President Obama's address to Congress

Last night, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time. He called for a new era of responsibility and cooperartion, to confront the serious economic challenges that our nation faces. He stressed that we need to look beyond short term political calculations and make vital investments in health care, energy, and education that will make America stronger and more prosperous well into the future.

He has been our President for just over a month, and he has already taken bold steps to address our urgent economic problems. He pledged to cut our deficit in half by the end of his term.

I watched the entire speech and came away with a sense of pride and confidence that we as a nation will get through these rough times, with or without bipartisanship from the GOP.

Thank you Mr. President for all that you do.

White House Watermelon Email from California Mayor Grose

photo courtesy of KEYANUS PRICE

Here we go again!

Mayor Dean Grose of Los Alamitos in California is coming under fire for an email that he sent out that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons, under the title "No Easter egg hunt this year."

The email was sent to Keyanus Price a local businesswoman and city volunteer, who happens to be black. Ms Price says that she received the email from Mayor Dean Grose's personal account and Sunday and she is demanding a public apology.

"I have had plenty of my share of chicken and watermelon and all those kinds of jokes," Price told The Associated Press. "I honestly don't even understand where he was coming from, sending this to me. As a black person receiving something like this from the city-freakin'-mayor - come on."

"I was horrified when I read that email," Price said. "What I'm concerned about is how can this person send an email out like this and think it is OK?"

Mayor Grose confirmed to the Associated Press that he sent the email to Price and said he didn't mean to offend her. He said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons. He sent an apology email to Price and her boss and also left her a voicemail apology. Not good enough ... a face to face public apology is needed.

Is this guy kidding me? He didn't know about the stereotype of blacks watermelons and fried chicken? Yeah right.

Judging from some of the comments online, there is some rage and some, "what's the fuss all about". I guess now that the people have elected a black President, we will be subjected to all of the so called stereotypical jokes and cartoons about blacks.

It's getting real old ....

Karl Rove No Show Ignores Subpoena

Karl Rove was supposed to appear before the House Judiciary committee to testify about the US Attorney firings. And of course, he was a no show.

No one is surprised by his no show, Rove had already indicated he didn't plan on being there, citing President Bush's claim of executive privilege. This guy is a real piece of work.

Karl Rove is at the center of nearly every Bush Administration scandal:

2000: the Stolen Election in Florida, when he was the Campaign Manager

2002: the massive Iraq War lies campaign when he chaired the powerful White House Iraq Group (WHIG)

2002: the corrupt political prosecution of Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman

2003: the appointment of GOP political hacks to lead reconstruction in Iraq, with disastrous consequences

2003: helping expose covert CIA operative Valerie Plame to punish her husband Joe Wilson for exposing Bush's State of the Union lie about uranium from Niger

2004: the Stolen Election in Ohio, when he was the "Architect"

2005: steering FEMA help after Hurricane Katrina to Mississippi under Republican Governor Haley Barbour while denying FEMA help to Louisiana under Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco

2006: the firing of honest U.S. Attorneys to replace them with "loyal Bushies"

Despite having a top policy-making job in the White House, Karl Rove used Republican email accounts for 95% of his communications, in defiance of the Presidential Records Act. Now most of Rove's emails have been "scrubbed," in defiance of explicit instructions from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in 2004.


The Senate and House issued subpoenas to compel Karl Rove to testify under oath and turn over his White House and RNC records, but Karl Rove is defying those subpoenas.

I signed a petiton sent to Nevada Congressional Representatives: Dina Titus (D), Harry Reid (D) & John Ensign (R):

Please send the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Karl Rove and bring him before Congress to answer to the charge of Contempt of Congress, and to punish him to the maximum extent allowed by law, including prison.

Karl Rove is calling President Obama's bluff ....

New York Post Chimp Cartoon

cartoon-NyPost.com

This cartoon likening the author of the stimulus bill, perhaps President Barack Obama, with a crazed chimpanzee appeared in the New York Post today.

The blatant racial overtones of this cartoon are so obvious. WTF

Rev. Al Sharpton issued this statement:

"The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that "Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill."

"Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?"

NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous issued this statement:

“NAACP continues to fight for a country where America’s promise can be realized for all and where racism Is just a tragic memory. We are saddened that the New York Post chose to create a symbol that is so divisive, insensitive and antithetical to that goal. The NY Post must do better.”

