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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Last Chance to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

Tuesday, December 25, 2012


On December 27, the House and Senate members are expected to convene and continue talks over how to prevent automatic tax increases for everyone and also deep spending cuts that will be triggered in the new year without an agreement. It is now apparent that the Republican House, now in full disarray will not be able to come up with any progress without another plan from the Democratically led Senate. Still with their inability to come up with a solution on their own, the Republican led Congressional members did go home and enjoy their Christmas holiday, not taking into consideration how serious it was not getting the fiscal cliff issue resolved before Christmas. After all, if a deal is not met, the Congress won't be hurting, as those very rich Senators will not even think twice of allowing such a disaster from happening to the American people, because it just won't affect them. I am totally convinced now that the Congress just doesn't care. Every American will feel a paycheck decrease, take-home pay that will be cut automatically by 2% starting January 1, 2013, the effect of raised taxes. The U.S. Credit rating now stands a chance of being lowered again. The main dispute continues to be over taxes, specifically the demand by Obama and Democrats to extend most of the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush while allowing higher rates of the 1990's to return on top income brackets.
Something that I don't believe has ever been seen before, the House Speaker John Boehner in an attempt to compromise with the Democrats, realized that he did not have the support from his own colleagues in the process, and suffered what is said to be political indignity. Many hard right wingers are now calling for Boehner's resignation, saying that he is too far to the left of where he needs to be for his own party. Still, he was overwhelmingly supported by his fellow Senators to continue in his present job as Speaker of the House. When Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker of the past Democratically controlled House, she always had her fellow Senators in check, and knew exactly how the vote would turn out, and would never even attempt to have a vote if she didn't know what the outcome would be with a great amount of certainty. But John Boehner does not have the backing now of his fellow Republican Senators, and he is not able to predict even what his own party will do in the House. The bill that he supported never made it to the Senate because he knew that he could not drum up enough support from his own House Republicans to pass the bill along to the Senate, even though he sincerely thought he would be able to provide a House supported bill to Congress for their vote.
Now instead of leading the way, the Republican Senators in the House will depend on the Democratically controlled Senate to come up with a bill that they can support. But there is a catch. The Democrats will not present such a bill unless the Republicans also support it this time around.  A cat and mouse game continues to play out in Congress.
The Republican party, especially the Senators in the House are sincerely not capable of creating laws on their own without causing grief to others. Why do the American people continue to support such people? It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that time is running out for the dysfunctional Republicans, and they all chance the possibility in loosing their jobs in 2014 when they must run again to keep their jobs.

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Late 2012 Tax Returns if no 'Fiscal Cliff' Resolution is made by Dec. 31

Thursday, December 20, 2012


How bad do you need your 2012 tax returns next year? Well, if you can't file them until late March 2013, then you stand a good chance that you will not get your return until late spring or summer. Is that crazy or what! The fact is that this is absolutely the case if a fiscal cliff deal does not take place by December 31, 2012. The IRS would be severely limited on their activities and the refund program will suffer in result of no tax decision by the end of the year. Also, income exemption levels under the "wealth tax" - as the AMT is known -- were never adjusted for inflation since it was enacted decades ago. So Congress has regularly passed an AMT "patch" to correct for that by raising the exemption levels.  The tax season begins in two weeks. Even though inflation has gone up in 2012, exemption levels will not rise if the fiscal cliff issue is not resolved within two weeks, which means guaranteed more taxes for everyone.
Enough is enough. Keep it up Congress, as you are doing a great job in failing the American people. If year end goes by without tax cuts put into play, then the next thing to look for is going from a 'AA+' rating to 'AA'. This would be catastrophic to everyone."If the negotiations on the fiscal cliff and raising the debt ceiling extend into 2013 and appear likely to be prolonged with adverse implications for the economy and financial stability, the U.S. sovereign rating could be subject to review, potentially leading to a negative rating action," Fitch ratings agency said in a bi-annual report. Standard & Poor's cut its U.S. rating to AA+ in 2011, citing political brinkmanship that was preventing agreement on raising the debt ceiling -- without which the government can't pay its bills -- and a longer term plan to reduce borrowing. It warned earlier this year that a further downgrade was possible in the absence of a debt deal.
Congress continues in its lack of creating bills that would benefit everyone, but this latest failure would mean a disastrous end to the 2012 year. As everyone knows, the good and bad have shown themselves. President Obama was re-elected as President, and a city in Connecticut known as Newtown is the latest victim of a gun-slinger that killed 20 children at an elementary school. It sure would be great if Congress would just get something done to avert the tax issues and the remnants of failing to get it done by years end. Unfortunately, we the American people seem to be at our lawmakers mercy.

