Follow Barack Obama prior and during his tenure as the 44th President of the United States. Read about my personal observations along with every day facts as they happen. This blog will only submit factual information about the first black President, now in his 2nd term of office.
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House GOP relents on payroll tax cut deal

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Washington (CNN) -- A compromise measure to extend the payroll tax cut for two months comes before the House and Senate on Friday after Speaker John Boehner dropped his opposition under mounting pressure from the White House, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans.


Both chambers will be asked to give unanimous consent, a procedural move that would allow the measure to pass even though most members will be home for the holidays.


If no one shows up to object in person, the plan originally worked out by the Senate and modified slightly Thursday to get the support of Boehner and House Republicans would go to President Barack Obama's desk.Obama has promised to sign it, as well as a separate appropriations bill to fund the government through September 2012, before heading off to Hawaii to join his family for the holidays.



The agreement represented a symbolic triumph for the president, who pushed hard for extending the payroll tax cut as part of his jobs package and rallied public support for his stance.

While the two-month extension was shorter than desired, Obama urged congressional leaders to follow through on their stated intention to negotiate a one-year extension that all parties have said they favor.

"Today's victory is yours," Obama said in a tweet to followers Thursday night. "Keep making your voices heard -- it makes all the difference."

The agreement also includes the addition of legislative language to ease the administrative burden on small businesses implementing the plan, and a commitment to the negotiations on a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut as well as other benefits, according to statements by congressional leaders and Obama.

Boehner succumbed Thursday to calls from across the political spectrum for House Republicans to stop blocking congressional approval of the Senate-passed measure.

While minor changes were made to the Senate plan, Thursday's agreement produced essentially the same proposal as the one the Senate passed last Saturday in an 89-10 vote, with strong Republican support.

A House GOP uprising during a caucus conference call Saturday caused Boehner to reject the Senate plan, setting up this week's political showdown in the final days before the payroll tax rate was set to rise.

According to GOP sources, another conference call Thursday involved Boehner describing the terms of the agreement without allowing any members to ask questions or raise objections. One Republican House member on the call described Boehner as "tired and ticked off."

Boehner, R-Ohio, then announced the deal to reporters, calling the House GOP's prior opposition to the Senate plan the right thing to do, even if politically questionable.

"It may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world," Boehner said, but the end result was "we were able to fix what came out of the Senate."

The speaker also acknowledged the pressure he was under, saying: "I talked to enough members over the last 24 hours who say we don't like the two-month extension and if you can get this fixed, why not do the right thing for the American people even if it's not exactly what we want."

Analysts said Boehner had little choice but to back down.

"It became increasingly obvious he had to fold," said CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen, using poker terminology. Boehner was under "intense pressure from senior Republicans" over a situation that "became so botched," Gergen said.

Darrell West , the vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said the issue has worked in the favor of Democrats because they had Republicans "seemingly willing to accept a tax increase" by opposing the Senate extension of the payroll tax cut.

"Any time you can get the other party in opposition to its own stated principles, that's a good thing," West said.

The ongoing impasse pitting the House Republican leadership against the White House, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans was the kind of political gamesmanship that Americans dislike about Congress, Obama said earlier Thursday.

The two-month Senate compromise was passed after Senate negotiators were unable to agree on a one-year extension.

But Boehner demanded negotiations on a one-year extension, arguing that anything shorter would simply prolong the issue and cause uncertainty for American taxpayers and businesses.

His stance drew sharp criticism this week, including an editorial in the conservative Wall Street Journal that said House Republicans had lost the political advantage of advocating tax cuts to Obama and the Democrats.

Gergen: Winds shift toward Obama

On Thursday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell also called for Boehner to accept a short-term extension, and similar statements by other conservative Republicans showed the tide turning against Boehner and his GOP leaders.

Meanwhile, conservative Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Nebraska, and Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wisconsin, added their voices to GOP calls for House Republicans to relent in their standoff.

"While I would prefer a year-long tax holiday, I refuse to let anyone play games with my constituents who stand to face a significant tax hike if we don't act," Duffy said in a statement. "That's why I will support any option to extend the payroll tax cut."

Obama, meanwhile, reiterated the Democratic position in a phone call with Boehner Thursday morning, stating that the House should pass the Senate's two-month extension and then negotiators should get to work on a longer-term deal.

The president also met with a group of middle-class Americans as part of a White House attempt to illustrate the impact on 160 million American workers if the tax holiday ends December 31. The typical worker's take home salary will shrink by about $40 per pay period without the tax cut.

"It's time for the House to listen ... to the voices all across the country and reconsider," Obama said. "I am ready to sign that (Senate) compromise into law the second it lands on my desk."

Obama blamed the impasse on "a faction of House Republicans" that refused to support the Senate compromise, even though leaders of both parties had insisted they wanted to extend the payroll tax cut.

He prompted laughter by adding: "Has this place become so dysfunctional that even when people agree to things we can't do it? It doesn't make any sense."

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, reinforcing Obama's stance, released a statement promising that he will be "happy to restart the negotiating process to forge a year-long extension" as soon as the House passes the Senate's compromise plan.

Many in the GOP fear the issue damaged the party's anti-tax reputation heading into the 2012 campaign.

Pushed by his conservative, tea party-infused House GOP caucus, Boehner had continued to insist that anything short of an immediate 12-month extension of the tax holiday would only create more economic instability and do little to generate job growth.

Also at stake: extended emergency federal unemployment benefits and the so-called "doc fix," a delay in scheduled pay cuts to Medicare physicians.

Both of those measures, along with the tax holiday, were scheduled to expire in nine days.

All top Democrats and Republicans publicly agreed on the need for a one-year extension, but critics of the House GOP's stance insisted that the Senate's two-month extension was necessary to give negotiators more time to hammer out a deal over how to pay for the continuation.

They accused House Republicans of creating the very instability they had railed against, and of needlessly creating yet another congressional crisis at the end of a year filled with Capitol Hill showdowns.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, strongly criticized the House GOP's stance on CNN's "American Morning" Thursday.

