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Israelis were given yet another reason to view US President Barack Obama with suspicion last week when he appointed former senator Chuck Hagel as the new head of his Intelligence Advisory Board. Hagel has long rubbed Israel and its supporters the wrong way, and last month he reiterated his antagonistic positions when addressing the liberal Jewish lobby group J-Street. Hagel told his audience that meeting Arab demands for a Palestinian state on ancient Jewish lands is "is central, not peripheral, to U.S. vital security interests in combating terrorism." Israel has for years been trying to impress upon Washington to not...

Note: The following text is a quote: Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Executive Orders The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release October 29, 2009 President Obama Signs Executive Order to Amend Executive Order 13462 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 28, 2009 EXECUTIVE ORDER ---------------- AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 13462 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Executive Order 13462 of February 29, 2008, is amended...

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama introduced former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel and former Oklahoma Sen. David Boren as co-chairmen of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. The goal of the board, Hagel said Wednesday, is to provide "thoughtful, informed and independent advice" to the president regarding America's intelligence-gathering agencies and how they can best work effectively to collect and share information to make critical decisions. In a phone interview from his Georgetown University office, he said intelligence directs America's security efforts, informs policy and ultimately protects the country from not only terrorist and militaristic threats, but also energy and economic crises....

JERUSALEM – Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., are among the keynote speakers slated to address the annual dinner of J Street, a controversial Israel lobby group accused of working against the Jewish state, while scores of lawmakers are backing out of the event amid news media coverage of the organization's agenda. Nearly 160 congressional lawmakers, mostly Democrats, endorsed the Oct. 26 dinner with some reportedly slated to attend. The night's speaker list includes politicians as well as poet Josh Healey, who has penned works implying Israel is perpetuating a Holocaust against Palestinians. J Street brands...

HH: There are five Americans, Bill Kristol, who by simple act of resignation could rally a lot of concerned citizens – Secretary Gates, Generals Petraeus, McChrystal, Jones, and Odierno. Of course, Jones, retired and [is now] in the White House. Do you agree with me that if any of those five said I cannot be part of this administration as a result of their policy decisions, that that would mobilize public opinion? BK: I think it would help, and I wonder if General McChrystal will say if something pretty close to his recommendation isn’t accepted, but you know, I think...

The Subprime home mortgage collapse...a Primer. It's ALL about the CRA of 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 - This required banks to offer credit throughout their entire market area for “underserved” populations and small businesses. The CRA gave incentives to help low income borrowers become “home owners”. Liberals call this group “low income borrowers”. Conservatives call them a RISK!The CRA was passed by the Carter administration. In 1995 the Clinton administration authorized subprime loans under the CRA. Democrats added these provisions for the securitization of subprime loans and then ENFORCED the lending to high risk individuals. By 2000,...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A delegation of U.S. ex-senators pressed for better relations between Moscow and Washington during talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, the latest in a series of high-level contacts. The fact Medvedev met former senators Gary Hart and Chuck Hagel -- whose rank does not automatically qualify them for a Kremlin audience -- appeared to be a sign Moscow welcomed moves from Washington to relaunch their troubled relationship. Medvedev and new U.S. President Barack Obama are expected to meet for the first time next month on the sidelines of a Group of 20 Summit in London....

I have been privileged over the last twelve years to represent you in the United States Senate. These have been years of historical significance and global reorientation. An inventory of these times includes: an impeachment and trial of a U.S. President; an American presidential election decided by the Supreme Court; crossing over into the 21st century with an unprecedented attack on the United States on September 11, 2001; the historic changing of majorities in the U.S. Senate in the middle of a Congress; the U.S. invasion of two countries resulting in two of the longest wars in U.S. history (which...

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, Chuck Hagel, who has made the decision to retire from the United States Senate, a Republican Senator from Nebraska, has taken on the leader of the conservative movement. HAGEL: Every country out there has their know-nothing party. And of course we're much educated by the great entertainers like Rush Limbaugh and others. I wish those people would run for office. They have so much to contribute and so much leadership, and they have an answer for everything, and they'd be elected overwhelmingly if Rush would run for anything or any of those people. They love just...

