In his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama shut down his predecessor’s system for reviewing regulations, realigned and expanded two key White House policy making bodies and extended economic sanctions against parties to the conflict in the African nation of Cote D’Ivoire.
Despite the intense scrutiny a president gets just after the inauguration, Obama managed to take all these actions with nary a mention from the White House press corps.
The moves escaped notice because they were never announced by the White House Press Office and were never placed on the White House web site.
They came to light only because the official paperwork was transmitted to the Federal Register, a dense daily compendium of regulatory actions and other formal notices prepared by the National Archives. They were published there several days after the fact.
A Politico review of Federal Register issuances since Obama took office found three executive orders, one presidential memorandum, one presidential notice, and one proclamation that went unannounced by the White House.
Normally, I would not give two flips about something like this, But Mr. B. Hussein Obama promise change and total transparency. What we have gotten is the the some old Washington politics. Nothing changed, just skin of the President is a bit darker and the political party is very different.
The US government may have to nationalize some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times.
In an interview, Mr Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laisser-faire capitalism, said nationalisation could be the least bad option left for policymakers.
”It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.”
Mr Greenspan’s comments capped a frenetic day in which policymakers across the political spectrum appeared to be moving towards accepting some form of bank nationalisation.
“We should be focusing on what works,” Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, told the FT. “We cannot keep pouring good money after bad.” He added, “If nationalisation is what works, then we should do it.”
Speaking to the FT ahead of a speech to the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, Mr Greenspan said that “in some cases, the least bad solution is for the government to take temporary control” of troubled banks either through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or some other mechanism.
The former Fed chairman said temporary government ownership would ”allow the government to transfer toxic assets to a bad bank without the problem of how to price them.”
But he cautioned that holders of senior debt – bonds that would be paid off before other claims – might have to be protected even in the event of nationalisation.
”You would have to be very careful about imposing any loss on senior creditors of any bank taken under government control because it could impact the senior debt of all other banks,” he said. “This is a credit crisis and it is essential to preserve an anchor for the financing of the system. That anchor is the senior debt.”
Let me get this straight, one of the main douche bags that was responsible for the meltdown of the bank industry and the economic collapse is now telling us what we should do with our banks?
A former FBI special agent told law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel that a network of Islamic organizations are working to incrementally implement Islamic law in the United States.
During a presentation at the Bedford County Emergency Management Agency, former FBI agent John Guandolo briefed members about groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which he claims is working with other Islamic groups to slowly implement Shariah, also known as Islamic law, which encompasses all areas of life.
Guandolo worked in the FBI since 1996, including nine years as a member of its SWAT team. After 9/11, he worked in the Bureau’s Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division, developing expertise concerning Al Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood organizations and the Islamic movement in the U.S.
He now works with Stephen Coughlin, former Islamic Expert for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to advise leaders at the federal level and also brief local law enforcement about the Islamic threat at home.
Coughlin was fired from his position with the Joint Chiefs following a report revealing opposition to his work by officials within the office of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, according to a Washington Times report dated Jan. 4, 2008.
Coughlin had run afoul of a key aide to England, Hasham Islam, who accused him of being a Christian zealot or extremist “with a pen,” according to defense officials, the report states.
I think this one warrants a full read. Please go read now.
This is why Ammo sales are going through the roof, because our Government cannot be trusted. The Radical Muslims have figured it out, they did not destroy us on September 11, 2001; so, they are going to do it from within, and now with a Liberal President, they just might succeed.
Since America is edging ever-closer to the point where, in the name of public health and national security, the state must make for the individual the most detailed of personal decisions, why not kill two birds with one stone? One could easily combat both the crime spree and obesity epidemic by not only putting the innocent under house arrest but by also only allowing them to eat the provisions brought to their doors during the periods of protracted curfew and quarantine.
Preposterous, you say. Americans will never put up with living in such a manner. Well, up until recently, would they have put up with a 24 hour curfew?
Throughout the Western world, freedom as we once knew it is pretty much on its last leg Things we once took for granted such as driving over a public bridge or even enjoying our own yards will become a thing of the past unless we vocalize our dissent. And with the attitude Obama has exhibited towards the press here in the opening days of his presidency, even the ability to do that may be endangered if the American people fail to exercise eternal vigilance.
Billions of dollars in government loans to prop up General Motors and Chrysler won’t be enough. The companies, which have received $17.4 billion so far, filed plans with the government more than doubling that request to a staggering total of $39 billion.
