Many are questioning the Constitutionality of Obama’s healthcare plan, which is an interesting premise. Is it Constitutional to compel citizens to obtain health insurance?
It can be argued, people are compelled to obtain car insurance, lest they be ticketed and fined. Therefore, the same principle would apply. In short, it probably is Constitutional, due to established case law in other areas of commerce regulated by the government.
Gibbs Says He Doesn’t Know if White House Has Reviewed Constitutionality of Forcing People to Buy Health Insurance
Monday, November 02, 2009 - (CNSNews.com) - White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that he does not know if White House lawyers have reviewed whether it is constitutional for the federal government to order individuals to buy health insurance and said that the White House is not seriously considering the concerns of people such as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) who believe the mandate is not constitutionally justified.
This was the second time in two weeks that Gibbs had dismissed concerns that the Constitution does not give the federal government the power to force individuals to purchase items the government wants them to purchase.
Hatch told CNSNews.com last week that forcing people to buy health insurance cannot be justified under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
For the past few years, I’ve read of many troubling honor killings in Britain that have placed an undue burden on the legal system, as such conduct is not lawful in the United Kingdom and appropriately so. However, I’m not used to reading about them in America.
To kill one’s own, or anyone for that matter, over perceived offenses, should be heartbreaking and sad. How does one arrive at such a place that this becomes an option.
Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, deliberately ran over his daughter, Noora Almaleki, 20 and the mother of her boyfriend, in an honor killing, as he did not approve of her lifestyle in living with a boyfriend in America. His daughter died and the mother of her boyfriend is in serious condition at the hospital.
Almaleki, whose family has resided in America since 1994, stated his daughter is married to a man in Iraq and is living in sin with another man in the United States.
He blamed his daughter for “bringing shame” on his family by becoming Westernized, as she wore make-up, trendy clothes and no head covering.
Why live in a Western nation if you do not wish to become Westernized. I don’t get it. These cultural cases that turn criminal are becoming increasingly difficult for Westernized judicial systems to prosecute. The jury selection becomes complicated and cultural differences come into play.
Noora Almaleki
However, as a general international rule, the law of the land where you lay is what applies. One cannot go into foreign territories and violate the law, then hope to apply the laws and legislative charters of one’s homeland. Ratified international treaties are the only exception, none of which grant allowances for murder.
I do not agree with adultery, but you don’t kill people for that. You talk to them in the hope they will change their ways, be reconciled with their spouse and gain God’s forgiveness. But then again, I’m a Christian. We see things differently from the Muslim religion.
'Girl Run Over For Being Too Westernised'
11:51am UK, Saturday October 31, 2009 - Police in the US have arrested an Iraqi man who allegedly ran over his 20-year-old daughter for being too 'westernised'. The alleged attack took place in a car park in Phoenix (pic from CBS)
Faleh Almaleki, 48, is accused of driving a jeep at his 20-year-old daughter and a family friend while they were in a car park.
Peoria police spokesman Mike Tellef said family and friends of the victim told detectives that Almaleki had threatened his daughter because she was not living according to traditional Iraqi values...
A second woman - Amal Edan Khalaf, 43, who is the mother of Noor's boyfriend - was also struck...
U.S. President Obama is stressing job creation by the public and private sectoras the way out of the current economic recession-turned depression.
U.S. President Obama
In a public address given this past weekend, the President stated, the United States is willing to trade with anyone. Does “anyone” as we know the term to mean, include Cuba and Iran?
In other news, Obama's job numbers are still being scrutinized by the press and economists as inaccurate and costly to the taxpayers. The housing and job markets are still very bad, as is the deficit and budget.
Obama: Private, public sectors must create jobs
President Barack Obama said Monday the public and private sectors must find more ways to create jobs to continue the nation's climb out of an economic recession...
The president said job losses would continue for weeks and months to come and called for bold, innovative action by his administration, Congress and the private sector to create more good-paying jobs.
