President Obama Taking Responsibility

President Barack Obama has only been in office for about three weeks now and his transition into the White House has been a rocky one. However the American people need to be patient. President Obama doesn’t have a magical wand that he can just use to magically change D.C. over night. So give him some time people.

Nonetheless, President Obama is taking responsibility for his administrations mistakes in the handling of many top officials being nominated for key positions within the Obama administrations that have tax problems. President Obama admitted in interviews that it is his fault and he has sent the wrong signal to the America people that prominent people don’t have to pay taxes but the rest of America does. That is a step in the right direction for the Obama administration. President Obama is stepping up and accepting responsibility for his own administration mistake in handling many of these top notch officials they wanted to hold key cabinet positions.

President Barack Obama took responsibility for how his administration handled the tax issue and that is to be commended. So the American people do need to have a little patience with the Obama administration because he won’t change D.C. over night. However President Obama can make changes in his own administration and how they handle future nominations. Therefore give President Obama a hand for taking the blame with his nominees who had tax issues.

Nonetheless, the real question that should have been asked President Obama during his interviews is why his administration is accepting lobbyists in top notch staff positions. That is what President Obama should be talking about and accepting responsibility for going back on his campaign pledge of no lobbyists will run his campaign or administration. However President Obama has not really been held to that fire because if people really did their own research, they would find that many lobbyists were in key advisors during his campaign just like lobbyists were a part of McCain’s campaign.

Now that Obama is President, his administration has can’t hide the hiring of lobbyists because Obama’s administration has vowed to have more transparency. That’s why Obama must be commended for the transparency he has delivered so far. But at the same time, President Obama must not have a double standard within his administration as it has been perceived as right now. The tax issues with a couple of nominees has put a dent in President Obama’s approval rating but at the same time, the issue of hiring lobbyists to key staff positions in various departments of government is another thing that is breaking Obama’s ethical rules he laid out from day one. Therefore if President Obama doesn’t get back the ethical rules he put in place and laid out in a press conference to the America people and the media than many will truly believe that change has not come to D.C.

President Barack Obama did take responsibility for the tax issues but he needs to now take responsibility for the hiring of lobbyists for key positions within many government departments. President Obama did take a step in the right direction and should be commended for his efforts to let the American people know that it is his fault nominees with tax issues were even thought about being hired. So let’s hope that no more nominees of President Obama have tax issues and that this issue is put to rest for good. However President Obama does need to answer why his administration is bending their own rules to allow lobbyists to work for them. That is something that we the American people should demand answers to.

President Barack Obama we believed in you and your campaign promises to us so don’t go mute on issues like this, hoping that the media doesn’t keep talking about. We the American people need to keep talking about it and we need to make sure the media keeps bringing up as well. Shows like Campbell Brown No Bias, No Bull and Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN should be commended for holding President Obama to the fire on his words. Therefore President Obama, we the American people need for you to take responsibility and answer the question on why lobbyists are being hired within your administration.

President Barack Obama is taking responsibility but a whole lot more needs to take place. President Obama should be given more grace time to turn around D.C. but he shouldn’t be given grace time in taking responsibility on the issues that are plaguing his administration’s own ethical rules. President Obama needs to answer the question about lobbyist but we shall see if this just gets swipe under the rug or will President Obama feet be held to the fire on this issue as much as it was held to the fire on the tax issues.

Time will tell all things but as for now, the verdict is still out on President Obama’s administration as well as how much responsibility Obama will take on a couple of missteps that has administration have made. So let’s have patience in some areas regarding President Obama but in ethical areas, we need answers now President Obama. Give us more responsibility President Obama so that we can know why lobbyists are being hired to key staff positions within your administration. For now, we will wait to pass complete judgment on your administration President Obama but we need more transparency in regards to these ethical problems that keep arising. Take responsibility a step further President Barack Obama and tell us why lobbyists are working for your administration after how you talked about them while on the campaign trail.

My Perspective: A Moment of Sanity

Can I please get a moment of sanity because today I have realized that America has some illiterate people? Can I please get a moment of sanity because today I have realized that some of the most educated people in this country still can’t read and comprehend? Can I please get a moment of sanity because it is clear that the mindsets of many people are still in a matrix?

The reality is that too many people are stuck on stupid and those that are not stuck on stupid on stuck in their own ways. You can write and say something day in and day out but people will continue to comprehend it the way they want to comprehend it. People are just not reading to understand but are reading to make an argument about things that are not even necessary. Some people just want to hear themselves talk, why because they have nothing better to do.

A moment of sanity is badly needed because it is as if that many people are insane now days. Why are so many finding it hard to comprehend? Why are so many people angry about what you write and say when it is your opinion? Why are so many people going crazy about the truth when all they do is approach the situation with a one track mind any way?

Wake up people, wake up and come back to reality. Wake up and come back to sanity and accept the truth. Wake up and accept different opinions. Wake up and accept the facts that many of you read the title of a book or article and automatically jump to conclusions before reading it so when you read it, you are reading it with a closed mind. Therefore you are reading not to comprehend but to give a rebuttal. Wake up and accept the facts that many of you don’t read to comprehend but you all read to just craft a new argument.

Some people in this world are just too intelligent to get out of their own soap box. Those are many of the ones who are teaching our youth today. One track minds are harming the minds of our future generations. A closed mind is a mind that can’t get feed because it is stuck on the ideas that it was filled with from its educational days. These are the future minds that are slowly but surely being created today. Closed minds are emerging more and more in America like never before.

Therefore, a moment of sanity is needed. A moment of sanity is needed because these closed minded people have got to be insane to think they are right on everything. These closed minded people have got to be insane to think you are wrong because you don’t think like them. A moment of sanity is needed because people are stuck in the matrix and don’t want freedom. A moment of sanity is needed because people can’t read and comprehend the simplest of phrases and words. A moment of sanity is needed because people don’t comprehend not only what you write but what you say.

A moment of sanity is needed in order to restore some open mindedness and some real intelligence in a one trick mind society. A moment of sanity is needed to save our future generations from being stuck in the matrix. Can I please get a moment of sanity?

A MOMENT OF SANITY!

Daschle withdraws as nominee for HHS secretary

Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination on Tuesday to be President Barack Obama's Health and Human Services secretary, faced with problems over back taxes and potential conflicts of interest.

"Now we must move forward," Obama said in a written statement accepting Daschle's surprise request to be removed from consideration. A day earlier, Obama had said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle.

Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader and a strong backer of Obama's presidential bid, said he would have been unable to operate "with the full faith of Congress and the American people."

"I am not that leader, and will not be a distraction" to Obama's agenda, he said.

His stunning statement came less than three hours after another Obama nominee also withdrew from consideration, and also over tax problems. Nancy Killefer, nominated by Obama to be the government's first chief performance officer, said she didn't want her bungling of payroll taxes on her household help to be a distraction.

Daschle was the third high-profile Obama nominee to bow out. Obama initially had tapped Bill Richardson to be Commerce secretary, but the New Mexico governor withdrew amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

"I was a little stunned. I thought he was going to get confirmed," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the panel that would have voted on Daschle's nomination. "It's regrettable. He's a very good man."

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Daschle's former Democratic colleagues had rallied to his defense in the wake of questions about his failure to fully pay his taxes from 2005 through 2007. Last month, Daschle paid $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest.

"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged," Obama said. "He has not excused it, nor do I. But that mistake and this decision cannot diminish the many contributions Tom has made to this country."

Daschle also was facing questions about potential conflicts of interests related to the speaking fees he accepted from health care interests. Daschle also provided advice to health insurers and hospitals through his post-Senate work at a law firm.

It all proved too bitter a pill for senators to swallow, even for a former member of their club. Last week, the Senate confirmed Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary despite his tax problems.

The controversy also has undercut Obama's promise to run a more ethical, responsible and special interest-free administration.

The withdrawal came after Republicans and major newspapers had been questioning Obama's initial decision to stick with Daschle.

Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina said Obama was "losing credibility" with his statements in support of Daschle. "Part of leadership is recognizing when there has been a mistake made and responding quickly," the Republican said.

In an editorial, The New York Times described Daschle's ability to move "cozily between government and industry" as a cloud over any role he might play in changing the nation's health care system.

The Chicago Tribune opined that "Daschle is dispensable" and suggested that "to proclaim high standards and then suspend them exposes Obama to charges that he is either hypocritical or obtuse."

In a letter released Monday, Daschle sought to explain how he overlooked taxes on income for consulting work and the use of a car service. He also deducted more in charitable contributions than he should have. He also met with Senate Finance Committee members behind closed doors.

"It was completely inadvertent, but that's no excuse," he said. "I apologize to President Obama, to my colleagues and to the American people."

Some senators laid the blame for Daschle's tax woes on his employers rather than on Daschle. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the friend that provided him with a chauffeur service for three years, Leo Hindery Jr., should have given Daschle a tax form that would make clear the service was to be treated as income.

