Ending of the Iraq War
December: 31, 2011
H.R. 1540, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012″
Signed December 31, 2011
H.R. 2055 – “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012.”
Signed: December 23, 2011
S. 278 – “Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act of 2011”
Signed: December 23, 2011
S. 384 – which amends title 39, United States Code,
Signed: December 23, 2011
H.R. 2867 – “U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2011”
Signed: December 23, 2011
H.R. 3421 – Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act
Signed: December 23, 2011
H.R. 3672 – “Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012.”
Signed: December 23, 2011
H.R. 3765 – “Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.”
Signed: December 23, 2011
Presidential Memorandum — Flexible Implementation of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule
December 21, 2011
Executive Order — Amendments to Executive Orders 12131 and 13539
December 19, 2011
Executive Order — Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
December 19, 2011
Executive Order — Instituting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security
December 19, 2011
Executive Order — 2011 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States
December 13, 2011
Executive Order 13592 — Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities
December 02, 2011
Executive Order 13591 — Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
November 23, 2011
Executive Order 13590 — Iran Sanctions
November 21, 2011
Message to Congress — Iran Sanctions
November 21, 2011
Executive Order 13589 — Promoting Efficient Spending
November 09, 2011
Executive Order 13588 — Reducing Prescription Drug Shortages
October 31, 2011
United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
Signed: October 21, 2011
United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
Signed: October 21, 2011
United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Signed: October 21, 2011
Executive Order 13586 — Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between Certain Railroads
October 06, 2011
Message from the President to Congress Regarding the District of Columbia’s 2012 Budget Request Act
October 03, 2011
Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, in al-Jawf Governorate, Yemen
September 30, 2011
Executive Order 13585 –Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
September 30, 2011
America Invents Act
Signed: September 16, 2011
Executive Order 13584 –Developing an Integrated Strategic Counterterrorism Communications Initiative
September 09, 2011
Executive Order 13583– Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workforce
August 18, 2011
Executive Order 13582– Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to Syria
August 18, 2011
Budget Control Act of 2011
Signed: August 2, 2011
Executive Order 13581–Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations
July 25, 2011
Executive Order 13580–Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska
July 12, 2011
Executive Order 13579–Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies
July 11, 2011
Executive Order 13578–Coordinating Policies on Automotive Communities and Workers
July 06, 2011
Executive Order 13577–SelectUSA Initiative
June 15, 2011
Executive Order 13576–Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government
June 13, 2011
Executive Order 13575 – Establishment of the White House Rural Council
June 09, 2011
Executive Order 13574 Concerning Further Sanctions on Iran
May 23, 2011
Executive Order 13573–Blocking Property of Senior Officials of the Government of Syria
May 18, 2011
Killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan
May 1, 2011
Executive Order 13572 –Blocking Property of Certain Persons with Respect to Human Rights Abuses in Syria
April 29, 2011
Executive Order 13571–Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service
April 27, 2011
Executive Order 13570 — Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to North Korea
April 18, 2011
Executive Order 13568–Extending Provisions of the International Organization Immunities Act
March 08, 2011
Executive Order 13566 –Libya
February 25, 2011
Executive Order 13565 — Establishment of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committees
February 08, 2011
Executive Order 13564 — The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
January 31, 2011
Executive Order 13563 — Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
January 18, 2011
FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
Signed: January 4, 2011
James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010
Signed: January 2, 2011
.
Good Riddance to Rottenest Congress in History
Jan 2, 2013 3:17 PM PT By Ezra Klein – bloomberg
On January 3rd, the 112th Congress of the United States of America finally ends. Thank God.
To properly evaluate the 112th, consider the record of its predecessor, the 111th Congress, which ran from January 2009 to January 2011. The fighting 111th passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (better known as the “stimulus”), the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”), and the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. It passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and expanded both the Serve America Act for community service and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It created significant new anti-tobacco regulations, ratified the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty, ended “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the armed forces and agreed to the 2010 tax deal, which extended the Bush tax cuts in return for the passage of middle- class stimulus.
The laws passed by the 111th Congress were controversial, particularly among Republicans. They were also big, bold initiatives that, if not always fully equal to the size of our problems, surely perched on the outer edge of Congress’s capacity to deliver solutions. Love it or hate it, the 111th Congress governed. No Congress in recent history has a record of productivity anywhere near it.
Terrible Policy
What’s the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It’s hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule.
The 112th, which was gaveled into being on Jan. 3, 2011, by newly elected House Speaker John Boehner, wasn’t just unproductive in comparison with the 111th. It was unproductive compared with any Congress since 1948, when scholars began keeping tabs on congressional productivity.
When it ends, the 112th Congress will have passed about 220 public laws — by far the least of any Congress on record. Prior to the 112th, the least productive Congress was the 104th, from January 1995 to January 1997. Not coincidentally, that Congress also featured a new Republican House majority determined to ruin a Democratic president in advance of the next campaign. The 104th, however, passed 333 public laws — almost 50 percent more than the 112th. The 112th stands alone in its achievement of epic failure.
For more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-02/good-riddance-to-rottenest-congress-in-history.html
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
All Times Eastern
President Obama receives the presidential daily briefing in Honolulu, Hawaii (US 50th State)
7:00 AM
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
8:00 PM
9:00 PM
10:00 PM
December 28, 2011
WhiteHouse.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
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CNN http://live.cnn.com
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CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/
Obama’s surprisingly good 2011
12/23/11 Posted by Ezra Klein at 12:55 PM ET
(Excerpts)
Politically, this has been, in many ways, a bad year for the White House, as a quick look at the polls will show. Economically, it’s been rough, as a look at the jobs numbers will show. But as far as the administration’s bitter, high-stakes negotiations with the Republicans in Congress go, it’s really been a surprisingly good year for the White House.
