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.