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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (77130)	6/3/2010 11:18:30 AM
From: SiouxPal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Paul McCartney Makes Fun Of George W. Bush, Praises Obama At White House Concert WASHINGTON — If the first British invasion of the White House ended with the house afire, the latest had Barack and Michelle Obama and their kids rocking out in their seats Wednesday night at a tribute concert for former Beatle Paul McCartney. The setting was the ornate East Room, chandeliers overhead, George and Martha Washington portraits on the walls and an all-star lineup of performers cranking out some of McCartney's greatest hits. Stevie Wonder had the Obamas clapping to "We Can Work It Out." The Jonas Brothers did "Baby You Can Drive My Car." Corinne Bailey Rae slowed things down with "Blackbird." And Faith Hill stroked "Long and Winding Road." It was McCartney himself who brought down the house by belting out "Michelle," aiming his words straight at a first lady named Michelle. He said he'd been "itching" to perform it at the White House, and asked the president's forgiveness in advance. The first lady was soon mouthing the words along with McCartney and the president was swaying in his seat. After serenading the first lady with the lyrics "I love you, I love you, I love you," McCartney joked that he just might be the "first guy ever to be punched out by a president." The whole night was built around Obama's presentation to McCartney of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, awarded by the Library of Congress. McCartney said it was a moment like no other. "I don't think there could be anything more special than to play here," the Englishman said. And then he volunteered to make it a regular gig. "Lunchtimes, we could come around," he offered. "We're cheap." McCartney, 67, left no question about how he felt about Obama, telling the president that in tough times, "You have billions of us who are rooting for you and we know you are going to come through." Later, after the TV cameras had left, he expressed appreciation for the Library of Congress and added a zinger: "After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is." Obama hailed McCartney's songs as a huge part of American culture, telling the singer-songwriter, "That's right, we stole you, Sir Paul." The Beatles might not have been the first rock group, Obama said, but "they blew the walls down for everyone else." "They helped to lay the soundtrack for an entire generation," the president said. McCartney closed out the concert with a string of hits that had the whole audience singing along to "Hey Jude." By the end, Obama and his family were on stage singing along with the "nah, nah, hey Jude." Comedian Jerry Seinfeld supplied the concert with its comic relief. He had lots of compliments for McCartney and one complaint – he couldn't quite figure some of McCartney's lyrics. Such as: "She was just 17. You know what I mean." Seinfeld: "I'm not sure I do know what you mean, Sir Paul. I think I know what you mean. And I think there's a law enforcement agency in a couple of states that might want to ask you a few questions." Among others performing were Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Herbie Hancock, White Stripes singer and guitarist Jack White, Lang Lang and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. The Gershwin prize is named for the songwriting brothers George and Ira Gershwin, whose collections are housed at the library. Previous recipients of the Gershwin award are Wonder and Paul Simon. Those not lucky enough to snag tickets to the East Room gig can catch the concert July 28, when it's televised on PBS' "In Performance at the White House." huffingtonpost.com

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (77130)	6/3/2010 11:56:25 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

The Next Greece? It's Hungary By Win Thin An election in a debt-laden European country brings in a new government, which then proceeds to claim that the previous government hid "skeletons" in the closet and masked the true depth of its fiscal problems. Greece? No, Hungary. In case the parallels were too subtle for the market, Lajos Kosa, the deputy chairman of the incoming Fidesz party, warned that Hungary has a "slim" chance of avoiding a Greece-like situation. Although he may be indulging in a bit of hyperbole, we do note that Hungary's fundamentals are among the worst in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with an external debt/GDP ratio of almost 140% in 2009 and a budget deficit that could rise to 7%-8% of GDP this year (vs. the 3.8% target the previous government set with the IMF), according to official Fidesz comments. Politics is clearly playing a role here, with Fidesz trying to heap as much blame as possible on the outgoing Socialists. After taking power May 29, Fidesz is making it clear that the situation is not going to improve much for Hungary in the near term. Kosa said that the government will unveil a two-year crisis management plan this weekend and may suspend some constitutional provisions to tackle the problems. This sounds ominous to us and underscores our belief that Fidesz' two-thirds majority in parliament is actually negative for the nation's outlook. Recall that when Fidesz was last in power it planted the seeds for Hungary's current problems by ramping up spending and blowing out the budget deficit. Hungary has not drawn on any funds from its IMF standby program under its fourth and fifth reviews. That 17-month program was instituted in Nov 2008 and was extended six months to Oct 2010. Fidesz has talked about a new program but stressed that it wants to renegotiate this year's deficit target to 5%-6% of GDP. It remains to be seen whether the IMF or the markets will accept this fiscal slippage while other crisis countries in the eurozone are tightening. read more........... thestreet.com