He also said the U.S. must break out of a "debilitating gridlock on trade policy," by ending the false choice between a wide-open, free wheeling import policy or fearful, protectionist approach to trade. He called for a more balanced policy of letting the world know America wants to compete and trade — fairly — with anyone. He gave no specifics...
We've got a long way to go. We are still seeing production levels that are significantly below peak levels and most distressing is the fact that job growth continues to lag.
WASHINGTON — ...The good news of the week: The economy is on the rise for the first time in more than a year. Fro m July through September the economy grew by 3.5 percent, the strongest uptick in two years. Obama called the development no cause for celebration, but a welcome sign after so many months of distressing news.
"While we have a long way to go before we return to prosperity, and there will undoubtedly be ups and downs along the road, it's also true that we've come a long way," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "It is easy to forget that it was only several months ago that the economy was shrinking rapidly and many economists feared another Great Depression."
Yet the economic indicator that matters most to the majority of families — stable, solid employment — is still lagging.
Unemployment hit a 26-year high of 9.8 percent in September, and the October report due in the coming week could show it topping 10 percent.
"Economic growth is no substitute for job growth," Obama said. "And we will likely see further job losses in the coming days, a fact that is both troubling for our economy and heartbreaking for the men and women who suddenly find themselves out of work. But we will not create the jobs we need unless the economy is growing."
He added, "Positive news today does not mean there won't be difficult days ahead."...
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 - The housing market is so bad you can't even give away homes these days. Officials in suburban Barrington put three homes up for a sale at just a dollar a piece - a dollar! - and didn't get a single bidder...
CBS News, the Wall Street Journal, Politico and a number of other news sources are refuting the White House’s job creation numbers as grossly inaccurate and overstated. The fact of the matter is the U.S. economy is still in very bad shape and sugarcoating the problem is not going to solve it.
$160,000 Per Stimulus Job? White House Calls That 'Calculator Abuse'
October 30, 2009 7:12 PM - Posting its results late this afternoon at Recovery.gov, the White House claimed 640,329 jobs have been created or saved because of the $159 billion in stimulus funds allocated as of Sept. 30.
Officials acknowledged the numbers were not exact, saying that states and localities that reported the numbers have made mistakes...
Brian Schmidt, director of planning and programming for the commission said that his staff originally reported to the Obama administration that the stimulus money saved 250 jobs. Then, realizing they had mistakenly double credited, they later changed that to 125 jobs. Tuesday, they updated it again to 74 jobs...
So let's see. Assuming their number is right -- 160 billion divided by 1 million. Does that mean the stimulus costs taxpayers $160,000 per job?
Jared Bernstein, chief economist and senior economic advisor to the vice president, called that "calculator abuse."
He said the cost per job was actually $92,000 -- but acknowledged that estimate is for the whole stimulus package as of the end of 2010...
‘Jobs Created or Saved’ Is White House Fantasy: Caroline Baum
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- ...But the government has no money of its own to spend; only what it borrows or confiscates from us via taxation. Oops.
“Government job creation is an oxymoron,” said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business. It is only by depriving the private sector of funds that government can hire or subsidize hiring.
That’s why “jobs created or saved” is such pure fiction. It ignores what’s unseen, as our old friend Frederic Bastiat explained so eloquently 160 years ago in an essay...
Fiction Lags Reality...
Only 30,383 jobs were created or saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to Recovery.gov, the government’s once-transparent Web site that has become a complex blur of numbers, graphs and pie charts. These are only the jobs reported by federal contract recipients. The Obama administration will report the larger universe of ARRA-related jobs on Oct. 30...
I'm getting sick and tired of everyone talking about how much worse shape we would be in, but for (fill in the blank: TARP, stimulus, auto bail outs...) Even if it's true, it doesn't make anyone feel better. That's what I keep thinking when Obama Administration officials sound like cheerleaders claiming victory over job creation that occurred as a result of the $787 billion stimulus...