Daschle began the day apologizing for his failure to fully pay his taxes from 2005 through 2007. He capped it off that way as well after meeting with the committee behind closed doors.

Michelle Obama crafts policy agenda--By Nia-Malika Henderson

As she prepares to step out beyond her role as the self-described “mom in chief,” Michelle Obama has been busy behind the scenes crafting a policy-driven agenda that will bring working-family issues into the White House — and she’s surrounded herself with a team of veteran political insiders and seasoned policy advocates to do it.

Aides are quick to say the first lady isn’t planning on having an independent policy power center in the East Wing. “Our job is to think through with the president and with the president’s team and assist in dialogue about policy. But the president is the policymaker,” said chief of staff Jackie Norris. In other words, it isn’t likely that Michelle Obama will be on the phone introducing herself to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, like Hillary Clinton did as first lady. At least not yet.

But as Obama made her first official trip outside the White House on Monday — to the Department of Education — the shape and direction of her office, with advisers who have worked for Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Edwards, clearly bear a lot more resemblance to Clinton’s style than to that of Laura Bush.

The credentials of Michelle Obama’s new team “give us a glimpse of the future,” said Carl Anthony Sferrazza, a former speechwriter for Nancy Reagan who also wrote the introduction to Hillary Clinton’s “Invitation to the White House: At Home With History.”

“This is not going to be a first lady focused on sleeveless designer dresses and puppy names but on serious and complex issues,” he predicted.

Michelle Obama’s team includes:

• Norris, the chief of staff, whose relationship with the first lady goes back to Iowa, where Norris was a strategist for Barack Obama as well as a nuts-and-bolts organizer. Michelle Obama campaigned frequently in the state and found Norris a politically astute operative.

“I think her and the first lady just frankly hit it off,” said Gordon Fischer, former head of the Iowa Democratic Party. The campaign “placed a lot of confidence in Jackie Norris and the Iowa team, and when they did win Iowa, their confidence soared.”

Norris, said Fischer, is fair-minded and tough, the consummate multitasker who can send an e-mail, talk on the phone and play with her kids — three young boys — all at once.

• Deputy chief of staff David Medina, who served most recently as political director of John Edwards’ presidential bid last year.

• Jocelyn Frye, Obama’s director of policy and projects and a former general counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonpartisan group that has championed equal opportunity issues.

• Trooper Sanders, deputy director of policy and projects. A former policy aide to then-Vice President Al Gore, Sanders also led and developed mentoring and ntrepreneurship programs for low-income neighborhoods, as well as efforts at the Clinton Foundation to highlight the problem of childhood obesity. He also advised former President Bill Clinton on domestic policy matters.

Obama has been working to shape her new role and now appears poised to continue some of the outreach she did during the campaign — to women and, especially, to working women.

During the two-year campaign, Obama was an active part of her husband’s race for the White House, traveling two to three nights a week and headlining her own fundraisers. She did small “girlfriend” forums with women and also held roundtables with military families — where she did more listening than talking.

But she also made clear she wasn’t one of her husband’s advisers or strategists — more like his No. 1 booster.

So far, in many ways, Obama is still in campaign mode. In brief and mostly off-the-cuff remarks to a group of Department of Education workers Monday, she reached back to one of her frequent themes on the stump, portraying herself as the product of an idyllic South Side girlhood: a two-parent home, good jobs and education in the public schools.

Yet Obama also seems ever-mindful of the careful balance any first lady must strike — and perhaps in particular the nation’s first black first lady. During the campaign, her comments about being proud of her country “for the first time” caused a stir and gave conservative commentators a line of attack on the Obamas.

At her event yesterday, she caught herself using the word “we” to describe her husband’s administration — and was careful to shift gears.

“We’re going to be making investments, and I shouldn’t say ‘we,’ but the administration ‘we.’ ... With these investments we are going to create good jobs as we renovate and modernize more than 10,000 schools and improve the learning environment,” Obama said, making a pitch for her husband’s economic stimulus plan.

Aides said she will visit every Cabinet-level federal agency in the coming weeks in a kind of get-to-know-you tour. She’ll also seek to expand her campaign role as “listener” on the national stage, traveling from time to time. First stop is her local community, however.

“We are starting down the path of getting to know Washington, D.C., and thinking through the areas that the first lady will advocate on behalf of,” said Norris. “We are eagerly talking to people about ways that the first lady can integrate into the community.”

The biggest clue so far about the first lady’s likely role was her appearance at a recent bill signing for legislation that makes it easier for workers to sue over gender-based pay discrimination.

In brief remarks, Obama called the legislation “one cornerstone of a broader commitment to address the needs of working women who are looking to us to not only ensure that they’re treated fairly, but also to ensure that there are policies in place that help women and men balance their work and family obligations without putting their jobs or their economic stability at risk.”

Obama also will have a local focus, working to make the White House more of the “people’s house” and find ways to open it up to tourists, Norris said.

She’ll highlight more personal ties between the Obamas and D.C. than did past presidential administrations, in keeping with Barack Obama’s call to unite the “two halves” of the capital, the well-to-do government sections and the economically stressed residential parts of the city.

The first lady dined last week with Mayor Adrian Fenty at Georgia Brown’s, a popular D.C. restaurant — after her husband met up with Fenty recently at Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Eric Holder is sworn in as attorney general--By Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer

Eric Holder, sworn in Tuesday as attorney general, promised a clean break with the past policies of the Bush administration, saying the Justice Department will be "no place for political favoritism."

"I am determined to ensure that this shall be a new day for the dedicated career professionals that I am so honored to call my colleagues," Holder told various employees and dignitaries gathered for the ceremony. He said he was committed to remaking the department "into what it once was and what is always should be."

Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath to President Barack Obama's pick for the nation's top law enforcement officer, the first African-American to hold the post.

Biden said the department, under Holder, would return to a past standard of "no politics, no ideology. Only a clear assessment of facts and law."

Hundreds of department employees packed the hallways and stairways to welcome Holder. To loud cheers and applause, he pledged to remake the department by "taking it back to what it once was and always has to be."

Holder was confirmed Monday evening by a 75-21 Senate vote, with all the opposition coming from Republicans.

Holder takes over a department wracked by Bush administration scandals over politically motivated hirings and firings. He has pledged to restore its reputation.

For starters, the new attorney general will learn the secrets of the Office of Legal Counsel, whose lawyers justified the use of controversial interrogation tactics and even declined to provide Bush administration documents to internal Justice Department investigators.

Holder also will play a major role in the future of terrorism detainees.

Obama, in a major policy shift, signed an executive order to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. He also created a special task force to review detainee policy; Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will serve as co-chairs.

That panel will look at options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer or release of detainees and report to the president within 180 days.

Holder promised senators he would review why career prosecutors in Washington decided not to prosecute the former head of the department's Civil Rights Division. An inspector general's report last month found that Bradley Schlozman, the former head of the division, misled lawmakers about whether he politicized hiring decisions.

Another key question facing Holder is whether to reverse former President George W. Bush's order that three of his former top aides — Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten — should not testify before Congress about firings of U.S. attorneys. Rove and Miers were former aides when Bush gave his order.

If Obama reverses Bush's policy, it would create a new legal issue: whether a former president's order against testifying would still be valid.

The Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program is certain to come under Holder's scrutiny.

After a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks, Congress last year eased the rules under which the government could wiretap American phone and computer lines to listen for terrorists and spies.

Holder promised one senator that he would re-examine a ruling by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey that immigrants facing deportation do not have a right to government-provided lawyers. Holder said he understands the desire to expedite immigration court proceedings, but added that the Constitution also requires that proceedings be fair.

Holder's chief supporter, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the confirmation was a fulfillment of Martin Luther King's dream that everyone would be judged by the content of their character.

"Come on the right side of history," said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Obama names Judd Gregg commerce secretary--By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writer

President Barack Obama nominated Republican Sen. Judd Gregg to be Commerce secretary on Tuesday, a bipartisan gesture that the Democratic president stressed was necessary with the economy in a virtual free fall.

"Clearly Judd and I don't agree on every issue, most notably who should have won the election," Obama said in the White House's grand foyer with Gregg and Vice President Joe Biden at his side. "But we do agree on the urgent need to get American businesses and families back on their feet. We see eye to eye on conducting the nation's business in a responsible, transparent and accountable manner."

If confirmed by the Senate, Gregg would complete an administration team charged with steering the nation out of a recession now in its second year and take over a sprawling Commerce Department tasked with job creation. He also would be the third Republican in the Democrat's Cabinet, joining Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Obama initially had tapped Bill Richardson for the Commerce job, but the New Mexico governor withdrew his nomination amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, will appoint a Senate successor. Officials in the state say he will tap Bonnie Newman.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has nominated Republican Sen. Judd Gregg to be Commerce secretary.