"The Republicans are losing this fight. We need to get back on track," McCain said. "A thousand dollars a year is a big amount of money to most Americans, and I think it's very important. ... I worry about the fact that we are continuing to increase the debt and the deficit, but now it's become very symbolic, and I think it has to be done."

The Wall Street Journal editorial, normally a conservative political platform, blasted Boehner and his House GOP colleagues, arguing that they had "achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter."

"At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly," the paper's editorial writers said.

Numerous Senate Republicans have indicated they felt politically undercut by their House colleagues after agreeing to the two-month compromise negotiated by McConnell and Reid.

A number of Republicans have said the party should have declared victory after winning an agreement by Obama -- as part of the payroll tax cut package -- to make a decision within the next 60 days on whether to proceed with the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans and some Democratic union leaders say the controversial pipeline will create thousands of new jobs; critics question its environmental impact.

A failure to act could have had major political fallout. Numerous observers believe Obama is preparing to parrot Harry Truman's 1948 campaign next year by running against an unpopular, dysfunctional Congress controlled partly by the GOP.

CNN's Jessica Yellin, Ted Barrett, Dana Bash, Kate Bolduan, Lisa Desjardins, Matt Hoye, Xuan Thai, Brianna Keilar and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.

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Tax Cuts Fail - Now What?

Opinion of the Editor 'James' 'Obama in the White House' blog

Just when you didn't think things couldn't get worse with the United States Congress, things got worse. The latest fling thrown out by the Republicans in the House is to turn away a tax cut extension, that if not approved by January 1, would raise everyone's taxes, approximately affecting 160,000,000 people. Middle class Americans stand a chance to save at least $1,000 per year if passed, but if not, they would inherit at least another minimum of $40 per pay check of taxes.
Right up front, the Republican Senators of the House did elect to pass the bill, and it was fully expected to pass in the House, but when it came down to the vote, thanks to the leadership of John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, the bill failed.
The reason... Because Boehner says that passing just a temporary bill for an extention of 2 months is not the answer, and the President needs to sign a bill for at least a full year. He may be right, but why has it taken the Republicans this long to come up with the fact that a 2 month extension is not acceptable. So instead, the Republican lead House was fully prepared to allow the bill to fail just so that they could possibly gain more concessions from the Democrats.
It looks as if John Boehner has stepped too far across the line. What he was promoting was to hurt approximately 160,000,000 people in the United States.
If the bill doesn't pass, what does it mean to Americans.
Besides the $40 minimum added tax on your paycheck each week, people will elect to do without something to make up the difference. It is not a matter of choice here, but a matter of necessity. The Republicans believe that just $40 bi-weekly is not too much to sacrifice.
But what this would me would be that at Christmas, the Republican party would be responsible for being a Scrooge at Christmas, led by the biggest Scrooge himself, John Boehner. Now, his days are numbered, as the people from Ohio pretty much had enough of him, along with the rest of the country.
People would have problems paying the bills. They would curtail their travel plans. They will push back in purchases. Screwing this one up should really cost the Republicans something that they want the most, and that's the White House. People do not trust the Republican led Congress anymore. Their rating is the lowest ever recorded in U.S. history. Many of the Congressmen will loose their jobs. and not only will President Obama win a 2nd term as President, the House most likely will turn over to the Democrats. So then where the Republican ticket be. Most likely totally out of business and maybe extinct. It is possible that the Republican ticket may not exist during the elections of 2016.
To make it even worse for the Republicans, they are not united on their own front. There is one new front runner after another in the race for the Republican nomination, but with just 2 weeks left to go before the Iowa caucuses, there still is no clear front-runner, especially with the downgrading campaign Newt Gingrich is having. Now Ron Paul is in the lead just two weeks away from the Caucasus. If he wins Iowa, he may just win the second one, and then what will happen. Mainly, the party will be in trouble, because Ron Paul most likely will never be able to beat President Obama. Mitt Romney is the one person so far that may have a shot to stand up against the President. Again, this is my opinion. But what I am witnessing with the Republican race is something that is just unbelievable. To me, there truly is not a good solid person to represent the Republican nomination, and because of this, President Barack Obama should get re-elected, and should do so easily.


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99% verses 1%

Sunday, December 18, 2011


Who is the so-called 99% and who are the 1%?

It doesn't seem to be a fair fight, as the 99'ers are going against that single 1%. And of course when you really look at it, that is exactly the case.

So who are the 1%'ers?

They are basically known as 'them'.

They are the people who possess most of the nations's wealth.
They bankroll their handpicked political candidates.
They control the banks.
They get million-dollar paychecks.
They get billion-dollar bailouts.

They do all that, but what do they don't do?

They do not pay enough taxes, and in some cases, allot less the the average American.

They don't invest their wealth in American jobs.

So who are the 99%'ers?

They are basically known as 'us'.

We are the 99% who toil at low-wage jobs.
We are the people that hold underwater mortgages.
We are the people who face foreclosures.
We are the ones who suffer job layoffs.
We are the ones who have to deal with plant closings.

With all in what we do, we still pay our taxes, but the Republicans still do not do their fair share.

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Obama to let states decide benefit levels under health law


The decision shifts to local officials the decision on what medical insurers must offer consumers starting in 2014.

December 16, 2011|By Noam L. Levey, Washington Bureau
Reporting from Washington — Seeking to defuse a potential showdown over a key part of the new healthcare law, the Obama administration moved Friday to let states, rather than the federal government, define which medical benefits insurance companies will have to offer consumers starting in 2014.
That allows state leaders to retain more control of health insurance even as the law extends a new federal guarantee that all Americans can get coverage, even if they are sick.