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Stories becoming 'Over-kill' about Newtown

Tuesday, December 18, 2012


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

Enough is enough! I've read so many stories now about the killings in Newtown, that I'm just about sick of hearing the same story over and over again, each time getting a little more information and details that continuously surface about the killer and about the school tragedy. How long must the TV stations keep broadcasting about the violence that strangled Newtown, Connecticut?  Yes, the story is very important, and continuously repeats the call for more gun control, and the debates regarding this subject are already stirring and have been revisited time and time again, without anything of any substance getting done. But what are the effects of such a story amongst the people who watch them? For me, and for most people across the country, it is nothing short of a devastating story, one that shakes your bones, knowing that 20 children perished in the shooting, ages 6 and 7, all merely first graders in a school that may never open again. All of the children will be attending other schools for an undetermined amount of time.
That's not the issue here. What is my issue with the stories are what effect does continuing to hear such a story have on the crazy people who perpetrate the crimes using gun violence? It makes them feel more powerful and more important in their own sick mind.  Just glancing over the national news will give you the answer. A man in the state of Indiana was arrested after trying to repeat the tragedy that occurred Friday in Newtown, Connecticut.  As the crazy man said, "kill as many people as he could at an elementary school." Upon searching his home, the police found 47 guns and ammunition throughout his residence. The value of his gun collection is well over $100,000. A man in his 60's, he was arrested with tons of charges and the man seems to be totally insane. He's all over the national news, and probably loving every minute of it. People now know his name, which I will not mention here.
In another instance, a man threatened to set his wife on fire after she fell asleep, then he also threatens to go to a nearby elementary school named 'Jane Ball Elementary' and open fire. The school is only 1000 feet from his home. He wasn't arrested until last Friday? why? Because they needed a warrant.  As a member of the 'Invaders Motor Cycle Gang', he resisted arrest even though a swat team came to his home, obviously another crazy man.
So truly copy-cat terminology and over-saturation of stories such as these are doing more harm than good. How many times throughout your day do you have to be reminded about the shootings of 6 and 7 year old children? Yes, stories like these spark your interest, but parents with children only have to be reminded only once that a situation of a shooting like the one in Newtown occurred  and they will take measures that they deem necessary to protect their own children. You don't need much news coverage for parents to find out that something such as this happened in the country. If you don't want to propagate more mass murders, says Dr. Park Dias, a psychiatrist warns that you don't have to blare out the story continually throughout the day. You should never show photographs of the killer, as there are other mediums to find this out. Why does there have to be 24/7 coverage on such a story. Why must you make the 'total body count' the lead story of the day. Why continuously say it is the 2nd worst school shooting in U.S. history? A copy-cat killer would want to make his kill the number 1 worst school shooting in U.S. history. Any crazy man that wanted to make the history books for his name to forever be known will perpetrate such a crime.  Stories that surfaced throughout the last week of other crazy people such as the one with a crazy man with 47 guns in his possession definitely has allot more fire power to kill more than 20 people.
The fact is that I'm proud to live in a free country, but is the country too free? Why does it have to take a tragedy such as this at an elementary school in a small town that many people never heard off, but now makes the national news and will forever be linked to the elementary school tragedy? Why does the topic of gun control have to be continuously revisited each time a tragedy like this occurs and then nothing gets done. There will now be continued stories about gun control, but Congress now must focus on the major issue facing them and that's the 'fiscal cliff' issue. Congress had to delay their holiday vacations because they need to get the fiscal cliff issue resolved before the end of the year, now just two weeks away. Congress IS the biggest procrastinating body of people I've ever seen. Obviously nothing will be done on gun control until the new Congress convenes after the first of the year, and just how many more stories will surface on shootings before then? As you can see, this story is full of questions, and every one of them is legitimate and needs to be answered.
President Obama works continuously trying to get bills passed, as he has been doing in an attempt to avoid the fiscal cliff, but Congress continues to buck the issues as they have for the last 2 plus years now. Yes, this Congress surely made the history books of being the #1 'do-nothing' Congress of all time. I hope the Senators in Congress are proud of themselves. I surely don't expect anything different when the new Congress convenes in January and that will not help the issues surrounding the elementary school shooting.

