Huu ni unafiki wa GOP kwani watoto wao kisheria wanaruhusiwa kufanya abortion katika nchi yao lakini they want to deny the same rights to poor women in developing countries!WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information _ an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.
Obama's move, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious Bush policies, was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.
The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since GOP President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.
"For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."
He said the ban was unnecessarily broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.
"In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world," the president said.
Obama issued the presidential memorandum rescinding the Bush policy without coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon. The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people, and the quiet signing was in contrast to the televised coverage of Obama's announcement Wednesday on ethics rules and Thursday's signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror suspects.
His action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.
Naona kuna "group think" ya kumbeba Obama hapa ambayo hata yeye mwenyewe haitaki. Thread zinaunganishwa lakini hazitafutiwi headings zinazofiti mada zote zinazorundikwa pamoja.
Uamuzi wa Obama kusimamisha mishahara ya vigogo umeonekana kama ni kazi njema na creditable kwa wengi wa observers, lakini kitendo cha kutoa waiver kwenye kanuni ya maadili wengi wameona kama ni mchemko. Sasa topic negative kuhusu Obama itafukiwaje ndani ya kichwa cha habari cha topic positive?
Sijali kwamba mada zimeunganishwa, after all zote zinahusu moves za Obama wiki ya kwanza ofisini, lakini moja ni detraction nyingine ni accolades halafu detraction zinafukiwa ndani ya accolades. Come on now, tuache kumbeba huyu Rais kwa kuficha missteps zake, hatajua pa kujirekebisha. Hata yeye mwenyewe kasema hataki "group think"!
Pendekezo la title mpya: "Siku za kwanza za Rais Obama: Umahiri na Utata."
Hisham Melhem, Washington Bureau Chief for Al Arabiya, was trying to chase down an interview with former U.S. Senator and new presidential envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell. Pounding all of his channels, friends, networks, Melhem was informed Sunday that "something" might be in the works -- but keep expectations modest.
By Monday morning (yesterday), Melhem was told that he'd likely get Mitchell, and then later in the morning, he received a call telling him that he'd "either be very happy, or made miserable" by what the White House was planning. And then Melhem was asked if he would like to interview President Barack Obama at 5 pm Monday -- but that the bureau would have to keep the interview secret until it happened.
The Al Arabiya Bureau Chief said that was not a problem and that he'd adjust his schedule -- with enormous grin accompanying his response.
Al Arabiya is part of a major Arabic news network, considered second in global coverage to Al Jazeera, which may yet see a nod from the Obama administration down the road -- but seeing that George W. Bush may have joked and/or been serious about bombing an Al Jazeera office in Baghdad, Al Jazeera may still be too much of a leap for the bounding forward new US President.
Obama's exchange with the Al Arabiya journalist, which was only supposed to last about six or seven minutes got extended a bit as press secretary Robert Gibbs saw how well it was going.
This interview is the initial punctuation point in Obama's global public diplomacy. By most accounts, Obama's decision -- shocking to some, refreshing to others -- to talk to the Muslim world in his first formal, sit down press interview hit the ball out of the park.
Naona kuna "group think" ya kumbeba Obama hapa ambayo hata yeye mwenyewe haitaki. Thread zinaunganishwa lakini hazitafutiwi headings zinazofiti mada zote zinazorundikwa pamoja.
Uamuzi wa Obama kusimamisha mishahara ya vigogo umeonekana kama ni kazi njema na creditable kwa wengi wa observers, lakini kitendo cha kutoa waiver kwenye kanuni ya maadili wengi wameona kama ni mchemko. Sasa topic negative kuhusu Obama itafukiwaje ndani ya kichwa cha habari cha topic positive?
Sijali kwamba mada zimeunganishwa, after all zote zinahusu moves za Obama wiki ya kwanza ofisini, lakini moja ni detraction nyingine ni accolades halafu detraction zinafukiwa ndani ya accolades. Come on now, tuache kumbeba huyu Rais kwa kuficha missteps zake, hatajua pa kujirekebisha. Hata yeye mwenyewe kasema hataki "group think"!
Pendekezo la title mpya: "Siku za kwanza za Rais Obama: Umahiri na Utata."
Obama's first Tv interview is with Arabic network!
Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern Tuesday that tough new ethics rules introduced by President Obama could make it too hard for those with experience in the defense industry to work at the Pentagon.
Gates, the only Cabinet-level holdover from the Bush administration, hinted that the Obama administration may have to issue a series of waivers to allow people with the right kind of experience to serve in the Pentagon.
"I think all of us - the Congress, the executive branch - together need to look at this and see whether we're cutting off our nose to spite our face … if we haven't made it so tough to get people who have the kind of industry experience that allows them to know how to manage an acquisition process to come into government, do public service and then return to their careers," Gates said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
The Pentagon is currently facing a dearth of high-level personnel with managerial and purchasing experience, Gates said.
