tagged w/ President-elect Obama
-
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is expected to impose a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money, according to people familiar with the plan.
Executives would also be prohibited from receiving any bonuses above their base pay, except for normal stock dividends.
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plan to announce the executive compensation plan on Wednesday morning at the White House.
The new rules would be far tougher than any restrictions imposed during the Bush administration, and they could force executives to accept deep reductions in their current pay. They come amid rising public fury about huge pay packages for executives at financial companies being propped up by federal tax dollars.
End of ExcerptWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is expected to impose a cap of $500,000 for... more
-
-
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order Thursday to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year and halt military trials of terrorism suspects held there, a senior administration official said.
The executive order was one of three expected imminently on how to interrogate and prosecute al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters believed to be threats to U.S. security.
The official said the president would sign the order Thursday to fulfill his campaign promise to shut down a facility that critics around the world say violates domestic and international human rights. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the event has not yet been announced.
End of ExcerptGUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive... more
-
-
Thanks to everyone who voted in change.org’s “Ideas for change in America” competition. Out of 7,847 ideas generated, “Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana” was voted the #1 idea for change (with 19,530 votes) in America!
Now its time to direct our strong commitment for marijuana law reform at Obama’s official website, where “ending marijuana prohibition” continues to remain in first place…so let’s keep it that way by telling all our like-minded friends, family and co-workers to vote now to make sure that Washington policymakers–from both parties–recognize the clear popularity marijuana law reform enjoys in the United States.
(to vote go to http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/ideas/viewIdea.apexp?id=087800000004lrP)Thanks to everyone who voted in change.org’s “Ideas for change in America”... more
-
-
If we can make Peace more profitable than War the world will be able to devote Mother Earth's plentiful resources to feed the hungry, teach the ignorant, cure the sick and strengthen the purity of our environment and so enable nature to flourish long after we all have. As we celebrate the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday this holiday weekend, a day prior to the Inauguration of the first African-American to ascend to the nation's highest office, President-Elect Barack Obama, the dream starts to become reality 80 years after Dr. King came into being.
"The means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."
President-Elect Obama has drawn inspiration from Dr. King and other great men and women for many years, as have we all. The difference is now he will in but hours have the power to begin to lead us to the Promised Land witnessed only in Dr, King's Dreams. He needs to use his strong convictions and well-formed sensibilities to continue the progress made toward forming a more perfect union.
"Another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we're going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The cycle of violence fueled by endless recriminations stops when parents and grandparents say they will offer no more of their children and grandchildren to its fires. Dr. King, Nelson Mandela and Mohandas Gandhi found that even in a century as bloody as the twentieth, a commitment to sow the seeds of equality in the firm soil of non-violent resistance allows change to take firm root, rather than blow away the first time the winds change direction. May President-elect Obama help achieve lasting change through peaceful means.If we can make Peace more profitable than War the world will be able to devote Mother... more
-
-
When Barack Obama takes office on January 20th, he'll not only be the most powerful man in the world, but also the most powerful gamer. (Nintendo did give outgoing President Bush a DS and Brain Age some years ago; it's up to you to decide if he ever played it.)
The New York Times reports that the President elect -- who even took his campaign to the streets of Burnout Paradise -- gifted his daughters, Sasha and Malia, with a Nintendo Wii for Christmas ... but the head of the First Family has been playing with it, too. Apparently, Obama has been working on his bowling skills by playing Wii Sports. The President-in-waiting bowled a lowly 37 in the real-life sport while on the campaign trail, but tells the paper that he "performs better in the video game."
Being the leader of the free world probably won't leave President Obama with much time for gaming, but we'd like to hear your suggestions for Wii games he should play, given the chance. (Oh, and Mr. Obama, if you're reading this, we'd like to talk about that Video Game Czar position ... )
(Original article from http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/08/the-first-wii-obama-brings-video-games-to-the-white-house/)When Barack Obama takes office on January 20th, he'll not only be the most powerful... more
-
-
President-elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to stop the shut down on analog TV broadcasts, due on February 17. The main two reasons: "Inadequate funding" and problems with the converter box program. But there's more.
John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team, requested that "the cut-off date for analog signals should be reconsidered and extended". The letter was sent this Thursday to the chairs and ranking Republicans on the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce Committee.
Probably realizing that the Roman Emperors were right with their "bread and entertainment" policies, Podesta also argues that Americans can't wake up 28 days after the inauguration "to find their analog TV's no longer able to receive an over-the-air signal".
