Obama General Discussion II

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Clinton says no to second term

(CNN) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer she does not want to serve a second term as secretary of state or run for president of the United States.

Blitzer sat down with the former 2008 presidential candidate in Cairo.

Full transcript:

March 16th, 2011


(CNN) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer she does not want to serve a second term as secretary of state or run for president of the United States.

Blitzer sat down with the former 2008 presidential candidate in Cairo.

Full transcript:


Q- If the president is reelected, do you want to serve a second term as secretary of state?

No

Q- Would you like to serve as secretary of defense?

No

Q- Would you like to be vice president of the United States?

No

Q- Would you like to be president of the United States?

No

Q- Why not?

Because I have the best job I could ever have. This is a moment in history where it is almost hard to catch your breath. There are both the tragedies and disasters that we have seen from Haiti to Japan and there are the extraordinary opportunities and challenges that we see right here in Egypt and in the rest of the region. So I want to be part of helping to represent the United States at this critical moment in time, to do everything I can in support of the president and our government and the people of our country to stand for our values and our ideals, to stand up for our security, which has to remain first and foremost in my mind and to advance America's interests. And there isn't anything that I can imagine doing after this that would be as demanding, as challenging or rewarding.

Q- President of the United States?

You know, I had a wonderful experience running and I am very proud of the support I had and very grateful for the opportunity, but I'm going to be, you know, moving on.

Q- I asked my viewers and followers on Twitter to send questions and a lot of them said, "Ask her if she'll run in 2016 for the presidency." A lot of folks would like to you to do that.

Well that's very kind, but I am doing what I want to do right now and I have no intention or any idea even of running again. I'm going to do the best I can at this job for the next two years.
 
Yes I'm sure March Madness is all he's doing and thinking about :rolleyes:

(CNN) – Republicans are taking aim at President Obama Wednesday for appearing on an ESPN segment to reveal his bracket picks for the NCAA Basketball tournament.

The GOP's beef? The president should be focusing his attention elsewhere.

"How can @BarackObama say he is leading when puts his NCAA bracket over the budget & other pressing issues?" tweeted Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus Tuesday.

Appearing in a brief segment Wednesday, Obama, as he has in past years, unveiled his bracket picks, ultimately choosing Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, Pitt for his final four. Before revealing the picks, the president did urge viewers to go to usaid.gov to donate to charities that are assisting in the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan.

Still, RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said the White House should "explain why filming an ESPN special on the NCAA tournament should be a priority on his public schedule."

For the record, Obama is picking Kansas to go all the way.

"Kansas has more firepower," he said
 
The GOP's beef? The president should be focusing his attention elsewhere.

"How can @BarackObama say he is leading when puts his NCAA bracket over the budget & other pressing issues?" tweeted Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus Tuesday.
Click to expand...

'Cause of course we all know just how attentive to the issues at hand the Republicans have been of late, right? Shut up, GOP.

I honestly don't give a crap about this sports thing, but it's something he's done each year thus far, so it's not exactly like it's a surprise or anything.

Angela
 
My roommate said that. I don't expect the president to spend 24/7 on his job. It's not possible. He'd suck at his job if he didn't take a couple breaks, just like anyone else.

Question: what president took the most time off ever?

Answer: W

So, I'm not too concerned.
 
It's the t-shirt tucked into the too high up tracksuit pants.

I read somewhere once, about how much his team fretted over whether they could use him playing basketball as part of his image. Some saw it as perhaps a little 'too black'. When it was finally okayed, they fretted over what he wore. I'd like to think his get-up is their fault, but I suspect that its actually what he would have chosen anyway.

I wish he'd just wear some cool shoes. Would be great if he popped up on one of his basketball excursions not in plain cross trainers, but a super-rare colour scheme of Jordan 5's or something.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
I read somewhere once, about how much his team fretted over whether they could use him playing basketball as part of his image. Some saw it as perhaps a little 'too black'. When it was finally okayed, they fretted over what he wore.
Click to expand...