Although we made history by electing the first African American President, the fact still remains that racism is alive and well here in America. The cartoon is wrong on so many levels, particularly given the death threats that have been made against President Obama.

Sam Stein, a columnist for the Huffington Post wrote:

"at its most benign, the cartoon suggests that the stimulus bill was so bad, monkeys may as well have written it. Most provocatively, it compares the president to a rabid chimp. Either way, the incorporation of violence and (on a darker level) race into politics is bound to be controversial."


Some would say that the cartoon depicted Pelosi & Reid, I beg to differ. I believe that the cartoonist wanted to stir up controversy and he has done just that.

DISGUSTING!!!!

BOYCOTT THIS PAPER!!!!

Main Street vs The Banks

More from MoveOn.org:

The Obama administration has laid out a framework for fixing the banking system, but a lot of the important details remain unresolved. A number of prominent economists—including Paul Krugman2, Joseph Stiglitz3, Nouriel Roubini4, Dean Baker5, and Jeffrey Sachs6—have proposed plans, and they all share a fundamental principle: Wall Street shouldn't get any more giveaways at taxpayer expense.

With Congress home from Washington this week, we have a perfect opportunity to make this point clear. And the best way to do that is by flooding local papers with letters to the editor—which lawmakers monitor closely to understand what folks at home are thinking.

Can you write a letter demanding real accountability for the banks that wrecked our economy? It will only take a few minutes and our online tool makes it easy.



Write a letter

It's key that our elected representatives hear from us now, because Congress will weigh in with their ideas to fix Wall Street soon. And when they do, they have to insist that everyday Americans' interests are put ahead of Wall Street's. Bank shareholders and executives have to cover their own losses before any more taxpayer money is put on the line.

Here are some important points to help you with your letter:

• 
  No more giveaways for Wall Street at taxpayers' expense. Any future plan needs to be implemented fairly for taxpayers. If banks made bad investments, then their shareholders need to face the consequences before any taxpayer money is put on the line.
  
• Experts agree on the key principles. Prominent economists, including Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Nouriel Roubini, Dean Baker, and Jeffrey Sachs, all agree that the government must get a fair bargain for any money it invests in the banks, even if that means temporarily taking over insolvent banks. Even conservative Republican Senator Lindsey Graham admitted this.
• 
  If taxpayers' money is at risk, then taxpayers should get any potential profits. If taxpayers are going to risk their money to help, then we should get equity just like other stockholders.

We know all too well that Wall Street isn't going to police itself. The people who got us into this mess are looking out for themselves, so our elected representatives need to be looking out for us. They need to hear from us that we're counting on them and that we won't stand for any more freebies for Wall Street.

Can you write a letter to the editor, using our easy online tool, to make sure they get the message loud and clear?

Write a letter

Sources:

1. "MoveOn At Its Best," MoveOn.org, February 16, 2009 http://pol.moveon.org/donate/bonusreportback.html?id=15606-9181153-CUF7Ixx&t=5

2. "Bailouts for Bunglers," The New York Times, February 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/opinion/02krugman.html

3. "How to rescue the bank bailout," CNN, January 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51181&id=15606-9181153-CUF7Ixx&t=6

4. "Nationalize the Banks! We're all Swedes Now," The Washington Post, February 15, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51182&id=15606-9181153-CUF7Ixx&t=7

5. "Dealing with BANKRUPT Banks: Nationalization or Welfare," The American Prospect, February 8, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51183&id=15606-9181153-CUF7Ixx&t=8

6. "A Proposal on How to Clean Up the Banks," The Huffington Post, February 12, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51184&id=15606-9181153-CUF7Ixx&t=9

7. "Republicans start to support the idea of nationalizing insolvent banks," RGE Monitor, Feburary 15, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51185

MoveOn.org Health Care Reform Petition

From MoveOn.org:

With Tom Daschle's withdrawal as President Obama's nominee for secretary of health and human services, Obama needs to appoint a new health care point person. But who?

Most of the people Obama is considering are real health care champions. But at least one is not.
Obama's getting a lot of flak from Republicans on all fronts right now. If we don't show support for Obama's agenda now, we could be stuck with a health care leader who's not up to the job.

And that means our dream of universal health care—MoveOn's No. 1 priority this year—could fade away.

Sign our petition asking President Obama to put a progressive champion at the helm of his health care reform effort.

