PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS A DILEMMA - And I'm Part of It

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) speaks as White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (L) and senior adviser David Axelrod (2nd L) look on during a news conference at the White House briefing room December 7, 2010 in Washington, DC. Obama held a news conference after he had announced a deal with Republicans to temporarily extend Bush-era tax cuts to all tax brackets. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images North America

I am on the email list that receives frequent messages from the Obama administration. Today, I got one about the tax breaks issue with a video from President Obama and a form to write a comment. I took the opportunity to say some things off the cuff. I used to spend a lot of time, editing my letters to him. But this one is a quick message.

I am concerned about the division in this country, notably the racism that is rampant since people feared Barack Obama would possibly be President. And now, there are transparently many who feel they have constituent support to cause President Obama a failure, even at the cost of the "health" of the country. This is not the United States of America that Barack inspiringly said was not a country of blue or red states. It is a country that is facing loosed racism at the cost of saving any integrity as a country.

President Obama is in a tough position. Being the first African American President carries weight that no white person could imagine.

When I was in New Hampshire working for Obama for America, Barack Obama said that he couldn't do what needs to be done alone, that we as citizens needed to be part of the solution. And he also said, that when he was off track, he welcomed hearing from us. Well, he is hearing from us, today, I suspect. Especially those of us, who were with him, now we feel he is not with us.

December 7, 2010

To President Obama,

If I wasn't so frustrated with President Obama, I would be more outraged. The Republicans want to make President Obama's Presidency something that they can spin to their advantage and President Obama is playing on their team.

I am a 61 year old white woman - not in the demographic that voted him into office. And yet, I not only voted for him, I went way outside my comfort zone and knocked door-to-door for him in my state of RI and incurred the personal expense to work for his campaign for one week leading up to the New Hampshire primary. It was an economical hardship for me to do so. And I donated to his campaign repeatedly, though I shouldn't have, as I am in a financial situation that may cause me to lose my house this coming year when my pension gets slashed when I turn 62 years old.

I say all this, because I did all of this because I believed Barack Obama would be the President that he said he would be. But he hasn't been. To start with, I am a world citizen who is an activist to end genocide and he has been thoroughly disappointing regarding Darfur. General Gration has been a disaster of a Special Envoy and he still has that job.

I will not, not - go door-to-door or do phone banking (which I did in 3 states) for him next campaign. This time I will not vote “for” him, but “against” his opponent. And I believe he needs people like me to be excited about his Presidency. We were the backbone of his winning candidacy.

President Obama needs to "spin" better than the Republicans. And not only has he not done this, he hasn't even "sold" his "victories" that he has done. Unlike me, most citizens don't watch his every move, as well as members of Congress. So he needs to become a better salesman of what his administration has done and what needs to be done. Fire us up again or the fire we have building inside will be in opposition to a man we once voted for.

And the racism that has come boldly out of the closet needs to be addressed directly. It is not healthy for this country.

Respectfully,

Sandra Hammel

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2009 incomes of leading Republicans
who are fighting for millionaires over middle class taxpayers

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky)
Average $19,929,018

Rep John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Average $3,570,547

Rep Eric Cantor (R-Va)
Average $4,854,578

Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)
Average $28,612,527

Source: www.opensecrets.org

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Benefits for Retirement of Senators and Reps at
www.senate.gov/reference/reference
(they introduce and vote for their own benefits)

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Some other problems I have with President Obama ~

To President Obama ~

*This is unacceptable from any man with principle:

"President Obama grants waivers to Chad, the Congo, Sudan, and Yemen, which use child soldiers but are strategically important to the US. The waivers mean military aid will continue."

*Obama-waives-sanctions-for-four-countries-that-use-child-soldiers

How do you square this with your principles of children's human rights? You are compromising your soul.

Sandra Hammel

*Obama-waives-sanctions-for-four-countries-that-use-child-soldiers

By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / October 29, 2010

Washington

As a senator, Barack Obama supported legislation requiring the United States to cut off military aid to countries recruiting and deploying child soldiers.

This week as president, Mr. Obama acted to ensure that four countries found to use child soldiers – but which are also considered key national security interests – do not lose their US military assistance. Obama heeded the recommendation of a State Department review and waived application of a year-old law on child soldiers in the case of Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Yemen.

In a Oct. 25 presidential memorandum, Obama said he had “determined that it is in the national interest of the United States” to waive application of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act for the four countries.

Click the link to read the entire post.

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Obama White House pressured Spain to drop Bush torture prosecution, leaked cable shows

obama-spain-bush-torture-prosecution

The Obama administration went to the mat to defend its predecessors from a torture prosecution in Spain last year, a leaked State Department cable shows.