Thursday’s payroll-tax deal concludes the final of the four major negotiations of 2011. The first was in February, when Congress needed to fund the government or risk a shutdown. The next was in August, when Congress needed to raise the debt ceiling. Then there was the supercommittee. Then, finally, the expiration of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance.
These negotiations were ugly. Their endgames were alarming displays of Washington’s polarization and dysfunction. They drove the approval ratings of both President Obama and the Congress to new lows. But, in terms of the substantive concessions the two parties have won for themselves, the fact of the matter is that the White House begins 2012 in a very, very strong position. Much stronger than most would have expected at the beginning of this year. And not always through any fault of their own…
* No government shutdown
* No default on the debt
* No contractionary spending cuts passed for this year or next year
* 2010’s stimulus measures were extended into the beginning of 2012
* Unless Congress and the White House come to an alternative deficit-reduction solution over the next year, dual triggers will go off and we’ll see a deficit “deal” consisting of a bit less than $4 in tax increases for every $1 in spending cuts — and half of those spending cuts will fall on the Pentagon.
For the entire article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/obamas-surprisingly-good-2011/2011/08/25/gIQAbjZqDP_blog.html#pagebreak
President Obama: The economy, the Congress, the future
12/11/11 cbsnews
(CBS News) Steve Kroft interviews the president on a wide range of critical topics, including Obama’s performance in office; the U.S. economy and the state of unemployment; congressional gridlock; and the mounting deficit. President Obama also sizes up his competition in the 2012 presidential race as he begins his own quest for re-election.
The following is a script of “President Obama” which aired on Dec. 11, 2011. Steve Kroft is the correspondent, Frank Devine and Michael Radutzky, producers.
After months of listening to attacks from Republican presidential candidates and congressional leaders, President Obama took off the gloves this past week and emerged in full campaign mode.
It began with a major speech in the nation’s heartland, with a vigorous defense of his economic policies, directed at the middle class. And it spilled over into the White House Press Room with a contentious response to Republican criticisms of his foreign policy.
On Friday morning, in the White House Cabinet Room, we sat down with the president and questioned him about his record, his leadership, the economy and his prospects for re-election.
Steve Kroft: We have a new CBS poll, which is out this weekend. And I’ll give you the news that’s good for you first. People like you. They respect you. They think that you’re working hard. And they realize that you faced an enormous amount of trouble and problems, many of them inherited. And your approval rating is four times higher than the Congress.
President Barack Obama: That’s a low bar, I gather.
Kroft: But they’re not happy with the way you’re doing your job. You’ve got 75 percent of the people in the country think it’s headed in the wrong direction. Seventy-five percent. And 54 percent don’t think that you deserve to be re-elected. I mean, those are not good numbers with 11 months to go before the election.
Obama: Well, look. We’ve gone through an incredibly difficult time in this country. And I would be surprised if the American people felt satisfied right now. They shouldn’t feel satisfied. We’ve got a lot more work to do in order to get this country and the economy moving in a way that benefits everybody, as opposed to just a few.
On Tuesday, we accompanied the president as he took that message to the middle of the country for what’s been called the unofficial launch of his re-election campaign. In Osawatomie, Kansas, where Theodore Roosevelt unveiled the basic tenets of the Progressive Movement just over 100 years ago, President Obama spoke out against the growing economic inequality he says is destroying the middle class.
[Obama in Kansas: This is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. Because what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.]
The president, in laying out the broad themes for his re-election bid, said the system has been rigged against the middle class. And he blamed the Republicans for fighting tougher regulations on the financial industry and opposing higher taxes for the wealthy.
[Obama in Kansas: Their philosophy is simple: we are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. I am here to say they are wrong.]
For the entire article: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57341032/president-obama-the-economy-the-congress-the-future/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel
60 Minutes Part 1
Uploaded by TheObamaDiary on Dec 11, 2011
60 Minutes Part 2
Uploaded by TheObamaDiary on Dec 11, 2011
What Obama didn’t say on ‘60 Minutes’
December 27, 2011 By Steve Benen
President Obama appeared on “60 Minutes” a couple of weeks ago, and as is always the case with longer interviews, some of the exchanges between him and Steve Kroft ended up on the editing-room floor. CBS went ahead and posted everything online, including the content that didn’t make the broadcast.
This quote from the president, in particular, seems to have generated quite a bit of attention.
“The issue here is not going be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do.”
Because our political discourse is so deeply foolish, Obama’s detractors took this quote, changed it, and complained bitterly that the president claimed to be the “fourth best” president in American history. That’s clearly not what Obama said, but for the president’s critics, the truth didn’t matter, so they jazzed it up a bit.
Indeed, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads even launched a video last week, attacking Obama for making a claim he didn’t, in reality, make.
Steve M. noticed that most of the nonsense came from the right, but not all of it. Dylan Ratigan told viewers that Obama had claimed to be the “fourth best president ever,” even though Obama had said no such thing. Even some liberal netroots leaders, who criticize the president from the left, repeated the far-right attack.
There are, however, two angles to this “story.” The first, obviously, is that the mockery is simply mistaken. Obama never claimed to be, as one critic put it, “the fourth greatest President of all time.” All one needs to do is look at the quote; there’s no need to make anything up.
For the entire article: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/what_obama_didnt_say_on_60_min034341.php
Thanks Kat for this article!
President Obama: Two Yrs of Progress
Uploaded by DemocraticVideo on Dec 22, 2010
A look back at President Obama’s accomplishments over the first two years of his administration.
Good Riddance to Rottenest Congress in History
Jan 2, 2013 3:17 PM PT By Ezra Klein – bloomberg
On January 3rd, the 112th Congress of the United States of America finally ends. Thank God.
