Obama Is Setting Up a Minimum Wage Blame Game with the GOP in Coming Budget Negotiations

Never one to stay the course with an agenda item until it succeeds, President Barack Obama has now put aside the Chinese attempt to take over the entire East China Sea and the disastrous Obamacare and has turned to preaching to Congress about raising the minimum wage and securing the social safety net. He issued a wide-reaching appeal Wednesday to correct inequalities that he said make it harder for a child to escape poverty. "That should offend all of us," he declared. "We are a better country than this." Trying to benefit by hitting the pocketbook issues that Americans rank as a top concern, Obama argued that the dream of upward economic mobility is fading and that the growing income gap is a "defining challenge of our time." The President made his remarks at a nonprofit community center a short drive from the White House in one of Washington's poorest neighborhoods. Although he offered no new initiatives, Obama combined his call for Congress to act on pending short-term economic measures with a long-term view aimed at easing a growing level of US income inequality. If President Obama thought shifting topics would relieve the pressure he is feeling over the catastrophic rollout of Obamacare, he didn't help his own cause when he acknowledged his administration's "poor execution" in rolling out the flawed website that was supposed to be an easy portal for purchasing insurance, while blaming Republicans for a "reckless" shutdown of the government. "Nobody has acquitted themselves very well these past few months," Obama said. "So it's not surprising that the American people's frustrations with Washington are at an all-time high." Obama's speech was delivered amid public doubts over his stewardship of the economy, as his overall approval ratings sink and he seeks to move beyond the Obamacare troubles that have consumed his presidency in recent months. But, worse for Americans than the Obamacare fiasco, he said, are their growing difficulties in trying to make ends meet no matter how hard they work. The President quoted the Pope's question : why is it not news when an elderly homeless person dies from exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points. Obama said that a child born in the lowest 20% of income level has a less than 5% chance of making it to the top income levels and is 10 times likelier to stay where he is - worse than other industrial countries such as Canada, Germany and France. Responding, House Speaker John Boehner blamed lack of action on jobs-related legislation. He said bills passed by the Republican-controlled House that would help the economy and create jobs have been blocked in the Democratic-controlled Senate. "The Senate and the President continue to stand in the way of the people's priorities," he said on the House floor. Obama wants to increase the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour. A Democratic bill by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa would raise the threshold to $10.10 an hour in three steps and tie automatic annual increases to changes in the cost of living. Obama conceded that "the elephant in the room" is the political gridlock that has prevented congressional action. ~~~~~ Dear readers, as Washington gears up for another round of budget negotiations, beginning this month, the Obama minimun wage proposal seems unlikely to garner the 60 votes it would need to clear the Senate. President Obama seems to be using the minimum wage proposal as the budget negotiations approach in order to force the Republican House majority to publicly say "no" to a sensitive social issue in their legitimate effort to reduce America's debt and bring the federal budget under control. Since Obamacare is now an issue favorable to the GOP, Obama appears to be creating yet another obstacle to real negotiation and compromise. President Obama does not seem to recognize that negotiating is not throwing nails in front of the oncoming truck. Negotiating is finding ways to agree on behalf of America so that everyone feels that they are a valuable part of the political process.

