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McCain wants much larger U.S. military
Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants the U.S. military to be much larger than current expansion plans envision, an adviser to the Arizona senator said this week.
The Bush administration has begun expanding the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to create a combined strength of around 750,000 active duty troops -- a process backed by McCain's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
But McCain believes an Army and Marine Corps with a combined strength of up to 900,000 troops is necessary, said Randy Scheunemann, an adviser to the candidate on foreign policy and national security.
"Sen. McCain feels the proposed increases are not sufficient. They need to be more, to fully address the challenges we face in the 21st century," Scheunemann told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The U.S. Army and Marines have been severely strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many troops have served multiple tours in the war zones and currently spend only 12 months at home before they deploy again for another year.
As a member of the U.S. Senate's armed services committee, McCain has built a reputation for scrutinizing the costs of big weapons programs and he has pledged to pursue that approach in the White House if he wins November's election. Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants the U.S. military to be much larger than current expansion plans envision, an advi... more -
The Danger Of Post Christian Mother Nature Worship
Some people mistakenly believe that we’ve entered an “Age of Reason” in which people have thrown off the shackles of superstitious beliefs and now embrace logic and science.
But that is not what’s happening. Belief in religion is apparently something that’s genetically programmed into the human brain. Christianity may be regressing
, but it’s being replaced by a new post-Christian Mother Nature worship religion.
Like previous religions, the post-Christian Mother Nature worshippers have creation myths and dietary restrictions. They have an end-of-the-world myth involving global warming. They have prophets such as Al Gore and Barack Obama.
What post-Christian Mother Nature worship lacks is a formal name, and formal religious rituals. But therein lies its greatest danger to those who believe in the separation of church and state.
Post-Christian Mother Nature worship is not yet recognized as a religion, and thus is able to circumvent the Constitution’s Establishment Clause and become the official state religion.
It will use the power of the state to evangelize its beliefs and punish the unbelievers.
Soon it will also be able to punish people who question global warming, or who question the belief that dietary cholesterol is bad for you.
Some people mistakenly believe that we’ve entered an “Age of Reason” in which people have thrown off the shackles of superstitious bel... more -
Google’s Debate - lets hear All the Voices
For the first time in recent history we have an opportunity to listen to all the presidential candidates debate in an open forum.
I would personally like to see Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader , Bob Barr as well as Obama and McCain debate to hear a diversity of opinion and policy that makes our democracy strong.
sign the petition to open the debate to all candidates
http://www.petitiononline.com/GoogleNO/petition.html
For the first time in recent history we have an opportunity to listen to all the presidential candidates debate in an open forum. ... more -
BUSH, BARACK, AND THE WAR FOR AMERICA
Obama's message of hope offers a new hope to many Americans. Those that do not agree with him or his message have the right to do so but with the current condition of this country it is time for something different. Obama's message of hope offers a new hope to many Americans. Those that do not agree with him or his message have the right to do so b... more
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Five Judicial Myths !!!
Despite what we hear today . . .
1. THE JUDICIARY IS NOT A CO-EQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT
The legislative authority elected by the people necessarily predominates.
2. THE JUDICIARY IS NOT TO BE AN INDEPENDENT BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT
If the judges are made independent they will become a dangerous body.
3. THE JUDICIARY IS NOT THE SOLE BRANCH CAPABLE OF DETERMINING CONSTITUTIONALITY
The judges must interpret the laws; they ought not to be legislators.
4. FEDERAL JUDGES DO NOT HOLD LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS .
Federal judges may be removed by Congress for misbehavior
5. THE PURPOSE OF THE SUPREME COURT IS NOT TO PROTECT THE MINORITY FROM THE MAJORITY, AND CONGRESS IS A BETTER PROTECTOR OF MINORITY RIGHTS THAN IS THE JUDICIARY.
Congress is a better guardian of the people and the minority than are the courts who extended slavery in America for 70 years
Despite what we hear today . . . 1. THE JUDICIARY IS NOT A CO-EQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT ... more -
Uganda Primate says Barack Obama is ‘unAfrican’
US Presidential hopeful Barak Obama is un-African, the primate of Uganda said, and advocates moral positions at odds with the religious and cultural values of the continent.
