His websites, DiscovertheNetworks.org and Frontpagemag.org are absolute must reads in understanding the radicals that are running our country right now. (Also available on Mr. Horowitz's FPM site are the websites News Real Blog and Jihad Watch.) Everything is amazingly organized, as Mr. Horowitz has been at this a long, long....long time. He is an expert on The Radical Left, there is no doubt. For example, from Discover the Networks, the following headlines are presented in a posting about tracking the Obama presidency. LOOK at the picture these headlines paint for us as to what has happened over the last 5 months:
January 2010
Obama Administration Lowers Priority on Intelligence-Collection for China
Obama criticizes Supreme Court ruling that struck down part of McCain-Feingold campaign-finance-reform rules
Obama Unveils New Proposals to Help a Middle Class that Is "Under Assault"
February 2010
Obama Says He Is "Agnostic" on the Possibility of Raising Taxes on the Middle Class
Obama Indicates He May Use Executive Orders to Bypass Congress in Enacting New Laws
March 2010
Obama Administration Reprimands Israel
Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill into Law
Obama Lifts Ban on Oil Drilling off the Coast of Virginia
April 6, 2010
Obama Announces Limitations on U.S. Use of Nuclear Weapons
Michelle Obama Says the President's "Home Country" is Kenya, and States that He Has Always Sought to "Narrow the Gaps"
Obama Advisors Hint That Tax Hikes May Be Necessary
Obama Directs Federal Agencies to Take Bids only from Union Contractors
Obama Extends Unemployment Benefits
Obama Calls for Support from "African Americans, Latinos, and Women"
Obama Criticizes Arizona Immigration Law
Obama Says, "At Some Point, You've Made Enough Money"
Van Jones Likens Obama's Politics to that of the New Party and the Working Families Party, Two Socialist Entities
May 2010
Obama Administration Lowers Priority on Intelligence-Collection for China
Obama Criticizes Arizona Immigration Law During White House Meeting with Mexican President
The website is about so much more than just Obama:
Welcome to DiscoverTheNetworks. This site is a "Guide to the Political Left." It identifies the individuals and organizations that make up the left and also the institutions that fund and sustain it; it maps the paths through which the left exerts its influence on the larger body politic; it defines the left's (often hidden) programmatic agendas and it provides an understanding of its history and ideas. The site is made up of two principal data elements along with a powerful search engine to locate and explore the information stored.
The full posting "Tracking the Obama Presidency" on Discover the Networks is here.
The articles posted for the above-listed headlines, detailed from "Tracking the Obama Presidency since the 2008 Election," are as follows:
Obama Administration Lowers Priority on Intelligence-Collection for China:
The White House National Security Council recently directed U.S. spy agencies to lower the priority placed on intelligence collection for China, amid opposition to the policy change from senior intelligence leaders who feared it would hamper efforts to obtain secrets about Beijing's military and its cyber-attacks.
The downgrading of intelligence gathering on China was challenged by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair and CIA Director Leon E. Panetta after it was first proposed in interagency memorandums in October, current and former intelligence officials said.
The decision downgrades China from "Priority 1" status, alongside Iran and North Korea, to "Priority 2," which covers specific events such as the humanitarian crisis after the Haitian earthquake or tensions between India and Pakistan....
[A]dministration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the new policy is part of the Obama administration's larger effort to develop a more cooperative relationship with Beijing....
Critics within the government ... said the change will mean that strategic intelligence on China — the gathering of data and analysis of information — will be reduced over time, undermining what officials said are urgently needed efforts to know more about China's political, economic, military and intelligence activities.
Officials said the lower intelligence priority for China is a subtle but significant change that will affect an array of intelligence activities.
Although the effect is not expected to be immediate, a change in priority number generally means that projects regarding that country are scrutinized more skeptically on budgetary and other grounds. Agencies likely will reduce spending for intelligence operations on China, whether carried out by spies or by photographic and electronic-intercept satellites.
Critics of the decision also fear that the lower priority will cause CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency operatives to take fewer risks in the field when spying on Chinese targets.
