States Consider Legal Action against Deal Cut W/Nebraska Senator for Vote

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned.

According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference to recent threats by the state AGs to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Medicaid provision in the bill that benefits Nebraska at the expense of other states.

Under the terms of a deal Nelson cut with Senate leaders to secure his crucial vote for the health care package, Nebraska would be exempted from having to pay for the coverage of its new Medicaid enrollees—leaving the federal government to pick up the tab. The deal is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over the next 10 years. - Politico Story

Obama Fails in Reaction and Leadership after Attempted Terrorism Attack

From the time he launched his campaign for president three years ago, Barack Obama had to consider how he would react to the first serious act of terrorism during the campaign, or if he won, on his watch. His fellow Democrats had been thinking about the moment even longer - since the September day in 2001 when attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon defined George W. Bush’s presidency and gave Republicans a decisive advantage on a defining political issue.

And yet the White House’s response to last week’s attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit could rank as one of the low points of the new president’s first year. Over the course of five days, Obama’s Obama’ reaction ranged from low-keyed to reassuring to, finally, a vow to find out what went wrong. The episode was a baffling, unforced error in presidential symbolism, hardly a small part of the presidency, and the moment at which yet another of the old political maxims that Obama had sought to transcend – the Democrats’ vulnerability on national security – reasserted itself. - Politico Story

Treasury to Lift Cap on Funds to Fannie and Freddie - Big Payouts for Executives

Lawmakers are calling for an investigation of the Treasury Department's decision to lift the cap on government cash for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a move that essentially gives unlimited aid to the mortgage giants for the rest of President Barack Obama's term.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said Wednesday that his subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will launch a probe. Separately, Reps. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) requested that the Financial Services Committee hold a hearing on the matter.

On Christmas Eve, the Treasury announced that the government would be able to exceed the $400 billion cap on emergency aid without the consent of Congress, adding another dose of controversy to an already unpopular bailout. While many Wall Street firms have repaid their bailout assistance, Fannie and Freddie, which have together received $111 billion, are unlikely do so. And their executives have received multimillion-dollar compensation packages even as the public rages against lavish executive payments at firms that have received taxpayer money.

Kucinich's investigation will look into the roles of Fannie Mae CEO Michael J. Williams and Freddie CEO Charles E. Haldeman in the decision. He said he "will seek to ensure that the additional assistance is used for homeowners and not Wall Street." - Politico Story

Obama's Change - Not So Much!

Think back to December 2008. Barack Obama had just won a sweeping electoral victory, and the press was speculating about the ways in which Obama had changed America: high-tech campaigns, the post-racial future, even bipartisanship.

But Barack Obama’s first year as president wasn’t always exactly what Americans expected.

The very first thing that surprised us about Obama was just how quickly he let go of the animosity of the Democratic presidential primary against Hillary Clinton — offering the job as Secretary of State just weeks after being elected president. Since then, the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency has been one of near-constant surprises, as the nation learned even more about its new commander in chief, who after all, had been a largely unknown figure just a few years before.

Here are the ten biggest surprises of 2009:

- Politico Story

Support for Waterboarding Terrorist at 58%

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure.

Men and younger voters are more strongly supportive of the aggressive interrogation techniques than women and those who are older. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor their use more than Democrats. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

End of Year Polls not Kind to Democrats

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -18.....

Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. At the time of his Inauguration, the President’s approval rating was at 61%.

Fifty-three percent (53%) now disapprove......

In Nebraska, just 17% approve of the Medicaid deal cut by Senator Ben Nelson to secure his vote on health care reform. Nelson is now down by 30 points in an early look at his 2012 Reelection Bid. Republicans now lead by five points on the Generic Congressional Ballot. That’s a big change from the seven-point lead enjoyed by Democrats when President Obama was inaugurated....

-Rasmussen Reports Polls

Obama's Pretend Non War on Terrorism

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer responds to Dick Cheney's criticism of President Obama, saying that the former vice president is "more focused on criticizing the administration than condemning the attackers."