Obama announced the nomination at the White House.

If confirmed, Gregg would be the third Republican in the Democrat's Cabinet, joining Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

It was the last open spot in the senior ranks of the Obama administration.

Obama initially had tapped New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for the Commerce job, but he withdrew his nomination amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, will appoint a Senate successor. Officials in the state say he will tap Bonnie Newman.

Democrats promise boost for road building--By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer

Top Democrats hope to add $25 billion in highway and mass transit funds to President Barack Obama's economic recovery program, despite complaints from lawmakers in both parties that the legislation already is too expensive.

"Our highways are jammed. People go to work in gridlock," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Tuesday as she and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., advanced their proposal.

Senate debate unfolded as Obama issued another call for swift action on the measure, urging lawmakers to act "with the same sense of urgency Americans feel every day."

The proposed increase in highway funding would raise spending to $40 billion, reflecting complaints from lawmakers in both parties that Obama's plan doesn't do enough to relieve a backlog of unfinished projects. Mass transit programs would get a $5 billion boost, while water projects would get $7 billion more.

Republicans, for their part, readied a plan to lower mortgage costs to try to jolt the housing market out of its slump.

The $885 billion Senate economic plan faces assaults from both Democrats and Republicans during debate this week, as lawmakers in both parties aim to kill ideas that won't jolt the economy right away.

"The goal is to shape a package that is more targeted, that would be smaller in size and that would be truly focused on saving or creating jobs and turning the economy around," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. She said ideas like $870 million to combat bird flu should be dumped.

Others, such as Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., have complained about items such as health research being in the bill. But Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. — a moderate whose vote is sought by Obama — is instead proposing to add $6.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health.

Democrats already are under pressure from moderates in their own party to scale back spending in the $885 billion bill, and Obama met with party leaders at the White House late Monday to discuss strategy.

"What we can't do is let very modest differences get in the way" of swift enactment of the legislation, Obama said several hours earlier as new layoffs rippled through the economy and the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large sixth straight drop in personal spending.
In the Capitol, Republicans said their goal was to change the bill, not to block it. "Nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

"We need to fix housing first," he said. Republicans are expected to seek a vote on their proposals this week as part of the debate on the overall stimulus measure.

Officials said the GOP was uniting behind a proposal designed to give banks an incentive to make loans at rates currently estimated at 4 percent to 4.5 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized by the federal government in September, would be required to purchase the mortgages once banks have made them to consumers.

Officials said loans to creditworthy borrowers on primary residences with a mortgage of up to $625,000 would qualify, including those seeking to refinance their current loans.

Separately, Republican officials said they intended to press for a $15,000 tax credit for home buyers through the end of the year. Current law permits a $7,500 tax break and limits it to first-time home buyers.

Nineteen Democratic and Republican governors, meanwhile, cited frozen credit markets and rising unemployment in urging lawmakers to resolve their differences and asking Obama to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. The governors said the money it provides for public education, health care and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure will create and preserve jobs while making a sound investment in the country's long-term economic interests.

"While we all believe in the importance of free markets, we believe that the markets today need stimulating," the governors told Obama in a letter dated Monday. Among the signers are Democrats Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida.

Obama performance chief Killefer out, citing taxes--By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help, withdrew her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government on Tuesday.

Killefer was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate nominations after President Barack Obama announced he had chosen them.

In a brief letter to Obama, the 55-year-old executive with consulting giant McKinsey & Co. wrote that she had "come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay" that must be avoided in responding to urgent economic problems.

She offered no further details of her tax difficulties.

Obama took no questions Tuesday after announcing his choice of Sen. Judd Gregg to be commerce secretary. He left the White House lectern ignoring a shouted question about why so many of his nominees have tax problems.

When Killefer's selection was announced by Obama on Jan. 7, The Associated Press disclosed that in 2005 the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help. Since then, administration officials have refused to answer questions about the tax error, which she resolved five months after the lien was filed.

Obama's first choice for commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, took his name out of consideration when his confirmation appeared headed toward complications because of a grand jury investigation over how state contracts were issued to political donors.

More recently, Timothy Geithner was confirmed as treasury secretary despite belatedly paying $34,000 in income taxes, and Tom Daschle is still waiting to see if his late payment of more than $128,000 in income taxes will harm his nomination to be health and human services secretary.
On paper, Killefer brought impressive credentials to the two jobs Obama selected her for: deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, which requires Senate confirmation, and a new White House post, chief performance officer for the entire federal government, which does not require confirmation.

Killefer oversees McKinsey's management consulting for government clients. During 1997-2000 in the Clinton administration, she was assistant treasury secretary for management. As such she was the chief financial officer and chief operating officer for the Treasury Department and its 160,000 employees, and she led a modernization of its largest component, the Internal Revenue Service.

The AP reported that on March 7, 2005, the D.C. Department of Employment Services slapped a tax lien on her home in the upscale Wesley Heights neighborhood. The local government alleged that beginning three years after she left the high-powered Treasury post she failed to pay unemployment compensation tax for a household employee. She failed to make the required quarterly payments for a year and half, the D.C. government said, whereupon a lien for $946.69 was placed on her home.

That sum included $298 in unpaid taxes, $48.69 in interest and $600 in penalties. Killefer didn't get the lien extinguished for almost five months, until July 29, 2005.

During that period, Killefer and her husband, an economics professor, had two nannies to help care for their teenage son and daughter, and she had a personal assistant to run things when she was on the road, she told Harvard business students back then.

Ignoring payroll taxes on household help has sunk nominees before. Failure to pay Social Security taxes for a nanny and chauffeur kept corporate lawyer Zoe Baird from becoming President Bill Clinton's attorney general in 1993. Similar problems either blocked or bedeviled other nominees. Still others overcame them, including Shirley S. Chater, the university president who was confirmed to head the Social Security Administration under Clinton despite failing to pay Social Security taxes for a part-time baby sitter.

Bobby Tucker, chief of D.C.'s unemployment insurance tax division, said filing tax liens is "not a common practice" for his office. D.C. law authorizes such liens when an employer "neglects and refuses" to pay the levy that helps pay for unemployment benefits for those laid off or fired. Tucker said his auditors have discretion to use tax liens based on "the number of attempts to collect contributions owed, whether or not the employer responds to written attempts, phone calls and-or in-person visits" to collect the tax.

Tucker said, however, that his department's lawyers would not let him discuss the specifics of Killefer's case.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said simply on Tuesday, "Nancy Killefer has decided to withdraw her nomination, and we accepted her withdrawal. Since acknowledging Killefer's unemployment tax error on Jan. 7, Vietor had declined to amplify or answer followup questions, saying he couldn't respond because she was still completing the Obama transition team's questionnaire for nominees.

Her nomination was never formally sent to Congress. And Killefer herself did not respond to messages left for her.

My Perspective: A Serious Reformer Needed for Surgeon General

My Congressman and I don’t agree on much these days but one thing that Congressman John Conyers is right about is that America’s Next Surgeon General needs to be a serious reformer. Our health care system in America needs reforming badly so that it is on the side of the people and not the big HMOs and pharmaceutical companies. While President Barack Obama and his administration would perhaps like for the next Surgeon General to be Dr. Sanjay Gupta who was born in Novi, Michigan but practices medicine in the northeast part of America. Dr. Gupta to me isn’t a reformer. Nothing in Dr. Gupta’s record speaks reform. In fact Dr. Gupta is best known for his health commentator for CNN.

To Dr. Gupta’s approach to health commentator is colorful as he dispenses medical advice with a breezy style appropriately suited to the brief two-minute segments of television, he is usually allotted. However, Dr. Gupta is not best suited to reform the health care system in America so that the least of us benefit. Dr. Gupta has not fought to make healthcare affordable or medications affordable for the least of us. In fact, Dr. Gupta has only earned praised for his television persona but not his medical experience. Dr. Gupta is to be commended for his health care segments but America does not need simply as its next Surgeon General but its needs a reformer.

The next Surgeon General in America needs to be someone who knows how it is to be poor and is well versed in delivering services to the underprivileged that most of them could not get anywhere else. The next Surgeon General in America needs to be someone who can not only give a good speech but can give medical advice in a way that you the patient understands it and is experienced in fighting against pharmaceutical companies who try to deny patients medications that are too expensive but might save the patient’s life. The next Surgeon General in America needs to be a reformer that wouldn’t be criticized for being too closely associated with the pharmaceutical and health care industries.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, while he might be a good physician in real life and he is a good commentator on CNN, I just don’t believe he is what America needs in a Surgeon General. Dr. Gupta charges up to $50,000 per appearance to simply speak and being the next Surgeon General of the United States of America would just give him all the more reason to raise his speaking fees after he’s done serving his job. I say more power to the man for charging so much as is but the reality is that Dr. Gupta is not the man to reform health care in America. Nothing about Dr. Gupta’s record as a physician speaks of reform. In fact the closest thing Dr. Sanjay has done to endorsing a reform to America’s healthcare system is endorse President Barack Obama healthcare plan over John McCain’s.

