Obama Administration releases Illegal Immigrants and puts them to work Legally

SEATTLE — The Department of Homeland Security freed 27 illegal immigrants arrested during a workplace raid in February and offered them legal work permits, signaling a major departure from the immigration enforcement policy of the Bush administration.

The Feb. 24 raid of an auto parts plant in Bellingham, Wash., netted 28 illegal immigrants. While one was deported, the remaining workers were released from custody and given employment authorization documents, or EADs, in exchange for cooperating with an ongoing investigation of their employer, Yamato Engine Specialists. - FOX News Story

Now that is Change we need. If you are in the Country Illegally and get caught, no big deal we will let you go and give you a visa so you are legal. Are you kidding me. It is no wonder we have the problems we have. Not to mention in the economy and the jobless numbers going up so fast, we might as well make sure that we give jobs to illegals instead of actual citizens.

Republicans Budget Alternative to Obama

House Republicans released the full version of their alternative budget plan on Wednesday after critics called their March 26 release vague and lacking hard numbers.

When the first version of the Republicans’ alternative to the Obama administration’s budget was released, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs quipped, "It took me several minutes to read it."

He also dismissed the budget as coming from “the party of 'no new ideas.'"

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who drafted the GOP proposal, says he is alarmed at how much the Obama administration plans to spend. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, he said that Democrats "are attempting to bring about the third and final great wave of progressivism, building on top of the New Deal and the Great Society.

He added that if the president's budget passes, "it will mark this period in history as the moment America turned European."

To prevent this from happening, the alternative budget proposal seeks to undo most of the stimulus spending and to freeze discretionary spending on domestic programs, which the proposal describes as "a host of spending programs that will do nothing to help our economy recover." - CBS News Story

Full Republican Budget

Obama Administration - "No Difference in the way the Administration handled Auto and Finance"

Days after GM's CEO Rick Wagoner was forced out by the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner left open the possibility that such moves could happen again.

In an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Geithner acknowledged the government has had to do "exceptional things" – citing AIG as well as Fannie and Freddie Mac.

"We have changed management aboard," he said. "And where we've done that, we've done it because we thought that was necessary to make sure these institutions emerge stronger in the future."

When asked if he would leave open the option to pressure a bank CEO to resign, Geithner replied: "Of course."

In a separate interview with ABC News, Geithner said there was no difference in the way the administration handled the auto and finance industries. - CBS News Story

I guess not really unless you count the endless Billions that you gave the Financial Sector with little oversight, the Ex Financial Employees that have now become Administration Officials, the Forcing Retirement of CEO at GM (Who got forced out in the Financial Sector), the Reorganization of Boards approved by the Administration. Maybe your right, no difference. Either way you haven't done a very good job of handling things with our Money.

If there are people that need to be forced into Retirement, the Government should look in it's own backyard.

The First Ladies of the World Leaders

Never mind the economic crisis.

As foreign leaders and their spouses descend on London this week for the G20 summit, fashionistas and photographers are focusing on two first ladies -- Michelle Obama and France's Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Obama's attendance at the economic meeting marks her debut in Europe as America's first lady -- and her fashion choices are under scrutiny as she mingles with leaders of the world's largest economies and their partners, including Britain's Sarah Brown, Russia's Svetlana Medvedev and Brazil's Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva.

But fashion enthusiasts are narrowing their focus to Obama's attire and that of her French counterpart, Bruni-Sarkozy, the Italian-born former model and singer-songwriter and recent bride of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"There's no doubt that they're both style powerhouses. The difference is their backgrounds," Katie Connor, fashion features editor at Marie Claire magazine, told FOXNews.com.

"Both of these first ladies ushered in this new era of glamour," Connor said. - FOX News Story

NFL's Cleveland Brown's Player Charged in DUI Death

MIAMI — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth will be charged Wednesday with killing a pedestrian last month while driving drunk in Miami, according to people familiar with the case.

Two people said an arrest warrant charging the 28-year-old Stallworth with DUI manslaughter will be filed Wednesday in the March 14 accident that killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes. The people requested anonymity because the charges haven't been announced.

The charge carries a possible 15-year prison sentence. Stallworth's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .12, well above Florida's legal limit of .08, according to results of a blood test. Stallworth will also be charged with DUI, according to the people informed about the case.

Stallworth, who is expected to surrender in court Thursday, released a statement last month saying he was "grief-stricken" over the accident.

A Miami Beach police report said that Reyes was not in a crosswalk on busy MacArthur Causeway when he was struck by the Bentley luxury car driven by Stallworth. The construction crane operator was trying to catch a bus home after finishing his shift around 7:15 a.m - FOX News Story

Conficker Worm / Aprils Fool Virus - Update

The dreaded Conficker Windows worm phoned home as ordered Wednesday — but so far hasn't launched a full-scale attack on the Internet.

Computer security experts breathed sighs of relief and satisfaction that their predictions that nothing would happen had proven true.

"One thing we're not seeing is any mass malicious activity," said Joris Evers, an analyst with McAfee. "The Internet today is working just as well as it was working yesterday."

The sneaky worm, which can jump between computers without human aid, has infected an infected 3 to 12 million PCs and servers since last fall.

Some heightened network activity was detected in Australia as the clock passed midnight there and infected machines tried to get new instructions from secret locations.