And this sort of thinking is why we're never going to actually get anywhere in terms of solving any of our current national problems. Seriously, people? Why the hell should this be a concern?

Angela
 
More Americans would prefer to see Barack Obama re-elected than would prefer a Republican to win in 2012, according to a new poll released today by the Pew Research Center.

In total, 48 percent of respondents said they would rather see Obama re-elected, while 35 percent said they would prefer a Republican and 16 percent didn't know. Among registered voters, 47 percent favored Obama and 37 percent preferred a Republican.

By comparison, a Pew survey of registered voters in April 2003 found 48 percent wanted to see George W. Bush re-elected and 35 percent wanted to elect a Democrat. At the time, Bush's approval rating was higher than Obama's is now, and more people said they were satisfied than dissatisfied with the direction of the country.

In March 1995, only 29 percent of adults in a Pew survey said they would prefer to re-elect Bill Clinton, while 33 percent said they favored a Republican and 20 percent wanted an independent candidate. Having "independent" as an option in that survey makes it difficult to compare directly to Obama's current position.

The new survey also looked at Republican primary candidates: Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee led the field, with 21 percent and 20 percent respectively. Sarah Palin, with 13 percent; Newt Gingrich, with 11 percent; and Ron Paul, with eight percent, trailed Romney and Huckabee, and several other candidates received between two and three percent support.

Conducted March 8-14, the poll targeted 1,525 adults and has a margin of error of three percentage points. Respondents to the Republican primary question included 538 Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters; results for the smaller sample have a margin of error of 5.5 percentage points.
 
Like Rush said about this, Obama is a sissy

Was Obama henpecked into war? - Media Criticism - Salon.com

"As the bombs began falling on Tripoli this weekend, a cry was heard on blogs and Op-Ed pages and chat shows throughout the land: President Barack Obama had been -- for want of a better phrase -- pussy-whipped into war by three women.

The emerging storyline is that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and National Security Advisor Samantha Power stampeded over the (male) heavy-hitters like Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Adviser Thomas E. Donilon to convince Barack Obama to take military action in Libya.

Even neutral-to-favorable stories about the events leading up to the U.S. joining in the establishment of the no-fly zone over the embattled North African nation betray a sense of discomfort over this display of female dominance.

"Boys against girls over Libya?" asks a representative headline in Politico.

"A 'gender gap' in Obama administration's approach to war?" queries the Christian Science Monitor.

And maybe Jacob Heilbrunn at the National Interest didn't realize that, in calling them "these Valkyries of foreign affairs," he's tying them to Scandinavian mythology of handmaidens (or witches) who decide which warriors are going to die in battle and who carried the slain off to Valhalla ... but that's a whole other load of symbolic baggage.

Those who hate Obama or who hate assertive women (admittedly, there's often overlap between those two groups) have jumped on the story with glee. It allows them to call Obama effeminate and spineless, led around by the nose by mere women. And, oh, how they've missed Hillary the Nutcracker. Plus, three women means three times the opportunity to point out how these ladies fall short of God-ordained feminine norms."
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
Like Rush said about this, Obama is a sissy

"Those who hate Obama or who hate assertive women (admittedly, there's often overlap between those two groups) have jumped on the story with glee. It allows them to call Obama effeminate and spineless, led around by the nose by mere women. And, oh, how they've missed Hillary the Nutcracker. Plus, three women means three times the opportunity to point out how these ladies fall short of God-ordained feminine norms."
Click to expand...


They do drip with misogyny, do they not?
 
Earnie Shavers said:
It's the t-shirt tucked into the too high up tracksuit pants.

I read somewhere once, about how much his team fretted over whether they could use him playing basketball as part of his image. Some saw it as perhaps a little 'too black'. When it was finally okayed, they fretted over what he wore. I'd like to think his get-up is their fault, but I suspect that its actually what he would have chosen anyway.