Oct. 30, 2009 - Where are all the jobs the White House is talking about? California got $18.5 billion in stimulus money, producing more than 110,000 jobs. Illinois got nearly $6.5 billion, and turned that into more than 24,000 jobs. CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy brings us the story from California, and CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports from Illinois.
At Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, classrooms and budgets are tight despite the influx of stimulus dollars.
California received $7 billion for education. The government says that created or saved 62,000 jobs. But the teacher's union says California also made $6 billion in cuts to education resulting in 20,000 jobs lost. Friday, California's governor said that number could have been much worse...
MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger, Ap Economics Writer – Fri Oct 30, 4:42 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Flat incomes suggest more weakness ahead in consumer spending, reinforcing concerns about a ho-hum holiday shopping season and a sluggish economic recovery.
"This recovery is going to be very weak. Consumers are in no position or mood to spend. Their wages are down and they can't get credit," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University's Smith School of Business...
Shameless Publicity...Or Did Somebody Really Lose Their Mind
The Obamas
"Real Housewives of Atlanta" reality TV star, Sheree Whitfield, wants the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, to wear clothes from her "She by Sheree" line.
First Lady Michelle Obama
I hope it’s not the see-through blouse you were trying to hock as fashion, during the show that was featured in the papers and online. If so, for the First Lady, it would be a no go - "Nay by Sheree" (kidding).
The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Sheree Whitfield is second from the right)
While, President Obama would probably like that on his wife at home, it is certainly questionable, attempting to outfit the First Lady of any nation, in items from a clothing line that has such skimpy, see-through pieces included in its runway showing.
BRAVO HOST WANTS FIRST LADY IN 'SHE BY SHEREE'
October 28, 2009 - Andy Cohen, the network's Senior Vice President of Original Programming and Development and host of every Bravo reunion show, says he is pushing for Michelle Obama to wear an item from "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Sheree's clothing line...
“I had Michelle Obama’s hairdresser Johnny Wright on last week,” he tells People.com. “And I said, ‘What is it going to take to get the First Lady into a She by Sheree frock?’ And he said that he’s anxiously awaiting what the line presents to see. He said if Sheree creates something great, maybe it will happen. So tonight,” Cohen said. “I’m really pushing for the first lady to wear She by Sheree!’”...
Video: MPs face ban on employing relatives' - ITN NEWS
Being in public service is a privilege, but it does not mean one is to behave as though one is privileged. Squandering, misusing or misappropriating tax dollars is a betrayal of public trust.
Scandals have erupted in just about every world government, regarding missing, wasted or misappropriated funds. For example, in America, there was the FBI computer system scandal, where many millions went missing and to this day is still unaccounted for, presumed to be stolen, as it has been filed under the label "miscellaneous" with no product or service to show for it.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller blew several hundred million in taxpayer money
In the United Kingdom, the ongoing MP (Member of Parliament) scandal saw off over a dozen government officials that incensed the public via claiming inflated personal expenses generally not allowed under the law.
In Jamaica, a government official used taxpayer money to renovate a home designated for people in his capacity that was already in good condition, as it was previously updated, angering the Jamaican public, as the money could have been used to build a school or repair roads.
Jacqui Smith was caught up in the MP spending scandal in Britain
Government employees all over the world should endeavor to give the public the greatest value for their tax dollars. If one is not willing to sacrifice and accept reasonable remuneration for one's services as a public servant, one should seek employment in the private sector.
"Video: Obama: Banks Need to Help Small Businesses"
After flooding banks with more cash than is safe for the economy, U.S. President Barack Obama, is now imploring said financial institutions to lend to creditworthy small businesses, in a bid to unclog the revenue block that has gripped the corporate sector.
As mentioned previously, a handful of corporate conglomerates gobbled up many smaller companies, then collapsed due to crooked business practices.