To properly evaluate the 112th, consider the record of its predecessor, the 111th Congress, which ran from January 2009 to January 2011. The fighting 111th passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (better known as the “stimulus”), the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”), and the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. It passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and expanded both the Serve America Act for community service and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It created significant new anti-tobacco regulations, ratified the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty, ended “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the armed forces and agreed to the 2010 tax deal, which extended the Bush tax cuts in return for the passage of middle- class stimulus.
The laws passed by the 111th Congress were controversial, particularly among Republicans. They were also big, bold initiatives that, if not always fully equal to the size of our problems, surely perched on the outer edge of Congress’s capacity to deliver solutions. Love it or hate it, the 111th Congress governed. No Congress in recent history has a record of productivity anywhere near it.
Terrible Policy
What’s the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It’s hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule.
The 112th, which was gaveled into being on Jan. 3, 2011, by newly elected House Speaker John Boehner, wasn’t just unproductive in comparison with the 111th. It was unproductive compared with any Congress since 1948, when scholars began keeping tabs on congressional productivity.
When it ends, the 112th Congress will have passed about 220 public laws — by far the least of any Congress on record. Prior to the 112th, the least productive Congress was the 104th, from January 1995 to January 1997. Not coincidentally, that Congress also featured a new Republican House majority determined to ruin a Democratic president in advance of the next campaign. The 104th, however, passed 333 public laws — almost 50 percent more than the 112th. The 112th stands alone in its achievement of epic failure.
For more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-02/good-riddance-to-rottenest-congress-in-history.html
WOW WOW WOW! What a topic, CR!
Let the grassroots campaign begin!
Yes we can!!
Good Wednesday morning CR and everyone. HOPE you all have a great day. Excellent topic. Thank you!
Please join me in lighting a candle for our President, First Family and the Nation.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=PBO
Good Wednesday morning and thank YOU Jackie!
Done! 18 candles lit now.
Good Wednesday morning everyone! I HOPE that you have a good day!
Reversal On Health Mandate Came Late For Gingrich And Romney
12/28/11 by JULIE ROVNER – NPR
Opposition to the administration’s overhaul of health care has almost become an article of faith with every Republican running for president.
Candidates promise to repeal the law and its less-than-popular requirement for most Americans to either have health insurance or to pay a penalty starting in 2014.
“It is wrong for health care. It’s wrong for the American people. It’s unconstitutional. And I’m absolutely adamantly opposed to ObamaCare,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said at a debate in Des Moines, Iowa, earlier this month.
“I am for the repeal of Obamacare,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich echoes in a video on his website. “And I’m against any effort to impose a federal mandate on anyone, because it is fundamentally wrong and I believe, unconstitutional.”
By now, it’s pretty common knowledge that both candidates once supported the so-called individual mandate that’s at the heart of the federal health law. That kind of mandate is also at the heart of the law that Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts in 2006.
At the time, a newsletter from Gingrich’s former consulting firm, the Center for Health Transformation, praised Romney’s state health law, as The Wall Street Journal noted this week. “We agree entirely with Governor Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100% insurance coverage for all Americans,” the newsletter said.
And a video from 2008 has surfaced that shows Gingrich explaining why an individual insurance mandate makes sense.
For the entire article and audio interview: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/12/28/144318988/reversal-on-health-mandate-came-late-for-gingrich-and-romney
Apparently, the Economy Isn’t Going to Hell in a Handbasket
December 27, 2011 | Posted by Deaniac83 – ThePeoplesView
This is what the President’s opponents were afraid of:
An improving job outlook helped the Consumer Confidence Index soar to the highest level since April and near a post-recession peak, according to a monthly survey by The Conference Board.
The second straight monthly surge coincided with a decent holiday shopping season for retailers, though stores had to heavily discount to attract shoppers. [...]
The Conference Board, a private research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose almost 10 points to 64.5 in December, up from a revised 55.2 in November. Analysts had expected 59. The level is close to the post-recession high of 72, reached in February.
Combine that with the news from earlier in December that according to the Household survey (as opposed to the employer survey), 1.28 million jobs were created in the last four months along with a lower cost of financing the US debt (we are drawing more bids for every dollar sold in bonds and treasuries than ever thanks to investors flocking to US treasuries as the safest investment), and the economy might indeed not be heeding the dire warnings of the Republican party and falling off a cliff due to the infamous “spending problem.”
For the entire article: http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/12/apparently-economy-isnt-going-to-hell.html
Good one!
Welcome home Michael Anderson.
Welcome home Michael Anderson! Welcome home to all the troops!
Thank you President Obama for keeping your promises!
“All gave some, some gave all.”
“Welcome home, Grumbly Bear.”
“This was the best present President Obama could have given this country. He said he was going to do it. He did it.”
Thanks to PBO: Tax benefit for veterans to encourage employers to hire them. The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.
And Sergeant Anderson’s hope that people vote in 2012 based on “common sense.”
So moving, what a beautiful family. Thanks to all our troops and to our President.
First family frees 4 turtles
12/27/11 By JENNIFER EPSTEIN – POLITICO44
HONOLULU — The first family released four sea turtles into Hanauma Bay on Tuesday afternoon before visiting the park where the reptiles were raised.
The four turtles — each 18 months old — were raised in captivity at Sea Life Park, about five miles away along the Oahu coast. All have been identified with distinctive markings and have microchips implanted in their rear flippers so they can be identified if they’re found on a beach.
Sea Life Park is the only place in the United States where green sea turtles are raised in captivity.
