Comments on: Obama Budget: Sleeveless, Clueless, Truthless, Hopeless, Penniless http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/ We started this website because we believe Senator Hillary Clinton will be an excellent 44th President of the United States. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:01:20 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Mrs. Smith http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238546 Mrs. Smith Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:51:39 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238546 JanH Says: March 1st, 2009 at 9:13 am UNRWA apologizes for giving Kerry letter from Hamas the senator (Kerry) left Gaza without reading the letter because it was sandwiched among UN promotional papers he had received. He left the letter with the US consulate in Jerusalem. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ yeah, right! The schemer stays up late at night thinking up new entrapments for Hillary. JanH Says:
March 1st, 2009 at 9:13 am

UNRWA apologizes for giving Kerry letter from Hamas

the senator (Kerry) left Gaza without reading the letter because it was sandwiched among UN promotional papers he had received. He left the letter with the US consulate in Jerusalem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

yeah, right!

The schemer stays up late at night thinking up new entrapments for Hillary.

]]> By: admin http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238543 admin Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:54:45 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238543 NEW ARTICLE IS UP. NEW ARTICLE IS UP.

]]> By: JanH http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238542 JanH Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:51:56 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238542 "He launched his campaign for the package Saturday with a fiery, populist radio and Internet address that depicted his critics as champions of “the interests of powerful lobbyists” and “the wealthiest few.” ----------------------------- LOL...now I've got it! He doesn't really want to be president. He wants to be a radio/television personality ala "The Price is Right!" “He launched his campaign for the package Saturday with a fiery, populist radio and Internet address that depicted his critics as champions of “the interests of powerful lobbyists” and “the wealthiest few.”

—————————–

LOL…now I’ve got it! He doesn’t really want to be president. He wants to be a radio/television personality ala “The Price is Right!”

