I must say that all of the criticism that came from the pundits Tuesday night after the President’s Oval Office address was typical when it comes to the pundits being out of touch with the people of the United States.  Pundits complained that there was not enough detail, he was too detached, he delivered “platitudes,”….give me a freakin break.  One person that really surprised me was Rachel Maddow who usually thinks for herself and does not hop on the lazy pundit bandwagon.  She did last night however and it was very disappointing.  This President is a President that gets sh%# done not sit around talking about what needs to be done.  And as usual the President delivered UNPRECEDENTED results.  Under federal law, BP can only be forced to pay $75 million maximum for economic damages resulting from spills such as these, yet….

• BP has agreed to set aside $20 billion to pay economic damage claims to people and businesses that have been affected by the oil spill
• The $20 billion is not a cap
• A pledge from BP to make good on the claims that it owes to the people in the Gulf and an agreement on the financial and legal framework to do it. 
•  The $20 billion fund will be put in escrow and controlled and administered by an impartial, independent third party not by BP or the government.  
• BP will continue to be liable for the environmental disaster
• Ken Feinberg, who administered the claims process for victims of 9/11, to run the independent claims process. 
• BP to establish a $100 million fund to compensate unemployed oil rig workers affected by the closure of the deep water rigs.
• BP will not be paying shareholder dividends on June 21st or for the next two quarters.

To be clear, the President can make life very difficult for BP in this country either by limiting its access to the nation’s oil or by way of the liability provisions in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.  One would say that the President let BP and its minions know who was in charge.

This is a side point, but did anyone notice that Tony “I want my life back” Napoleon Hayward’s name was not on the invitation to the BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg.  Instead the invitation was to the BP chairman and any “other executives.”  So Mr. Man was not mentioned at all.  Nice.  If you look at the footage however, the little dweezil could barely contain himself as he tagged along to the White House trying unsuccessfully to suppress his giddiness. 

The synopsis below is for all those who claimed that the President did not appear empathetic or angry enough.

During a private conversation with Chairman Svanberg I emphasized to him that for the families that I met with down in the Gulf, for the small business owners, for the fishermen, for the shrimpers, this is not just a matter of dollars and cents; that a lot of these folks don’t have a cushion.  They were coming off Rita and Katrina; coming off the worst economy that this country has seen since the Great Depression, and this season was going to be the season where they were going to be bouncing back.  Not only that, but this happened, from their perspective, at the worst possible time, because they’re making their entire income for the year in the three or four months during which folks can take their boats out, people are coming down for tourism. 

It is my belief that this is the most empathetic President that we have had in decades.  Though he is not shouting or wearing his emotions on his sleeve I have no doubt that this President cares more for the average American than any President who has held the office.  IMO

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg had a few words to critics of BP’s handling of the worst oil spill disaster in the history of the United States.  We are doing all we can so lay off.  His exact quote was the following:

“The US is a big and important market for BP, and BP is also a big and important company for the US, with its contribution to drilling and oil and gas production.

Really Mr. Chairman?  You are equating your oil company to the United States of America…really?  This is an issue if this guy believes that he carries the same weight as the U.S. government.  Perhaps it is this mindset that enabled the company to think that it can drain America’s resources without providing backup measures for the inevitability of something going wrong.  Futher, such mindset probably contributed to the lies by BP as to the magnitude of the spill.  BP and its Chairman seems to have the same disease that many members of Congress is inflicted with…….entitlement.

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com.

A free society will abide unofficial, private discrimination – even when that means allowing hate-filled groups to exclude people based on the color of their skin. 

-Rand Paul in a letter to Bowling Green Daily News written in protest to the Fair Housing Act.

