Video: Obama Weekly Address (1-24-09) January 25, 2009
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In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discusses how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.
“This is not just a short-term program to boost employment,” he said. “It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.”
The Administration is still working with Congress to refine the plan, but in the address, President Obama lays out the key priorities. He goes into detail, noting that the plan will update our electric grid by laying more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines; weatherize 2.5 million homes; protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans in danger of losing their coverage; secure 90 major ports; renovate 10,000 schools; and triple the number of science fellowships.
Courtesy Whitehouse.gov
Coleman packs, vows to continue legal fight for Senate seat January 22, 2009
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WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Norm Coleman began packing his Capitol Hill office Wednesday, but said he has no intention of giving up his legal fight to serve another term in Congress.
Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota, trails Democrat Al Franken by 225 votes. But in an interview with CNN, Coleman claimed Franken’s lead was “artificial” and expressed hope that the Minnesota courts will rule in his favor on ballot disputes when a court hearing begins next week.
“I really do have a sense of confidence that this will work itself out the right away,” Coleman said.
Franken, the comedian-turned liberal talk show host, was also on Capitol Hill on Wednesday meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, “to discuss the legislative agenda, especially the economic stimulus” plan, a Reid spokesman said.
Back in Minnesota, lawyers for the two men met with a three-judge panel in the afternoon.
Franken attorney David Burman argued the court may not have proper jurisdiction to hear Coleman’s case. Coleman attorney Jim Langdon said it does.
Team Coleman has maintained there are issues at hand only the court can resolve, such as the notion of ballots that might have been double counted and rejected absentee ballots that might have been excluded in error.
-Article continued @ Sourced Site.
Obama re-takes oath of office January 22, 2009
Posted by trouble97018 in Democracy, Law, News, Obama, Politics.add a comment
Courtesy Salon:
Sometimes, even presidents — and chief justices of the Supreme Court — need to take the occasional mulligan. Wednesday evening, Barack Obama was sworn in as president again, and this time he and Chief Justice John Roberts got it right.
On Tuesday, Obama, following Roberts’ lead, had said, “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will execute the office of President of the United States faithfully” instead of “do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.”
“We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the President was sworn in appropriately yesterday,” new White House Counsel Greg Craig said in a statement. “But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time.”
A pool reporter was present for the swearing-in. According to the pool report, as Roberts prepared, Obama joked, “We decided it was so much fun…” and later told the chief justice, “We’re going to do this
-Article Continues @ Sourced Site.
Politics, lawsuits entangle financial firm in state January 19, 2009
Posted by trouble97018 in Corruption, Democrats, News, Politics, Repiglicans.add a comment
Courtesy Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
HARRISBURG — The head of a financial company the FBI raided two years ago in an ongoing investigation into “pay-to-play” practices donated more than $400,000 to state officials and political committees, and is accused in two lawsuits of colluding with bankers on municipal bond deals.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission paid the Investment Management Advisory Group of Pottstown, which advises local and state governments on municipal bond deals, about $3.5 million in fees over the past decade, said turnpike spokesman Bill Capone. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency paid the company, known as IMAGE, $142,500 in 2005 and 2006 for financial advice, an agency spokesman said.
IMAGE had contracts across Pennsylvania with school districts and authorities. The company advised the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority on three financing deals.
David Eckhart, president and managing director of IMAGE, gave $401,950 to state candidates and political committees since 1999, state records show. He donated $67,000 to federal candidates. Records show Eckhart continued to make significant campaign contributions through September 2008.
“Dave’s company has done great work,” said Gene Grabowski, a spokesman for IMAGE. “All these (campaign) contributions do is enhance your chance of being noticed.” He said Eckhart hasn’t donated to campaigns lately.
Eckhart gave $58,000 to a committee controlled by former Republican Party state chairman Bob Asher of Montgomery County; $55,500 to former Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, who is on trial on corruption charges; $27,000 to Gov. Ed Rendell; $22,500 to U.S. Sen. Bob Casey while he was state treasurer and auditor general; $20,000 to a committee controlled by the late Ron White of Philadelphia, who was indicted in an influence-peddling scheme; and $10,000 to former Gov. Tom Ridge, according to Bureau of Elections documents.
-Article continued @ Sourced Site.
Tanks In My Memory Goodbye George!–Video January 18, 2009
Posted by trouble97018 in Comic Relief, News, Opinion, Politics, Repiglicans, Video.add a comment
Here are the lyrics for this video. Wonderful!
