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Archive for the ‘Political News’ Category

The National Enquirer is reporting that John Edwards is about to be indicted by a federal grand jury. Edwards has been under investigation by the Grand Jury for alleged misuse of campaign finances since April 2009.

Edwards, who has been in the media for his sexual scandal involving his mistress Rielle Hunter, is said to have illegally paid Hunter using campaign funds. Read Full Story

SACRAMENTO, CA – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger typed a recent veto letter to a state legislator containing a hidden expletive. The message was arranged in such a way that when you read it vertically, the 4-letter F word followed by y-o-u was apparent.

Photo Credit: TMZ

“My goodness. What a coincidence,” said Aaron McLear,  Schwarzenegger’s spokesman. “I suppose when you do so many vetoes, something like this is bound to happen.”

It is thought that the letter was intended for San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Democratic lawmaker who had heckled the Governor at a recent event in San Francisco.

Ammiano sponsored a bill that would have granted the Port of San Francisco power to redevelop a former shipyard into a new neighborhood.

“Kudos to the governor for his creative use of coincidence,” said Ammiano’s spokesman, Quintin Mecke. “You certainly have to have a sense of humor in politics. Unfortunately, this humor came at the cost of the Port of San Francisco.”

OSLO, Norway – Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Friday night after taking office for a little over 8 months. He was award the prize due to his “extraordinary” diplomatic efforts on the international stage.

Barack Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

“I am both surprised and deeply humbled,” Obama said from the White House Friday morning.

He said he does not “view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments,” but rather as a “call to action” for the United States and other nations tackling global issues.

“I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize,” he added.

Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.

Sydney Peace Foundation director Stuart Rees said Mr Obama had been given the prize prematurely. Professor Rees said Mr Obama’s win came as a massive shock and he had much work to do if he was to live up to the award.

“We’ve all got our fingers crossed (Obama) can wave his magic wand and make these things happen. Perhaps the Nobel organisation wants to give him a magic wand,” he said. “I think the guy is full of promise but I don’t think the promise has been realised yet particularly in regards the Middle East.”

Mr Obama’s name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to honour the US President. Observers had also suggested there was no obvious candidate for the prize as no major conflicts had been resolved by peaceful means in the past year.

Speculation had focused on Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba and jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia, along with an Afghan women’s rights activist Sima Samar.

Asked whether it was too early to give Mr Obama the prize at a time when the US was fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland last night replied: “If you look at the history of the Peace Prize, we have on many occasions given it to try to enhance what many personalities were trying to do.

“Before he took office the situation was so dangerous. Step by step, he has given the message to the world that he wants to negotiate on all conflicts, strengthen the UN and work for a world without any nuclear arms.

“We had no problem … It was a unanimous decision.”

The Nobel committee praised Mr Obama’s creation of “a new climate in international politics” and said he had returned multilateral diplomacy and institutions such as the UN to the centre of the world stage.

The plaudit appeared to be a slap at George W.Bush from a committee that harshly criticised Mr Obama’s predecessor for resorting to largely unilateral military action in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Rather than recognising concrete achievement, this year’s prize is intended to support initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing US conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the US role in combating climate change.

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” Mr Jagland said.

“In the past year Obama has been a key person for important initiatives in the UN, for nuclear disarmament and to set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations.”

He added that the committee endorsed “Obama’s appeal that ‘Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges’.”

The first African-American President has brought the Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for a meeting, approved new diplomatic engagement with Iran, Burma and North Korea and signalled a new willingness to attack growing environmental problems.

Mr Obama went to Cairo to make a major speech on relations with the Muslim world, badly tarnished by Mr Bush’s order to invade Iraq. At the UN, he has launched an initiative to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.

“The exciting and important thing about this prize is that it’s given to someone … who has the power to contribute to peace,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

Last year’s Peace Prize winner Matti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president and veteran troubleshooter in international conflicts, said the award should “encourage” Mr Obama’s Middle East peace efforts. “We do not yet have a peace in the Middle East … this time it it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues,” Mr Ahtisaari told CNN. “This is a clear encouragement to do something on this issue. I wish him good luck.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Mr Obama was the “appropriate” person to win the prize; however, the Taliban said the US President had “not taken a single step towards peace in Afghanistan”.

Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said the honour would raise expectations for the US leader to stand up for human rights around the world.

Ms Kadeer, who has been tipped as a laureate for her fight on behalf of the Chinese minority group, said: “I am very happy that he got it. Now he has to do something with the award. It raises expectations on him to stand up for oppressed nations.”

The Australian contributed to this story

Carrie Perjean files lawsuit aganst Miss California organization

Former Miss California  Carrie Prejean has just filed a lawsuit against the Miss California organization in L.A. County Superior Court. Carrie Prejean claims that the people behind Miss California USA forced her out because of her religious beliefs.

Miss Prejean has named Keith Lewis and Shana Moakler, the pageant organizers, as well, saying she experienced slander, libel, public disclosure of private facts, religious discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Prejean was fired from her post as Miss California USA back in June 2009, one month after she answered whether she believed in gay marriage, a question asked by judge, Perez Hilton at the Miss USA competition.  Perjean stated that she believed that marriage was between a man and a woman according to her beliefs, an answer that was not acceptable to Hilton.

Prejean claims in the lawsuit that officials tried to “set up Prejean to have her dismissed as Miss California USA by asking her to do a Playboy photo shoot for $120,000.”

Find:

California discrimination lawyers
Los Angeles discrimination lawyers

Arizona (R) Senator John McCain

John McCain told Fox News during an interview with Sean Hannity last night that he has “never” seen anything like the “peaceful revolution taking place” where American citizens are in opposition to President  Obama’s push for health care reform.