One new area that has been given a higher intelligence priority under the Obama administration is intelligence collection on climate change, a nontraditional mission marginally linked to national security. The CIA recently announced that it had set up a center to study the impact of climate change.
One U.S. official said the NSC intelligence policy change followed protests from China's government about the publication in September of the National Intelligence Strategy, produced by Mr. Blair's DNI office. The strategy report identified China as one of four main threats to U.S. interests, along with Russia, Iran and North Korea....
The Chinese government reacted harshly to the strategy report, both in public and in diplomatic channels, the official said.
A Chinese government spokesman in September stated that "we urge the United States to discard its Cold War mindset and prejudice, correct the mistakes in the [National Intelligence Strategy] report and stop publishing wrong opinions about China which may mislead the American people and undermine the mutual trust between China and the United States." ...
John Tkacik, a former State Department intelligence official, said the demotion of China to a second-tier priority reflects bias within the NSC staff.
"It means that the Obama administration doesn't understand the profound challenge that China has become or, even more disturbing, it cannot understand that China's challenges to America's policies are becoming even more threatening with each passing week," he said.
The intelligence downgrade was disclosed as civilian and military leaders were calling U.S. intelligence collection and analysis on China deficient.
Adm. Robert Willard, the new commander of U.S. Pacific Command, indirectly criticized U.S. intelligence estimates on China last fall, telling reporters in November that during the past decade "China has exceeded most of our intelligence estimates of their military capability and capacity every year. They've grown at an unprecedented rate in those capabilities."
Mr. Hoekstra said ... the shift sends the wrong signal to the 16 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community that China is not important, he said in an interview. "That's a wrong analysis," Mr. Hoekstra said. "The current situation with China is that they are cheating on trade agreements, aggressively pursuing military capabilities and aggressively conducting cyber-attacks."
A military official also said recently that Army, Air Force and Navy intelligence components are just beginning to understand the growing need to focus more intelligence assets on the challenges posed by China's military buildup and aggressive intelligence activities.
Counterintelligence officials also were surprised at the decision to lower the intelligence priority on China, noting that China's espionage, technology theft and economic spying continue to dominate scarce resources, including people and funds.
Michelle Van Cleave, former national counterintelligence executive, also said the priority change was ill-advised and will hurt personnel, funding and intelligence assets devoted to Chinese targets.
"Chinese intelligence is going after us with a vengeance," she said, noting that the problem includes industrial espionage, technology diversion and stealing defense and other national security secrets, in addition to a global campaign of cyber-espionage.
"So why are they doing this?" she asked. "I am very troubled by how little U.S. intelligence really knows about the Chinese, in part because they have been so successful against us. Our national leadership should be pushing to close this intelligence gap, because if they dont, they will risk making serious miscalculations in dealing with China."
Obama criticizes Supreme Court ruling that struck down part of McCain-Feingold campaign-finance-reform rules:
On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court (in a 5-4 decision) overturmed this aspect of McCain-Feigold in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted with the majority, wrote: "If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech." The Court ruling overturned two precedents: Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a 1990 decision that upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates, and McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, a 2003 decision that upheld the portion of McCain-Feingold that restricted campaign spending by corporations and unions.
President Obama called the decision “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”
On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court (in a 5-4 decision) overturmed this aspect of McCain-Feigold in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted with the majority, wrote: "If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech." The Court ruling overturned two precedents: Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a 1990 decision that upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates, and McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, a 2003 decision that upheld the portion of McCain-Feingold that restricted campaign spending by corporations and unions.
