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Inflationary pressures were subdued, the data showed, with real hourly compensation falling -- a hopeful sign for the fight against inflation, but troubling for economic growth. Productivity in the nonfarm business sector rose a 2.2% annualized rate in the second quarter, a bit slower than the 2.7% rate that economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for. See Economic Calendar. Unit labor costs -- a key gauge of inflationary pressures from labor markets -- rose 1.3% compared with the 1.6% rate expected by economists. Output rose an annualized 1.7% in the quarter, while hours worked dipped 0.5% and real hourly...

In past weeks, I read comment after comment that it doesn’t matter whether Pelosi and Reid bring up legislation to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling, after all the moratorium expires September 30th. Therefore, as of October 1st, we can drill and Bush can veto any bill that renews the moratorium. In reality, however, that thought process is too simplistic and does not represent how the moratorium is achieved and maintained. In reality, there is no magical bill that ...

Oil prices resumed their descent Friday, dropping briefly below $116 a barrel as a huge jump in the U.S. dollar and expectations of slowing global demand offset supply concerns over a sabotaged pipeline in Turkey.

MIAMI - A man who authorities said was keeping weapons and military-style gear in his hotel room and car appeared in court yesterday on charges he threatened to assassinate Barack Obama. Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, was arrested by the Secret Service on Saturday in Miami and was ordered held without bail yesterday by a federal magist

The federal moratorium on offshore drilling has to be renewed every year and, failing that, it expires. President Bush can come out at the beginning of September, welcome Nancy and Harry and all the kids back from their summer vacation, and tell them that October 1, 2008 is America's Energy Independence Day. The president will proclaim that despite months of cajoling, he could not get the Democrats to help the American people through this energy crunch, so he will throw open for careful, environmentally safe drilling, all of America's offshore areas that were previously off limits. Any attempt to extend...

A MAN with self-described mental health problems was ordered held without bail in Florida on charges that he had threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama or President George W. Bush. Raymond Hunter Geisel was arrested by the Secret Service in Miami on Saturday after making threats before other participants against both Mr Bush and Senator Obama at a bail bondsman's training course, according to federal court papers. A Secret Service affidavit said Mr Geisel denied making the threats. But he told a Secret Service agent, in comments he later described a a joke, that if he wanted to...

<p>MIAMI - A man who authorities said was keeping weapons and military-style gear in his hotel room and car appeared in court Thursday on charges he threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, was arrested by the Secret Service on Saturday in Miami and was ordered held at Miami's downtown detention center without bail Thursday by a federal magistrate. A Secret Service affidavit charges that Geisel made the threat during a training class for bail bondsmen in Miami in late July. According to someone else in the 48-member class, Geisel allegedly referred to Obama with a racial epithet and continued, "If he gets elected, I'll assassinate him myself." Obama was most recently in Florida on Aug. 1-2 but did not visit the South Florida area. Another person in the class quoted Geisel as saying that "he hated George W. Bush and that he wanted to put a bullet in the president's head," according to the Secret Service. Geisel denied in a written statement to a Secret Service agent that he ever made those threats, and the documents don't indicate that he ever took steps to carry out any assassination. He was charged only with threatening Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, but not for any threat against President Bush. Geisel's court-appointed attorney declined comment. The charge of threatening a major candidate for president or vice president carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. The Obama campaign declined comment Thursday on the alleged threat. In the interview with a Secret Service agent, Geisel said "if he wanted to kill Senator Obama he simply would shoot him with a sniper rifle, but then he claimed that he was just joking,"</p>

AUGUST 7--A Florida man is facing federal charges for allegedly threatening the life of Senator Barack Obama. According to a criminal complaint, Raymond Geisel made the threats while attending a recent bail bondsman training course in Miami. During that course, Geisel allegedly told another attendee, "That nigger, if he gets elected, I'll assassinate him myself." Another attendee told investigators that Geisel, 22, also said that he wanted to put a bullet in President George W. Bush's head. Confronted by federal agents, Geisel denied threatening Obama, but said that if he wanted to kill the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee "he would...

MIAMI - A man is being held in Florida by federal authorities on charges of threatening to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. ADVERTISEMENT Raymond Hunter Geisel was ordered held without bail Thursday at a brief court hearing. The Secret Service says Geisel made the threat during a training class for bail bondsmen in Miami in late July.

Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. James 4:11

One thing that hasn't received much attention in conservative and Republicans circles is the ongoing conversation on the left about the possibility of Nuremberg-style war-crimes trials for members of the Bush administration should a Democratic president take office. I'm not exaggerating or introducing the Nazi analogy myself; they actually use the phrase "Nuremberg-style" when they discuss "war-crimes tribunals." And they are quite serious (although the more moderate of them prefer a "truth commission.") At the Netroots Nation gathering in Austin, Texas last month — that is the successor to YearlyKos — Dahlia Lithwick, of the Washington-Post-owned website Slate, did an...

SEOUL, South Korea — Saying the United States is engaged in an "ideological struggle" to promote freedom, President Bush told troops and their families at U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan on Wednesday that removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision at the time and is still the right decision. "I know some people in the United States say we’re not at war, that it’s a simple law enforcement matter," Bush said during the first speech of his weeklong Asia tour. "Well, in law enforcement you respond after the crime. Hopefully, the Sept. 11, 2001, lesson will teach us all that...

Republican mocks 'Beijing George' Posted: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 12:31 PM by Domenico MontanaroFiled Under: White House, Republicans, 2008 *snip* before jetting off, the President's spokesman Tony Fratto bid "Beijing George's" best wishes to the Democrats' "Drill Nothing" 110th Congress: 'We don't have plans to call Congress into session -- it won't make a difference if Democratic leaders are unwilling to bring up a bill for an up-down vote.'" *snip* Facing an "impossible" re-election, on July 26, 1948, the wildly unpopular and doggedly anti-communist President Harry S. Truman accepted his Democratic nomination and boldly confronted the GOP's "Do Nothing"80th Congress:"My duty...

Over at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft introduces us to Amy Proctor's report on the amazingly large crowd of South Koreans that came out to welcome George W. Bush to their country. It's a good thing that Amy clued us in here in America, because our media sure ignored the story of this large turnout. Amy directs our attention to The Korea Times report that revealed that 374 "conservative groups" intended to "stage a large-scale demonstration welcoming Bush, at Seoul Plaza," and boy did they ever come through. It turns out, the anti-Bush protesters were only able to muster a could...

Bush to rebuke China on human rights, dissidents Wed Aug 6, 2008 9:42am EDT BANGKOK (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush plans to voice deep concerns about human rights in China in a speech on Thursday, hours before he arrives in Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games. "The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings," Bush will say in a speech in Bangkok, copies of which were released in advance. "So America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights...

Amid these very bad weeks for Republican John McCain's hopes for victory in November, the cruelest blow of all is surely that President George Bush has plainly decided to let McCain sink, without even pretending to toss a life belt to his fellow Republican. Two mean-spirited men by nature, Bush and McCain have never liked each other much, and this natural animosity was fanned by the vicious nomination fights of 2000, when Bush routed McCain with salvoes of slurs, including one about a black "love child" supposedly disfiguring the senator's escutcheon. Both are now in poor political shape, with contradictory...

Report: Sadr to disarm Mahdi Army Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, August 6, 2008 Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr intends to disarm his once-dominant Mahdi Army militia and remake it as a social-services organization, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The transformation would represent a significant turnaround for a group that has been one of the most destabilizing anti-American forces in Iraq. A new brochure, obtained by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by al-Sadr’s chief spokesman, Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, states that the Mahdi Army will now be guided by Shiite spirituality instead of anti-American militancy. The group will focus...

A presidential committee explored the ethics of health system reform and plans to release a report later this year. Chicago -- A panel appointed by President Bush that met here in June appears set to endorse some form of societal obligation to provide health care access to all. The meeting was part of the President's Council on Bioethics initiative examining the ethical underpinnings of approaches to reforming the nation's health system and covering the estimated 47 million uninsured Americans. A report is likely to be issued after the November election. Bush established the council in November 2001 to advise him...

Full text of joint statement of South Korea-U.S. summit SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- The following is the full text of a joint statement released after the summit between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President George W. Bush in Seoul on Wednesday. President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea and President George W. Bush of the United States of America held a summit meeting in Seoul on August 6, 2008. The two Presidents recalled that their first summit meeting at Camp David on April 19 was a milestone in the development of a ROK-U.S. strategic alliance for...

