tagged w/ U.S. Politics
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July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment rate rose and hourly earnings stagnated, offering little evidence the Obama administration’s stimulus package is shoring up the labor market.
The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.
Unemployment is projected to keep rising for the rest of the year just as the income boost from the stimulus package fades, undermining prospects for a sustained rebound in household purchases, analysts said. As companies from General Motors Corp. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. cut costs, the lack of jobs will restrain growth.
“This will be another jobless recovery,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We may get positive economic growth driven largely by federal spending, but people on the street will say, ‘Where are the jobs?’”July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment... more
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Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, whose relief boat was seized by an Israeli naval ship Tuesday for the second time in a year, is demanding the immediate release of her and 20 other activists.
McKinney, a longtime supporter of Palestinians, said her Greek-flagged boat, the Spirit of Humanity, was carrying medical supplies, cement, olive trees and children's toys to Gaza when it was boarded by the Israeli navy.
"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us," said McKinney. "Our boat was not in Israeli waters and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip. President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey."
The Israeli military issued a statement Tuesday saying that the boat had attempted to break a blockade of Gaza and was forced to sail to an Israeli port after ignoring a radio message to stay out of Gaza waters.
The statement said navy personnel boarded the freighter Arion without any shots being fired, and those on board were to be handed over to immigration authorities. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel was planning to free the crew and passengers.
"Nobody wants to keep them here," he said. "They will be released as soon as they are checked."
The humanitarian cargo was also to be trucked into the Gaza Strip after a security check.Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, whose... more
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Villa Rica, Ga.-based Community Bank of West Georgia and Newman, Ga.-based Neighborhood Community Bank were closed, as were Irvine, Calif.-based MetroPacific Bank and Pine City, Minn.-based Horizon Bank. The closures brought the national tally this year to 44, and marked the ninth so far in Georgia.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said in a statement that it will mail checks to insured depositors at Community Bank of West Georgia on Monday. An institution able to assume the failed bank's deposits could not be found, the FDIC added.
Community Bank of West Georgia had $199.4 million in assets and $182.5 million in deposits as of May 15, according to the regulator, which said that at the time of the closing the bank had roughly $1.1 million in deposits that exceeded the $250,000 limit for insurance.
The FDIC estimated that the failure of Community Bank of West Georgia will cost its deposit insurance fund roughly $85 million.
Neighborhood Community Bank had $221.6 million in assets and $191.3 million in deposits as of March 31, the FDIC said.
The regulator said that West Point, Ga.-based CharterBank will assume National Community Bank's deposits, and that offices of National Community will reopen as branches of CharterBank.
CharterBank also agreed to buy $209.6 million worth of the failed bank's assets.Villa Rica, Ga.-based Community Bank of West Georgia and Newman, Ga.-based... more
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June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Swiss banks are shutting the accounts of Americans as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service accelerates the hunt for tax dodgers.
UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, the country’s biggest banks, have told Americans to move their money into specially created units registered in the U.S., or lose their accounts. Smaller private banks such as Geneva-based Mirabaud & Cie. are closing all accounts held by U.S. taxpayers.
While the banks declined to say how many people are affected, more than 5 million Americans live abroad, including about 30,000 in Switzerland, according to estimates from American Citizens Abroad in Geneva. Swiss banks must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide services for those customers.
“My bank doesn’t want to do that, so we wouldn’t accept an investment account for a U.S. person,” said Pierre Mirabaud, chairman of Mirabaud & Cie. and the Swiss Bankers Association, during a lunch at the American International Club of Geneva.June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Swiss banks are shutting the accounts of Americans as the U.S.... more
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will host a White House reception Monday in honor of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, but faces criticism for not keeping campaign promises to the community.
continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans," the president said in a proclamation this month. "These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing 'don't ask, don't tell' policy in a way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security."
But critics say it's too little, too late.
A memorandum signed this month by Obama means same-sex partners of civil service employees can be added to the long-term care program, employees can use their sick leave to take care of domestic partners, and children and same-sex partners of Foreign Service employees will be included in medical evacuations and housing allocations, according to the White House.
