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President Obama sat down yesterday with a cadre of far-left foreign policy writers, several of whom regularly lambast the state of Israel, to get advice on a range of critical foreign policy issues, among them Afghanistan, Israel, and NATO, according to press accounts. The group of nine included several writers who promulgate fringe views about the state of Israel, advocate in favor of divestment from Israel, and describe the Jewish State as an “apartheid” state—views that are also endorsed by the most extreme anti-Israel advocates. Liberal author Peter Beinart—who has compared Israel to the segregated South and advocates boycotting areas

We’ve had some unusual cabinet secretaries in past administrations –Earl Butz, John Mitchell, and James Watt come to mind — but never anything quite like the present bunch. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has overseen some $5 trillion in new debt. To help pay for it, he wants the rich — the top 1 percent, which already contributes more in income taxes than does the bottom 90 percent — to pay more for what he calls “the privilege of being an American.” Geithner, whose department oversees the IRS, should have taken his own advice: As a rich American one-percenter, he once...

And to think, up to one week ago Obama was vehemently opposed to super PACs. Via The Hill: Four Obama administration cabinet members suggested an openness to appearing at pro-Obama super-PAC events. iWatch News at the Center for Public Integrity reports that spokesmen for Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Energy Secretary Steven Chu suggested that their bosses would be willing to raise money for the super-PACs. A week earlier, after previously criticizing the legal ability of super-PACs to raise unlimited amounts money for their candidates, President Obama signed off on some...

"Which of our Hispanic leaders would you consider to serve in your Cabinet?" A woman attending the last Republican debate in Florida asked this of the four Republican rivals. Oh, for crying out loud! Ethnic-based Cabinet appointees? Do we still need to go out and "seek" people of a certain color or religion to show "fairness and inclusion"? What about considering the best people possible -- isn't that the only appropriate answer to that question? But Republicans go all Democrat, all too often, in front of black and brown audiences. They say things to show how empathic they are, rather...

The big media story from last nights Republican Presidential Primary Debate on CNBC was Governor Perry's gaffe when he tried listing the departments of the federal government he would eliminate. Maybe lost in the sensationalism is the change in our national politics that this topic represents. The majority of the GOP contenders are talking like the elimination of entire departments is a foregone conclusion. It might be election year politics, but the idea is immensely popular among conservatives judging by the crowd reactions every time someone in any of the debates has suggested it. Now we all know that a...

Given the deeply flawed state of the Republican presidential field, the 2012 campaign is shaping up to be Barack Obama's race to lose. But with his approval ratings in the cellar and his economic recovery plans DOA, the President still faces an uphill battle to convince disaffected voters and alienated Democrats to get back on board his campaign. Clearly, Obama's current strategy isn't working. Both the West Wing and the campaign are plagued by internal divisions, driven by longtime staffers who have spent the last three years alienating the party base and knocking Obama off his message. There is still...

Politics: A week ago, as the secretary of labor greeted grim job data by hailing the economy's "turnaround," the Dow fell 100 points in seconds — a vivid sign America is wising up to this administration's incompetence. Only minutes after her department reported that payrolls had shed another 131,000 positions in July, there was Secretary Hilda Solis speaking brazenly of the "strong and immediate action" the White House had taken to save or create "more than 2.5 million American jobs." But as the market action showed, investors could see she didn't know what she was talking about. But then, Solis...

At least one of President Obama’s cabinet secretaries is concerned about the citizens of the USA. Yeah. He is working feverishly to accomplish his goal of automobile safety. We most certainly will owe this man a debt of gratitude and thanks for his unswerving and unselfish endeavor. US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has something to be happy about. “For all the carping I have to listen to over high gas prices I’m happy to be able to point to a silver lining,….Based on this latest study it looks like if we can get the price of gasoline up to...

What happens when someone with no executive experience takes over the toughest executive job in the world? Since we’ve not seen that situation in most of our lifetimes — even John Kennedy, the last President elected with no executive experience in government or the private sector, had some command experience in the Navy — we had little hard evidence to predict failure to manage the executive branch of the US government, but it was rather easy to presume that on-the-job training at that level would be problematic, to say the least. Today, the Washington Post reports that even Barack Obama’s...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy named former premier Alain Juppe as his new foreign minister yesterday, after Michele Alliot-Marie, tainted by her ties to the former Tunisian regime, resigned.