US Presidential hopeful Barak Obama is un-African, the primate of Uganda said, and advocates moral positions at odds with the religiou... more -
Obama remarks on Iraq prompt flip-flop charge
John McCain has employed the flip-flopping case against Barack Obama. Do you think Obama will be able to overcome this classic Republican attack? John McCain has employed the flip-flopping case against Barack Obama. Do you think Obama will be able to overcome this classic Republ... more
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Can Obama Really Win, When All other Blacks are loosing? CNN reports on Black Amer...
I ask this question becuase everyone saids"We want change" ; but I wonder if we are going to make the change. How many people are really going to vote for change. Is fear of the unknown is going to scare people to vote for the "safe" canidate? And, why or so many blacks are afraid to vote for Obama?
This report on CNN air on July 24 and 25, I hope this will give a better view of us, than what some thing programs do. Maybe if people see that we are all the same, than maybe the vote for change will not be a hard one to make. I ask this question becuase everyone saids"We want change" ; but I wonder if we are going to make the change. How many people are rea... more -
Obama may accept nomination at NFL stadium
Can you be any more American?
"Barack Obama's campaign is thinking of having the Democratic presidential candidate give his presidential nomination acceptance speech at a football stadium rather than in the arena in Denver, Colorado, where the Democratic National Convention is being held.
CNN has confirmed that discussions are underway between the campaign and Denver's convention organizing committee to move the senator from Illinois' acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center, a basketball and hockey arena which seats around 20,000 people, to Invesco Field at Mile High. The football stadium where the Denver Broncos play can seat around 75,000 people.
A bigger crowd could make for a more compelling picture and image.
One problem could be the weather. The stadium is open aired, and susceptible to afternoon and evening summer thunderstorms, while the arena is closed to the elements.
The story was first reported in the Los Angeles Times and by the Associated Press.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Shannon Gilson told the AP that no decisions have been made.
The Democrats' presidential nominating convention is scheduled to open on Monday August 25 and close with Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday, August 28." Can you be any more American? ... more -
Obama backlash in his online backyard
The Obama campaign’s willingness to have supporters communicate and strategize with each other online, rather than wait for commands from on high, has been credited with giving him a crucial advantage over opponents who favor more traditional political tools. Nothing better typifies this strategy of letting the grass-roots grow on the campaign headquarters’ front lawn than its popular Web portal, my.barackobama.com, where supporters can form groups and create blogs.
But in the last week, my.barackobama.com has also become an excellent place for supporters to gather and discuss their disappointment with their candidate, surely a new development for a campaign fueled by popular enthusiasm, particularly online.
The rallying cry has been Mr. Obama’s support for a revised version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that includes immunity to lawsuits for phone companies over their role in assisting in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.
A group on my.barackobama.com with the polite name “Senator Obama Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity – Get FISA Right” is now the fourth-largest public group at the portal, and it is growing fast. The mission statement on my.barackobama.com is, as follows: “We are a proud group of your supporters who believe in your call for hope and a new kind of politics. Please reject the politics of fear on national security, vote against this bill and lead other Democrats to do the same!”
The vote on FISA in the Senate has been delayed until after the July Fourth holiday.
The group, created on Wednesday, has more than 8,000 members, and recently passed the group “Women for Obama.” (On Monday morning, there were barely 4,000 members of the anti-FISA group.)
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The group was conceived on a listserv for progressive, politically active people, said Mike Stark, an activist who is a law student at the University of Virginia. He wrote an initial e-mail to the group arguing: “Obama is getting mad props for social networking, why don’t we use social networking to let him know that he can’t keep elbowing his progressive base — the people who got him the nomination — away from the policy table?”
One of the recipients, who was already a member of my.barackobama.com, created the group. There were bumps in membership when various blogs wrote sympathetically, Mr. Stark said, but, “the biggest bump was from the members themselves.” He called it “the networking effect.”
The idea that the site would reject the sub-group never occurred to him, he said, because of Mr. Obama’s commitment to using the Internet to bring more transparency to government. “One of his key things is a five-day comment period before he signs noncritical legislation, and not all of that comment will be favorable,” he said. “It’s a test run to see what his presidency might look like.”
Mr. Stark said he was thinking beyond the FISA vote, which he concedes is all but lost. He said he planned to change the group’s name to Barack’s Better Angels, and linger at the site until the election as a meeting place for “progressives who won’t accept being pushed away from the table.”
