The List, Obama's Fifty First Week in Office

Nachumlist.com ^ | 1/15/10 | Nachum

[Nachum]

 Obama's Fifty First Week in Office

Latest Additions to "The List"

"The List" for 1/15/2010

The White House has proposed barring Energy Department research on fast reactor recycling of nuclear waste and technical support for licensing of small, modular light-water reactors, drawing protests from Energy Secretary Steven Chu that such prohibitions will have broad adverse effects, including hurting the U.S. nuclear industry's renaissance; crimping U.S. ability to influence other countries' fast reactor designs to address proliferation concerns; and taking away nuclear waste disposal options that might be considered by the administration's planned blue-ribbon panel on alternatives to the Yucca Mountain repository.

Obama plans a weekend trip to Massachusetts to campaign for endangered Senate candidate Martha Coakley after a poll showed an edge for Republicans in the race for a seat Democrats have held for over a half-century

Obama advisor Cass Sunstein's paper "Conspiracy Theories"

The creepy mindset behind the creep proposal of Obama advisor Cass Sunstein.  

The Federal Communications Commission is considering aggressive moves to stake out its authority to oversee consumer access to the Internet, as a recent court hearing and industry opposition have cast doubt on its power over Web service providers.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tries to push abortion language into UN agreement.  Claiming to honor the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population Control (ICPD), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in Washington D.C. on January 8 that the U.S. government will push for international acceptance of reproductive health for women, including abortion, contradicting the conference's previous agreements

Obama wants to substitute government annuities for non-government 401K's.  Obama appointees Phyllis Borzi (assistant secretary of labor) and Mark Iwry (deputy assistant treasury secretary) are floating the idea of “the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams.” paid to amd owned by the government not by privately controlled investments

"The List" for 1/14/2010

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), just back from a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he and other senators found operational "confusion” among U.S. military officials on how to handle detained enemy combatants. “From the top to the bottom, the military, the American military people that we talked to, indicated some confusion, operationally, about what you do when you detain a terrorist,” McConnell said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Massachusetts's top election official says it could take weeks to certify the results of the upcoming U.S. Senate special election. That delay could let President Barack Obama preserve a key 60th vote for his health care overhaul even if the Republican who has vowed to kill it wins Democrat Edward M. Kennedy's former seat.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday the bailout of insurer AIG was not meant to help out bank counterparties and that he had no role in the decision not to disclose payments to banks.

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs, who has avoided answering questions on whether health care negotiations should be broadcast on C-SPAN, declined to say yesterday whether President Barack Obama would advocate posting the final negotiated bill on the Internet for 72 hours before it is voted on by the House and Senate.

The White House has reached a deal with health care negotiators, including labor unions, on taxing the high-level "Cadillac" plans that workers with high-risk jobs often purchase.  Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said the deal reduces revenue raised from the tax from the $150 billion estimate in the Senate version to $90 billion. It is not clear how the $60 billion will be made up. The value of the plans that are taxed would be indexed to the consumer price index plus 1 percent, meaning over time more and more people would be affected by the threshold than would be if the tax had been indexed to health care inflation. Health care spending in 2008, the last year for which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has data, rose at a historically low rate of 4.4. percent. Inflation was at 6 percent in 2007.

We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama - $60.7 million to be exact - and we're proud of it," Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andrew Stern proclaimed last year. Now he and other labor leaders want a full return on their investment. "A full return," more than anything else, means getting Congress, the executive branch and the courts to transform labor law and policy into vehicles for a massive expansion of union membership and bargaining power.

VIDEO: Declaring "we want our money back," President Obama wants to slap a tax on banks to recoup the money that the American public spent on bailing out large financial institutions on the brink of collapse.

A House committee probing bailout deals has subpoenaed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for correspondence from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other officials.

VIDEO: Obama makes ad for Massachussetts Democratic candidate Coakley, "What happens Tuesday in Massachussetts is so important"

Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown issued a stern warning to President Obama, cautioning him to "stay away" from Massachusetts as he battles Democratic rival Martha Coakley in a heated race, the Boston Herald reported. "He should stay away and let Martha and I discuss the issues one on one," Brown told the Herald. "The machine is coming out of the woodwork to get her elected. They're bringing in outsiders, and we don't need them."

