1) Democrats propose $1.9 trillion hike in debt limit
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion (which is about the size of the nation‘s overall economy!).
The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations (emphasis mine). It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation.
…The measure came to the floor under rules requiring 60 votes to pass. That's an unprecedented step that could mean that every Democrat, no matter how politically endangered, may have to vote for it next week before Brown takes office and Democrats' votes dip from 60 to 59.
Democratic leaders are also worried that Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who opposed the debt- limit increase approved last month, will vote against the measure.
The record increase in the so-called debt limit is required because the budget deficit has spiraled out of control in the wake of a recession that cut tax revenues, the Wall Street bailout, and increased spending by the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Last year's deficit hit $1.4 trillion. The current year's shortfall promises to be as high or even higher.
See: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14234678
And: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/senate-discussing-a-raise-in-n.html
2) Obama hits Wall Street, pushes for bank limits
WASHINGTON – Embracing Depression-era policy and populist politics, a combative President Barack Obama chastised big Wall Street banks Thursday and urgently called for limits on their size and investments to stave off a new economic meltdown.
The banks are not the ones causing the meltdown, Barack Hussein Obama. You are. See article above.
Investors responded by dumping bank stock.
Obama's rhetoric covered the whole financial industry, but the key changes will affect only a few high-profile players, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., while sparing investment banks like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The move could undercut Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's strategy of maintaining close ties with the financial industry as part of the administration's overhaul efforts.
"We have to get this done," Obama said at the White House. "If these folks want a fight, it's a fight I'm ready to have."
YOU are the one who wants a fight. Keep it up, and you’ll GET ONE.
..Markets tumbled on the news, the Dow Jones industrial average losing 213 points and continuing this week's slide that has erased the Dow's gains for 2010 and provided yet another dire sign for recovery.
…"Proposals to preemptively break up large, well-managed and well-capitalized banking companies — or to reimpose Glass-Steagall restrictions — are based on a misdiagnosis of the causes of the financial crisis," he said.
No kidding.
…Financial industry officials are especially frustrated by a proposed change they see as political and punitive without doing anything to prevent future crises. They say the changes would not have prevented the largest bank failures of the crisis.
See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_financial_overhaul
2a) Stocks slide as Obama calls for tougher bank rules
…Obama said Thursday he would ask Congress for limits on how big banks can become and to end some of the risky trades financial companies use to supercharge their earnings. Investors sent stocks tumbling as they worried the plan would destabilize Wall Street's 10-month rally.
The destruction of our economy continues…good job, Barack Hussein Obama, mnn, mnn, mnnn!
Big bank stocks skidded, yanking the Dow Jones industrial average down 213 points and erasing its gains for 2010. Over the past two days, the Dow dropped 336 points, or 3.1 percent, its worst slump since June. Wednesday's drop came on more global concerns, that China's economy would slow and hurt other countries as well.
See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street
3) Obama health plan in doubt as Dems reject fast fix: ding dong the witch is dead #1!
WASHINGTON – Though reeling from a political body blow, House Democrats rejected the quickest fix to their health care dilemma Thursday and signaled that any agreement on President Barack Obama's signature issue will come slowly, if at all (emphasis mine).
…The first chief option would require House Democrats to approve the Senate-passed bill along with a guarantee that the Senate would make several simultaneous changes to health law desired by the House. Senate Democrats presumably would do so with a tactic called "budget reconciliation." It requires only a simple-majority vote for certain budget-related matters, but it cannot be used for every issue. Both parties have used the tactic at times.
When Brown is sworn in, Democrats will control 59 of the Senate's 100 seats. They need 60 to block GOP filibusters.
The second option calls for drafting a new, compromise bill more palatable to moderates, including some Republicans. But numerous officials said it's far easier said than done.
See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul
4) Supreme Court rolls back campaign spending limits: ding dong the witch is dead #2
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations may spend freely to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress, easing decades-old limits on their participation in federal campaigns.
