the World quotes her as saying she knows who is to blame for her brother's death and is determined to see them brought to justice.

She also reportedly says her brother did not want to perform 50 shows in London but was pressured to do so. - ABC News

Obama's AG going after CIA?

(CBS) There are news calls from democrats in Washington tonight for investigations into George W. Bush-era torture and anti-terrorism policies. And the former vice president could be on the hot seat, as CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to keep a top-secret intelligence program secret from congress, according to Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Diane Feinstein.

She says current CIA director Leon Panetta informed intelligence committees in late June.

"He was told that the vice president had ordered that the program not be briefed to the Congress," Feinstein said Sunday. "We were kept in the dark. That's something that should never, ever happen again."

"To have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate; it could be illegal," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said.

The counterterrorism program was established as the CIA ramped up its hunt for Osama bin Laden. No one has revealed details of the program, but a U.S. official familiar with it told CBS News it was never fully operational.

The official said CIA Director Panetta canceled it when he found it hadn't been reported to Congress.

His decision to kill it was not difficult or controversial, the official said. It was an "on again/off again" program, not one on which the country deeply relied.

No one today called the program illegal. But the CIA could still face tough questioning on another front.

Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly learning toward appointing a special investigator to determine whether the CIA tortured terrorism suspects. That's prompting bipartisan criticism.

"The military has done a series of independent reports. And I believe that that is sufficient. I don't believe a special commission is necessary," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ariz., told CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

"I just don't want to see an instance where if the higher-ups gave the order to break the law, that the ones who get punished are the people basically on the front line, the lower-level troops," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said.

That's exactly what those on the front line believe will happen, according to one former CIA official, Michael Sheuer.

"I think it will pull everybody back from doing anything that smacks of the non-conventional," he said.

He points out that the CIA already encourages every one of its agents to take out personal liability insurance, just in case they're prosecuted, if one White House decides whatever the last one authorized was illegal. - CBS News

That is the whole problem, Obama's team is going after the Bush team. If it is a Republican in next then they will go after the Obama team, pretty soon we aren't getting anything done because everyone is afraid of getting into legal problems.

This is all about Politics, don't try and feed me the Bull about it is doing what is right! This is all plain and simple politics. Congress has been controlled by Dems for long enough that if they truly thought anything was wrong they would have put a stop to it. Oh yea, they didn't know, my butt they didn't know. They new and now they are just playing politics.