“In death there is something to celebrate..." - Affad Shaikh, ‘Celebrating Death,’ December 20, 2007 Last month, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed at the U.S./Mexico border held the Civil Rights Coordinator of CAIR-California, Affad Shaikh, and others whom he was with for questioning. The agents suspected that the group had the intention of coming to the United States to assassinate President Bush. The following will provide a detailed context for why the CBP would believe such a thing and will make the case as to why the U.S. government should not drop the issue. Affad Shaikh has spent...

First of all my apologies for being so late, but I waited for the White House site to update the sitePresident Bush had a stopover at Eielson AFB, Alaska where he spend some time with the troopsPresident Bush, First Lady Laura, Bush and daughter Barbara arrived this morning in South Korea on the first leg of their trip to Asia. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

A map of President Bush's motorcade to Camp David was found last week in the possession of a teenager accused of stockpiling weapons and bomb-making materials, according to prosecutors. With the possibility that the motorcade was a target, federal authorities have joined police in investigating Collin Matthew McKenzie-Gude, 18, who allegedly was storing the weapons and materials just outside Washington, D.C., at the Bethesda, Md., home where he lives with his parents. MyFOXDC.com reports that Assistant State's Attorney Peter Feeney disclosed the discovery of the map of Camp David during a court hearing on Tuesday in Rockville, Md. The map...

Snip-- CIA director George J. Tenet regarding the publication of “The Way of the World,” by Ron Suskind: ... the book is seriously flawed. One supposed “news” item from the book apparently asserts that British intelligence had a high-placed Iraqi source who convincingly told them before the start of the war that Iraq had no WMD and that the British relayed this to the United States. As Mr. Suskind tells it, the White House directed (and CIA allegedly went along with) burying that information so that the war could go ahead as planned. This is a complete fabrication. In fact,...

John McCain's message machine shifted gears today -- after a week or so of offbeat efforts to annoy and exasperate Barack Obama, the Republican's campaign launched a new bid to distance himself from the titular head of his own party. A 60-second McCain television ad airing in several of this year's key battleground states seeks to both remind voters of the "maverick" image that gained him national prominence and undercut arguments that he's a President Bush clone. Indeed, the spot's third sentence offers this starkly negative assessment of the incumbent's second term: "We’re worse off than we were four years...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is rushing the clock and running out of time as he tries to stare down nuclear threats on three fronts. Bush has seen Iran ignore a weekend deadline to say whether it will haggle with the U.S. and others worried that Iran is racing toward the bomb. And he has just days to decide whether to reward another adversary, North Korea, for inconclusive steps to get rid of weapons it already has.</p>

Oil falls to three-month low of $118 By Alex Lawler Reuters - 1 hour 9 minutes ago LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell to $118 a barrel on Tuesday, a three-month low, as investors focused on rising OPEC supply and declining demand in the United States and Europe. (Advertisement) The loss extends a slide from the July 11 record high of $147.27 a barrel, despite a Gulf of Mexico storm that has curbed oil output, and is prompting some to say that oil's rally has run its course for now. "Most of the hedge funds have been taking profits," said Angus...

S. Korean riot police are firing orange-dyed water to anti-Bush left-wing protesters to tag them for later arrest. The colored water also contains tear gas agent. Bush is visiting S. Korea today.

Infuriated Democrats vowed Monday to kill a pilot program that gives Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways after the Bush administration - acting on the first day of Congress' summer recess - announced that it was extending the test project. Rep. James L. Oberstar, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the administration's maneuver was the latest attempt to flout the will of Congress on the matter, and said he will introduce legislation ending the program once and for all. "When Congress reconvenes in September, I intend to have the full House of Representatives approve our bill as quickly...

The Colombian TV released footage taken by the army during the rescue operation of July 2, 2008 where several hostages were freed, including presidential hopeful Ingrid Betancourt and 3 American citizens. American CIA and Israeli Mossad were involved in this operation.

A Barack Obama victory in November will not be a historical event. The press will try to hype it as such, but that will be another Fourth Estate illusion. If Obama defeats John McCain, it won’t be a “world-changing moment”, but it will be another example of backlash politics—something that has been a part of the United States for decades. Jimmy Carter exploited backlash politics to peanut-farm his way into the White House in 1976. Many Americans were still livid over Richard Nixon’s actions during Watergate, and were less than thrilled with Gerald Ford’s decision to give Nixon an unconditional...