Thanks for the memory
The hell you put us through
Deserves a big fuck you
From Bush v Gore
To endless war
It really was a coup
So fuck you, George Bush
Thanks for the memory
You failed and so much more
Approvals through the floor
You are the first at being worse
Than all who’ve come before
How inept you are
Yes it was Hell while it lasted
To see our country so detested
And how is it you’re not arrested
It was not fun
So much harm done
And tanks in my memory
They rumble through my dreams
Like Abu Bhraib screams
The countless lies
As good men die
America got reamed
How awful it was
Think you’re the ministry
Get on your knees and pray
Make Terrie Schiavo stay
The word of God
You Christian fraud
Isn’t yours to say
How ghoulish it was
Goodbye let’s make it forever
With our place in history reserved
With such failure it’s really deserved
Just make my day
Go far away
Sank the economy
Deregulation sprees
Send factories overseas
Export the jobs of working slobs
Drive them to their knees
How bankrupt you are
Emptied the treasury
Cut taxes for the rich
Financial bait n’ switch
A costly war
As Bailouts soar
You really found your niche
You fucked us George Bush
I was an average worker
Then my job, house and wife went away
But my credit card debt’s here to stay
No bankruptcy
To set me free
Homeland security
The Towers that fell down
New Orleans left to drown
Read My Pet Goat
Watched bodies float
You really are a clown
How clueless you are
How’s this for victory
From shock and awe TV
To leashed depavity
The dead are hid
No contracts bid
Bin Laden still runs free
You punk ass George Bush
Your Preemptive war was folly
World sympathy soured to fury
The World Court should next be your jury
So many died
You satisfied?
Right-wing philosophy
The garbage that they spew
To benefit the few
Eradicate
This cult of hate
We’re giving you the shoe
All toether once more
U.S. Bushectomy
It’s time for us to cut
This boil from our butt
His public life
Under the knife
Bye George there goes one nut
So fuck you
FUCK YOU
GEORGE BUSH
Another blow for Republicans as senator announces retirement January 13, 2009
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Courtesy Rawsstory/AFP:
The beleaguered US Republican Party, reeling from big losses to Democrats and about to relinquish the White House, took another blow on Monday, when a key Ohio senator announced his retirement.
Veteran Senator George Voinovich said he would not run for a third term when his seat comes up for reelection in 2010, leaving Republicans another tricky race in a state which voted for Democrat Barack Obama for president.
Given the fierce challenges facing the United States, including the deep economic crisis, Voinovich said he could best serve his state by devoting himself to the Senate rather than campaigning and fundraising.
“In my lifetime of public service, I have never seen the country in such perilous circumstances, Voinovich said in a statement.
“Not since the Great Depression and the Second World War have we been confronted with such challenges, as a nation and as a world.
“These next two years in office, for me, will be the most important years that I have served in my entire political career,” said Voinovich, a former mayor of Cleveland and Governor of Ohio.
-Article Continued @ Sourced Site.
Calif. man charged for threatening Obama’s life over Yahoo January 10, 2009
Posted by trouble97018 in '08 Election, Campaigning, Domestic Terrorism, Law, News, Obama, Politics.add a comment
Nearly three months after telling a Yahoo message board that Barack Obama will “have a 50 cal in the head soon,” a California man was charged Thursday with threatening a presidential candidate.
After raiding Walter Edward Bagdasarian’s home in November, U.S. Secret Service agents found three handguns and three rifles, including a 30.06 with a telescopic sight and a Remington .50 caliber muzzle-loading rifle.
The 47-year-old man is not accused of actually plotting against Obama, and he was released last month on a $100,000 real estate bond, according toWired.
The message board post in question, which appeared on Oct. 22, about two weeks before the election, was titled “Shoot the nig.”
“County fkd for another 4+ years, what nig has done ANYTHING right???? Long term???? Never in history, except sambos… Fk the niggar, he will have a 50 cal in the head soon,” the message concluded. Bagdasarian reportedly admitted authoring the message during an interview with Secret Service agents.
Article Continues @ Sourced Site.
Absentee Ballots Push Franken Lead to 225 Votes January 4, 2009
Posted by trouble97018 in '08 Election, Democrats, News, Politics, Voting.add a comment
Courtesy FiveThirtyEight.com
Minnesota took until 5 PM today to begin actually counting rejected absentee ballots, as the Canvassing Board sorted through various legal objections, underwent the arduous task of physically opening more than 900 ballots, and then gave the campaigns a chance to review the back of the ballots for identifying marks. Once they finally got underway, however, with election officials calling out the names of the candidates one ballot at a time, Franken went on a long winning streak and essentially never looked back.