]]> By: hillarygirl http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238541 hillarygirl Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:46:51 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238541 Obama's Massive Budget Faces High Hurdles in Congress While tackling the economic crisis, President Obama is asking Congress to enact contentious measures that have been debated, but not decided, in calmer times. Breathtaking in its scope and ambition, President Obama's agenda for the economy, health care and energy now goes to a Congress unaccustomed to resolving knotty issues and buffeted by powerful interests that oppose parts of his plan. Perhaps the only things as high as Obama's goals are the hurdles they must clear. While tackling the economic crisis, he is asking Congress to enact contentious measures that have been debated, but not decided, in calmer times: cut subsidies for big farms; combat global warming with a pollution tax on industries; raise taxes on the wealthy; and make big changes to the health care system. Standing alone, any one of these proposals would trigger a brawl in Congress and fierce debates outside Washington. Obama wants the proposals done largely in concert, as an interrelated plan to undo major elements of President Ronald Reagan's conservative movement. Obama outlined the approach in a budget proposal Thursday, a sprawling road map that will require several hard-fought pieces of legislation. He launched his campaign for the package Saturday with a fiery, populist radio and Internet address that depicted his critics as champions of "the interests of powerful lobbyists" and "the wealthiest few." "I realize that passing this budget won't be easy," the president said, because it "represents a threat to the status quo in Washington." "They're gearing up for a fight," he said. "So am I." If his rhetoric was tough, the challenges he faces are downright daunting. The economy contracted by a stunning 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, its worst showing in a quarter-century. Obama says the crisis calls for gutsy actions, and many groups feel he has delivered. "We're struck with how bold and courageous a budget it is," said James Horney of the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which supports the president. "There are a whole lot of things that are going to be extremely difficult because there are very powerful vested interests out there that will fight them." <b>Obama is not simply proposing a budget that assumes a jaw-dropping deficit of $1.75 trillion this year, a quadruple increase from the year before. He's trying to redirect strong currents in American society. The wealthiest 5 percent would pay a whopping $1 trillion in higher taxes over the next decade, while most others would get tax cuts. Industries would buy and trade permits to emit heat-trapping gases. Higher-income older people would pay more for government health insurance benefits. Drug companies would receive smaller profits from the government. Banks would play a much smaller role in student loans. </b><b> Obama's climb is steep. Even with solid Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, he secured a $787 billion stimulus package only after accepting compromises that irked liberals but won the support of three Republican senators. Not a single House Republican backed it. Judging from House Republican leaders' immediate condemnation of his budget blueprint, Obama can expect more of the same. More troubling for him, however, are the divisions quickly emerging among Democratic, liberal and centrist constituencies that either backed the stimulus or stayed on the sidelines. Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the House Agriculture Committee chairman, criticized Obama's plan to cut direct payments to farms with sales exceeding $500,000 a year. "Now is not the time" to reopen a recently passed farm bill, he said. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, one of the stimulus bill's three Republican backers, said it is hard to see how Obama can meet his new deficit-reduction targets. He called Obama's chief energy proposal "entirely speculative" and urged the president "to forgo the tax increases" in the plan. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which also backed the stimulus bill, said Obama's budget blueprint "appears to move in exactly the wrong direction. More taxes, heavy-handed regulations, and command-and-control government will not hasten recovery... You don't build a house by blowing up its foundation." That sounded like a jab at Obama, who said Thursday: "There are times when you can afford to redecorate your house, and there are times when you have to focus on rebuilding its foundation." Some Washington veterans say that if anyone can overcome the hurdles, it is Obama. "He has such enormous popularity right now," said Scott Lilly, who spent 31 years as a congressional aide before joining the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress. Obama's political gifts are extraordinary, Lilly said. No one expects the president to get everything he's asking for, he said, "but I think he could get a big share of it." Pushing his tax and health proposals through the Senate Finance Committee "is going to be one hell of a fight," Lilly said. The committee chairman, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, sometimes parts ways with Democratic leaders on important issues such as tax cuts and health care. Stiff resistance awaits Obama at almost every turn. "Class warfare" is how Republicans label his plan to raise taxes, starting in 2011, on households making more than $250,000 a year. Some liberal-leaning foundations are unhappy about his proposed reduction in the tax deductibility of gifts to charity from wealthy people. On health care, Obama wants to cut payments for Medicare and Medicaid, the government programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. Taking hits would be insurance companies, home health services, hospitals and drug manufacturers, all of which are powerful lobbies in Washington. On energy, Obama wants to reduce greenhouse gases and raise money for clean-fuel technologies, such as solar and wind power, by auctioning off carbon pollution permits. The proposal, known as cap and trade, will lead to a bruising fight in Congress, which may be divided more by region than party. William Kovacs, who oversees regulatory affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says Obama is pushing too fast for such a dramatic policy change. "Any support that there was for cap and trade from the business community," he said, was based on the assumption of "a long-term transition." Some government veterans, however, think doubters are underestimating Americans' hunger for change. For example, every individual and institution is hurt by the ever-rising cost of health care, and many are ready to shake up the system to make it less expensive, said Bruce Reed, who oversaw domestic policy in Bill Clinton's White House. "The country wants it, the economy needs it, businesses large and small know that they can't afford not to have it," said Reed, who now heads the Democratic Leadership Council, a center-left group. "I don't think a do-nothing caucus will get anywhere on health care." Reed added, however: "Health care has always been the Middle East of domestic policy." On energy, he said, "Congress ought to be able to pass a cap and trade bill. The rest of the industrialized world is doing emissions trading. A broad swath of American industry wants this question to be answered." The president's agenda is vast and ambitious, Reed said, but the times call for it. After all, he said, "Obama didn't have the luxury of saying, 'I'll handle the economic crisis and then get back to you on the rest of America's future."'</b> Obama’s Massive Budget Faces High Hurdles in Congress
While tackling the economic crisis, President Obama is asking Congress to enact contentious measures that have been debated, but not decided, in calmer times.

