Obama proving once again that he models himself after Hugo Chavez. Seizing control of American industry and financial interests is exactly how it begins. Let no one forget that this is the beginning of the end of America as we once knew it.

Half a year after some predicted he would be booted from the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner stands to inherit vast power to shape bank regulations, oversee financial markets and create a consumer protection agency.

Few Treasury secretaries have had such sweeping influence over such a wide realm as Geithner will wield once President Obama signs the new financial overhaul legislation passed this week by Congress.

The effort to dramatically expand financial regulation bears the stamp of no one more than Geithner. The bill not only hews closely to the initial draft he released last summer but also anoints him — as long as he remains Treasury secretary — as the chief of a new council of senior regulators. The legislation also puts him at the head of the new consumer bureau until a director is confirmed by the Senate, allowing Geithner to mold the watchdog in coming months. And it will be up to him to settle a raft of issues left unresolved by the bill — for instance, which financial derivatives will be subject to the tough new trading rules and which risky activities big banks will be required to spin off.

The legislation “will help restore the great strength of the American financial system, which — at its best — develops innovative ways to provide credit and capital, not just for our great global companies, but for the individual with an idea and a plan,” Geithner said to reporters shortly after the bill was approved. Obama will sign the bill in the middle of next week, according to White House officials.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for the 48-year-old Treasury secretary, who endured repeated calls for his head from lawmakers a few months ago. Anger over the Treasury’s bailout of troubled banks was high. The unemployment rate was soaring. In a January interview, Geithner called the hubbub over his job security “a price of this office.”

In the wake of the bill’s passage, there is recognition within the administration as well as on Capitol Hill that Geithner is not going anywhere anytime soon. White House officials said the speculation earlier this year about his tenure misunderstood his standing within the administration.

These officials said Geithner endeared himself to Obama and senior White House advisers by advocating a response to the financial crisis that later proved correct. Geithner vigorously resisted calls by some lawmakers and financial experts to nationalize the nation’s largest and most troubled banks during the most perilous days. Instead, he helped get the financial system back on its feet, in particular by pressing for stress tests of big banks. The results of these tests showed that nearly all the banks would be able to weather the financial storm and quickly restored investor confidence.
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The campaign to win passage of the financial regulatory bill has been driven primarily by the Treasury, showing that Geithner has gained significant latitude within the administration, a far cry from the early days when senior White House officials kept close watch over his public statements and sought to burnish his image.

“This is a very substantial victory for the president, and it is a credit to Tim’s leadership that we have achieved so comprehensive a reform so quickly,” said Lawrence H. Summers, director of the National Economic Council and a senior adviser to Obama.

Geithner has not won every battle over the legislation. Notable losses include measures added by lawmakers that would exempt auto dealers and banks with less than $10 billion in assets from new consumer protection rules. These firms represent a significant proportion of the financial industry.

But the bill broadly reflects his faith in regulators and his overriding belief that large financial companies can be protected from upheaval if they set aside large enough capital reserves. His has been a middle course, rejecting the era of deregulation that preceded the financial meltdown but also dismissing proposals to fundamentally restructure the financial industry, for instance by cutting the nation’s biggest banks down to size.

In an interview last summer, as his team was drafting its version of the bill, Geithner said the heart of any financial reform effort must consist of “three things: capital, capital, capital.”

Correct me if I am wrong here, but isn’t this the same White House that called Tea Party members Nazis and white supremacists? I think they also had the gall to say they the people from the great state of Arizona were racists and Nazis. Go figure . . .

The Obama administration, somewhat shockingly, weighed in on the controversy surrounding longtime White House scribe Helen Thomas, calling her remarks about the need for Jews to “get the hell out of Palestine” “offensive and reprehensible.”

“I have not spoken with [the president] directly on that,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on Monday. “I think those remarks were offensive and reprehensible.

She should and has apologized because obviously those remarks do not reflect certainly the opinion of most of the people in here and certainly of the administration.”

Thomas, who did not show up for Monday’s briefing on the Gulf oil spill with Admiral Thad Allen, has come under heavy criticism in recent days for saying the Jewish people of Israel should go “back” to Poland and Germany.

She has since apologized. But calls for some sort of penalty or rebuke have grown louder. Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer called for Thomas’ firing from Hearst news service where she serves as a columnist.

Thomas’ speaking agency has dropped her as a client. And a host of other media figures have suggested that she lose her front-row seat at the briefings.

And yet, for all the chatter surrounding her comments, it was surprising to see the White House engage on the issue. (Gibbs, it appeared, seemed very much prepared for the question).

The administration has editorialized about those who cover it before — notably with its campaign against Fox News. But there are certain sensitivities that involve any discussion of Thomas, who, despite the serious outcry over her remarks, remains an institutional figure among the White House press corps.

I have had little to say about the oil spill in the Gulf because it has been so widely covered in the media and the blogosphere. I guess now is as good a time as any to rip Obama for doing nothing about it for the last 45 days.

I was stunned when Obama was taking meetings with foreign dignitaries instead of asking what the federal government could do to help BP stop the leak in the gulf.

I was appalled when Obama went on Vacation in Chicago instead of signing an executive order to use all means necessary and suspend environmental regulation to help BP and the states affected by the spill.

I was sickened by Obama having Paul McCartney at the White House to give him the Gershwin Award, which was basically a free concert for Obama. By the way, is it just me or is Paul McCartney channeling Bea Arthur?