The cable, released by WikiLeaks this week, shows that senior US diplomats teamed with Republican lawmakers -- including a former Republican Party chairman -- to put pressure on Spanish officials to drop a criminal investigation into the Bush administration's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques."

In the spring of 2009, Spanish Judge Balthasar Garzon launched an inquiry into six Bush officials linked to the torture policy. They were then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Cheney adviser David Addington; Pentagon lawyer William Haynes; Pentagon official Douglas Feith; and Jay Bybee and John Yoo from the Office of Legal Counsel.

According to Mother Jones' David Corn, US officials began to put pressure on Spain almost as soon as the probe was announced.

Soon after the request was made, the US embassy in Madrid began tracking the matter. On April 1, embassy officials spoke with chief prosecutor Javier Zaragoza, who indicated that he was not pleased to have been handed this case, but he believed that the complaint appeared to be well-documented and he'd have to pursue it. Around that time, the acting deputy chief of the US embassy talked to the chief of staff for Spain's foreign minister and a senior official in the Spanish Ministry of Justice to convey, as the cable says, "that this was a very serious matter for the [US government]." The two Spaniards "expressed their concern at the case but stressed the independence of the Spanish judiciary." Read more at the link above.

Click the post title to contact the Whitehouse.

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A Separate Part of This Post

Has to Do With Darfur

and following a team the next several days

who is over in Chad

visiting a Darfuri refugee camp

~ A Must See ~

stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9

Teamwork and Technology

Posted by Gabriel on December 7th, 2010

It was nice to see Yuen-Lin (YL) and Eric (E) live on our computers last night. We tested the three way communication using the equipment we’ll be using out in the refugee camps. It was quick and pretty simple. Out here, there’s no high speed internet. There’s no medium speed internet. There’s slow and slower. To be able get on a video conference with someone halfway across the world is, in reality, no simple task. Except that our tech team makes it easy for out here, even if we don’t exactly understand how they do it.

I remember when I first spoke with YL, using basic technology - a phone. He called me from Malaysia, where he was spending some time with his family. I told him how we wanted to come out to Eastern Chad, spend time in the camps with the refugees, and, oh by the way, we wanted to upload video from the middle of the desert, where there is no infrastructure at all. After hearing me, YL said, “Hmm…I see. It is not my area of expertise, but I will find a way to do it. I’m in.”

Back then, technology was not close to what we have right now, and it’s still quite a challenge to do what we do. We’re just lucky to have YL and E and our team.

Oh, I also have to thank VSee Lab, who provides the video conferencing software. It’s amazing that we can stream video through such low bandwidth! Thanks also to Eric Talman at SatellitePhoneStore.com, who has been great to work with for our satellite service. And, since I’m in thanking mode, thanks to the great team at the Darfur Dream Team office in DC! We are involved in a complex program, and they are managing so many parts of it, but it’s nothing but a pleasure to work together with them on this very basic concept, connecting people to people.

It’s definitely all about teamwork!

G

U.S. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES INCOMES ~ RELATE THIS TO YOUR INCOME

Source sanders.senate.gov

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Uploaded by InternetSpanker

Note sent to Senator Sanders via his website form:

Thank you, Senator Sanders for speaking sense regarding the middle class situation and the Republican obstruction, Saturday.

I look at all labels and shy away from Made in China merchandise purchases as much as possible.

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Source December 3, 2010

In a rare weekend session, Senate Republicans unanimously blocked a measure that would have extended tax cuts for American families with incomes under $250,000 and ended Bush-era tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. “What this debate is about is whether or not we continue to take money from the middle class and working families of this country who are struggling in a way that they have not struggled since the great depression in order to provide $700 billion over a 10-year period to the wealthiest people in this country,” Sanders said on the Senate floor moments before the vote. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate will vote next week on a Sanders’ bill to provide a $250 payment to more than 50 million American retirees and disabled veterans.

Taxes The White House and congressional Republicans were holding closed-door negotiations amid signals the Obama administration could bargain away tax breaks for the rich. Sanders hoped the White House stands firm. "What we have got say is, ‘no, we`re not going to give huge tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and ignore the needs of working families.’ The priorities have got to be not increasing our national debt by $700 billion by giving tax breaks to people who don`t need it," the senator said. The senator was interviewed by Rachel Maddow about taxes and the White House negotiating strategy. To watch, click here.

Unemployment Up With unemployment benefits expiring for 2 million Americans by the end of December, Senate Republicans blocked votes to extend help for the long-term jobless. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in November, the Department of Labor reported on Friday. More than 15 million people remained out of work last month, and 6.3 million of them have been unemployed for six months or longer. Private companies added 50,000 jobs in November, mostly for temporary help. Another 19,000 jobs were added by health care providers. Retail jobs fell by 28,000. Manufacturing lost 13,000 jobs. Government payrolls dropped by 11,000 in the month. If those unemployed people are added to part-time workers looking for full-time jobs you get 17 percent of the work force that is "underemployed." There was a record 1.3 million "discouraged" workers in November; persons who have stopped looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.