Middle East Meltdown? by: Rachel Paulk, August 04, 2008 The casualty count for the War in Iraq has reached a new low—over the month of July 2008, 12 U.S. troops were killed. The monthly casualty average for 2008 is at 31, down from the 2007 monthly casualty average of 75, which was the highest seen in the 5-year span of the war. This positive decrease has generated a buzz about the success of the surge, with the Associated Press declaring in a piece entitled “Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost” that “The United States is now winning...

In January 2007, with Iraq in flames and Democrats set to take over Congress, President Bush had two options. He could side with Senator Barack Obama and begin a gradual drawdown of American troops in Iraq, leaving the Iraqis to a grim fate and dealing a serious and consequential blow to American interests in the Middle East and beyond. Or he could side with Senator John McCain and change strategies, sending additional troops to Iraq in an effort to secure the population and assist the Iraqis in their fight against al Qaeda and the Iranian-backed Shiite militias--the so-called "surge" policy....

Bush warns Pakistan of ‘serious action’ Monday, August 04, 2008 LONDON: The United States has accused Pakistan’s main spy agency of deliberately undermining Nato efforts in Afghanistan by helping the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants they are supposed to be fighting, the Sunday Times reported. President George W Bush confronted Yusuf Raza Gilani in Washington last week with evidence of involvement by the ISI in a deadly attack on the Afghan capital and warned of retaliation if it continues. The move comes amid growing fears that Pakistanís tribal areas are turning into a global launch pad for terrorists. Gilani, on his...

How odd that President Bush, once a darling of conservatives, will come to be loathed by most of them. Bush's legacy, all but set in stone as his days in office dwindle, will not only be the crippling war in Iraq, which he will leave to his successor to end, but stunning changes in government. He just signed an astonishingly vast housing law, dismaying many conservatives. After threatening a veto, he privately, without the press to record the moment, signed a measure supposed to keep as many as 400,000 homeowners out of foreclosure (although more than 3 million are in...

President Bush arrived in Kennebunkport on Thursay evening. He will remain there until Sunday. Today, he will attend a wedding of one of his cousin’s son on the grounds of the Bush home on Walker point. Love at White House; Bush staffers to wed in Kennebunkport The Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. President Bush chastised Democrats on Saturday for refusing to allow a vote on whether to lift the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "I know that high energy prices are making this a difficult time for many of our...

he White House has been alerted by NASA about plans to make an announcement soon on major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the "potential for life" on Mars, scientists tell Aviation Week & Space Technology. Sources say the new data do not indicate the discovery of existing or past life on Mars. Rather the data relate to habitability--the "potential" for Mars to support life--at the Phoenix arctic landing site, sources say.

COMMENTARY According to some political operatives and willing members of the dominant media, the nation has a President who is extraordinarily inept. Yet other critics say George W. Bush is evil beyond description. But conventional wisdom among the President's detractors implies Bush is both of these things, inept and evil, to a point never before seen in world history. According to the far left, Bush, a bumbling fool, is one of the great evil masterminds of our times. However, no one has ever accused liberals of basing their views on logic or truth. If this sounds extreme, it is. To...

The president again pinned the prospect of oil drilling off the coastline — considered a long-term energy solution — to today's high gas prices for consumers. "The American people are rightly frustrated by the failure of the Democratic leaders in Congress to enact commonsense solutions," the president said. Bush acknowledged that development of oil resources in waters off the coastlines, an area known as the Outer Continental Shelf, would take time. But he said that only creates more urgency for Congress to lift its legislative ban on drilling in these protected waters before lawmakers leave Washington for summer break.

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryAugust 2, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Economy      In Focus: EnergyTHE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend marks the beginning of August, the month when many Americans take their summer vacation. This year, however, the high price of gas is taking a toll on summer travelers. Congress is now taking a month-long recess of its own. Unfortunately, Democratic leaders are leaving town without taking any action to ease the burden of high gas prices on families across America. The fundamental source of high gas prices is the fact...

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend marks the beginning of August, the month when many Americans take their summer vacation. This year, however, the high price of gas is taking a toll on summer travelers. Congress is now taking a month-long recess of its own. Unfortunately, Democratic leaders are leaving town without taking any action to ease the burden of high gas prices on families across America. The fundamental source of high gas prices is the fact that supply is not keeping pace with demand. To reduce pressure on prices, we need to increase the supply of oil, especially oil...

