Several environmentalists expressed disappointment and dismay Wednesday over President Obama's decision to open key Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters to oil and gas drilling. They believe that it is a danger to the ecosystem and tourism. Another environmentalist praises protection for sensitive areas on West Coast. Obama proposal would keep offshore drilling 125 miles from Florida coast. Florida senator says the plan is better than others proposed.

Divided on Repealing Health Care Law

Most Americans disapprove of the health care reform law, but that does not translate into majority support for the "repeal and replace" strategy backed by most GOP leaders, according to a new national poll.

The Results
56 percent of the public disapproves of the new legislation, with 42 percent approving of the bill that President Obama signed into law last week. More than three in 10 questioned say they dislike most of the bill, with one in four saying they oppose all the proposals in the new law. Fifteen percent say they approve of the new law without reservation, with another one in four saying they support the new reforms but feel they didn't go far enough.

"The new law seems to have riled up Republicans without really getting Democrats fired up. Half of Republicans are angry about the new health care law; most Democrats favor the law but only one in three are enthusiastic about it," adds Holland.

Time To Reload

Sarah Palin was the star speaker at this weekend's Tea Party rally in Nevada. She attacked the 'big three democrats', saying: "We're sending a message to Washington. It's loud and it's clear, and in these upcoming elections we're saying that the big-government, big-debt, Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending spree is over. You're fired!"

Along with repeating familiar tea party themes--government is too big, the healthcare overhaul is socialist--the protesters pointedly answered critics who say the group's rhetoric has fueled violence and threats against Democratic lawmakers. Palin encouraged them with: "Don't ever let anybody tell you to sit down and shut up, Americans!"

They have been accused of doing some of the vandalism, threats and slurs reported by Democrats. Palin’s site used the image of a rifle scope and told her supporters via Twitter, "Don't retreat, instead - RELOAD." She then, at the Tea Party Rally, said that she was not supporting violence.

Saturday's group quickly packed a dirt lot the size of a football field and spilled onto a nearby hill topped with an abandoned mine shaft.
Interspersed were Revolutionary War re-enactors, plastic pitchforks, cut-out torches and skull-and-cross-bones flags with Obama's face superimposed over the skull.
"The real pirates are in Washington," said Judy Hoelscher, who sold the flags for $10 each.
Fred Kubitz of San Diego carried a sign branding Obama, Stalin and Hitler "three socialists."

Immigration Rally

An immigration rally is set at Washington for a Sunday rally demanding immigration reform. The nation will be focused largely on a more immediate debate, the health care votes, the march on the National Mall will be setting the stage for a fight over another issue facing the country.

RIFA:The organization Reform Immigration for America, which supports a path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally, says the changes it wants to see will help bring about "economic justice for all Americans."

FAIR: In response, the Federation for American Immigration Reform -- which staunchly opposes amnesty -- called on Americans to contact their representatives and demand tougher borders and an end to illegal immigration. FAIR says it seeks "effective, sensible immigration policies that work for America's best interests."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, lay out broad ideas for fixing a "badly broken" system:

• Requires biometric SS cards to make sure illegal workers can't get jobs.


• Fulfilling/Strengthening commitments on border security.


• Creating a process for admitting temporary workers.


• Implementing a tough, but fair path to legalization.

Insurers get Attacked

Obama made a final, urgent public plea for health care reform Friday, slamming private insurers and accusing his plan's opponents of spreading lies and distortions. Time for reform is "right now," he says. If the Senate bill passes the House, Obama will sign it into law. If the package of changes is passed, it will be taken up by the Senate. Obama warned that if Congress rejects his plan, "the insurance industry will continue to run amuck."
Nancy Pelosi is struggling to round up 216 votes from her 253-member caucus to pass the plan. No Republicans are expected to back it. Twenty-eight House Democrats have indicated to CNN they will join Republicans in opposing the Senate plan. That leaves opponents of reform 10 votes shy of defeating the measure.
They start the voting on Sunday.

Kucinich

Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Wednesday that he will continue to work toward a single-payer program, despite his decision to reverse course and support President Obama's health care plan. "I'm not a 'my-way-or-the-highway' kind of guy," Kucinich says. Kucinich has been a strong proponent of what he calls "Medicare for all," but said he was willing to settle for something short of that -- at least in the short term. He predicted that if the plan fails, the ramifications will reverberate for years and ge also predicted that the House vote, which could come this weekend, would be close.

Politician? or Comedian?

Sarah Palin went on a late night show to display her...comedian side. She started out with a few political jokes, "The truth is I am glad I am not vice president. I would not know what to do with all that free time," and some others like, "Alaska is so different from Los Angeles. Here, when people have a frozen look on their face, I find out it's botox."