The really sad part about this is that this was brought up in April of this year during the Republican primary in Kentucky and Rand’s opponent never made it an issue.  But I digress.  Though the media  is running towards the low hanging fruit regarding Dr. Rand Paul’s, the Kentucky Republican Senate nominee,  comments concerning private businesses being allowed to freely discriminate we do not believe that is the issue.   Instead pundits really should address the meat of Rand Paul’s philosophy rather than immediately jumping to the racism card.  Paul is a Libertarian and believes in a totally free society with minimal government involvement in the private lives of its citizens.  He believes in repealing the American Disabilities Act and allowing  private enterprises to freely discriminate against minorities because the Civil Rights Act and the ADA  is excessive government intrusion in private businesses.  Paul, like his father Ron, believes that left to its own device private industry will do the right thing mainly because it is bad business to discriminate.  The Kentucky Senate candidate further believes that Americans are basically good and will not tolerate private businesses discriminating against any minority or the disabled.  Therefore, Paul’s logic is that because private businesses would lose revenue by engaging in discriminatory practices towards minorities, women, or the disabled, that they will not do so. 

We would like to introduce Dr. Paul to the Civil Rights Movement circa 1955-1975 where this very argument was made by segregationist and other opponents of the Civil Right Movement.  A business owner was not incentivized by loss of revenue when he/she refused to serve African-Americans at the Woolworths counter.  Businesses were not motivated to do the right thing in allowing African-Americans to attend private schools with Caucasian-Americans.  The government had to pass laws and make businesses, via force, comply with such laws.  Many African-Americans were killed trying to gain the freedom, respect, dignity, and economic and social equality that Caucasian-Americans enjoyed.  Is that okay Dr. Paul?  Or is that merely the collateral damage that must be endured in order to achieve your truly free society?  How many lives should be lost in order to protect the rights of private businesses to do as they please with no government intervention?  Can a private business also sell sub-standard food to its African-American and other minority patrons to save money thereby causing illness or death?  Can a restaurant refuse to serve Jewish people or allow them in their establishment?  Exactly how much collateral damage is too much to achieve your Utopian society?  Should big oil companies be allowed to spill oil into the ocean destroying the livelihoods of thousands of Americans who own small businesses as well as causing irreparable harm to the environment?  Should liquor stores be able to sell alcohol and cigarettes to children?  Should private businesses be allowed to pay less than a minimum wage?  Should a business be allowed to pay women less than men for doing the same job?  Explain your completely free society and what is the cost, in terms of human life, dignity, freedom, equality, etc., . What about when your freedoms impinge on mine…is there a problem?

Over 24,000 discrimination suits are filed every year under the Civil Rights Act.  Two recent high-profile ones involved Denny’s and Texaco just a few years ago.  Last year a Pennsylvania pool was sued under the Act because it refused to allow African-American children to swim in it’s pool.   Businesses are not incentivized by loss of revenue to do the right thing.  As a matter of fact, firing someone because you don’t like the color of their skin or their disability may increase revenue and can be used as an easy way out if all of sudden a company has to downsize.

Finally, in case you haven’t looked at a history book lately this argument was made by opponents of the Civil Rights Act.  The  Supreme Court has ruled and it is now settled law.  In the CONSTITUTION, the Supreme Court is granted the power to determine the constitutionality of all laws. Is the Supreme Court of United States necessary in your totally free society?  It seems to me that if a Senate candidate does not believe in the constraints within the Constitution what is his basis for running for Senate?

Welcome to the jungle Dr. Paul.

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

The pundits keep saying that Tuesday’s election was about jobs and incumbents…well here’s a news flash, it was not.  Party loyals vote in special elections and primaries.  Therefore, the elections that took place on Tuesday were a referendum on politicians who go to Washington, DC and forget who sent them there…..voters.  More specifically in terms of Democrats,  progressives.  It is progressives who are out there knocking on doors, making phone calls, and getting out the vote.  So when Democrats like Blanche Lincoln go to DC and start working for corporate interests, progressives stop working for Blanche Lincoln.  They work for Bill Halter instead.  When Specter changes parties to get “re-elected,” progressives back Joe Sestak who appears to be a reliable Democrat.  What that means is that in terms of get out the vote efforts progressives are motivated to work for a politician who remembers who put them in office in the first place.

Further, as a voter, I resent being told how to vote regardless of who is doing the telling.  Politicians thinking that they can do this insults the intelligence of the electorate.

