Green Means Go--Send the 'Doe

Many Americans opened their emails today with a message directly from the president. However, it wasn't an invitation to the White House for a state dinner or recognition for being an outstanding US citizen. Instead, it was the official announcement of the beginning of his 2012 Presidential Re-Election Campaign.

The announcement comes amid a budget stalemate in Congress and a new militant initiative in Libya atop all of the country's other "issues". However, the President Obama quickly clarified that these situations would remain his top priority. So, why did his announcement come at a time when a clear Republican slate has yet to manifest itself? The O'Jays put it best--Money, Money. Money, Money...Mo-ney! Today gave the green light for supporters to allow the $doe$ to start pouring in.


From CNN:

Candidate Obama turned heads -- and established early on that he would be a serious fundraiser -- by raising a whopping $59 million during the first half of 2007. His campaign surely wants to at least match that level again.

The president's re-election team has been asking campaign bundlers to gather $350,000 each, no easy task since campaign finance laws limit gifts to $2,500 per donor. However, following the recent Supreme Court ruling, corporations and political action committees have virtually no limits in spending on noncandidate, issue-oriented campaigning this election season.

Two sources tell CNN that the campaign team hopes that in total, its bundlers will raise $500 million, leaving the campaign to raise another $500 million and amass a record-breaking $1 billion war chest.

According to these sources, the president has made calls to top donors, and conference calls are planned this week to supporters and key Democratic groups.

President Obama is no dummy--he knows how to raise the money. His record-breaking 2008 Presidential Campaign raised nearly $750 million. The goal for 2012: $1 billion! Piece of cake?!

More Days for Guantanamo Bay

Don't expect to see the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba closed anytime soon. Despite his plan to shut down the prison completely, President Obama decided today that the doors to the prison would remain open and military trials could resume. In lieu of the shut down, the Administration promises changes to the treatment of detainees, including evaluations every three year to determine the detainees' threat to the States as well as more strict torture bans. 
From the Times:

Administration officials insisted that Mr. Obama had not retreated from his pledge to close Guantánamo Bay, despite difficulties in transferring prisoners or trying them in federal courts. It has released detainees to their home countries and to other countries ranging from Germany to Palau, and a senior official said that process would continue.

“We’ve done a lot of leg work in the service of closing Guantánamo Bay,” said a senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s internal deliberations.

The new procedures for military commissions guarantee detainees access to a legal representative as well as access to broader range of classified information, which the detainee’s representative can use to argue his client’s case before the review board.

The administration also said it would ask for Senate approval to sign on to two additional protocols of the Geneva Conventions governing humane treatment and fair trials for prisoners held in wartime. “We have raised the bar in terms of the kind of treatment we’re committed to providing,” said another administration official.

Since the beginning of the Obama administration, the Defense Department has transferred 67 detainees from Guantánamo Bay to 24 different destinations, including the transfer of 40 detainees to third countries, according to government figures. But the active status of Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, the home of the largest remaining group of detainees, has dissuaded the administration from sending prisoners there. And most countries have agreed to accept only tiny numbers of Guantánamo detainees.

Today’s total of 172 detainees is down from 242 when Mr. Obama entered office. About 500 detainees were released by the Bush administration. 

Asleep on the DREAM

The nightmare of illegal immigration was one of the hot topics of 2008 political debates. Candidates and civilians alike had strong opinions on how to deal with the influx of the undocumented--and untaxed--people living in the states. However, while Congressional Democrats have proposed a solution, it seems that Washington is reluctant to wake up from this bad DREAM.

What is it?
The DREAM Act stands for the Development, Relief, and Education of Alien Minors Act and was proposed by Senator Richard Durbin (D, IL) and Representative Howard Berman (D, CA) in 2009. Targeting non-citizen youth, the Act would provide citizenship to young people who lived in the states for five consecutive years before the passing of the bill in exchange for enlisting in the armed forces or going to college. Other requirements include a high school diploma or GED from an accredited American school, falling between ages 12 and 35 during the time of application, and being a person of good moral character--no criminal background.

Why not?
The DREAM Act is a less comprehensive but nonetheless effective solution to America's illegal immigration woes. However, not only has the Act received minimal attention in the media but when it comes to action, many in from both sides of the Congressional party lines, are still in a deep slumber.

The LA Times reported that though the bill passed in the House with a vote of 216 to 198,  only eight House Republicans voted in favor. More startling was the 38 democrats who were opposed to yet another initiative of their party.

The next step--the Senate--will be an altogether new obstacle. From the LA Times:

Obama called on the Senate to follow suit.