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Veterans for Peace want the U.S. Military Budget cut by 50%


Sometimes, it seems as if President Obama can't do enough. Yesterday, there were occupy protesters in Iowa who joined members of the Veterans for Peace. They parked themselves right outside President Obama's Iowa re-election campaign headquarters. What do they want? They want President Obama to end all foreign wars and also to cut the U.S. military budget in half.
They may not have heard, but the military spending in Iraq has been cut to nothing. The war in Iraq has officially been ended as of December 16, 2011 but people seem to think that the United States is spending too much on foreign wars.
Some may argue that this is the case, and maybe the 'occupy protesters' are showing their support for President Obama.

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Obama 'very pleased' with vote on payroll tax cut extension


mug.cnn

(CNN) - President Barack Obama praised the Senate for voting on Saturday to extend the payroll tax cut by another two months but urged members of Congress to reach an agreement that would extend the cuts and unemployment benefits for a full year.

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Opinion of the Editor James - 'Obama in the White House Blog'

The bill as presented today to fend off a raise of middle class taxes was avoided, but at the expense of the President also including into the bill a plan that would require the President to make a decision regarding the oil pipeline being built in Canada, that is destined to run through the central states to the Gulf coast. The United States would buy the oil. 
President Obama has his reasons, as he has elected not to support such a pipeline. Nevertheless, the Republicans have pushed the payroll tax cut bill extension through, only to allow it if the President would include a provision in the bill for the oil pipeline. This would require President Obama to act on the bill within 60 days, instead of a year it normally would have taken. 
Originally, President Obama said that he would veto the bill if Congress presented it. It may be in the bill that will receive full support by Congress on Monday, but I highly doubt if President Obama would sign such a bill. And if he doesn't the Republicans will hold this against him for the election. Never mind all the things that they (the Conservatives) have done to block legislation. It is ok for them to do it, but not ok if they want the legislation to pass, and the Republicans will blame anyone and everyone who stands in their way. 
The Republicans seem to want to continue to keep the middle class people hostage as they will only pass legislation that only is to their advantage, not the middle class. They continue to turn down bills that the President Obama along with the Democrats want to pass, but only seem to want to consider every and any bill that would hurt the Democrats and President Obama. 





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CHRIS MATTHEWS About Dirty Politics

Wednesday, December 7, 2011


Chris Matthews - Hardball on MSNBC
How do you think the election is heading? Dirty politics? You bet.. The Republican run for the White House is now just a method by the Republicans to destroy a "positive, hopefull, processive presidency"  The following is the word for word text by Chris Matthews as he reported today on his own TV show on MSNBC tonight.
"The President, President Obama intends to turn the bad times against the Republicans. He will say that the Republican policies are squeezing the middle class right now, that the country needs to re-elect him to simply offset the power of wall street, that he's the progressive champion fighting a good fight against the money people and their power over Congress. He, Barack Obama is the 21st century's progressive fighter. That Theodore Rosevelt battling those mallofactors of great wealth and that is what Teddy Rosevelt called them on behalf of regular people. Ok. Not bad. Maybe it will work. Maybe it's true. If you have faith in Obama and put some teeth marks into that manifesto he's out there sporting," he said.
"Now for the other side. Here's the deal. The red hots are out there looking for the meanest, nastiest gladiator they can find. They want a street fighter who will look Obama in the face and verbally spit at the guy, who will show no respect, no remorse, and certainly no guilt. And this is where Newt comes in. He's got no guilt, no remorse and shows no respect and doesn't expect any. All he wants is the title shot, the chance to go head to head in the championship ring with the President of the United States. And this is where we're going I think at least right now. I see hatred being the key ingredient of the Republican candidate selection process.
Hope is still the main theme of the Obama brigade. Hope....
Hatred is not about building a better America, it's about hurting Obama, hurting him good, beating him up, humiliating him, getting him to loose, concede the Presidency. To the true haters out there, their biggest dream, their big night, isn't victory by traditional Republican standards of smaller government, it's about watching Obama bite the dust. That's what they lust for. And that explains why they can seriously get behind the candidacy of Newt Gingrich.... Because he promises them what they yearn for in their sleep... The destruction of a  positive, hopefull, progressive presidentcy that proves every day that the American dream is for everyone."

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10 Reasons Why Obama Will Win in 2012


From the GOP foreign-policy debate to Europe's financial crisis, here's why Obama will declare victory next year.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | NOVEMBER 15, 2011 

1. Obama is the incumbent. That matters. And he has become increasingly confident in using the bully pulpit to his advantage, at appearing presidential. The crucial issue is going to be economics. 

2. Despite Europe's economic mess, a number of other factors suggest that the U.S. economy may begin to tick upward more during the next year. Other parts of the world are likely to be growing from the emerging markets to, in a modest way, Japan. More importantly, the likelihood that the U.S. unemployment rate declines the better part of a point to something closer to 8 percent is pretty good. That ought to be enough to make the case he avoided the abyss and turned things around in much the same way that Ronald Reagan did in 1984. 

3. Like Reagan, Obama is liked and seen as trying hard to do the right thing. That, plus some signs of progress goes a long way with the American people. 

4. Furthermore, none of these candidates are a Ronald Reagan. Moreover, none of them are even a George W. Bush, which is saying something. Mitt Romney is the whitest white man in America. He will look more like the establishment than Obama in an anti-establishment year. He will not get any journalistic good bounces because frankly it is hard to spin a narrative about the guy that will grab anyone's heartstrings. Want evidence, look at how desperately half the Republican party is at looking for alternatives. 

5. That search for alternatives could lead to a third party candidate. If it's Ron Paul it will eat into Romney's base. It is highly unlikely the left will pose a similar challenge to Obama. As for the possibility of a centrist third party candidate, appealing as it may be, it will be less so to many if it appears that candidate can't win and will only increase the likelihood that Mitt Romney will be elected on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ticket. 

6. While external events in the world -- like the Iranian detonation of a nuclear device or a terror attack -- could hurt Obama, in all likelihood, given his growing comfort with foreign-policy and the tendency of the American people to rally around the president in times of crisis, it would be a mistake to count on such a development being more likely to help the Republican candidate. 