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Great Quote

Frankly, it didn’t take a PhD in finance to come to this conclusion.  If you lock a heroin addict in a room with heroin, you shouldn’t be shocked if he overdoses.  If you give unlimited license to Wall Street speculators, whose only function is to make as much money as possible, you shouldn’t be surprised when the result is greed on steroids, reckless behavior and a disaster for ordinary people

Not a cross-section of the American electorate nor does it represent a majority. Shocker!

To the contrary, the movement more closely resembles the electoral base of today’s Republican Party: Overwhelmingly white (89 percent), predominantly male (59 percent), mostly middle-aged and older (75 percent) and fiercely conservative (73 percent).

In addition Tea Partiers are eating its own by way of mounting primary challenges against Republicans such as John McCain (J.D. Hayworth) and Charlie Christ (Marco Rubio).

If you send in the Census you save yourself as a taxpayer and the government.  As to the reason why sending in the Census forms is important take a look below. 

If every household mails back its form (more than 120 million have been mailed out), the government could save $1.5 billion in follow-up visits.

To save the government – and yourself – some dough, read on for more tips and trivia about the 2010 Census.

• 10 questions in 10 minutes. One of the shortest census questionnaires in history, the 2010 Census has only 10 questions, which should take 10 minutes to fill out, according to the Census Bureau. Among the questions asked: whether a resident owns or rents, as well as information about each household member, including name, sex, age, race, and relationship to the person filling out the form.

• To include or not to include? The census asks how many people live or sleep in a given household as of April 1. Respondents should include babies born on or before April 1, 2010, as well as non-US citizens. College students who live away from home and military personnel should not be counted on household surveys. Divorced parents who share custody of a child should indicate where a child usually lives. Residents who need help filling out the form can do so at a questionnaire assistance center. Locations are available online.

• $400 billion and 435 seats in the US House of Representative. Census data determine how more than $400 billion in federal money is distributed, for everything from roads and schools to healthcare and child-care centers. It also determines how many lawmakers each state will have in the US House of Representatives.

• It’s in the Constitution. Article I, Section 2, to be exact. It specifies that congressional seats will be distributed proportionately among states on the basis of a census to be conducted every 10 years. Federal law penalizes those who don’t fill out a form ($100 fine) or who provide false information ($500 fine).

• Americans have been counted since 1790. The 2010 Census is the 23rd head count in US history. The first was conducted on Monday, Aug. 2, 1790. Population? 3.9 million. This year’s official Census Day is April 1. Expected population? 309 million.

• Who’s filling it out – and who isn’t. The Census Bureau predicts that two-thirds of US households will fill out and mail back the 2010 Census. Among those least likely to return forms are illegal immigrants, Hispanics, young adults, city dwellers, and residents displaced by foreclosures. Homeless people may not be left out, however: Census takers will canvass city streets in an attempt to include them.

• Which states get the most federal dollars? Rural areas and places with a large poor population tend to benefit most from an accurate census because the largest state program that relies on federal census statistics is Medicaid, the government healthcare program for low-income individuals. According to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, the places that received the most census-based federal dollars per capita were the District of Columbia, Vermont, Alaska, New York, and Massachusetts.

• Which states might get cheated? In 2000, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina each had below-average mail participation rates. Since then, they’ve also seen higher rates of foreclosures and rapid growth of Hispanics and blacks – groups that are less likely to return their forms. If responses are low this year, these states could be cheated of federal dollars and congressional seats. If not, they stand to gain at least one House seat each.

• Census 2010 by the numbers: 360 million, 29 miles, 11.6 million pounds. That is the total number of questionnaires printed (360 million), how high they would stand stacked in a pile (29 miles high – more than five times higher than Mt. Everest), and the collective weight of the paper that the questionnaires were printed on (11.6 million pounds). If stretched end to end, the questionnaires would circle the globe three times.

• $0.42 versus $56. This is how much it costs the government if residents mail back their census form (42 cents each), compared with the estimated cost of obtaining a household’s census response in person if a household fails to mail back the form.

Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner are the two centrist Democratic senators of Virginia and their silence on the public option reflects it even though the majority of Virginia voters disapprove of such silence.  The disapproval ratings for Sens. Webb and Warner’s handling of health care is 52 and50 percent respectively according to a new poll conducted by Research 2000.