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President Obama - Official Vote by the Electoral College

Monday, December 17, 2012

Today marked the official vote by the electoral college where official ballots are cast from congressional districts in every state. The electors cast their votes for the candidate who received the majority of the votes in their state. Back on November 6, Obama reached the electoral college threshold of 270 votes out of a total of 538 electoral votes. At the end of election night, Obama had 332 electoral votes and Romney had 207, in a winning percentage over Romney of 51% to 47%. The voting always takes place on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, as required by the U.S. Constitution.

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Gun Laws to be Revisited in Wake of Newtown Connecticut Shooting

Friday, December 14, 2012


So will now be the time that leaders have the courage to participate in meaningful discussion about gun laws? Not log ago, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was gunned down in Tucson in 2011. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) tweeted, "No words can console the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook. We share our prayers and our grief over these horrifying events." Comments like those made by Nancy Pelosi are echoed time and time again, but still the violence never seems to stop. This time in Connecticut it was innocent children, in their elementary school, 20 victims between the ages of 5 and 10 years old now dead.
So a call for gun limits are now echoing again, but will the call fall on deaf ears? Other such incidents, the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 and just recently in Aurora, Colorado in 2012, are just added horrific and heartbreaking incidents that affect everyone. Yesterday it was an Oregon mall shooting. This time, parents all across the country are affected, wondering if their children are safe at their school. The TV reporters are passing the word that the children are safe in schools, but how can the news media make such false accusations now, especially since this happened in such a small community  in an elementary school just this evening in a small town of just 27,000 people.
Do all schools, no matter where they are located, have metal detectors? The fear now is that there may be copy-cat killers wanting to carry out a similar crime.
How do you limit guns when you have the second amendment to the Constitution giving the people the right to keep and bear arms? You have a right to possess a firearm, but will they limit the sales of them or should they?
In some states, you don't even have to give your name. All you have to do in the state of Texas for example, is to first decide what type of gun you want to purchase. Shotguns and Rifles are easier to purchase than handguns. Then you have to pass an FBI NICS background check, which is required by law. But you are allowed to possess a firearm on the premises where you live after 5 years have elapsed since your prison or parole term has ended. They use whichever term is later.
There is no waiting period in Texas when you buy the gun from the dealer. If you passed the FBI NICS background check and receive your CHL (if required), you can walk out of the store threat same day with your gun.
After shootings similar to the school shooting, the purchase of hand guns, especially since the news reporters have reported which types of guns used, become popular and sales rise dramatically. It is my opinion that gun control laws must change in the State of Texas, and sales should be limited. The Second Amendment to the Constitution still guarantees the right to bear arms, but it should not give users of firearms the right to target innocent victims for a kill. Presently, there is no way to stop a cold calculated killer from using his guns illegally  so essentially we are giving purchasers of handguns their right to do what they please, at a consequence which always seems too late to make a difference. .