The worm can take control of unsuspecting PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system. But its creators likely want to use their vast "botnet" to send spam or perform other cybercrimes, and not to bring down the Internet.

That's one reason analysts say the people behind the virus will probably wait to send any commands.

"Everyone who is fighting Conficker is on high alert," Evers said. - FOX News Story

Obama ending Free Enterprise?

Still, the “tombstone moment” was delayed another month until this week, which has brought us perhaps the most bizarre – and disturbing – chapter in the evolution of the bailout culture that has infected our nation’s capital.

This week, the President of the United States insisted on the removal of a private sector CEO. And once he had been removed, that CEO’s severance package was governed by Treasury Department regulations.

No longer just bailing out companies, the White House is now determining who should run them and what their retirement packages should be.

Not only that, Obama has taken the unprecedented – and unnerving – step of guaranteeing all GM and Chrysler warranties.

Thank about that for a moment, in its ongoing attempts to revive a dying patient, the Obama administration has just put every American taxpayer on the hook for potentially billions in auto repairs!

Obama’s auto task force is also calling the shots on which models GM should produce and sell, and telling Chrysler who to merge with and for how much – all the while holding additional bailout billions over the heads of the two “private” corporations in case they refuse to abide by the government’s wishes.

One pro-free market commentator told me that “Obama might as well have reached into the corporate boardroom and started running that company.”

“That’s exactly what he did,” I said.

Obama’s actions "should send a chill through those who believe in free enterprise,” said Tennessee Senator Bob Corker.

How true. - Rasmussen (Excerpt) Whole Story

It is so amazing how very little of this type of stuff is reported on your nightly news. Is it really that hard for people to understand just what is happening in America today and scary road that we are heading down?

Democrats Losing Ground

In March, the number of Democrats in the nation fell two percentage points while the number of Republicans fell by half-a-point. Democrats continue to have a sizable advantage in terms of partisan identification, but the advantage is smaller than it’s been since December 2007.

Currently, 38.7% of Americans say they are Democrats. That’s down from 40.8% a month ago. It’s also the first time the Democratic total has slipped below the 40% mark since the Republican convention bounce last September.

Prior to this month’s result, the Democrats have been over the 40% level 10 times in the previous 13 months (see history from January 2004 to present).

In March, 33.2% of American adults say they are Republicans. That’s down from 33.6% a month ago. Over the past year, the number of Republicans has ranged from a low of 31.4% in April to a high of 34.4% in September. - Rasmussen Story

When you have fewer people willing to admit to being a part of a party that generally means that the leaders of that party are moving away from what their followers believe. For all we have heard from the likes of Obama, Pelosi and Reid about how they have a mandate for Change, it appears that the Change we are seeing is not what was listed on the Mandate. The saddest part of it all is that the leaders will ignore all of this until they are whisped out of power during an election instead of following what their followers are telling them. The Republicans found this out the hard way and it appears the Democrats are heading down the same path.

Obama Administration to Shape new GM Board

The Obama administration will play a key role in reshaping General Motors' board of directors over the next six months, potentially giving it even greater control in the management of the storied American manufacturer.

The president's auto task force plans to consult with the company as it replaces a majority of its board, a White House official said. The board today largely consists of the current and former chiefs of major U.S. corporations such as Coca-Cola, Ernst & Young, Pfizer and Eastman Kodak. It is not known which of the 12 board members will leave.

The president said Monday that "the United States government has no interest in running GM." But in practice it is already exerting tremendous influence over it, a situation that has triggered fierce debate over how much power the government should wield over the companies that it aids. - CBS News Story

Obama says that they have no interest in running GM, but it sure does sound like they want there people in there. It will be interesting to see what favors the Administration pays back by putting them on the Boards of these Companies that they have no intention of running. I can't remember a time when a President and their Administration has made such a grab at Power all across the American Spectrum. It is pretty scary when you think about how intertwined all of this is quickly becoming and the Power that is being excercised.

Republicans Want to Roll Back the Stimulus

House Republicans are calling for the economic stimulus package passed in February to be rescinded starting in 2010 as part of their alternative to President Obama's budget blueprint.

After being criticized last week for lacking specifics in their budget rebuttal. the Republicans said Wednesday they also want a freeze on non-defense spending and a moratorium on earmarks for Congress.

"This is a budget with real policies and real numbers," said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. "We're going into an ocean of red ink in this country. There will be a time when others won't buy our bonds."

The GOP plan also proposes major changes to the tax code. It would allow taxpayers to either file under the current system or choose a simpler option: Individuals earning $50,000 or less, and couples earning $100,000 or less, would be taxed at 10 percent. The rate for income above $100,000 would be 25 percent.

Republicans say they would allow taxpayers to fill out their income taxes on an index card.

House GOP members were criticized last week for holding a press conference to unveil their budget alternative without providing a lot of specifics. They said they would need more time to unveil specifics in the ensuing weeks.

As Obama's $3.55 trillion fiscal 2010 blueprint makes its way through Capitol Hill, Republicans have repeatedly said his plan spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much.

"If we don't tackle these fiscal problems, they're going to tackle us," Ryan said Wednesday. - FOX News

This is a good start, but they have to get their partners in the Senate on board to fight the massive budget of the Democrats and Obama.