Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Obama to unions: Nation ‘owes you a debt of gratitude’

LOS ANGELES — President Obama pushed organizing rights on Monday in video message to the AFL-CIO Convention.

Obama was originally scheduled to speak to the convention in person but canceled late last week to deal with the Syria crisis.

“Thank you for all you have done for decades on behalf of the working men and women of America. This country owes you a debt of gratitude for your efforts to make sure that everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead, whether they are in a union or not,” Obama said.

The president also said he wanted to share “my commitment to that fight.” He touted his success, with labor’s help, of having members confirmed to the National Labor Relations Board.

“We need to keep fighting for a true right to organize where workers are free from discrimination and intimidation on the job. And that’s why, with your help, I pushed to get National Labor Relations Board back to full strength in a decade,” Obama said.

Labor has been a political ally of the president, and campaigned for his reelection last year while turning out the vote in key swing states. 

Obama talked of the need for workplace protections in his taped message, including a safety rule against harmful silica dust. Unions cheered his administration when it proposed the rule last month after it sat under review at the White House for more than two years.

Via: The Hill


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MUST-SEE SarahPAC Video: 'Enough with the Foreign Fiasco Distraction ... It's Time to Bomb ObamaCare!'

Sarah Palin is pictured. | AP Photo
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Sarah Palin wants to switch the national conversation back to death panels and to “bomb Obamacare.”

The former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate posted a new video from SarahPAC, her PAC, to her YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts on Monday called “Just Sayin.’” The two-minute video cycles through clips of the media talking about Palin’s warning of “death panels” in Obamacare, starting with criticism before transitioning to clips that Palin was right all along.

Palin posted the video with the message, “Enough of this foreign fiasco distraction. Get back to work. It is time to bomb Obamacare.”


The video ends with a simulated heart rate monitor and the words “to be continued…,” followed by “…sadly,” with a link to SarahPAC’s website.

It’s Palin’s first major reference to Syria since saying, “Let Allah sort it out” last month.

After picking up steam over the summer, efforts to defund Obamacare led by tea party firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) have been pushed almost entirely off the radar by the question of authorizing military intervention in Syria.


Russian Proposal Could Offer Obama Escape From Bind

WASHINGTON — President Obama woke up Monday facing a Congressional defeat that many in both parties believed could hobble his presidency. And by the end of the day, he found himself in the odd position of relying on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, of all people, to bail him out.

The surprise Russian proposal to defuse the American confrontation with Syria made a tenuous situation even more volatile for a president struggling to convince a deeply skeptical public of the need for the United States to respond militarily in yet another Middle Eastern country, this time in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons. It could make the situation even more precarious. Or it could give Mr. Obama an escape from a predicament partly of his own making.
In effect, Mr. Obama is now caught between trying to work out a deal with Mr. Putin, with whom he has been feuding lately, or trying to win over Republicans in the House who have made it their mission to block his agenda. Even if he does not trust Mr. Putin, Mr. Obama will have to decide whether to treat the Russian proposal seriously or assume it is merely a means of obstructing an American military strike.
“Putin knows that everyone wants an out, so he’s providing one,” said Fiona Hill, a former national intelligence officer and co-author of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin.” “It seems like a bold idea that will get everyone, including Obama, out of a bind that they don’t want to be in.”

Syrian official says Assad accepts proposal to turn over chemical weapons

Syria's foreign minister said Tuesday President Bashar Assad has accepted a Russian proposal to turn over control of Syria's chemical weapons, potentially opening the door to defusing a stand-off with the United States as President Obama indicates he's willing to give the "diplomatic track" a try. 

According to the Associated Press, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Tuesday after meeting with the Russian Parliament speaker that his government's officials quickly agreed to the Russian initiative to "derail the U.S. aggression." 

The developments could dramatically alter the nature of the national address Obama plans to give on Tuesday night. He had been planning to make the case for a military strike, but in the last 24 hours has eased off that call amid budding international negotiations.  

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also postponed a test vote originally teed up for Wednesday on whether to authorize the use of force. Reid cited "international discussions" in his decision. 

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is now working with Syria to prepare a detailed plan of action, which will be presented shortly. 
Via: Fox News

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Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman sees 'outstanding' opening on Syria

** FILE ** Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio Democrat (http://fudge.house.gov/)The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus said the United States should move with “all due speed” to see if a Russian-led diplomatic solution to the standoff over Syria’s possession of chemical weapons is a credible offer.

“I think that it is outstanding,” Rep. Marcia Fudge, Ohio Democrat, said of the diplomatic opening in an interview with CNN.