Chris Christie's Presidential Aspirations Should Be Put to Rest - Definitively

Chris Christie is the Republican Governor of New Jersey. He is the newly elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association. In 2012, in the days leading up to the presidential election, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy that flattened New Jersey, leaving wide swathes of it in splintered ruins, Christie welcomed Barack Obama to New Jersey and embraced the President for showing his concern and swift action on behalf of the devastated state. Christie was criticized by many Republicans for embracing Obama, as they watched GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's wide lead in the polls collapse after the Superstorm, saying Christie had undermined Romney's chances on the eve of the election. Romney lost to Obama, and recently Mrs. Romney told CNN's Piers Morgan that she felt positive before Sandy but felt the tide turn after the Superstorm showed Obama in the devastated area promising aid. Six months after Sandy, Christie continued to support Obama, saying he "kept every promise" he made concerning help for New Jersey. The day after that statement, the Obama administration approved a $1.8 billion aid package for New Jersey and Republicans have continued to challenge Christie's loyalty to the Republican Party, a critically important characterization because Christie is considered to be one of the favorites to take the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. And this week, Christie added fuel to the loyalty fire when he refused to make a public endorsement of a possible GOP challenger to New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, a move some say could hurt his chances of winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Cuomo has disputed an earlier newspaper report that Christie was prepared to back Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino should he get the Republican nomination for governor next year, saying Christie made a personal phone call to him to assure him otherwise, according to The New York Post. "Christie already has a problem with many Republicans refusing to forgive him because of his embrace of [President] Obama and his socially liberal policies," a GOP operative told the Post. "But this bizarre behavior in suggesting he won't help a Republican defeat a Democratic governor, and a Cuomo no less, could finish off his chance of becoming his party's nominee for president in 2016. Christie's spokesman and political consultant have refused to comment on the reports, according to the Post, and after the initial report suggesting Christie would back Astorino, Cuomo told the paper, "I spoke to Governor Christie this morning, who told me the exact opposite." ~~~~~ Dear readers, Republicans come in many shades and sizes - conservative, liberal, moderate, religious, secular, down-home accessible and intellectual heavyweights who are not for everyone. But Republicans all stand for one thing - electing Republicans. They may say nothing if a candidate has views too different from their own. But they do not endorse Democrat candidates. And they do not call the Democrat governor of a neighboring state to say that they will not endorse a GOP candidate opposing him. It may be too late for Christie to repair the disloyal image he has created with many Republicans. But it may also be that, too late, the shine has worn off his plan to rise above partisan politics in helping his state recover from Superstorm Sandy. Governor Christie has recently complained about the federal red tape attached to his Sandy aid package. Christie now says : "To the victims, I'd say you're right, it is too slow, and I wish that the federal government would allow us the flexibility to get you aid more quickly." The "Christie issue" is beginning to remind me of the GOP's Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who defected to the Democrat Party, which, allegedly through President Obama, had promised to support his Senate re-election bid. The promise was not kept and Specter lost. In US politics, loyalty is vital and reflects the value of a politician's word. If the GOP has to continually look over its shoulder to be sure that Chris Christie is still on their side - if Chris Christie's word is good only until he needs something that a Democrat can offer - then he is a liability, not an asset, and his presidential aspirations should be put to rest - quietly, decently, definitively.

US Intelligence Is not a Political Function

Former CIA and NSA Director General Michael Hayden told Fox News Sunday this weekend that the Inited States has few good choices in dealing with Iran's push for nuclear weapons, saying he's OK with letting the six-month temporary deal with the country go forward, "But we should be truthful,...We have accepted Iranian uranium enrichment." The "red line" with Iran has clearly changed....Right now, the Iranians are far too close to a nuclear weapon," he said. "We have hit the pause button. Now we've got to negotiate hitting the delete button with them." When negotiations end, Hayden said, "Iran's going to be a nuclear threshold state." The deal, as currently structured, allows Iran to enrich uranium to 5 percent. Previous UN resolutions have called for a complete dismantling of its nuclear program and shipment out of the country of all nuclear materials. Also on Sunday, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the US is in greater danger of a terrorist attack than it was prior to September 11 and has less ability to prevent such aggression by Islamist radicals. "I think terror is up worldwide, the statistics indicate that," Feinstein said on CNN's "State of the Union." She noted that : "The fatalities are way up. The numbers are way up. There are new bombs, very big bombs. Trucks being reinforced for those bombs. There are bombs that go through magnetometers. The bomb maker is still alive. There are more groups than ever. And there is huge malevolence out there,...I think there is a real displaced aggression in this very fundamentalist jihadist Islamic community. That is that the West is responsible for everything that goes wrong and that the only thing that's going to solve this is Islamic sharia law and the concept of the caliphate." Republican Representative Mike Rogers, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying terrorists are now focusing on smaller events, making it more difficult for the intelligence community to detect plots against American targets. "The threat level has never been more diverse than it is today and that's one of the bigger concerns that we have, and why we both would agree that the threat is higher today and we are probably less safe. The more efforts they try, the more perfect you have to be to stop something. That's a huge challenge," Rogers told CNN. "We're fighting amongst ourselves in this country about the role of the intelligence community. That is having an impact on our ability to stop what is a growing number of threats. And so we've got to shake ourselves out of this pretty soon and understand that our intelligence services are not the bad guys," Rogers said. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the unsettling assessment shared by the House and Senate Intelligence Committee chairs comes as Congress considers whether to reduce the intelligence community's ability to spy on Americans, as well as terrorist threats overseas. The Snowden leaks revealed that the NSA has been collecting the phone records of millions of Americans, as well as the email content of messages going overseas. The revelation led to a rare bipartisan consensus in Congress to limit NSA activities or to require regular reports to Congress on its activities. Feinstein is pushing legislation to protect NSA practices but require more congressional reporting. But pethaps the real problem lies elsewhere. Until the 9/11 shock, intelligence was considered a professional activity largely separated from Washington politics and insulated from daily shifts in the presidential agenda. Today, details emerge of an Obama administration that has become, through its White House intelligence capability, the manager of intelligence goals and activities, rather than being the recipient of the results of American intelligence expertise. Intelligence is not a political tool or activity. It is the core function that provides for American security. What Congress ought to consider is how to stop the White House de facto leadership of the US intelligence community and put that leadership back into the hands of intelligence professionals, with appropriate congressional and White House oversight.