Virginia voters were asked the following:  

QUESTION: Would you favor or oppose the national government offering everyone the choice of buying into a government administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get — that would compete with private health insurance plans?

A whopping 61 percent of all Virginia voters want a public option in the health care reform bill.  Yet Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Jim Webb have not given their support for the measure even though the approval rating for the public option is higher than the job approval rating of both Webb and Warner.  So one would think that it would be a no brainer for these two Virginia senators to push for the public option.  Not so much.  My question is WHY???  Please call or email Senators Warner and Webb  and ask them why they are not pushing for the public option when the majority of the Virginia voters want it.  Please be sure to press them to support including the public option in health reform through reconciliation.  If you see our post here you will notice that the two Virginia Senators have not voiced their position.

Senator Jim Webb:                       Phone: 202-224-4024      Toll Free Number:    1-866-507-1570   Email

Senator Mark Warner:                Phone: 202-224-2023       Toll Free Number:    1-877-676-2759   Email

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

This is to whom presidential candidate  and now senate candidate John McCain was willing to entrust our country:

Palin had “substantial deficiencies,” the authors report, and her “grasp of rudimentary facts and concepts was minimal.” Those deficiencies became apparent on Sept. 10, when she was getting ready to fly back to Alaska to see her son, Track, depart for Iraq, the authors report. She was also preparing for her interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson.

“Asked who attacked America on 9/11, she suggested several times that it was Saddam Hussein. Asked to identify the enemy that her son would be fighting in Iraq, she drew a blank. (Palin’s horrified advisers provided her with scripted replies, which she memorized.) Later, on the plane, Palin said to her team, ‘I wish I’d paid more attention to this stuff.” 

From the book  Game Change

When McCain was asked about Sarah Palin’s deficiencies and about his vetting process he answered that he doesn’t know anything about his vice presidential vetting process nor does he care. 

Hmmmm…America definitely dodged a bullet in November 2008.  Arizona has another opportunity to do so in 2010.

So whenever you hear a Republican politician or tea partier say that the stimulus failed point them to this article where conservative think tank AEI admitted that the stimulus boosted the economy by 4%.

The real economy also responded to the massive stimulus but remained heavily dependent on it. In the United States, growth during the second half of 2009 probably averaged about 3 percent. Absent temporary fiscal stimulus and inventory rebuilding, which taken together added about 4 percentage points to U.S. growth, the economy would have contracted at about a 1 percent annual rate during the second half of 2009.

President Obama released a six page report  laying out the missteps and blunders that resulted in the Christmas bomber being allowed to board a plane to the United States with explosive material taped to his underwear.  We would like to applaud the administration for releasing this information so quickly and providing the type of information that the previous administration would have required a subpoena to release.  Kudos Mr. President. 

As for the mistakes that were made, we think its important to take a closer look at those who are making them.  As demonstrated by the Dick Cheney, the tea party, Pete Hoekstra , Rush Limbaugh, Limbaugh’s  ilk, etc., there are people who want you to fail Mr. President.  Just make sure those people are not in the intelligence agencies.

Remarks by the President on Strengthening Intelligence and Aviation Security

State Dining Room

4:34 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  The immediate reviews that I ordered after the failed Christmas terrorist attack are now complete.  I was just briefed on the findings and recommendations for reform, and I believe it’s important that the American people understand the new steps that we’re taking to prevent attacks and keep our country safe. 

This afternoon, my Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Advisor, John Brennan, will discuss his review into our terrorist watchlist system — how our government failed to connect the dots in a way that would have prevented a known terrorist from boarding a plane for America, and the steps we’re going to take to prevent that from happening again.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will discuss her review of aviation screening, technology and procedures —- how that terrorist boarded a plane with explosives that could have killed nearly 300 innocent people, and how we’ll strengthen aviation security going forward.

So today I want to just briefly summarize their conclusions and the steps that I’ve ordered to address them.

In our ever-changing world, America’s first line of defense is timely, accurate intelligence that is shared, integrated, analyzed, and acted upon quickly and effectively.  That’s what the intelligence reforms after the 9/11 attacks largely achieved. That’s what our intelligence community does every day.  But, unfortunately, that’s not what happened in the lead-up to Christmas Day.  It’s now clear that shortcomings occurred in three broad and compounding ways. 