The Fed The Federal Reserve on Wednesday was forced to disclose that it gave banks and other institutions an estimated $3.3 trillion in emergency loans and other assistance during the financial crisis. Sanders, whose amendment required the Fed to make the information public, called the revelations "jaw dropping." The disclosure, available on the Fed Web site, was strenuously opposed by Chairman Ben Bernanke during a 2009 Senate Budget Committee hearing. The requirement to reveal the information was mandated by a Sanders amendment to the Wall Street reform law. The same amendment ordered the Government Accountability Office to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of the Fed. "Almost two years ago I asked Chairman Bernanke to tell the American people which financial institutions and corporations received trillions of dollars as part of the Wall Street bailout. He refused. Today, as a result of an audit-the-Fed provision I put into the financial reform bill, we finally learn the truth - and it is astounding," Sanders said. (Read his full statement here.) To watch the senator's interview with Eliot Spitzer on CNN, click here.

Food Safety A procedural hitch at least temporarily sidetracked a food-safety bill that the Senate had approved on Tuesday. At a time when millions of Americans are sickened by food-borne illnesses each year, the Senate voted to require companies to institute an aggressive safety testing procedures, maintain clear records, and have emergency plans in place. The measure also would require imported food to be subject to the same standards as food grown or made in the United States. And it would increase the number of FDA inspectors while allowing the agency to initiate mandatory recalls and suspend a facility's operations. Sanders responded to concerns by small farmers in Vermont, where there has been a significant increase in sustainable vegetable farms, and added a provision exempting small, low-risk, on-farm food processors from the new regulations aimed at large agribusinesses.

Offshore Drilling The Obama administration this week reinstated an offshore drilling ban which mirrored policy first proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders last May - the president had lifted the moratorium prior to the now-infamous BP oil spill on the Gulf Coast. Sanders, a member of both the Senate energy and environment committee, introduced his Clean Coasts and Efficient Cars legislation (S.3433) which would have put a moratorium on offshore drilling of the east and west coasts of the country and in certain areas off of Florida. Now that is again the policy of the federal government. At a hearing in May, Sanders had asked Interior Sec. Ken Salazar if he would support reinstating a drilling moratorium. Salazar said no. This week, Salazar confirmed his agency was reinstating the policy for the next 7 years. Sanders legislation also called for raising fuel economy standards to a minimum of 55mpg by 2030. That aspect of his bill has also been supported by the administration which plans to raise fuel economy standards to between 47 and 62 MPG by 2025. Between those two policy decisions from the president, Sanders' legislation has effectively been implemented despite finding little support from his Senate colleague for the proposal.

Members of Congress create their own Retirement Benefits. Do you get to enact by law your retirement benefits?

Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress

US Senators and Representatives Incomes for 2009

at: www.opensecrets.org/pfds

Here are two we should all make ourselves familiar with

The first amount given is the minimum, the second the maximum, third figure is the average amount of money

House (on graph 135 and 104)

John Boehner (R-Ohio)

$1,801,094

$5,340,000

$3,570,547

Eric Cantor (R-Va)

$2,175,157

$7,533,999

$4,854,578

also of interest

Senate (on graph32 and 25)
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky)	$7,102,036	$32,756,000	$19,929,018

Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)

$12,556,055

$44,669,000

$28,612,527

McCAIN vs. McCAIN - WILL THE REAL McCAIN STAND UP? and furthermore THE SENATE BAILOUT BILL WENT OFF THE RIGHT TRACK

I had a good laugh with this first clip of

The Daily Show - Jon Stewart - October 2, 2008
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Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Bailout Bill Passes

8:24

I am not happy with the Senate's Financial bailout/rescue bill. I am voting for OBAMA - BIDEN but that doesn't mean I agree with everything. This bill is not fit for the problem we have been hearing about since Paulson brought us the deal.

The Senate Breakdown of the Bailout Vote October 1, 2008

The House of Representatives Breakdown of the Bailout Vote September 29, 2008

WALL ST.'S RESCUE LEGISLATION: MAKERS OF RUM, TOY ARROWS TAG ALONG

Bill larded with 'goodies' for all

PAUL WALDIE

October 3, 2008

The U.S. government's $700-billion (U.S.) rescue plan won't just bail out Wall Street, it's also going to help rum makers, film producers, race car drivers, sheep farmers and children who play bow and arrows - provided their arrows are wooden.