From Hanauma Bay, the president and Malia and Sasha took the 10-minute trip to the park, arriving around 4:30 p.m. local. The first lady broke off from the group there, though the White House didn’t say whether she returned to the family vacation rental in Kailua or went somewhere else.
No photos of President Obama, the first lady and their daughters with the turtles — yet, but pool reporters and photographers did get to see the president and his daughters as they left the park with a group of friends about an hour later. The president was wearing casual black shorts, a white t-shirt, a black baseball cap and black flip-flops. Malia, wearing an red and white shirt and green shorts, held one of his right hand while Sasha, in a John Lennon t-shirt, held his left.
Obama responded to a question about permitting Yemeni president Abu Abdullah Saleh into the United States with “OK, guys, good to see you. Hope you’re having fun.” Observing the gathered press, one of the kids with the group was heard saying, “It’s the paparazzi.”
The Obama girls appear to be big animal lovers, insistent that their parents get them a dog upon arrival at the White House and visiting the Honolulu Zoo on other trips to Hawaii. Last week, one of the Christmas gifts the president bought for them at a Best Buy store in Northern Virginia was “The Sims 3 Pets.”
Ahhh. I like turtles.
60 Years After Leaving, Porpoises Again Play In SF Bay (Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972)
December 28, 2011 by Lauren Sommer – KQED
Something that has been missing from San Francisco Bay since World War II appears to be making a comeback: Harbor porpoises are showing up in growing numbers, and researchers are trying to understand why they’re returning.
The walkway across the Golden Gate Bridge is almost always packed with people taking photos. But Bill Keener isn’t here for snapshots of the stunning views. He’s aiming his massive telephoto lens at a dark shape in the water 200 feet below.
“There’s a porpoise right there, coming very, very close,” he says. “Here’s a mother and calf coming straight at us.” Keener is with Golden Gate Cetacean Research, a nonprofit group focused on studying local porpoises, whales and dolphins.
Harbor porpoises have dark gray backs, and they’re about 5 feet long — smaller than most of their dolphin relatives. Keener spots one turned on its side and spinning.
The porpoises, feeding in the middle of a busy shipping lane, spin as they go after schools of herring and anchovies. Seeing this behavior is huge for Keener because harbor porpoises are notoriously shy in the open ocean. But the fact that they’re here at all is what’s most remarkable.
Keener and his colleagues have identified 250 porpoises with their photos by looking for unique scars on the animals. When the team first started working on the bridge, the patrol officers took notice.
“We’re staring down at the water for hours,” Keener says. “They start getting worried about us. But they know us now; they know what we’re doing.”
Porpoises In Decline
The big question, though, is why harbor porpoises disappeared in the first place. Keener says the bay has always been porpoise habitat. Sightings were common until the 1930s.
“We don’t really have reports from around World War II, and there were a lot of things going on during World War II that could have caused [the decline],” he says.
San Francisco Bay became a wartime port. It was a major ship-building center. One newsreel reported that 14 warships at one time sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. And the Navy strung a seven-mile-long net underwater across the opening of the bay to keep out Japanese submarines. Hundreds of mines were planted in the waters outside the Golden Gate.
Keener says all of this certainly would have disturbed the porpoises. But there’s a bigger change that may have driven them away: water quality.
The bay waters today are a far cry from those of the 1950s and ’60s. As the region boomed, so did water pollution. Keener says raw sewage used to flow right into the bay.
“I remember coming across the Bay Bridge when I was very young, and it would just smell,” Keener says. “It would stink.”
Rediscovering The Bay
After the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, the bay’s water quality began to improve. But it took time for the food web to come back. San Francisco State University whale researcher Jonathan Stern says maybe the porpoises had to rediscover the bay.
For the entire article and audio interview: http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2011/12/28/79734/60_years_after_leaving_porpoises_again_play_in_sf_bay?source=npr&category=science
Good and HOPEful Wednesday, CR and all friends!
>^..^<
Good and HOPEful Wednesday Kat!
From ThinkProgress.org:
U.S. Receives Record Demand For Its Bonds Under Obama, Helping The Deficit
…. The European debt crisis is driving investors to buy U.S. assets…. Despite the GOP’s factually-challenged fear-mongering about the deficit, the high demand for U.S. bonds are “… making it cheaper as a percentage of gross domestic product to finance deficits than when the nation last had budget surpluses.”
http://bit.ly/v07l8x
Yeah!!!!
From TIME.com:
DNC Rapid Response to Romney’s Letter to Obama
…. President Obama Campaigned For And Signed The VOW to Hire Heroes Act To Provided Tax Credits Of Up To $9,600 To Companies That Hire Unemployed Veterans. “President Obama signed legislation Monday that provides significant tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed and disabled veterans, the only measure in the president’s larger jobs proposal to receive any bipartisan support. The new legislation will allow employers tax credits of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been unemployed longer than six months. It will also give employers a tax credit of up to $9,600 for hiring long-unemployed disabled veterans.” [CNN, 11/21/11 ]
President Obama Also Announced Several Executive Actions To Put Veterans Back To Work Including Specialized Career Counseling Services And A Veterans Online Jobs Bank. “President Barack Obama will issue three executive orders today aimed at helping veterans find jobs, an administration official said. Obama is scheduled to announce creation of a “Veteran Gold Card,” a downloadable document for post-Sept. 11 veterans entitling them to six months of case management and counseling at 3,000 Labor Department-operated career centers across the country. The action may benefit as many at 200,000 jobless veterans, according to the official, who wasn’t authorized to speak before Obama’s remarks. Obama also will announce a Labor Department job-searching website that would match a veteran’s military occupation with civilian jobs, including information about salaries and apprenticeships and creation of job bank to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. The website has more than 500,000 job listings, according to the official.” [Bloomberg, 11/07/11 ]
The Obama Administration Has Secured Commitments From Businesses To Hire At Least 125,000 Veterans By 2014. “First Lady Michelle Obama today announced a private sector commitment to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2014, bringing to at least 125,000 the total commitment in response to President Barack Obama’s recent hiring challenge.” [Department Of Defense, 11/10/11 ]
President Obama Implemented And Improved The Most Generous Educational Benefit For Veterans Since The Original GI Bill Of 1944, Extending And Expanding Benefits. “President Obama signed into law the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Bill. The bill represents another step in the Administration’s continued commitment to ensuring that the men and women of our Armed Forces, who have served our country with distinction, receive the benefits they have earned. It provides Veterans the ability to use their benefits for vocational and on-the-job training, expands eligibility for the benefit to National Guardsmen and women who are activated for domestic assistance, provides Active Duty troops with additional assistance to purchase books, and allows for severely injured Veterans and their caregivers to have additional time to use their benefits.” [The White House blog, 01/11/11 ]….