Breathtaking in its scope and ambition, President Obama’s agenda for the economy, health care and energy now goes to a Congress unaccustomed to resolving knotty issues and buffeted by powerful interests that oppose parts of his plan.

Perhaps the only things as high as Obama’s goals are the hurdles they must clear.

While tackling the economic crisis, he is asking Congress to enact contentious measures that have been debated, but not decided, in calmer times: cut subsidies for big farms; combat global warming with a pollution tax on industries; raise taxes on the wealthy; and make big changes to the health care system.

Standing alone, any one of these proposals would trigger a brawl in Congress and fierce debates outside Washington. Obama wants the proposals done largely in concert, as an interrelated plan to undo major elements of President Ronald Reagan’s conservative movement.

Obama outlined the approach in a budget proposal Thursday, a sprawling road map that will require several hard-fought pieces of legislation.

He launched his campaign for the package Saturday with a fiery, populist radio and Internet address that depicted his critics as champions of “the interests of powerful lobbyists” and “the wealthiest few.”

“I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy,” the president said, because it “represents a threat to the status quo in Washington.”

“They’re gearing up for a fight,” he said. “So am I.”

If his rhetoric was tough, the challenges he faces are downright daunting. The economy contracted by a stunning 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, its worst showing in a quarter-century. Obama says the crisis calls for gutsy actions, and many groups feel he has delivered.

“We’re struck with how bold and courageous a budget it is,” said James Horney of the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which supports the president. “There are a whole lot of things that are going to be extremely difficult because there are very powerful vested interests out there that will fight them.”

Obama is not simply proposing a budget that assumes a jaw-dropping deficit of $1.75 trillion this year, a quadruple increase from the year before. He’s trying to redirect strong currents in American society.

The wealthiest 5 percent would pay a whopping $1 trillion in higher taxes over the next decade, while most others would get tax cuts. Industries would buy and trade permits to emit heat-trapping gases. Higher-income older people would pay more for government health insurance benefits. Drug companies would receive smaller profits from the government. Banks would play a much smaller role in student loans.

Obama’s climb is steep. Even with solid Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, he secured a $787 billion stimulus package only after accepting compromises that irked liberals but won the support of three Republican senators.

Not a single House Republican backed it. Judging from House Republican leaders’ immediate condemnation of his budget blueprint, Obama can expect more of the same.

More troubling for him, however, are the divisions quickly emerging among Democratic, liberal and centrist constituencies that either backed the stimulus or stayed on the sidelines.

Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the House Agriculture Committee chairman, criticized Obama’s plan to cut direct payments to farms with sales exceeding $500,000 a year. “Now is not the time” to reopen a recently passed farm bill, he said.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, one of the stimulus bill’s three Republican backers, said it is hard to see how Obama can meet his new deficit-reduction targets. He called Obama’s chief energy proposal “entirely speculative” and urged the president “to forgo the tax increases” in the plan.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which also backed the stimulus bill, said Obama’s budget blueprint “appears to move in exactly the wrong direction. More taxes, heavy-handed regulations, and command-and-control government will not hasten recovery… You don’t build a house by blowing up its foundation.”

That sounded like a jab at Obama, who said Thursday: “There are times when you can afford to redecorate your house, and there are times when you have to focus on rebuilding its foundation.”

Some Washington veterans say that if anyone can overcome the hurdles, it is Obama.

“He has such enormous popularity right now,” said Scott Lilly, who spent 31 years as a congressional aide before joining the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress.

Obama’s political gifts are extraordinary, Lilly said. No one expects the president to get everything he’s asking for, he said, “but I think he could get a big share of it.”

Pushing his tax and health proposals through the Senate Finance Committee “is going to be one hell of a fight,” Lilly said. The committee chairman, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, sometimes parts ways with Democratic leaders on important issues such as tax cuts and health care.

Stiff resistance awaits Obama at almost every turn.

