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Before Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination in 2008, Joe Biden was widely acknowledged as the Gaffemaster of his party. And if one defines a gaffe as the accidental disclosure of an embarrassing political truth, then the Vice President managed to maintain his reputation this weekend. When addressing a fundraiser for embattled incumbent Senator Russ Feingold in Milwaukee, Biden told an audience to get used to high unemployment, because the jobs lost in the recession aren’t coming back: Vice President Joe Biden gave a stark assessment of the economy today, telling an audience of supporters, “there’s no possibility to restore...

I heard it five times this week, twice Tuesday in a Wall Street bar, two times during the day chatting with investors and then last night at dinner with a pal, an old pro trader from down the block. All said the same word, as if programmed, like pod people in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The word? Malaise. All of the people who used this term were older, friends from the days of trading, wizened veterans of other terrible markets and of course, people who came of age during the Jimmy Carter years, where the unlamented president talked about...

House and Senate negotiators reached a dawn agreement Friday on legislation that redefines federal oversight of Wall Street and, following the signing of the health care act in March, adds another milestone to mark the Obama presidency. President Barack Obama declared victory Friday after congressional negotiators reached agreement on a sweeping overhaul of rules overseeing Wall Street. Lawmakers shook hands on the compromise legislation at 5:39 a.m. after Obama administration officials helped broker a deal that cracked the last impediment to the bill — a proposal to force banks to spin off their lucrative derivatives trading business. The legislation touches...

For many Afghans, U.S. Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's dismissal over intemperate remarks in a magazine profile has served mainly to underscore their own weariness with a conflict that has dragged on for nearly nine years with no end in sight.For some, the general's woes have sharpened fears that the Western campaign against the Taliban movement — which ruled the country for five long, harsh years — is floundering. And many Afghans think that the Americans, like the Soviet Union two decades ago and so many would-be conquerors, ultimately will fail.McChrystal won the respect, even affection, of many Afghans with...

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 20, 2010 Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia President Hussein Obama has declared the week of Jine 28-July 3, National Obsequious Butt-Kissing, Boot-Licking, Repetitive Bowing, I'm Butt-Your-Humble Slave Week in honor of Wahabi-Terrorist King Abdullah's Visit to Our Nation's CapitalThe President will welcome King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia to the White House on June 29. The President looks forward to discussing with King Abdullah the strengthening of bilateral ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia as...

It took Barack Obama less time to become Jimmy Carter than it took Carter. Sure, their presidencies have taken similar tracks – relative Washington newcomers amidst bad economies and talk of cities defaulting on debt. Even the election of Sen. Scott Brown to take over for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy was similar to the GOP taking the seat held by the late Sen. Hubert Humphrey in 1978. That was just the opening act. Carter went down in history as man overwhelmed by the office he held. And Tuesday night, in front of the entire nation, Barack Obama sounded just...

President Obama’s relationship with America, like many a young marriage, is growing sour. That’s my surmise after reviewing recent polling and watching the carping that followed his Oval Office speech (which I thought was just fine, by the way). It is becoming increasingly apparent that the magic has drained away. Even among his most ardent supporters, there now exists a certain frustration and disillusionment — not necessarily in the execution of his duties, but in his inability to seize moments, chart a course and navigate the choppy waters of public opinion. What’s left for many is a big plume of...

There is one question that I would really like an answer to. Who died and made BP king of the Gulf of Mexico? In recent weeks, BP has almost seemed more interested in keeping the American people away from the oil spill than in actually cleaning it up. Journalists are being pushed around and denied access, disaster workers are being intimidated and abused and now BP has even go so far as to hire an army of private mercenaries to enforce their will along the Gulf coast. Are we suddenly living in occupied Iraq? How in the world did a...