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School Tragedy in Connecticut - 20 Children Killed


At approximately 9:30AM Eastern time, a tragedy unfolded in Newtown Connecticut. Sandy Hook Elementary School will now forever be known as one of the worst school shootings and tragedies in American History, located in a small peaceful town of just 27,000 residents 60 miles northeast of New York City.
There were 28 people killed, one off of the school campus, including the gunman found dead in one of the classrooms. Twenty children, between the ages of 5 and 7 years of age, five people employed by the school including the principal, Dawn Hochsprung were killed, including the gunman who pulled the gun on himself at the end.
Just 10 days to go before Christmas, and almost two dozen families lost a child in this tragedy.
When the President was informed about the tragedy, he addressed the public in a tearful message, stating "Our Hearts are broken today" and called for "meaningful action" to prevent such shootings. He ordered that flags be flown at half mast today.
The tragedy unfolds further as the gunman, Adam Lanza, age 20 from New Jersey, walked into what was originally thought to be his moms classroom at this school and just started shooting. Further investigation proved that his mother was not employed by the school. The mother of Adam Lanza, Nancy Lanza was also found dead today at her home. Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother just prior to driving to the school with three guns, all registered to his mother. An investigation including questions of Adam's brother, 24 year old Ryan who is now in police custody for questioning. Other people, including one of his friends and his girlfriend is still missing in New Jersey.
The following is the video of President Obama as he made statements concerning the tragedy at the elementary school.




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Susan Rice Steps down as a Choice for Secretary of State

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Susan Rice - Permanent U.N. Ambassador
In a most recent turn of events concerning the choices of a new Secretary of State to replace Hilary Clinton during President Obama's second term as President, the one person who most fills the bill has decided to withdraw her name from consideration. John Kerry most likely will now receive the nomination from the President. Why did she change her mind? It was because of a  Republican controversy surrounding her name to be the nominee by President Obama. Susan Rice wrote a letter to the president and has decided to withdraw her name from the possible list of candidates. It was not a decision that the White House helped her with, rather than a self calculated decision to withdraw at this time. Her involvement surrounding the Benghazi issue had everything to do with her decision.
Led by John McCain, the Republicans did everything possible to say that she was not qualified to do the job of Secretary of State, just because she did her job to report on Benghazi as she was told. She provided the best information that she had at the time, but the Republicans, led by McCain said that she was misleading and that she made mistakes in her reporting, thus she is not qualified to be the next Secretary of State.
To me, the Republicans led by McCain himself should be ashamed of their actions. The only thing the Republican party now seems to represent is to block everything that President Obama wants, and this action is proof that the Republicans plan no changes on how they will think during the second term.
Was Susan Rice truly qualified to become Secretary of State? I say that she is qualified and here is just a glimpse of her resume, someone truly educated, someone who should be considered the best of the best.

1) Served under Bill Clinton and was recommended that he tap Rice for a high-level State Department post on African affairs in the late 1990's.

2) Valedictorian of her class with "superior leadership skills: and "left behind a remarkable legacy" "that included a revised honor code still used at the school," John Wood wrote.

3) A Bachelors degree with Phi Beta Kappa honors at Stanford University while she also won a Rhodes Scholarship to study international relations at Oxford University in 1986.

6) At Oxford, she earned the Chatham House-British International Studies Association Prize for the top doctoral dissertation in the United Kingdom in international relations.

7) An international management consultant position at McKinsey and Company in Toronto, Canada.

8) Director of International organizations and peacekeeping in 1993 in Washington, DC.

9) In 1994, she toured the war-torn country of Rwanda after the genocide campaign there killed at least 800,000 people in a little over three months time.

10) In 1995, she became a special assistant to the president and senior director of African affairs at the White House National Security Council.

11) A senior fellow in 2002 at Brookings, specializing in the study of U.S. foreign relations.

12) National security and foreign relations adviser for Obama's 2008 campaign.

13) Became a U.N. Ambassador as President Obama called her "a close and trusted adviser" and said she "shares my belief that the U.N. is an indispensable -- and imperfect -- forum."

14) Washington insiders characterize her as being very ambitious and aggressive, very personable, likable, charming, smart, funny and down to earth.

15) Very serious and someone you do not want to cross or get in the way off, which some may say is to her advantage or something against her, but in any case, very determined to do her job well.

