Louisiana congressman William Jefferson was convicted on 11 of 16 counts of corruption charges today. This came after federal agents recovered $90,000 in his freezer. Also recovered was some frozen pie crusts and what appears to be something organic. In addition to facing 150 years in prison, Jefferson was forced to forfeit $476,000 and 30 million shares of stock in two Internet companies.

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Investors are becoming increasingly frustrated with the mounting government failures when it comes to fixing the financial markets and the economy. Stocks plunged to 12 years lows, with the S&P 500 hitting its lowest close since December 1996. Hopes for a turnaround were shattered Friday when the government announced a plan to take significant ownership of Citigroup. It was a move intended to spark confidence in the financials and improve investor sentiment. Instead, it was quickly apparent that an act of socialism cannot fix capitalism. Obama must learn that the United States is a capitalist society that needs clear, productive direction from it's government. The longer they continue to make up the rules and wipe shareholders out, the longer the recession will last.

WASHINGTON (Washington Post) -- Wall Street tumbled to its lowest level in 12 years yesterday, capping a volatile week of trading as skittish investors questioned whether federal regulators could be forced to step in further to bolster the financial sector.

All the major indexes closed the week down more than 4 percent. Stocks have been battered by concerns that government regulators could nationalize parts of the banking sector and wipe out shareholders. After a rebound Tuesday, stocks spent most of the week sinking deeper.

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If you are keeping track of all the campaign promises Obama has broken, you can add one more to your list.

 

Breaking one of his largest campaign promises, reducing and ending the war in Iraq, Obama plans to keep troops 3 months longer than originally promised. In addition, he will be leaving 50,000 "support troops" there after.

 

The argument is not about the plan, it is about the lies. That's right; it's about Obama's never ending lies. Obama over and over again tricked the American people with his promise of "change", but as time reveals, he is doing little to steer our country in the right direction. The true victims are the armed forces who voted for Obama based on broken promises.

 

 

Remember this?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama told congressional leaders Thursday he's planning to pull all combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010, according to three congressional officials.

Under this scenario, all combat troops will be withdrawn within 19 months of Obama's January inauguration, three months longer than his promise on the campaign trail.

 

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Yay! We found $2 trillion in budget savings/surplus over the next 10 years...ending a giant war in Iraq should help to curb spending one would think pretty easily, so sneaky Mr. President, great work. Also plans to eliminate capital gains tax which is now being called a "loophole", only further decreases the savings we will see in our already over-levered consumer. This surplus will also come as small businesses owners shell out more taxes 35% --> 39% tax rate) and all of America pays out cash for a new energy tax...these seem kind of counterproductive, opposite if you will, to stimulating.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After promising the American people his team has already found $2 trillion in budget savings by scouring the federal budget, President Obama is planning to lay out some of the potential spending cuts in great detail when he unveils his first blueprint on Thursday, according to senior administration officials familiar with the budget plans.

"My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs," Obama said Tuesday in a speech to a joint session of Congress. "... We have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade."

A list of some of the proposed spending cuts obtained by CNN shows that the programs on the chopping block range from outdated farm subsidy programs to pricey Pentagon weapons programs and the so-called "carried-interest" loophole on Wall Street.

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Finally people are starting to listen. With rising unemployment and out of control spending, Obama's approval rating has dropped below 60% for the first time. Hopefully America is slowly waking up to the realization that his socialist policies are doing nothing to stimulate the economy and will cause more problems in the long run than ever imagined.

 

This week another member of the axis of evil has decided to defy the United States and the United Nations. North Korea announced Tuesday it is preparing a satellite launch, which clearly is a step towards an eventual long-range missile program. North Korea defends their actions by declaring that this satellite launch is in the name of "space development." Therefore, they believe that in doing so it is not violating any U.N. Security Bans. In addition to the satellite launch, missiles that have the capability to reach the west coast of the United States are also in the works.

 

Is Iran and North Korea trying to tell the U.S. something? Unlike the United Nations, which has long been a weak organization with little influence and power, the United States has often been able to strike fear and persuade its enemies against their hostile actions. Our current government has switched their perspectives towards a more liberal and pacifying view. Unfortunately, in doing so it allows North Korea and Iran to no longer feel that authoritative threat of military action. Is this the message the United States should be sending?  

 

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS - North Korea said Tuesday it is preparing to shoot a satellite into orbit, its clearest reference yet to an impending launch that neighbors and the U.S. suspect will be a provocative test of a long-range missile.

 

The statement from the North's space technology agency comes amid growing international concern that the communist nation is gearing up to fire a version of its most advanced missile -- capable of reaching the U.S. -- in coming days, in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution.