7. The reality is that while foreign policy won't be central to the election, Obama has already succeeded in doing something remarkable: Taking it off the table. He is hard to criticize given his record with bin Laden, Al Awlaki, Qaddafi, meeting his promise in Iraq, starting to get out of Afghanistan, and restoring America's international reputation. 

8. We haven't gotten to the one-on-one segment of the campaign yet. Whoever is the Republican candidate has to run against the very disciplined, intelligent, well-prepared, charismatic president. 

9. The Republican Party on the Hill, via the Tea Party and via its more extreme elements has adopted a bunch of policies that are astonishingly out of touch with the moment. They should be doing great given the economic problems. But they are not only seen as obstructionist on the Hill but they are seen as advocates of millionaires they don't want taxed and opposed to fairness in sharing the burden for the sacrifices fixing the economy will require. 

10. By extension the leading voices for the Republican Party are folks like those on the stage ... and John Boehner and Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell. Really? That's going to grab America in the current environment? 

The electoral map says it will be close. But already Republican overreaching has pushed Ohio back toward Obama. The Republican hope re: Florida, Marco Rubio has suffered some self-inflicted wounds. Virginia gets bluer by the day. It's close ... but it's trending toward the President. And so, while making predictions a year out is a sucker's game, for those of you who watched the Saturday debate and were disheartened there is at least all the above to suggest that none of it mattered that much anyway. As of right now the favorite to be the next president of the U.S. has to be the current president of the U.S.

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President Obama talks about the Unfairness Given the Middle Class


Living in the middle class seems to be a difficult thing to do these days. People are despiritly trying to raise themselves out of poverty and be part of the largest generation of Americans, called the Middle Class. But the middle class seems to be disappearing.
As the President said in his speech while traveling in Kansas on Tuesday, "This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class," Obama said. "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, and secure their retirement."
Then, he enters the theme of his speech - 'fairness. As he says, "I'm here to reaffirm my deep conviction that we are greater together than we are on our own," Obama said. "I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, and when everyone plays by the same rules."
But that's just his point. Not everyone is playing by the rules. As an example that he stated in his speech, Some of the wealthyest individuals only pay a very modest 1% of income tax, after they secure and take advantage of all the tax loopholes they can. Republicans have, he said, refused to raise taxes on the rich. Republicans have blocked his nominee for head of the new consumer watchdog agency. And they have advocated for weak regulation and oversight.
"We simply cannot return to this brand of you're on your own economics if we're serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country," Obama said.

In the following link to his speech in Kansas, listen to President Obama speak of the stark reality. As he says, he will not support any bill to raise taxes on the middle class, and he will not support will veto any bill that only puts all of the burden of any plan on ordinary Americans, namely 'the middle class'. He goes further to say that he will veto any bill that changes benefits for those who rely on medicare and does not raise serious revenues by asking every American, including the biggest corporations to pay their fair share.
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/09/19/n_jobs_plan_speech.cnnmoney/

The bottom line here is that the Republicans do not think that President Obama is serious in what he is saying.They think he is a weak President and he will fold and give in to the rich and to the republican idea that there will be no new taxes on anyone. President Obama is about to set a record on the number of veto's a President can make in the final year of his first term, let alone all the veto's that people will see when he runs for President during the same time period.

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Donald Trump "The Apprentice" to take place with the Republican Presidential Candidates in a Debate

Sunday, December 4, 2011


Not long ago, I submitted an article about Chris Mathews of Hardball, who talked about President Obama. He mentioned that if he had a chance to talk to President Obama, he would give him advice. He would ask him to "Stop being the isolated President". Since that article, I have been following the Republican race to the nomination for President to run against President Obama next November. What has transpired since the article about Chris Mathews of Hardball is an unbelievable turn of events. Since that time, Herman Cain has been accused of a 13 year affair with a woman who has come forward to tell her story. Less than a week later, Herman Cain drops out of the race. But not before an announcement was made that the debates would continue, this time with a moderator that would not be as likely to be one. If it were the program "The Apprentice" then you may like the person asking questions. But would it be likely that Donald Trump host a Republican event with the candidates? You may think not, but that is exactly what is to happen. Within the next 30 days, Donald Trump will be a moderator on 'ION TV' hosting a debate. Needless to say, there has been great decent amongst the Democatic Party, mocking the Republican Process for coming up with such a scheme.
With this said, you may just laugh, thinking that Donald Trump will be a moderator for an upcoming debate, but two of the candidates, John Huntsman and Ron Paul claim that they will not participate in such an event with the real estate mogal Donald Trump asking them questions. So what is this debate turning into? Manybe just another episode of "The Apprentice" staring the one and only Donald Trump.
Oh, and it even gets better.  As you may have guessed, after the show with him as moderator, he will pick his candidate that he will tell the world who he supports for President. He will hold back his decision until the world really knows whom is most likely to become the candidate for the Republican Party.
And now for the kicker for this story. What if Donald Trump does not like whom the Republicans care to be their candidate for President? Then it will be time for him to run, as he says that he will run his own campaign on an independent ticket to run against Barack Obama. Yes, Donald Trump is now admitting that he may still run for President of the United States.
If Donald Trump runs for President, he will absolutely destroy the chances of any of the Republican candidates from having any chance to win against Barack Obama. Having a 3rd candidate in the general election would absolutely split the voters of both the Republican and Tea Party. This would absolutely insure that President Obama would win re-election.
So maybe what Donald Trump is doing is a good thing. The Republican race is so out of sync, especially to approve of such a man like Donald Trump to become a moderator in one of their debates, that they have absolutely no clue that Donald Trump is playing right into their hands. If he doesn't come up with someone that is left in the Republican race that he likes, he will then become their enemy by running against them as an 'independent' candidate.
The race this year has become of the the strangest, most off of the way, rediculus, out of the ordinary race of all time. The personal issues surrounding all of the candidates seem to be extremely non supportive of each competitor. Each day, another crazy story surfaces.  In a since, I almost feel sorry for the Republican party. The path that the party is taking is one that is heading toward extinction. How could the future Republcan party still exist if they cannot win the White House in a campaign against Barack Obama.