All told, Franken gained a net of 176 ballots from the 952 under review according to The Uptake’s unofficial count, putting him 225 votes ahead in the recount overall. Excluding disqualified ballots, Franken won 53.7 percent of the votes counted today, Coleman 34.1 percent, and other candidates 12.4 percent. Franken’s 225-vote advantage is now slightly larger than the one Norm Coleman held before the recount began, when he led by 215 votes based on the certified Election Night tally.
Although the absentee ballots were expected by all observers to help Franken’s prospects, the nearly 20-point margin that he ran up on Coleman today was surprisingly large; two pre-election polls that surveyed absentee voters had Franken winning that group by 8 points and 12 points, respectively. (n.b. Originally missed the Research 2000 poll on this — nrs). It should also be remembered, however, that the Democrats made a large nationwide push for early and absentee voters this year, with Barack Obama overperforming by as many as 20-30 points among those voters in certain states.
The other possibility, of course, is that the Franken campaign did a more effective job of using its veto power on absentee ballots, perhaps by taking better advantage of voter lists.
-Article Continues @ Sourced Site.
Jeb Bush poised for Florida Senate run December 27, 2008
Posted by trouble97018 in News.1 comment so far
Courtesy Politico:
As Caroline Kennedy pursues her bright-lights, big-city bid for the U.S. Senate, another child of dynasty is quietly testing the waters for his own Senate run.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — the son of one president and the brother of another — has been working the phones since Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) announced earlier this month that he won’t seek reelection in 2010. Sources say Bush hasn’t made up his mind about running for Martinez’ seat, but that he’s getting green lights from would-be contributors and blessings from Republican Party leaders.
Strategists and political observers take it as a sign that Bush will run.
“Everything indicates that he’s in,” said David Johnson, a Republican strategist and the CEO of Strategic Vision. “You’re not making calls and laying the ground work for fundraising unless you’re clearing the field for your candidacy.”
Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida and an expert on Florida politics, said Bush’s phone calls around the state are “a good sign” that he could be jumping in the race, something that she says is “music to the ears of Florida Republicans.”
“Nothing could have come at a better time,” MacManus said. “Republicans here in Florida were so down after the election. The mere mention of Jeb’s potential Senate run has put Republicans in a much more festive holiday mood.”
Still, those who know Jeb Bush best say there’s just no telling what he’ll decide.
“I would be more surprised if he did run than if he didn’t,” said Republican state Sen. Michael Bennett. “And I know that’s surprising considering he would be walking away from a surefire win and a seat in the U.S. Senate. I don’t know of many people who would walk away from that.”
Bennett said that the legislative process has never appealed to Bush.
“Jeb wants to be king. He doesn’t want to be a prince,” he said. “He’s used to getting things done and getting things done now. He’s not one to wait for the process.”
-Article Continues @ Sourced Site.
GOP IT Guru for 04 Ohio Election Dies in Plane Crash December 20, 2008
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Courtesy Rawstory:
A top level Republican IT consultant who was set to testify in a case alleging GOP election tampering in Ohio died in a plane crash late Friday night.
Michael Connell — founder of Ohio-based New Media Communications, which created campaign Web sites for George W. Bush and John McCain — died instantly after his single-prop, private aircraft smashed into a vacant home in suburban Lake Township, Ohio.
“The plane was attempting to land around 6 p.m. Friday at Akron-Canton Airport when it crashed about three miles short of the runway,” reports theAkron Beacon Journal.
Connell’s exploits as a top GOP IT ‘guru’ have been well documented by RAW STORY’s investigative team.
The interest in Mike Connell stems from his association with a firm called GovTech, which he had spun off from his own New Media Communications under his wife Heather Connell’s name. GovTech was hired by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to set up an official election website at election.sos.state.oh.us to presented the 2004 presidential returns as they came in.
Connell is a long-time GOP operative, whose New Media Communications provided web services for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Republican National Committee and many Republican candidates. This in itself might have raised questions about his involvement in creating Ohio’s official state election website.
However, the alternative media group ePlubibus Media further discovered in November 2006 that election.sos.state.oh.us was hosted on the servers of a company in Chattanooga, TN called SmarTech, which also provided hosting for a long list of Republican Internet domains.
-Article Continues @ Sourced Site.
The Central Tabulator 