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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 12:16:54 PM
From: longnshort2 Recommendations  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 103300
 
Can the guy even talk without a teleprompter?? Not to mention they feed him answers with it. Obama has to be the dumbest President ever



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 1:27:37 PM
From: Hope Praytochange  Respond to of 103300
 
to tax more ??



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 1:39:37 PM
From: Bill  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 103300
 
Dow is negative now.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 2:58:11 PM
From: longnshort  Respond to of 103300
 
does it ever end with Obozo.

Obama's drug czar pick has stepson with drug record
Christina Bellantoni (Contact) and Stephen Dinan (Contact)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009

UPDATED:

President Barack Obama (file photo, Associated Press)

The Obama administration nominated as drug czar Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, who said when accepting the post Wednesday that he has experienced the effects of drugs in his own family, but did not specifically mention his stepson, who is currently being held without bail in a Florida jail.

Mr. Kerlikowske's adult stepson was arrested last month for a parole violation and faced misdemeanor drug charges in 2006 and 1998.

"Our nation's drug problem is one of human suffering. And as a police officer, but also in my own family, I have experienced the effects that drugs can have on our youth, our families and our communities," said Mr. Kerlikowske, a 36-year law enforcement veteran.

He said the success of the nation's drug control efforts are "largely dependent" on the ability to decrease demand, especially among young people.

"Tackling our nation's complex drug problem takes a coordinated and multi-faceted effort," Mr. Kerlikowske said. "There is much work to be done, I'm looking forward to getting to work."

President Obama removed the czar post - with the official title head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy - from his Cabinet. Former President George W. Bush had elevated the post to the Cabinet level.

The White House said the Cabinet designation was not necessary since Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has worked on drug policy for decades and he will be right there with the president while the czar will have direct access to them both.

Mr. Biden said Wednesday there was "no one more qualified" to take the job. He also said the chief would aim for a balanced approach to the drug problem, which he said is one of the nation's "most pervasive" and has the most direct relationship with violent crime

"The chief has been in the frontlines in the battle against drugs," Mr. Biden said Wednesday, adding he fought to create the position decades ago. "He knows we need a comprehensive answer."
washingtontimes.com



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 4:03:16 PM
From: Hope Praytochange  Respond to of 103300
 
markets have no confidence on geckObamba-taxcheater: where are markets NOW, kennyboy ???



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 7:26:52 PM
From: GROUND ZERO™  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 103300
 
What I find beyond belief is that almost all of the TARP money given to the banks have been sent to dubai, china, and india by those banks for investment... why are they taking our tax money we gave them to invest overseas? How does THAT stimulate our economy? What a scam, a hoax of the worst kind!!!

GZ



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/11/2009 11:52:36 PM
From: PROLIFE  Respond to of 103300
 
oh yeah...closed up a big 3 points......



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/12/2009 8:26:02 AM
From: Hope Praytochange  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 103300
 
how the markets doing this morning, kennyparrot ???



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/12/2009 8:29:45 AM
From: Hope Praytochange  Respond to of 103300
 
In her 2007 remarks, Ms. Waters alluded to two banks, Independence Bank of Washington, D.C., and "another bank that was about to be acquired by a major white bank out of Illinois."

Ms. Waters didn't mention that OneUnited had been an unsuccessful suitor of Independence, which had been taken over several years earlier. The second bank, which she didn't name, appears to have been Family Savings Bank of Los Angeles. In 2002, that bank backed out of a merger agreement with FBOP Bank of Oak Brook, Ill., and shortly afterward was acquired by OneUnited.

News reports at the time credited the intervention of Ms. Waters and others for Family Savings's change of heart.

At the hearing, Ms. Waters praised OneUnited's senior counsel, Robert P. Cooper, as "typical of the young, brilliant minds that have been amassed at OneUnited Bank."

OneUnited's minority-lending record is mixed. The bank received "outstanding" Community Reinvestment Act ratings for lending in Los Angeles. It has weak ratings in Massachusetts and failed to meet minimum standards in Florida.

In January, Ms. Waters acknowledged she made a call to the Treasury on OneUnited's behalf. The bank's capital, which was heavily invested in shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was all but wiped out with the federal takeover of the two mortgage giants, and the bank was seeking help from regulators.

OneUnited eventually secured bailout funds under the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was set up later that month.

In a brief interview in January, Ms. Waters said she was unaware the bank received $12 million of TARP money, which arrived in December. OneUnited was "just a small" bank, she said.