America’s health care system needs a comprehensive reform and that is why the next Surgeon General must be someone who has advocated for the reform America’s need for years. America’s next Surgeon General needs to be someone who has put health facilities in low income neighborhoods and has accepted getting paid less for doing a job that they love. America’s next Surgeon General needs to be a fighter for the people even against those who don’t believe in servicing the least of us. The next Surgeon General in America needs to be someone who believes in serving the least of us with the best that they can offer us.

America’s next Surgeon General needs to be someone who isn’t just a face but is someone who has a proven record of results that resonates with us the people. America’s next Surgeon General needs to be someone who inspires our young men and women to not only be doctors to make money but to be doctors to save lives. America’s next Surgeon General should be someone who understands the complexities facing urban hospitals and medical centers but at the same time has to have the knowledge to know how to improve them. The next Surgeon General must be someone who believes in universal healthcare and not only know how such a system can be implemented in America but has the experience in providing low affordable healthcare to people.

That’s why America’s next Surgeon General cannot be Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I agree with Congressman Conyers that Dr. Gupta’s cozy relationships with the health care industry would compromise his ability to lead the U.S. Public Health Service and serve as a vocal advocate for change. Too many questions linger about Dr. Gupta’s ability to lead America’s Public Health Service and that is why we need a real reformer with a proven record of fighting for the people. Dr. Gupta is not that guy and will never be the reformer to the health care industry in America that so many Americans not only want but need. A Serious Reformer for Surgeon General is needed badly so President Obama don’t let us down.

We need a Surgeon General serious about health care reform.

Act Now. Demand a Serious Reformer for Surgeon General.

The Head of State

Recently I was watching one of my favorite movies, “Head of State” which stars Chris Rock. After watching this movie again, it made me realize how similar this movie was to the 2008 Presidential election. In fact if many of you take a strong look at the movie and not just the comedy that the movie has, you will be able to see the parallels to the movie and the 2008 Presidential race. In fact, the movie even predicts the 2008 Presidential election outcome to a “T” and how the 2008 Presidential race would play out. Chris Rock plays an alderman from D.C. named Mays Gilliam in the movie and he has a passion for community activism where he is impeccable at serving the people no matter what. In fact Rock’s character is the equivalent to Barack Obama because Gilliam was a virtual newcomer on the national scene who many within his party didn’t think would win the Presidency but they needed someone to run just so their party had someone to run. Nonetheless, Gilliam’s political party under estimated his ability to rally the people behind a common message and a hope for a better America similar to Obama’s message of hope and change.

Both Gilliam and Obama share the ability to give charismatic speeches and use three words to motivate people. Obama used “Yes We Can” and Gilliam used “That Ain’t Right” however the American people in the movie and in real life rallied behind their candidacies. At the same time, both Gilliam and Obama ran against candidates who were seasoned politicians who felt that this was their time to be the President of the United States of America. Gilliam ran against John Lewis and Obama ran against John McCain. McCain and Lewis were both out of touch politicians who didn’t understand the people and the changes of the time. In fact Lewis didn’t even realize that he was running against Gilliam until two months out from the election and McCain couldn’t even remember how many houses he owned.

You really would have to see the movie to understand the similarities’ between John Lewis and John McCain but simply put, both man were completely clueless in what the American people wanted and needed because they were too blinded by their quote unquote entitlement to the White House because of their service to the country and waiting their time to serve as President. Like Lewis, McCain used dirty smear tactics against Obama but Lewis smear tactics in the movie were more strategic than McCain’s and they worked better than McCain’s smear tactics. Both Gilliam and Obama had the same approach to smear tactics and that was that they didn’t want to go negative because the American people didn’t want negativity. In fact Gilliam stuck to his word of not going negative unlike Obama but Gilliam did a clever commercial to show Osama Bin Laden endorsing John Lewis for President and it encouraged voters to vote for Lewis for President. It was quite clever but Obama could have never run a commercial like that because all commercials require someone to take responsibility for them unlike in the movie.

Another interesting parallel between Gilliam and Obama is that Gilliam wouldn’t accept campaign fundraising dollars from anyone. One scene in the movie shows Mays Gilliam criticizing the head of a company who sells malt liquor to children and Gilliam tells his campaign manager that our campaign will not be run by companies who are damaging our kids. That is almost the same approach Obama took in his campaign by not accepting money from special interest groups and big business. Then another scene in the movie that makes me say that Gilliam was literally Obama before Obama was Obama is when Gilliam was at an elementary school and he speaks about parents needing to be responsible for how their kids are being educated and needing to know where their kids are. Gilliam even picks up one kid and says into a camera, who’s kid is this, is this your kid because it isn’t mine. Nonetheless Obama did something similar last summer when he talked about absentee fathers at a church and throughout the campaign trail he talked about how parents need to be more responsible in the way they raise their kids.

Head of State and the 2008 Presidential election have some key similarities like when Lewis wanted to avoid debating Gilliam is a similarity that is much like the 2008 Presidential race. Many of you might not remember this but it seemed at one point that McCain was going to skip out on the first Presidential debate with Barack Obama. Another similarity for those of you who don’t believe that the movie Head of State and the 2008 Presidential election had any contrasts than just look at back in March when Obama’s campaign hit a standstill because of the Rev. Wright situation and Bill Ayers. Mays Gilliam’s campaign hit the same standstill not because of just his associations but comments he made while the cameras were on thus causing his campaign to be in trouble.

However both Obama’s and Gilliam’s campaigns bounced back the closer the election got and as soon as they picked Vice Presidential running mates. Obama and Gilliam found their voices and stride after their campaigns were hit hard by the media and their opponents and they found their own stride which was helpful to both of them in winning the Presidency. Gilliam and Obama both had a zealous charismatic passion for wanting to be President and while when times got tough, they knew that they were representing more than just them. Both Gilliam and Obama were running for President not for them but for the people who believed in their campaigns of hope and change.

Both Gilliam and Obama spoke about bringing change to Washington and how a new brand of politics was needed in order to make America better again. Plus Gilliam picked his brother, Mitch Gilliam as his running mate which would never happen in America’s history by the way. Gilliam choose someone who had a gift to gab and would just speak his mind all too often which would cause controversy on the campaign trail. Gilliam’s brother was the attack dog and said all the things that Gilliam couldn’t. This is similar to Obama’s pick of Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate. Biden is known for his gift to gab and sometimes Biden would make blunders or gaffes while on the campaign trail but Biden said many of the things that Obama could not. Ultimately though, the choosing of Vice Presidential running mates came down to trust for both Gilliam and Obama. Gilliam trusted his brother, Mitch and Obama trusted Biden. Both Gilliam and Obama knew what they were getting in running mates and that is something their campaigns needed in order to balance out their hope and change ticket.

The parallels between Head of State and the 2008 Presidential election are very intriguing the more and more I watched the movie. That’s why many of you who are reading this need to watch the movie. In fact Mitch Gilliam could also be compared to Sarah Palin as well because he had no Washington experience whatsoever and was considered too inexperienced to be the Vice President of the United States of America. At the same time, remember when McCain picked Palin, many people felt she was inexperienced and when Palin did interviews she couldn’t answer many questions posed to her. In fact, if Mitch Gilliam was a real character, I think he would have made Sarah Palin look a whole lot better in the eyes of many people. That’s why many of you need to understand that movies are somewhat real at times. It is just shocking how the 2008 Presidential election and Head of State have some intriguing parallels like when Lewis who is Sharon Stone’s cousin loses the support of Sharon Stone to Gilliam which is equivalent to when McCain lost the support of Colin Powell to Obama.

However my favorite part in the whole movie was when Gilliam gave a speech and started to take his suit coat off in order to get comfortable. It is very similar to how Obama gave his speeches without a suit coat. It made me realize how Obama and Gilliam where trend setters and were comfortable in their own way while on the Presidential campaign trail. Head of State really laid out the Obama campaign if many of you take a nice hard look at it and not just laugh at the movie. The movie has too many similarities that are just undeniable. What is truly the funniest similarity is when Lewis says God Bless America and no place else throughout the whole movie which is similar to McCain talking about his military record throughout the whole 2008 Presidential campaign.

Therefore I encourage all of you to really take a nice long hard look at the movie Head of State and I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed. Head of State was my favorite movie way before Obama decided to run for President but after seeing it for the first since the 2008 Presidential election, I look at it in a different light because it really makes me understand just how Obama’s campaign was like the movie. It’s as if to a degree Obama’s quote unquote brilliant campaign team watched the movie over and over in order to make sure they ran Obama’s exactly to the same degree as Mays Gilliam ran his Presidential campaign in the movie.

