A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser.
Snubbing the Dalai Lama.
Signing off on a secret deal with drug makers.
Freezing out a TV network.
Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too.
MEDIA BIAS? WHAT MEDIA BIAS!
The Obama administration has cut funding for pro-democracy and human rights programs in Iran, reversing years of efforts during the Bush administration to help develop a civil society, congressional sources told Newsmax this week.
The move is apparently intended to please Iran’s rulers after they criticized President Obama and the State Department for allegedly seeking to fund a “velvet revolution” during the June presidential elections in Iran.
“It sounds like the Iranians complained in Geneva and we acceded to their demands,” a former senior government official familiar with the pro-democracy programs told Newsmax.
Russia and the United States have tentatively agreed to a weapons inspection program that would allow Russians to visit nuclear sites in America to count missiles and warheads. The plan, which Fox News has learned was agreed to in principle during negotiations, would constitute the most intrusive weapons inspection program the U.S. has ever accepted.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said publicly Tuesday that the two nations have made "considerable" progress toward reaching agreement on a new strategic arms treaty.
The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires in December and negotiators have been racing to reach agreement on a successor.
Clinton said the U.S. would be as transparent as possible.
"We want to ensure that every question that the Russian military or Russian government asks is answered," she said, calling missile defense "another area for deep cooperation between our countries."
On another critical issue, Lavrov declared that it would be counterproductive to threaten Iran with more sanctions over its nuclear program -- as he resisted efforts by Clinton to win agreement for tougher measures should Iran fail to prove its program is peaceful.
Sima Samar: Women’s rights activist in Afghanistan: “With dogged persistence and at great personal risk, she kept her schools and clinics open in Afghanistan even during the most repressive days of the Taliban regime, whose laws prohibited the education of girls past the age of eight. When the Taliban fell, Samar returned to Kabul and accepted the post of Minister for Women’s Affairs.”
Ingrid Betancourt: French-Colombian ex-hostage held for six years.
Dr. Denis Mukwege: Doctor, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has dedicated his life to helping Congolese women and girls who are victims of gang rape and brutal sexual violence.”
Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition: “These organizations are recognized for their consistently serious efforts to clean up cluster bombs, also known as land mines. Innocent civilians are regularly killed worldwide because the unseen bombs explode when stepped upon.”
Hu Jia: Human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, who was sentenced last year to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for ‘inciting subversion of state power.’”
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Wei Jingsheng: Spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China’s communist system. He now lives in the United States.”
AND THE WINNER IS!!!!!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. labor group on Thursday asked the Obama administration's "pay czar" to stop any retirement payments to Bank of America Chief Executive Ken Lewis.
The Service Employees International Union sent a letter to pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, calling Lewis "one of the chief architects" of the economic crisis and saying he should not receive any retirement or severance package until the bank stops foreclosures and increases lending.
"Taxpayers have already provided nearly $200 billion in bailouts and backstops to Bank of America," the letter said. "This enormous public investment entitles taxpayers to have a say in the bank's executive compensation practices."
If you take FED money, be prepared to have unions thugs along with a PAY CZAR have a say in what your compensation will be.
Good luck Mr. Lewis!
Gen. McChrystal has proposed a strategy for Afghanistan that calls for more troops. Substantially more troops!
In another brilliant international policy move, Obama has decided to not meet with the universal symbol of peace, the Dalai Lama.
In a monumental blow to Obama, the IOC eliminated Chicago in the first round of voting.
[T]he administration should consider a tax on consumption, such as a value-added tax [VAT] system similar to that in use in the European Union. Mr. Podesta suggested that its impact should be limited to protect lower-income people, who otherwise might be hit particularly hard.
“As progressives we need to debate the policy merits [of] a range of options, including designing a small and more progressive value-added tax,” Mr. Podesta said in a statement Tuesday.
The report, said the administration can’t rely on taxing richer Americans and companies to reduce the deficit to sustainable levels by 2014 because those groups would see 40% tax increases.
The Obama administration wants to stimulate consumer spending to revive the economy. Ok, good idea! But to achieve that, they propose a tax on consumption. Brilliant!!
I'm getting the sense that a shittier economy is the goal of this administration.