Click here to sign the petition:

Sign the petition

The petition says:

"President Obama, please pick a progressive champion to head up your health care reform effort. We're ready to fight for your goal of winning quality, affordable health care for everyone in 2009."

How can you tell who's a real health care champion? We need someone who's going to support visionary progressive health care reform; someone with a track record of standing up to the insurance and pharmaceutical giants at the heart of our health care crisis; someone who is 100 percent committed to giving every single American the choice of a public health insurance plan so we're not at the mercy of the private insurance companies (just as Obama promised).1

Obama is reportedly considering several governors and a few senators. Many of these folks would be great, but at least one would be a bad choice for health care reform: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen made his fortune acquiring and running HMOs. As governor, he gutted Tennessee's public health insurance program, causing more than 320,000 people to lose their health insurance. And Bredesen let the private insurance industry pay for his multi-million dollar redecoration of the governor's mansion.2

Sign on to make sure President Obama puts a progressive champion in charge of his health care reform effort.

Thanks for all you do.


Click here to sign the petition:

Sign the petition

Sources: 1. "A Public Health Insurance Plan," Institute for America's Future, February 4, 2009 http://institute.ourfuture.org/public_plan

2. "Phil Bredesen as Daschle's Replacement?," The American Prospect, February 4, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51162&id=15541-9181153-mBGheDx&t=5

"The Puzzling Record of Phil Bredesen," The American Prospect, February 5, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51163&id=15541-9181153-mBGheDx&t=6

"Bredesen for Health Reform?!," The New Republic, February 4, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51164&id=15541-9181153-mBGheDx&t=7

"More Reasons Why Bredesen Is a Bad, Bad Idea," The New Republic, February 5, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51165&id=15541-9181153-mBGheDx&t=8

President Obama meets Henrietta Hughes

President Barack Obama meets Henrietta Hughes , who asked him to personally help with her housing situation, during a town hall meeting with an audience in Fort Myers, Florida, today.

"I have an urgent need, unemployment and homelessness, a very small vehicle for my family and I to live in," she said. "The housing authority has two years' waiting lists, and we need something more than the vehicle and the parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom. Please help."

President Obama asked for her name and told her, "We're gonna do everything we can to help you ... I'll have my staff talk to you after the town hall."

What a wonderful compassionate President we have. Unlike the Bush Presidency, President Obama is willing to listen to the ordinary citizen.

How brave of this woman to openly speak about her homeless situation directly to the President of the United States. Given the opportunity, I would have no problem speaking to the President about Health Care and the lack of it, not only for myself, but others as well.

Mr. President, I'm a 60 year old, two-time breast cancer suvivor with no health care. I pay out of pocket for all of my medical needs, please get your Univeral Healthcare progam together, for me and thousands of others like me.

Thank you!

Urgent Message from President Obama

President Obama recorded a video to speak directly to the country about his economic recovery plan.



Gov. Tim Kaine answers Economic Recovery questions:



America is facing an urgent and unprecedented challenge. The economic crisis requires bold and immediate action.

David Duke's calls GOP Traitors

It appears that David Duke is not happy with the GOP appointing Michael Steele as the leader of their party.

When asked by the Washington Post about the appointment, this is what he said:

"I am glad these traitorous leaders of the Republican Party appointed this Black racist, affirmative action advocate to the head of the Republican party because this will lead to a huge revolt among the Republican base. As a former Republican official, I can tell you that millions of rank-and-file Republicans are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore! We will either take the Republican Party back over the next four years or we will say, “To Hell With the Republican Party!” And we will take 90 percent of Republicans with us into a New Party that will take its current place!

I think the insanity of nominating “Mr. Amnesty” John McCain and now this Black racist — will lead to insurgency in the Republican ranks, and a lot of dissidents getting elected in Republican Party primaries around the country. This will result over the next four years in a real move by millions of Republicans to take the party back to the populist issues that are not only right but can win for the Republican Party. We must end affirmative action, protect our gun rights and all our constitutional rights, have a moratorium on immigration, we must have protectionism, yes I said protect American businesses and their workers from NAFTA and GATT and the lie of free trade, and we must have America First, not foreign interventionism. Our boys should be home protecting the American borders and not being murdered on the borders of Iraq or Afghanistan. The time has come for the Republican Party to stand up to Obama and defend American heritage, rights, and freedom!"

Listen to Dr. David Duke’s Message to the Republican Party!