There is no denying that Head of State is a great movie that is packed with real life feelings regarding politics but now there is no denying that it is literally the equivalency of the 2008 Presidential election. If any of you can’t see the similarities and parallels between Head of State and the 2008 Presidential election than I don’t know where you have been over the last year. I highly encourage everyone to buy Head of State because it is a must have piece of History and it was shot in 2003 which makes it even more powerful and symbolic. Head of State is an A+ movie with 5 stars that I will always enjoy watching it no matter what day of the week it is.

My Perspective: Why Rush Limbaugh is growing stronger?

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh probably got the freest media attention this week than any other time in his life besides when the media talked about his pill addiction. Limbaugh a conservative talk show host not a Republican was so popular this week that even President Barack Obama talked about Limbaugh when meeting with the House Republicans. President Obama told House Republicans and other Republicans not to listen to Limbaugh. Even the Democratic National Committee and other Democrats are attacking Limbaugh and have even went as far as saying that the House Republicans who voted “NO” to the $819 billion dollar stimulus package were being lead to do so by Limbaugh. That’s why Democratic special interest groups such as MoveOn.org and Americans United for Change have started running internet and radio ads urging many Americans to either donate to the Democratic Party so that they can make sure that Obama’s stimulus package passes.

The radio ads are even being run in states where United States Senate Republican seats are up for grabs in 2010 where they say the House GOP listened to Limbaugh so call your Senator (blank) to make sure he or she doesn’t listen to Limbaugh as well thus preventing jobs from being created. All of this is just making Rush Limbaugh stronger as the attacks against him and the acknowledgements by many liberals in the news media continue to say that Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. Limbaugh’s listening audience is growing more and more each day by not only supporters but non-supporters because they want to know what Limbaugh is saying. Even President Barack Obama has got to understand that the more he acknowledges Limbaugh publicly the more Limbaugh will be a nuance in the side of the Obama administration.

Limbaugh publicly has said that he hopes Obama’s policies of socialism fail while many in the news media have ran the story that Limbaugh hopes Obama fails. The facts are this, Limbaugh’s voice is growing stronger the more and more the news media, Democratic leadership and Democratic interest groups acknowledge Limbaugh and his attics. Rush Limbaugh’s rhetoric was denied by many within the Republican Party this past year with the nomination of John McCain as the Republican Party’s Presidential nominee despite Limbaugh having a major destine for McCain more so than other Republican Presidential candidate. Therefore why in the world is the Democratic Party giving life to a sleeping beer only adds fuel to the Limbaugh voice and gives Limbaugh an even larger audience than he has ever had. Limbaugh’s ratings this week have been the highest it has ever been for a week.

The Democratic Party and President Barack Obama has awaken a sleeping bear and have turned him into a giant with a voice that grows more and more each and every day. Rush Limbaugh is truly growing stronger because of the attacks on him and many of Limbaugh’s supporters will only go more and more toward Limbaugh than against him because of the personal attacks many Democratic political officials and special interest groups are doing to discredit Limbaugh. The news media constant coverage of what Limbaugh said day in and day out only gives Limbaugh a bigger platform to promote his conservative values on. Much of what Limbaugh’s says on a daily basis is rhetoric for his conservative listening audience.

However Rush Limbaugh is a radio talk show host, not a Republican Party political official so why do Democrats say he is the leader of the Republican Party only makes Limbaugh stronger each and every day. Limbaugh is not the de facto head of the Republican Party but he is the head of many conservatives who are not only Republicans but are Democrats as well. Limbaugh’s voice will not be silent and will only get stronger each and every day that many of these special interest groups and Democratic officials go after him. Limbaugh is truly a powerful conservative in this country but the audacity of many Democratic and liberal officials to equate Limbaugh with the Republican Party is not fair to many Republicans who don’t think like Limbaugh.

Limbaugh is not a card carrying member of the RNC and the reality is that as long as people especially the media continue to air the rhetoric that Limbaugh says, the more Limbaugh will grow stronger in his rhetoric as well as in his radio show. Limbaugh’s strength is as an entertainer and he has to sell ratings in order to stay on the air. Therefore as long as he is getting all of this free publicity from the news media, Democratic elected officials and liberal interest groups, Limbaugh’s message grow stronger and stronger each and every day. Rush Limbaugh is growing stronger because he is being acknowledged by those who want to get rid of him but they are only making him more powerful in his rhetoric. Clearly it seems as if you don’t agree with Limbaugh and his actions than why even trade barbs with Limbaugh doing a time when so many are suffering. This blame game and personal attacks are not good for this nation.

It clear that Rush Limbaugh has his own faults but so do those who continue to give him strength by acknowledging his rhetoric. Limbaugh is getting powerful each and every day that the news media speaks and reports him. Limbaugh is gaining a larger audience each and every day that Democratic elected officials and other liberals claim he is the leader of the Republican Party. Limbaugh is getting great ratings each and every day that liberal special interest groups use him in attack ads. Limbaugh is the strongest he has ever be as a conservative radio talk show host and it is all due to President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, liberal special interest groups and the news media.

Rush Limbaugh is the strongest conservative radio talk show host on the airwaves today. Therefore Limbaugh will gain even more power as long as he is reported on by the news media and is mentioned by liberals and the Democratic Party. That’s why Rush Limbaugh is only the leader of the conservative radio talk show movement but not the Republican Party and that is why Rush Limbaugh will continue to be a thorn in the Democratic Party and liberal movement because they have made him who he is. Limbaugh is only as powerful as you give him credit for and that’s why Limbaugh is going stronger in not only his rhetoric but in his listening audience and his demand for attention. Rush Limbaugh is a conservative figure that is demanding more and more attention with passing day. Stay tuned for more on Rush Limbaugh but for now, Limbaugh’s power is as strong as ever.

My Perspective: Equal Pay for Equal Work

On January 29, 2009, with the new law's namesake Lilly Ledbetter there to witness, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- legislation to fight pay discrimination and ensure fundamental fairness to American workers.

President Barack Obama first legislation signed into law was the Fair Pay Act. This act creates a law that gives women a longer period of time to sue for pay discrimination when before the law was that you had to sue within 120 days of when you were hired. Many women’s groups have said that this is a step in the right direction for the women’s movement and feminist agenda. Women for years have wanted equity for women and finally this is a step in the right direction of mending the wage gap between men and women. Currently as it sits women make 73 cent for every dollar that a man makes. Now this law will help to bridge that gap in men and women salaries.

Equal pay for equal work is something that no one in America or any country for that matter should have to fight for. Therefore if this law actually helps women in bridging the pay scale gap between men and women than it is a good law. Nonetheless like must laws, we as a people have to wait to see how it plays out and how it impacts the future of many women in America for generations to come. The reality is that it is truly an injustice to many women who do the same work as men but aren’t paid as equally as men. Therefore this is the shame and irony that many women for years have had to deal with. Now a step in the right direction to hopefully amend the travesty is finally taking place in this country.

Women are clearly just as capable of doing a men’s job but in today’s time, women still are ridiculed and criticized more than men. We can look no further than this past Presidential election where we saw the media and others use personal attacks on women such as Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and our First Lady Michelle Obama. Some of the questions and comments thrown at these women were uncalled for and unfair. In fact they were questions that men have never had to answer and where questions that were driven out of sexism and male chauvinism. That’s why equal pay for equal work is very important. If women are doing the same job and the same work as men than they should be paid like men.

It is bad enough that many women in this nation and throughout the world are denied promotions because they are women but when it comes to pay, there should not be almost a 25 cent gap for every dollar a men makes compared to women. That is a shame that the gap is that large but it shows that women still have not come far enough in the feminist movement. Nonetheless, equal pay for equal work is an issue that women should not have to fight on their own because minorities should stand with them on this issue because we have had to deal with this for a long time and we continue to deal with it to a degree.

However as minorities particularly African Americans, we have come a little bit further than women when it comes to pay but it is when women and minorities work together that we make changes in this country. Equal pay for equal work is something that we as Americans need to advocate for not only in America but in the world. No men, women or child should be paid less than anyone else if they are doing the same work as one of the counterparts. That’s why the issue of equal pay for equal work is one that I take to heart. Until this gap in pay between men and women is entirely equal or as near to equal as possible, than our society will continue to have issues in the workplace.

Equal pay for equal work is an issue that has gone ignored too long and it is an issue that many feminist groups and minority groups have fought for years to make policies that are fair for all Americans. We as Americans can’t allow equal pay for equal work to be a feminist issue when it affects all Americans. We are the land of equality, the land of opportunity and that is something that we all we all must make sure we make happen for all of Americans citizens. Equal pay for equal work gives everyone a fair chance at achieving the American Dream financially. Equal pay for equal work gives everyone an opportunity to live in the Home of the Brave with the idea that their children will have the same opportunities that have to do the same thing and make the same wages they make.