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One of Obama's campaign promises was to sit down with terrorist organizations. It seems we are one step closer to witnessing that. Last week, while touring the Gaza Strip, John Kerry received a letter for President Obama from a senior Hamas official. In it, Hamas asked for legitimacy and recognition, and warned that without its help, no peace would come to the region. It is beyond comprehension that such a letter was even accepted for the President. John Kerry should be ashamed of himself. Is this the signal we want to send? That we negotiate, accept and bow to the demands of a group that terrorizes innocent people to get what they want. Where do we go from here? I hope the new commander in chief will be wiser about handling terrorists and choose not to legitimize them.

JERUSALEM (NYT) -- A Hamas leader has asked President Obama to engage with his militant movement, rather than marginalize, it in a letter that was passed through United Nations officials in Gaza to Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, during a visit there on Thursday. 

Mr. Kerry said Friday that he did not know the letter's contents and had given it to the American Consulate in Jerusalem so it would be sent to the White House. But the letter's author, Ahmed Yousef, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, said by telephone that it was a two-page document urging the new administration to make a change from the Bush administration.

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After such a difficult week for most Americans, I thought a little Saturday morning humor was in order. It looks like Obama and Bush have some things in common after all. Enjoy!

 

It turns out Iran's peaceful nuclear program was one big lie. After years of preaching nuclear power was necessary for energy independence, even though they sit on some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, it was finally revealed by the United Nations that Iran has obtained the level necessary for a nuclear weapon. Since Obama took office, Ahmadinejad has understated how much uranium they have enriched by a third. The only answer Iran could give on this issue was that it was a "reasonable discrepancy for a new plant." 

The officials also declared for the first time that the amount of uranium that Tehran had now amassed -- more than a ton -- was sufficient, with added purification, to make an atom bomb.

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"S.O.S." is being heard all over California this week, and not just as an homage to Ms. Rihanna after her recent run in with Chris Brown's teeth and fists...but rather Save Our State. California is facing a $41 BILLION budget deficit and does not have enough votes, one short, to pass a current bill to help curb this budget crisis. Why are they coming up short of votes?...because not ONE republican has voted for it.

How are they trying to fight this massive overleveraged and overspending in the state during the middle of our nation's largest economic meltdown in close to a century? By RAISING taxes! The very same democratic Congress members who are acknowledging the right method to correct our current fiscal problems is to stimulate the economy are the very same people voting to RAISE taxes in CA...WHAT?! This makes absolutely no sense. The proposed bill would increase state income taxes, reducing disposable income, as well as increase taxes on durable goods (sales tax) and gasoline.

The argument to pass these "temporary" tax hikes despite the fact the President says we need tax cuts (a tax cut is the opposite of a tax hike) is that tens of thousand of government workers will have to be laid off if the additional revenue isn't generated. I hate to say this, but I'm sorry government workers of CA, but you arte no different than any of the other 3+ million Americans to lose their job in the last few months. People are going to be fired, budgets have to be reined in, and government jobs and California are no exception. The idea to force CA residents to take 100% of their stimulus money, and then more on top of that, and give it to the state is ludicrous. In fact, it's borderline thievery.

You have a group telling the Treasury to pump out hundreds of billions of fresh greenbacks so our citizens can spend it to help jumpstart the economy, but in reality they are taking the money from the Feds and dumping it straight into the STATE piggy bank. CA lawmakers are looking for a federal bailout to make up for the ballooning budget and egregious mismanagement of funds (state budget has more than doubled in last 10 years); they could at least have the balls to call a spade a spade and ask for the money like the struggling corporations (banks, GM, etc) instead of acting like we don't see what's happening.

Reporting from Sacramento (LA Times) -- Ending a weekend marathon of tense negotiations, bleary-eyed state lawmakers late Sunday suspended their bid to plug California's $41-billion deficit but vowed to continue working today to halt the state's dizzying slide toward financial collapse.

Despite support from legislative leaders in both parties, the budget deal became mired in politics. The two-day hunt for a third Republican in the state Senate willing to vote for $14.4 billion in temporary tax increases proved futile. Lawmakers and staff said there were enough GOP votes in the Assembly for passage in that house.

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), clearly tired and angry, said lawmakers would resume negotiations this morning despite the Presidents Day state holiday.

"People are exhausted," Steinberg said, "so I thought long and hard about whether or not to continue this through the night. . . . We're gonna come back at 11 tomorrow morning and we're going to work again, and we're gonna come back every day until we get this done."

The deal appeared done at the weekend's start. Democrats already had sprinkled the budget with concessions to recalcitrant legislators, including more money for Orange County to please Sen. Louis Correa (D-Santa Ana), who had promised during his campaign not to raise taxes.

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