VP Joe Biden has a meeting with the chief of transparency for economic recovery.   The transparency meeting is closed to the press.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) takes action about a voter intimidation case in Philadelphia. The incident which occurred during the 2008 and has been stonewalled by the Obama Attorney General Eric Holder.  Wolf took his case to the House Judiciary Committee. He has introduced a measure that would require the committee to deal with the issue. Wolf introduced a Resolution of Inquiry last Wednesday and it has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  Under House rules, committees must take action on resolutions of inquiry within 14 legislative days.  Wolf’s resolution directs the U.S. attorney general to provide Congress will “all information” relating to the decision to dismiss the case.  The committee must vote the resolution up or down. Despite writing six requests to the attorney general six times Wolf has yet to receive a response. He also has written DOJ’s inspector general seeking answers.

In a step widely seen as off limits for government officials, Hannah Rosenthal, Obama's appointed "anti-semitism" envoy, criticized in a newspaper interview the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, for his characterization of J Street as a “unique problem. A breach of protocol by the administration’s new envoy on antisemitism recieved an implicit rebuke from her superiors at the State Department and a sharp retort from her former colleagues in the organized Jewish community

In a lengthy academic paper, Obama's regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, argued the U.S. government should ban "conspiracy theorizing."

"The List" for 1/13/2010

After telling the people of the United States that "everybody must sacrifice" the Obama White House throws a party every three days during Obama's first year in office

George Mitchell, Obama's Middle East envoy, is using a suspect poll regarding Israelis' views of Barack Obama in order, apparently, to pressure Israel.  Interviewer Charlie Rose questions Mitchell as to why Obama's poll numbers in Israel show him at a historically low 4%.  The poll Mitchell relies upon seems to be from the "New America Foundation", a Soros left wing group run by George Soros' son Jonathan Soros.

The Goldman Sachs-AIG scandal may be worse than we think. Former New York Fed President and current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is being castigated for paying off AIG's counterparties - Goldman foremost among them - 100 cents on the dollar and then keeping these payments secret. But it seems likely that Goldman actually got much more than 100%. What is worse, Goldman may have received this windfall by trading on information that was deliberately withheld from the public.

Obama will ask Congress for an additional $33 Billion to fight wars.  Total Defense Dept. spending to be a record $708 billion

The produce used on the Food Network's Jan. 3 Iron Chef of America two-hour special White House show was billed as being from the White House garden. But the show did not disclose that "stunt double vegetables" were used and not produce from the First Family's garden.

Obama says he has not succeeded in bringing the country together, acknowledging an atmosphere of divisiveness that has washed away the lofty national feeling surrounding his inauguration a year ago.

US House panel issued a subpoena for Federal Reserve Bank of New York documents related to American International Group Inc.

Black leaders say that President Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Congress have put politics ahead of helping low-income children in the District of Columbia by refusing to support a program that allows 1,700 children to go to a private school, including the school Obama’s two daughters attend

Obama is trumpeting a new White House estimate that his top economist calls "stunning": His stimulus plan has already created or saved up to 2 million jobs.

"The List" for 1/12/2010

A senior administration official says President Barack Obama is ready to announce an administration plan to recover Wall Street bailout shortfalls with a bank fee on the country's biggest financial firms.

Richard Foster, the chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, reports that under his analysis national health spending will rise under the bills by $222 billion over the next 10 years

Obama’s top food stamp official: Texas could be providing food stamps to 650,000 more people — and could increase the amount of federal funds it receives for the program each year from $4 billion to $5 billion — if the state increased its participation rate to the national average

Obama's nominee to lead the federal agency in charge of airport security claimed in 2008 that America is subject to terror attacks because of its alliances with countries like Israel and France.

Obama's rejection of an obscure spending bill late last month is raising some unexpected constitutional questions.  Mr. Obama's use of both a "pocket veto" and a regular veto on a stopgap spending bill approved by Congress Dec. 19 has at least one leading scholar questioning the move as a possible stealth White House power grab. -The Constitution "simply doesn't give the president a multiple-choice option" on how to veto a bill, said Robert Spitzer, chairman of the political science department at State University of New York at Cortland and author of a noted book on the presidential veto.

Democratic officials say House and Senate negotiators working with the White House on a health care bill appear likely to drop a proposed income tax increase on high-wage earners. They also may jettison a requirement for large corporations to offer coverage to their employees.

VIDEO: The last time a white Democrat commented on Obama's campaign and race

A report by Common Cause says Obama gets "an A for openness"

The Obama administration now says it has no plans to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt and bipartisan criticism about its policy of transferring detainees to countries hosting terrorist activity.

Interpol's U.S. headquarters are located in U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's offices

In what appears to be another setback for the White House security team, new photos reveal that an alleged party crasher posed for pictures with many powerful lawmakers at President Barack Obama's Nov. 24, 2009 state dinner.

