The Marxist Connections to our president.

What is Happening in our Country!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh42v6790N4&feature=player_embedded#!

Are federal workers overpaid?

August 10, 2010 - 11:01am

WASHINGTON - When it comes to pay, federal workers receive benefits that averaged about $41,791 in 2009. When you factor in salaries and those benefits, which include pensions, federal civil servants earned about $123,049 in 2009.

By comparison, private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, tells USA TODAY the data are not useful in a direct public to private pay comparison.

Public union employees say the gap reflects the growing skill and education levels needed for most federal jobs, while the government farms out lower paid jobs to the private sector.

A budget analyst at the Cato Institute believes federal workers are overpaid.

House passes state aid bill; Obama signs into law

By Lisa Lambert – 33 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved, and President Barack Obama promptly signed into law, an election-year bill providing $26 billion to struggling states by closing taxloopholes for multinational companies and cutting food aid to the poor.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives gave final congressional approval to the bill on a largely party-line vote of 247 to 161.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the rare step of summoning House members back to Washington during their summer recess for a final vote on the measure after the Senate approved the legislation last week.

The bill will give states, hard-hit by the U.S. economic downturn, $16 billion more for Medicaid, the healthinsurance program for the poor, and $10 billion for education in the hopes they can avoid making steep cuts in already-lean budgets.

Budget gaps for the 50 U.S. states could total as much as $120 billion over the next year. States have slashed funding for everything from government employees to education since their revenues began collapsing in 2008 because of the weak U.S. economy.

"Economists have told us that if this legislation were not passed and these jobs were not saved and the budgets of the states were not stabilized we would go into another deep recession, like the one we inherited from the previous administration," Pelosi said, referring to the Republican Bush administration.

Republicans are trying to take back control of Congress from the Democrats in November's congressional elections. Republicans hope to build on voter anger over the size of the U.S. budget deficit, projected at $1.47 trillion this year, by emphasizing the measure's price tag.

"Everyone knows that state budgets have been hit hard and no one wants teachers or police officers to lose their jobs," said House Republican leader John Boehner, who opposed the bill. "But where do the bailouts end?"

Democrats want to convince voters they can strengthen a fragile economic recovery and bring down the country's unemployment rate, currently 9.5 percent.

A report from the research group the Rockefeller Institute of Government released on Tuesday showed that layoffs are hurting state and local governments, with their payrolls falling last month below pre-recession levels.

This is the only one of nine recessions since 1953 in which state government employment has fallen below its pre-recession level, the New York-based research group said.

Since the start of the year, state and local governments have shed 169,000 jobs, according to the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

TAX LOOPHOLES

"We can't stand by and do nothing while pink slips (termination notices) are given to the men and women who educate our children or keep our communities safe," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden earlier on Tuesday as he urged the House to pass the legislation.

Obama added, "This proposal is fully paid for -- in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations to shift American jobs overseas, so it will not add to our deficit."

Democrats say figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office show the legislation will shave more than $1 billion from the U.S. budget deficit

The bill will be funded by tightening tax rules related to how companies allocate income between domestic and foreign subsidiaries.

It also cuts $11.9 billion from the food stamp program, ending part of last year's economic stimulus plan that temporarily increased the aid given to poor families each month to buy groceries. It rescinds advance refunds of the earned income tax credit, a break given to poor families, as well.

Last year's $862 billion economic stimulus law temporarily raised the federal reimbursements to states for Medicaid. States have been worried about how to fill the void when the money runs out in December.

The education funds contained in the bill will help retain 161,000 teachers and school staffers, according to the JEC.

But states are concerned about the education funds, which require them to maintain school spending at the same level as 2008. The recession had not hit many states then and few can now afford to return to that higher level of spending.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a Republican, said his state will have to rewrite its budget to qualify for $98 million in education funds, moving at least $50 million into education spending from public safety and health.

"There is no justification for the federal government hijacking state budgets," Barbour said.

Upset that Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry put some of his state's stimulus money in reserve, Democrats stipulated that Texas can receive education money only if it spends some of the earlier stimulus funds. Congress is sending a message to Perry, said Representative Sheila Jackson Lee: "Don't fool with money for children and education.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Susan Cornwell, Jeff Mason and Caren Bohan; editing by Will Dunham and Alan Elsner)

Fears of al–Qaida return in Iraq as US–backed fighters defect

American allies the Sons of Iraq being offered more money by al–Qaida to switch sides

Martin Chulov in Baghdad       guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 August 2010 20.38 BST

Al-Qaida is attempting to make a comeback in Iraq by enticing scores of former Sunni allies to rejoin the terrorist group by paying them more than the monthly salary they currently receive from the government, two key US-backed militia leaders have told the Guardian.