First, although our intelligence community had learned a great deal about the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen — called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — that we knew that they sought to strike the United States and that they were recruiting operatives to do so — the intelligence community did not aggressively follow up on and prioritize particular streams of intelligence related Read the rest of this entry »

In his final words to Teddy Kennedy, Sen. John Kerry said it best in his memoriam: “sail on my friend, sail on.”

Today is the funeral of Ted Kennedy and as I listen to the television where various politicians and dignitaries give their accounts of how he touched their lives, I realize the extent of the battles that Kennedy fought and the kindness he gave not because it was his job or because he expected something in return but because of his humanity and great sense of obligation.  He was motivated by those less fortunate than himself.  Ted Kennedy displayed an insatiable desire to help those in need and make their life a little bit better than it was before he came around.

Primarily due to the overwhelming success of its patriarch Joseph Kennedy Sr., the Kennedy family lives a life of privilege. The children never want for anything. However, the Kennedys have never been accused of feeling entitled.  A Kennedy is more often credited with exhibiting the depth of empathy and compassion that a person might have who grew up with nothing and who survived only because of the kindness and generosity of others.  Ted Kennedy was no exception to this rule.

Having lived in Washington, DC for almost ten years now, I have an idea of how too many politicians and those connected to them work. What can you do for me mentality.  Ted Kennedy was a different kind of politician. Senator Kennedy was a public servant.  Many of his colleagues have recalled that Ted Kennedy’s first question to someone he perceived in need was how can I help? If someone needed help he was willing to give it even though the person was of no use to him politically. Perhaps current and former politicians should take a lesson from the life of the liberal lion of the Senate and ask themselves this: do you want to be remembered as a person consumed with self interest never motivated to help anyone less fortunate than yourself unless you can conceive of that person repaying the favor? Or do you want to be remembered and missed because of your compassion and humanity and the contributions you made not only to your family and friends but to mankind? What is that cause bigger than yourself? I bet you have never heard of a single person saying on his or her death bed, boy I wish I had gotten that corporation one more tax break or increased its profits by one more billion. 

One final thought for our former, current, and future political leaders. You are not entitled to your position or current economic situation any more than a homeless person on the street is entitled. Remember that your current success stems in great measure from the grace of those much less fortunate than yourself (voters) and in some cases the grace of someone more fortunate. Therefore, if there is a way that you as politicians, former politicians, and children therefrom can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate, whether they are those close to you or those not, remember Ted Kennedy and seize the opportunity.

In his own words about his brother Robert F. Kennedy after RFK’s 1968 assassination we believe that Ted Kennedy best describes himself:  Ted Kennedy was “a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, who saw suffering and tried to heal it, who saw war and tried to stop it.”  

May he rest in everlasting peace.

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com.

Sarah Palin interview on ABC this morning:

But as for whether another pursuit of national office, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House, would result in the same political blood sport, Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House, she said, the “department of law” would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

“I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we’ve been charged with and automatically throw them out,” she said.

There is no “Department of Law” at the White House.

Correct, there is no “Department of Law” at the White House.  Perhaps she was planning to use the Department of Justice as her own private law firm similar to the previous occupant of the White House George W. Bush.  Further, regardless of which lawyers Palin is referring to in her statement, wouldn’t baseless litigation in the White House cost tax payers even more money needlessly.  How exactly would the situation in the White House be any different than her current situation in the Alaska governor’s mansion?  Well there is one difference, the Alaska “Department of Law” equivalent in the White House would be referred to as the Office of Legal Counsel or possibly the Department of Justice depending to which she was referring.

Gov. Palin please study up on the three branches of government and how they work before trying to explain to others the names and operations of departments within such branches.  “Department of Law” seriously?!

Spewing the constant hate and incendiary rhetoric may have finally resulted in consequences for right wing conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.  It is being reported by a listener of  WOSO radio that Limbaugh was recently dropped from the only English speaking AM radio station in Puerto Rico.  Such action was allegedly taken after Limbaugh called President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who is Puerto Rican,  a “racist” and comparing her to David Duke the former head of the Klu Klux Klan.  ProgressPolitics tried to confirm the story with WOSO but could not get a straight answer.  When we asked WOSO if Rush Limbaugh had been dropped we were told “it’s not that simple.”  Lets hope its true. 