While President Obama plans to push his case to the American public late Tuesday for a military strike to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad for an Aug. 21 chemical attack near Damascus, officials in Syria said Tuesday they will accept Russia’s plan and put their chemical stockpiles into international control.

The White House and members of the Senate have indicated they will explore the diplomatic option, yet with a heavy dose of skepticism about Syria’s motives.

“So I’m hopeful, certainly, that this is something that will move forward,” Ms. Fudge told CNN.
Ms. Fudge said she had advised members of the caucus to limit their comments on the Syrian conflict because they should have a full stock of information about the situation before they weigh in. She does not have a vote count of where caucus members stand on a possible strike.

“We have not taken any kind of poll, no whip,” she said.

Via: Washington Times


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Obama says Russian proposal on Syria a potential 'breakthrough'

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia September 6, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seeking to boost support for military action against Syria, said on Monday that Russia's offer to work with Damascus to put its chemical weapons under international control could be a big deal - if it is serious.
"This could potentially be a significant breakthrough," Obama told NBC News in an interview. "But we have to be skeptical because this is not how we've seen them operate over the last couple of years."
The president said he had explored the possibility of a proposal for Syria to cede control of its chemical weapons stockpile to international authorities with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting last week in Russia.
If Syria did so, that would "absolutely" put any U.S. military strike on pause, Obama told ABC News.
Obama gave six television interviews Monday to press his case that Congress should grant him authority to take action against Syria in response to an alleged August 21 chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 people.
With the American public strongly opposed to a military intervention, according to polls, the White House is making an all-out effort to win congressional support. It is holding briefings for lawmakers and dispatching senior officials to give speeches and television interviews.
The president plans to address the nation on television on Tuesday night and is due to speak to senators of both parties on Capitol Hill during the day.

Obama told CNN that any diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis must be serious and not just a bid to buy time.

WATCHDOGS: Tally in Illinois grant-fraud probe so far: 13 charged, $16M embezzled

Former Country Club Hills Police Chief ReginEvans. | Sun-Times library
From the city that brought us Barack Obama.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield has been busy the past few years investigating a variety of fraud schemes involving state grants. Thirteen people have been charged so far, six who have pleaded guilty.

Two of them have ties to President Barack Obama. One is the daughter of his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Another was chief of staff to Obama’s longtime friend Eric E. Whitaker when Whitaker was Illinois’ public health chief.
In all, prosecutors are alleging a total of $16 million in fraud involving state health or commerce department grants and contracts.
Here’s a brief look at each of the criminal cases that have been filed, which prosecutors built with help from the Chicago offices of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office’s inspector general:
Defendants: Margaret A. Davis and Tonja Cook, of the Chicago chapter of the National Black Nurses Association

Republicans weigh defunding 'Obamacare' in U.S. spending measure

(Reuters) - A Republican leadership plan to avoid a direct threat to shut down the government is being derided by some conservatives as a "hocus-pocus" measure that falls well short of their demands for an "Obamacare" showdown.
Republican aides said the plan, which will be floated by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to party members on Tuesday, would allow for an extension of government funding for several weeks past the September 30 fiscal year-end.
If accepted, the House could vote on the plan later this week.
Conservative Republicans want to use the deadline for a stop-gap government spending measure as leverage to stall President Barack Obama's signature health care law by withholding funds from its core components, notably the October 1 launch of new, online health care exchanges.
But that approach significantly raises the risk of a government shutdown, due to certain opposition in the Democratic controlled Senate and a likely veto from Obama.

The plan would involve procedures that split the measure into two parts after passage by the majority-Republican House, allowing the Senate to send Obama a clean government funding extension, but only after it takes a vote on de-funding Obamacare.

Only the Obama-Morons Believe Him Now


When will the Obama Morons figure out that a man who identifies so strongly with Muslims is no friend to America?


One thing I know for sure on the anniversary of 9/11 is that, a year ago, when our ambassador in Libya and three security personnel were attacked and killed, Barack Obama went to bed that night so he could get good night’s sleep before going off on a fund-raising trip to Las Vegas.

The other thing I know for sure is that he and then-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, lied to every American saying that the attack was due to a video no one had seen.

I cannot remember a President who, in my lifetime, lost virtually all credibility with Congress, the American public, our military, and the international community. I say “virtually” because, in America, a reliable 30% or so of brain-dead liberals will continue to believe that Obama has stilled the rise of the sea level and tells the truth.

Obama’s demonstrated capacity to ignore what he has said in the past—the promises he made to get elected twice—puts him in a league with others who, having misled his followers and voters, believes he can continue to do so with just one more speech.



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