“Class warfare” is how Republicans label his plan to raise taxes, starting in 2011, on households making more than $250,000 a year.

Some liberal-leaning foundations are unhappy about his proposed reduction in the tax deductibility of gifts to charity from wealthy people.

On health care, Obama wants to cut payments for Medicare and Medicaid, the government programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. Taking hits would be insurance companies, home health services, hospitals and drug manufacturers, all of which are powerful lobbies in Washington.

On energy, Obama wants to reduce greenhouse gases and raise money for clean-fuel technologies, such as solar and wind power, by auctioning off carbon pollution permits. The proposal, known as cap and trade, will lead to a bruising fight in Congress, which may be divided more by region than party.

William Kovacs, who oversees regulatory affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says Obama is pushing too fast for such a dramatic policy change.

“Any support that there was for cap and trade from the business community,” he said, was based on the assumption of “a long-term transition.”

Some government veterans, however, think doubters are underestimating Americans’ hunger for change. For example, every individual and institution is hurt by the ever-rising cost of health care, and many are ready to shake up the system to make it less expensive, said Bruce Reed, who oversaw domestic policy in Bill Clinton’s White House.

“The country wants it, the economy needs it, businesses large and small know that they can’t afford not to have it,” said Reed, who now heads the Democratic Leadership Council, a center-left group. “I don’t think a do-nothing caucus will get anywhere on health care.”

Reed added, however: “Health care has always been the Middle East of domestic policy.”

On energy, he said, “Congress ought to be able to pass a cap and trade bill. The rest of the industrialized world is doing emissions trading. A broad swath of American industry wants this question to be answered.”

The president’s agenda is vast and ambitious, Reed said, but the times call for it. After all, he said, “Obama didn’t have the luxury of saying, ‘I’ll handle the economic crisis and then get back to you on the rest of America’s future.”‘

]]> By: JanH http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238540 JanH Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:23:48 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238540 Mar 01, 2009 Choice of Sebelius likely to renew abortion debate The news this first Sunday in March is led by reports that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has accepted President Obama's offer to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services. It's not a surprise. Since former senator Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination last month following reports about $140,000 in back taxes and interest he had to pay to make up for not having previously told the IRS about a car and driver he had been loaned, Sebelius' name has been prominent on the list of likely replacements. Now, though, it appears the wait is over. The Associated Press says it's been told by a "White House source" that the announcement about Sebelius' nomination will be made tomorrow. Politico, which says it got its information from a "senior administration official," writes that "Obama will introduce Sebelius Monday afternoon at the White House. ... He begins his push for a health-care overhaul in earnest Thursday with a forum that brings together members of Congress, health care interest groups and everyday Americans." The Washington Post adds that "an administration source said it is likely that Obama will nominate someone else for a second post Daschle had created for himself: director of a new White House Office of Health Reform. One name mentioned for the job is former Clinton administration adviser Nancy-Ann DeParle, who would take over the effort to conceive, sell and implement a wide-ranging health-care overhaul." As for how news of the nomination is being received, The Topeka Capital-Journal writes that: Sebelius, who has called for higher state tobacco taxes to finance health programs, is unlikely to face broad opposition at her confirmation hearing. Her voting record as a Kansas House member and positions as governor on abortion could draw the greatest scrutiny. She has sought to reduce the frequency of abortion, but she blocked efforts to deny women access to the procedure. And, indeed, Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody thinks the president is "about to get pummeled by pro-life groups. They view the Kansas governor as way out of the mainstream on abortion." Groups are already alerting the news media about where they stand. The Christian Defense Coalition, co-founded by anti-abortion activist Randall Terry (known for Operation Rescue), is opposed to the choice of Sebelius. Catholic United says it favors the choice. content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/03/63488541/1 Mar 01, 2009

Choice of Sebelius likely to renew abortion debate

The news this first Sunday in March is led by reports that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has accepted President Obama’s offer to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services.

