Posts filed under ‘President Barack H. Obama and Co.’
Obama to Propose Cutting Corporate Taxes
OMG. Is this Obama talking or is this Obama under the influence of Citizens United talking?
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama, who has angered businesses with his plans to close corporate tax loopholes, is expected to call for cutting the top 35 percent corporate tax rate as early as this month, according to two sources close to the administration.
The president is likely to propose a rate close to an average of peer nations, the sources said.
Good thing it’s Friday. This is the kind of news that makes me want to take my head off and set it down for a while.
MSNBC Screws Up: Obama Approval Rating at 8%
Check out the chyron (on MSNBC this morning):
(Via.)
Holy cow. Yeah, saving money means making money but it might be time to hire and pay people who actually know how to use the boards.
Obama Sits Down With George H. W. Bush and Jeb Bush in the Oval Office
You can be absolutely, positively, 100% sure you won’t see this on Fox:
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
President Barack Obama meets with former President George H.W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Oval Office, Jan. 27, 2012.
(Via the White House/Flickr.)
Remember When Righties Respected the Office of the President?
Remember George W? Remember those eight years during which the righties told us it verged on treason to show anything but undying reverence and respect for the office of the president?
Me too.
Obama — Enough!
I’m a political news junkie. I live and breathe politics. But @10:13 p.m. ET and almost 60-minutes on, Obama’s State of the Union address is putting me to sleep.
Imagine what non-news junkies are doing. They’re not watching and that’s my point.
Bad move Obama team.
Mitt, Thanks for Releasing Your Tax Returns Today
Last week, when Mitt Romney announced he would release his 2010 tax return and a “summary” of his 2011 tax return on January 24 (as in today), I read a tweet (for the life of me, I wish I could remember who it was from) saying something like: Romney wants to upstage Obama’s State of the Union address.
For a second I thought, yeah, he does. Then I realized that no, the media will chew on the State of the Union address on Tuesday night and Wednesday (and Thursday and Friday), not so much during the day today.
So, again, I wish I could remember who sent that tweet. In retrospect, I think it might have been from a Romney supporter; a Romney supporter who was drinking his or her own Kool-Aid.
Because as it turns out, nothing could be more perfect for President Obama than to have had those returns released today — that 13%-something income tax rate fresh in the mind of those of us who pay at least twice as much.
Take it away Obama (please!).
Romney Paid Half the Taxes Obama Paid in 2010
President Obama paid nearly double the tax rate of Mitt Romney in 2010, despite earning only a fraction of the income.
The president paid 25 percent of his gross income in federal tax, compared to Romney’s 13.7 percent.
The Obamas’ gross income was $1.8 million and they paid $454,000 in federal taxes. The Romneys reported earning $21.7 million and paying $3 million in taxes…
Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Koch) to Boycott State of the Union
From the Denver Post:
We were surprised and disappointed by the laconic press release that Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn sent out Monday announcing that he “will not attend today’s State of the Union Address” because “Congressman Lamborn does not support the policies of Barack Obama.”
We hadn’t noticed that the Colorado Springs Republican was particularly supportive of the president’s policies in 2009, 2010 or 2011, either, yet that didn’t stop him from attending those State of the Union speeches. What would propel him into a one-man boycott this time?
After all, if every Republican who “does not support the policies of Barack Obama” decided to stay home, the chamber would end up half empty and the address would amount to a partisan Democratic rally. Surely basic professional courtesy, not policy consensus, induces most Republicans to pencil in attendance, whatever their personal opinion of the comander in chief.
The same of course holds true when a Republican resides in the White House. President George W. Bush was reviled by many Democrats, yet by and large they were willing every January to accord him the formal respect that Americans expect from the opposition on such occasions.
Note that Mr. Lamborn was awarded an A+ by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity because, like a marionette, he votes exactly the way the richest brothers in the world tell him to. Maybe by boycotting the State of the Union, he’s hoping for an A++, and who knows how many more thousands in campaign contributions.
Follow Up on the Jewish Newspaper Editor Who Called for Obama’s Assassination
Remember my January 21 post about the Jewish newspaper editor who called for Obama’s assassination? Here it is in case you need a refresher.