Yes, sometimes mergers and acquisitions are a bad thing, as smaller companies become soulless and bland.
The First Family of the United States of America, sat for an official photo in the White House. Left to right, U.S. President Barack Obama, daughter Sasha Obama, wife and First Lady, Michelle Obama and daughter Malia Obama.
The effectiveness of the stimulus bills by former President George W. Bush and White House incumbent, Barack Obama, is being questioned, as the numbers are not adding up and equaling growth.
Certain companies such as AIG and a few automakers needed the assistance, to save a multitude of jobs, but the government lost its way in throwing billions at banks and numerous other financial entities and business enterprises, some of which have misused the funds, not producing anything of value for the American people. Some banks, such as Northern Trust, received massive sums of money they didn't even need.
I question the logic of having done this, rather than focusing on a few U.S. corporations that anchor the American economy.
Additionally, bailout money, by law, should have been stipulated as funds that must be repaid, as corporations improved their financial outlook.
As it stands, many business recipients have no intention of repaying a dime, as they are not legally compelled to do so. Christmas came early for the corporate sector courtesy of the American taxpayer.
America is often referred to as the land of plenty, but a shocking study discovered, 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty. The National Academy of Science stated in a recently released report this week, 47.4 million Americans lived in poverty last year. The U.S. population currently sits at 305 million people.
This dangerous shift, indicates something the Judiciary Report published two years ago. Due to the financial corruption transpiring in America's corporate sector and government's complicity in this regard, the U.S. is heading in the direction of becoming the new India, no disrespect intended to either nation.
Two years ago, on September 27, 2007, in the How George Bush Destroyed The U.S. Economyarticle, the Judiciary Report stated, "What is forming is a similar situation to what happened in India, respectfully, with a small group of rich and a large group of poor. Unemployment is going to skyrocket if the government is not careful."
As time has now shown, that is just what has happened with unemployment, which skyrocketed this year and now the poverty rate is beginning to head in that direction as well, as predicted.
When the gulf between the rich and the poor grows in leaps and bounds, poverty will increase in very demonstrable ways.
The war in Iraq was ordered by the Bush administration to help a handful of rich people get very rich and it inadvertently made many people poor as well, eroding America's overall wealth and standing in the world.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney opened a real Pandora's box via said corruption and now they can't shut it. Excessive spending by the new administration is only going to make things worse.
Revised formula puts 1 in 6 Americans in poverty
WASHINGTON — The level of poverty in America is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure.
The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula...
President Obama's $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers, is being abused according to published reports. Thus far, the IRS has uncovered 19,000 cases of fraud, including a 4-year-old claiming the $8,000 tax credit, after allegedly purchasing his own home.
People should desist abusing the tax credit, as there are people in America that have legitimately benefited from the program, aiding them in purchasing their first home.
If there is too much abuse, the program maybe scrapped altogether. Therefore, think of others who genuinely need it, before you misuse the program.
Homebuyer's tax credit: A hotbed of fraud?
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 2:30PM - Lately, the residential real estate market has been perking up. A key driver has been a juicy tax break: the first-time home buyer's tax credit, which comes to $8,000. No doubt, this can make a big difference when making the decision to purchase a home.
In fact, about 1.4 million taxpayers have filed returns to take advantage of the benefit.
This should be a good thing, right? Well, whenever there is a significant tax break, expect a good amount of cheats to get a piece of the action (especially during hard economic times).
According to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, it looks like 19,000 people filed tax returns -- claiming the credit -- even though they did not purchase a home. Some of the cases are actually comical, such as a four-year old who purchased his first home.
Interestingly enough, there is evidence that 74,000 other returns could be shams...
Charles Wesley Mumbere, a exiled African King, worked as a nurse's aide in America, for 15-years, when his student loan money was depleted. It is honorable he chose to work, rather than turning to crime to obtain money.