http://ti.me/sHsePB
New York Times:
Keeping Students From the Polls
By Andrew Rosenthal
…. Political leaders should be encouraging young adults to participate in civic life, but many Republican state lawmakers are doing everything they can instead to prevent students from voting in the 2012 presidential election. Some have openly acknowledged doing so because students tend to be liberal….
It’s all part of a widespread Republican effort to restrict the voting rights of demographic groups that tend to vote Democratic. Blacks, Hispanics, the poor and the young, who are more likely to support President Obama, are disproportionately represented in the 21 million people without government IDs. On Friday, the Justice Department, finally taking action against these abuses, blocked the new voter ID law in South Carolina.
Republicans usually don’t want to acknowledge that their purpose is to turn away voters, especially when race is involved, so they invented an explanation, claiming that stricter ID laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud. In fact, there is almost no voter fraud in America to prevent….
http://nyti.ms/vEm76g
DNC’s Voter Protection site is here:
http://www.protectingthevote.org/
It does kind of get my goat that the writer can’t resist taking a shot at the Administration. He says Justice “finally” took action against the GOP war on voting rights. Well these state laws were only voted on this year. I can’t find a date for South Carolina but the Texas legislature did its nonsense in May. DOJ can’t just tell a state to stop something because all decent people are angered by it, there has to be an ironclad case built out of legal points. Here’s the actual letter sent by DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to SC’s Assistant Deputy Attorney General: http://bit.ly/tq81vT
Another thing. South Carolina is one of nine states that require Justice approval of any changes to state election law because of their history of denying the voting rights of African-Americans. Texas is another one. Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin are also restricting their own citizens’ right to vote but they don’t fall under the agency’s review. http://bit.ly/u4g1XA
There is no foot-dragging in the Obama Administration. This is the President who tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden (free to attack our friends and allies for the whole Bush Administration) in under three years!
Retail sales resilient in final holiday stretch
12/28 Reuters – 1 hr 9 mins ago
(Reuters) – Retail sales look poised for a solid finish to the holiday season as consumers hit stores and went online to snap up last-minute gifts, according to data released on Wednesday.
Still, overall sales growth lagged the increase in online spending and some brick-and-mortar retailers struggled. Steep discounts were prevalent throughout the season, tactics that drove sales but could crimp profitability at some chains.
The International Council of Shopping Centers/Goldman Sachs weekly chain store sales index rose 4.5 percent during the week ending December 24, versus a holiday-shortened pre-Christmas Day week in 2010. Redbook Research put the year-over-year gain at 4.3 percent.
Adjusted for the calendar mismatch, the ICSC/Goldman index rose 0.9 percent for the week ending December 24, compared with the prior week.
“The finish is solid and the season itself was good,” said ICSC Chief Economist Michael Niemira. “November was on the soft side but December will be better.”
ICSC is sticking with its holiday sales growth forecast of 3.5 percent, which it issued in September.
“Major players, such as Macy’s , are fine,” Niemira added. “Specialty stores are likely to be more uneven. Specialty apparel seems to have been hit by abnormally warm weather. Sales were on the slow side and there has been more discounting consequently.”
The biggest shopping malls and regional malls saw the strongest customer traffic since the first week of 2011. Factory outlets remained busy, but less so than the prior week, he said.
Consumers ratcheted down their online spending compared with
earlier in December, but visits to and spending at electronics and department stores increased during the week, Niemira noted.
U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected in December, hitting an eight-month high, as Americans grew more upbeat about the labor market and their financial situation, the Conference Board said on Tuesday. That followed a report early in December showing U.S. unemployment at the lowest level since March 2009.
For the entire article: http://goo.gl/pg6ax
U.S. to give states $300 million for child health coverage
12/29/11 Lewis Krauskopf – Reuters – 1 hr 56 mins ago
(Reuters) – Nearly $300 million in bonus payments have been awarded to 23 states for providing health coverage for children, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday.
To qualify for the bonuses, states needed to surpass a specified enrollment target under the Medicaid program for low-income Americans and adopt procedures that make it easier for children to enroll and retain coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The performance bonus payments are designed help offset costs states incur when they enroll lower income children in Medicaid. They are funded under the 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act.
Since CHIP was reauthorized in 2009, the number of children with insurance has risen by 1.2 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 23 states eligible for performance bonuses are: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Three times fore
12/28/11 5:09 PM POLITICO44
HONOLULU — President Obama is playing golf Wednesday at Ko’olau Golf Club in Kaneohe.
It’s his third day of golf since arriving here late Friday. He played the other two rounds at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
–Jennifer Epstein
Democrats have won high ground in payroll tax fight, Gallup finds
12/28/11 By Peter Schroeder – TheHill
Democrats and President Obama have won the advantage over Republicans on the issue of the payroll tax cut, according to a new Gallup poll.