Even after the false accusations by the Republicans led by John McCain, who apparently still seems to be upset for loosing the Presidential race to Barack Obama in 2008, still shows his resentment and apparently tried to make others feel as miserable as he most certainly is now.

In light of all of what has happened, President Obama has accepted Susan Rice's decision not to accept the position of Secretary of State if it was ever going to be offered to her, but the President also made the following statement...

"I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an adviser and friend," the president said. "While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first."

It is just too bad that warmonger John McCain doesn't have the same interests, as he would rather be a warmonger and keep our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is in favor of prolonging the wars. Just because he happened to serve in a prior war, and was a prisoner for a length of time, doesn't make him qualified to be Secretary of State, but thinks that it gives him the right to judge others. In recent comments made by John McCain, he felt that it was no ones business on the decisions he makes and openly stated the fact that recently in an interview and that others should not judge him. Instead, that gives him at age 76 the right as the judge and jury for Susan Rice. In light of a few of his most recent decisions, maybe it was good that he wasn't elected President in 2008.

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WorldNetDaily and Patriot Voices

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

"WorldNetDaily" (wnd.com), which is an internet news and commentary site founded in May of 1997, is a conservative site which has been used during the last presidential election in an attempt to distort the fact centered around president Obama. Case in fact. A site which now sides on the 'sore looser' side of the 2012 elections, sports a headline that can be found at the URL http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/did-obama-steal-the-2012-election/ is published proof of the ridiculousness of such a site.

As the site states...

"Still, members of the president’s team did everything possible to rig the game in their favor. They took liberties with the law Republicans would never dare attempt and obstructed voter-integrity efforts at every turn, while the vast political-media-entertainment-education-union-nonprofit complex went all in to promote Obama’s narrative."

"Democrats and their media allies also engaged in what has fairly been described as a dishonest and “vicious” campaign to discredit the Republican nominee while steadfastly  shielding the administration from its many scandals. Any of these could have sunk Obama’s reelection prospects had the media reported them with the enthusiasm they showed in attacking and spreading disinformation about Romney".

Even with this said, the site listed excuses as to why the President won re-election, including that there was low voter turnout, only 60% in the last three elections compared to a communistic country such as Iraq, where all the people are required to vote in every election. The claim is that almost 100% of the people in Iraq voted. Now how could that be possible in a country so torn up by war that many citizens elect not to leave their homes in fear of their own lives. At least towards the end of the article, 'WorldNetDaily' claims that voter fraud most likely didn't happen.

In proof that the Republican party seems to show signs of a possible breakup, Conservative candidate Rich Santorum back in June prior to the election, announced a new conservative group called 'Patriot Voices'. What does he expect from this organization? How about to" "service people left behind by both parties" and to tout many of the issues he espoused during his run for the GOP presidential nomination." Rick Santurum feels it's his obligation to speak out, but when when he speak in favor of his own party.

So here you have it, a site called 'WorldNetDaily' and another called 'Patriot Voices'. Yes, people have the right to startup sites as I have when I started 'Obama in the WhiteHouse' back in 2007, but at what gain. It is undetermined that these two conservative websites could actually help the Republican cause in 2016, but do you think that they actually want too. It seems that maybe they have their own mission.

As far as this 'Obama in the White House' website produced by me, I fully expect the site to be active on the web throughout President Obama's second turn to commence on January 20, 2013, and long after the conclusion of his second term. It should be available for many years to come for the readers interested in what happened during President Obama's term.

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Republicans Threaten President Obama


