First Lady Announces $$ Support for Military Families

First Lady Michelle Obama joined military wives for lunch today to announce increased federal spending for military support programs.
Obama approved a 3% increase and it will help with counseling and support to spouses and families, spousal career development, as well as military child care and youth programs for military kids. The increase, will bring the total to around $8.8 billion for all federal projects like this one helping American families. So although may programs are being frozen, some programs are receiving help.

OBAMA - "Show me what you got" and "Bring it on"

In Nashua, NH, President Obama challenged republicans to "show me what you got" and "bring it on" when it comes to health care.

"What I have said is that both the House bill and the Senate bill were 90 percent there. Ten percent of each bill, people had some problems with, and legitimately so. So we were just about to clean those up, and then Massachusetts' election happened. Suddenly everybody says, oh, oh, it's over. Well, no, it's not over. We just have to make sure that we move methodically and that the American people understand exactly what's in the bill.
And what I've done is I've said to the Republicans, show me what you've got. You've been sitting on the sidelines criticizing what we're proposing. I'm happy to defend insurance reforms; I'm happy to defend the fact that we need to provide 30 million people with access to coverage; I'm happy to defend the need to provide small businesses an ability to pool so that they can have the same purchasing power that the big companies have and drive down their premiums and drive down their rates for their employees. I'm happy to have these debates. I just want to see what else you got. And if you've got a good idea, great."

I love how this problem is now being deflected onto the Republicans. It must be our fault! So if this was such a good idea many people would have pulled together to make this happen. But in the GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. we all have diffrent opinions. We all dont have the same views, so its IMPOSSIBLE to make everyone happy. But for starters it doesnt help when you try shifting the blame...

Death Hits VP Family

Joe Biden's mother, called mom-mom, passed away at the age of 92. On the list of people attending the funeral included President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, several Cabinet officials and members of Congress. Biden thanked Obama for treating his mother "with warmth and personal affection." Biden's mother was courageous and "taught her children that the thickest of all substances was blood." She helped Biden through rough times: when his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash in December 1972, the month after he was elected to the Senate.

RE: RE: battle for 2012 presidency

A class mate said "i cant keep from laughing... its a good thing we did not elect mccain. what would we do if he had gotten into the white house and decided he didnt want to play president anymore... WE WOULD HAVE PALIN! sweet jesus... thank god for Obama"

I’m sorry, I doubt someone could walk away from a position like that. EVER! Sure many people do not agree with Palin. But what is the worst she can do? we have learned that you cannot pass bills or laws without the public or congressional approval so if anything was TOO radical i doubt it would be passed. Also we learned about impeachment. I bet just like Andrew Johnson, if Palin was Way too conservative for modern America, they could impeach her. Problem solved. We will never know… . So please do not put people down, just because of your parent’s views. We don’t need a liberal version of Logan. Please use your brain. God gave you one for a reason....

Approval

At the end of 2009, Barack Obama's first year approval polls came out. According to a Fox News poll, 50% of American's approve of Barack Obama's job as president, while 42% don't agree with how he is doing his job. Almost 2 out of 3 people are in some way dissatisfied with how things are going in the United States today. Obama's ratings are holding steady as the year has gone. At the beginning of the year he had 65% approval rating, and it has steadily dropped, but that is kind of expected as a first year president. The honeymoon with the people is over. If Obama handles the Hati crisis well he might see a jump in popularity...

Presidents Lead Fundraising Efforts for Haiti

President Obama along with George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will lead efforts to raise relief funds for Haitian victims.
"Presidents Bush and Clinton will help the American people to do their part, because responding to disaster is the work of all of us," Obama said from the White House Rose Garden. "In these difficult hours, America stands united."
People can donate to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund online by clicking here to visit the fund's site.
Obama said he was inspired by the relief effort that Clinton and George H.W. Bush led after the 2004 tsunami that struck Asia.
The Red Cross has estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed Tuesday

Obama Lends a hand to Mass.

President Obama flew to Boston to help rally voters for Martha Coakley. Martha is running aginst Republican Scott Brown and Obama is trying to keep the seat held for decades by liberal lion Ted Kennedy in Democratic hands. Brown says he will vote against Democratic efforts to expand health care. If Brown wins the election that would give Republicans enough votes to stop the bill through a filibuster. Several Obama advisers have told the party they believe Coakley is going to lose. The sources said they still hoped Obama's weekend visit to the state, coupled with a late push by party activists, could tip the balance in her favor, but Obama aides have grown increasingly pessimistic. If she loses it shows that the nation is in dissagreement with the bill.

I'm Blacker than Barack Obama

The former Illinois governor told Esquire magazine: "It's such a cynical business, and most of the people in the business are full of s--- and phonies, but I was real, man — and am real. This guy, he was catapulted in on hope and change, what we hope the guy is. What the f---? Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived. I saw it all growing up." Later Blagojevich said, "It's a stupid metaphor, and if I offended anyone, I apologize very much. I said it out of frustration," Blagojevich said. "What I said was stupid, stupid, stupid." Blagojevich was removed from spot as governor last year after he was arrested for trying to sell Obama's old U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole and from the looks of it by losing his spot as Governor he has no money and is broke and has his brother as a defendant for his trial. Right now i think Blagojevich should just keep his comments to him self and stay away from interviews for a while.

Gates as Defense Secretary

Defence Secretary Robert Gates is a hold over from the bush era, and this week Obama put out news that he would be keeping Gates on staff for at least another year. Obama after winning the 2008 election asked to keep Gates to keep some Republicans in office and he will be in place to manage the expansion of the Afghanistan war through the summer and to look forward to the planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011. So by keeping Gates it ensures a better diplomacy instead of throwing in a new guy amongst the end of a battle. if you have a winning hand why change it? Too bad for Gates though... under Bush he had a countdown calender counting down the days of his retirement. So now he has to tack on another 365 days.

President Obama’s Friday Schedule

As High Schooler's we are bound to have the same boring schedule that we repeat Monday through Friday week after week until summer break. But, as the president you don't get breaks. So what does the presidents daily schedule look like? I found the below schedule on FOXNEWS.com

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010

In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing, the Economic Daily Reports, meet with senior advisers, in the Oval Office. These meeting are closed to the press.
Later, the president will meet separately with Secretary of Treasury Geithner and Secretary of State Clinton in the Oval office. These meetings are closed to the press.
In the afternoon, the president will make a statement to the press in the east room and announce new Recovery Act funding for clean technology manufacturing jobs.

I think this sounds like a not too busy day personally. Its similar to wake up read the paper hear whats going on in the world, go to work, hold conferences. that sounds like what my dad does everyday. Sure talking to Clinton and Geithner isn't the funnest thing but that's his job. But being president it seems like hes got it kinda easy. sure there are some big decisions and he has to make speeches, but they are all pre-written so it cant be that hard of a life.

Obama ramps up air security

After a 23-year-old Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day with an explosive hidden in his underwear. Obama decided to raise security measures to protect Americans. Obama announced a dozen changes to help with flight security, including new terror watch list guidelines, wider and quicker distribution of intelligence reports, stronger analysis of those reports, international partnerships and an interagency effort to develop next-generation airport screening technologies. They are also in the works of training more then 4,000 new air marshals and trying to come up with new and improved screening technology to detect explosives and other dangerous materials terrorists could try to sneak onto an airplane.

So why is he doing this now? shouldnt we have alreday up'ed the anti after 9/11? All i can say now is I feel better knowing that in the 'near future' I won't be sitting next to an al-Qaida operative trying to blow up our plane.