Israel must stop living in their own land, Korea, Gov Targets GOP-owned Chrysler Dealerships

1) Obama says Israel must stop settlement construction US President Barack Obama declared on Thursday the US is a "stalwart ally" of Israel but challenged the Jewish state to stop settlement construction in the disputed West Bank to help advance the long and painful road to peace with the Palestinians.  Obama's message came on the same day that Israel refused a demand to freeze all construction in the West Bank, land the Palestinians hope to claim for a future nation of their own. The president stuck to a hopeful tone, saying he had pressed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the matter only last week. See: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243346500378&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter 2) NORTH KOREA TESTS A NUCLEAR WEAPON: How close is Iran? 74% of Israelis do not believe Obama administration’s efforts with stop Iran from building or acquiring nuclear weapons — and 51% now say they back immediate, preemptive military strikes against Iran. With North Korea testing a second nuclear warhead (just weeks after testing a long-range ICBM) — and Iran feverishly trying to develop its own nuclear weapons – Israel’s deputy defense minister said today Israelis need to prepare for all out war. A massive, full-country war readiness exercise will commence in Israel on May 31, designed to test the nation’s emergency preparedness for thousands of missiles coming in from all directions. One concern is that Iran may be secretly funding North Korea’s nuclear weapons development program, and receiving the test data. If that is the case, military commanders and engineers in Tehran may be far closer to testing — or using — their own nuclear warheads than is currently believed in the West to be the case.  See: http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/north-korea-tests-a-nuclear-weapon-how-close-is-iran/ 3) NKorea threatens to attack US, SKorean warships "They should bear in mind that the (North) has tremendous military muscle and its own method of strike able to conquer any targets in its vicinity at one stroke or hit the U.S. on the raw, if necessary," it said.   ...On Wednesday, the regime promised "unimaginable and merciless punishment" for anyone daring to challenge its ships.    ...Pyongyang also reportedly restarted its weapons-grade nuclear plant, South Korean media said.    ...The North has about 8,000 spent fuel rods which, if reprocessed, could allow it to harvest 13 to 18 pounds (six to eight kilograms) of plutonium — enough to make at least one nuclear bomb, experts said. North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for at least a half dozen atomic bombs.  Further ratcheting up tensions, North Korea test-fired five short-range missiles over the past two days, South Korean officials confirmed.  ..."It is a laughable delusion for the United States to think that it can get us to kneel with sanctions," it said in an editorial. "We've been living under U.S. sanctions for decades, but have firmly safeguarded our ideology and system while moving our achievements forward. The U.S. sanctions policy toward North Korea is like striking a rock with a rotten egg." See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090527/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear 4) China warns Federal Reserve over 'printing money' China has warned a top member of the US Federal Reserve that it is increasingly disturbed by the Fed's direct purchase of US Treasury bonds. See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5379285/China-warns-Federal-Reserve-over-printing-money.html 5) U.S. to Wield Significant Sway Over Reorganized GM The government would retain significant control over the restructured General Motors under an Obama administration plan that would allow U.S. officials to directly name or influence the appointments of the vast majority of a new 13-member board that would oversee the company, sources familiar with the discussions said. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/27/AR2009052701275.html 6) Chrysler's 'hit list' targets GOP donors Dealers who give to Republicans much more likely to be shuttered As part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chrysler is terminating one-fourth of its franchises – but some say its catalog of doomed dealerships looks more like a hit list that specifically seeks to put Republican donors out of business. …But WND reviewed the list of 789 closing franchises and databases of political donors and found that of dealership majority owners making contributions in the November 2008 election, less than 10 percent gifted to Democrats while 90 percent gave substantial sums to Republican candidates.  The listed franchise owners contributed at least $450,000 to Republican presidential candidates and the GOP, while only $7,970 was donated to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign and $2,200 was given to Sen. John Edwards' campaign. …An anonymous employee affected by the dealership closings blogged at Cars.com: "This isn't about business. It's about politics and control. My dealership is in the top 125 out of the 3,500-plus dealerships nationwide ... yet we are on the list. We are not small nor are we rural. We are in a large major metropolitan area. Our new vehicle inventory alone is well over $4.0 million. Is that small?"  The employee continued, "This is so much more than 'just business.' This is about control and power by our present administration in Washington. An administration that will stop at nothing to bring complete socialism to this once great country. Wake up people or get in line now to 'drink the Kool-Aid.'" See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99325 7) Reject the Value-Added Tax, Rein in Spending Instead The Washington Post today ran an article on the possibility of lawmakers enacting a value-added tax (VAT) to pay for soaring government spending. A VAT is basically a national sales tax, and the possible 25 percent tax rate floated in the article would raise the cost of virtually all goods and services by 25 percent. It would devastate families and businesses, kill jobs, and hammer the economy. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/27/reject-the-value-added-tax-rein-in-spending-instead/ 8) Obama says health care changes must come this year WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn't deliver health care legislation by the end of the year, the opportunity will be lost, a plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act. "If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," Obama told supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast fundraising trip. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090529/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care 9) Obama in L.A.: 'You ain't seen nothing yet' The president, speaking to a dinner that included Hollywood A-listers like Kiefer Sutherland, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, lauded the legislation he has signed since taking office but added that he is "not satisfied."  "I'm confident in the future, but I'm not yet content," Obama said. The celebrity dinner, which cost couples $30,400 to attend, was followed by a larger, lower-dollar concert that all told raised between $3 million and $4 million for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). See: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-in-l.a.-confident-but-not-yet-content-2009-05-27.html