A provision designed to aid OneUnited was written into the federal bailout legislation by Mr. Frank, who is chairman of the financial-services panel. Mr. Frank has said he inserted the provision to help the only African-American owned bank in his home state. He said in an interview that Ms. Waters's interest "had zero impact on the outcome because I would have done it anyway."

In October, regulators demanded that OneUnited raise fresh capital and name an independent board. The bank was ordered to stop paying for a Porsche used by one of its executives and its chairman's $6.4 million beachfront home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., a luxury enclave between Malibu and Santa Monica.

Write to Susan Schmidt at susan.schmidt@wsj.com



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/12/2009 11:33:41 PM
From: Hope Praytochange  Respond to of 103300
 
Still, some specialists said the incipient rally is reminiscent of the aborted upturn that began in mid-November after stocks had tumbled to their lowest level in 11 years. The S.& P. 500 climbed 24 percent from Nov. 20 to Jan. 6 before it fell in the last two months.

Market analysts say history shows that the strongest stock-market rallies take place amid bear markets as investors search for any sign of good news. But those rallies generally fade, as it becomes clear that economic difficulties will persist for longer than many had hoped for.

“There is nothing new here, every serious bear market has rallies like this,” said James L. Melcher, president of Balestra Capital, a hedge fund, which is betting that the markets deteriorate further.

The nation’s banks, Mr. Melcher noted, may be making money on an operating basis by making new loans with funds borrowed from the Federal Reserve with interest rates approaching zero, given the Fed’s easy-money policies to combat the credit crunch. But all the bad loans and toxic assets from poor decisions in the past are still on their books, he said, and reckoning will come due eventually.

A recovery is not around the corner, economists say, but there is a chance when it comes the rebound will be fairly robust.

Nick Bloom, an economist at Stanford University, said that a declining, though still high, volatility in stock markets and “reasonably good” federal policies suggested that the economy should be able to avoid the long stagnation of Japan in the 1990s or the Great Depression.

Mr. Bloom, who has studied 16 financial crises before the current one, said the recovery, which he expected in late 2009 or early 2010, should be fairly rapid.

Still, Mr. Bloom cautioned, his comparative optimism depends on solid policy steps to ease the credit crunch and restore confidence.

On Wall Street, optimism has been scarce recently, and the several-day rally was greeted with relief, if skeptically.

“The only thing you can say right now is that this was long overdue,” said Ryan Larson, head equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management. “The last several weeks there’s been a bloodbath of selling. Whether this is the bottom or not, nobody’s going to know for months to come. At least for the short term, we’re seeing some very positive signs.”

Vikas Bajaj contributed reporting.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (8995)3/13/2009 12:05:14 AM
From: Hope Praytochange  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 103300
 
Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth


By DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN and SCOTT RASMUSSEN

It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true. The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.

Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date.
[Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth] M.E. Cohen

Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.

A detailed examination of presidential popularity after 50 days on the job similarly demonstrates a substantial drop in presidential approval relative to other elected presidents in the 20th and 21st centuries. The reason for this decline most likely has to do with doubts about the administration's policies and their impact on peoples' lives.

There is also a clear sense in the polling that taxes will increase for all Americans because of the stimulus, notwithstanding what the president has said about taxes going down for 95% of Americans. Close to three-quarters expect that government spending will grow under this administration.

Recent Gallup data echo these concerns. That polling shows that there are deep-seeded, underlying economic concerns. Eighty-three percent say they are worried that the steps Mr. Obama is taking to fix the economy may not work and the economy will get worse. Eighty-two percent say they are worried about the amount of money being added to the deficit. Seventy-eight percent are worried about inflation growing, and 69% say they are worried about the increasing role of the government in the U.S. economy.

When Gallup asked whether we should be spending more or less in the economic stimulus, by close to 3-to-1 margin voters said it is better to have spent less than to have spent more. When asked whether we are adding too much to the deficit or spending too little to improve the economy, by close to a 3-to-2 margin voters said that we are adding too much to the deficit.

Support for the stimulus package is dropping from narrow majority support to below that. There is no sense that the stimulus package itself will work quickly, and according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, close to 60% said it would make only a marginal difference in the next two to four years. Rasmussen data shows that people now actually oppose Mr. Obama's budget, 46% to 41%. Three-quarters take this position because it will lead to too much spending. And by 2-to-1, voters reject House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call for a second stimulus package.