That’s why equal pay for equal work is an issue that we all must fight to keep in this country no matter. It is not just a women’s issue but it’s an issue that all of Americans and the world must fight to accomplish. Remember that an injustice anywhere is an injustice to all and that is why America needs to lead on this issue of equal pay for equal so that the rest of the world follows our actions. This is the way America has always advocated for international issues that plague us all but this is an issue long overdue in this quote unquote “Man’s World.” Equal pay for equal work is a step in the right direction of fighting inequality and injustices that have plagued America for years. Now we must fight this issue in other nations if we are going to make this world a better place for everyone to live and partake in with harmony, joy, peace and equality for all.

My Perspective: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

As a child, I was always told that if I don’t want to know the answer to a question than I shouldn’t ask the question. Therefore I don’t understand why in the world many people in the military and in our America’s government want to get rid of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that our military forces have adopted since the mid-1990s. It is clear that this policy has worked thus far so why get rid of something that works. If President Obama gets rid of this policy than I fear that many Americans in our armed forces will start to be harmed violently for being gay. The current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy allows any and every one to be a part of our armed forces without the fear of being harmed if they are gay or lesbian.

I know personally that if I was in the middle of a battlefield, I don’t care who is helping me fight so why should our armed forces care about your sexual preference when we need all the men and woman we can get to fight these two wars and rebuild our armed forces. We can’t force people to tell us what their sexual preference is. People should have some type of privacy when it comes to that because a lot of me and women in this country are not very accepting of gays and lesbians. Therefore our military should be trying to advocate Barack Obama to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that has not caused any harm to the armed forces since being implemented.

So if it is not broken why fix. Then again there might be some gay and lesbian groups that want this policy repealed and I ask why. The military has not denied anyone from joining based off of their sexual preference and it isn’t discriminating against you once you are in the armed forces because of your sexual preference. Well let me say that no cases have been reported in recent years. Therefore I don’t understand why anyone wants the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in our armed forces repeal. This policy has worked rather smoothly and I don’t think America’s climate is ready to accept the fact that there might be gays and lesbians within our armed forces.

Many of the people I know have mixed views when it comes to gays and lesbians but they all agree that if they don’t know than they don’t care what your sexual preference is. However if they know, many of them have said, they would be uncomfortable being around people who are of the same sex as them and are attracted to the same sex they are. Therefore it is clear that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy works for many people who currently serve in the military. Let’s face it people, America just is not ready for this and it would literally do more harm than good within our armed forces.

Its already tough enough trying to recruitment people within our military ranks so if we get rid of this policy than it might be even harder to not only recruit but retain many of our good men and women who serve in our military ranks. Can our armed forces afford to lose any more troops in a time when it is tough to recruit good men and women into our military ranks? If you don’t want to know the answer to a question than don’t ask it that’s what my parents taught me. Therefore many Americans especially many within our armed forces don’t want to know the sexual preference of their colleagues. The only thing that the members of our armed forces want to know about their colleagues is whether they will give it their all to defend this nation and to defend them when under fire or in a hard, challenging situation.

America’s armed forces, adopted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in order to make the military ranks safer for those who are gay or lesbian. So far the policy has worked better than the previous policy which was “Ask and Tell”. That policy discriminated against potential good men and women who could have helped our armed forces. Now that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been implemented it is clear that it has worked nearly to perfection and no one in the military has cried about discrimination against gays and lesbians since its enactment. That’s why for those who wanted President Obama to repeal it might want to think twice because President Obama is already thinking twice about repealing it.

Just look at what happened in California with Proposal 8. It was voted against with a wide-range of support and it is clear that many of us in America are not willing to accept gays and lesbians as much as people have accepted race in this country. America has come a long way in this country but not long enough to the point where we are more accepting of gays and lesbians in societies. The truth is that many Americans are not ready for our armed forces to be openly accepting to gays and lesbians. In fact many in the armed forces will perhaps retire if the military had an open policy of accepting gays and lesbians.

In a time of war that is something that we can’t afford. Therefore, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” policy has been effective on many fronts. Our troop levels in our armed forces have been stable and we have not had to go to a draft despite many men and women not signing up for second stints of service. Therefore why ask a question that many of us are not ready for and probably will never be ready for. I can see our armed forces become so divided that troops start shooting each other which I don’t want to happen and I pray that it never happens if the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is repealed.

Nonetheless, if follow Murphy’s laws there are two laws we have to pay attention which are, “If something can go wrong, it will” and “You can't do just one thing; everything has its consequences.” Therefore by repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in our armed forces, we might find that is causes more harm than good. So as we look at it now, we just can’t mess with something that has worked this well so far. President Obama, I hope you don’t repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy but if you do than many of us will have to seat back and wait to see how well it plays out over the next 4 years or so, or however how long it lasts. For now though, I say if it isn’t broke than don’t fix it.

Also I say if you don’t want to know the answer to something than don’t ask the question. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in our armed forces is a good policy that has worked for the men and women of our beloved military so let’s not mess with it if we don’t have to.

Steele to put the Steel back in the Republican Party

The Party of Abraham Lincoln has made history by electing former Lt. Governor of Maryland Michael Steele as the first African American Republican National Committee Chairman in the party’s history. On Friday, January 30, 2009 the Republican Party held elections to elect a new chairman of the party and Michael Steele beat out 5 others in a six round ballot vote. Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, current Republican National Committee Chair Mike Duncan, South Carolina Republican Chair Katon Dawson, and Michigan Republican Chair Saul Anuzis all were seeking to be the chair of the RNC.

However as the votes came in after the first ballot, it seemed as if it was a two person race between current RNC chair Mike Duncan and Michael Steele with Duncan leading 52 to 46 after the first ballot results were counted. Nonetheless Duncan’s support dwindled in the 2nd ballot of voting as Steele’s support gained with Steele and Duncan tied at 48. After the 3rd round of voting results were revealed, it was clear that Duncan was slowly but surely dwindling while South Carolina’s Republican Chair Katon Dawson was gaining and Steele took a commanding lead with 51 votes for the RNC chairmanship. So Mike Duncan saw the writing on the wall and before the 4th ballot voting begin, he dropped out graciously while thanking all those who supported him and pledging his support to the Republican Party no matter who’s the next Chair.

So as the 4th ballot results were counted, it seemed as Dawson was the new leading man to become the next chair of the RNC as he took a 62 to 60 lead over Steele. At the same time, Michigan’s GOP Chair Saul Anuzis broke over the thirty threshold while former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell maintained his 15 loyal supporters down from the 20 that he had at the end of the first ballot results. So by the time the fifth ballot vote was coming up, Blackwell took a bold move and decided to withdrawal his name from consideration to be the GOP next chair. However before withdrawing, Blackwell made a statement and said that the next chairman of the GOP must do three things. First the new chair of the GOP must be able to inspire hope. Second the new chair of the GOP must have a willingness to work with party leaders to create a positive vision that clearly communities the values and principles of our beloved party. Third but not least, the next chair of the GOP must have leadership ability and the vision to pull us together as a party so that we can help pull America together. At the end of Blackwell’s statements, he said and that is why I am putting all my support behind Michael Steel because he can do those things plus the other necessary things to restore the GOP as a party of solutions and a party of ideas.

So before the fifth round voting results took place, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell endorsed former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele thus giving Steele a boast in the voting. The fifth round voting results came in and Steele had retaken the lead from Dawson 79 to 69 with Anuzis coming in a very distant third with 20. Therefore by the 6th round of voting, Anuzis dropped out leaving it down to Dawson and Steele. But the RNC leaders did not cut a deal that would prevent Steele from becoming the next Chair of the RNC; instead they did something unprecedented and elected Steele to put the steel back in the Republican Party.

The Party of Lincoln elected Michael Steele to be the new chair of the Republican National Committee and Steele delivered a message to the RNC that was filled with a new sense of direction for the Republican Party and how rebound from the last two elections. Steele said, “This is awesome. A great deal of humility and sense of service for the opportunity to serve as the next chairman of the Republican National Committee.” Steele went on to say that the RNC will once again empower its members to grow the party and strengthen the party to take back the Northeast, hold on to the South, make strides in the Midwest and regain its hold on the west that it once had. There was a sense of excitement and pride throughout the room as Steele elected. The RNC leadership burst out in joy and cheers for Steele because this was a proud moment for the party and an opportunity of change as the party elected a moderate conservative to lead it in a bold innovative way.

Steele, who needed a majority of 85 votes to become the new RNC chair, accomplished that with a wide range of support from many members of the RNC. Now Steele’s job is not easy because the Republican Party was whipped so badly this November that they not only lost the White House but they lost major seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The GOP suffered their worst defeats in the Northeast and West as many areas of many states in those areas slowly but surely turned blue like never before in America’s history. At the same time, the GOP has to broaden its base outside of the South and its evangelical support because the GOP lost every demographic group except for White males in last November’s Presidential race. Plus to add to Steele’s problems, he has to increase the GOP identification which down to the lowest it has ever been in America’s history with only 33% of Americans identifying themselves as Republicans.