President Obama called the decision “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”
Obama Unveils New Proposals to Help a Middle Class that Is "Under Assault":
On January 25, 2010, Obama issued a public statement where he declared that America's middle class was "under assault," and he unveiled a series of plans designed to "re-establish some of the security that's slipped away." The initiatives, which would be included in Obama's budget for the fiscal year starting October 1, would require approval from Congress. They included the following:
On January 25, 2010, Obama issued a public statement where he declared that America's middle class was "under assault," and he unveiled a series of plans designed to "re-establish some of the security that's slipped away." The initiatives, which would be included in Obama's budget for the fiscal year starting October 1, would require approval from Congress. They included the following:
- nearly doubling the tax credit that families making under $85,000 can receive for child care costs, with some help for families earning up to $115,000;
- capping the size of periodic federal college loan repayments at 10 percent of the borrowers' discretionary income, to make payments more affordable;
- requiring employers who don't offer 401(k) retirement plans to offer direct-deposit IRAs for their employees, with exemptions for the smallest firms;
- increasing by $1.6 billion the money pumped into a federal fund to help working parents pay for child care, covering an estimated 235,000 additional children; and
- spending more than $100 million to help people care for their elderly parents and get support for themselves as well.
In summation, there was one increased tax credit; one revision of loan terms that had been previously negotiated in good faith by both parties; a new financial demand placed upon businesses; and two government programs that would pay out additional sums of taxpayer money to subsidize care for children and the elderly. Obama Says He Is "Agnostic" on the Possibility of Raising Taxes on the Middle Class:
In February 2010, President Obama said he was now "agnostic" about raising taxes on households earning under $250,000 per year to help cut budget deficits, signaling a possible retreat from a campaign pledge. "The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table," Obama said. "So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions." Obama Indicates He May Use Executive Orders to Bypass Congress in Enacting New Laws:
Also in February 2010, President Obama indicated that if the energy-related, environmental, and fiscal legislative agendas he wished to advance were to become stalled in the House and Senate, he was prepared to to circumvent Congress and sign his policies into law by means of executive orders. One area where the administration indicated that it planned to use its discretion, was in softening enforcement of the ban on open homosexuals serving in the military, whether or not legislators ultimately decided to repeal the ban.
“The challenges we had to address in 2009 ensured that the center of action would be in Congress,” said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. “In 2010, executive actions will also play a key role in advancing the agenda.”
Another tactic that Obama employed (successfully) in early February of 2010 was to pressure the Senate to confirm a number of his nominations -- by threatening to use his recess appointment power (i.e., his authority to appoint candidates while the Senate was in recess, thereby circumventing any opposition they might otherwise have encountered). In response to this threat, by February 13th the Senate swiftly confirmed 27 of the 63 Obama nominees in question.
Recess appointments have been used many times by U.S. presidents. During his two terms in office, for example, Bill Clinton made 139 recess appointments, 95 of them to full-time positions, while George W. Bush made 171 recess appointments, with 99 to full-time jobs. The individuals who are given such appointments can serve until the end of the next Congressional session. As a U.S. Senator, Obama had reacted harshly when President Bush used a recess appointment to install John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations; in response, Obama characterized Bolton as “damaged goods.” Obama Administration Reprimands Israel: In March 2010, reacting to an announcement by the Israeli Interior Ministry on plans to build 1,600 housing units for Jews in Jerusalem, Vice President Joe Biden, who was in Israel for a visit, reportedly told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: “This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.”
Netanyahu apologized and, by the time Biden’s visit ended, apparently thought the matter had been handled. But soon thereafter, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Netanyahu and gave him a 45-minute harangue in which she told him, as State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley put it, that “the United States considered the announcement a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship,” that “this action had undermined trust and confidence in the peace process and in America’s interests,” and that “she could not understand how this happened, particularly in light of the United States’ strong commitment to Israel’s security.”
Further harsh remarks came from Obama adviser David Axelrod, who called the announcement about the residential units for Jews an “affront” and an “insult” and said it “seemed calculated to undermine” indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks—this after Biden had accepted Netanyahu’s explanation that the announcement was bureaucratic happenstance.
Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren received “the same message of American disapproval and outrage” from Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg—it being clear by now that the anger was being “managed” from the top, that is, by President Obama himself. Ambassador Oren called the incident “the worst [for Israel] with the U.S. in 35 years.”