The bill could come up there as soon as Thursday but is unlikely to attract the necessary 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Republican senators have vowed to block all legislation until a stalemate over the George W. Bush-era tax cuts is resolved. Obama and the GOP have reached a deal, but Democrats haven't signed on.

How do Americans Tally Up?
 A Gallup poll taken earlier this month showed that majority of Americans embrace the DREAM Act. In terms of party, to no surprise democrats and independents supported the act while well over half of republicans polled opposed it.

More interesting, however, is how those statistics stacked up when broken down by demographics such as age and race. Young adults were more favorable of the DREAM Act while majority of Americans ages 65 and above, opposed.

(For full article see Gallup poll shortcut in text)

What now?

As the installation of the new Congress on January 5th nears, the lame-duck session must come to an agreement on President Obama's key initiatives like the DREAM Act or cause what could be his own 'Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue' for the remaining two years of his administration.  

Anyone Can Balance the Budget, Right?

It seems that everyone in Washington, and abroad, believes that they have the best idea for balancing America's budget. Ideas like cut welfare, reduce the military, freeze spending, no universal health care, end tax cuts, and so on seem to be shouted from every crevice and corner of the country. Put the genius economist in you to test with American Public Media's Budget Hero, an interactive game where all the "wanna-be's" can be President Obama and Congress for a day, or at least fifteen minutes. Maybe then the masses will understand the difficulty and risk at hand....

(Click RED link in text to play; courtesy of American Public Media)

Round One, Tax Cuts

Americans woke up to a surprise on Tuesday morning; "President Obama closed in on a deal with Congressional Republicans on Monday to extend the Bush-Era Tax Cuts to all income levels for two years as part of a package that would extend jobless aid for long-term unemployed, cut payroll taxes for all workers for a year and take other steps to bolster the economy," reported The New York Times. The news came as a surprise to many who were ready for a fight in Washington; Obama versus the Republican party--Round One, Tax-Cuts.

In light of the political culture of Washington, many expected the "People's Champ", President Obama, to roll up his sleeves and throw blows back at the right. After all, what does the administration have to lose? Playing nice earned results like watered down universal health care, the loss of extended unemployment benefits, a diminished DREAM Act. However, when backed into his corner by the Senate's failure to pass the House's proposal to extend tax cuts for only Americans making less than $250,000 a year as well as the denial of unemployment benefits extensions, President Obama compromised. 

What is Proposed?

From the New York Times:

The package would cost about $900 billion over the next two years. The deal includes reducing the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax on employees by two percentage points for a year, putting more money in the paychecks of workers. That tax cut would replace the central tax break for middle and low-income Americans included in last year’s economic stimulus measure, White House officials said.

It also includes continuation of a college-tuition tax credit for some families, an expansion of the earned income tax credit and a provision to allow businesses to write off the cost of certain equipment purchases.

The deal, which is not yet finalized, would include a 13-month extension of jobless aid for the long-term unemployed. Benefits have already started to run out for some people, and as many as 7 million people would potentially lose assistance within the next year, administration officials said.

Why did he do it?

 In a New Conference at the White House Tuesday morning, President Obama defended his actions, making note of his options, or the lack thereof.

"Here's the choice--its very stark....I have an option to say you know what I'm gonna keep fighting a political fight...holding fast to my position and as a consequence two million people may not be able to pay their bills and tens of millions of people who are struggling right now are suddenly gonna see their see their paychecks get smaller or...I can stick to my position, that those folks will get relief and people get help for unemployment insurance and I will continue to fight before the American people to make the point that the Republican position is wrong."

The president killed the notion that he was willing to play political games with Washington as a whole. His allegiance, instead, was to the American people.

"My number one priority is to do what is right for the American people, for jobs, and for economic growth....But in the mean time I'm not here to play games...."

Full video: White House Media Conference 12/7/10

Does America Approve?
With President Obama's main focus being on the well-being of Americans, the natural question is do Americans approve? In a recent poll by the Gallup institute, 66% of Americans are in favor of a two year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans. 66% of the people polled are also in support of extending benefits for unemployed Americans. To no surprise, in terms of party affiliation, most republicans supported the extension of tax cuts, while majority of the democrats polled were more in favor of extending unemployment benefits.

What Now?
The proposal will become a bill and be voted on by Congress. While the bill will mostly likely meet little to no republican opposition, democrats might still be ready for a fight. No matter what, doomsday, January 1st, is drawing near.

Daddy Bush Shares Present-Day Democrats' Sentiments on Tax Cuts