North Korea Detains 85-year-old in Barbaric Political Gamesmanship

The North Korean State Media claimed today that an elderly American Korean War veteran, detained while visiting the country in a group tour, has apologized for "crimes" during the Korean War and for "hostile acts" against the state during his current trip. North Korean authorities released video showing 85-year-old Merrill Newman, wearing glasses, a blue button-down shirt and tan trousers, reading his alleged apology, which was dated November 9, although this couldn't be independently confirmed. Pyongyang has been accused of previously coercing statements from detainees. There was no way to reach Newman and determine the circumstances of the alleged confession. But it was riddled with stilted English and grammatical errors, such as "I want not punish me." Newman reportedly wrote : "I have been guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK government and Korean people." Newman purportedly wrote the four-page statement, adding : "Please forgive me." The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has accused Newman of trying to contact men he trained during the Korean War and of bringing into the DPRK an e-book criticizing North Korea. The statement alleges that Newman says if he goes back to the US he will tell the truth about the country - a possible indication that Newman could be released. The apology can be seen as Pyongyang taking steps needed to release Newman, said Yoo Ho-Yeol, a professor of North Korea studies at Korea University in Seoul. North Korea likely issued the confession in the form of an apology to resolve Newman's case quickly without starting legal proceedings, Yoo said. North Korea is extremely sensitive about any criticism and regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of seeking to overthrow its authoritarian system through various means - claims that the US and South Korea dismiss. The State Department has repeatedly warned Americans about traveling to the country, citing the risk of arbitrary detention. North Korea has detained at least six Americans since 2009, including two journalists accused of trespassing and others, some of whom are of Korean ancestry, accused of spreading Christianity. Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary and tour operator, has been detained for more than a year. North Korea sees missionary work as a Western threat to its authoritarian government. Whatever the reasons behind the detention, it could hurt impoverished North Korea's efforts to encourage a growing tourism trade seen as a rare source of much-needed foreign currency. ~~~~~ Dear readers, some things require few words. This disgusting display of state terrorism aimed at a defenseless 85-year-old man, must remind all of us just how barbaric the North Korean regime is. First, all freedom-loving human beings should stop all non-official travel to North Korea immediately. This includes Dennis Rodman, who has been pandering to the Dear Leader's love of basketball to enhance his own personal access to world media. Second, while the US has not provided aid to North Korea since 2009 because of the DPRK refusal to stop its nuclear weapons program, Americans should contact their Congress members to demand that no aid distributed to North Korea by the UN should be paid for with US funds. Third, this dispicable act should remind all the world of the almost unimaginable dangers inherent in countries like North Korea and Iran possessing a nuclear arsenal.