Pardon my French, but what the hell are the Republicans thinking when they have decided to threaten with a political war next year?! Do they have an ounce of sense in their heads. They are now aiming to hurt themselves besides the middle class. Do you remember last year when they failed to reach a solution to raise the debt ceiling. Do the Republicans think that the President will cave in regarding the debt ceiling. The President gave the Republicans two respites on 2 different issues last year, namely the 'tax cuts' and the 'debt ceiling', temporarily extending the agreements so that the country could survive another year. Well that year is up, and the money is quickly running out, and the debt ceiling must be addressed again. Conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, promised the newly re-elected Obama a "rude awakening" next year if the president forces through his plan for high-income earners to pay more taxes without agreeing to substantive steps to reduce the nation's chronic federal deficits and debt. Does that sound like a threat? So the President must bow down to the Republican wishes just so that the debt ceiling issue would be addressed by the Republicans next year. Again, what planet does Lindsey Graham live on? The debt ceiling will be addressed whether Mr. Graham likes it or not, as will the tax issue before the end of this year. The tax issue will be resolved, and so will the debt issue. Extending threats like this to the President in a time when so many people are hurting these days, threatening to take things away from them is nothing short of political suicide. The 2014 elections will be very interesting when they arrive.
Instead of the threats floating around by the Republicans, what the right wing party needs to do is go out and find a respectable candidate to face whomever will be running on the Democratic side in 2016. At the present time, the Democrats already have a very qualified candidate in someone named 'Hilary Clinton', and if she were to actually run for president in 2016, the Republicans have no-one of that stature to run against her, and then we will have the first woman President of the United States. This was echoed recently by a prior Republican candidate named Newt Gingrich. He stated, "If their competitor in 2016 is going to be Hilary Clinton, supported by Bill Clinton and presumably still popular Barack Obama, trying to will that would truly be like the 'super bowl' and the Republican party of today is incapable of competing at that level." Hilary has stated that she will not run in 2016, but she needs a year or so away from her present job as Secretary of State and then she may just change her mind, especially after she gets a respite from politics for a while. Like the saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but it also is a saying that you cannot break an old dog of their habits  Hillary still will have politics in her blood, and I fully expect her to run again for President. Even if Hilary doesn't run, the Democrats will have the upper hand and stand a clear chance of winning the House of Representatives back from the Republicans, especially if the Republicans continue to try and threaten the president and the country by stalling on the debt ceiling issue. Who can forget what happened because of the last delay?. The Federal Reserve lowered the credit rating of the United States from AAAA to AAA. If the rating is lowered again, it will be almost impossible for the U.S. to ever get the debts paid off and the it will affect everyone. The only way that the Republicans feel that the debt can be lowered, is not to raise taxes on the rich, but to address entitlements, cuts in Medicare and Social Security, the latter two affecting the middle class and the poor. Great thinking Republicans, but the party needs to be reinvented, and the tea party needs to be banished. There is no law against having a difference of opinion on things which is what the Republican and Democratic parties are all about, but why does everything that the Congress does these days have to affect the middle class and people just trying to survive. The middle class people must work to survive, while a good portion of the rich just sit back and collect monies from their investments.
It's the American way I guess, but you don't have to take my word for it, but if the Republicans to come around and start doing something constructive in their voting processes, then the President in 2014 will surely gain total control once again with entire the U.S. Congress going Democrat once again as it was in 2008 when the President was elected in his first term.

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O'Connell Plan Defeated by O'Connell

Monday, December 10, 2012


It looks like a budget deal is near. The long national nightmare might almost be over. Another thing being talked about in Washington these days is the debt ceiling. The White House has been putting a plan together to take away the control of the debt ceiling from Congress. Without being able to control the debt ceiling, the Congress wouldn't be able to blow up the world economy. Everything the Congress seems to vote on these days, seems to blow up in everyone's face. Here's something that was blown up before it was even voted on.
Introduced by Republican Senator Mitch O'Connell, the plan is based on the idea that he himself proposed back in 2011. But the interesting thing is that he is actually not for his own plan at this time. He was also hoping that Democrats also did not support it, but a few days ago, he asked the Senate to move to an immediate vote on the McConnell plan. He was figuring that the majority leader would back down, but what actually happened is that the Senate majority leader did not back down, but instead actually embraced the idea of a vote on the McConnell plan. The majority leader wanted an immediate up or down vote. He also said that there would be no filibuster, and no 60 vote requirement needed. It the bill would get 51 votes, it would be passed. So what do you think what happened next.
In complete shock that the Senate was about to vote on his bill at that moment, he did something that was never seen before. He just decided to filibuster his own bill, saying that if there wasn't going to be a 60 vote threshold, there would be no vote at all. In other words, with a 60 vote measure, his bill would surely fail. When was the last time that you think some Senator introduced his bill and voted on it to fail? So here you go. More political games. So what had actually happened is that he asked for a vote on a plan that he created, immediately got his wish, then filibustered his own plan. Talk about turning around 180 degrees. It goes to prove that they don't even try to pass bills, but only to recommit to their own base that they will not vote on much during the lame duck session in Congress. Will the new Congress do better next year. Unfortunately, I don't have much faith in our political leaders now, and no-one else should too. Yes, most likely the Congress will get a permanent debt ceiling bill passed by the end of the year, and in some instances, the Republicans want the bill passed too, just so that they can put this one behind them, but also know that the debt ceiling issue would now be owned by the President. If the economy failed, then the President would be blamed. This is the reasoning of Senator Rand Paul, not taking in consideration that when the same thing was done in the Clinton administration, the rich were paying more taxes than they are right now, and the middle class people benefit.                                                                                                                                                  