The Obama campaign’s willingness to have supporters communicate and strategize with each other online, rather than wait for commands f... more -
Obama's for Equal Pay, Yet Pays Female Staffers Less Than Males
CNSNews.com) - While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men.
That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men.
Obama spoke in Albuquerque, N.M. last week about his commitment to the issue and his support of a Senate bill to make it easier to sue an employer for pay discrimination.
"Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer," Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. "It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family's income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You'd think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay."
He continued, saying that he is proud to have supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would extend the limit on how long an employee can wait before suing an employer for pay discrimination.
The legislation was named after Lilly Ledbetter, who was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued for pay discrimination before retiring after 19 years because she had made $6,500 less per year than the lowest paid male supervisor.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out her case, saying she waited too long to file a complaint. The court said that under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, an employee must sue within 180 days of a decision regarding pay if alleged discrimination is involved. The bill sought to change the law, but Democrats could not muster the needed 60 votes to override a Republican filibuster.
Obama voted for the equal pay litigation bill in April. McCain was campaigning that day and did not vote. But he has expressed opposition to the legislation, fearing it would open the door to too much litigation.
On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That's according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama's Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one -- Obama's administrative manager -- was a woman.
The average pay for the 33 men on Obama's staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama's staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama's staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.)
McCain, an Arizona senator, employed a total of 69 people during the reporting period ending in the fall of 2007, but 23 of them were interns. Of his non-intern employees, 30 were women and 16 were men. After excluding interns, the average pay for the 30 women on McCain's staff was $59,104.51. The 16 non-intern males in McCain's office, by comparison, were paid an average of $56,628.83.
The Obama campaign did not respond to written questions submitted on the matter Thursday by Cybercast News Service .
CNSNews.com) - While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected p... more -
Obama is wrong on ethanol
Obama has been making the rounds, extolling the virtues of corn-based ethanol, an incredibly energy-inefficient bio-fuel. It angers me that he does not acknowledge that sugar-cane ethanol is a much more environmentally-friendly and, in the long-term, cost-efficient bio-fuel. The only reason I can fathom he's pushing for corn ethanol is because it's produceable in the U.S., and therefore will garner him votes and support from Great Plains farmers and the American agricultural industry at-large. Obama has been making the rounds, extolling the virtues of corn-based ethanol, an incredibly energy-inefficient bio-fuel. It angers me... more
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Obam: Out of iraq in 16 months
Obama restated a plan to withdrawal troops from Iraq in 16 months, following an earlier broadcast that left room for a different time table, "Here is what I can tell you," Obama said in a second news conference on Iraq. "I will bring our troops out one to two brigades a month. That's what I intend to do as president of the United States." Obama restated a plan to withdrawal troops from Iraq in 16 months, following an earlier broadcast that left room for a different time ... more
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Obama opens door to refining his Iraq policy
FARGO, N.D. - Democrat Barack Obama opened the door Thursday to refining his plan to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq in 16 months based on what he hears from military commanders during his upcoming trip there.
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"I am going to do a thorough assessment when I'm there," he told reporters on the airport tarmac here. "I'm sure I'll have more information and continue to refine my policy."
During his presidential campaign, Obama has gone from the hard-edged, vocal opposition to Iraq that defined his early candidacy to more nuanced rhetoric that calls for a phased-out drawdown of all combat brigades that, at a rate of one or two a month, could last 16 months. He has said that if al-Qaida builds bases in Iraq, he would keep troops either in the country or the region to carry out "targeted strikes."
Republicans, who have been goading Obama to return to Iraq to see conditions for himself, pounced.
"There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the national Republican Party. "Obama's Iraq problem undermines the central premise of his candidacy and shows him to be a typical politician." ... more -
McCain's temper strikes again and leaves him speechless (video)
John McCain has been the subject for many years of questions about his "uncontrollable" temper, with even fellow Republican Sen. Thad Cochran suggesting it makes him unfit to be president.
A touch of the McCain temper was on display Tuesday, when a reporter asked him, "In what ways did your experience in Vietnam prepare you for the presidency?" and McCain brusquely replied, "oh, please," and turned away.
In commenting on that reaction, Sen. Cochran told a Mississippi newspaper about an incident in 1987 where McCain grabbed a Nicaraguan envoy "by the shirt collar" during negotiations "and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair" -- a story McCain said was "simply not true."
MSNBC's Dan Abrams asked his guests on Wednesday, "How big a deal is this for John McCain?"