It’s not a surprise. Since former senator Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination last month following reports about $140,000 in back taxes and interest he had to pay to make up for not having previously told the IRS about a car and driver he had been loaned, Sebelius’ name has been prominent on the list of likely replacements.

Now, though, it appears the wait is over. The Associated Press says it’s been told by a “White House source” that the announcement about Sebelius’ nomination will be made tomorrow.
Politico, which says it got its information from a “senior administration official,” writes that “Obama will introduce Sebelius Monday afternoon at the White House. … He begins his push for a health-care overhaul in earnest Thursday with a forum that brings together members of Congress, health care interest groups and everyday Americans.”

The Washington Post adds that “an administration source said it is likely that Obama will nominate someone else for a second post Daschle had created for himself: director of a new White House Office of Health Reform. One name mentioned for the job is former Clinton administration adviser Nancy-Ann DeParle, who would take over the effort to conceive, sell and implement a wide-ranging health-care overhaul.”

As for how news of the nomination is being received, The Topeka Capital-Journal writes that: Sebelius, who has called for higher state tobacco taxes to finance health programs, is unlikely to face broad opposition at her confirmation hearing. Her voting record as a Kansas House member and positions as governor on abortion could draw the greatest scrutiny. She has sought to reduce the frequency of abortion, but she blocked efforts to deny women access to the procedure.

And, indeed, Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody thinks the president is “about to get pummeled by pro-life groups. They view the Kansas governor as way out of the mainstream on abortion.” Groups are already alerting the news media about where they stand. The Christian Defense Coalition, co-founded by anti-abortion activist Randall Terry (known for Operation Rescue), is opposed to the choice of Sebelius. Catholic United says it favors the choice.

content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/03/63488541/1

]]> By: JanH http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238539 JanH Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:20:28 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238539 Mideast peace, Russian ties next up for Clinton: On her second overseas voyage as the top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will depart Washington today for Europe and Russia. WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is using her second overseas trip to assess Mideast peace prospects, reconnect with European allies and remind her Russian counterpart that U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow have their limits. Clinton, who departed late Saturday, kicks off the week-long tour by attending an international conference in Egypt. On Monday she will announce a U.S. pledge of up to $900 million in humanitarian aid for rebuilding of the war-shaken Gaza Strip. The Palestinians are seeking $2.8 billion. The United States does not recognize the Hamas movement that rules Gaza and will not allow aid money to flow through Hamas. Because of disagreements between the two Palestinian factions, some major Arab pledges — $1 billion from Saudi Arabia, $250 million from Qatar and $100 million from Algeria — have not materialized, an Arab League official said Saturday. The pledge conference reflects in part a U.S. effort to move quickly to influence events there, where the Islamic militants of Hamas are aligned with Iran and opposed to peace talks with Israel. Hamas is at odds with the other Palestinian faction, Fatah, which takes a more moderate approach to Israel. Clinton also will visit Israel to show President Barack Obama's commitment to finding a "two-state solution" that establishes a sovereign Palestinian state at peace with Israel. After elections Feb. 10, Israel is operating under a caretaker government. The hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to form a coalition government but the timing and outcome are in doubt. Among leaders Clinton would be expected to visit in Israel are Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the centrist Kadima Party, which won one more seat in the election than Netanyahu's Likud. Netanyahu, who opposes moving forward in peace talks with the Palestinians, was asked to put together the next government because he has the support of a majority of the elected lawmakers. Israel edged closer to a government of hawks and right-wing religious parties Friday after Netanyahu failed to persuade Livni to join a coalition that could help avert a showdown with the Obama administration. Obama has pledged to become "aggressively" involved in pursuing Mideast peace. Clinton also will go to the West Bank to meet with leaders of the Palestinian Authority, including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas. After focusing her first foreign trip on Asia, Clinton now is trying to build on what the administration believes is early enthusiasm in the Mideast and Europe for changing the dynamic of relations with America. Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European affairs, said Friday a main theme of Clinton's visit to Brussels, on Thursday will be "a sense of consolidating some of the enormous political good will on both sides of the Atlantic, and harnessing it to a common agenda — not an American agenda but a common trans-Atlantic agenda." On Friday, Clinton is scheduled to meet in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He had a sometimes rocky relationship with Clinton's predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, a Russian affairs specialist. Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies on Friday as saying he expected the meeting to focus on arms control. That was an issue of great frustration for the Russians during the Bush administration. President George W. Bush abandoned the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty early in his first term in order to accelerate the development of a missile defense opposed by Moscow. Clinton has said the administration is willing to move ahead quickly on a replacement for the START arms treaty that is due to expire in December, and to consider deeper cuts in nuclear weapons. Fried said that although the administration is interested in improving relations with Russia, Lavrov will be reminded that the U.S. does not accept the Russian argument that it has a sphere of influence in Central Asia and Eastern Europe that gives Moscow special say on issues like missile defense. The administration's interest in engaging Russia is tempered by "cautionary notes," Fried said. That includes a concern that Moscow has gone too far in flexing its muscles in places such as the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where Russian troops fought a brief war last summer, and in opposing the NATO membership aspirations of countries including Ukraine, a a former Soviet republic on Russia's border. "The most productive way (to move forward with Russia) is to do so building on areas where we have common interests, but also mindful of our differences — not shying away from them, nor abandoning our values and our friends," Fried said. "That makes for a complicated relationship with Russia." Clinton plans to wind up her trip with a stop in Ankara, Turkey, to discuss a range of topics, including Obama's review of war strategy in Afghanistan. The Turks think the U.S. should put more focus on expanding and improving the Afghan security forces and on pressing Afghan authorities to reconcile with elements of the Islamic insurgency, rather than on putting tens of thousands more U.S. troops. usatoday.com/news/world/2009-03-01-clinton-trip_N.htm Mideast peace, Russian ties next up for Clinton:

