Obama Tax Deal makes most Americans Happy... except for some

Most Americans pleased with new Tax Deal, others disappointed


Many liberals annoyed and angry with their leader and had surrendered on regards to raising taxes on the rich, pretty much without a fight. Conservatives recently won the battle against the liberal stimulus program that would have introduced a $844 billion relief package.

Many say that this move from Obama is the first step for Obama to gain re-election. By appeasing to the Conservative views on the reform, he may be winning over many citizens with vote to go with him in 2012. This is mainly appealing to the rich who pay almost 60% of the entire countries taxes; the rich being anyone who makes over $250,000 a year.

Now, with Conservatives in power and in control over the taxes, a more regulated and conformed spending plan will be put in place and will keep the country out of the debt we are trying to get out of that the Liberals got us into.

Don Trump really considering Prez position for 2012...

Mr. Trump is really considering Presidency in 2012


Donald Trump never wanted to be a President or even wanted to run for President, but he is seriously now considering the possibility of being this countries next President because of the "dire straits," we are facing. With a failing economy and uncertainty ahead in regards to it, the business tycoon believes that his business strategies and tactics he possesses will be very helpful for the country when facing such uncertainty. 


Trump states, “For the first time really would think about it. And I am thinking about it. It doesn’t mean I want to do it. I’d prefer not doing it. I’m having a lot of fun doing what I’m doing. It’s a great time to be buying things. I’m buying a lot of things and really having a good time.” Later in the same speech he criticized Obama on his current standing regarding the economy and his lack of experience dealing with the economy. Trump says that his continuous talk of getting things done but never ends up actually doing so is no more an excuse.


Trump later said in same conjunction with those statements that he will make his Presidential announcement for office in June.

Obama Confident with Tax Compromise

Obama says he's confident that new Tax Compromise will pass with Republicans


With the shift in power within the House, Republicans now hold the congressional power. With many Republicans wishing to re-establish and extend the "Bush tax-cuts" and keep them extended for another two years. Many Democrats are against the new extensions and want to see the Bush tax cuts ended.

Although many Democrats continue to show a resentment against Obama, this being his own party because he said he would be willing to negotiate with the Republicans and  find an alternative to the cuts they would like to implement. Obama recently stated,"Here's what I'm confident about: that nobody - Democrat or Republican - wants to see people's paychecks smaller on January 1 because Congress didn't act." This statement shows that Obama is in definite favor for the cuts and knows that this holiday season will be a crucial time for Americans to have some spending money.

Clinton: NOT running for presidency

Clinton: "I'm not running for president"


Announced and confirmed today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that she will not be running for president in the upcoming 2012 elections. Clinton stated that, "I am not in any way interested in or pursuing anything in elected office." She made this statement to FOX News this Sunday. When she was asked, she laughed at the growing speculation of this growing claim.

"I love what I'm doing," Clinton said. "I can't tell you what it's like… to every day get to represent the United States. Through interpretation of this statement she seems happy with her current governmental position and isn't looking for a move upwards in the political realm. Still many believe that they believe that she will challenge Obama in the next elections even though she continues to stand by many of his political polices.

In other news, Clinton also made remarks regarding the TSA pat-downs as I later discussed in my blogs. She states that she would try to avoid the pat-downs along with the many other angry Americans but she says it adds a great deal of needed protection against a evil ready to strike.

Marines will comply with 'don't ask, don' tell'

Marines will comply with new repeal of 'Don't ask don't tell'


A recently released statement from the head of the Marines and other armed forces divisions stated that the U.S. Marine Corps will "fully cooperate with the new repeal." This repeal comes after it was recently sent through the Circuit Courts and was then over-turned by the Supreme Court. Now all gays and lesbians who "came out" in that time frame when it was said that they wouldn't be barred from the military if they admitted they were gay will not be penalized for doing so now that the policy is back in place.

Mullen stated that in no way will any of the gays or lesbians who openly admitted to being so will be punished. Although it was recommended that if any other gay or lesbians were serving in the military and were gay or lesbians should remain silent about their sexuality until the law moves forward into a more mature stage when the Supreme Court will make determinations about the law again.

TSA will continue pat-downs

TSA claims pat-downs still necessary and will continue


A federal TSA official stated Sundays that the enhanced airport pat-downs will continue as an extra procedure of caution as the busy holiday months approach. He said security measures will be beefed up and that the measures in place will stay in place.

Many travelers are opposed to the new measures because they feel a violation of privacy is being crossed. John Pistole, the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said he understood public discomfort over having a stranger touch them, especially when it came to the breasts, butt and genitals. Although these measures are all in place in trying to find possible hidden explosives. Any traveler who sets off a metal detector must go through the pat-down to get onto the plane.