By a 5-4 vote, the court on Thursday overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for campaign ads. The decision, which almost certainly will also allow labor unions to participate more freely in campaigns, threatens similar limits imposed by 24 states.
The justices also struck down part of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that barred union- and corporate-paid issue ads in the closing days of election campaigns.
Advocates of strong campaign finance regulations have predicted that a court ruling against the limits would lead to a flood of corporate and union money in federal campaigns as early as this year's midterm congressional elections.
The decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, removes limits on independent expenditures that are not coordinated with candidates' campaigns.
See: http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D9DC6TE00&show_article=1
5) Air America to Cease Broadcasting Immediately: ding dong the witch is dead #3! What an amazing week for liberty!
Air America, the progressive talk radio network, said Thursday that it would cease broadcasting immediately, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.”
“It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding down of the business,” the chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker, said in a memorandum.
See: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/air-america-to-cease-broadcasting-immediately/
6) McConnell: Who Gave the Christmas Day Bomber the Right to Remain Silent?
Obama's top counterterrorism adviser won't say who decided to Mirandize Abdulmutallab.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pressing the Obama administration on questions about the handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day bomber, and makes some news in the process. McConnell notes that several top national security officials offered disturbing testimony yesterday on Capitol Hill about the decisionmaking process on Abdulmutallab -- or why there wasn't one. This leads McConnell to seek answers to "several troubling questions."
First, why were Miranda rights given to the obvious terrorist after only a brief session of questioning, which predictably ended his cooperation?
Second, at what level of authority was this decision taken to treat him as a criminal defendant instead of an unlawful enemy combatant? Who made this decision?
I asked this question last night of John Brennan, the President’s senior counterterrorism adviser, three times and he refused to answer. I think that the Senate is entitled to know precisely who authorized this.
A year ago the President decided to revise the Nation’s interrogation policies, and to restrict the CIA’s ability to question terrorists. The administration created a High Value Detainee Interrogation Group to question terrorists. Why wasn’t his group brought in once this terrorist was taken into custody?
Americans need to know these answers.
See: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/mcconnell-who-gave-christmas-day-bombr-right-remain-silent
7) A Victory for the Muslim Brotherhood
The Obama administration allows Tariq Ramadan to travel to the U.S.
In a controversial move, the Obama administration has decided to lift Tariq Ramadan’s ban from the United States. Who is Tariq Ramadan? By birth, he is the grandson of Hassan al Banna – the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). By word and deed, he is today a leading member of the European branch of the MB.
The MB is the mother organization for some of the terrorist groups that became part of al Qaeda’s core, including Ayman al Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Osama bin Laden himself was first wooed to the dark side by Muslim Brothers teaching in Saudi Arabia. The MB has also spawned other hardcore jihadist organizations, including Hamas. While the MB’s descendents have publicly disagreed over tactics at times (for example, Zawahiri has taken issue with Hamas’s participation in Palestinian elections), they still share the same long-term strategic vision: the re-establishment of an Islamic Caliphate capable of ruling the Muslim world and challenging the West.
See: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/victory-muslim-brotherhood
8) Weapon Maker To Halt Bible References On Gun Sights
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Michigan defense contractor will voluntarily stop stamping references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights made for the U.S. military, a major buyer of the company's gear.
In a statement released Thursday, Trijicon of Wixom, Mich., says it is also providing to the armed forces free of charge modification kits to remove the Scripture citations from the telescoping sights already in use. The Marine Corps has purchased more than 200,000 Trijicon sights and the Army has bought about 100,000.
The references to Bible passages raised concerns that the citations break a government rule that bars proselytizing by American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are predominantly Muslim countries.
A spokesman for U.S. Central Command initially said the Trijicon sights didn't violate the ban and compared the citations on the sights to the "In God We Trust" inscription printed on U.S. currency.
On Thursday, however, Army Gen. David Petraeus, Central Command's top officer, called the practice "disturbing."
How very sad. Ask God to leave and HE WILL.
See: http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=237244&wnnvz=1750,01282706661
And: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100122/ap_on_bi_ge/us_military_weapons_bible_references
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