Due to a change in African law, he is now able to return to his homeland and claim his rightful position as a king. This story is reminiscent of the film "Coming To America."
According to published reports, President Barack Obama, stated he is going to address the ever increasing, U.S. deficit. There are way too many zeros in the deficit.
In light of the massive spending that has transpired in the White House and Congress over the past few months, the Judiciary Report does not fathom how that is financially feasible at this particular juncture. The laws of mathematics say it is not. Cut back on the spending.
Obama Lays Plans to Tackle Deficit
OCTOBER 20, 2009 - This has been the year of coping with the economic mess. Next year will be the year of coping with the deficit mess that follows the economic mess.
The Obama White House has come to that conclusion, and is already starting to plan how to go about tackling the job. The effort is likely to start early next year and will include plenty of direct presidential engagement, with equal parts psychology and substance...
Foreclosures Spike Again, Deficit Higher Than Expected, Dollar Decimated
More proof illustrating the economy is still heading in the wrong direction, due to massive spending, surfaced this week, with the news the U.S. dollar is no longer the preferred world currency reserve. Now comes word, foreclosure filings in America have spiked yet again, reaching new record highs.
The U.S. deficit also set another record this week, matching and surpassing Great Depression levels, much like the astounding foreclosure rates.
Once again, the Judiciary Report, would like to emphasize, the solution to the crisis is the government saving money, not spending it.
Published: October 16, 2009 - WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that the federal budget deficit for the fiscal year that just ended was $1.4 trillion, nearly a trillion dollars greater than the year before and the largest shortfall relative to the size of the economy since 1945...
The shortfall for the fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, translates to 10 percent of the economy, according to a joint statement from the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter R. Orszag. For the 2008 fiscal year, the deficit of $459 billion was 3.2 percent of the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product.
Economists generally agree that annual deficits should not exceed 3 percent of the G.D.P., and that is the level President Obama had vowed to reach by the end of his first term in 2013.
But subsequent spending and tax cuts to stimulate the economy, and lower-than-expected revenues as the recession deepened before bottoming out, combined to push the administration’s deficit forecast to 4.6 percent of G.D.P. for the fiscal year 2013.
At 10 percent of the gross domestic product, the 2009 deficit is the highest since the end of World War II, when it was 21.5 percent. At that level, it already has become a bigger economic and a political issue than any time since the late 1980s...
Why Obama's Housing Rescue Hasn't Prevented Record Foreclosures
Fri Oct 16, 9:53 am ET - After taking withering criticism for the Department-of-Motor-Vehicles pace of its initial efforts to keep struggling borrowers out of foreclosure, the Obama administration proudly announced last week that it had hit its goal of 500,000 trial loan modifications almost a month ahead of schedule. But with the foreclosure rate hitting a new record in the third quarter, the government's ability to put a meaningful dent in the tally of housing-crisis victims faces renewed skepticism.
Foreclosure filings were reported on 937,840 homes in the three-month period, a 23 percent jump from a year earlier, according to a report real estate firm RealtyTrac released Thursday. Home foreclosures in September, meanwhile, decreased 4 percent from August but remained 29 percent higher than a year earlier...
Video: Obama: New Orleans Will Be Better Than Ever - The Associated Press
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, regarding how poorly the government addressed the rescue, clean up and stalled rebuilding, was too much for many Americans to stomach, as the Bush Administration failed across the board.
Current U.S. President, Barack Obama, visited New Orleans this week and pledged his support to the region.
In the coming weeks, U.S. President Barack Obama, is to decide on the course of action the military will take regarding the war in Afghanistan.
Recently in the news, the conflict in the region has overtaken concerns regarding Iraq, another war the government is waging, as the President has made it a mainstay in speeches, receiving much of his focus.
Polls revealed, an overwhelming majority of Americans want the nation to withdraw from Afghanistan, sensibly seeing no future there in open combat. It is a waste of lives, time and money. Not to mention, the soldiers wish to be reunited with their families in America.