She then talks to Leno about how the media has unfairly targeted members of her family and the notes on her palm during her speech. "Yes, a line was crossed," she said. "I'm still waiting for that line to be uncrossed" she said about how the media targeted her family.

So what exactly is Palin, a politician or a comedian?

Brown is Back

Brown, who won the Massachusetts Senate seat is going to serve on three very influential committees: Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security and Veterans' Affairs Committees. "We are currently involved in two wars, and these committees are critical in keeping our country safe..." says Brown. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell assigned Brown to these committees. Brown is a Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard, where he has served for 30 years, so I believe he has the experience to be on these committees.

DC Allows Same-Sex Marriage

The District of Columbia new law is to go in effect, as scheduled, that will allow same-sex marriage. The district joins Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Iowa in allowing same-sex couples to marry. The couples who are already listed as a 'domestic couple' will get 35$ waived, but still have to pay the 10 dollar fee for the license. They can apply for licenses Wednesday, but have to wait 3 days for them to get approved, so no marriages will take place this week. The Supreme Court refuses to overturn the law and will not stop enforcement of this new law. The Court should defer to local matters in the district, Chief Justice John Roberts says.
CNN

Secretary

The White House announced a new social secretary Saturday. Julianna Smoot, who is chief of staff for the office of U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, will replace Rogers who planned to step down from the office. Obama is glad to have her join their team. She first came under scrutiny when that couple 'crashed' the white house party, she said it wasn't the social secretary's job, but the secret service's.

Broken?

86 percent of americans believe the u.s government is broken, that is up 8 percent since 2006. Of all these people, 81 percent believe that the 'broken' government can be fixed, that means the other 19 percent have lost hope. The increase is highest among higher-income Americans and people who live in rural areas. I wonder what the definition of broken is...
cnn

69 Percent + Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman is going to support the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy this coming monday. He believes that to exclude one group of Americans from serving in the armed forces is contrary to our fundamental principles as outlined in the Declaration of Independence. Lieberman is going against his close friend McCain who opposes banning the policy. Lieberman also told New York Daily News on Monday that he sees repealing the policy "as an extension, the next step of the civil rights movement."

Nearly seven in ten Americans think that people who are openly gay or lesbian should be allowed to serve in the military, according to a new national poll. Support for allowing gays in the military is much higher among Democrats than Republicans, but the policy wins support from a majority of Republicans as well.

Jobs Bill?

84 percent of Americans believe Congress is not doing enough to tackle the nation's jobs problem. So what are they doing? There are suspicions, stalling, bull, and the new jobs bill being pulled. Reid pulls his support from the new jobs bill because of a conversation Reid had with McConnell, minority leader. The conversation consisted of McConnell saying he would not agree to bring the bipartisan jobs bill to the floor quickly and Reid became concerned the Republican leader would drag out the process and the bill would ultimately fail. Reid feels that the republicans put a few supporting the bill, butt all the others will drag out the bill and cause it to fail, a bit like the health care bill. It is apparent McConnell and Reid had very different timetables for the jobs bill. Reid wanted it passed before the Senate went on break last week. McConnell told CNN last week he thought it would "take a few weeks" and "we're not quite ready to go forward." Why delay when 84 percent think congress is sucking.

Nukes!

Joe Biden staked out a middle ground on nuclear weapons policy Thursday, trying to reassure critics claiming the administration's disarmament efforts are either too fast or too slow. Biden had a 23 minute speech at the National Defense University in Washington. He said that the spread of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat facing the country and maybe even humanity. Also that the weapons' reliability had been neglected and underfunded in recent years. One arms control analyst warns, however, that the administration may be pushing forward on too many nuclear fronts simultaneously. I do agree with Biden on the fact that the nuclear weapons are a big problem.

GOP + Gay Pride = GOProud

GOProud is participating in a roundtable on Saturday about technology and outreach, not about gay rights. They are also an unlikely sponsor at this year's annual conservative conference and are hoping to not only promote the issues that set it apart from many Republicans, but also draw attention to the beliefs they share. GOProud was founded by former members of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay and lesbian Republican grass-roots organization. The funny, and slightly ironic, part is their booth at the convention is just two spaces away from the exhibition for the National Organization for Marriage, which wants the government to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The members' nontraditional conservative views are pissing some attendees off who are at the convention, even though they are not going to be talking about gay rights at the roundtable.

"Gays and lesbians have the right to live as they choose, but they don't have the right to redefine marriage for the rest of us," Plante said. But yet the other group, National Orangization for Marriage who wants to define marriage, doesn't get any criticism.