A Wall Street Journal editorial noted that the particular housing project in question "falls within Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries and can only be described as a ‘settlement’ in the maximalist terms defined by the Palestinians." Indeed, when in November 2009 Netanyahu had announced a ten-month construction freeze in the West Bank that did not include any part of Jerusalem, Mrs. Clinton praised the move as “unprecedented.” As the Journal concluded: “this episode does fit Mr. Obama’s foreign policy pattern to date: Our enemies get courted; our friends get the squeeze. It has happened to Poland, the Czech Republic, Honduras and Colombia. Now it’s Israel’s turn.”
Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman stated, “We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States.”
Netanyahu initially reacted by holding his ground, stating that “Construction in Jerusalem will continue in any part of the city as it has during the last 42 years…. In [that period], there was no [Israeli] government that limited construction in any Jerusalem area or neighborhood. Establishing Jewish neighborhoods did not hurt Jerusalem’s Arab residents and was not at their expense.” Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill into Law:
Throughout 2009 and into early 2010, the political process of pushing the health care reform legislation through Congress was led by Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The process was extraordinarily rancorous, and Obama used all his powers of persuasion to try to convince as many legislators (and as many American citizens) as possible to support the bill. In an interview conducted just a few days before the House of Representatives voted to pass the measure, Obama told an interviewer: "We're not transforming one-sixth of the economy in one fell swoop." Canada, he noted, "did not start off immediately with a single-payer system, they had a similar transition step."
On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the bill into law. Obama Lifts Ban on Oil Drilling off the Coast of Virginia: On March 31, 2010, President Obama announced that he would open the door to oil drilling off Virginia's coast, in other parts of the mid- and south Atlantic, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and in waters off Alaska. At the same time, he declared off-limits the waters off the West Coast and in Alaska's Bristol Bay, canceled four scheduled lease sales in Alaska and called for more study before allowing new lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The Washington Post reported that “the White House's key audience -- undecided senators who will determine whether a [Cap and Trade] climate bill succeeds on Capitol Hill this year -- suggested that the move had helped revive the legislation's prospects.”
Steve Everly of American Solutions.com put Obama's announcement in context:
In February 2010, President Obama said he was now "agnostic" about raising taxes on households earning under $250,000 per year to help cut budget deficits, signaling a possible retreat from a campaign pledge. "The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table," Obama said. "So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions." Obama Indicates He May Use Executive Orders to Bypass Congress in Enacting New Laws:
Also in February 2010, President Obama indicated that if the energy-related, environmental, and fiscal legislative agendas he wished to advance were to become stalled in the House and Senate, he was prepared to to circumvent Congress and sign his policies into law by means of executive orders. One area where the administration indicated that it planned to use its discretion, was in softening enforcement of the ban on open homosexuals serving in the military, whether or not legislators ultimately decided to repeal the ban.
“The challenges we had to address in 2009 ensured that the center of action would be in Congress,” said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. “In 2010, executive actions will also play a key role in advancing the agenda.”
Another tactic that Obama employed (successfully) in early February of 2010 was to pressure the Senate to confirm a number of his nominations -- by threatening to use his recess appointment power (i.e., his authority to appoint candidates while the Senate was in recess, thereby circumventing any opposition they might otherwise have encountered). In response to this threat, by February 13th the Senate swiftly confirmed 27 of the 63 Obama nominees in question.
Recess appointments have been used many times by U.S. presidents. During his two terms in office, for example, Bill Clinton made 139 recess appointments, 95 of them to full-time positions, while George W. Bush made 171 recess appointments, with 99 to full-time jobs. The individuals who are given such appointments can serve until the end of the next Congressional session. As a U.S. Senator, Obama had reacted harshly when President Bush used a recess appointment to install John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations; in response, Obama characterized Bolton as “damaged goods.” Obama Administration Reprimands Israel: In March 2010, reacting to an announcement by the Israeli Interior Ministry on plans to build 1,600 housing units for Jews in Jerusalem, Vice President Joe Biden, who was in Israel for a visit, reportedly told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: “This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.”