But it does not extend full health care coverage, which would require an act of Congress.WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will host a White House reception Monday in honor... more
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U.S. Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a graduate of the West Point military academy and an Arabic translator, will face a military panel on Tuesday which may discharge him for admitting he is gay.
His case was mentioned in a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 77 Democratic members of Congress. They called the 10-year veteran an “exceptional” soldier. Some have even referred to him as “the de facto face of the movement to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I face a discharge tomorrow morning, simply for being honorable and telling who I am, in truth” he told CNN host John Roberts on Monday morning.
Should he be discharged, it would “strip away a lot of the veterans benefits, and that can include education, home loan, and even veterans hospital and medical benefits,” he added. “These benefits that I’ve earned being a combat veteran of the Iraq war.”U.S. Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a graduate of the West Point military academy and an... more
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Arrested development is widespread. It is caused by a secular religion which takes sex and romance to be real love and spiritual fulfillment.
Gov. Mark Sanford, 49, a Christian Conservative, didn't spend Father's Day with his four sons. He flew off to Buenos Aires to be with his mistress Maria, 43, starting a two-week trial separation from his wife of 20 years, Jenny, 47.
By "listening to his heart" Sanford betrayed both his family and his nation. Like Eliot Spitzer, he was considered a front-runner for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012. Like Spitzer, Mark Sanford has damaged his career at a time when America is sorely in need of honest, competent leadership.
Sanford's personal emails to Maria from July 2008 were hacked by another of her suitors. They reveal that even at the pinnacle of his career, Sanford was seeking spiritual fulfillment in romance instead of service.
He complains that he has been dominated by his head for too long. "You have my heart," he says. Love "has become a real need of mine. You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that is so fitting with your beauty...Above all else I love that inner beauty about you."
Sanford is idealizing this woman, easy to do when you have limited contact.(She is a divorcee who recommends Alan Greenspan's last book, and is looking for a therapist.) By loving her, Sanford thinks he can possess her spiritual qualities and sophistication. He can't. He must cultivate these qualities in himself.Arrested development is widespread. It is caused by a secular religion which takes sex... more
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Mérida, June 28th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Military personnel kidnapped the ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua in Honduras, along with the Honduran Foreign Relations Minister Patricia Rodas, according to Venezuela’s ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Roy Chaderton.
Chaderton made the announcement just before noon today during an emergency meeting of the OAS in Washington that was convened to respond to the military coup d’etat underway in the Honduras.
“Excuse the interruption, it is an urgent matter. I have just received information in this moment that the ambassadors of Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela,and Foreign Relations Minister Patricia Rodas have been kidnapped by a group ofhooded military agents,” said Chaderton.
Rodas confirmed the kidnapping in a hurried phone call to the Caracas-based television channel Telesur as the kidnapping was underway, according to Telesur.
Early this morning, approximately 200 soldiers kidnapped Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from his home and took over the state television station. A conflict between Zelaya and top military officials erupted this week after the military officials impeded the distribution of electoral materials for a national poll scheduled for today on whether to have a national referendumto re-write the national constitution.
The president of the Honduran Congress, Roberto Micheletti, has been sworn in as de facto president. U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his “concern” and called for all parties to “respect democratic norms” and peacefully resolve the conflict. Zelaya has communicated with Telesur from San Jose, Costa Rica, where the military forcibly transported himMérida, June 28th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Military personnel... more
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June 27 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar declined the most against the euro in a month and dropped versus the yen after China repeated its call for a new global currency.
The Swiss franc declined against the euro and dollar this week as foreign-exchange analysts said the central bank sold its currency three times to support the economy. The greenback fell against most of its major counterparts after the People’s Bank of China said yesterday the International Monetary Fund should manage more of members’ foreign-exchange reserves.
“The dollar’s status as a reserve currency is being questioned,” said Benedikt Germanier, a foreign-exchange strategist in Stamford, Connecticut at UBS AG, the second- largest currency trader. “There are reasons to sell the dollar.”
