Prayer Day No-Show, Biting Hands that Fed Him, Symbolism Over Substance: Budget Cuts, Stress Tests

1) Obama to be prayer day no-show President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning.  All Mr. Obama will do for the National Day of Prayer, which is Thursday, is sign a proclamation honoring the day, which originated in 1952 when Congress set aside the first Thursday in May for the observance. See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/06/prayer-day-no-show/ 2) Obama bites rich hands that fed him For a politician who sometimes got accused of playing class warfare, candidate Barack Obama sure made a lot of well-to-do friends during the 2008 campaign.  The big question now is whether President Barack Obama can keep them.  One striking, if little-noted, trend of the past presidential election was that Obama won the affluent vote — those making more than $200,000 annually — with 52 percent. Moving down the income scale a bit, he and John McCain essentially tied among those making between $100,000 and $200,000.  In 2008, exit polls showed the percentage of voters earning more than $100,000 had jumped to a historic high of 26 percent, compared with just 9 percent in 1996. Obama’s strong showing among this bloc reversed a decades-old pattern in which the more money someone made, the more likely he or she was to vote Republican.  But these voters are not being repaid for their support — more like the other way around.  Beyond the obviously wealthy voters, people who in many places are no more than upper middle class find themselves targeted to pay for a wide range of Obama policies aimed at leveling the economic playing field. See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21973.html 3) Republicans Deride Obama's $17B Proposed Cut in Federal Spending WASHINGTON -- The ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee said Thursday he's not impressed by President Obama's proposal to cut $17 billion out of the federal budget. Appearing on FOX News, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said it's important to place the $17 billion figure in the context of the president's $3.4 trillion budget. "It's as if you took a teaspoon of water out of the bathtub while you left the spicket on at full speed," he said. See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/06/white-house-official-obama-cut-programs-save-b-budget/ 3a) Obama touts $17 billion 'lot of money' budget cut Obama said his cuts would amount to $17 billion — in a budget totaling well over $3 trillion for the fiscal year that begins in October. He's estimating the government's red ink will still be about $1.2 trillion, down only slightly from this year's all-time record. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_budget

4) Results of 'stress tests' of 19 financial firms

The Federal Reserve, issuing the long-awaited results of its "stress tests" for banks, found nine of the firms are stable enough that they need no additional capital.

Among the 10 banks that need to raise more capital, Bank of America Corp. needs by far the most — $33.9 billion. Wells Fargo & Co. needs $13.7 billion, GMAC LLC $11.5 billion, Citigroup Inc. $5.5 billion and Morgan Stanley $1.8 billion. The banks will have until June 8 to develop a plan and have it approved by their regulators. If they can't raise the money on their own, the government said it's prepared to dip further into its bailout fund (translation, “takeover fund“, comment mine). See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090508/ap_on_bi_ge/us_banks_stress_tests And: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Results-of-stress-tests-of-19-apf-15173941.html?.v=4 5) Not all Brits are whiny liberals, Michael Savage He's been placed on a list along with almost a dozen Islamist nutjobs, including Yunis Al-Astal, the leader of the Islamist terrorist group Hamas, which has murdered hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis. There are also some old school white extremists linked to violent organisations, such as former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen Donald and a couple of Russian skinhead leaders. Savage, a slightly more forthright version of Richard Littlejohn or Jon Gaunt, sits oddly at ease with this crowd. I'm not against banning people from this country. But there's a difference between banning men who incite violence and those who simply have views liberals find offensive. A big difference.  …What must the Americans, who inherited our political freedoms and built a great nation out of them, think of Britain today? We're a joke. Mr Savage, I can only apologise and offer you some belated British hospitality. If you do ever manage to sneak in, come to dinner with me and my wife. In Haringey. I won't tell the neighbours.  See: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/edwest/blog/2009/05/07/not_all_brits_are_whiny_liberals_michael_savage 5a) Jacqui Smith's latest disaster: Banned U.S. shock jock never even tried to visit Britain - now he's suing See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1177428/Jacqui-Smiths-latest-disaster-Banned-U-S-shock-jock-tried-visit-Britain--hes-suing.html 6) GOP probes 'extremism' report's origins House Republicans demanded Wednesday that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano detail how the controversial "right-wing extremism" report was compiled, using a rare legislative maneuver that ensures that the Democrats must take a public stand - one way or another. …House Republicans filed their request under the chamber's Rule XIII, Clause 7 - called "a resolution of inquiry" - which will force the Homeland Security Committee to vote within 14 legislative days on the Republican request. The request covers all documents relating to the intelligence assessment titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."  The panel is required to vote on the resolution in an up-or-down vote and send it to the floor within the time period, stating that the request for information has been reported favorably or unfavorably. See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/07/gop-seeks-explanation-of-extremism-report/ 7) Report: Obama’s Master Plan for the Middle East President Obama’s major proposed alteration in the Saudi peace plan is for Arab countries to grant citizenship to approximately five million Arabs who are descendants of former Israelis while allowing them the right to move to a new Palestinian Authority country. The Saudi plan calls for them to be allowed to immigrate to Israel, a suggestion that virtually every Israeli leader categorically rejects. President Obama also reportedly told the king that he wants the United Nations flag raised over holy sites in eastern Jerusalem, where the PA would have total sovereignty under the Saudi plan. …Obama's team has moved ahead at high speed on all tracks, including proposals for direct negotiations with Syria and diplomatic initiatives towards Iran, and it has put the ball in the court of Israel and the Arabs to accept his proposals and show that they want to reach an agreement. See: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131215 8) Hostile bloggers facing fines, jail? A new proposal in Congress is threatening fines and jail time for what it calls "cyberbullying" – communications that include e-mails and text messages that "cause substantial emotional distress."  The vague generalities are included in H.R. 1966 by California Democrat Linda Sanchez and about a dozen co-sponsors.  But it already is being condemned as unconstitutional, unrealistic and probably ineffectual.  At Wired.com, in a report labeled "Threat Level," writer David Kravets criticized the plan to demand "up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to 'coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress.'" See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=97257 9) 'Conscience' shield vital, many caregivers say (05-05) 22:47 PDT San Francisco -- Kim McAllister, a Bay Area nurse for 31 years, knows she can recuse herself from a medical procedure with which she has a moral conflict. If a patient wants an abortion or if McAllister sees an end-of-life decision she might question, she can discreetly find another nurse who would help the patient in the way the patient seeks.  But, like many Catholics, evangelicals and others, McAllister now worries that an Obama administration proposal to repeal "conscience" protections for health care workers will imperil her rights. See: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/05/06/MNQQ177V1L.DTL