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Banks Foreclose While Soldiers at War

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Opinion of the Editor 'Obama in the White House Blog'

In a report by the 'Financial Times', the reality of the times appears ever so strongly in the display below that shows what happens when you go away to war but still owe your mortgage company/bank money on your home. If you happened to be the only moneymaker in the home, or the main moneymaker but had to go to war, you may have turned into a statistic of a homeowner that lost his/her home while at war fighting for your country. Notice at the top of the list is Bank of America, followed by Wells Fargo, then CitiBank. Over 4,500 home foreclosures with just those banks considered.
What happened with protecting our soldiers who were out fighting a war on a foreign land who didn't have a viable way to protect their home. With recent withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers are coming home without a job to come home to, nor a home to live in in an attempt to pickup their lives as a result of a war that our previous President George W. Bush started.

Thank you very much, the likes of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, CitiBank, OneWest Bank, HSBC, USBankcorp, AuroraBank, Metlife, Soverign, and EverBank, for taking care of the families of the soldiers fighting a war in a foreign land.  



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Barack Obama's Religious Beliefs & Background: What Does Barack Obama Believe?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Barack Obama has a More Religiously Diverse & Secular Background than Most

By , About.com Guide

Barack Obama's religious background is more diverse than that of most prominent politicians, but it may prove to be representative of future generations of Americans who grow up in an increasingly diverse America. His mother was raised by non-practicing Christians; his father was raised a Muslim but was an atheist by the time he had married Obama's mother. Obama's step-father was also Muslim, but of an eclectic kind who could make room for animist and Hindu beliefs. Neither Obama nor his mother were ever atheists, but she raised him in a relatively secular household where he learned about religion.

In his book The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama writes:
I was not raised in a religious household. For my mother, organized religion too often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness. However, in her mind, a working knowledge of the world's great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology.
On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites.In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well.
As a child in Indonesia, Obama studied for two years at one Muslim school and then two years at a Catholic school. In both places he experienced religious indoctrination, but in neither case did the indoctrination take hold: during Quranic studies he made faces and during Catholic prayers he would look around the room. Eventually, Barack Obama abandoned this non-conformism and skepticism to be baptized as an adult in the Trinity United Church of Christ.

The United Church of Christ emphasizes the freedom of the individual conscience over adherence to creeds or hierarchical authority. This is similar to traditional Baptist Christianity and something that is honored more in theory than in practice when it comes to the Southern Baptist Convention. Several historical creeds and catechisms are used by the United Church of Christ as statements of what their faith, but none are used as "tests of faith" which a person must swear upon.

A 2001 study by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found the denomination's churches are fairly evenly split between conservative and liberal/progressive beliefs. Official policy statements from the church leaders tend to be more liberal than conservative, but the denomination is organized in such a way that disagreements by individuals churches are allowed. For example, the United Church of Christ is the largest Christian denomination to come out in favor of "equal marriage rights for all," which means full marriage rights for gay couples, but there are many individual churches which do not support this.

Other famous members of the United Church of Christ include Barry Lynn, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, Howard Dean, and Jim Jeffords.

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Mitt vs. Mitt - Trapped in his 'flip-flopper' Status


President Obama and the people that support him seem not to be so concerned about the rise of Newt Gingrich, and are aiming at Mitt Romney instead. As stated in a prior article, Mitt Romney wavers on important issues like abortion and health care.
The Democratic committee has another ad used in an attempt to paint the former Massachusetts governor as inconsistent, but with national Democrats they would surely like to see Romney run against President Obama next year. In an 30-second ad, called "Trapped," which is runing in a targeted audience of New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington,D.C., and Wisconsin.

The video is immediately below....

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President Obama to Run against Romney Or Gingrich?

Almost a month ago, President Obama made the assessment that he would be running against Mitt Romney. With all that has been happening in the Republican race, especially with the revelation of possible new accusations against Romneys rival in the Republican race, Herman Cain. Many are saying that it is now only a matter of time before Cain drops out of the race. He is now re-assessing his candidacy.
Meanwhile Romney and Gingrich both seem to be benefiting from the flack coming out of the Cain campaign. Gingrich is now leading in the Republican race, even though he too has an extra marital affair in his past. At least temporarily, the Republicans have chosen their latest choice Newt Gingrich to run on the Conservative ticket instead of Mitt Romney, but how long do you think this fling with the front runner Newt Gingrich will last?!. President Barack Obama is putting his chips on Mitt Romney to be he opponent in the 2012 election, even if the Rublicans don't necessarily like the idea and want to support Newt Gingrich.
What chances do Mitt Romney actually have to run against Barack Obama? If you were to ask me, a liberal and an avid supporter of the Democratic ticket and President Barack Obama, I would say that Mitt Romney has no chance. An again, you don't have to believe me, as my statement is a matter of opinion. But what is not just a matter of opinion concerning Romney is the fact that he is considered a 'flip-flopper'. Check out the video below that explains in detail the characterization of Mitt Romney and how he 'flip-flops' on the issues.



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WHAT THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT MEANS FOR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES

Friday, November 25, 2011


We have a responsibility to make sure that our troops can quickly rejoin the civilian workforce after they complete their service. That’s why President Obama is putting out a plan to encourage employers to hire veterans. Measures in the American Jobs Act will expand opportunities for unemployed veterans to re-enter the workforce, provide hiring incentives to businesses, and help create new job opportunities for returning servicemembers.
WHAT THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT WILL DO

CREATE NEW TAX CREDITS FOR VETERANS. The plan includes a new Returning Heroes Tax Credit of up to $5,600 for business that hire veterans who have been unemployed six months or longer. A Wounded Warriors Tax Credit of up to $9,600 will also increase the existing tax credit for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been unemployed six months or longer.