They said al-Qaida leaders were exploiting the imminent departure of US fighting troops to ramp up a membership drive, in an attempt to show that they are still a powerful force in the country after seven years of war.

Al-Qaida is also thought to be moving to take advantage of a power vacuum created by continuing political instability in Iraq, which remains without a functional government more than five months after a general election.

Sheikh Sabah al-Janabi, a leader of the Awakening Council – also known as the Sons of Iraq – based in Hila, 60 miles south of Baghdad, told the Guardian that 100 out of 1,800 rank-and-file members had not collected their salaries for the last two months: a clear sign, he believes, that they are now taking money from their former enemies.

"Al-Qaida has made a big comeback here," he said. "This is my neighbourhood and I know every single person living here. And I know where their allegiances lie now."

The Sons of Iraq grew out of a series of mini-rebellions against militants associated with al-Qaida that started in late 2006. They soon grew into a success story in Iraq, which was capitalised on by the then commanding US general, David Petraeus, who agreed to pay each member a $300 monthly salary and used the rebels as a tool to quell the boiling insurgency.

The US handed over control of the Sons of Iraq to the Iraqi government in late-2008. The programme since has been plagued by complaints about distrust and delays in paying salaries, as well as almost daily bombings or shootings targeting Awakening Council leaders and members across Iraq this year, which have troubled US commanders as their combat troops steadily leave the country.

Sheikh al-Janabi's cousin, Malik Yassin al-Janabi, a joint leader in Hila, became the latest victim today when he was killed by gunmen who shot him dead while he was driving, also wounding two of his guards.

A second Awakening Council leader, Sheikh Moustafa al-Jabouri, said disaffection among his ranks had reached breaking point as US combat forces increasingly depart, with most of his men not having been paid for up to three months and now facing a relentless recruitment drive by local al-Qaida members.

"My people are being offered more money. It has happened throughout Arabi Jabour and Dora," he said of the two south Baghdad suburbs that he controls.

"I warned the Americans and the Iraqi government that if they continue neglecting us, the Awakening Council will become even more desperate and will look for other ways to make money.

"So it is an easy market for al-Qaida now. The Iraqi government has disappointed them and it is an easy choice to rejoin the terrorists."

He said approaches to his rank-and-file membership had become commonplace over the last month.

"They are trying every means they know, by threatening or offering money. Many members have no money or salaries and are living in difficult circumstances."

The director of the Awakening Council project inside the national Reconciliation Commission, Zuheir Chalabi, today dismissed claims that members were defecting in large numbers.

"I think this issue is fabricated and politicised by people who are against the government and are pro-Ba'athist," he said. "We have no indications that large numbers of Sons of Iraq have left their jobs. We are seeing [defections] of around four in 1,000."

However, Sheikh al-Janabi said he would give a list of names of the alleged defectors to both American and Iraqi officials. "He needs to accept the facts," he said.

Two long-term members of the Sons of Iraq revealed to the Guardian that they had been approached in recent weeks by local men whom they knew to be al-Qaida leaders and told they would be paid more to defect.

Both admitted to be entertaining the notion, largely because they feared what would happen if they did not.

Mohammed Hussein al-Jumaili, 25, from Dora, said: "My salary is very low – it is about $300 per month and sometimes they delay paying me for two months or more.

"Ten days ago, I was in a cafe with another person from my neighbourhood. He was working with us also. Two people came to me. I knew them. They were from my area. They said: 'You know the Sons of Iraq experiment has failed and they will be slaughtered one after the other.

'If you work with us, we will support you. We will give you a good salary and you can do whatever operation you want to do. You will get extra money for anything that you do that hits the Americans, or the Iraqi forces.' "

The second member, Sabah al-Nouri, 32, from west Baghdad, said he too had been approached by Sons of Iraq members who were acting as double agents.

"I am responsible for leading a group in al-Haswa district in Abu Ghraib," he said. "Two months ago, al-Qaida contacted me through people who worked with me. They gave me a good offer, a reward for each operation and a pledge to support me and protect me.

"They said they would give me a weapon, a licence to carry one. There were a lot of promises. They said I would have more authority than I have now. They said: 'We have not hurt you, why are you working against us?' "

Major Mudher al-Mowla, who is in charge of the Sons of Iraq inside the Iraqi reconciliation ministry, said the government had recently learned of the cash offers and coercion. "We have learned about this, especially in Adhamiyeh [in West Baghdad] and we have started investigating. We are waiting for the results."