Netanyahu apologized and, by the time Biden’s visit ended, apparently thought the matter had been handled. But soon thereafter, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Netanyahu and gave him a 45-minute harangue in which she told him, as State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley put it, that “the United States considered the announcement a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship,” that “this action had undermined trust and confidence in the peace process and in America’s interests,” and that “she could not understand how this happened, particularly in light of the United States’ strong commitment to Israel’s security.”
Further harsh remarks came from Obama adviser David Axelrod, who called the announcement about the residential units for Jews an “affront” and an “insult” and said it “seemed calculated to undermine” indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks—this after Biden had accepted Netanyahu’s explanation that the announcement was bureaucratic happenstance.
Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren received “the same message of American disapproval and outrage” from Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg—it being clear by now that the anger was being “managed” from the top, that is, by President Obama himself. Ambassador Oren called the incident “the worst [for Israel] with the U.S. in 35 years.”
A Wall Street Journal editorial noted that the particular housing project in question "falls within Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries and can only be described as a ‘settlement’ in the maximalist terms defined by the Palestinians." Indeed, when in November 2009 Netanyahu had announced a ten-month construction freeze in the West Bank that did not include any part of Jerusalem, Mrs. Clinton praised the move as “unprecedented.” As the Journal concluded: “this episode does fit Mr. Obama’s foreign policy pattern to date: Our enemies get courted; our friends get the squeeze. It has happened to Poland, the Czech Republic, Honduras and Colombia. Now it’s Israel’s turn.”
Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman stated, “We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States.”
Netanyahu initially reacted by holding his ground, stating that “Construction in Jerusalem will continue in any part of the city as it has during the last 42 years…. In [that period], there was no [Israeli] government that limited construction in any Jerusalem area or neighborhood. Establishing Jewish neighborhoods did not hurt Jerusalem’s Arab residents and was not at their expense.” Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill into Law:
Throughout 2009 and into early 2010, the political process of pushing the health care reform legislation through Congress was led by Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The process was extraordinarily rancorous, and Obama used all his powers of persuasion to try to convince as many legislators (and as many American citizens) as possible to support the bill. In an interview conducted just a few days before the House of Representatives voted to pass the measure, Obama told an interviewer: "We're not transforming one-sixth of the economy in one fell swoop." Canada, he noted, "did not start off immediately with a single-payer system, they had a similar transition step."
On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the bill into law. Obama Lifts Ban on Oil Drilling off the Coast of Virginia: On March 31, 2010, President Obama announced that he would open the door to oil drilling off Virginia's coast, in other parts of the mid- and south Atlantic, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and in waters off Alaska. At the same time, he declared off-limits the waters off the West Coast and in Alaska's Bristol Bay, canceled four scheduled lease sales in Alaska and called for more study before allowing new lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The Washington Post reported that “the White House's key audience -- undecided senators who will determine whether a [Cap and Trade] climate bill succeeds on Capitol Hill this year -- suggested that the move had helped revive the legislation's prospects.”
Steve Everly of American Solutions.com put Obama's announcement in context:
"[T]he plan is defined more by what it restricts than what it opens up. The Obama administration chose to take off the table large portions of the OCS [Outer Continential Shelf] in an announcement that was supposed to be about expanding American energy. The new plan includes:
- No drilling in the Pacific Ocean.
- No drilling in a large portion of the Atlantic Ocean.
- No drilling in some of the most promising areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
- No drilling in much of Alaska.
"While opening up any portion of the OCS for responsible energy development appears to be a great step forward, the truth is that none of this has been finalized, and most new drilling will not occur until after 2012 at the earliest.
"The offering also comes with a hefty price: President Obama wants to force Americans to swallow a massive new energy tax before any state will reap the benefits from this new offshore drilling. The bill Mr. Obama urged Congress to pass last summer, the Waxman-Markey [Cap and Trade] energy tax, would eviscerate the economy, killing more than one million jobs per year while raising the cost of energy for all Americans.