U.S. sends tanks into Afghanistan

U.S. combatting Taliban with heavier force


The U.S. military is amping up firepower in its nine year fight against terror as they deploy new heavily armored tanks into the fight to eliminate a growing Taliban and al-Quada resistance. This news comes on Friday from a military spokesperson. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to use a company of M1A1 Abrams tanks to combat the growing resistance.

These new tanks will be primarily deployed to the Helmand province in early spring. U.S. forces used the tanks to battle insurgents successfully in Iraq's Anbar province, Chapin said and they plan to see similar successful results in Helmand and other surrounding providences.

This decision comes in light of the NATO agenda which has the Afghan war at the top of its list for discussion and improvement of military tactics in the war on terror.

Palin saying she'll Win...?

Palin says she could win.


In recent statements made by Sarah Palin, she claims that she could see herself being a major contender for Obama in 2012 for the upcoming elections. Palin states, "contrary to the opinions of many Beltway Republicans, I can beat President Obama in a 2012 matchup."

Although recent CNN polls show a steeper climb needed by Palin that other contenders in the Republican race. She hopes that her new reality TV show will help in portraying her image to the public in a more favorable form. It will be hard for her to turn her image around with around 50% of the nation having a negative opinion of her and the label as being the loss for McCain in the last presidential election. In that same poll former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was leading Obama by 45% percent, Mike Huckabee, another former presidential candidate, lead Obama by 50%, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was behind Obama with 47%.

Bush and a shifting Public Opinion

Publics view and opinion shifting for Bush


In recent polls public opinion and approval have shown a rising approval for the president. Public views on his political outlook have also had more approval. Although a recent poll did show that 4 in 10 Americans believed he was a poor president and a third thought he was average.

In 2009 after his last presidency one in five said he was a great president, if not one of the greatest. That number is now up 28% from the beginning of January. This survey's release comes a day after the former president was interviewed by Candy Crowley of CNN in a special edition of State of the Union. This poll consisted of 1,014 adult Americans questioned by telephone with a standard deviation of 3%.

Deliberations to resume for Bombing Trial

NYC terror suspect trial resuming this Monday
The jury is expected to resume their deliberations on the case of a man accused of bombing the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is the prime suspect in the bombing that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans and wounding thousands. Ghailani's attorney claims that he was used by al Qaeda and forced him to commit the violent acts. The government rejected the claim that Ghailani was duped into participating with the bombings and rejected the claim that al Qaeda forced him to do the acts. On November 8, the prosecutors made their closing arguements against the defendant towards the jury stating that Ghailani had committed mass murder and played an important role in securing the trucks that brought the bombs into the embassies.

The trial which began in October is now beginning to pick up a faster than expected pace. Jurors hae listened to weeks of testimony from many witnesses who were flown in from Kenya and Tanzania to testify. They also viewed governement exhibits that displayed the attacks brutiality. The defense called no witnesses and the defendant did not take the stand once in the trial.

Democrats aiming to gain Moderate supporters

Democrats must regain Moderate support in Senate

After facing a tough fight for the last two years in the House and Senate, Democrats are now looking to gain the much needed support from Moderates elected into the House and Senate after Tuesday's election. After losing the house completely the Dems only have the Senate now to fall back on. Now with the many of the Dems out of power and a shrinking feeling of remorse for the new Dems in power, the bills they were wishing to pass will face a tough time in the house while trying to pass them through congress. So far,  a total of about 60 House seats, six Senate seats and nine governor positions are into the Republican hands.

With so much power moving right, (to the Repubs) the Democrats need to persuade the Moderates to lean more left towards the needs and wants the democrats want to see pass through Congress. A large percentage of Moderates and Independents are still "up for grabs" both parties are trying to obtain.

Obama: "Should've sold policies better."

Obama made recent statements stating that he felt he should've stated his policies he is attempting to implement in better ways than he actually did during his presidential campaign. He met with supporters at a friendly backyard gathering in Seattle and stated that, "that he was so focused on getting the policy right on helping the economy recover that he didn't devote enough energy to advertising the benefits." When asked about his health care policy he knew that the opponents of his proposal would fight hard against it and try to stop it at all costs. Obama also said the stimulus bill, titled the Recovery Act, would compromise provisions people would like to see such as tax cuts, infrastructure development and clean energy investments.
Obama went after republicans as well stating that his policies were more attainable then the ones republicans were trying to pass with their bills. Personally, I believe that if the policy was good enough it would've sold itself and there wouldn't be any need for Obama to go out and talk about how they didn't work out that well.