On her second overseas voyage as the top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will depart Washington today for Europe and Russia.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is using her second overseas trip to assess Mideast peace prospects, reconnect with European allies and remind her Russian counterpart that U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow have their limits.
Clinton, who departed late Saturday, kicks off the week-long tour by attending an international conference in Egypt. On Monday she will announce a U.S. pledge of up to $900 million in humanitarian aid for rebuilding of the war-shaken Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians are seeking $2.8 billion. The United States does not recognize the Hamas movement that rules Gaza and will not allow aid money to flow through Hamas. Because of disagreements between the two Palestinian factions, some major Arab pledges — $1 billion from Saudi Arabia, $250 million from Qatar and $100 million from Algeria — have not materialized, an Arab League official said Saturday.

The pledge conference reflects in part a U.S. effort to move quickly to influence events there, where the Islamic militants of Hamas are aligned with Iran and opposed to peace talks with Israel. Hamas is at odds with the other Palestinian faction, Fatah, which takes a more moderate approach to Israel.

Clinton also will visit Israel to show President Barack Obama’s commitment to finding a “two-state solution” that establishes a sovereign Palestinian state at peace with Israel. After elections Feb. 10, Israel is operating under a caretaker government. The hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to form a coalition government but the timing and outcome are in doubt. Among leaders Clinton would be expected to visit in Israel are Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the centrist Kadima Party, which won one more seat in the election than Netanyahu’s Likud. Netanyahu, who opposes moving forward in peace talks with the Palestinians, was asked to put together the next government because he has the support of a majority of the elected lawmakers.

Israel edged closer to a government of hawks and right-wing religious parties Friday after Netanyahu failed to persuade Livni to join a coalition that could help avert a showdown with the Obama administration. Obama has pledged to become “aggressively” involved in pursuing Mideast peace.

Clinton also will go to the West Bank to meet with leaders of the Palestinian Authority, including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas.