The US government has granted visas to many Sons of Iraq members and claims that future applications to emigrate to the US from Sons of Iraq leaders would be well received. Both the Pentagon and White House have hailed the Sons of Iraq experience as a triumph during seven difficult years of war.

Some commanders believe Sons of Iraq leaders are overstating an al-Qaida putsch because they fear the unknown once the Americans leave. But they remain warm in their praise of the people they claim helped pave a way for their exit.

"The Sons of Iraq have displayed personal and physical courage on behalf of their country," said Lieutenant Colonel Bob Owen, chief of the media operations centre at the US embassy in Baghdad. "When they partnered with the government of Iraq to counter the insurgency, they played a pivotal role in disrupting al-Qaida and reducing Iraqi civilian deaths.

"The people of Iraq and Iraqi leaders at every level of government are grateful for the courage and personal sacrifices the Sons of Iraq have made and continue to make for the safety, security and future success and prosperity of the country."

THE NEWS YOU DON'T READ! - DEBT BUYING - Weirmar Republic

Fed Looks to Spur Growth by Buying Government Debt

By Scott Lanman - Aug 10, 2010 1:14 PM CT

Federal Reserve officials decided to reinvest principal payments on mortgage holdings into long-term Treasury securities, making their first attempt to bolster growth since March 2009 to keep the slowing U.S. economy from relapsing into recession.

“The pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement in Washington. “To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities at their current level.” The Fed retained a commitment to keep its benchmark interest rate close to zero for an “extended period.”

With growth weakening in the second quarter and company job gains in July falling short of estimates, today’s step signals that risks of a downturn have increased enough for the Fed to delay its exit from unprecedented stimulus. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress last month that the Fed was “prepared to take further policy actions as needed.”

The Fed said it will “continue to roll over the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities as they mature.” The reinvestment policy applies to agency debt and agency mortgage- backed securities held by the central bank.

The central bank left the overnight interbank lending rate target unchanged in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008. High unemployment, low inflation and stable price expectations “are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period,” the Fed said, repeating language from every policy meeting since March 2009.

“The pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months,” the FOMC said. The Fed will “continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.”

U.S. central bankers repeated that inflation is “likely to be subdued for some time.” Prices in June rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the third straight month of slowing gains under the Fed’s preferred index, which excludes food and energy costs.

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig dissented from the decision for the fifth straight meeting.

Fed policy makers, at their last meeting in June, judged that the central bank “would need to consider whether further policy stimulus might become appropriate if the outlook were to worsen appreciably,” according to minutes of the session. Records of today’s meeting will be released Aug. 31.

Bernanke said in an Aug. 2 speech that “we have a considerable way to go to achieve a full recovery in our economy.” Still, he avoided signaling that the central bank would reverse months of reductions in record stimulus and liquidity programs, including the end to $1.7 trillion in purchases of housing debt and Treasuries.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said July 29 that while he expects a continued recovery, policy makers should be ready to buy Treasuries if the economy slows further.

The Fed’s last move in favor of easier policy came in March 2009, when policy makers agreed to buy $300 billion of Treasuries and more than double planned mortgage-debt purchases to $1.45 trillion while starting a pledge to keep the benchmark rate close to zero for an “extended period.”

This year the central bank stopped buying assets, raised the rate on direct loans to banks and shut emergency-lending programs for corporations, bond dealers and money-market mutual funds. It’s also developed tools for raising rates with a near- record $2.3 trillion balance sheet.

Today’s decision defied easy prediction after a report Aug. 6 showed U.S. private employers added 71,000 jobs in July, below the 90,000 median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent. Including government workers, the U.S. lost 131,000 jobs in July, compared with the median estimate of 65,000.

The weak job market has inhibited growth in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Such expenditures rose at a 1.6 percent pace last quarter, down from a 1.9 percent rate in the previous three months that was smaller than previously estimated.

“They’re supposed to keep inflation under control, but they’re also supposed to promote full employment,” Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York, said in a Bloomberg Television interview before the announcement. “The Fed is starting to worry about hitting that full-employment goal any time in the next three or four years.”

Aeropostale Inc., a retailer to teenagers whose sales rose in July at one-seventh the pace analysts predicted, said changing consumer preferences and a “challenging” retail environment hampered spending. Sales at J.C. Penney Co., a department-store chain, fell 0.6 percent last month.