Limbaugh along with Ann Coulter and other right wing conservatives have attacked Judge Sotomayor based on comments, taken out of context, that she made during a speech a few years ago.  Of course Limbaugh spews such invective vile only to boost his own ratings and profile.  Lets hope this time it backfired and Limbaugh’s outrageous demogoguery has hit him where it hurts…..in his pocket.  This may be the one instance where he unwittingly did the exact opposite of what he intended which is to rile up his fellow conservatives, shock the main stream media into giving him more publicity thereby increasing his listeners equaling mo money for Mr. Limbaugh.  This time, however, supposedly after receiving many viewer complaints concerning Limbaugh’s comments about the Second Circuit Appelate judge, WOSO radio station was forced to drop Limbaugh from their AM line-up and by AM line-up we mean drop Limbaugh altogether.   Because WOSO refused to confirm or deny the action it may be backtracking.   We also checked the station’s lineup and Limbaugh’s show is still listed.  We can dream.  WOSO is known for its conservative politics and always backs the Republican party here in United States.  Apparently Limbaugh’s ability to control the GOP reaches all the way to a local radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

For context, Limbaugh’s exact statement about Judge Sotomayor:

“Here you have a racist – you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist,” Limbaugh said of that comment.

“And the [liberals] of course say that minorities cannot be racists because they don’t have the power to implement their racism,” he continued. “Well, those days are gone because reverse racists certainly do have the power to implement their power. Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he’s appointed one.”

Really, Rush Limbaugh accusing Judge Sotomayor of racism…..that is rich!  It amazes me that a man who couldn’t manage to graduate college has the temerity to offer a gender/race-based “analysis” of Judge Sotomayor’s qualifications and ability to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.  As I said….RICH!

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed and rightly appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States but it is heartening to see that Limbaugh may be suffering as a result of his ignorant, hateful, and imbecilic words and actions.   We can only hope that in light of the current climate hate radio is nearing the end of its shelf life.

Weekly Address
Saturday, January 24th, 2009

We begin this year and this Administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action. Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last twenty-six years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.

In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.

That is why I have proposed an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to immediately jumpstart job creation as well as long-term economic growth. I am pleased to say that both parties in Congress are already hard at work on this plan, and I hope to sign it into law in less than a month.

It’s a plan that will save or create three to four million jobs over the next few years, and one that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment – the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done. That’s why this is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.

Today I’d like to talk specifically about the progress we expect to make in each of these areas.

To accelerate the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar, and biofuels over the next three years. We’ll begin to build a new electricity grid that lay down more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines to convey this new energy from coast to coast. We’ll save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient, and save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes.

To lower health care costs, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health records in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives. And we’ll protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans who are in danger of losing their coverage during this economic downturn.

To ensure our children can compete and succeed in this new economy, we’ll renovate and modernize 10,000 schools, building state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries, and labs to improve learning for over five million students. We’ll invest more in Pell Grants to make college affordable for seven million more students, provide a $2,500 college tax credit to four million students, and triple the number of fellowships in science to help spur the next generation of innovation.

Finally, we will rebuild and retrofit America to meet the demands of the 21st century. That means repairing and modernizing thousands of miles of America’s roadways and providing new mass transit options for millions of Americans. It means protecting America by securing 90 major ports and creating a better communications network for local law enforcement and public safety officials in the event of an emergency. And it means expanding broadband access to millions of Americans, so businesses can compete on a level-playing field, wherever they’re located.

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won’t just throw money at our problems – we’ll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We will launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.

No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time. But if we act now and act boldly; if we start rewarding hard work and responsibility once more; if we act as citizens and not partisans and begin again the work of remaking America, then I have faith that we will emerge from this trying time even stronger and more prosperous than we were before. Thanks for listening.   LISTEN TO AUDIO HERE

THE WHITE HOUSE, January 23, 2009.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”