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

Saturday, December 8, 2012


Opinion of the Editor....


Each month new labor statistics come out, and for the most part, they show a continued growth in jobs since President Obama has been in office. Now the statistics show 146,000 jobs added in November, bringing the unemployment rate down to 7.7%. It sounds so great, but all you have to do is dig into the reports a little more to find out that not every state is feeling the goodness. How about Nevada, with the worst unemployment rate, setting at 11.5%, then Rhode Island at 10.4%. To me, it is utterly amazing how this country seems to respond on polls. Then you look at North Dakota at 3.1% and Nebraska at 3.8% unemployment rates. The country is divided, and unless the U.S. Congress gets their act together, rates may just rise again, and going over the 'fiscal cliff' will not help things. If it happens, what will the law makers say was the cause? The Republicans will say that it wasn't them who let the economy go over the cliff, but it was President Obama. The President and the Democrats will point fingers at the Republicans. The U.S. was downgraded in their credit rating from AAAA to AAA just a year ago because the Congress couldn't get their act together. Do the law makers realize this? But instead of tackling the problem staring them in the face, for starters the Congress decided to go home early this week. Some of the representatives will go home and talk to their constituents to try and understand what they want their representatives to do, but others will just go home to rest from their "hard job" of 'doing-nothing.
I am sick and tired of the polls, as you look at them one way, for example seeing that the unemployment rate is dropping, but if you look at the whole picture, you will see that almost half as many Americans just stopped looking for work, so they are not counted anymore. The Democrats know this, the President knows this, and the Republicans know it. When will it be time for the Congress to really give Americans some real good news about what we really need to hear, instead of constantly make everyone feel scared, worrying what will happen next? Why must Americans enter the Christmas season not knowing what is going to happen to their 401K's after the holidays?
What I've learned is that you cannot trust the lawmakers anymore. The President is standing his ground, to prove his point that the Congress cannot continue to temporarily fix the problems. Permanent tax cuts need to be put in place and this President doesn't need to visit this issue again in his second term. The Congress must also realize that they are now put on the spot, not President Obama. He will be around for the next 4 years, and the Congressional leaders who will be up for re-election in 2014 may be gone in just 2 years if we go over the cliff. The leader of the House Boener is feeling the heat right now from the American people, but he doesn't know what heat is unless he continues to not get things done, especially if he doesn't find a way to get his House to approve a tax plan that President Obama will sign.
If things are not done, the President will have the power to do things on his own, but at this time he seems willing to let the American process work. It has to work, but it is really disheartening that all you hear in the news is what the Congress doesn't do.  Will there ever come a time when the Democrats and Republicans will agree on something?