"If an energy tax passes Congress this year, the negative impact on the economy will happen long before the first oil comes from these new offshore leases.
"In addition, the multitude of steps to be taken before any of these lease sales are made after 2012 are still a work in progress. Each offshore tract that the administration proposes will no doubt fall victim to an array of court challenges and bureaucratic hangups, each of which will push back new offshore drilling even further.
"Instead of following the will of the people and moving forward immediately with offshore drilling, the President is asking us to trust him to proceed in the future, kicking the can of energy independence years down the road. Recall that during the 2008 campaign then-Senator Obama affirmed his support for offshore drilling, only to take office and implement a series of delays and roadblocks to responsible oil and gas development....
"By delaying offshore drilling for at least another two years, the President's decision does nothing to allow us to begin reaping those benefits. Mr. Obama's insistence on imposing a new tax on American energy also hamstrings any future job creation or new drilling revenues.
"When Congress voted in 2008 not to extend the ban on offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf, they did not choose to keep a ban on Pacific waters, nor did they intend for a de facto ban to remain in effect in the OCS for at least another four years. What Congress did through legislative action, acting in accordance with the public will, the President has undone with the stroke of a pen."
EPA Announces Plans to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Emissions for Cars and Light Trucks:
On the same day President Obama announced that he would lift a ban on oil drilling off the coast of Virginia, his administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved ahead with its plans to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light trucks. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said her agency’s inaugural regulations on greenhouse gas emissions on cars were only “the first” of such regulations, promising that her agency would move “deliberately” to institute regulations in other areas of the economy as well.
Under the regulations, which were scheduled to begin in 2011, automakers would be required to reduce fleet-wide greenhouse gas emissions steadily each year, beginning at 295 grams of carbon dioxide per mile and culminating in a cap of no more than 250 grams per mile by the 2016 model year. The plan would allow automakers to use a fleet-wide average, meaning that they could use reductions from smaller, more fuel-efficient cars to offset the higher greenhouse gas emissions from larger cars and trucks.
It was estimated believed that the imposition of these new regulations on automakers would cause the average price of a new vehicle to rise by more than $900. Obama Announces Limitations on U.S. Use of Nuclear Weapons:
On April 6, 2010, President Obama announced that he would dramatically narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even for self-defense. He said an exception would be made for "outliers like Iran and North Korea" that have violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In a departure from the position taken by previous presidents, Obama said that the U.S. would explicitly commit for the first time to not using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states that adhere to the nuclear treaty, even if they attack with biological or chemical weapons.
Obama said this new policy would renounce the development of any new nuclear weapons, and was designed to set an example for moving the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete.
Three days after this announcement, Obama was scheduled to sign a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with President Medvedev of Russia. Obama said he hoped to use that treaty as a stepping stone toward more ambitious reductions in nuclear arsenals. “We are going to pursue opportunities for further reductions in our nuclear posture, working in tandem with Russia but also working in tandem with Nato as a whole," he said. Michelle Obama Says the President's "Home Country" is Kenya, and States that He Has Always Sought to "Narrow the Gaps":
In April 2010, a video surfaced of Michelle Obama stating, during a speech: "When we took our trip to Africa and visited his home country in Kenya, we took a public HIV test, for the very point of showing folks in Kenya that there is nothing to be embarrassed about in getting test."
In the same speech, Mrs. Obama said: "He [Barack Obama] has spent his entire life trying to build a career based on that struggle to narrow the gaps. And wherever he has a chance, he uses his God-given talents to move that bar. That's what he did all those years ago, working in churches helping families build better lives. And its what he did when he turned down a big law firm to become a civil rights attorney all those years ago...." Obama Advisors Hint That Tax Hikes May Be Necessary: At a New York Historical Society event on April 6, 2010, Paul Volcker, chairman of President Obama's newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board, statedthat the United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax. He said that the implementation of a Value-Added Tax "was not as toxic an idea" as it has been in the past, and also said that a carbon or other energy-related tax may become necessary. "If at the end of the day we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes," he said.