Michael Steele is humbled and excited about this opportunity to lead the GOP out of these gloomy days but most of all he sees this is a beckon of hope for the Republican Party and for America. Most of all Michael Steele is a dynamic figure that can bring the Republican Party into the new era of new ideas and policies that will help America be a greater nation. Michael Steele is considered the man of steel and he will have to wear a cape every day for the next two years in order to get the GOP back on strong footing. Steele has to grow the GOP’s fundraising efforts while at the same time showing that he and his party are willing to work with President Obama on many initiatives that America needs.

Steele gives the Republican Party an opportunity to showcase to minorities particularly African Americans that just because you are black, doesn’t mean you have to be a Democrat. Steele plans to go directly to urban communities as well as rural communities with the same message of anything is possible and that the GOP is a party of solutions and ideas that are fiscally and socially moral. Steele will have to be the “Man of Steel” because the tasks that are ahead for him are truly tasks that only a man of steel can handle. Steele is truly a remarkable figure who will accept the responsibilities and tasks of uplifting the Republican Party out of darkness and into the light with a vigorous attitude and pro-active approach that the RNC has never seen from a chairman before.

This is a great day to be an American and this is a great day for the Republican Party because they finally have a man who is willing to accept diversity of all kinds as well as ideas that are socially sound and morally sound in the principles and values of the Republican Party. Steele is ready to answer the call that the leadership of the Republican National Committee has bestowed upon him and he will hit the ground running with a passion to help make America and the Republican Party better forever. Steele’s vision will help reshape the RNC and the GOP like no other chairman has ever done. Steele’s brand of politics, style and leadership is a breath of fresh air for the Republican Party that is in need of stopping the constant bleeding that they have been suffering since the 2006 midterm elections.

Michael Steele is ready to lead the Republican Party to newer and greater heights. It is an opportunity and a privilege that Michael Steele looks forward to shouldering. Michael Steele will carry the flag of the RNC and he will do it proudly. Therefore if you didn’t hear Michael Steele’s acceptance and thank you speech than you missed perhaps the quote of the week which was, “For those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over.” The reality is that, Steele sent a message to the Republican Party foes and is simply telling Americans that the GOP will not lay down but they will fight on with ideas concentrated on the Republican Party’s values and principles that will lead to making America better. Michael Steele has flexed his muscles early and hopefully the Republican Party will join him in re-shaping, re-crafting, and re-creating the image, brand, style and political power of the Republican Party not now but forever.

MICHAEL STEELE is the RNC’s MAN OF STEEL!

1st Ballot
Mike Duncan 52
Michael Steele 46
Katon Dawson 26
Saul Anuzis 24
Ken Blackwell 20

2nd Ballot
Mike Duncan 48
Michael Steele 48
Katon Dawson 29
Saul Anuzis 24
Ken Blackwell 19

3rd Ballot
Michael Steele 51
Mike Duncan 44
Katon Dawson 34
Saul Anuzis 24
Ken Blackwell 15

4th Ballot
Katon Dawson 62
Michael Steele 60
Saul Anuzis 31
Ken Blackwell 15
Mike Duncan (Dropped out)

5th Ballot
Michael Steele 79
Katon Dawson 69
Saul Anuzis 20
Ken Blackwell (Dropped out& endorsed Michael Steele)
Mike Duncan (Dropped out)

6th Ballot
Michael Steele 91
Katon Dawson 77
Saul Anuzis (Dropped out)
Ken Blackwell (Dropped out & endorsed Michael Steele)
Mike Duncan (Dropped out)

Obama and Biden saving the Middle Class

President Barack Obama has announced that his administration will launch a new middle class task force that will be headed by Vice President Joe Biden. While launching this new middle class task force, the President and Vice President wouldn’t give any specific details into how they will save the middle class but they acknowledged that the middle class in America needs saving. In fact, they announced they will have a website for many middle class families to get information on what they government is doing to help the middle class. At the same time, President Obama and Vice President Biden said they are not ignoring the poor because the poor class will still be a priority; however the middle class are a group of people who have been hurt the most over the last 8 years more so than any other group of people.

What Obama and Biden failed to realize in their speech is that the middle class is the poor? Therefore this task force on the middle class needs to focus on how to get the poor to become the middle class of America again. Also this task force needs to focus on how to make the middle class the rich class of America. President Obama and Vice President Biden should be commended for their efforts to want to help the middle class but when you announce a task force, you need to have specific details and information on how it will work besides giving out a website and saying that it will be a tour promoting the task force across America. A new middle class task force is one that needs to be unveiled the proper way and it should give us the American people insight into specific targeted areas it will address.

Obama and Biden recognize that the middle class has been under attack for years but now they must understand that the poor class is the middle class and if you are going to help the middle class you have to start with the poor class. That’s why as Biden heads up this taskforce, he needs to make sure he has specific targeted areas he wants to address in helping the middle class. At the same time, the Obama-Biden administration must lay out specific and detailed guidelines as to how the middle class will be improved in this country.

Saving the middle class is a great idea for America and it must be a priority of the not only the Obama administration but of the United States government as well. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are formulating a plan as to how they will work to restore America’s middle class, now it is Congress job to help in the process. This new middle class task force has been long overdue but it must be targeted and specifically focused on some key areas to restoring the middle class such as through education, job training, fiscal responsibility training, and investing in the future. Now the middle class task force can deal with other areas but the reality is that if it doesn’t target those four areas, it won’t matter what else it deals with because the middle class needs to be educated about what’s going on in the world. The middle class needs job training in areas where they can obtain employment during this time of a recession that are more useful to them.

At the same time, the middle class must learn fiscal responsibility where they save their own money for a rainy day as well as spend their money on wise things. The reality is that the middle class need to invest in rainy days not only better but they need to start doing it period. That’s why the middle class task force is important and the Obama-Biden administration are making some strides but now we the American people must wait to see what areas it will specifically deal with to restore the middle class. The middle and poor class are the working class but the reality is that the middle, poor, and working class can survive in this recession without the proper help from our government. Obama-Biden new initiative is one that I will follow carefully and I hope many of you do so as well because we should want to be the middle, rich or wealthy class of this country if we came from poor conditions.

So time will tell all things as to how the new middle class task force will work but I would rather know now. Therefore I won’t pass judgment but I hope it targets some of the areas that I have addressed in this piece.

President Obama and Vice President Biden speak about the new Middle Class Task Force dedicated to raising the living standards of middle class families. Learn more at http://AStrongMiddleClass.gov.

States in a State of Emergency

Ring the Alarm! The United States of America States’ are in a state of emergency. Many state budgets are so much in the red that it will take a miracle for many of them to balance their state budgets. Ring the Alarm! The States of the United States of America are broke and are in trouble of laying off many hundreds of state government employees due to the fact that states have had to pay for many social programs that have been used more than usual in this recession. Many states are in the red because more of their citizens are on Medicaid, are on unemployment, and are getting food stamps than in previous years.

The States are in a state of emergency and many states like California and advocating for state employees to take at least 2 vacation days a month without pay in hopes of saving the states some money for the coming year. Also some states are looking at raising taxes on its citizens in order to balance the budget for the upcoming year. It is clear that the states of are bleeding red so badly that they need permanent solutions not band-aids. Therefore when will the states get their bailout?

The financial institutions got there bailout and many other Wall Street companies got their bailout while even the auto industry got loans to save them for at least three months. So when will the States of the United States of America get their bailout when the states are the ones who are feeling the financial crisis of this country more so than any company or financial institution. The states are the ones who are losing major property tax dollars because many people’s homes are being foreclosed on. The states are the ones that are losing out on income taxes because their residents are being laid off left and right. The states are ones that are that are dulling out unemployment benefits left and right as many of its residents are being laid off in record numbers. The states are carrying the burden and hardships of many of America because it is their residents who are suffering the most in this country.

The states are in a state of emergency and they need to be saved if many of these states are to rebuild any time soon. With many of the States in the United States of America suffering as healthcare costs for the state’s residents steadily increase and are rapidly becoming out of control each and every day. The states are suffering like never before because they have to find ways to help their residents feed themselves while making sure that laws are being enacted so anarchy doesn’t run amuck in many of these states. That’s why it is the states that need a bailout so that the citizens of the United States of America can tap into some of the resources and financial dollars that many states will get. That’s why it is the states that need a bailout so that the citizens of the United States of America can get their full benefits from unemployment, Medicaid and other social programs.