The poll found voters have more confidence in Democrats and the White House when it comes to future handling of the payroll tax break and unemployment benefits.
Specifically, 41 percent of voters surveyed said they are more confident in Obama and Democrats to handle those issues, as opposed to 34 percent who have more confidence in congressional Republicans. The numbers largely break down along partisan lines, with Independents favoring Democrats over Republicans by a 35 percent to 27 percent margin.
Another 10 percent said they had no opinion, while 15 percent said they were not confident in either party.
Lawmakers wrapped up a year that was full of high-wire standoffs, ending with a fight over the payroll tax break and extended unemployment benefits that were set to expire at the end of the month. After the Senate easily passed a two-month extension to allow for more time to negotiate a longer agreement, House Republicans balked and voted down the short-term agreement.
House GOP leaders demanded that Senate negotiators return to hammer out a year-long agreement in the final days of 2011. But Democrats did not yield, and eventually Senate Republicans called on their House counterparts to accept the temporary agreement.
House Republicans passed the two-month bill by unanimous consent, and the parties will try and come together in the new year to craft a longer deal.
The Gallup poll was conducted five days after the House GOP agreed to the short-term extension.
Thursday, December 29 , 2011
All Times Eastern
President Obama receives the presidential daily briefing in Honolulu, Hawaii (US 50th State)
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Did Bernanke protect the U.S. from the euromess?
12/28/2011 Posted by Suzy Khimm – washingtonpost
So far, American banks have largely managed to avoid catching the contagion of the Eurozone debt crisis. That’s partly because there’s little direct exposure to the banks in the most distressed countries. But there are other big reasons behind the U.S. banks’ relative health, as the Economist points out. First, in the wake of our own 2009 meltdown, U.S. banks have raised their capital holdings significantly.
Secondly, Ben Bernanke’s multiple attempts to inject liquidity into the U.S. economy has not only helped protect U.S .banks here, but also the U.S .subsidiaries of European banks, the Economist explains:
Yet the least appreciated virtue of America’s banking system is that it is drowning in dollars, the byproduct of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to kickstart the economy through “quantitative easing”. The Fed has bought government and mortgage bonds to push their prices up and yields down. It pays for them by creating money, which it deposits in the reserve accounts of banks at the Fed. Since late 2008, those reserves have soared from virtually nothing to $1.5 trillion.
America’s biggest banks now boast liquid assets of three to 11 times their short-term borrowings, according to Moody’s. Despite European banks’ well-publicised funding problems, they too have benefited. Lou Crandall of Wrightson ICAP, a research firm, reckons that half of those reserves have ended up with the American subsidiaries of foreign-owned banks. German, Scandinavian, Swiss and French banks all have big holdings. “We’re seeing all sorts of strains on markets but no runs on banks because they are sitting on top of huge mounds of cash,” says Mr Crandall.
For the entire article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/did-bernanke-protect-the-us-from-the-euromess/2011/12/28/gIQAiWyfMP_blog.html
Good morning CR, Kat and everyone. HOPE you have a terrific Thursday. I love reading all the great achievements this Administration has accomplished.
Please join me in lighting a candle for our wonderful President, First Family and the Nation.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=PBO
Good Thursday morning and thank you Jackiie!
Hey Jackie! 23 lit now.
Good Thursday morning everyone! I HOPE that you have a good day!
Jobless claims rise but labor market healing
12/29/11 Reuters – 23 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week’s claims data was revised up to 366,000 from the previously reported 364,000.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 375,000. A Labor Department official said that because of a public holiday on Monday, claims from seven states – including California and Virginia – had been estimated.
The four-week moving average – a better measure of trends – fell 5,750 to 375,000, the lowest level since June 2008.
“We’ve seen a pretty strong trend in claims recently. This finally shows they’re correcting to a sustainable downtrend,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, interest-rate strategist at 4CAST in New York.
U.S. stock index futures added modestly to gains, while prices for government debt were little changed. The dollar was up against the euro.
While the rise in initial claims last week interrupted three straight weeks of declines, the healing in the jobs market remains intact.
Claims remain below the 400,000 mark that is normally associated with an improvement in labor market conditions.
The better tone should feed into consumer spending, which slowed significantly in November, and support economic growth.
Already, firming employment — marked by a drop in the jobless rate to a 2-1/2 year low of 8.6 percent in November — is helping to buoy consumer confidence.
While much of the global economy is slowing and the debt crisis in Europe is expected to push the region into a mild recession next year, output in the United States has held up relatively well.
For the entire article: http://goo.gl/2quur
The glad-handing gap
12/29/11 POLITICO44
The New York Times has a smart look at President Obama’s style of keeping Beltway insiders at arm’s length:
Mr. Obama, in general, does not go out of his way to play the glad-handing, ego-stroking presidential role. While he does sometimes offer a ride on Air Force One to a senator or member of Congress, more often than not, he keeps Congress and official Washington at arm’s length, spending his down time with a small — and shrinking — inner circle of aides and old friends.
He typically golfs with a trio of mid- to low-level staff members little known outside the West Wing. He does not spend much time at Camp David, the retreat other presidents have used to woo Washington. His social life runs toward evenings playing Taboo with old friends and their families, Wii video games with his wife and daughters or basketball with Robert Wolf, a banker and the rare new best friend Mr. Obama has acquired since entering politics. He vacations with friends from Chicago on Martha’s Vineyard in August and in Hawaii at Christmas.
