President Barack Obama: Weekly Address

President Obama may have to end up pulling back from his desire to change the tone in Washington.  The business of the people is too important to waste time trying to prove a point — that Washington CAN change it’s ways.

The Colbert Report:

Colbert meets John Podesta, President Barack Obama’s transition team leader.

This is funny especially at the very end.

The Colbert Report:

Colbert puts the Republican’s NO vote in the House in their place.  Republicans should refuse any money for their State that comes from any stimulus package!

Bill Clinton & Putin Meeting

Bill Clinton’s latest title is husband of America’s new secretary of state, but that has not stopped him from flexing his own diplomatic muscles while in Davos this week. The New York Observer’s Joe Conason reports that Bill’s moves at the World Economic Forum — including a long talk with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — reveal that the former president will “continue to be an active figure on the international stage.”

While former President Bill Clinton speaks highly of President Obama, this forum is exactly why I didn’t want Senator Hillary Clinton to be given the Secretary of State position.  President Obama runs the risk of having Bill Clinton out there making promises, deals and statements that could create problems for us.

We should only have one Sec of State at a time.

Is Media Driving Economy?

During the presidential campaign all we heard from the Republican Party was about the media’s fascination over Barack Obama.  That it was the media that got Obama elected with their undying love toward the man.  It was because the media never reported the ‘facts’ about Obama’s past that he was elected, etc.. etc…

I have to admit it.  The media can sell an idea or a person by how they cover it or them.  They are as good as any of your favorite commercials.

That is why I’ve come to the conclusion that a huge part of the reason our economy is tanking is because the media is constantly reporting every little piece of bad news about it and rarely reporting the good news. (more…)

Iraq War Memorial: A Shoe for Bush

UPDATE!!!!!

Iraqi police have ordered that the Shoe Memorial be removed.

This is what we get for “liberating” the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator?

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — For the war-beaten orphans of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, this big old shoe fits.

A huge sculpture of the footwear hurled at President Bush in December during a trip to Iraq has been unveiled in a ceremony at the Tikrit Orphanage complex.

Assisted by children at the home, sculptor Laith al-Amiri erected a brown replica of one of the shoes hurled at Bush and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by journalist Muntadhir al-Zaidi during a press conference in Baghdad. (more…)

If Republicans Won’t Vote Yes: Reverse Course

If Republicans won’t join you in boosting the economy and thereby helping the American people, even if you compromise with them, then reverse course and do everything that you had planned on doing and more.

President Obama, you and the Democrats have pushed the stimulus package since before getting elected in November of 2008.  You have pushed for tax cuts for over a year now.  You began putting your economic team together even before getting elected.  You and your team have been working and planning since that time to get the economy that you were going to inherit back in shape. That’s why it’s odd to hear people say, “why the rush, why not study the problem, debate it first?”  You and the Americans that voted for you, have done this for over a year now.  They voted for ‘your’ vision and and ‘your’ plans — not the Republicans. (more…)

Short Term Jobs = Consumer Confidence = More Spending = More Jobs

I keep hearing the Republicans complaining about President Obama and the Democrat’s plans to spend money fixing up the National Mall or buying new cars for the Federal government.  They claim they aren’t stimulus actions.

I beg to differ.  These projects create short term jobs for thousands of workers across America.  While these people are working, other consumers are hearing good news about the economy (people are working again).  After hearing that things seem to be picking up with the economy, folks begin to spend more money (having more confidence in the economy and their own job).

Consumers buying new products causes even more jobs to be created to handle the work involved in getting the supplies/services for that consumer.   This equals long term stimulus.

That birth control plan everybody’s talking about; you ever stop to think who will pay for the babies born because there wasn’t money for birth control.  Most of those babies come from poorer neighborhoods.  The government can pay a sum up front to save money down the road.  It cost more to give birth and raise a child then it does to possible stop the birth from happening at all.

Republicans are also complaining about giving relief to wage-earners who pay Social Security taxes but do not earn enough to owe income tax.  Again I say, if these people have money in their pockets, they will in the short term buy things.  Along with the other jobs I mentioned, the economy ‘appears’ to be doing better — thereby causing other consumers to gain confidence enough to go out and buy more things, which in turn creates more jobs, a spiral effect.

Spending money on health care costs and unemployment has the same above effect.  If the federal government continues to pay the unemployed, they continue to spend money which in turns creates more jobs.

The ultimate goal should be to get American’s confidence back.  If they think their job is safe, and their banks are working, they will go out and buy things and services.  They will borrow money to buy those things which in turn helps banks.

Republicans have all sorts of good ideas now on how to save the economy.  Americans must remember, it was the Republicans that had complete control of the purse and administration for the past 8 years.  If they wanted to give corporate companies more tax cuts, why didn’t they back then?  They didn’t need Democrats to help get the bills passed.  If they wanted to give middle class tax cuts, why didn’t they do so during the past 8 years?

Why on earth should we trust the Republicans with our economy when it was their actions or lack there of, that got us where we are today.    They ignored the middle class and poor people.  They thought giving tax cuts to the rich and big business – would create a booming economy (trickle down economics again) — they were WRONG then, and WRONG now.

President Obama’s team has put forth a complete package to try and calm the nerves or the consumers and thereby stop the recession from getting even worse.  While stimulating the economy Obama plans on leaving proof of purchase behind — infrastructure, roads, schools, bridges, an electric grid, etc…

If you think your plan is a better one, then say so and tell us why.  But don’t expect us to ‘take your word’ for it like you have the past 8 years.

Still Good News Out There Folks!

There are several companies actually hiring workers.  Here’s a short listing:

Edwards Jones

Google

Wegmans Food Market

Cisco

Genentech

Methodist Hospital System

Whole Foods

Microsoft – 3 locations

Burns & McDonnell

Ernst & Young

Booz Allen Hamilton

Scirpps

Pricewater

Mayo Clinic

KPMG

T-Mobile

Not everybody is cutting workers.  Remember that when you hear the bad news.

Jon Stewart of the Daily Show makes a great point about Guantanamo detainees and Obama possibly moving some of them to U.S..