"The List" for 1/11/2010

The Executive Order: National Council of Governors

Today, Obama, signed an Executive Order (attached) establishing a Council of Governors to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards.  The bipartisan Council will be composed of ten State Governors who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms. In selecting the Governors to the Council, the White House will solicit input from Governors and Governors’ associations. Once chosen, the Council will have no more than five members from the same party and represent the Nation as a whole.  Federal members of the Council include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, the U.S. Northern Command Commander, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. The Secretary of Defense will designate an Executive Director for the Council.

Obama has not held a news conference with reporters since July 22, almost six months ago.

A White House report on the foiled Christmas Day attempted airliner bombing provided only the sketchiest of details about what may have been the most politically sensitive of its findings: how the White House itself was repeatedly warned about the prospect of an attack on the U.S. homeland by Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen. 

Obama considering deal to pay off more states to pass Obamacare- Many governors had protested a special funding allocation for Nebraska in the bill."We're going to continue to work with governors," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, referring to the healthcare bill. When asked if Obama might extend the deal to pay some of Nebraska's Medicaid costs to all states, he added, "I think that's certainly part of the discussion."

The Dec. 18, 2009 memo from the office of management and budget director Peter Orszag

The Obama administration changes the way jobs are counted.  In a Dec. 18, 2009 memo from the office of management and budget director Peter Orszag now counts "stimulus jobs" even if they were held before the stimulus money was given

VIDEO: Obama  TSA nominee, Erroll Southers, thinks that global warming deserves parity with war on terror

VIDEO: Obama nominee to head agency charged with keeping American travelers save from terrorism, Erroll Southers, thinks pro-life advocates are terrorists

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has gone too far to placate environmental groups when it comes to oil and gas drilling policy.

White House school czar Kevin Jennings funded "Gay Prize" at Harvard

Obamacare will probably including a bigger increase in the Medicare payroll tax than currently proposed

Amish families will be exempt from Obamacare mandates

Israel downplays White House envoy Mitchell's threat to cut off Israel loan guarantees

 "The List" for 1/10/2010

The federal government missed a real opportunity to get intelligence from Christmas Day accused bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because authorities indicted him while he was still talking, a Republican lawmaker said Sunday.

VIDEO:  White House spokesman Robert Gibbs:  Record cold due to "climate change"

Green Energy biomass subsidy program drives up lumber prices.  In a matter of months, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program -- a small provision tucked into the 2008 farm bill -- has mushroomed into a half-a-billion dollar subsidy that is funneling taxpayer dollars to sawmills and lumber wholesalers, encouraging them to sell their waste to be converted into high-tech biofuels. In doing so, it is shutting off the supply of cheap timber byproducts to the nation's composite wood manufacturers, who make panels for home entertainment centers and kitchen cabinets.

Dozens of released Gitmo detainees have returned to the battlefield, said a senior US Senator, urging the Obama administration not release more inmates from the war-on-terror prison camp.

VIDEO:  2009- Obama accept apology from Harry Reid for racial slur, but not in 2007 from talk show personality Don Imus

Obama in 2002 re: Trent Lott slur... "Republicans have to drive out Trent Lott

The world's biggest banks will pay out more than $65 billion in salaries and bonuses over the next fortnight, with banking conglomerate JPMorgan Chase alone likely to shell out a record $29 billion, barely a year after the bailout of the banking system.

Islamic terrorism is on the rise both domestically and internationally since Obama became president in 2009, according to a count of high-profile, terrorism incidents in 2009, both in the US and abroad

An American official said Saturday night that Mideast envoy George Mitchell's remark that US aid to Israel may be jeopardized was not a threat, but a response to an interviewer's question on the American administration's options if Israel refused to resume peace talks with the Palestinians

 

[Nachum]

Where does the time go? These are the posts for most of the week.

One more week and it will be a year. My hands are on fire. :)

Let me know if you'd like to be on or off the ping list. It is a "high volume" ping list.

The complete record is at the website linked above.

[VaRepublican]

If you are a blogger then you should be an example to all the rest them!!! Here here to you!!

[VaRepublican]

Dang dude I'm so sorry! obviously you are not a blogger and done you're homework.

[Nachum]

You got that right. I specifically did NOT want to make a blog. Facts are stubborn things.

[VaRepublican]

We at FR have been gettin slammed with bloggers over the past two years. You go to their blogs and it's a link to news sources, sorry to jump the gun on you.

[Nachum]

Not to worry.