I wish he'd just wear some cool shoes. Would be great if he popped up on one of his basketball excursions not in plain cross trainers, but a super-rare colour scheme of Jordan 5's or something.
Click to expand...

no, seriously... he's awful. he shoots like he's flicking poo off his hand.
 
Ah. Perhaps he is bi-gendered as well as bi-racial. Truly a manwoman for all seasons.
 
General Electric Paid No Federal Taxes in 2010 - ABC News

The top tax bracket for U.S. corporations stands at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. So how is it possible that a giant of American business, General Electric, paid nothing in federal taxes last year, even as it made billions in profit?

And should the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, be advising the president on business?

For two years, President Obama has been talking about the need for corporate tax reform, declaring that the system is too complicated and that companies pay too much.

"Simplify, eliminate loopholes, treat everybody fairly," Obama said in February.

For those unaccustomed to the loopholes and shelters of the corporate tax code, GE's success at avoiding taxes is nothing short of extraordinary. The company, led by Immelt, earned $14.2 billion in profits in 2010, but it paid not a penny in taxes because the bulk of those profits, some $9 billion, were offshore. In fact, GE got a $3.2 billion tax benefit.

"Two things are disconcerting. One is, there's disproportionate amount of profits being reported offshore. And then, even for the profits that are reported onshore, they're paying less than 35 percent," said Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor for Tax Analysts.

2010 was the second year in a row that GE recorded billions in profits and paid no taxes.

During that same period, Immelt has been a close advisor to the president on the business community, a relationship that rubs some the wrong way. Immelt serves as the chairman of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

In a statement, General Electric said that it "pays what it owes under the law and is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." The company claims that its zero-dollar tax bill is largely a result of losses at its financial arm, GE Capital, due to the Wall Street meltdown.

White House: Immelt Advises on Jobs, Not Taxes

Today, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the president is "bothered" by the idea that a U.S. company could pay no taxes, but he wouldn't talk about GE specifically. Carney was also quick to say that Immelt's council advises the president on job growth and not on tax policy.

"It is part of the problem of the corporate tax structure that companies hire, you know, armies of tax lawyers to understand how it works and to take advantage of the various loopholes that exist, that are legal in order to reduce their tax burden," Carney said.

When President Obama announced his decision to appoint Immelt to the unpaid advisory role on job creation in January, some critics wondered whether the move was appropriate. Under his leadership, GE laid off 21,000 American workers and closed 20 factories between 2007 and 2009. More than half of GE's workforce is now outside the United States.
 
I for one am happy that I'm going to pay more tuition so good companies like GE and Marcellus Shale can continue operating with huge profits and nothing to pay to the government. Awesome. Fantastic. I love everything.
 
It's not a horrible thing if a company doesn't pay taxes; it should mean it has zero net income or a net loss. That means the company is possibly reinvesting in their business through upgrades and expansions and funding employees' benefits and such.

BUT...the loopholes are killing us, especially the offshore bullshit.

There is an excellent case to be made for closing loopholes and raising corporate taxes, especially on a state level because it forces companies to reinvest in themselves or pay the heavy tax burden.

But, since corporations are human-company hybrids getting all of the benefits of our American society with few of the drawbacks, we're fucked for the near future.
 
The argument that taxing them more would mean they're going to leave the US clearly holds no water, as they're leaving the US anyway.
 
PhilsFan said:
The argument that taxing them more would mean they're going to leave the US clearly holds no water, as they're leaving the US anyway.
Click to expand...

Yeah exactly.

It's a similar bullshit argument on a state level. In Minnesota, we used to have some of the highest individual and corporate taxes in the country. While this "crushing" tax burden was going on, we also had the highest number of Fortune 500 companies per capita in the U.S. :hmm:

We've lowered our taxation percentages, and HEY! we've been losing Fortune 500 companies, too.

