Barack Obama -- February 12, 2009

February 12, 2009

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"This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal"

Barack Hussein Obama

event	description
$13.00	Economic stimulus legislation at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan is on track for final votes in the House and Senate after a dizzying final round of bargaining that yielded agreement on tax cuts and spending totaling $789 billion. Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track." The $500-per-worker credit for lower- and middle-income taxpayers that Obama outlined during his presidential campaign was scaled back to $400 during bargaining by the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Couples would receive $800 instead of $1,000. Over two years, that move would pump about $25 billion less into the economy than had been previously planned. Officials estimated it would mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks when withholding tables are adjusted in late spring. Critics say that's unlikely to do much to boost consumption. Millions of people receiving Social Security benefits would get a one-time payment of $250 under the agreement, along with veterans receiving pensions, and poor people receiving Supplemental Security Income payments. Obama steadfastly denies there are any earmarks in his stimulating swindle, but while he allocates $13.00 each for people, Nancy Pelosi has tucked aside $30 million for the protection of the salt marsh harvest mouse.
Uncertain, Uninformed, and Mistaken	Obama clearly didn't do his homework before ordering the suspension of military tribunals to try terrorist suspects. We have learned that even his own legal counsel admitted that Obama erred in discussing details about terrorism with families of victims last week, and that the administration was ignorant of a key point that terrorists exploit to their advantage. In his rush to fulfill a campaign promise to his more fervid anti-war supporters, the president's legal oversights risk the disclosure of some highly classified information to terrorists. Debra Burlingame, sister of Charles Burlingame III, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon on 9/11, was present at last Friday's White House meeting of families of terrorism victims. Her impression was that Obama was saying the right words in general, but when it came to specifics he was uncertain, uninformed, and sometimes just plain mistaken. Ms. Burlingame is an attorney who has followed closely the legal aspects of the terrorism cases, and her detailed, probing questions were met with stammers, stares, and statements that betrayed an understanding of the law that was, she said, "flat out wrong." White House Counsel Greg Craig, often seen whispering in the president's ear during question periods, admitted later to Ms. Burlingame that the chief executive was getting the facts of the law wrong during the discussion with the families. More here . . .
Favoritism	Obama never goes before the press without having a list of pre-approved journalists upon whom he'll call during a press conference. Chicago Sun-Times writer Carol Marin offhandedly quipped that in the press corps, "most of us don't even bother raising our hands any more to ask questions because Obama always has before him a list of correspondents who've been advised they will be called upon that day." Would the same "free press" have meekly allowed president Bush get away with treating the press in such a way, or would they have raised a hue and cry that would have deafened the world? The Wall Street Journal writes that the decision to preselect questioners is an odd one, especially for a White House pledged to openness, and doubts that President Bush, who was notorious for being parsimonious with follow-ups, would have gotten away with prescreening his interlocutors. Few accounts of Monday night's event even mentioned this curious fact. The Journal hopes that these omissions weren't out of journalists' fear of being left off the list the next time. I'm still waiting for some "journalist" to ask Obama why he's spending a small fortune fighting the release of his vault-copy birth certificate.