2008 US Presidential Election.

President Obama is seeking to regain support from Wall Street executives following a rough patch in their relationship, The New York Times reported Monday.

Although the president’s top financial industry supporters have said they are confident that Obama will get the backing he needs from Wall Street in the upcoming election, the Obama campaign will have to work hard to overcome the events of the past two and a half years: Wall Street’s bust, clashes over policy, and the sometimes bitter personal differences that have developed, the Times reports. The president alienated some top Wall Street supporters when he criticized their bonuses and called them “fat cats.”

How Well Do U.S. Politicians Know Their American History?

Obama is making the case that his economic policies have helped restore the health of banks and financial markets rather than undercutting those who profit from their success. Members of the White House economics team are reaching out to Wall Street on policy issues. According to the Times, the Obama administration is also seeking support from prominent Wall Street figures that could help sway support for the president at Republican-leaning firms as well as high-level “bundlers,” or supporters who recruit other donors.

Via: news.yahoo.com

The public may be shocked to find out that a married congressman has been sending lascivious photos of himself to women, but a new poll suggests that a majority of Americans are long accustomed to witnessing unethical conduct in the nation’s lawmakers.

Fifty-eight percent of likely voters polled by Pulse Opinion Research for The Hill said most members of Congress are unethical. Just 25 percent endorsed the minority view, that most members are ethical. Seventeen percent of respondents said they were uncertain.

A large majority of those surveyed also said they believe Congress’s ethical standards have been deteriorating. Sixty-eight percent of likely voters said the ethics of politicians have declined in recent decades, while just 7 percent said they have improved.

And neither party appears to be out in front on the ethics issue, according to the survey.

Via: news.yahoo.com

President Barack Obama, increasing pressure on Rep. Anthony Weiner to quit, said Monday that “I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign.”

In a rare foray into a congressman’s ethical conduct, Obama told NBC’s “Today” show that Weiner’s sexually charged photos and messages online to several women were “highly inappropriate.”

“I think he’s embarrassed himself. He’s acknowledged that. He’s embarrassed his wife and his family. Ultimately, there’s gonna be a decision for him and is constituents. I can tell you that, if it was me, I would resign,” the president said in an interview to air Tuesday morning.

Obama said public service “is exactly that, it’s a service to the public. And when you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can’t serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs, and their mortgages, and paying the bills, then you should probably step back.”

Weiner spokeswoman Risa Heller had no comment on Obama’s remarks.

Via: news.yahoo.com

President Barack Obama, increasing pressure on Rep. Anthony Weiner to quit, said Monday that “I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign.”

In a rare foray into a congressman’s ethical conduct, Obama told NBC’s “Today” show that Weiner’s sexually charged photos and messages online to several women were “highly inappropriate.”

“I think he’s embarrassed himself. He’s acknowledged that. He’s embarrassed his wife and his family. Ultimately, there’s gonna be a decision for him and is constituents. I can tell you that, if it was me, I would resign,” the president said in an interview to air Tuesday morning.

Obama said public service “is exactly that, it’s a service to the public. And when you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can’t serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs, and their mortgages, and paying the bills, then you should probably step back.”

Weiner spokeswoman Risa Heller had no comment on Obama’s remarks.

Via: news.yahoo.com

Republican White House hopefuls condemned President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy from the opening moments of their first major debate of the campaign season Monday night, and pledged emphatically to repeal his historic year-old health care overhaul.

“When 14 million Americans are out of work we need a new president to end the Obama Depression,” declared former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the first among seven contenders on stage to criticize the president’s economic policies.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, invited as an unannounced contender for the 2012 nomination, upstaged her rivals for a moment, using a nationwide television audience to announce she had filed papers earlier in the day to run — a disclosure in keeping with a feisty style she has employed in a bid to become a favorite of tea party voters.

Obama was hundreds of miles away on a day in which he blended a pledge to help companies create jobs in North Carolina with a series of campaign fundraisers in Florida. He won the two states in 2008, and both figure to be battlegrounds in 2012.

The New Hampshire event unfolded more than six months before the state hosts the first primary of the 2012 campaign, and the Republicans who shared a stage were plainly more interested in criticizing Obama than one another.

Via: news.yahoo.com

Republican White House hopefuls condemned President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy from the opening moments of their first major debate of the campaign season Monday night, and pledged emphatically to repeal his historic year-old health care overhaul.

“When 14 million Americans are out of work we need a new president to end the Obama Depression,” declared former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the first among seven contenders on stage to criticize the president’s economic policies.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, invited as an unannounced contender for the 2012 nomination, upstaged her rivals for a moment, using a nationwide television audience to announce she had filed papers earlier in the day to run — a disclosure in keeping with a feisty style she has employed in a bid to become a favorite of tea party voters.

Obama was hundreds of miles away on a day in which he blended a pledge to help companies create jobs in North Carolina with a series of campaign fundraisers in Florida. He won the two states in 2008, and both figure to be battlegrounds in 2012.

The New Hampshire event unfolded more than six months before the state hosts the first primary of the 2012 campaign, and the Republicans who shared a stage were plainly more interested in criticizing Obama than one another.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Former Sen. John Edwards jabbed gently at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday in the first all-candidates forum of the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign, saying her refusal to disavow a 2002 vote on Iraq was “between her and her conscience.”

“It’s not for me to judge,” said Edwards, who — like Clinton — voted in 2002 to authorize the invasion of Iraq, but unlike her, has since apologized for his vote.

The event format did not permit Clinton to respond to Edwards’ swipe, which stood out on an afternoon in which Democrats launched serial attacks on President Bush’s war policies.

Yahoo! News

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has formally announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, ending an “exploratory” phase that he began Jan. 3.

Romney, in picking the place to make his announcement, chose his birth state — Democratic-leaning but politically competitive Michigan — over his home state, Massachusetts, where he overcame normally overwhelming Democratic voting tendencies in 2002 to win a term as governor.

Romney, after touring the country to test the waters for a possible presidential bid, retired as governor rather than seek re-election in 2006.

Yahoo! News

For those among us who were witness to the goings-on in the White House in the 1990’s and asked ourselves, “Why doesn’t she dump that guy?” Here’s why.

It’s been said and written on numerous occasions over the years that Hillary Clinton, champion “feminist,” wouldn’t be anywhere near where she is today without a man — specifically Bill Clinton. Like Jane Fonda, who billed herself as a “feminist” but yet had the audacity to get breast implants, Hillary Clinton is one of those “both ends against the middle” political hacks. In other words, if Hillary Clinton were black, she’d join the KKK to get the peckerwood vote and later spend some of the money she raised from the group on ads calling for stiffer penalties for hate crimes.

mensnewsdaily

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorney Mike Ciresi confirmed Sunday night that he is forming an exploratory committee to test the waters for a campaign to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

If he decides to seek the DFL endorsement, it would be his second attempt to represent Minnesota in the Senate. Ciresi, 60, of Mendota Heights, lost a primary bid in 2000 to U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton.

This time, Ciresi said he will abide by the party’s endorsement.

West Central Tribune

Last Saturday, in the not new news event of the weekend, Senator Barack Obama made it official. He is running for President. He is a strong candidate and a welcome addition to the race. During his remarks, he said this:

“…I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.”
Senator Obama sincerely believes in his vision of a better country, a more hopeful and decent place.

But as we checked through the reviews of his announcement, we were filled not with hope, but with concern.

Huffington Post