The next day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that Americans might have to accept higher taxes or changes in entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation was to have any chance of avoiding the immense budget deficits that threatened to kill economic growth. "These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off -- until the day they cannot be put off anymore," Bernanke said in a speech. "But unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth." Obama Directs Federal Agencies to Take Bids only from Union Contractors: In April 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 13502, which directed federal agencies taking bids for federal government construction projects (of $25 million or more) to accept only bids from contractors who accept, in advance, a project labor agreement that requires a union work force. But only about 15 percent of all construction-industry workers in the United States are union members, while the remaining 85 percent are non-union. AsThe Washington Examiner notes:
"By eliminating the vast majority of potential bidders on federal construction projects, Obama guarantees two things. First, the projects will cost taxpayers more because union labor is always more expensive. And with mandated PLAs [project labor agreements], the cost premium for union contractors will be even greater because fewer bidders always means less competition and higher prices. Second, by guaranteeing unions a bigger stream of federal contracts, Obama is making sure that Big Labor, already among the Democrats' biggest sources of campaign cash, will have even more money to hand out for the 2010 and 2012 elections. You scratch our back with taxpayers dollars gleaned through PLA-based federal construction jobs, and we'll scratch your back with campaign contributions....
"Another factor helps explain Obama's willingness to sign an executive order that will put millions more tax dollars in union coffers. Mix points out that unions under PLAs typically exact agreements that include requiring contractors to make payments to union pension funds. This is an increasingly urgent issue, as the Washington Examiner's Mark Hemingway has recently detailed in these pages. According to Labor Department filings, the average union pension has only enough money on hand to cover 62 percent of the benefits it has promised to union members. Pension plans with 80 percent funding are considered 'endangered' by federal auditors, while those with less than 65 percent funding are put on the 'critical' list. With this latest executive order, it's clear that Obama intends to give unions on the critical list a massive dose of federal tax dollars to cure what ails them."
Obama Extends Unemployment Benefits:
On April 15, 2010, Congress passed an $18 billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, and President Obama signed the measure into law a few hours later. Designed for people whose 26 weeks of state-paid unemployment benefits had been exhausted, the new measure guaranteed up to 99 additional weekly unemployment checks averaging $335 apiece. Obama Calls for Support from "African Americans, Latinos, and Women"
In late April 2010, President Obama narrated an ad calling on American voters to support Democrats in the upcoming November midterm elections. Said Obama in the ad:
On April 15, 2010, Congress passed an $18 billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, and President Obama signed the measure into law a few hours later. Designed for people whose 26 weeks of state-paid unemployment benefits had been exhausted, the new measure guaranteed up to 99 additional weekly unemployment checks averaging $335 apiece. Obama Calls for Support from "African Americans, Latinos, and Women"
In late April 2010, President Obama narrated an ad calling on American voters to support Democrats in the upcoming November midterm elections. Said Obama in the ad:
"We are moving America forward one step at a time. But despite everything we've done, our work isn't finished. Today the health insurance companies, the Wall Street banks and the special interests who have ruled Washington for too long have already focused on November's congressional elections. They see these elections as a chance to put their allies back in power and to undo all that we've accomplished. So this year I need your help once more.Obama Criticizes Arizona Immigration Law On April 23, 2010, Arizona's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed into law a bill deputizing state police to check with federal authorities on the immigration status of any individuals whom they have stopped for some legitimate reason, if the behavior or circumstances of those individuals leads the officers to suspect that they might be in the United States illegally. The heart of the law was this provision:
"A few months ago we asked you to help us set our priorities for 2010 and tell us how you thought we could win elections at all levels of government. You told us your first priority was to make sure the same people who were inspired to vote for the first time in 2008 go back to the polls in 2010. So that's what we're gonna do....
"It will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, African Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again."
"For any lawful contact [i.e., instances where an officer questions or detains someone who has violated some law, usually a traffic infraction] made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency … where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person."