The requests, made in government-required restructuring plans filed Tuesday, were accompanied by plans for thousands more job cuts, slashing of models and brands, union concessions and the prospect of even further expense cuts.
In a dramatic acknowledgment that conditions in the U.S. auto industry have grown significantly worse in just two months, GM alone said it would cut 47,000 jobs globally by the end of the year — 19 percent of its work force. It also said it would close five more U.S. factories, although it did not identify them.
Chrysler said it will cut 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicle models.
The grim reports came as the United Auto Workers union said it had reached a tentative agreement with GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. on contract changes. Concessions with the union and debt-holders were a condition of the government bailout.
GM said it could need up to $30 billion from the Treasury Department, up from a previous estimate of $18 billion. That includes $13.4 billion the company has already received. The world’s largest automaker said it could run out of money by March without new funds and needs $2 billion next month and another $2.6 billion in April.
“We have a lot of work to do,” General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said. “We’re still going at this with a great sense of urgency.”
I think I’ll just refrain from public commentary on this one. There’s family, my family involved here; so, I’m totally biased. I just do not think those Conservatives who opposed this money to these companies really get it. All I am going to say. Anyone that’s read this Blog, or wants to know what I think. Do a search on “Tarp Loans” and you’ll see why I feel the way that I do.
See that there is quite the Meme happening right now about the Anti-Stimulus demonstrations going around. I thought I would offer this video to the short memory Neo-Conservatives, like Michelle Malkin, who are bitching about this Stimulus. This video asks the question, where exactly were these people when George W. Bush was spending this country into a hole with Iraq?
In order to “preserve the Union,” Lincoln destroyed the very principles upon which the Union was created. His audacity is without equal. For example, to prevent a possible vote of secession by the Maryland legislature, Lincoln ordered federal troops to seize and arrest the Maryland congressional delegation. And of course, he was more than willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of America’s finest and best to destroy Jefferson’s declaration that the states of our Union are “Free and Independent States.”
I invite all those pro-Lincoln apologists out there to seriously answer this question: Does an abusive husband who beats and batters his wife have the right to force her (at the point of gun) to remain married to him? (Even the God of the Bible, Who cast marriage in the most sacred terms, recognizes the right of lawful separation.) If you answer no, how can you continue to justify Abraham Lincoln’s actions? In a political and governmental sense, that is exactly what Lincoln did. Forced union, of any kind, is slavery. In the name of emancipating slaves, Lincoln enslaved an entire nation.
It was Abraham Lincoln who, for all intents and purposes, destroyed federalism and limited government in America. In fact, on December 15, 1866, renowned British historian, Lord Acton, wrote a letter to General Robert E. Lee. In the letter, Acton said, “I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.” – Chuck Baldwin on Abraham Lincoln
U.S. Sen. Roland Burris said today he is open to a Senate ethics investigation into how he got the Senate seat from ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and that he has reached out to a Sangamon County prosecutor who is reviewing Burris’ sworn testimony before Illinois lawmakers.
Burris comments came less than 24 hours after he acknowledged he sought to raise campaign funds for Blagojevich at the request of the governor’s brother at the same time he was seeking the appointment to the Senate seat previously held by President Barack Obama.
It was the first time Burris has publicly admitted trying to raise money for Blagojevich. Previously Burris has left the impression that he always balked at the issue of raising money for the governor because of his interest in the Senate appointment.
In comments to reporters after appearing at a Democratic dinner Monday night the senator several times contradicted his latest under-oath affidavit that he quietly filed with the Illinois House impeachment panel earlier this month. That affidavit was itself an attempt to clean up his live, sworn testimony to the panel Jan. 8, when he omitted his contacts with several Blagojevich insiders.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan called for the Sangamon County prosecutor to investigate Burris’ testimony at the statehouse in Springfield, and today her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, forwarded Burris’ testimony and affidavits to State’s Atty. John Schmidt.
In a brief statement to reporters today in Peoria, Burris said an aide had reached out to the Sangamon County state’s atttorney, who is reviewing testimony Burris gave last month to House lawmakers in Springfield about his contacts with allies of the ousted governor.
“I have made an effort to be as transparent as I can, and I’m willing to take a further step as I have nothing to hide,” Burris said.
Hey, just because I’m a Conservative does not mean that I’m an idiot. If the dude lied, He should go, does not take a rocket scientist to figure that out…..at least not with me.
The GTL’s picture:
The Gun Toting Liberal
I dunno ’bout you, but I would not want to meet him in dark alley… Ol’ fella needs to learn to smile! 😛 😉 😀
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