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is fuming over a comment by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to an Ecuadorean television station that the government will file a lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law. In a statement Thursday, Brewer said she learned of plans for the lawsuit from the June 8 interview Clinton gave to NTN24. According to a transcript of the interview, Clinton said that President Barack Obama had spoken out against the law because he believes the federal government should set immigration policy. "And the Justice Department, under his direction, will be bringing a lawsuit against the act," Clinton said...

On May 19, almost a month after BP PLC's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the White House tallied its response to the resulting oil spill. Twenty thousand people had been mobilized to protect the shore and wildlife. More than 1.38 million feet of containment boom had been set to trap oil. And 655,000 gallons of petroleum-dispersing chemicals had been injected into the Gulf of Mexico. That same day, as oil came ashore on Louisiana's Gulf coast, thousands of feet of boom sat on a dock in Terrebonne Parish, waiting for BP contractors to install it. Two more days would pass before...

As BP watches its bill rise quickly for the oil spill, including $20 billion it is setting aside for claims, it could find the tally growing much faster in coming months if the United States Department of Justice files criminal charges against the company. Based on the latest estimates, for example, the daily civil fine for the escaping oil alone could be $280 million. But criminal penalties, if imposed, could cause the costs to balloon still further, said David M. Uhlmann, a law professor at the University of Michigan, who headed the environmental crimes section of the Justice Department from...

Americans for Prosperity: Obama's Oval Office speech was so similar to Jimmy Carter's Malaise speech, they almost seamlessly fit together.

Never one to to allow a "good crisis" to go to waste, Barack Obama is pledging to use the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as an opportunity to push the U.S. Congress to pass his controversial climate bill. In fact, during a recent interview Obama directly compared the current crisis in the Gulf to 9/11, and indicated that he believed that it would fundamentally change the way that we all look at energy issues from now on. But the truth is that Obama's climate bill is the same economy killing legislation that it was before the BP...

Growing Anger At Collapse Of U.S.A. Standard Of Living Politics / US Politics Apr 25, 2010 - 07:03 AM By: Global Research Hiram Lee writes: A series of recent studies conducted by the Pew Research Center shed new light on the scope of the economic crisis in the US and the level of hostility the majority of the American population holds for the US government. Released in March, before the passage of the Obama administration’s health care legislation, a survey entitled “Health Care Reform—Can’t Live With It, or Without It” indicates that 92 percent of Americans give the national economy...

<p>The Houston area lost 102,800 jobs from December 2008 to December 2009, a loss of 3.9 percent, the commission reported.</p> <p>The commission also reported today that the local unemployment rate shot up to 8.8 percent in January from 8.2 percent in December.</p>

The government said Tuesday that foreign demand for U.S. Treasury securities fell by the largest amount on record in December with China reducing its holdings by $34.2 billion. The reductions in holdings, if they continue, could force the government to make higher interest payments at a time that it is running record federal deficits. The Treasury Department reported that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, surpassing the previous record of a $44.5 billion drop in April 2009.

The soft-on-terrorism charge is unfair to Obama. But it is gaining traction because of two glaring mistakes. I have instructed my subordinates that suspected Al Qaeda terrorists captured anywhere in the world should be interrogated extensively -- with safeguards against abuse -- before any Miranda warnings or access to lawyers. This approach is legal and it may save lives. Although the specific evidence obtained might in some cases be inadmissible in court, the suspects will be prosecuted based on other evidence once interrogation is completed. This is a major departure from the established policy of all past administrations, of the...

http://www.youdrivewhat.com/ White House Infested With Bedbugs After Biden Brings In Recliner Off The Curb WASHINGTON—The White House suffered a severe bedbug infestation last week after Vice President Joe Biden reportedly "scored" a discarded recliner chair that "someone was just throwing out" on the corner of Windom Road and 32nd Street. "It's plenty comfy, and I'll tell ya, they don't make 'em with levers like this anymore," said Biden, scratching at a series of red welts on his arms as he pointed out the pocket on the side that could hold both a remote control and a Coors tallboy. "It reclines...