Obama: Afghanistan decision in 'coming weeks'
By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer Julie Pace, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 13, 2:53 pm ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Tuesday he will decide on new troops for Afghanistan in "the coming weeks."
He told reporters that decisions on the military front were important but just one aspect of the improvements needed to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. He said an important element is building up civilian capacity to help improve Afghanistan's governance, agriculture, rule of law and other areas...
Later, spokesman Robert Gibbs rejected a published report that the president had authorized 13,000 additional troops that were now arriving in Afghanistan. He said those troops were part of a deployment ordered by the former Bush administration, but had not made their way to the Afghan theater by the time Obama became president. The Washington Post had reported those forces were authorized by Obama.
U.S. President Barack Obama assembled doctors in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C. to discuss his plans regarding the American health care system.
Obama has introduced several health care initiatives that have been met with great resistance by segments of the U.S. population.
Obama Rallies Doctors
President Obama gathered doctors at the White House Monday for a pep rally in support of his health care reform plans, which he argued would help them spend more time treating patients and less time filling out forms.
Obama said little new about his signature domestic policy initiative, but he used the choreographed event to put some momentum behind reform proposals taking shape in Congress. The key Senate Finance Committee may vote this week on its version of health-care reform legislation.
The roughly 150 doctors assembled wore white lab coats under the brilliant fall sun, some sheepishly carrying them under their arms as they made their way to the folding chairs. In opening his remarks, Obama called them "spiffy."...
"If you're willing to speak out strongly on behalf of the things you care about and what you see each and every day as you're serving patients all across the country, I'm confident we are going to get health reform passed this year," Obama told them...
Video: Americans want troops out of Afghanistan - RT
Confirming what the Judiciary Report then polls stated, the American people want out of Afghanistan. The U.S. government needs to pull the troops and concentrate on creating a covert, but Congressionally accountable division of the government, comprised of highly trained, experienced, plain clothed operatives, to hunt terrorists. And not the C.I.A.
This mass military bombing in the Middle East is fruitless and at any point in history the U.S. Army leaves the region, it can still be destabilized by insurgents. The government is prolonging the inevitable and creating more domestic and international terrorists in the process, due to outrage at the collateral damage in civilian deaths.
Rio, Brazil has won the 2016 Olympic bid, beating out stiff competition from such cities as Chicago, Illinois in the United States, Madrid, Spain and Tokyo, Japan.
Brazilians celebrated the win, as the Olympic games have never been held in South America before. Congrats to Brazil. The 2012 Olympics will be held in the lovely city of London.
There was massive shock today at the city of Chicago, Illinois, being eliminated and in the first round, as a choice to host the 2016 Olympics, with Rio, Brazil winning the bid.
Many mainstream newspapers are attributing it to anti-American sentiment in the world, which is an accurate assumption.
Chicago is a great city, full of great people, with lots of wonderful architecture and much to see and do, but the damage the Bush administration has wrought in the world, is still fresh in many people’s minds.
The wars raging in the Middle East, Guantanamo prison abuses, Patriot Act abuses that have foreigners concerned about coming to the States, believing they can be summarily investigated and spied on with their privacy invaded, wiretapped, bugged and followed, coupled with other scandals such as the global economic downturn that began in Corporate America (with offshoots such as Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford) the Erin Andrews hotel hidden camera case and others of the same nature, to do with invasion of privacy, such as the ongoing Hollywood wiretap scandals (Pellicano and others) has left the world dismayed and very concerned. People are literally scared to come to America.
The conduct Bush engaged in and the precedents he set, is not the America the world grew to know and love and it is scaring people all over the world.
The Judiciary Report believes it is not an international rejection of the American people, but of the U.S. government.
Many governments and entities in the world, cannot stomach what the U.S. government has done abroad and at home, committing and permitting acts that broke domestic and international law. Then again, everyday Americans can’t stomach what the government has done either.