The bailout legislation passed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday night contains dozens of special tax breaks and spending measures, many of which have been pet causes for some politicians for years. They were inserted largely to make the rescue package more palatable to members of the House of Representatives, who voted down an earlier version of the plan on Monday.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed the rescue package last week as an emergency effort to get billions of dollars worth of bad housing-related investments off the books of financial firms. Since then, the plan has swelled from a three-page document to a 451-page piece of legislation loaded with $150-billion worth of extras. They include:

Dropping a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows made for children, a cause of politicians in Oregon to help manufacturers in their state;

Extending a cut in the excise tax on rum made in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;

Increasing funding for the Wool Research Trust Fund, which provides grants to wool makers and sheep farmers, and for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund;

Extending tax breaks for film and television productions, mine rescue training, undercover operations, motorsport race tracks, railway maintenance, idling reduction units in trucks, refined coal used by steel producers, small wind power projects, donations of food or books to charities, hurricane relief employees and people affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill;

New rules for mental health benefits and the disclosure of information in terrorist cases.

Adding tax and spending measures to proposed legislation is common practice in the U.S. Congress, but the financial rescue plan was supposed to be an emergency, targeted at just the bailout.

The bill now heads for a vote in the House of Representatives, where some members are proposing to stick on more measures including a $61-billion stimulus package.

The legislation "is no longer an emergency package, it's no longer a bailout package, it's just your typical year-end Christmas tree with goodies for everyone," said Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, which has opposed the bailout bill.

Read the full article

Vermont US Senator Bernie Sanders

Watch Video of Independent Vermont US Senator speak about the financil bailout

Here is Bernie Sanders Senate Floor Speech on the Bailout:

Easy Street -- 10/02/2008

While the middle class has declined under President Bush's reckless economic policies, the people on top have never had it so good. For the first seven years of Bush's tenure, the wealthiest 400 individuals in our country saw a $670 billion increase in their wealth, and at the end of 2007 owned over $1.5 trillion in wealth. We have the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth, with the top 1 percent earning more income than the bottom 50 percent. There has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthiest people in this country, when, among others, CEOs of Wall Street firms received unbelievable amounts in bonuses, including $39 billion in bonuses in the year 2007 alone for just the five major investment houses.

"“Maybe I am the only person in America who thinks so, but I have a hard time understanding why we are giving $700 billion to the secretary of the Treasury, who is the former C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs, which, along with other financial institutions, actually got us into this problem,” Sanders said. “Maybe I am the only person in America who thinks that is a little bit weird, but that is what I think.”

“Most of my constituents did not earn a $38 million bonus in 2005 or make over $100 million in total compensation in three years, as did Henry Paulson, the current secretary of the Treasury, and former CEO of Goldman Sachs,” Senator Bernie Sanders said moments before the Senate voted Wednesday for a $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

“Most of my constituents did not make $354 million in total compensation over the past five years as did Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers,” Sanders added. “Most of my constituents did not cash out $60 million in stock after a $29 billion bailout for Bear Stearns after that failing company was bought out by J.P. Morgan Chase. Most of my constituents did not get a $161 million severance package as E. Stanley O'Neill, former CEO Merrill Lynch did.”

Sanders argued that those who caused the problems in our economy should pay for the solution. "If we are going to bail out Wall Street, it should be those people who have caused the problem, those people who have benefited from Bush's tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, those people who have taken advantage of deregulation, those people are the people who should pick up the tab, and not ordinary working people,” the senator had argued.

He offered an amendment that would have taxed the very wealthy to pay for the bailout. It lost on a voice vote.

So Sanders voted against the bailout bill, which nevertheless passed by a lopsided majority in the Senate. The plan reportedly is gaining ground in the House, which could take it up on Friday.

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Palin Debate Training

02:10

Sarah Palin has been training a month for this debate, just like Bronson Pinchot did for "Circus of the Stars."

The Daily Show full episode October 2, 2008

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Sarah Palin has her own rules. If/when she has problems as Vice-President and/or President one day, will she simply ignore the ones she doesn't like?

I think this question is ridiculous in a way: Who Won the VP Debate?
You can look good on the TV screen and come across as someone who has answered the questions good enough for a beauty contest, but that has no bearing on whether or not you are qualified to be Vice-President. I am hoping there are enough smart voters to see through the charm and vote for the one with real knowledge. The kind that didn't come from cramming.
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Palin: How long have I been at this? Like five weeks?

I skipped all but a few minutes of pundits after the VP debate tonight.

Am I the only one who noticed, that Sarah Palin smiled all the way through this debate? This looked more like what a beauty contestant does. She smiled all through talking about war. War and smiling just don't go together.

I am voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. However, the Senate bailout bill is wrong. The extra junk in the bill are as wrong as those who sold mortgages to those who couldn't afford them. We need to do something. But doing something shouldn't be an excuse to do things with rum and arrows.