“There is a grass-roots uprising the likes of which I have never seen,” he said. “There’s anger; there’s concern about the future. There’s concern about the generational theft that we’ve committed by running up unconscionable and unsustainable deficits.”

A woman told McCain at a recent town hall regarding the health care debate that she was “worried about my freedom.”

“What she was talking about was her right to choose what kind of health care she wants, what physician she wants to see, when she can see a doctor and when she can’t,” Mccain said. “She epitomized, in many respects, the deep and abiding concern out here and a revolt against a government-run health system.”

McCain accused Democrats of being “in denial that Americans are upset and concerned” and are not recognizing “the depth of the passion that’s out there.”

“They dismissed the tea parties, they dismissed your freedom rallies, they dismissed the real, vocal opposition to this health care plan,” the Arizona senator said. “But I don’t think they’re going to be able to dismiss it for too much longer.”

President Obama and Senator Chris Dodd

Obama has appeared to make health care reform the defining issue of his presidency. With over a 50% disapproval rating from the American people on this issue, Obama seems to have a know best attitude and may be willing to use whatever means to pass it despite what the majority of American’s want.

Reconciliation is a parliamentary procedure that would allow the Democrats to pass Obama’s unpopular health care reform with 51 votes. This means that the Democrats could pass legislation without any Republican’s onboard.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico stated, “We made a provision in the budget resolution [earlier this year] that it could be used to try to enact health care provisions related to health care reform. There are restrictions to what you can include in that…but I would support it if that’s the only way.”

If Democrats go it alone, using Reconcilation to pass healthcare reform with the majority of American’s disapproving, there may be a price to pay.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorneys directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location.

President Ronald W. Reagan

Before Ronald  Reagan was president of the United States,  he spoke out against socialized medicine as a private citizen even when he was a democrat.

Ronald Reagan speaks out against socialized medicine in a 1961 video warning citizens to understand the constitution and understand that we will all lose liberties if we go this route .

Ronald Reagan was a private citizen back then. It’s over 10 minutes long, but if you believe in the constitution and indivdual liberty, it’s well worth listening to.

The following is a video of Ronald Reagan from the 1961 Operation Coffee Cup Campaign against socialized medicine that was proposed by the Democrats.

Watch video.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location.

House lawmakers spending spree for eight Gulfstream and Boeing planes reminds me of a famous line from the movie Contact, starring Jodie Foster and John Hurt. The line goes like this:

“Why buy three when you can buy six at twice the price.”

In this case Congress wants to buy eight Gulfstream and Boeing planes!

Even the Pentagon said it doesn’t need half of the new jets.

“The whole thing kind of makes me sick to my stomach,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) in an interview Sunday. “It is evidence that some of the cynicism about Washington is well placed — that people get out of touch and they spend money like it’s Monopoly money.”

The funding for new planes is “a classic example of Congress being out of touch with the realities of deficit spending,” said Senator John Thune (R, S.D.).

The Obama administration had sought $220 million to buy four passenger jets, including two that are currently being leased by the Air Force, to replace a fleet of older planes. Before leaving town for the August break, House lawmakers doubled the aircraft order to eight, at a total cost of $550 million. Read full story here.

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location.

Gerald Walpin

Gerald Walpin, the former Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service whom President Obama fired last month, filed a lawsuit against the CNCS on Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

The suit seeks to force “to reinstate Mr. Walpin as the Inspector General and to declare unlawful and ineffective the efforts to date to terminate him from his office.” In addition, the suit seeks that Walpin be awarded “costs and legal fees associated with this action” as well as any “further relief as may be appropriate in this matter.”

Walpin will issue the following statement this morning, a few days after filing a lawsuit seeking reinstatement to his job.

“I am bringing this lawsuit primarily to protect the system of Inspectors General, which cannot remain viable without insulation from  political and other interference,” Walpin will say in the statement. “While I also am troubled at the mud-slinging lengths those who sought my removal have gone to attempt, belatedly, to rationalize their actions, the most important objective of this lawsuit is to prevent a successful illegal removal of one Inspector General from being used as a precedent for other similar interferences and the chilling effect that it would have on the willingness of other Inspectors General effectively to perform their job when faced with proceeding against friends of people in high places.”

Walpin will continue by quoting Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who wrote: “‘It appears [Mr. Walpin] has been doing his job’ by ‘identif[ying] millions of dollars in AmericCorps funds either wasted outright or spent in violation of established guidelines.”

Walpin will say: “I am proud of the work that was done while I was Inspector General and of the diligent and honest work done by my career staff. It was their investigative and audit work which I supported because it was very good, non-political, work for the purpose of safeguarding taxpayers’ funds. I was therefore removed because I stood behind and supported my career staff.”

Locate A Lawyer is an attorney directory where one can find a lawyer by practice and location. Here you can find attorneys by city and state.

From Politico.com

Just a few minutes ago, Sonia Sotomayor said she couldn’t give a definition of “judicial activism.” To which, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) pointed to Sen. Orrin Hatch’s definition of activism, saying it occurs when a judge incorporates bias into his or her decision.

“Senator, I want to give you complete assurance that I agree with Sen. Hatch with his definition of activism,” Sotomayor said. “If that is his definition that people should not be using their personal biases, their personal experiences, their personal prejudices in reaching a decision … then I’m in full agreement with him.”

She went on to say that she’s not an activist, despite continued concerns from Sessions about her “wise Latina” remarks.