The U.S. currency fell 0.9 percent to $1.4056 per euro this week from $1.3937 on June 19, the swiftest depreciation since the five days ended May 29. The dollar fell 1.1 percent to 95.18 yen from 96.27, its third consecutive weekly drop. The euro decreased 0.3 percent to 133.85 yen from 134.18.
Federal Reserve policy makers said on June 24 inflation “will remain subdued for some time” and that the economy warrants an “extended period” of low rates.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell the most since March as investors bet the Fed will keep interest rates close to zero for the rest of the year. The difference in yield, or spread, between 2- and 10-year yields decreased this week to 2.43 percentage points, near the narrowest level since May 20.June 27 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar declined the most against the euro in a month and... more
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Passing President Obama’s “cap and trade” energy program would cost the average Oklahoma family $3,200 a year, Sen. Jim Inhofe said Friday, but he’s confident the measure will be killed in the Senate no matter what happens in the House of Representatives.
The Tulsa Republican, a longtime critic of what he considers “this hoax called global warming,” made his latest statements during a morning stop in Shawnee while House members in Washington were preparing to vote on the controversial issue.
“Between the years of 1998 and 2005, I was the only member of the United States Senate who would take on what I call ‘the Hollywood elitists’ and the United Nations on this hoax called global warming and I went through seven years of purgatory on that issue.
“But now I’ve been redeemed and the vast majority of the scientific community has now said Inhofe’s right and the United Nations is wrong and those individuals … have now said ‘no, the science is not there and these are natural cycles.”
At the time of the interview Friday morning, he said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was only two votes short of winning and predicted that if she brought the question up for a vote, it would indicate she had found them. Late Friday, the bill was approved in the House on a 219-212 vote.Passing President Obama’s “cap and trade” energy program would cost... more
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Washington, D.C., June 26, 2009—The Competitive Enterprise Institute is today making public an internal study on climate science which was suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Internal EPA email messages, released by CEI earlier in the week, indicate that the report was kept under wraps and its author silenced because of pressure to support the Administration’s agenda of regulating carbon dioxide.
The report finds that EPA, by adopting the United Nations’ 2007 “Fourth Assessment” report, is relying on outdated research and is ignoring major new developments. Those developments include a continued decline in global temperatures, a new consensus that future hurricanes will not be more frequent or intense, and new findings that water vapor will moderate, rather than exacerbate, temperature.
New data also indicate that ocean cycles are probably the most important single factor in explaining temperature fluctuations, though solar cycles may play a role as well, and that reliable satellite data undercut the likelihood of endangerment from greenhouse gases. All of this demonstrates EPA should independently analyze the science, rather than just adopt the conclusions of outside organizations.
The released report is a draft version, prepared under EPA’s unusually short internal review schedule, and thus may contain inaccuracies which were corrected in the final report.
“While we hoped that EPA would release the final report, we’re tired of waiting for this agency to become transparent, even though its Administrator has been talking transparency since she took office. So we are releasing a draft version of the report ourselves, today,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman.Washington, D.C., June 26, 2009—The Competitive Enterprise Institute is today... more
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CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) will not give the public a week to review the final text of a health-care reform bill before it is voted on later this year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) has also declined to commit to giving the public a week to read and consider the final health-care bill.
At her press briefing on Thursday, Pelosi was asked whether the health-care bill would be handled differently than the stimulus bill, which came up in February. The 1,071-page final text of that bill was posted on the House Appropriations Committee’s Web site late on a Thursday night and then voted on the next day.
“When the stimulus bill came out earlier this year, members and citizens had less than two days to review the final version that came out of the conference committee before it was voted on,” CNSNews.com asked Pelosi on Thursday. “Will you commit to giving Americans at least a week to review the full conference version of the health care bill before it is voted on? And also will you commit to submitting the final version to the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] so that they can report the cost to the publicCNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) will not give the public a week... more
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Chavez said Honduran soldiers took away the Cuban ambassador and left the Venezuelan ambassador on the side of a road after beating him during the army's coup against his leftist ally, Manuel Zelaya, the Honduran President.