After focusing her first foreign trip on Asia, Clinton now is trying to build on what the administration believes is early enthusiasm in the Mideast and Europe for changing the dynamic of relations with America. Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European affairs, said Friday a main theme of Clinton’s visit to Brussels, on Thursday will be “a sense of consolidating some of the enormous political good will on both sides of the Atlantic, and harnessing it to a common agenda — not an American agenda but a common trans-Atlantic agenda.”

On Friday, Clinton is scheduled to meet in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He had a sometimes rocky relationship with Clinton’s predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, a Russian affairs specialist. Lavrov was quoted by Russian news agencies on Friday as saying he expected the meeting to focus on arms control. That was an issue of great frustration for the Russians during the Bush administration. President George W. Bush abandoned the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty early in his first term in order to accelerate the development of a missile defense opposed by Moscow.

Clinton has said the administration is willing to move ahead quickly on a replacement for the START arms treaty that is due to expire in December, and to consider deeper cuts in nuclear weapons. Fried said that although the administration is interested in improving relations with Russia, Lavrov will be reminded that the U.S. does not accept the Russian argument that it has a sphere of influence in Central Asia and Eastern Europe that gives Moscow special say on issues like missile defense. The administration’s interest in engaging Russia is tempered by “cautionary notes,” Fried said. That includes a concern that Moscow has gone too far in flexing its muscles in places such as the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where Russian troops fought a brief war last summer, and in opposing the NATO membership aspirations of countries including Ukraine, a a former Soviet republic on Russia’s border. “The most productive way (to move forward with Russia) is to do so building on areas where we have common interests, but also mindful of our differences — not shying away from them, nor abandoning our values and our friends,” Fried said. “That makes for a complicated relationship with Russia.”

Clinton plans to wind up her trip with a stop in Ankara, Turkey, to discuss a range of topics, including Obama’s review of war strategy in Afghanistan. The Turks think the U.S. should put more focus on expanding and improving the Afghan security forces and on pressing Afghan authorities to reconcile with elements of the Islamic insurgency, rather than on putting tens of thousands more U.S. troops.

usatoday.com/news/world/2009-03-01-clinton-trip_N.htm

]]> By: JanH http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238538 JanH Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:13:36 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238538 UNRWA apologizes for giving Kerry letter from Hamas Letter passed to senator during his visit to Gaza, calling on Obama to launch direct dialogue with Palestinian organization, leads to discomfort in US. Now UN agency head says she 'deeply regrets any awkwardness' transmission may have caused. Ynet Published: 03.01.09, 08:43 / Israel News The United Nations Relief and Works Agency apologized to the American government on Thursday night after it was criticized for passing to US Senator John Kerry a letter from a Hamas representative calling on President Barack Obama to launch a direct dialogue with the Palestinian organization, British newspaper The Independent reported over the weekend. The letter was passed to Kerry by Karen Koning AbuZayd, the agency head. According to the spokesman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, chaired by Kerry, the senator left Gaza without reading the letter because it was sandwiched among UN promotional papers he had received. He left the letter with the US consulate in Jerusalem. Ten days after the incident, AbuZayd said she "deeply regrets any awkwardness" the transmission of the letter may have caused for the government, which has refused any direct contact with the Palestinian Islamist faction that rules Gaza. Kerry did not meet with Hamas members during his visit to the Strip, and movement sources have denied the reports about the letter, despite the confirmation offered by the US State Department. According to UNRWA, the letter was left by Hamas representatives outside the organization's offices in Gaza. However, the agency did not respond to the question why Kerry was unaware of the letter's content. A Palestinian source said the letter was worded by Ahmed Yusuf, an advisor to Hamas' foreign ministry, and that he was acting on behalf of himself and not on behalf of the movement. According to the New York Times, Hamas asked Obama in the letter to launch a direct dialogue with the Palestinian movement. This was the first such appeal to the http://www.7340,L-3678969,00.html UNRWA apologizes for giving Kerry letter from Hamas

Letter passed to senator during his visit to Gaza, calling on Obama to launch direct dialogue with Palestinian organization, leads to discomfort in US. Now UN agency head says she ‘deeply regrets any awkwardness’ transmission may have caused.