PUT MORE MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF EVERY VETERAN IN THE WORKFORCE. The President is proposing to extend and expand the payroll tax cut passed last December, allowing families to keep more of what they earn. A household with $38,000 in income would typically pay about $2,350 in Social Security taxes. By expanding the payroll tax cut, that household will pay $1,100 less.

CREATE PATHWAYS BACK TO WORK FOR VETERANS LOOKING FOR JOBS. The plan offers targeted support to help the long-term unemployed get back to work, including up to $4,000 in tax credits for businesses that hire workers who have been looking for a job for more than six months. It also includes legislation prohibiting employers from discriminating against unemployed workers.

HELP VETERANS TRANSITION TO POST-SERVICE CAREERS. The plan will form a Department of Defense-led task force that will maximize the career-readiness of all servicemembers and enhance job search services through the Department of Labor for transitioning veterans.
PAID FOR

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Thanksgiving Day proclamation by President Obama

Thursday, November 24, 2011

President Barack Obama's Thanksgiving Day proclamation as released by the White House:
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One of our nation's oldest and most cherished traditions, Thanksgiving Day brings us closer to our loved ones and invites us to reflect on the blessings that enrich our lives. The observance recalls the celebration of an autumn harvest centuries ago, when the Wampanoag tribe joined the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony to share in the fruits of a bountiful season. The feast honored the Wampanoag for generously extending their knowledge of local game and agriculture to the Pilgrims, and today we renew our gratitude to all American Indians and Alaska Natives. We take this time to remember the ways that the first Americans have enriched our nation's heritage, from their generosity centuries ago to the everyday contributions they make to all facets of American life. As we come together with friends, family and neighbors to celebrate, let us set aside our daily concerns and give thanks for the providence bestowed upon us.
Though our traditions have evolved, the spirit of grace and humility at the heart of Thanksgiving has persisted through every chapter of our story. When President George Washington proclaimed our country's first Thanksgiving, he praised a generous and knowing God for shepherding our young republic through its uncertain beginnings. Decades later, President Abraham Lincoln looked to the divine to protect those who had known the worst of civil war, and to restore the nation "to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union."
In times of adversity and times of plenty, we have lifted our hearts by giving humble thanks for the blessings we have received and for those who bring meaning to our lives. Today, let us offer gratitude to our men and women in uniform for their many sacrifices, and keep in our thoughts the families who save an empty seat at the table for a loved one stationed in harm's way. And as members of our American family make do with less, let us rededicate ourselves to our friends and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand.
As we gather in our communities and in our homes, around the table or near the hearth, we give thanks to each other and to God for the many kindnesses and comforts that grace our lives. Let us pause to recount the simple gifts that sustain us, and resolve to pay them forward in the year to come.
Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 24, 2011, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the people of the United States to come together — whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors — to give thanks for all we have received in the past year, to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and to share our bounty with others.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of November, in the year of our Lord 2011, and of the independence of the United States of America the 236th.
Barack Obama


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Obama's latest executive action: Thanksgiving turkey pardon


There was freedom for Liberty. President Obama pardoned the appropriately named turkey at the White House on Wednesday, an annual tradition before what the president said was "one of the best days of the year to be an American." (see video below).

Actually, two birds will be spared from the holiday dinner table, Liberty and Peace. But Liberty enjoyed the national spotlight during a brief ceremony at the North Portico on Wednesday morning, in which Obama made a priestly gesture over the bird before announcing: "You are hereby pardoned!"

Obama tied the event to a series of executive actions he's been taking in recent weeks to jump-start the economy, steps that don't need congressional approval.

"Well here's another one: We can't wait to pardon these turkeys. Literally!" Obama said. "Otherwise they'd wind up next to the mashed potatoes and stuffing."

Daughters Malia and Sasha joined him for the event; the First Family will later participate in a service event in Washington.

There were 30 contestants for the designation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey. The two that won final pardons were raised by four students from Willmar High School in Minnesota. Now free, the birds will "retire to a life of leisure" at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, Obama said.

President George H.W. Bush was the first president to officially pardon a turkey in 1989, according to the White House, though some credit John F. Kennedy with starting the tradition in 1963.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

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Romney a 'liar'? Opinion of the Editor

Wednesday, November 23, 2011


The 14th Republican Debate, or what one of the late night shows calls a "Political campaign ad", each debate seems to be such a show.

On the MSNBC show called "The Last Word" w/Lawrence O'Donnell, Mitt Romney has been proven to be what Lawrence calls an outright 'liar' and I agree.

I am copying Lawrence's script word for word here, as I very much agree with what he says about Romney, and I would like to share it with you.

As for starters as O'Donnell says, "When you spend every day of your life lying about your first name, and quoted by Romney himself on the CNN debate, " Hello, my name is Mitt Romney, and yes Wolf that is my first name."  He openly lies about his name.

The mans first name is Willard, not Mitt, as everyone on this program has known for over a year now. If Willard will lie about that, then nothing Willard says probably feels like lying. If there is a pathological liar in the presidential campaign, it is Willard Romney. He was asked about his lying today, but the question was phrased of course, in the limp lamed language of the campaign press. The question to ask Mitt Romney and his despicably sleasy campaign staff is 'why did you lie'? But 'lie' is a word that campaign reporters are afraid of using face to face with lying candidates. Lie is the word that the New York Times and the Washington Post will never use on a political candidate which is why the mainstream media is speeding toward irrelevance in covering a process that involves constant lying by liars who are betting they can get away with it because the word 'lie' is just not in the vocabulary of the establishment media, the referees of the presidential campaigns. The one sound judgement Republican voters have registered this year is that they do not trust Mitt Romney. They recognize that he is a inveterate liar. They don't care that the establishment news media's definition of fairness never includes using the word 'lie' to describe a 'lie'. They know a liar when they see one and hear one. Mitt Romney and everyone working for him should, should be ashamed of themselves but of course they know no shame. They have now become professional campaign liars. But the mainstream media and of course Fox News continue to, accord the lying Romney team all the dignities they offer amongst the most honorable among us, like Romney deface our politics.