The Honduran army ousted Zelaya and exiled him in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War, after he upset the army by trying to win re-election
Chavez said on state television if his ambassador to Venezuela was killed, or if troops entered the Venezuelan Embassy, "that military junta would be entering a de facto state of war. We would have to act militarily ... I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, part of a coalition of leftist governments headed by Chavez that included Honduras, said he would support military action if Ecuador's diplomats or those of its allies were threatened.
The socialist Chavez has in the past threatened to use his armed forces in the region but never so far acted on his rhetoric. He said that if a new government is sworn in after the coup it would be defeatedChavez said Honduran soldiers took away the Cuban ambassador and left the Venezuelan... more
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WASHINGTON – The Obama White House left open the possibility Sunday that the president would break a campaign promise and raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 to support his health care overhaul agenda.
White House adviser David Axelrod said the administration wouldn't rule out taxing some employees' benefits to fund a health care agenda that has yet to take final form. The move would be a compromise with fellow Democrats, who are pushing the proposal as a way to pay for the massive undertaking without ballooning the federal deficit.
"There are a number of formulations and we'll wait and see. The important thing at this point is to keep the process moving, to keep people at the table, to the keep the discussions going," Axelrod said. "We've gotten a long way down the road and we want to finish that journey."
But if President Barack Obama compromises on that point, it would reverse a campaign tax promise.
"I pledge that under my plan, no one making less than $250,000 a year will see any type of tax increase," Obama told a crowd in Dover, N.H., last year. "Not income tax, not capital gains taxes, not any kind of tax."
If you can stomache it, the rest of the story is at the link.WASHINGTON – The Obama White House left open the possibility Sunday that the... more
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Iranian authorities arrested eight local employees of the British embassy in Tehran, accusing them of "playing major parts" in the recent unrest over a presidential election, the semi-official Fars news agency reported today.
The move comes amid deteriorating relations between Iran and the West in the wake of a crackdown against Iranians opposed to the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad responded to President Obama's criticism of the Islamic Republic's crackdown on dissenters during the civil unrest sparked by a dispute over his reelection.
On Friday, answering Ahmadinejad's demand that the United States stay out of Iran's affairs, Obama urged the Iranian president "to consider looking at the families of those who've been beaten or shot or detained."
Emerging from a period of relative quiet, Ahmadinejad criticized Obama for making "unconventional, abnormal and discourteous comments" in condemning the violence and political repressionDubai, United Arab Emirates -- Iranian authorities arrested eight local employees of... more
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WARSAW, Ind. (WANE) - ATF agents have been tight-lipped about the reason they raided the Warsaw home of local white supremacist Tom Metzger; but Metzger had plenty to say to NewsChannel 15 about the incident.
Agents with The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives searched Metzger's home early Thursday. Friday, he spoke exclusively to NewsChannel 15 about what happened.
"Very little catches me by surprise," said Metzger.
As cars gathered outside his home in Warsaw, Metzger says he knew something was up.
"A fellow said, we're here to do a search warrant."
The ATF isn't saying what was in that search warrant, but we do know they spent several hours inside Metzger's home.
Metzger and his wife were allowed to leave during the search and return when it was done.
He tells NewsChannel 15 agents seized CD's, tapes, address books and his computers.
"I live that kind of a life," explained Metzger. "I expect at anytime of the day to have the door kicked in, cause we're living in a country like that."
Because of the controversial life Metzger's lived, this is not the first time something like this has happened.
He's been involved with the white supremacist movement for more than 30 years. He's served as a former leader of the KKK, and was also the founder of neo-Nazi group the "White Aryan Resistance."
Metzger says, "I've been through this before. What they're looking for is something to connect you to something else."
Metzger believes that something else is a case from Illinois. On Thursday, Metzger's friends Dennis and Danny Mahon were arrested in that case on a number of weapons charges and the bombing of an Arizona diversity office back in 2004.
"We've been friends for years so they probably really want to look at my stuff and see whether we were conspiring," he told NewsChannel 15.