Well, here’s the latest:
The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times has resigned under pressure after writing a column suggesting that Israel might consider assassinating President Barack Obama, a Jewish news agency reported Monday.
Andrew Adler wrote the Jan. 13 column suggesting that the assassination would be among Israel’s options in dealing with a hostile Iran equipped with nuclear weapons.
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a global news agency, Adler is “relinquishing all day-to-day activities effective immediately” and is seeking a buyer.
Look for Adler to sign on as a Fox News “contributor” any day now.
Boehner Criticizes Obama’s State of the Union Speech Two Days Before He Gives It
This would be Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Hedge Funds) today on the GOP channel:
House Speaker John Boehner has already given his review of President Barack Obama’s forthcoming State of the Union address – and it’s not pretty.
“I’ve read a lot about what the president is going to talk about Tuesday night, and it sounds to me like the same old policies that we’ve seen: More spending, higher taxes, more regulation,” Boehner said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“If that’s what the president is going to talk about Tuesday night, I think that’s pathetic,” the Ohio Republican said.
What a fool, criticizing something that is still being written (per USA/Today): “President Obama is dedicating much of this weekend to writing his State of the Union address.”
The GOP frets that the moniker, the Party of No, has stuck, but they keep reinforcing it.
Obama Campaign Offers Ringtone of Obama Singing Al Green
Surely you caught video of President Obama singing Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” the other day at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. If not, here it is:
(Via.)
Now the Obama campaign is offering that as a ringtone.
Love it.
Jewish Newspaper Editor Suggests Israel Should Assassinate President Obama
Andrew Adler doesn’t seem to realize that his anger has driven him to be as insanely vicious as he perceives Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran to be:
Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, a weekly newspaper serving Atlanta’s Jewish community, devoted his January 13, 2012 column to the thorny problem of the U.S. and Israel’s diverging views on the threat posed by Iran. Basically Israel has three options, he wrote: Strike Hezbollah and Hamas, strike Iran, or “order a hit” on Barack Obama. Either way, problem solved!
Three, give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.
Yes, you read “three” correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel’s existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don’t you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles?
Another way of putting “three” in perspective goes something like this: How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives…Jews, Christians and Arabs alike?
You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.
[...]
UPDATE: Adler has told JTA that he “regrets” the column and plans to publish an apology. Oh, and the Secret Service says it will “make all appropriate, investigative follow-up in regard to this matter,” according to ABC News.
See a larger version of the image above here.
The Republican Circus Stops in South Carolina
Good one sentence summary of today’s South Carolina primary:
Fox Wouldn’t Say This About a Republican President
President Obama went to Florida yesterday to promote tourism.
I know. It looks like a purely political move and it probably was. But you can be sure Fox wouldn’t portray a “jobs” trip by a Republican president this way: “Fantasyland:”
And there’s this: Fox News ‘A-Team’ Psychologist: Being Married Three Times Could Make Gingrich A Better President.
Imagine Fox’s “A-Team” saying that about a Democrat.
Herman Cain to Deliver Tea Party Response to Obama’s State of the Union
Quickie:
Herman Cain will deliver Tea Party response to the State of the Union
Photo via Mediaite.com*
Herman Cain will deliver the Tea Party Express response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Tea Party Express, a political action committee, announced on Thursday that the former presidential candidate would be the speaker. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who also ran for president, was the Tea Party Express speaker in 2011.
“We are excited to have Herman Cain deliver the 2nd Tea Party State of the Union response next week,” Tea Party Express chief strategist Sal Russo said in a statement.
So, in other words, per the corporate lobbying groups who fund the Tea Party Express, Herman Cain is their guy.
I wonder who the grassroots members would pick. Maybe Cain. Maybe not.
(* Snark alert: How is it that the Tea Party folks bought a bus, they hired a company to create the graphics on the outside, they reviewed and approved those graphics, they hired a company to paint the bus, and yet that chain missed the fact that the word judgment was/is misspelled? Oy.)
Will SC Governor Nikki Haley Quit If Obama is Reelected?
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley spoke at a Tea Party rally this morning and she said this, which seems to imply that she might quit if President Obama wins re-election:
With no mention of Romney, Haley focused her time on voting the president out in November.