White House correspondent April Ryan agreed that, "it's a big deal. ... America wants to know that their president can handle tough situations ... with an even hand and an even mind."
However, MSNBC's Turker Carlson found the whole topic ridiculous. "You've got to be kidding!" he laughed. "Knock it off! That's the dumbest thing I've heard in so long! ... I hope he grabbed that Sandinista official by the face and ground it into the desk. They were monsters! ... I think America wants a president with some backbone!"
"He's running for president of the United States, not Miss Manners," Huffington Post editor Roy Sekoff chimed in. "I mean, suddenly he's going to be disqualified because he gets a little hot under the collar and has a potty mouth?"
"I'm not talking about a potty mouth," retorted Ryan. "I'm talking about someone who will blow a fuse. Do you want that sucker? Hey, have it if you want it."
"I've never seen him blow any fuses," insisted Carlson.
"It's ludicrous," Sekoff agreed.
Dan Abrams then brought up Cindy McCain's lavish spending habits, with recent disclosures showing her running up hundreds of thousands of dollars on her charge cards in a month.
Ryan suggested that the story made McCain look bad at "a time when people are holding their pocketbooks and looking at the possible leader of the free world to make sure they understand their pain."
In this case, Sekoff agreed, saying, "The hypocrisy ... comes when Karl Rove tries to paint Barack Obama as a country club elitist. ... Cindy McCain is the real deal. ... This is not going to go over well with the American people."
This video is from MSNBC's Verdict, broadcast July 2, 2008.
John McCain has been the subject for many years of questions about his "uncontrollable" temper, with even fellow Republican Sen. Thad ... more -
Democracy is a choice of Ice Cream Flavors
Well you might never know who’s running for President if you checked all the major news outlets. It seems that MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, The New York TImes and The LA Times, with all of their Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, technology and resources that these major news organizations have at their disposal, are failing to list all the candidates on the pages of their election coverage. Well you might never know who’s running for President if you checked all the major news outlets. It seems that MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, T... more
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Obama: After 9/11, 'we were asked to go shopping'
In a bastion of the religious right, Barack Obama is talking up the importance of volunteerism, part of a flag-draped week focused on God, country, service, veterans and freedom - and on cribbing themes from the successful campaigns of President Bush.
Wednesday's main message was the need to boost service by all Americans in all spheres - the military, overseas and in neighborhoods.
In the prepared text of Obama's speech, he said the quiet following Friday's Fourth of July celebrations would be a good time to look beyond the "bustle and busyness" of everyday obligations to find a way to contribute.
"I hope you take that moment to think about what you can do to shape the future of this country we love," the Democratic presidential hopeful was to say in a University of Colorado gym. "Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the 4th of July."
Obama talked in almost achingly personal terms about the impact service had on him, as a boy who "spent much of my childhood adrift" and often had little idea "who I was or where I was going." But early in college, he said, values like hard work and empathy resurfaced "after a long hibernation." He eventually found himself working as a community organizer in a devastated South Side Chicago neighborhood, and said he was transformed.
His call is a clear echo of Bush's "love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself" refrain, an enduring and prominent staple of Bush's own runs for the White House as well as his campaigning for others in midterm election years.
But to Obama, the problem is not that Americans are not willing. It's that they have neither been asked nor given enough opportunities. In a clear slap to Bush, he decried that Americans "were asked to go shopping," instead of something larger, in the wake of the 2001 attacks.
"We have lost precious time," he said.
His solution is a major proposed expansion of government national service programs, first unveiled in Iowa in December, that would cost $3.5 billion a year. His campaign said he would fund the spending with some of the savings from ending the war in Iraq and by canceling a new tax break for multinational corporations.
One new piece announced Wednesday would create a new "Green Vet Initiative" offering counseling, job placement and mediation with industry for veterans wanting to enter the rapidly expanding renewable energy field.
Other highlights of the plan include: increasing the all-volunteer military, expanding AmeriCorps, doubling the size of the Peace Corps, expanding YouthBuild, in which low-income young people build affordable housing; expanding service programs involving retired people and anyone over 55, and creating a tax credit making the first $4,000 of college tuition free for students who conduct 100 hours of public service a year.