Liars like Romney depress voter turn out.
Liars like Romney turn people away from politics.
Liars like Romney are profoundly bad for this country, but the mainstream media will never call what Romney does - 'lying'.

And then they will run endless articles filled with the suprise and angst, the reason why the American voter turnout is as low as it is. But the American voters are dis-spirit and disinterested in voting. The mainstream media helps deliver candidates to the ballot by never calling them liars, then is suprised that the Americans do not want to stand in line to vote for the likes of Mitt Romney. If you want stronger voter interest in this country; if you want stronger voter participation, you should stop the lying in the campaigns. The candidates aren't going to stop the lying on their own, the news media has to make the candidates stop lying. But as long as the campaign press remains so afraid of calling a lie a lie, the candidates will never, ever be afraid to lie. And now, to all the sleasy liars of the Romney campaign, a thanksgiving gift. Here is what the Obama campaign will never do to you."

Lawrence O'Donnell then plays a clip of 'The Sayings of Mitt Romney', which is a parady of sayings by Willard 'Mitt' Romney. There is and never will be another reporter and host of any media or talk show problem or news outlet of the likes of Lawrence O'Donnell who reports the issues from his heart, and truly makes you think about the subjects he talks about.

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Obama's Record on Foreign Policy and National Security Cannot be Touched by the Republican Candidates


Last night I took the opportunity to watch the CNN Republican debate, and I just wanted to hear the continued complaining from the candidates on President Barack Obama. The candidates did not let me down. What suprised me though was the difference in opinion on how to handle foreign policy. As expected most of the candidates seemed to put down President Obama even in light that he has shown a very strong record on national security. If you don't know, you may ask what has President Barack Obama done to have a strong record?

So far, here is what President Obama has done.

1) He ordered a daring raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden and has taken out scores of top alQaeda leaders, including lead recruiter Anwar-al-Awlaki.

2) He brought the Iraq war to a close, as promised.

3) He has started a responsible withdrawal from Afghanistan.

President Obama is very popular on the way he has handled foreign policy, so it makes no difference what the Republican candidates say, President Obama gets an "A" on foreign policy.

As reported by CNN, "The Republican field has responded to the president's successful efforts abroad with what the New York Times editorial board called "bad analysis and worse solutions, nothing that suggests real understanding or new ideas." Instead of taking seriously the need for the commander in chief to have at least a basic knowledge of the world, Republicans have embraced their lack of experience on the issue. Herman Cain made a telling gaffe last week when he insisted that he is "not supposed to know anything about foreign policy.""



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Congressional 'super committee' falling short on an Agreement

Monday, November 21, 2011


As just as everyone expected, the congressional 'super committee' that is supposed to come up with $1.2 trillion in budget cuts seem to be stalled out. The deadline for a compromise is today, Monday November 21, 2011. The actual deadline for the final vote is Wednesday, but a so called 'blueprint' must be made available 48 hours in advance of a committee vote and must be accompanied by a Congressional Budget Office analysis scoring how much it would reduce deficits.
There are 12 members in the 'Super Committee' and out of the 12, at least 7 must approve of a plan so that it could be sent to the Senate and House in the form of a bill to be voted on in Congress. A failure to pass any agreement would result in $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts across much of the federal budget starting in 2013, evenly divided between defense and non-defense spending. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Congress this week that such cuts could cripple the American military establishment.
So there you have it. Congress as a whole could not reach a viable debt deal, so the President of the United States formed this 'super committee, and out of the 12 people in it, not even a minimum of 7 needed to get a bill sent to the Congress could even come to an agreement. So what does this mean. Members of this super comittee agree that they didn't become part of the committee so that it would end in a "sequester" and there are still some last minute hopes. But an agreement must come up by the end of day today.

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Chris Mathews Talks about President Obama and the American People

Sunday, November 20, 2011


Opinion of the Editor of 'Obama in the White House'
and Chris Matthews with 'Hardball'


In a recent interview with Alex Witt of MSNBC, Chris Matthews with the 'Hardball' show explains his feeling about President Obama and his communication with the American people. 


Everyone knows that many supporters have left President Barack Obama. But Why? What should people say to President Obama to change their opinion of him? What I'm about to say here hits home with me and should with you. Noone - if you are Democrat or Republican no longer believe in their heart that President Obama cannot lead this country. He has taken down dictators and passed major legislation that no other President in modern times has done, and he did this in a short time of just 3 years. But now he's lost the Democratic majority in the House, and why do you think that this happened? Chris Matthews openly states his feeling on the matter, and tells us in an interview with Alex Witt on MSNBC the reasons why. He also tells us what the President needs to do to gain support. It's difficult to keep everyone from your own party, let alone trying to sway Republicans and Tea party supporters to support you. After all the Tea Party people do not like leaders. They seem to only be there to destroy leaders, and they have no political choice when they do so. They are 'haters' according to Chris Matthews. They don't want a President, but they are willing to take down a President. 


"Join Us" "Stop being the isolated President" says Chris Matthews..


"We didn't elect you to be Peter the Hermit"  says Chris Matthews..


He further tells Alex Witt on MSNBC that he should build a band of politcal conferates around the President, that he should activate the Cabinet, that the President should make them Democrats, run as one polital faction as the President and the Democratic leadership.
He claims that every Democrat in Congress should be an Obama guy, but they are not, because for starters, he hasn't asked them to. First he claims, you must ask them, as you must ask the politicians to join him then the people to join him. He is not with the American people, he claims that he doesn't lead us, but he talks to us, as if we are strangers. 