On Today’s Show... Chuck Hagel attacks the Leader of the Conservative Movement, Rush Limbaugh, and says if he has all the answers he should run for office. David Shuster and E.J. Dionne agree: more moderate Republicans are the answer. Yeah, it worked for McCain! Pearl of Wisdom: "I have an idea for Chuck Hagel. Senator Hagel, why don't you try being a talk show host? Since being a Senator and having people criticize you is so difficult, let's see if you can handle this arena." (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here) Al-Qaeda's Zawahiri copies Harry Belafonte and smears Obama as...

Door, meet Hagel. That's how many Republicans are likely to react after retiring Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel blasted Republicans in general and Rush Limbaugh in particular, claiming Rush and fellow conservative talkers "don't have any answers." David Shuster, subbing for Olbermann on tonight's Countdown, highlighted Hagel's remarks of today. View video here. After rolling tape of two Republican senators looking on the bright side, Shuster quoted at length from Hagel, whose name had been bandied about as a possible Obama VP pick. SHUSTER: Not all of the GOP is so sunny about their party. Retiring Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska...

Door, meet Hagel. That's how many Republicans are likely to react after the retiring Nebraska senator blasted Republicans in general and Rush Limbaugh in particular, claiming Rush and fellow conservative talkers "don't have any answers." David Shuster, subbing for Olbermann on tonight's Countdown, highlighted Hagel's remarks of today. View video here.

As his Senate career nears its end, Republican Chuck Hagel isn't holding back when it comes to criticizing members of his own party — including conservative talk radio hosts. "We are educated by the great entertainers like Rush Limbaugh," Hagel said Tuesday during a speech in Washington, according to the Huffington Post. "You know, I wish Rush Limbaugh and others like that would run for office," a sarcastic Hagel continued. "They have so much to contribute and so much leadership and they have an answer for everything. And they would be elected overwhelmingly. [The truth is] they try to rip...

Obama Cabinet could include Republicans like Hagel By ANNA JO BRATTON Saturday, Nov 15, 2008 - 01:46:13 pm CST OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel's political career may keep going after he leaves the Senate in January, if predictions that he'll be chosen as a member of Barack Obama's Cabinet prove true. The Democratic president-elect has said he'll put Republicans in his administration, and Hagel's name continues to be on the short list of candidates that political blogs and news stories suggest for jobs in the Obama administration. Others believed to be under consideration for secretary of state include...

Talk about burying the political hatchet, even Senator Ben Nelson is ready to recommend Chuck Hagel for a promotion. Hagel's name is making the rounds for a slot in the Obama White House, and Nelson tells me Hagel has excellent foreign policy credentials. The cabinet slot most associated with Hagel is Secretary of Defense

Place your bets now!

WASHINGTON – Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse. In the cross hairs of the campaign carried out by DCI of Washington were Republican senators and a regulatory overhaul bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. DCI's chief executive is Doug Goodyear, whom John McCain's campaign later hired to manage the GOP convention in September. Freddie Mac's payments to DCI began shortly after the Senate Banking, Housing...

Sen. Barack Obama has done America a great service by leaking some names of likely cabinet nominees to the Times of London. For Secretary of Defense, The One is is looking to the Republican whose own bad judgment most closely duplicated Sen. Obama's own in fervently opposing the Surge and demanding that we surrender in Iraq on a strict timetable: Sen. Chuck Hagel. In January 2007, Sen. Hagel was quoted as saying that the surge would be "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it's carried out." This is the Obama definition of "working with...

RICHMOND, Va. - The wife of Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel plans to endorse Democrat Barack Obama. Lilibet Hagel has scheduled a 10 a.m. news conference in Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday with Susan Eisenhower, the daughter of Republican President Eisenhower. Hagel, R-Neb., has made no endorsement. Lilibet Hagel said in an Associated Press interview that her decision was independent of her husband. She said she didn't know whether he would make an endorsement or whom he would support. "You'd have to ask him," Lilibet Hagel said. She said it will be her first endorsement of a Democrat and that perilous world...

Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting to delay coming to an agreement with the Bush administration on the status of U.S. troops. "Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a drawdown of the American military presence," Post columnist Amir Taheri wrote, quoting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who told the Post that Obama, during his meeting with Iraqi leaders in July, "asked why we were...

The anger felt by many Nebraska Republicans toward Sen. Chuck Hagel rose to new heights Thursday after Hagel questioned whether Sarah Palin has the experience to serve as president. State Republicans are "worn out" with Hagel and his propensity for controversial comments aimed at fellow Republicans, said Mark Quandahl, chairman of the Nebraska GOP. Quandahl went out of his way to distance the state party from Hagel's remarks about Palin, the party's vice presidential nominee. Quandahl said few Nebraskans would agree with Hagel, the Nebraska party's senior elected official. "The views expressed are his own and would not reflect the...

WASHINGTON — Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party’s vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a “stretch” to say she’s qualified to be president. “She doesn’t have any foreign policy credentials,” Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald....

WASHINGTON - Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president. "She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

"Joe Biden is the right partner for Barack Obama. His many years of distinguished service to America, his seasoned judgment and his vast experience in foreign policy and national security will match up well with the unique challenges of the 21st Century. An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team. Biden's selection is good news for Obama and America."

THE acute phase of the crisis provoked by the Georgian forces’ assault on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, is now behind us. But how can one erase from memory the horrifying scenes of the nighttime rocket attack on a peaceful town, the razing of entire city blocks, the deaths of people taking cover in basements, the destruction of ancient monuments and ancestral graves? Russia did not want this crisis. The Russian leadership is in a strong enough position domestically; it did not need a little victorious war. Russia was dragged into the fray by the recklessness of the Georgian...

WASHINGTON, July 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Sunday defended presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama from recent political attacks. Hagel said during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" that U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the likely GOP nominee, was pushing the ethical envelope by questioning the Illinois senator's motivations for opposing the Iraq war. "I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives, when we start to get into, 'You're less patriotic than me' and 'I'm more patriotic.' I admire and respect John McCain; we talk often. John's better than...

This edition features the visit from senators Obama, Hagel and Reed, and a five-star hotel in Baghdad's International Zone. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21382&Itemid=163

The bill, formerly HR.1302, has passed the House and will soon hit the floor of the senate as S.2433. A brief summation: the United States has to end world poverty. 7% of our GDP has to be allocated to this end.

Brack Obama launched his week-long world tour with a brief stop in Kuwait and then began a longer visit to Afghanistan, ahead of planned stops in Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England. The highly anticipated trip was launched in secrecy, with Obama’s campaign refusing to confirm that he had left the country, citing security reasons. The campaign announced early Saturday morning that Obama was on the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. military later said Obama was greeting U.S. troops at Jalalabad airfield in eastern Afghanistan. Obama made a secret stop in Kuwait and visited U.S. service members, then...

That nervous laughter you hear is the sound of party activists responding to speculation that Barack Obama or John McCain might pick a vice presidential candidate from the opposing party. More specifically, it is reaction to talk that Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) is being seriously considered as a running mate for Barack Obama or that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is a potential choice for John McCain. Though it’s nothing more than unfounded conjecture at this point, top conservative and liberal activists nevertheless say that any cross-party selection of that kind would...

SNIP Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about noon, according to a statement released by his aides. His trip has been cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. SNIP The governor of Nangarhar province, Gul Agha Shirzai, a burly former mujahedeen commander with a brutal past but who is favored by the United States as someone who gets things done, was the only Afghan official to meet Senator Obama and Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, at Jalalabad airfield along with the United...