Aircraft, cargo ships and fishing boats are moving towards Libya to evacuate Chinese nationals living in the North African country. Tunisian, Turkish and other workers are fleeing the country as well. Tripoli – China will send a jet, ships and fishing vessels from nearby waters to evacuate some 33,000 Chinese nationals working in violence-torn Libya. The government has set up an emergency unit headed by Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang to coordinate the repatriation of mainlanders, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The State Council (cabinet) “decided to immediately deploy...

President, Vice President and other administration officials to tour country to highlight vision for the future. The White House sent News 2 the following press release on their plans... ___PRESS RELEASE BELOW___ President Obama, Vice President Biden, Members of the Cabinet Fan Out Across the Country, Highlight Vision for Winning the Future WASHINGTON – This week, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and members of the President’s Cabinet will travel across the country to highlight the President’s plan for winning the future and creating jobs by out-innovating, out-educating and out-building the rest of the world. In tonight’s State of the Union...

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President Obama did not let Rep. Jim Oberstar’s 35-years in Congress pass without comment – or without prompting rampant speculation about his future. An aide to the Iron Range DFLer, known as "Mr. Transportation" in Washington, said the president called at breakfast Wednesday morning as Oberstar was digesting the news of his first loss in 19 elections. It appeared to be part of a long round of calls to defeated Democratic lawmakers. Staffers who were gathered with Oberstar at the Duluth Holiday Inn heard Oberstar tell Obama, “Mr. President, I want you to know that while my service in Congress...

President Obama has signed a new book deal. It’s going to be about how he’s made TOUGH decisions in his first 100 days. The chapter on how he made those "tough" decisions will be called ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS. The chapter on how he and his Cabinet arrived at those "tough" decisions will be called PRESENT. Check out these other Useful Info Nation pages:

The weekend brought highly interesting developoments in the attempts at forming a new Dutch government ('cabinet', officially our 'goverment' equals 'cabinet + Sovereign'). After Labour leader Cohen rejected several options to make a cabinet with the christian-democrats, the CDA, the potential rightwing partners made a new attempt. As it stands, the VVD (resembling the U.S. Republicans, although they call themselves 'liberal' over here), the CDA, and the PVV, led by Geert Wilders, struck a new deal for the eventual real forming of a cabinet. CDA and VVD provisionally agreed to take place in a minority government, whilst Wilders announced that...

Check out its companion post Top 10 Things You MIGHT Hear In An Obama Cabinet Meeting Like last night I wanna see whatcha got, so comment with the things you think we wouldn't hear from that asylum. 10. That's a great idea! But I'm afraid it might be unconstitutional. ;-( 9. I don't know...even Kagan says Glenn Beck is dead sexy. 8. That's ok, I can conduct the meeting without the teleprompters. 7. Next item on the agenda to address is...Country music, not patriotic enough? 6. Oh look, news reporters....yay.... 5. Look at all these crises! (Sigh) vacation canceled......

A snifter clink to Michael Cembalest of JP Morgan for his study of Cabinet Secretaries: State; Commerce; Treasury; Agriculture; Interior; Labor; Transportation; Energy and Housing & Urban Development. It puts flesh on that which we all know: Barak “Chicago” Obama sees business as a cash cow to keep the corruption machine oiled. After all, how could Michelle have been paid north of 300k a year for a part time gig at a hospital without some help? And this was before she was proud to be an American!!!! Sinatra could have been singing “Chicago, Chicago, My Kind of Town,” to the...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's second choice for transportation security chief has withdrawn from consideration because of questions over his background as a defense contractor. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Harding took himself out of the running Friday night as head of the Transportation Security Administration, another setback for Obama after his first choice withdrew in January. Harding said the distractions caused by his work as a defense contractor would not be good for the administration or the Homeland Security Department. The TSA is part of that department. Harding has extensive intelligence experience that Obama hoped to tap in shoring...

“They won’t be so opposed to it once they see what’s in it.” That’s the rationalization House leaders gave skittish Democrats to get them to walk the plank on Obamacare Sunday night. But one of the first things millions of Americans will “see” is an effective 40 percent tax hike on the over-the-counter medicines – from an antihistamine such as Claritin for allergies, pain relief medicine such as Tylenol or Excedrin, Pedialyte to prevent their kids from becoming dehydrated when they are sick, and even prenatal vitamins if they are expecting another one. All of these items have two things...