On a day the Democratic presidential candidate's Republican opponent, John McCain, was in Colombia touting the benefits of free trade deals, Obama also was addressing the United Steel Workers union's annual conference in Las Vegas via satellite and burnishing his military credentials with a planned visit to the U.S. Air Force Academy and Peterson Air Force Base, both based here.
Obama's time here brought him onto the home turf of James Dobson, the popular and influential evangelical leader who founded Focus on the Family and with whom the Democratic candidate has sparred.
Dobson recently said that Obama, in a 2006 speech, was "deliberately distorting" descriptions of Bible passages to suit his policies. Obama shot back that Dobson was "just making stuff up."
As an unexpected entry in the battleground column for this November's election, Colorado is one of the chief places where Democrats see a chance to turn a reliably red state into a blue one. Its biggest city, Denver, was chosen to host the Democratic convention in August where Obama will officially take the nominee crown.
In a bastion of the religious right, Barack Obama is talking up the importance of volunteerism, part of a flag-draped week focused on ... more -
Obama got discount on home loan
Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust in Illinois.
The freshman Democratic senator received a discount. He locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago. The loan was unusually large, known in banker lingo as a "super super jumbo." Obama paid no origination fee or discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their interest rates.
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the rate was adjusted to account for a competing offer from another lender and other factors. "The Obamas have since had as much as $3 million invested through Northern Trust," he said in a statement.
Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mans... more -
McCain evokes war on drugs
US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain waded into drug policy Wednesday, on the second day of a Latin America tour meant to burnish his foreign policy and national security credentials.
McCain wrapped up an overnight stay in Colombia, the world's top producer of cocaine, and was to travel to Mexico, the main route for illegal drugs flowing into the voracious US market, later in the day.
"Drug cartels have basically taken control of some towns on the Mexican border," McCain told ABC News Wednesday, speaking from Colombian seaside resort of Cartagena.
"There is clearly a continued threat of drugs pouring into the United States of America, which can harm us and our young people very badly."
The Arizona senator praised progress Colombia has made against drugs and the leftist insurgent FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, after a lengthy meeting late Tuesday with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
"Certainly it's my view that significant progress has been made against the FARC in the presidency of President Uribe," McCain said of the rebel group, whose hostages include three US nationals seized in 2003 during anti-drug operations in the region.
McCain, in a tough battle against Democrat Barack Obama to win the White House in the November 4 election, is hoping to use the Latin America trip to score points over Obama in the arenas of trade and foreign policy.
He was accompanied by his wife Cindy McCain, independent Senator Joseph Lieberman and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
McCain also gave his backing to the US-Colombia free trade pact agreed by Uribe and US President George W. Bush but now stalled in the US Congress, where opponents cite Colombian government violence against trade unions.
On Monday, McCain savaged Obama over his opposition to the pact and accused him of being unwilling to recognize the magnitude of the Uribe government's duel with FARC, the long-running leftist rebel movement.
"He doesn't support the Colombian free trade agreement. I think it would have very serious consequences if we rebuked our closest ally," McCain said.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) meanwhile launched a new attack against McCain, accusing him of appeasing big business at the expense of US workers.
"We are seeing nothing but a continuation of the economic policies that have failed working people, not just the working people in Colombia but working people in this country," said DNC vice-chair Linda Chavez-Thompson.
"Senator McCain is going to follow George Bush's failed economic policies, we can't afford that," she said on a conference call with reporters.
Mark Levinson, chief economist of the Unite Here trade union, said McCain should worry more about the plight of US workers than new trade pacts.
"It is clear that whatever he is doing, it is not in the interests of US workers," he said.
"The situation with the Colombia trade agreement is a particular outrage.
"There are more trade unionists killed in Colombia than the rest of the world combined.
"While John McCain is in Colombia, Senator Obama is in Ohio, ground zero of the affect of these bad trade deals in the US economy.
"We think this just highlights the stark difference between these two candidates."
McCain was to leave for Mexico City later Wednesday for talks on Thursday with President Felipe Calderon, the recipient of fresh US aid for its fight against drugs.
The US Senate last week approved a 1.6-billion-dollar, three-year package of anti-drug assistance to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean known as the "Merida Initiative."
An underworld war between rival drug gangs and police has escalated into open bloody conflict in Mexico in recent weeks, with more than 1,500 people killed this year, some 500 of them in the northern border city of
US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain waded into drug policy Wednesday, on the second day of a Latin America tour meant to bu... more
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