WikiLeaks set to release new secret Iraq papers

WikiLeaks releasing new secret Iraq papers


The always controversial WikiLeaks website, is set to release up to 400,000 secret war files on the continuing fighting efforts in Iraq. The documents will contain war information all related to the Iraq war. The last huge WikiLeaks leak came in July when the site published The Afghan Diary, a compilation of more than 70,000 classified documents about the Afghanistan war. Now the site is tapping into the secretive files of the Iraq war.
WikiLeaks has also been heavily criticized by human rights organizations, high-ranking Pentagon officials and security experts. They have scrutinized in that publishing the names of Afghan informants are possibly putting their lives at risk. Bradley Manning, an ex intelligence analyst in Iraq, is the military's focus in the investigation into the leaks. The 22-year-old remains behind bars in Washington for leaking the information to Wiki.
Since its release in July the site has come fire and a criminal investigation has been launched to determine whether the information gathered was acquired illegally.

Obama to appear on Mythbusters!

Obama scheduled to appear on Mythbusters


Obama is set to schedule a mythbusters challenge for Jamie and Adam. He is set to meet up with them at a White House science fair. Obama has announced Monday that he has taken a walk-on role on the Discovery Channel's program in December to challenge the ancient myth that Greek scientist Archimedes set fire to an invading Roman fleet using sunlight reflected by mirrors. The announcement was made during the White House science fair to celebrate the winners of different competitions across the country involving science, technology, engineering and math projects. Obama stated that if a student can present and make a good experiment that wins a national recognition, the student should be able to come to the White House as well as the players that win an NCAA title.

Bin Laden is in Pakistan

Bin Laden is in Pakistan


NATO reports are officially stating that Osama bin Laden and his right hand man are hiding out in the mountains of Pakistan along the boarder of Afghanistan. They are believed to be hiding out close to one another in the same area but are not living in the same house within the area. This is all in report form a senior NATO correspondent. "Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave," said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the intelligence matters involved. He is believed to be living in comfort wherever he is located and is being protected by the local officials. The official said the region where bin Laden is likely to have moved to in recent years ranges from the mountainous Chitral, to the far northwestern Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley which neighbors Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds.
This is still all speculation and the actual whereabouts of his location is unknown. Almost everyday NATO officials are contacted and told they know the location of bin Laden but most claims come up false, but this NATO report will be investigated immediately.

NASA to layoff 1,200 workers

NASA to layoff over 1,200 workers.


Despite the government passing the $19 billion budget for space agencies, NASA will still layoff over 1,200 workers from the governmental agency. On Thursday many workers had their last day at the workstations and received their final paycheck, many of whom have been working there since the 1980's. Later that Wednesday, the Senate passed the NASA Reauthorization Act, following the Senate's approval. This would give NASA the authority to move forward with President Barack Obama's strategy for the agency and to help re-employ the workers that were let go.
It is in my belief that the new Reauthorization Act should be profitable enough for to re-employ the workers that were originally let go. I think that the space program is very important for the U.S. and we should continue to invest money into the company.

Obama putting his reliance on Petraeus in Middle East

Obama recently intursted General Petraeus with the relay power to inform Obama of how things were being conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Obama is intending to use information Petraeus provides to him when his time comes in December to address the nation on the progress being done in the Middle East. There is currently a secure video link between the presidential office and Petraeus' location in Iraq.
Petraeus states that American control over Iraq has expanded farther outside Kandahar, known as the Taliban Heartland.
Petraeus says the military force is still facing many problems as they move farther into the small villages sparsely located throughout the Afghanistan mountains.
Resistance is believed to be primarily coming from Al-Qaida extremists. Recently U.S. troops have implemented the use of  un-manned drones which has continually proved to be a valuable asset to the military. Many high-ranking Al-Qaida officials have been killed using these drones where in most cases sending in U.S. troops to kill these top officials would be costly.
So, as the advances continue deeper into the extremists territory, Obama will have to rely heavily on Petraeus for a continual update on American progress.

Political Firestorm over Quran Burning

Recently Rev. Terry Jones made accusations he would burn the Muslim Quran on September 11th in retaliation for the attacks on that day back in 2001.
He is the leader of his small Christian conjuration. This announcement has sparked major political outrage over his claim, spanning from the Pope all the way to General David Patraeus. Patraeus says that Jones' proposed plan could threaten the lives of many troops currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Retaliation from extremist could be dangerous and deadly to any troops. He is now 'rethinking' his claim and has sat down with a Muslim leader and are now discussing the relocation of the proposed mosque in New York City, near the site of the September 11th attacks back on 2001.
Talks are currently in session on the re-location and real-estate mogul Donald Trump as offered up to buy the property from the muslim owners and prevent the building of the mosque.
In my belief, the mosque should be moved to a different location because of its close proximity to the fallen  towers. The supporters of this mosque should be more considerate of the victims families who lost so much on the day and still have a tough time overcoming the issue.