There is NOT a direct link with companies and taxation rates.
It has more to do with a well-educated population and great infrastructure. (which are funded by fair and higher taxes, :shh: )

:banghead:
 
Poll: Obama's approval hits new low - Jennifer Epstein - POLITICO.com

By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 3/30/11 7:57 AM EDT

President Barack Obama’s approval rating and prospects for reelection have plunged to all-time lows in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Half of the registered voters surveyed for the poll think that the president does not deserve a second term in office, while 41 percent say he does. In another Quinnipiac poll released just four weeks ago, 45 percent said the president did not deserve reelection, while 47 percent said he did.

The decline in support for a second Obama term comes as his approval rating has dropped 4 percentage points since early March, landing at 42 percent – a record low – in the poll released Wednesday. His disapproval rating has risen from 46 percent to 48 percent.

The downward shift may in part be the result of dissatisfaction over U.S involvement in Libya, with 47 percent of those surveyed saying they oppose it. By a margin of 58 percent to 29 percent, registered voters said that Obama has not clearly stated U.S. goals for the mission.

The poll as conducted March 22-28 and surveyed 2,069 registered voters. The error margin is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
 
PhilsFan said:
I for one am happy that I'm going to pay more tuition so good companies like GE and Marcellus Shale can continue operating with huge profits and nothing to pay to the government. Awesome. Fantastic. I love everything.
Click to expand...

Thought you might appreciate this, PhilsFan.

Acting Secretary Michael Krancer is changing the procedure after receiving complaints that agency staff in different regions of Pennsylvania were carrying out their responsibilities unevenly, a department spokeswoman said.

The new policy covers a variety of enforcement actions that can require a company to pay a fine or correct a problem, spokeswoman Katy Gresh said. In some cases, those matters reach top officials. But the policy also covers notices of violation — which Krancer's predecessor, John Hanger, equated to a traffic ticket making its way up to the chief of police and said it represents an encroachment onto the professional independence of the agency's inspectors.

The policy applies strictly to Marcellus Shale-related drilling activity, and not to any other activities that the agency also inspects across six regions, including mining, construction, water and sewer treatment, power generation and medical X-rays.

Gresh said the week-old policy may be only temporary.

"We need to make sure we are consistent and that we make our best effort to be the most effective regulator of this industry, which will benefit all Pennsylvanians," Gresh said.

Gov. Tom Corbett, whose successful campaign last year received sizable donations from members of the natural gas industry, has said he wants to make Pennsylvania the Texas of the natural gas boom. Pennsylvania is the largest natural gas state not to tax the activity, and Corbett is against imposing a new tax on it.

Notice of the change surrounding the hotly pursued natural gas formation wasn't announced publicly. Rather, a March 23 email from a top department official ended up in the hands of reporters.

In the email, the department's regional directors and the director of the bureau of oil and gas management were instructed to seek approval for actions involving Marcellus Shale drilling from two top agency deputies, with final clearance from Krancer.

"Any waiver from this directive will not be acceptable," wrote John Hines, the agency's executive deputy secretary.

On Wednesday, Hanger called the change to longstanding practice "ill-advised."

"I can't think of anything more likely to erode public confidence in the inspection process than this," Hanger said. "I urge them to rethink and reconsider."

Hanger said it oversteps the built-in checks and balances that give every company the ability to contest a notice of violation by responding in writing, asking for a meeting with regional staff to discuss it, appealing a decision to the Environmental Hearing Board and even going to court.

If there are complaints about consistency, the best way to handle those complaints is to carry out a management-level review of consistency and then train staff, if necessary, Hanger said.

"The idea that the secretary himself and the deputy secretary would presumably review, literally hundreds if not thousands of (notices of violation) before they were issued, when they were not on the site, they didn't do the inspection, is incredible," Hanger said. "It's a new full-time job for the secretary, is what's going to happen."

___

Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Post-Gazette.com
Click to expand...

Can you say de facto no regulation on Marcellus Shale? The natural gas companies have gotten their money's worth from the new governor.

Hopefully, this is temporary as in ending today.
 
Michelle finally meets her match?

xBRhO.jpg
 
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