Ring the Alarm, America! The States of the United States of America need a bailout not now but right now. Ring the Alarm, America! Save the people of California, Alabama, Alaska, Michigan, Florida and the other 45 states of the United States of America. Our states need a bailout because they have been spending to keep many of the residents afloat during a time when the states have been cash stripped. Give the States of the United States of America some assistance. The states are in a state of emergency and are doing everything it can to keep people to work but even the measures that some Governors are attempting to embark are so unpopular and will lead to many of them being voted out in 2010. Therefore the states need saving. The residents of many of these states need assistance like never before.

We all understand that this is the worst the economy has been in 26 years but the reality is that, our states have carried the burdens of this country for the last year and now when they are in need of great assistance from our federal government, their cries are on death ears. So listen President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the members of the 111th Congress, our states need saving. Our states are bleeding red so badly that it is almost as badly as a patient with a gunshot wound to the head. So stimulate our states not the financial institutions. Save our state budgets and save the jobs that many of our states are proposing to lay off in an attempt to balance state budgets.

Bailout, Main Street not now but right now! Ring the Alarm, our states need help! Ring the Alarm; our states are in a state of emergency! Ring the Alarm, our states are in trouble! Ring the Alarm, our states in bleeding perficercely! Save our states and save us the American people. Declare a state of an emergency for our states because our states are carrying the load of the failures of America’s economy. Our States are in a State Emergency and need help not now but right now!

My Perspective: What’s Next for Caroline Kennedy?

I can remember telling some of my friends this summer that Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy will be running for the United States Senate in the state of Massachusetts to replace her ill uncle Edward (Ted) M. Kennedy. Well soon as the Presidential election was over and it was reported that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was being considered for Secretary of State by President Barack Obama that’s why Caroline Kennedy emerged as being interested in Hillary’s seat when it becomes vacant. While I was wrong about what Senate seat Caroline Kennedy wanted, I was not wrong about the fact that Caroline Kennedy was interested in holding public office. After years of being quiet and under the radar, Caroline Kennedy came out and publicly endorsed Barack Obama for President in an op-ed piece and then went campaigning for him with her uncle and cousin.

It was at the moment that I begin to question what’s next for Caroline Kennedy and I started to tell people that she wants to hold public office. The reality is that Caroline Kennedy became ambitious and wanted to follow in the family business which is to hold public office. Therefore Caroline Kennedy saw an opportunity to not only do that but an opportunity to carry on the Kennedy legacy. Therefore when our uncle Teddy got sick, I knew that Caroline Kennedy would move to Massachusetts and would soon carry out the legacy of her father and family by being a United States Senator from Massachusetts. Nonetheless my speculation was incorrect partly because Caroline Kennedy became interested in the soon to be vacant Senate seat of Hillary Clinton.

In fact Caroline Kennedy even went on a media tour telling media outlets that she wanted the Senate seat and even had her cousin Kerry Kennedy do some lobbying for her on the major television networks. Caroline Kennedy met with other New York upstate political wigs to get their blessing and met with Rev. Al Sharpton in order to court his support and political backing. Then finally Caroline Kennedy met with Governor David Patterson about her interest in filling the soon to be vacant Senate seat of Hillary Clinton. But what was even more intriguing is that Caroline Kennedy hired a political campaign manager as if she was running for the United States Senate seat.

Nonetheless on the eve before Hillary Clinton was to vacate her Senate seat and be appointed the next Secretary of State, a report came out that Caroline Kennedy was no longer interested in the New York United States Senate seat. In fact, the breaking news came out the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration because earlier that day Caroline Kennedy’s Uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, had collapsed at the Inaugural luncheon. Then the next morning it was no longer speculation that Caroline Kennedy was no longer seeking the seat but it was official because she notified Governor Patterson that because of personal reasons she is no longer interested in the United States Senate seat of New York.

So on the eve that everyone in the news media believed that Caroline Kennedy was going to be appointed by Governor Patterson, it seems as if Caroline Kennedy walked away from it all. However what many people don’t understand about people or families like the Kennedy’s they are strategic in their planning. So while the New York United States Senate seat that was once held by Caroline’s other Uncle Robert Kennedy might seem lucrative to most, let’s be realistic, would you want to hold the seat that your uncle had or what your father had. It is clear that Senator Edward Kennedy probably won’t be able to get through the whole year of 2009 so in 2010, his seat will have to be up for special election and if Caroline Kennedy moves to the state of Massachusetts, she will not only get elected but she will win hands down for not only being a Kennedy but the daughter of perhaps the most famous Kennedy, JFK.

For those who think for a minute that Caroline Kennedy was just playing the media for a fool in terms of her political ambitious, really don’t understand the psyche of the Kennedy family. The Kennedy’s are more than just a political family but they are a political brand that carries a lot of weight within the Democratic Party. Although in recent years and decades, the Kennedy’s have not had a viable candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America, the reality is that Caroline Kennedy is the next great Kennedy. With her cousin Robert Kennedy Jr. not living up to his father’s name with some of the troubles he has had, it is clear that Caroline Kennedy can be charming to some and her personality will yield her political fundraising capital. Nonetheless, Caroline Kennedy needs to be polished a little bit about policies and issues but nonetheless; she could very well be the next Kennedy on the national political scene.

While I think Caroline Kennedy will be the next Senator from Massachusetts although she has lived her whole life in New York, there is still a possibility that Caroline runs for the New York U.S. Senate seat in 2010 but I highly doubt it. I will entertain this notion and say that if Caroline Kennedy does decides to stay in New York and want to seek the Senate seat, it will be tough to be Gillenbrand because she is not your typical Democrat which makes her appealing for some Republicans to vote for which will help Gillenbrand’s chances of winning the New York Senate seat in 2010. Gillenbrand might lose some of the hardcore Democratic base but I believe that Caroline Kennedy will have a much tougher time to win over moderates and independents as well as Republicans in order to have them vote in the New York Democratic primary for the United States Senate seat. Then if many of you think about it, the Attorney General of New York Andrew Comas, the former husband of Caroline Kennedy’s cousin Kerry, might also seek the seat so that would shrink the base of Democrats and independents to support Caroline Kennedy even less. Thus with Caroline Kennedy running for the United States Senate seat in 2010 would be a tough task for her because she would have to defeat two tough opponents who will be attractive to many voters. Also with Caroline Kennedy being inexperience in politics and a new comer to many in the state of New York, it could be tough for her to learn all the issues of the state and present her arguments in a way that the voters understand.

Then if Caroline Kennedy really wanted the United States Senate seat of New York, she should have just stayed in the running and she would have been appointed than she would have had the opportunity to defend her seat in the 2010 election against only the like of Andrew Comas and not Gillenbrand. However since Gillenbrand was appointed, it is clear that it will be tough to unseat her because of her appeal to Republicans and some moderates as well as independents. The best hope for Caroline Kennedy is that Andrew Comas runs for Governor of the state of New York against David Patterson so that it would make Caroline’s job of beating Gillenbrand in the primaries a whole lot easier. Therefore there are a lot of if’s surrounding Caroline Kennedy running for the New York United States Senate seat in 2010 and that is why I don’t think she is interested in that seat anymore.

The Kennedy family not Caroline wanted her to pursue that New York Senate seat but with her uncle Senator Ted Kennedy being more ill than expected. It is clear that the Kennedy’s want to hold on to the Senate seat of Massachusetts than the Senate seat of New York. The Kennedy’s are infamous in Massachusetts politics and that is why the United States Senate seat that Senator Ted Kennedy has, is more lucrative and meaningful to the Kennedy family. Caroline Kennedy will re-emerge on the political scene and she will deliver a touching yet powerful speech about how her uncle not only encouraged her to seek the Massachusetts United States Senate seat but inspired her with his words of how much he would like for her to succeed him. Trust me people, the Kennedy’s are strategic people who are thoughtful and caring so it will not be of any surprise to me that they would try to pass on the Massachusetts Senate seat to a family members.

Now the wild card in the matter is Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and whether or not he will appoint Caroline Kennedy to the soon to be vacant Senator Edward Kennedy seat. Nonetheless, I don’t believe that Caroline Kennedy will be appointed the next United States Senator of Massachusetts but she will actually take the time to run for this seat and will the seat because Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will not support anyone he appoints to the vacant seat at least not wholeheartedly giving the Kennedy’s a chance to retain the seat once held by Caroline’s father and held by her uncle Teddy. Then again Governor Patrick is still a wild card because he might run to be the next United States Senator instead of seeking another term as Governor. There’s a lot of political wrangling that needs to take place but rest assure that Caroline Kennedy’s political ambitious are not over.

Caroline Kennedy will run for office and will hold office within the next four years and that is something many of you can bank on. The Kennedy’s are ready to re-emerge and Caroline Kennedy will be the re-birth of the Kennedy family and dynasty within America’s politics and the Democratic Party. So it is clear that that Caroline is the beckon of hope for many of the Kennedy clan and what’s next for her is for her to be the next Kennedy politician until the next crop of Kennedy’s are ready to lead.