The mood of the conversation with Alex Witt is almost heartbreaking but true. Chris further explains that the President acts uncomforable in the office and so does the first lady. He says that they have the potential to be extremely popular people as he claims that people actually like them, or want to like them. He says that some of the politicians feel that they haven't even received a phone call from him since the last election. Many of the people that have supported him in the past as him to do these simple things, but some of these things they feel he hasn't done. The President never asks us to do anything, except to remind us that we have difficult times ahead. He never says to the American people to show up at a rally, or write to your Congressman.


Chris Matthews is preaching to the President. He wants him to change. He wants the President to join the American people and actually represent them. There needs to be a massive hiring progam. When soldiers come back for Iraq in the next couple of weeks, they do not need to hit the unemployment lines. They need to stay in their respective service, and do not dump them on the unemployment rolls. 


In the upcoming months, it will be extremely critical for the President to turn his popularity around or he stands a chance to loose the election. He may find out the hard way that winning just the popular vote cannot win you the election, as Al Gore found out when he ran for President against George W. Bush. 



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Obamacare Likely Here to Stay

Friday, November 18, 2011


November 3, 2011
To hear some Republican presidential candidates tell it, the president's pen is a magic wand that can make "Obamacare" vanish in one day and sweep in cheaper health care, economic growth and lots of jobs in businesses freed from the health care law's heavy hand.
But there is no such fairy dust in Washington.
Across the board, the contenders pledge to repeal the health law they denigrate as "Obamacare." In doing so, some are more realistic than others about what they can achieve and how fast.
The Republican case against the law comes with a dose of myth-making that may raise false hopes among voters who wish it could, in fact, simply go "poof." If the overhaul is to fall, it won't happen overnight with a new GOP administration. Any dismantling promises to be just as much of a slog as was its creation.
Mitt Romney has been the most persistent in claiming that as president, he would free states from the law's requirements with an executive order on his first day in charge, even though he would have no authority to do so. Rick Perry has held out the prospect of lower health insurance premiums once the law is gone, citing research that actually tells a mostly different story.
Herman Cain would like to turn repeal into a birthday present of sorts. He says if Congress moves fast enough he'd sign the repeal March 23, 2013 — his son's birthday and the third anniversary of the law's signing.
All place the law's repeal as a chief component of their plans to grow the economy and jobs, rightly noting the overhaul's myriad regulations but overselling the ability of one act of legislative subtraction to lift all boats.
A look at some of the claims in the Republican campaign and how they compare with the facts:
ROMNEY: "One thing I'd do on Day One if I'm elected president is direct my secretary of health and human services to put an executive order granting a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states. It is bad law. It will not work. And I'll get that done on Day One." — Claim in Sept. 7 debate, which he echoed in most other debates.
PERRY: "And I'll promise you, on Day One, as the president of the United States, that executive order will be signed and Obamacare will be wiped out as much as it can be." — Sept. 7 debate.
CAIN: "I'm going to un-pass it on my son's birthday." — Nov. 2 forum with the GOP's Congressional Health Care Caucus.
MICHELE BACHMANN: "With all due respect ... issuing an executive order will not overturn this massive law." — Sept. 7 debate.
THE FACTS: Bachmann is right, and it's not the first time she corrected her rivals on the matter.
A president cannot overturn a law with an executive order. Moreover, the health law lays out an onerous process for letting individual states off the hook from its requirements; that process cannot begin until 2017.
For a state to be granted a waiver, it must show that it will provide coverage that is at least as comprehensive and affordable as under the federal law. Also, a state has to insure a comparable number of its residents, and its plan must not add to the federal deficit by shifting costs to Washington. Finally, a state has to enact its own health law setting up the system envisioned in its waiver request.
Romney's assertion also implies that all states would want to get out of the health care law. That's a doubtful proposition for Democratic-leaning states.
Cain recognizes that for the law to be repealed, Congress must act. But presidents don't set the congressional calendar, and even if Republicans can secure a 60-vote majority that gives them control of the Senate, the train of legislation seldom runs on schedule.
___
ROMNEY: "On Day One, granting a waiver to all 50 states doesn't stop in its tracks entirely Obamacare. That's why I also say we have to repeal Obamacare, and I will do that on Day Two with a reconciliation bill, because, as you know, it was passed by reconciliation, 51 votes. We can get rid of it with 51 votes." — Oct. 11 debate.
THE FACTS: This is a strategy to undermine the law by starving it of money. Its only real chance is if Republicans win congressional majorities as well as the presidency or at the very least a rash of improbable Democratic defections in Congress.
Although not a single-day project, it represents one threat to Obama's law, if one with political risk and tough odds. Some core parts of the law are not dependent on annual budgeting.
Going beyond the budget process to repeal the law in full is an even steeper climb. It would require a larger Republican congressional majority to move forward and to clinch 60 votes in the Senate — all this as the law increasingly takes root in the nation's medical and insurance system.
The law extends coverage to uninsured citizens and legal immigrants by providing tax credits to help middle-class households buy a policy and by expanding Medicaid for low-income people. It would require almost all people to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government program or by individual purchase. It would set up health insurance markets in every state to make it easier for individuals and small business to buy coverage. It's financed through tax increases and Medicare cuts.
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PERRY: "According to CBO's own calculations, repealing Obamacare will reduce the cost of health insurance premiums and reduce federal spending on health care." — His economic plan.
THE FACTS: No one can be sure what would happen with premiums absent the health care law, but Perry's use of a Congressional Budget Office analysis was selective, at best.
The nonpartisan congressional accountants forecast that repeal of the law would raise premiums for people who get coverage from large-employer plans, not lower them, and that premiums could go either way for small-employer plans. About half the population is covered by such work-based insurance.
The CBO says repeal of the law probably would result in lower premiums in the individual insurance market, which covers about 4 percent of the population.
But there are important caveats. Many policyholders would probably end up paying more because they would not get the insurance subsidies provided under the law, the analysis says.
Individual insurance policies on average would provide fewer benefits, and cover less of an enrollee's health care expenses, than will be provided by the insurance exchanges coming into effect under the law.
The analysis also projected that repealing the law would increase the federal deficit.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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