Still, Bernanke and other officials in recent weeks had maintained their outlook for a pickup in the economy over the next year. Corporate spending on equipment and software jumped at a 22 percent annual rate last quarter.

While weakness in housing and commercial real estate will restrain the recovery, and the job market’s “slow recovery” weighs on consumers, “rising demand from households and businesses should help sustain growth,” Bernanke said in a speech last week in Charleston, South Carolina.

United Parcel Service Inc., the world’s largest package- delivery company, raised its annual profit forecast last month and posted second-quarter earnings that climbed more than analysts estimated on increased demand overseas.

The S&P 500 Index has rebounded 12 percent as of yesterday from its low this year on July 1.

Investors don’t expect the Fed to raise the federal funds rate until late 2011, based on futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The housing market has faltered since a federal tax incentive for first-time homebuyers expired in April. Sales of previously owned homes fell 5.1 percent in June from May, housing starts slid to the lowest level in eight months and the 330,000 annual pace of new-home sales was the second-lowest in data going back to 1963 after May’s 267,000 rate.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, an academic group with a committee that marks the start and end of recessions, has yet to announce a date for the end of the downturn that started in December 2007, even after four straight quarters of growth. Some panel members including Stanford University’s Robert Hall and Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard University have said it’s clear the contraction has probably ended.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net.

OBAMA'S ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH!!

Lavish Obama vacation in time of economic turmoil raises eyebrows
First lady Michelle Obama is on a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her younger daughter, Sasha, aides and Secret Service personnel.


Luxurious: The Obamas and their party are staying at the Villa Padierna in Marbella, which is rated as one of the top hotels in the world

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1301302/Michelle-Obama-lunches-Spains-royal-family-backlash-extravagant-holiday-continues-home.html#ixzz0w4h9XRQq
By Peter Nicholas and Katherine Skiba
Tribune Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — As the U.S. economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sunsplashed Spanish resort this week may be sending a different message.

First lady Michelle Obama is on a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her younger daughter, Sasha, aides and Secret Service personnel. Her office said the first family will pay for personal expenses, but declined to reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees. The president stayed home in the United States, as did daughter Malia, 12, who is at camp.

The trip provided plenty of fodder for television news shows, talk-show hosts and bloggers.

Critics portrayed the foreign getaway as tone deaf to the economic anxiety back home. Earlier in the week, the first lady was photographed walking through the streets of the Costa del Sol region wearing a one-shouldered Jean Paul Gaultier top.

Every first family takes vacations. The criticism aimed at Michelle Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the United States and support its fragile economy.

In July, the first lady flew to the Florida Panhandle, a tourist spot hit hard by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and delivered the message that for parents "looking for things to do with their kids this summer ... this is a wonderful place to visit."

The opulence of the European trip also has drawn scrutiny. Michelle Obama is staying at the Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton resort in the mountains outside Marbella. The resort has two golf courses, a posh spa with Turkish baths, views of the Mediterranean Sea and a high-end restaurant specializing in avant-garde fare. Room rates start at $400 and rise to $6,500 for a two-bedroom villa with a private pool and 24-hour butler service.

The danger for the Obamas is that the trip may feed perceptions they are out of touch with struggling American families, said Chris Wilson, a Republican pollster.

"This in and of itself doesn't hurt President Obama, but it plants a seed in voters' minds ... that 'they're not like me,' " he said.

While her friends arrived in Spain on their own, Michelle Obama flew in on a type of aircraft also used by Vice President Joseph Biden. It costs the government $11,555 an hour to operate the plane, according to the Air Force. Assuming a nearly eight-hour flight to nearby Málaga, the total round-trip cost of the flight is about $178,000.

The Obama family will reimburse the government an amount equal to two first-class tickets — for mother and daughter Sasha, Air Force officials said. A round-trip first-class flight to Málaga costs about $7,400 apiece, without discounts or restrictions.

Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush, was not surprised the trip has its critics.

When you are a public figure, it can be difficult to lead a private life. Despite the fact that much of this trip is paid for personally, the American people know that there are costs borne by the taxpayers and it's to be expected that the more expensive the trip, the greater the risk of criticism," McBride said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to answer questions about the vacation, saying it is a "private trip."

An unspecified number of Secret Service agents and aides are staying at government expense. Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, declined to say how many agents are with the first lady in Spain.

An Obama administration official said the first lady is accompanied by "a handful of longtime family friends — it's moms and daughters — and it's minimal staff." One aide on the trip is the first lady's deputy chief of staff, Melissa Winter.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the destination was chosen by Michelle Obama and her friends.