Metzger was not arrested.
The search warrant and other documents relating to the raid have been sealed.WARSAW, Ind. (WANE) - ATF agents have been tight-lipped about the reason they raided... more
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Palestine, June 28, (Pal Telegraph) - In a new move to expand illegal settlements of the occupied West Bank, Israel has ordered the registration of nearly 14-thousand hectares of land adjacent to its largest settlement.
The order published by Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper concerns some 13,900 hectares (about 34,348 acres) of land east of Maale Adumim, near the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. Based on the report, the Israeli military called on Arab residents living near the massive Maale Adumim settlement outside Jerusalem (al-Quds) to register their land within 45 days.
The region is mostly inhabited by Arab Bedouin tribes, who have been expelled during previous expansions of the settlement, the boundaries of which already extend to the Jordan Valley.
Israel has repeatedly been called to halt the construction of illegal settlementsPalestine, June 28, (Pal Telegraph) - In a new move to expand illegal settlements of... more
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The bill that was passed on Friday in Washington was just a first step in the subjugation of the American people to the banking interests of the Establishment. This is a scheme to eliminate any form of independence by creating a class of government bureaucrats to surveil American citizens, their habits, and their property. Federal mandates will be foisted on localities that are currently unable to provide adequate services to the taxpaying public.
Despite the fact that the world has abundant resources for everyone on the planet, the financial interests in control of our government are determined to crush the middle class through massive new taxes and oppressive government intrusion. This is to maintain the current hierarchical structure in which a handful of oligarchs can control entire industries and nation-states.
This has nothing to do with the environment. The same corporate interests which are pushing this agenda are the very same people who pollute the environment on a daily basis. In addition, the Federal government sprays the skies daily with toxic chemicals such as barium and aluminum oxide.
Carbon taxes and trading schemes have been created to change the way the world economy works. British technocrats have stated that they want to implement "ration cards" for the people of the world, significantly lowering the standard of living across the planet. Money would be phased out, and a totalitarian system of control would be implemented by the criminals on Wall Street and the City of London.The bill that was passed on Friday in Washington was just a first step in the... more
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Alan Potash, the Plains States Regional Director of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, publicly denounced the right of free speech in a letter to the Omaha World Herald on Tuesday. Potash had the nerve to claim that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not apply to individuals who his organization disagrees with. The following is his letter to the Omaha World Herald, published Tuesday May 26 in the public pulse of the Midlands section:
A May 16 editorial, “Dangers of hate,” was right to point out that freedom of speech does not extend to racist groups, nor give their supporters the right to threaten and intimidate others or commit acts of violence.
But when bigots step over the line, it is vital that law enforcement and the courts have the proper tools to respond effectively.
This is why Congress should move expeditiously to approve the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevent Act - legislation that would add protection for all citizens from violent acts of intolerance.
The bill, which was approved in the House last month, would equip local law enforcement officials with tools, training and resources to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated crimes.
Like acts of terrorism, hate crimes can hurt more than the individual victim. They can instill fear and insecurity within an entire community.
Alan Potash, Omaha, Regional Director, Anti-Defamation LeagueAlan Potash, the Plains States Regional Director of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League,... more
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You have 4 Days left to call your representative!
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8 Republicans who voted for Cap and Trade
The following republicans voted FOR the largest tax bill ever passed by a session of Congress.
Any good work they have done has been for naught. Unless they change their votes by the deadline, Wed, July 2nd, they will for ever be a member of the Cap and Tr8tors.
HR 2454 RECORDED VOTE 26-Jun-2009 7:17 PM
BILL TITLE: American Clean Energy and Security Act
Contact their local office as they are not in DC and home on vacation.
Mary Bono Mack R (CA)
Mike Castle R (DW)
Mark Steven Eirk R (IL)
Leonard Lance R (NJ)
Frank LoBiondo R (NJ)
John McHugh R (NY)
Dave Reichert R (WA)
Chris Smith R (NJ)You have 4 Days left to call your representative!
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8 Republicans who voted... more
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