Indeed. I can see exactly what he means here. Not only it is true that the analog to digital TV program is broken, but I can already imagine people getting up in arms, thinking that the world is over after "the muslim" got into the White House, screaming "Whar's mah TV? This ain't wawkin'! ah knowed thet guy warn't enny fine, Ma! Fry mah hide! Kids, t'th' shelter! Git mah rifle!"
So yes, this is a wise move that would benefit everyone until the issues with the program funding and public education on the analog-to-digital transition are solved.President-elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to stop the shut down on analog TV... more
-
-
President-elect Barack Obama will use the same Bible at his inauguration that Abraham Lincoln used for his swearing in.
"President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in," Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau said in a statement Tuesday.
Obama is also tracing the train route that Lincoln took and holding a welcome event at the Lincoln Memorial ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.
The burgundy velvet Bible with gilded edges was purchased and inscribed by William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court.
It will be on display at the Library of Congress Feb. 12 to May 9 as part of an exhibition titled "With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition." The exhibit will then travel to five other American cities — Sacramento, Calif., Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Omaha, Neb. — in commemoration of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth on Feb. 12, 1809.
(original article from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/23/national/w070157S23.DTL&feed=rss.news)President-elect Barack Obama will use the same Bible at his inauguration that Abraham... more
-
-
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled climate change and genetic research will be among his top priorities when he takes office as he named White House science and technology advisers.
"Today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation," Obama said in a weekly radio and video address.
"It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology."
Obama's comments were a clear reference to President George W. Bush's administration which has been accused of downplaying scientific findings on climate change and genetic research.
Signaling a break with Bush's policies on global warming, Obama named John Holdren, an award-winning environmental policy professor at Harvard University, to head the Office of Science and Technology Policy and co-chair the president's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Obama called Holdren "one of the most passionate and persistent voices of our time about the growing threat of climate change".
(for full story go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081220/wl_afp/uspoliticsobamascience_081220173617)WASHINGTON (AFP) – President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled climate change... more
-
-
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A priest has removed two books about Barack Obama from a Missouri Roman Catholic school's library because of the president-elect's abortion position.
"I am very pro-life," the Rev. Ron Elliott of Blue Springs, Mo., told KMBC-TV, Kansas City, Mo. "Because of his stance on certain issues, I was asked to look into that matter."
Obama has said he believes abortions should be legally available in accordance with the landmark Roe vs. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that said abortion was a constitutional right to privacy under the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment.
Elliott said he pulled the Obama books from St. John LaLande Catholic School, even though he didn't find anything wrong with them when he read them.
He said he would put the books back on the shelf in February or March, "after the dust kind of settles."
The school has an early childhood center and teaches students from kindergarten through eighth grade.
(original article from http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/18/Priest_removes_Obama_books_from_school/UPI-74271229623123/)BLUE SPRINGS, Mo., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A priest has removed two books about Barack Obama... more
-
-
The new Office of Vacuous Celebrity (OVC) will be a key part of Barack Obama’s White House and will ensure that the pointless activities of actors, singers, socialites and their hangers-on are at the heart of administration thinking and inform new policy from the outset. Obama has tapped world famous pop star and fruitcake Britney Spears to serve as the first director of the OVC and revealed his new ‘gossip girl’ at a press conference in Chicago.The new Office of Vacuous Celebrity (OVC) will be a key part of Barack Obama’s White... more
-
-
I'm gonna be honest with you, I am a logo whore. I love a good logo so if you are into icons this is for you.I'm gonna be honest with you, I am a logo whore. I love a good logo so if you are into... more
-
-
Earlier this month we noted that Barack Obama's Presidential transition site Change.gov had added OpenID login for commenters and that the site had traded the traditional copyright for the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Last week, the iPhone app for Change.gov was added to Apple's Web apps page, thanks to the Creative Commons license.
According to Christopher Carfi, co-founder of Cerado, the company behind the creation of the widgets, the fact that Change.gov is now iPhone, mobile and widget-enabled is largely due to Change.gov opening up its content with the Creative Commons license.
In addition to the iPhone app, using their Ventana service, Cerado created a widget version of Change.gov that includes a news and agenda feed, links to the team, as well as links to Obama inspired books on Amazon.Earlier this month we noted that Barack Obama's Presidential transition site... more
-
-
-
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has picked the widely respected housing commissioner for New York City, Shaun Donovan, to be the secretary of housing in his cabinet.