"To put it simply: this president is not interested in bellicose rhetoric, he is focused on action," Pfeiffer wrote on the White House blog. "Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from Al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country. And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the president."

Cheney had told POLITICO that Obama was "trying to pretend we are not at war." Pfeiffer called the claim "clearly untrue."

"President Obama doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it, and — unlike the last administration — we are not at war with a tactic (“terrorism”)," he wrote, adding that the United States is "at war with something that is tangible: Al Qaeda and its violent extremist allies. And we will prosecute that war as long as the American people are endangered." - Politico Story

Everyone with half a brain knew it was coming. A Terrorist Attack on American Soil. Obama and his Department of Homeland Security ended the "war on terrorism" instead opting for the "man made disaster" theme.

Well, now they have changed their mind and call the latest Terrorist Act as an attack on America. Is it really an attack, or a near man made disaster?

DHS Secretary first said the system worked. Then the President said it was a system wide failure. Then they are blaming the CIA.

Wait, did we forget to say that Obama and his team earlier in the year with AG Holder decided that the CIA was responsible for treating the Terrorist too harshly. Can't imagine why the CIA wasn't out there doing whatever it takes to keep Terrorist off of American Soil.

Well, for those of you who don't want to listen to Cheney, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, or any of the people who stand up and fight the Obama Administration about Gitmo, and transferring these Terrorist to Illinois, This is not the last of the Terrorist Attacks on the USA.

Thank you Obama for taking the WAR ON TERROR back to pre 9/11.

More Government Bailout Money for GMAC

(AP) The U.S. government was moving ahead Wednesday on a fresh multibillion dollar cash infusion to stabilize auto financing company GMAC Financial Services, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

GMAC, based in Detroit, is instrumental to the operations of automakers General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. It has already received $12.5 billion in taxpayer money and is 35 percent owned by the federal government.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions weren't complete, says the new infusion would be in the range of another $3 billion. That would fall short of the roughly $6 billion the government had earlier thought GMAC would need to stabilize the company.

An announcement of the injection could come late Wednesday or on Thursday, the person says.

After the government conducted "stress tests" on financial institutions earlier this year, it demanded that that GMAC raise an $11.5 billion capital cushion to help it weather further economic decline. GMAC was unable to raise the funds privately.

The anticipated additional government aid for GMAC would come from the $700 billion taxpayer-financed bailout pot the government set up at the height of the financial crisis last year. The money was intended to shore up banks so that they would boost lending to people and businesses and support the sagging economy. However, money also has been used to help GM, Chrysler, insurance companies and others survive the worst financial crisis and recession since the 1930s.

GMAC has been in negotiations with Treasury officials for months over additional taxpayer aid. - CBS News Story

Obama and DHS Secretary Not on the Same Page

President Obama rendered a harsh verdict on the nation's intelligence community Tuesday. The bottom line said the President, is that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement had enough information to stop accused Northwest 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding the flight on Christmas, but failed to piece the information together.

"It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list," said the President.

The President said it was clear that the current intelligence system is out of date.

"When our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been," said the President, "a systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable."

Two days ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano claimed that the information provided by the suspect's father was insufficient to put the son on the no-fly list.

The President flatly rejected that explanation. "Even without this one report," said President Obama, "there were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have and should have been pieced together." - ABC News Story

US Government was Warned of Possible Terrorist

The U.S. government had intelligence from Yemen before Christmas that leaders of a branch of Al Qaeda there were talking about "a Nigerian" being prepared for a terrorist attack, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

A senior official told the Times that President Obama was told in a private meeting Tuesday while vacationing in Hawaii that the government had a variety of information in its possession before the failed bombing on a Detroit-bound flight last week that would have been a clear warning sign had it been shared among intelligence agencies.

The newspaper said the information did not include the name of the Nigerian. - FOX News Story