Omaha, NE - Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's Vice-Presidential stock has jumped again. Hagel's move up the ladder comes as he sets off for a Mid-East road trip with Barack Obama. According to CBS News Hagel is now third in the Obama Veepstakes, behind Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. A week ago Hagel was fourth. All this comes as several sources tell Action 3 News that Hagel's been snubbing the Nebraska's Republican Party. Last week-end at the annual GOP State Convention in La Vista, Hagel was a no-show. State Chairman Mark Quandahl says Hagel did not make...

That nervous laughter you hear is the sound of party activists responding to speculation that Barack Obama or John McCain might pick a vice presidential candidate from the opposing party. More specifically, it is reaction to talk that Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) is being seriously considered as a running mate for Barack Obama or that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is a potential choice for John McCain. Though it’s nothing more than unfounded conjecture at this point, top conservative and liberal activists nevertheless say that any cross-party selection of that kind would...

ASHLAND, Neb. - Presidential candidate John McCain may have differences with Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, but he made it clear Wednesday that he respects his fellow Republican's views on the Iraq war. McCain said that Hagel's criticism of the war, unlike Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's, amounts to an "informed decision" because of the time Hagel has spent in Iraq and studying the issue, McCain said. This was McCain's first campaign trip to Nebraska. The Arizona senator, here to raise money for his presidential bid, praised Hagel and declined to talk about speculation that his Republican colleague and fellow Vietnam...

Sen. Chuck Hagel said Sunday he views his upcoming trip to Iraq and Afghanistan with Sen. Barack Obama as a means of helping build bipartisan consensus in foreign policy. Nebraska’s Republican senator acknowledged for the first time he’ll be traveling with the Democratic presidential nominee into the war zones by issuing a brief written statement. “U.S. policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are at the center of America’s national security,” Hagel said. “These critical issues must be addressed in a bipartisan manner that builds consensus for a bipartisan American foreign policy.” In a joint statement, Hagel and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.,...

RJC: Obama Should Disinvite Hagel from Israel Trip Contact: Press Secretary Suzanne Kurtz Monday, July 14, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (July 14, 2008) -- Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director Matt Brooks issued the followed statement today calling on Sen. Barack Obama to drop Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) from his upcoming trip to Israel: "If Barack Obama is getting advice from Chuck Hagel about Israel, then the American Jewish community has a lot to worry about. Of all the senators with whom Obama could have traveled with, Hagel's record on Israel is one of the worst. Senator Obama should disinvite Senator Hagel...

What is an "Obamacon?" The phrase surfaced in January to describe British conservatives entranced by Barack Obama. On March 13 the American Spectator broadened the term to cover all "conservative supporters" of the Democratic presidential candidate. Their ranks, though growing, feature few famous people. But looming on the horizon are two big potential Obamacons: Colin Powell and Chuck Hagel. Neither Powell, first-term secretary of state for George W. Bush, nor Hagel, retiring after two terms as a U.S. senator from Nebraska, has endorsed Obama. Hagel probably never will. Powell probably will enter Obama's camp at a time of his own...

Barack Obama has already made history in this campaign, but what if he does it one more time by picking a Republican as his V.P.? Salon.com reports about the buzz surrounding GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska as a potential choice for Obama. Hagel admittedly is a long shot for the job. Just imagine the symbolism: Obama could truly hit home the message that he’s serious about changing the way Washington works by running with a Republican. And there’s no better Republican for him to run with than Chuck Hagel. Hagel is retiring at the end of his term. He...

The media, now focusing on the general election, have taken to naming likely vice presidential candidates and frequently include a surprising choice on Sen. Barack Obama's list. Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel found his way onto that list after repeatedly clashing with the Bush administration and fellow Republicans over the Iraq War, the No Child Left Behind law and the prescription-drug plan under Medicare. Hagel, who is not running for re-election, spoke to a crowd of about 150 at the libertarian-minded Cato Institute Thursday to promote his book, "America: Our Next Chapter." He said he isn't saying yes to the...