In essence, the Arizona law simply made it a crime for anyone to be in the United States illegally; i.e., it enforced the national law. To prevent abuse or racial discrimination, the Arizona statute included provisions banning racial profiling. It also required residents to carry ID or immigration-registration documents at all times. But that was no departure from existing law. Since the 1940s, federal law has required non-citizens who are permanent residents of the United States to carry with them, at all times, the official documents -- green card, work visa, etc. -- proving that they are in the U.S. legally.
President Obama, complaining that the "misguided" law was an example of legislative "irresponsibility" that would “undermine basic notions of fairness,” ordered the Justice Department to find some way to challenge its standing.
At an April 27, 2010 Iowa town hall meeting, Obama warned that the new legislation could lead to racial profiling. He said:
President Obama, complaining that the "misguided" law was an example of legislative "irresponsibility" that would “undermine basic notions of fairness,” ordered the Justice Department to find some way to challenge its standing.
At an April 27, 2010 Iowa town hall meeting, Obama warned that the new legislation could lead to racial profiling. He said:
“You can imagine, if you are a Hispanic American in Arizona — your great-grandparents may have been there before Arizona was even a state. But now, suddenly, if you don’t have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to be harassed. That’s something that could potentially happen. That’s not the right way to go.”
On April 29, 2010, The Los Angeles Times reported the following:
"A team of top government lawyers has quietly begun studying legal strategies for the Obama administration to mount a challenge to Arizona's new illegal immigration law, including the filing of a federal lawsuit against the state or joining a suit brought by others who believe the bill unfairly targets Latinos.
"President Obama and Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. have denounced the law, leading to expectations that the administration will take action soon. Obama said Wednesday that the law, which allows police to demand proof of citizenship, threatens the 'core values that we all care about.'"
Obama Says, "At Some Point, You've Made Enough Money"
On April 28, 2010, President Obama was in Illinois making a speech about a proposed Wall Street reform bill. In the course of his address, he criticized Wall Street lobbyists for trying to dilute the bill's most stringent provisions, saying:
On April 28, 2010, President Obama was in Illinois making a speech about a proposed Wall Street reform bill. In the course of his address, he criticized Wall Street lobbyists for trying to dilute the bill's most stringent provisions, saying:
"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean,I do think at a certain point you've made enough money, but you know, part of the American way is, you can just keep on making it if you're providing a good product or you're providing a good service.”
Van Jones Likens Obama's Politics to that of the New Party and the Working Families Party, Two Socialist Entities In April 2010, Van Jones, an adviser to Barack Obama's Presidential Climate Action Project, said the following about the nature of the Obama administration:
"You look at the New Party, which is now the Working Families Party, the idea of a new politics -- that you could actually in this country bring together labor and civil rights and feminists, etc., and actually make a difference ... is the basic framework for what just took over the White House."
Obama Criticizes Arizona Immigration Law During White House Meeting with Mexican President
On May 19, 2010, Obama welcomed Mexican President Felipe Calderon in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. After Obama had welcomed him, Calderon seized the opportunity to blast controversial immigration law that had been recently passed in Arizona. Calderon said the law "is forcing our people to face discrimination." He called for the creation of "a safer border — a border that will unite us instead of dividing us." Obama, during his own welcoming remarks to Calderon, called the Arizona law a "misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system." He added:
On May 19, 2010, Obama welcomed Mexican President Felipe Calderon in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. After Obama had welcomed him, Calderon seized the opportunity to blast controversial immigration law that had been recently passed in Arizona. Calderon said the law "is forcing our people to face discrimination." He called for the creation of "a safer border — a border that will unite us instead of dividing us." Obama, during his own welcoming remarks to Calderon, called the Arizona law a "misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system." He added:
"Finally, Mr. President, your visit speaks to a truth of our time in North America and the world: In the 21st century we are defined not by our borders but by our bonds. So I say to you and to the Mexican people: Let us stand together. Let us face the future together. Let us work together. Trabajemos juntos."
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