Gates stressed that problems in filling high-level vacancies have been caused by a series of factors, and that the new presidential order was not to blame.
"Last thing I would do is criticize the ethics executive order that the new president has just signed," he said.
Obama on Friday issued a waiver from that order just days after it was issued. The waiver allows Raytheon executive and former lobbyist William Lynn to become the next deputy secretary of Defense.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, Lynn - who deregistered as a lobbyist early last year - will serve as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon. The deputy secretary of Defense is essentially the Pentagon's top manager not only making day-to-day decisions, but also decisions over what kind of weapons the Pentagon should buy.
Gates stressed the importance of being flexible in providing waivers.
"My own view is on a lot of these issues transparency is the answer, and the recusal approaches that we have, the president recognized the need for some of these," Gates said. "To be able to get some of these people, he would need to exercise a waiver, and he provided for that, I think, wisely in the executive order."
The Pentagon still needs to fill many procurement positions across the services, and in many cases needs to find experienced personnel. Senior officials who will have to manage programs worth billions of dollars cannot be newly recruited employees who are joining government service right out of college, Gates said.
I knew he was a muslim and that's why he gave his first interview to an arabic network....
Kuhani, mkuu kuhusu waivers, here is Robert Gates:
President Obama and a key outside ally are stepping up efforts to ensure passage of the massive economic stimulus package, reaching out to Congress with both carrots and sticks.
While the president and his top aides are using all the trappings of the office, courting members through phone calls, cocktail parties, West Wing sit-downs and even a politically mixed Super Bowl party, liberal groups are dispensing with the niceties and seeking to drive a wedge between Republicans and one of the right's most influential leaders.
Politico has learned that tomorrow Americans United for Change, a liberal group, will begin airing radio ads in three states Obama won - Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada - with a tough question aimed at the GOP senators there: Will you side with Obama or Rush Limbaugh?
"Every Republican member of the House chose to take Rush Limbaugh's advice," says the narrator after playing the conservative talk radio giant's declaration that he hopes Obama "fails."
"Every Republican voted with Limbaugh - and against creating 4 million new American jobs. We can understand why a extreme partisan like Rush Limbaugh wants President Obama's Jobs program to fail - but the members of Congress elected to represent the citizens in their districts? That's another matter. Now the Obama plan goes to the Senate, and the question is: Will our Senator"-here the ad is tailored by state to name George Voinovich in Ohio, Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, and John Ensign in Nevada-"side with Rush Limbaugh too?"
Asked to respond, Limbaugh had a message for his party.
"Senate Republicans need to understand this is not about me," he wrote in an email. "It is about them, about intimidating them, especially after the show of unity in House. It is about the 2010 and 2012 elections. This is an opportunity for Republicans to redefine themselves after a few years of wandering aimlessly looking for a ‘brand' and identity."
Brad Woodhouse, the Democratic strategist who is overseeing the ad campaign, said: "The House Republicans put their Senate colleagues in the crosshairs because they decided to play politics rather than do the right thing."
President Barack Obama said it was shameful for Wall Street to walk away with $18.4 billion in bonuses last year in the depths of a recession. Leaning his elbows on his knees, with his mouth clenched, Obama lashed out at the executives and employees who were found by the New York state comptroller to have earned the sixth largest bonus haul on record last year.
That is the height of irresponsibility, Obama said before a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. It is shameful. And part of what were going to need is for folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.
Nyani umeanza kuchanganyikiwa! Robert Gates ni Republican! Na alikuwa Defense Secretary wa Bush and was asked to stay on by Obama.
Sasa atakuwaje chief propagandist?
Nyaniii, Rush Limbaugh amekuwa elevated siku hizi to politician status, kwikwikwi
Daschle delayed revealing tax glitches
Without becoming a lobbyist, former Senator made more than $5 million
By Ceci Connolly, Joe Stephens and R. Jeffrey Smith
updated 4:50 a.m. ET, Sun., Feb. 1, 2009
Thomas A. Daschle waited nearly a month after being nominated to be secretary of health and human services before informing Barack Obama that he had not paid years of back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a wealthy New York investor.
Daschle, one of Obama's earliest and most ardent campaign supporters, paid $140,000 to the U.S. Treasury on Jan. 2 and about two days later informed the White House and the Senate Finance Committee, according to an account provided by his spokeswoman and confirmed by the Obama administration.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said last night that
Obama stands behind his friend and confidant. "The president believes nobody's perfect but that nobody's hiding anything," Gibbs said.
....Meanwhile, the disclosure of Daschle's lucrative ties to private companies with Washington interests have begun to raise eyebrows among those who expected Obama to be wary of relying on wealthy insiders to stock his administration.
"... it would be hard for Obama to fill his administration without ever turning to someone like that. That said, these are the kind of Washington insiders that Obama campaigned against" said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit government watchdog group.
The Obama team is "learning that it's easier to campaign on that than govern under it," Sloan added. The problem is that "it looks disingenuous."