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Is the Fiscal Cliff Real, and What Are the Effects

Saturday, December 1, 2012


There is a question floating around whether President Obama will be responsible for pushing the country over the fiscal cliff. The answer is 'NO'. At the present time, both Democrats and Republicans are in a face-off and in the present situation, noone is going to win. The Republicans are not willing to sign off on a permanent tax hike on the rich, people making over $250,000, but seem to be willing to let the middle class pay higher taxes instead. The Democrats don't seem to want to budge from the President's stance, which is to provide take breaks for the middle class and tax hikes for the rich. The Senate has already passed a bill to support the President's stance on taxes, but the House, led by Speaker John Boehner is not willing to even bring the vote to the floor.
The President has the upper hand after winning re-election, and will have even more clout to raise taxes on the rich if the Republicans fail to act soon. Even more-so, if the Republicans fail to act prior to next year, they stand a great chance in loosing the House in 2014. The ironic thing here is that the tax cuts will take place for the middle class, and most likely will be retroactive to Jan 1 if the tax cuts are not given to the middle class before January. Tax cuts are pretty certain to take place anyway.
In a scenario of no tax cuts through 2013, which seems to be virtually impossible, what would happen if there were no tax cuts for the middle class? For starters, by summer the country will plummet into another depression, one that the country may not be able to recover from and up to 700,000 jobs could be lost.

Here's a short list....

1) Starting at the top affecting the 1%'ers and stock market investors will be the maximum rate on long-term gains which will be increased from 15% to 20%. But in an unbelievable turn of events, maximum rates on dividends will go sky high to nearly 40%.

2) Dividend taxes on the two lowest income brackets who now pay 0% will rise to 10% on long-term gains, and almost 30% on dividends. If you are an investor, your life has to really suck right now. The future in investments are bleak unless Congress acts very soon.

3) Like other analysts, Macroeconomic Advisers NOV.29th article predicts that the “Doing Nothing” approach would cripple the short-term economy: Unemployment would rise to 8.5 percent by the end of 2013; the stock market would fall about 15 percent in the beginning of the year and barely recover; and GDP growth would be anemic.

4) After 2013, economic growth starts to pick up again, but the severe fiscal contraction from the “fiscal cliff” would lower GDP growth and raise unemployment for the next decade. 2013 will most likely be a living hell for most.

After all the stir about the effects of the fiscal cliff, how tone deaf are the Republicans? Republican Newt Gingrich leads the pack.

All you have to do is look at a blog post on 'Gingrich Productions' belonging to Gingrich.  He believes that the fiscal cliff is just something made up by the Democrats and the news media, and is just a figment of our imagination. It's probably just as much as a figmant in his eyes as his manning the moon with human population which is now just a figment of our imagination. To read his outlandish post in his blog, go to this URL for the full text.... http://www.gingrichproductions.com/2012/11/there-is-no-fiscal-cliff/

Read more about the fiscal cliff on another article on this blog at

http://www.obamainthewhitehouse.us/2012/11/the-effects-of-pending-fiscal-cliff.html

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McCain and Company continuing to Push the Country towards the 'Fiscal Cliff'



Continuing with a relentless attack on the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, the three Senators earning the name of the 'Three Stooges' are continuing to display their shameful behavior. Do they really have a case against the Ambassador? The real answer is 'NO'. But what this whole scenario represents is a continued GOP war against Barack Obama, which apparently will last for the next four years. No American who is familiar with the shenanigans of  Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte would even believe that this is really about Susan Rice. But she has become the scapegoat of the first Republican offensive against President Barack Obama since the Presidential election.
These tactics are nothing new from the Republican Senators, and to me it's just amazing how this governing group would be allowed to deliberately attempt to do everything they can to make President Obama look bad. This is so obvious to the voters. Presently, these good for nothing Senators are still holding out on the tax cuts for the middle class just because they are not for the rich gaining more responsibility to do their fair share with raised taxes, similar to the rates that the upper class owned during the Clinton presidency. But what will happen if the fiscal cliff is not avoided will be that the Republican ignorance will backfire on them. Continued 'do-nothing-tactics will earn these Senators a loss for their Senate seat in 2016.
The bottom line here is that the Senators refuse to believe that they must deal with a democratic president named Barack Obama for the next four years. What they don't realize is that if they do not start delivering in Congress for the betterment of the people and not for their own personal interests, their actions will affect every person, regardless if you are from the middle class or not.

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