On Friday, Spanish police cleared off a 100-yard stretch of beach in Marbella for Michelle Obama and Sasha, 9. As the first lady rested inside a canvas hut by the shore, Sasha splashed around in the sea and a security guard swam with her.

The first lady is to meet with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on Sunday at their summer residence on the island of Mallorca.

After the first lady returns home, she and her family will travel to the Gulf Coast for the weekend of Aug. 14, followed by a 10-day vacation on Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.

Kathleen Hennessey and Michael A. Memoli of the Tribune Washington Bureau contributed to this report. Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Michelle Obama meets Spain's king

MANUEL MIELNIEZUK, Associated Press Writer – Sun Aug 8, 9:12 am ET

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain – U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha had lunch with Spain's king and queen on Sunday at the royal family's holiday retreat on the resort island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.

Mrs. Obama and her daughter arrived at Marivent palace shortly before 1 p.m. and were greeted at the front door of the residence by King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Princess Letizia.

The king, a keen yachtsman, has for decades spent August vacations at the palace with its dramatic cliff-top views of the sea on the Balearic island's southwestern coast near Palma de Mallorca.

Lunch was Andalusian-style chilled gazpacho soup, chargrilled turbot, veal escalopes with mustard, Oriental rice with sauteed mushrooms, a Mallorca-style vegetable ratatouille and sliced fruit with ice cream, accompanied by wines from the northern regions of Rueda and Rioja, the palace said.

The lunch meeting marked the end of a five-day private visit to Spain by Mrs. Obama, who toured beauty spots in the southern region of Andalusia including Marbella, Ronda and the Alhambra palace in Granada.

The king gave Mrs. Obama some seeds for the White House garden as a parting gift, while the queen made a present of handicrafts typical of Mallorca, the palace said.

After lunch the first lady's party was due to fly back to the United States aboard Air Force Two.

___

Associated Press writer Harold Heckle in Madrid contributed to this report.

Michelle Obama visits Ronda

Michelle Obama followed in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles when she paid a visit to Spain's oldest bullring, the Plaza de Toros in Ronda, a picturesque town in the hills above the Costa del Sol.

The First Lady, her youngest daughter Sasha, and their group of friends left theSpanish coast and travelled to Ronda for a day of sightseeing accompanied by their vast security escort in a 13 car motorcade.

The group — which included a number of Mrs Obama's friends – visited some of the town's historic houses and later stopped for lunch at Del Escudero restaurant, set in a 19th century villa with whitewashed walls and red roof tiles located next to the bullring.

Meanwhile at the five-star luxury Villa Padierna, where the group have chosen to spend their mini-break, preparations were under way for Marbella's event of the year – a star-studded charity gala hosted by Hollywood A-listers Antonio Banderas and Eva Longoria.

Expectation was high that the First Lady would be the special guest at the event on Saturday night after she received a personal invitation from Ms Longoria, star of Desperate Housewives, who lent her support to Barack Obama during his presidential campaign.

More than 400 tickets have been sold for the Starlite Gala at 1000 euros each, according to organisers, and reports suggested that this week another 200 people had applied for tickets and were on a waiting list after learning that Mrs Obama might be present.

Among those clamouring to dine in the same room as the wife of the US President are a host of European celebrities and aristocrats, including Gunilla Gräfin von Bismarck, great-granddaughter of Otto, who has a home in Marbella.

Also in attendance will be tennis player Boris Becker with his wife Lilly Kerssenberg, and bestselling spiritual guru Deepak Chopra, who had all flown in for the fund-raising Starlite gala in aid of children's charities.

One name on the guest list that could raise a few eyebrows among US diplomatic circles is Adnan Khashoggi.

The Saudi Arabian businessman, 75, who made his name as an arms dealer in the 1980s, was linked to the Iran-Contra scandal in which the Reagan administration allegedly sanctioned the sale of weapons to Iran in breach of an international arms embargo.

Another rumoured to be on the guest list is Sir Mark Thatcher, the disgraced son of the former Prime Minister, who has a home in the hills above Marbella.

It could be one of the only opportunities for him to rub shoulders with such American elite as he has been banned from the US following his conviction in South Africa of unknowingly funding an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea.

If Mrs Obama does chose to attend the event it is unlikely that she will join guests to dance the night away at the after-party organised in Marbella's premier nightclub, the Disco Olivia Valere.

She has an invitation to lunch on Sunday with Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at their summer palace on the island of Majorca before flying home to Washington DC.