It's Time to Talk to Syria By JOHN KERRY and CHUCK HAGEL June 5, 2008; Page A19 After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, President George H.W. Bush did the improbable and convinced Syrian President Hafez Assad to join an American-led coalition against a fellow Baathist regime. Today, these leaders' sons have another chance for a diplomatic breakthrough that could redefine the strategic landscape in the Middle East. The recent announcement of peace negotiations between Israel and Syria through Turkey, and the agreement between the Lebanese factions in Qatar – both apparently without meaningful U.S. involvement – should serve as a...

SPIEGEL: Senator Hagel, your friend and Republican presidential candidate John McCain says that the United States Army has a moral obligation to stay in Iraq. Is he right? Hagel: We have responsibilities, no doubt about it. We invaded Iraq, we are occupying Iraq and we have made Iraq dependent on us. By our actions we have done terrible damage to our own country and undermined our interests in the world. SPIEGEL: What are the consequences? Hagel: Our first moral obligation is to our own people whom we keep sending back to Iraq again and again. Four-thousand US soldiers have given...

(Political Animal) HAGEL HEARTS OBAMA....Chuck Hagel (R–Neb.) sure does seem to like the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Not too surprising given their personal relationship, I suppose, but I wonder how many other Republicans secretly agree with him? More than few, I'll bet.

In the race to become Nebraska’s next United States Senator, Mike Johanns (R) leads Scott Kleeb (D) by fifteen percentage points. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Johanns earning 55% of the vote while Kleeb attracts support from 40%. The two men are seeking to replace Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who decided against seeking re-election. Johanns is supported by 78% of Republicans, Kleeb by 72% of Democrats, and unaffiliated voters are evenly divided. Johanns is viewed favorably by 65% of the state’s voters, including 27% who have a Very Favorable opinion of the Republican candidate. Kleeb...

In the race to become Nebraska’s next United States Senator, Mike Johanns (R) leads Scott Kleeb (D) by fifteen percentage points. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Johanns earning 55% of the vote while Kleeb attracts support from 40%. The two men are seeking to replace Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who decided against seeking re-election. Johanns is supported by 78% of Republicans, Kleeb by 72% of Democrats, and unaffiliated voters are evenly divided. Johanns is viewed favorably by 65% of the state’s voters, including 27% who have a Very Favorable opinion of the Republican candidate. Kleeb...

A lesson of Vietnam that applies to Iraq is “the deeper you bog down in a morass, the more difficult it is to get out,” Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday. “The more troops you put in, saying you need another six months or another year, a surge, five more combat brigades.” All of that runs counter to the reality that “we’re going to have to unwind,” Hagel said. “No foreign policy, no war policy can be sustained without the support of the American people,” he said. “Most of them say (Iraq) was a mistake and we want out.” Hagel’s remarks...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Friends of Sen. Chuck Hagel, the Senate's sharpest critic of President Bush's Iraq policy, say there is no chance he will endorse a Democrat for president this year. That does not mean, however, that Hagel necessarily will back the Republican candidate, his friend John McCain. That could depend on whether McCain devises an Iraq exit strategy. Hagel and McCain, who occupy offices in the same second floor corridor of the Russell Senate Office Building, have been spotted conferring on two recent occasions. A footnote: Although the conservative Hagel is an unlikely running mate for either Barack Obama...

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic candidate for president, said on Tuesday that the United States should set a timetable to pull its troops out of Iraq to pressure leaders there to establish peace. "Increased pressure in a measured way, in my mind ... includes a timetable for withdrawal. Nobody's asking for a precipitous withdrawal, but I do think that it has to be a measured but increased pressure," Obama told Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Hagel: Who says we have to win Iraq? Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:19:47 Republican Senator Chuck Hagel says some of the top politicians in Washington hold regrettable views on how the Iraq war should end. In a Thursday interview with CNN, Hagel criticized Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain for framing the situation in Iraq as one that the US must 'win'. "John (McCain), the President and the others have put the Iraqi situation in the wrong context. This isn't a win or lose," said Hagel. "We shouldn't frame this up as a win-or-lose because, when we do that - and this...