Biden gives his opinion

Joe Biden was on Larry King Live Wednesday night and talked about terrorist attacks in general and the christmas bomb threat. In Joe Biden's opinion there will not be another 'massive' attack like 9/11. He said there will probably be more "small-bore but devastatingly frightening attacks," like the christmas one. Biden said he expected Congress to pass a jobs bill to stimulate employment growth. "I think you're going to see net creation of jobs every month" starting in the spring, Biden also said.

Power to the states!

The 'Tenther' movement, in reference to the tenth amendment, is all about: "Big government is out of control; states need to take back their constitutional rights". The tenth amendment, which states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people" is the main basis for their two year urging on the States to use their constitutional rights. 37 states have passed resolutions that assert their rights. While the resolutions have no legal teeth, they're intended to carry a message: States' rights are being trampled on. Activists say that federal government's forcing policies on the states- most notably on health care reform, economic recovery measures and social issues.

Meghan McCain gets fiesty

Meghan McCain, daughter of thee McCain, spoke out agians Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, who slammed President Obama on the first night of the Tea Party convention last week in Nashville. Tancredo, known for his outspoken views on illegal immigration and his disdain for Sen. McCain,said: "Thank God John McCain lost the election," and some innate racisim about Obama. She had to say that the party didn't appeal to the youth and that, without the youth, the party will not get going. Whether she is upset or not about Tancredo's attack on her father, I believe she is right.

Tea Party Nation?

Is it a real tea party group, like the one ron paul created, or is it a way to bash obama and a scam for money. The tea party nation is a for-profit organization you should join to "quench your thirst for freedom." This group believes in: "Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!" as stated on their homepage. They have three-day convention that is already underway. The former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado used his kickoff speech to slam President Obama: "People who could not even spell the word 'vote,' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama." Many of the forums on their site are 'obama bashing'. They are going to have a guest speaker Sarah Palin, who is getting paid 100k to be there. Two other speakers backed out because of the groups for-profitness. 600 people have paid $549 each to attend the convention and that the event is sold out. But they add that tickets costing $349 are still available for Saturday night's banquet, where Palin is going to speak.
Cnn
TPN: tea party nation

Brown

The election victory of Massachusetts Sen.-elect Scott Brown is expected to be certified Thursday, which could allow him to be sworn in as early as Thursday. He broke the magic numbers, and has some democrats fearing re-elections that are coming up. I wonder if the rep. will now filibuster the health care bill and cause more delays? They will be better obstructionists now though.


cnn

Obama's kickin butt and takin names

Are the Republicans being obstructionists? Whatever the real answer is Obama is calling out Republicans, he criticized them on the GOP's increased use of filibuster during the past year and "when (Democrats) extend a hand and get a fist in return". "If you want to govern, you can't just say no," Obama argued. "It can't be about just scoring points." It can't just be about winning and losing, everyone needs to get out of that mentality and, why I don't know, GOVERN. People need to get over being a rep. or a dem. and actually do something. They need to stop thinking about, will I get reelected? and focus on the issues and do something.

cnn

GOP Retreat

Obama went to a republican retreat Friday after being invited to address their caucus. The Republican leaders said they are grateful for Obama's willingness to come and have a conversation with them. There were many things they disagreed on, but some they did actually agree on too. Obama said: republicans were mischaracterizing his policy proposals. Republicans said: congress democrats had ignored their ideas. Obama did make the claim that both sides are to blame for the "sour climate" on Capitol Hill. The day "went very well," Boehner replied later. "There are issues we do agree on" and Republicans will work to find "common ground." Friday's meeting, Rep. Eric Cantor said, was "the kind of discussion, frankly, that we need to have more of."

DADT

Im Obama's state of the union speech he said he would try to get rid of "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Many say that they need to go about this gradually, not all at once. The issues of doing this are cost of implementation, benefits for gay spouses, potential hate crimes. I don't see how costly this will be in terms of money; maybe for seperate bunkers and showers? Gay people have every right to serve in the military without fear of being discharged based on their sexuality. Even at the very least they should not expel personnel whose homosexuality is revealed by third parties. One of the reason not to get rid of this policy is because people believe that a gay person will try to swoop down and get you. Gays are in locker rooms with Straight guys at this very moment, even serving in the military. Gays aren't predators, when DADT gets lifted, gay people aren't going to come out and prance around in the military, they will still be the same as before, but without the fear of getting DISCHARGED once people find out.

What's going to happen?

President Obama is going to give his State of the Union address tomorrow night, but what is going to happen?

Frum says "The Obama team always assumes the best remedy for any Obama difficulty is more Obama."