The Post-Rove Guru How the Republican Party stopped dreaming about a permanent majority and learned to think like McCain strategist Steve Schmidt. Laurence Lowe, The New Republic Published: Thursday, July 31, 2008 Sergeant Schmidt. The Artillery Shell. The Bullet. Even in the hyper-competitive world of political media strategists--a line of work that tends to reward the studied deployment of affectation and outsized personality--Steve Schmidt, the tough-talking, shaven-headed, 37-year old former high school tight end from North Plainfield, New Jersey, who recently emerged from a scrum among John McCain's inner circle to become the head of day-to-day operations, arrived on the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: What are...? (interruption) Interrupting for what? THE PRESIDENT: Hello! RUSH: Oh, jeez. The president? THE PRESIDENT: Rush Limbaugh? RUSH: Yes, sir, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: President George W. Bush calling to congratulate you on 20 years of important and excellent broadcasting. RUSH: Well, thank you, sir. You've stunned me! (laughing) I'm shocked. But thank you so much. THE PRESIDENT: That's hard to do. RUSH: (laughing) I know, it is. THE PRESIDENT: I'm here with a room full of admirers. There are two others that would like to speak to you and congratulate you, people who consider you...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – President Bush this week approved the death penalty for an Army private convicted of committing multiple murders and rapes in the late 1980s on Fort Bragg, N.C. Exercising the commander in chief’s final authority to approve capital punishment for a servicemember, Bush issued the order against Pvt. Ronald A. Gray on July 28, the first time such a presidential directive has been invoked in 51 years. Gray faces the death penalty after being convicted of two killings, one count of attempted murder and of raping all three victims, among other crimes he was found guilty...

"I am never better. I'm so glad that you three called me. I'm stunned here. It's great to hear from you," Limbaugh said. (Go to link to hear)

Good morning. This has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq. Violence is down to its lowest level since the spring of 2004, and we're now in our third consecutive month with reduced violence levels holding steady. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker caution that the progress is still reversible, but they report that there now appears to be a "degree of durability" to the gains we have made. A significant reason for this sustained progress is the success of the surge. Another is the increasing capability of the Iraqi forces. Iraqi forces now have 192 combat battalions in the...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2008 – Citing improved conditions in Iraq, President Bush announced today that soldiers deploying there from tomorrow on will serve 12-month tours of duty. Army tours in Iraq were extended from 12 to 15 months in April 2007. Pentagon civilian and military officials have expressed the intent to cut Iraq tour lengths from 15 to 12 months for some time. Violence in Iraq has decreased to its lowest levels in four years, which indicates that the security gains achieved there in recent months may be lasting, Bush said today at the White House. “Violence is down...

NEVADA, Iowa (CNN) -- President Bush released an energy strategy for his administration Thursday with an eye toward the long term, but critics swiftly accused him of ignoring immediate problems. "We face a shortage of energy," Bush said in an appearance Thursday afternoon in Iowa. "It is real. It is not the imagination of anybody in my administration. It's a real problem." In Iowa and earlier, in Minnesota, Bush said his plan would encourage new, environmentally friendly exploration for new sources of oil and natural gas, while encouraging conservation efforts and developing other sources of energy as well. "One thing...

Today President George W. Bush addressed remarks on Iraq to reporters on the Colonnade at the White House. President Bush said it has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq, with violence down to its lowest level since the spring of 2004. President Bush Discusses Iraq(Synopsis by Daisy: The surge is working, we are winning the war in Iraq, Iraqi forces are gradually taking over the defense of their country, our troops are slowly coming home. This is not news but W has to keep explaining it to the obtuse MSM, most Dems and, sadly, a few Republicans.) President...

GATES MILLS, Ohio -- President George W. Bush made a pit stop on his way back to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Tuesday evening. After leaving a fundraiser in Gates Mills, his motorcade passed a home with a sign asking the president to stop by -- so he did. Bush got out of the car and spent a few minutes with Ruth Harris, who was celebrating her 91st birthday with her family. Bush sat in a chair next to Harris and said "91 years old -- how special." When neighbors noticed what was happening, they soon surrounded the president for...

(NECN: West Virginia) - President Bush spoke before the West Virginia Coal Association this morning. "This is a challenging time, not the first time we've been through challenging times," said President Bush. "In the second quarter, the economy grew at a rate of 1.9%. Not as good as we'd like it to be, but there were predictions that the economy would shrink this quarter, not grow. But, in fact, the opposite has happened," said Bush. "Productivity increases are up, which makes America's goods more competitive," said Bush. "Exports are on the rise. Durable good orders are strong. Businesses are anticipating...