This week, for example, Mr. Obama is ensconced in the protective bubble of the Secret Service. With him are his closest outside-the-Beltway-friends, including Eric Whitaker, a Chicago doctor, and two of Mr. Obama’s Hawaii friends from Punahou School: Mike Ramos, a businessman, and Robert Titcomb, a commercial fisherman whom Mr. Obama has stuck by despite his arrest in April on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute. Mr. Obama bolted from Washington last Friday barely an hour after he had signed legislation extending the payroll tax cut after a grinding fight with House Republicans whose result is widely viewed as a big win for him. His relationship with Washington insiders is described by members of both parties as “remote,” “distant” and “perfunctory.”
“This is not a Lincoln bedroom guy,” said James Carville, the Democratic strategist, referring to the guest bedroom at the White House where President Bill Clinton put up supporters and donors. “In fact, he’s the anti-Lincoln bedroom guy. He doesn’t seem to relish, or even like, having politicians around.”
It’s a common refrain: that President Obama is adept at using the bully pulpit of the presidency, but not inclined to involve himself too deeply in the social life of official Washington.
PBO has good taste! Of course there is the other D.C. full of non-politician real people who live there. President Obama and our FLOTUS have reached out to local residents, schools and students, restaurants, community kitchens etc. more than any other First Couple. They really live in their city to the extent that they can.
Honolulu: President Obama, First Lady Dine At Alan Wong’s Restaurant
DECEMBER 29, 2011 obamafoodorama
A long day of Hawaiian golf on Wednesday gave President Obama an appetite for dinner at what is regarded as his favorite island fine dining establishment: Alan Wong’s Restaurant in Honolulu. The chef himself told Obama Foodorama last month that he was expecting a visit from the President and First Lady Obama during their Christmas vacation.
The President was personally greeted by Wong when he arrived with Mrs. Obama at the restaurant at 8:00 PM, and they dined on the five-course Chef’s Tasting Menu, for a party that lasted almost three hours. The First Couple were seated with ten friends and family at their “usual” table in the main dining room, what Wong describes as the “feng shui” table. Mr. Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives on island, was in the party.
Everyone enjoyed the 5-course tasting menu, which changes nightly. On Wednesday, it featured the “Sassey Salad” and bacon-wrapped pork loin. It also has Ahi Tartar with a Mango Ceviche Sauce; Chilled Vine Ripened Hamakua Springs Tomato Soup with a Grilled Mozzarella Cheese and Kalua Pig Sandwich; and Cioppino Sauce, which Wong describes as “Seafood Lasagne.”
For the entire article: http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/12/honolulu-president-obama-first-lady.html
Wonkbook: How the economy could come back in 2012
12/29/2011 Posted by Ezra Klein – washingtonpost
There are days when I hit “send” on Wonkbook and feel a little guilty. It can be a lot of bad news for 7am. “Good morning. We’re doomed!” But not today. Today, Wonkbook is optimistic. Sort of. A little.
David Wessel puts it nicely in today’s Wall Street Journal. “For the past year and half,” he writes, “the U.S. has been caught in a tug of war. On one side is the economy’s natural resilience. On the other are the long-lasting effects of a burst credit bubble and some bad luck—the oil-price spike provoked by the Arab Spring, the supply-chain disruption following Japan’s earthquake. At the end of 2010, the economy’s resilience was winning. In 2011, it gave ground.”
But 2012 is a new year. And, as he notes, the early data is encouraging. Unemployment claims are down to their lowest level in more than three years. Housing starts are up. The stock market is bouncing back. Europe’s latest round of bond sales wasn’t a complete disaster.
“This could be the start of the much-hoped-for virtuous circle,” Wessel writes. “The job market improves. Consumers have more income. Spirits and, more important, spending perk up. Meanwhile, weakening economies abroad keep commodity prices down and limit inflation in the U.S. With mortgage rates low and consumer finances improving, home prices turn up at last. Businesses, flush with cash, expand and hire more readily, offsetting the retrenchment by governments.”
Of course, having spent about 130 words telling us what could go right, Wessel goes on to spend 350 words on what could go wrong. But I’m trying to be optimistic here. So I’ll direct your attention elsewhere in the Wall Street Journal, where Gregory Zuckerman reports that “big money is starting to wager on housing. Hedge funds run by Caxton Associates LP, SAC Capital Advisors LP, Avenue Capital and Blackstone Group LP have been buying housing-related investments, betting on a rebound. And formerly bearish research firm Zelman & Associates now predicts a housing pickup, as does Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Other investors seem to be making the same bet. Shares of home builders are up 30% since the end of the third quarter, as measured by the Dow Jones index tracking those shares, topping a nearly 10.5% gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500.”
For the entire article; http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/wonkbook-how-the-economy-could-come-back-in-2012/2011/12/28/gIQANnVKOP_blog.html
Pending home sales rise to 1.5 year high in November
12/29/11 Lucia Mutikani – Reuters – 20 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pending sales of existing homes surged to a 1-1/2 year high in November, an industry group said on Thursday, offering more signs of a tentative recovery in the housing market.
The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in November, increased 7.3 percent to 100.1 — the highest level since April 2010.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected pending sales to rise only 2 percent. Pending sales lead existing home sales by a month or two.
Recent data on home sales and construction have been fairly upbeat, suggesting an improvement in the sector, but prices continue to trend lower.
Fixed mortgage rates rise above record lows
12/29/11 By DEREK KRAVITZ | AP – 8 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fixed mortgage rates rose slightly this week off their record lows. The year ends much like it began, with few people able to take advantage of the best rates in history.
Freddie Mac says the average on the 30-year home loan increased to 3.95 percent from 3.91 percent. Last week’s rate was the lowest average on records dating to the 1950s.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.24 percent. That’s up from 3.21 percent, also a record low.