Haley noted the National Labor Relations Board challenge to a Boeing Dreamliner facility in North Charleston and Justice Department suits against the state’s new immigration and voter ID laws.
“What they don’t know is that you don’t mess with us here in South Carolina,” Haley said.
That is why the election in November is so important, she said.
“At the end of the day, when we all come together, I cannot continue to lead South Carolina with President Obama in office,” she said. “President Obama is the hardest part of my job and he has to go.”
She sounds so tough but she isn’t. Haley was the Tea Party darling when she was elected in 2010 (with Sarah Palin’s endorsement) but she has since endorsed Romney. Romney? She doesn’t stick to her principles anymore that ol’ Mitt does.
Anyway, I’ll follow-up on November 7.
$45,000 to Hang With President Obama
If I had put up a Tweet of the Day yesterday, or in this case tweets, this would have been it:
One thing I know for sure, none of those 22 supporters live in my world. In my world, $45,000 is a year’s salary, or even two years.
Hate Tweets Pour Into Michelle Obama’s New Twitter Account
Michelle Obama signed on to Twitter this morning so, obviously, she’s had an account there for only a matter of hours. Already, vicious hate-tweets are pouring in. See an example of what being Michelle Obama on Twitter has been like for her on her first day here.
Some examples:
I don’t care who you are, tweets like this hurt, which, of course, is the whole point.
Stay classy wingers!
Michelle Obama Signs on to Twitter
Morning tidbit: Michelle Obama signed on to Twitter today (go here).
Per her second tweet:
Obama May Move Convention Speech to Bank of America Stadium
President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is considering moving the final day of the Democratic National Convention to Bank of America Stadium to sell more skyboxes to wealthy donors, three Democrats involved in the fundraising told Bloomberg News.
The 74,000-seat home of the Carolina Panthers also would have room for the convention to sell more floor passes close to the stage. Planners are struggling to meet a $36.6 million fundraising goal, according to the Democrats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter.
[...]
Obama advisers are aware of the political downside of the president delivering his nationally televised acceptance in a stadium named for a bank that considered imposing a fee that he said would have “mistreated” customers, sources told Bloomberg. That would be outweighed, they said, by the chance to lure more big-dollar contributors to cover the convention’s costs.
Thanks to Citizens United and the activist Republican judges on the Supreme Court, here we are America.
Free Speech — As Long as the Government Approves
This would be our quote of the day (and maybe of the year), from Air Force Colonel Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor at the Guantanamo Bay military base/prison in Cuba. He resigned in 2007, protesting political interference in the military commissions of Guantánamo prisoners. He was a guest this morning on DemocracyNow! on a show marking the 10th anniversary of the United States detaining prisoners there.
Photo: Wikipedia
Yeah, I—as I said, I was very optimistic when President Obama took office that he was going to follow through on what he promised [to close Gitmo within a year of taking office]. You know, I believed in hope and change. When he began to backpedal, I wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that accused—that said it was a double standard, what we were doing. And I got my termination notice the next day. So, it was disappointing I spent 25 years defending the Constitution, and then to be told that it didn’t apply to me. You know, we have free speech for everyone that has nothing to say. But if you have an opinion, then it’s speak at your own peril. And so, I was fired for expressing an opinion.
Davis was fired for expressing an opinion by the administration of Mr. Hope and Change Constitutional lawyer, Barack Obama. If a president who’s a Constitutional lawyer will fire someone for exercising their freedom of speech, anyone will.
(If you’d like to hear more of what Col. Davis had to say, see the “rushed transcript” or the video at the DemocracyNow! link above.)
About Obama’s Recess Appointments
Bear this in mind as you listen to the Republicans screaming about the recess appointments President Obama made today (here):
Overall, Obama has been significantly less aggressive in recess appointments than his predecessors — to date, he’s made just 29 such appointments, compared with 171 for George W. Bush and 139 for Bill Clinton.
The outrage is an act. The Republicans think we’re so dumb we’ll fall for it and of course, the “liberal media” doesn’t fill in the blanks with the simple facts above, so we do.