Ynet Published: 03.01.09, 08:43 / Israel News

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency apologized to the American government on Thursday night after it was criticized for passing to US Senator John Kerry a letter from a Hamas representative calling on President Barack Obama to launch a direct dialogue with the Palestinian organization, British newspaper The Independent reported over the weekend.
The letter was passed to Kerry by Karen Koning AbuZayd, the agency head. According to the spokesman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, chaired by Kerry, the senator left Gaza without reading the letter because it was sandwiched among UN promotional papers he had received. He left the letter with the US consulate in Jerusalem.

Ten days after the incident, AbuZayd said she “deeply regrets any awkwardness” the transmission of the letter may have caused for the government, which has refused any direct contact with the Palestinian Islamist faction that rules Gaza.

Kerry did not meet with Hamas members during his visit to the Strip, and movement sources have denied the reports about the letter, despite the confirmation offered by the US State Department.

According to UNRWA, the letter was left by Hamas representatives outside the organization’s offices in Gaza. However, the agency did not respond to the question why Kerry was unaware of the letter’s content. A Palestinian source said the letter was worded by Ahmed Yusuf, an advisor to Hamas’ foreign ministry, and that he was acting on behalf of himself and not on behalf of the movement.

According to the New York Times, Hamas asked Obama in the letter to launch a direct dialogue with the Palestinian movement. This was the first such appeal to the

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]]> By: JanH http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238537 JanH Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:04:05 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238537 As far as the Goodwin piece goes, who cares? If that is the worst he can say, that she "begged" well... What exactly did he want her to do? Turn into the "ugly American" and go off all arrogant and dictatorial on China of all places? When it comes to knowing the political climate, current affairs, and just about everything but the kitchen sink, Hillary can run circles around Goodwin. I didn't see her begging so much as taking the rotten job obama gave her to do and finding a way to come out on top. She made the U.S. look great, she gave obama a boost, she signaled that it was out with the old form of shoved-in-your mouth diplomacy and in with a new and better form of state diplomacy ala Hillary Clinton. As far as the Goodwin piece goes, who cares? If that is the worst he can say, that she “begged” well… What exactly did he want her to do? Turn into the “ugly American” and go off all arrogant and dictatorial on China of all places?

When it comes to knowing the political climate, current affairs, and just about everything but the kitchen sink, Hillary can run circles around Goodwin. I didn’t see her begging so much as taking the rotten job obama gave her to do and finding a way to come out on top. She made the U.S. look great, she gave obama a boost, she signaled that it was out with the old form of shoved-in-your mouth diplomacy and in with a new and better form of state diplomacy ala Hillary Clinton.

]]> By: NewMexicoFan http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238536 NewMexicoFan Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:26:23 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238536 As to his Selection from Kansas, the women's groups made their choice and they can now live with it. Watch, this will not change because they object. O ignores women. As to his Selection from Kansas, the women’s groups made their choice and they can now live with it. Watch, this will not change because they object. O ignores women.

]]> By: NewMexicoFan http://www.hillaryis44.org/2009/02/27/obama-budget-sleeveless-clueless-truthless-hopeless-penniless/#comment-238535 NewMexicoFan Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:24:04 +0000 http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=948#comment-238535 When I had my discussion with a AA Republican the other day, he swear that it was Os group who brough the Economy crisis on, which he said won the election for him. I would be interesting if this is true, and that the thing he used to win, he could not turn off now, and is his downfall. When I had my discussion with a AA Republican the other day, he swear that it was Os group who brough the Economy crisis on, which he said won the election for him.

I would be interesting if this is true, and that the thing he used to win, he could not turn off now, and is his downfall.

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