Rates have been below 5 percent for all but two weeks in 2011. Even so, this year is shaping up to be one of the worst ever for home sales.
Good and HOPEful Thursday, CR and all friends!
>^..^<
Good and HOPEful Thursday Kat!
2011 Year in Review: Eight Ways the Health Care Law Helps You
Posted by Kathleen Sebelius on December 28, 2011
As we ring in the New Year, we also want to take a minute to reflect on the progress we made in 2011. I’m proud to say that we had a very productive year for protecting the health of all Americans, especially those who are least able to help themselves. From strengthening Medicare to expanding access to preventive services to holding insurance companies accountable – young adults, families, and seniors have begun to see benefits from the health care law that took effect in 2010.
Here are eight important ways that you or your family might have benefited from the health law in 2011:
Making Sure More Americans Have Health Coverage – 2.5 million more young adults have health insurance coverage thanks to a provision in the health law allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. This means more young adults in this country can now go on and live their lives with less worry about visiting their doctor when they get sick, or facing catastrophic medical bills if they are in an accident.
Families around the country are benefitting from this part of the law, including families like the Houghs, whose daughter Natalie was diagnosed with a rare heart condition after suffering cardiac arrest at school. Her condition requires a lifetime of medication and care. Now, thanks to the health care law, Natalie can stay on her family’s plan and has started college. And by the time she turns 26 it will be illegal for a plan to deny coverage to anyone, regardless of their health, and Natalie will have access to a choice of quality, affordable health plans.
For the entire article: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/28/2011-year-review-eight-ways-health-care-law-helps-you
Data show momentum building in economy
12/29/11 By Lucia Mutikani | Reuters – 57 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New claims for jobless benefits rose last week but the underlying trend pointed to an improving labor market, while regional factory data showed the economy gaining momentum as the year ended.
The growth picture was brightened by other data on Thursday showing pending sales of previously owned homes jumped to a 1-1/2 year high in November, adding to signs of a tentative recovery in the housing market.
Indications the economy was wrapping up the year on a much firmer footing than had been previously anticipated leaves it better positioned to deal with headwinds from the festering debt crisis in Europe and fiscal tightening at home.
“The data have maintained their stronger tone and that suggests the economy is on an upswing towards the end of 2011, but they are not pointing to robust growth in 2012,” said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economist at RDQ Economics in New York.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said, above economists’ expectations for 375,000.
But the four-week moving average – a better measure of labor market trends – dropped to a new 3-1/2 year low.
A separate report showed the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer was little changed at 62.5 this month from 62.6 in November.
Economists had expected this measure of factory activity in the Midwest region, to fall to 61 in December. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the region’s manufacturing.
“It is possible that supply disruptions within the auto industry had a minor impact on the production component of the survey given the region’s significant exposure to the sector,” said Brett Ryan, an economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York.
“However, today’s data highlight continued growth in manufacturing.”
With new orders still strong; backlog orders, employment and supplier deliveries rising, the ISM-Chicago survey suggested a modest pickup in national factory activity from November.
The Institute for Supply Management will release its December survey of national manufacturing on Tuesday.
Other data showed the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in November, increased 7.3 percent to 100.1 — the highest level since April 2010. Economists had expected only a 2 percent rise.
Pending sales lead existing home sales by a month or two.
Recent data on home sales and construction have been fairly upbeat, suggesting an improvement in a sector that has been the economy’s weakest link, but prices continue to trend lower.
The economic data offset concerns about Europe and encouraged investors to buy U.S. stocks. Prices for U.S. Treasury debt were modestly up, while the dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies.
For the entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/jobless-claims-rose-last-week-133708738.html
Hey CR and friends. CR this is a fabulous thread. When I clicked on it and saw all of the accomplishments listed, it is so impressive. PBO has worked really hard since he has been in office and the economy is showing it. Thank you for this thread.
Hello COS!
December 29, 2011
Statement by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest on U.S. Sale of Defense Equipment to Saudi Arabia
The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have signed a government-to-government agreement under the Foreign Military Sales program to provide advanced F-15SA combat aircraft to the Royal Saudi Air Force.
Valued at $29.4 billion, this agreement includes production of 84 new aircraft and the modernization of 70 existing aircraft as well as munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance and logistics. These F-15SA aircraft, manufactured by The Boeing Company, are among the most sophisticated and capable aircraft in the world.
This agreement will positively impact the U.S. economy and further advances the president’s commitment to create jobs by increasing exports. According to industry experts, this agreement will support more than 50,000 American jobs, engaging 600 suppliers in 44 states, and providing $3.5 billion in annual economic impact to the U.S. economy.
This agreement reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a strong Saudi defense capability as a key component to regional security.
The Year in Ideas: Twelve months of protest and a new lexicon
Dec 29, 2011 Megan O’Toole – nationalpost
From Cairo to Calgary, hordes of average citizens flooded public streets and camped out in central squares this year. Some toppled dictators, or shed their own blood trying. Others strummed guitars in an amorphous critique of capitalism.
While the scope varied dramatically from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street and related protests, each movement reflected a groundswell against the status quo.
“Protest actions this year displayed a deeper, more trenchant critique of the failures of the global economy that separates them from more transient marches or demonstrations,” noted T.V. Reed, a professor of English and American studies at Washington State University and author of The Art of Protest. “Occupying a site, whether it be Tahrir Square or Zuccotti Park, symbolizes a long-term commitment and a long-range strategy.”
The cascade of political protests was touched off late last year after a downtrodden Tunisian vegetable salesman set himself ablaze. Images of protest soon bounced around the world in realtime.
For the entire article: http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/29/the-year-in-ideas-twelve-months-of-protest-and-a-new-lexicon/
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