More on Obama Being Bad for Business
Dunkin’ Donuts to double U.S. locations
America is about to run on twice as much Dunkin’.
Dunkin’ Donuts plans to double its locations in the United States over the next 20 years, the company announced Wednesday.
The coffee and doughnut chain currently operates nearly 7,000 stores nationwide. Each new store adds an average of 20 to 25 new employees, both full and part-time a Dunkin spokeswoman said.
Birthers Gearing Up for 2012
Please wingnuts, say it ain’t so already. Do we really, really have to go through this again?
A small group of New Hampshire lawmakers and others want the attorney general to investigate whether President Barack Obama deserves to be on the presidential primary ballot.
State Rep. Laurence Rappaport, a Colebook Republican, said they asked the attorney general Tuesday morning to investigate, but have gotten no response. Rappaport said the issue is whether Obama is a natural-born citizen whose parents both were American citizens. He said Obama’s father was Kenyan and not a citizen, so Obama is not and should not be on the ballot.
The state Ballot Law Commission rejected an effort in November to take Obama’s name off the ballot because of questions about his citizenship.
Graphic via WashingtonMonthly.com
These guys don’t have the faintest idea what to do about the issues facing this country so they distract their constituents with this crap.
Obama: Why I Might Not Vote For You In November / #17
Here’s yet another act on President Obama’s part that (don’t forget, he’s a “Constitutional lawyer”) is making me think twice about how I’ll vote in November:
Obama Makes It Official: Suspected Terrorists Can Be Indefinitely Detained Without a Trial
Despite having once threatened to veto the bill due to controversial language about the treatment of suspected terrorists, the president signed the controversial National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law on Saturday. Barack Obama did not keep his lingering concerns about aspects of the bill law a secret, however. In justifying his decision to sign NDAA into law, Obama said in a statement, “I have signed the Act chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their families, and vital national security programs that must be renewed.” He continued, “The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it. In particular, I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.”
Obama: If you have “serious reservations” about a bill, you veto it. Period.
And bear in mind — nut cases could become president who could abuse this new law to no end.
More on how you and I might land in indefinite detention as a result of this bill here and here.
Oh, and talk about Friday afternoon DC “document dumps.” This is even worse. It’s Saturday and it’s New Year’s Eve. The White House is clearly worried about this yet hey, they think we’re idiots and we won’t notice.
Happy New Year!
Another Reason Why I Might Not Vote for Barack Obama
Salmonella Bacteria -- Photo: Janice Haney Carr / CDC
Earlier this month, the Maine-based grocery chain Hannaford issued a ground beef recall after at least 14 people were infected with an antibiotic-resistant strain of salmonella. Chances are this is the first you’ve heard of it. After all, it’s not much compared to the 76 illnesses and one death back in August that led Cargill to recall almost 36 million pounds of ground turkey products potentially contaminated with drug-resistant salmonella. The particulars get confusing, but the trend is unmistakable: our meat supply is frequently contaminated with bacteria that can’t readily be treated by antibiotics.
[...]
It’s not like this is happening without a reason; the little germs have plenty of practice fighting the drugs designed to kill them in the industrially raised animals to which antibiotics are routinely fed. And although it’s economical for producers to drug animals prophylactically[1], there are many strong arguments against the use of those drugs, including their declining efficacy in humans.Probably you’d agree with the couple of people I described this situation to earlier this week, one of whom said something like, “Ugh, that’s crazy,” and the other simply, “They gotta do something about that!”
The thing is, “they” did. In 1977.
That’s when the Food and Drug Administration, aware of the health risks of administering antibiotics to healthy farm animals, proposed to withdraw its prior approval of putting penicillin and tetracycline in animal feed. Per their procedure, the F.D.A. then issued two “notices of opportunity for a hearing,” which were put on hold by Congress until further research could be conducted. On hold is exactly where the F.D.A.’s requests have been since your dad had sideburns.
Until last week, when the agency decided to withdraw them.
That would be the change-we-can-believe-in Obama administration’s FDA, bowing to corporate pressure. It’s disgusting.
Read more gory details here. I’m a meat eater but what’s going on behind the scenes in the American meat industry is horrifying. It’s enough to make me think about becoming a vegetarian.