Zeizler says,"A speech can't make people believe that he's going to do the jobs thing. Only the creation of jobs is going to reassure people," and
"If the president backs too far away from the issues that animated his supporters in 2008, he could find himself facing even stronger challenges from liberals and depressing the base of support that he will very much need going into 2012." Meaning, if he falls to far right he will loose the support of liberals and then what support will he have?

Democratic analyst says, "Obama must not retreat from health care overhaul." If he retreats from the policy he has been pushing for so hard, it will look bad and he will loose support of the health care bill supporters.

More power to big bussinesses.

The Supreme Court gives big business, unions, and nonprofits more power to spend money freely in elections. Ruling gives special interests "more power in Washington," president says. This could have an immediate effect on this year's congressional midterm elections. The issue depends on whether the corporations' spending could be strictly regulated or whether they have free-speech rights to spend their money to influence elections like individual donors do.

Obama does not like this and said, "It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans." I would have to agree with Obama. We need to limit corporate campaign spending.

The Supreme Court's decision today is a victory for the First Amendment and the right of all Americans to participate in the political process," said Theodore Olson, who helped argue for the bill.

New Focuses

Obama is going to make a strong pivot toward jobs and the economy after the Republican win in Massachusetts for the State of the Union address. There are three themes coming out that includes a scaled back health plan:

1. A more scaled-back health plan, which might be fleshed out in next Wednesday's address.

The new plan would have the basic ideas from the old one: a ban on excluding people for pre-existing conditions and stopping insurance companies from dropping you if you get sick. This plan would appeal more to the Republicans because it cuts out some of the 1 trillion tag of Obama's original plan. It would need to add more so the liberals aren't too disappointed.

2. Look for a series of presidential events on jobs and the economy.
3. Obama will be a Wall Street-basher as he steps up his push for major financial regulatory reform.

Republican in a Democratic State

Massachusetts elections told all, Rep. Brown beat out Dem. Coakley for the old Kennedy seat. Massachusetts has been a double democratic state since forever and now a Republican has won. Because Brown won, there are now 41 republican members, the magic number against the 59 democrats. They can now filibuster and stall the health care bill. Many Democrats now realize public isn't particularly happy with their stewardship. For President Obama, loss will likely force him to reconsider his legislative priorities.

Mom-Mom is Gone-Gone

Joe Biden's mother, called mom-mom, passed away at the age of 92. On the list of people attending the funeral included President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, several Cabinet officials and members of Congress. Biden thanked Obama for treating his mother "with warmth and personal affection." Biden's mother was courageous and "taught her children that the thickest of all substances was blood." She helped Biden through rough times: when his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash in December 1972, the month after he was elected to the Senate.

Another Tax and Spend Democrat?

When Obama gives his State of the Union speech he will have to propose more new taxes than he wants, but hasn't decided which ones to choose. The health care bill he said would not take money from the Treasury, but money is needed to get the bill started, but it will definately save in the long run. Obama is thinking of taxing the 'rich': families over 500,000 and 1 million average income. His other options are:

1.A new tax on bank transactions, which would raise $120 billion over ten years, focused on big banks that received TARP money. The early accounts of this focus on how it would allow the Obama White House to win points for attacking the banks, but the real reason to do it is to help the budget bottom line.

2.Leave the capital-gains tax rate at 15 percent, but cap the income-level of those taking it.

3.Further increase Medicare payroll taxes (even beyond what is in the health care bill) for high-income individuals and families.

4.A “transaction” tax on stock trades.
msnbc

Racist Reid?

Because of senate majority leader Harry Reid's comment about Obama, 'light skinned with no Negro dialect, even if he wants one' Republicans are wanting him to resign. In 2002 Senator Lott resigned because of some considered racist comments that created controversy. The Republicans have their panties in a wad because they say there is a double standard. Obama has accepted Reid's apology and they both want to move on. Let the people decide by not reelecting him, not pressure from the republicans.
CNN
CNN

Election Race Drop-Out

Ritter decides to drop out of the next election for Colorado Governor. Says decision frees him to make 'tough and unpopular decisions'. The reason for dropping out is because of his family-he doesn't have enough time to spend with them. He couldn't find a 'balance' between his job and family.

Because of his drop out it has left his opponent McInnis with the top spot for winning. The other democratic contenders include Salazar, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.
msnbc

Dem-1, Rep-0

Obama is 'blessing' Democratic leaders to bypass formal conference to merge health care bills; the $871 billion Senate bill and $1 trillion House bill that differ on several critical details. The move was made to avoid possible Republican delays, and Obama wants to pass this pill as soon as possible; hopefully in time for the president's State of the Union address.

From Vacation to Work

After getting criticized for being on vacation when the failed terrorist attack from Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab (on the right), Obama is to get updated on what happened. They will talk about possible changes to the terror watch list because of this incident.
CNN