Assuming that Mr. Donovan, 42, is confirmed by the Senate to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he would be returning to the agency where he worked in the Clinton administration as acting federal housing commissioner and, earlier, as deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing, overseeing subsidies and properties for about two million families.
Mr. Donovan has experience in all facets of the affordable housing market, having worked in both the nonprofit and private sectors and in academia as a scholar of housing policy. He has even worked as an architect in New York and Italy.
With permission this year from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who hired him in March 2004, Mr. Donovan took a leave of absence to campaign for and advise Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign. Mr. Obama named Mr. Donovan to the housing post on Saturday, in his weekly national radio address.
“Shaun Donovan has been one of the most effective housing commissioners in New York City’s history,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who had championed Mr. Donovan. “At this time, with the housing crisis raging, he is exactly the kind of person we need as HUD secretary.”
As chief of New York’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Mr. Donovan is in charge of the Bloomberg administration’s $7.5 billion New Housing Marketplace Plan to build or preserve 165,000 units for to low- and moderate-income families, housing up to 500,000 residents, by 2013.
End of Excerpt
So what do you think of Obama's Team?WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has picked the widely respected housing... more
-
-
WASHINGTON - The House pressed toward passage of a $14 billion bailout for the nation’s imperiled auto industry Wednesday night, but the hard-fought deal between Democrats and the Bush White House was in jeopardy amid strong opposition from GOP senators.
Republicans were in full revolt against their party’s lame-duck president over the measure, balking at helping Detroit’s struggling Big Three without hefty concessions from autoworkers and creditors, and furious about an environmental mandate House Democrats insisted on including in the measure.
Democratic leaders still held out hope that the emergency aid could be enacted by week’s end.
End of excerptWASHINGTON - The House pressed toward passage of a $14 billion bailout for the... more
-
-
The AP reports that Obama intends to name Lisa Jackson, the former Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, as his Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
In other news, global warming activist Steven Chu will be named Energy Sec.
http://current.com/items/89610657/obama_to_name_chu_energy_sec.htmThe AP reports that Obama intends to name Lisa Jackson, the former Commissioner of the... more
-
-
Obama will name Steven Chu his choice for Energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator and Carol Browner as energy "czar" reporting to the president.
Chu has Impeccable credentials in science management and as an experimental physicist; he shared the 1997 Nobel prize in physics. Dr. Chu, an Asian-American, would also bring diversity to the cabinet.
Chu has spoken out against Yucca Mountain and has worked on programs that have researched the potentials of alternative energies. Chu is also a strong proponent of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
-----------------------------
Info on Chu.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/politics/05web-chu.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=chu&st=cse
IMO this is a great choice, I was hoping Chu would be picked. What do you think?Obama will name Steven Chu his choice for Energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA... more
-
-
If president-elect Barack Obama heeds the advice of a blue-ribbon IT security panel, he'll create a new White House office for cyberspace to be headed by an adviser charged with coordinating the computer security efforts of federal departments and agencies.
In other words, a Cyber Czar.
But who would fill the role envisioned in the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) commission's recent 96-page report, "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency?" ChannelWeb runs down the list of potential candidates for Cyber Czar.
For the list go to http://www.crn.com/security/212300531If president-elect Barack Obama heeds the advice of a blue-ribbon IT security panel,... more
-
-
Barack Obama has called on Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to resign following his arrest on charges that he tried to "sell" Mr Obama's senate seat.
FBI investigators said telephone intercepts showed that Mr Blagojevich had been offered campaign cash by a man who was interested in taking the seat.
"Under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."Barack Obama has called on Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to resign following his... more
-
-
President-elect Barack Hussein Obama (D-Ill.) indirectly took down corrupt Illinois governor Rod R. Blagojevich. An ethics bill that Obama pushed for led to Blagojevich's demise. It is a rumored that Blagojevich was taken down by Rahm Emanuel as well, Obama's Chief of staff.
--------------
In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.
Tipped off to Mr. Blagojevich’s efforts, federal agents obtained wiretaps for his phones and eventually overheard what they say was scheming by the governor to profit from his appointment of a successor to the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama. One official whose name has long been mentioned in Chicago political circles as a potential successor is Mr. Jones, a machine politician who was viewed as a roadblock to ethics reform but is friendly with Mr. Obama.
End of excerptPresident-elect Barack Hussein Obama (D-Ill.) indirectly took down corrupt Illinois... more
-