Obama sat on his hands for three weeks and did nothing about the “Gulf Gusher” as it has been called by the media. All the while the talking heads in the media were trying to tell Obama that this could turn into his “hurricane Katrina” but Obama chose to bury his head in the sand and do nothing with the exception of bankrupting BP with lawsuits and fines.

Now here we are 46 days into this thing and suddenly Obama is canceling trips to Australia to make the Gulf Gusher his top priority?

Sorry Obama. 46 days and a dollar short. This could prove to be Obama’s political undoing. I don’t know who is advising Obama, but whoever it is a God Damn nitwit. This should have been a top priority from day one.

Obama and his entire cabinet are to blame for the government inaction in the Gulf. These buffoons sat by and did nothing while the oil met the soil in the gulf. They were taking vacations, meetings and throwing parties while the oil was flowing in the gulf.

This is going to get worse before it gets better. You cannot fault BP for this disaster. Fault the environmental whackos on the left for forcing the oil industry to drill in 5,000 feet of water in the first place.

In fact blame the liberals in general for catering to these tree hugging nutbags and the wealthy tree hugging nubags like James Cameron, who don’t want their Malibu Ocean views obstructed by oil rigs that pump the oil that they use in their limos and private jets to get about the world spreading their hate and discontent. JD

Bea Arthur

Can you imagine the nerve of Obama having a party at the White House for Paul McCartney? We all know that what Obama is really doing is having a free concert for Obama.

Here we are in the middle of a huge oil spill, world policy issues with Israel, Arizona being boycotted by neighboring states, and all Obama can think to do is throw himself a party. We are all doomed. JD

Paul McCartney said on Tuesday he was honored to be receiving one of the United States’ most important music awards, the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

To mark the occasion, a lineup of stars including Stevie Wonder , the Jonas Brothers, Herbie Hancock and Elvis Costello will pay tribute to the former Beatle in a concert at the White House on Wednesday presided over by President Barack Obama.

McCartney is the first non-American recipient of the award that has only been given twice before — to Paul Simon in 2007 and to Stevie Wonder in 2009.

“It’s fantastic for me to be here because as a little kid I grew up listening to the music of the Gershwin Brothers and loved it and had no idea, of course, that one day I might be in such a place, getting an honor such as this,” McCartney told a news conference in Washington on Tuesday.

“I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me as a kid growing up in Liverpool that this would happen. So it’s very special for me.”

The award created by the Library of Congress celebrates McCartney’s music career that spans over five decades from his years with The Beatles to his current solo output.

It was named to honor the American songwriting team of brothers George and Ira Gershwin and “recognizes musicians whose careers reflect a lifetime achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of artistic expression and cultural understanding.”

McCartney, who turns 68 later this month, will also perform at the concert on Wednesday which will be televised on July 28.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington described McCartney’s career as spanning genres ranging from rock and roll to classical.

“But he also has made an impact far beyond music through his humanitarianism and activism around the world,” Billington said in a statement.

In another amazing turn of events, President Obama seems to think that scofflaws and lawbreakers that illegally cross the border and suck off of the American tit are Americans.

Obama’s comments came during a speech in the White House Rose Garden for a naturalization ceremony for members of the armed forces.

Obama questioned the legality of the Arizona law citing such things as illegal search and seizure.

Obama said, that Arizona was “misguided” and that the Arizona measure would “undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans.”

Obama also said that he has instructed the Justice Department to “examine the civil rights and other implications” of the new law. Justice officials said they were considering their options, and it wasn’t clear Friday what they might do. Regardless, the law seemed certain to be challenged in court by opponents.

“This is absolutely ridiculous” said John De Gennaro of BrokenCountry.com.
“The idea that President Obama seems to think that he can simply usurp the will of the people of the fine state of Arizona by making threats from Washington is amazing.”

“This seems to be the norm for Obama. In many ways he reminds me of a Mafia boss, threatening to do in all that question him or don’t go along with his political agenda” De Gennaro said.

Obama planned to push the immigration issue before the November elections, responding to frustration among Hispanic voters and their advocates over inaction.

David Clark said “I see this as an absolute attack on American freedom.”

“Mexicans come to America and proclaim the greatness of Mexico. If Mexico is such a great place, why do they come here?” Clark said.

Many Americans point out the absolute lawlessness that goes on in Mexico and that a lot of it is now being imported into America with the Mexican immigrants.

Almost forty percent of the Arizona jail population are illegal immigrants, arrested for such crimes as murder and drug violations.

The timing of the news is a surprise: Stevens, 89, was expected to wait until after the Supreme Court’s oral arguments conclude this month. He will leave when the court’s term ends in June or July.

Justice John Paul Stevens, a Republican-appointed justice who emerged as a leader of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing over his 34-year tenure, announced his retirement Friday.

Stevens sent a letter to President Obama on Friday, which read: “Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court’s next term, I shall retire from active service.”

The announcement was not a surprise, but the timing was. Stevens, 89, was widely expected to wait until after the high court’s oral arguments concluded at the end of the month. He will step down when the court’s term ends in June or July.

The White House has been preparing to fill Stevens’ vacancy for months and, according to reports, appears to be focused on three candidates: Washington, D.C.-based federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland, 57; Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 49; and Chicago federal appeals court Judge Diane Wood, 59.

The president may have to tread more cautiously with this nomination than he did last summer, when he chose federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the court, because Republicans, with 41 votes in the Senate, now have the power to filibuster a controversial choice.

The White House confirms that President Obama checked “African American/Negro even though his mother is white.

The White House has confirmed that President Obama filled out the “race” portion of the 2010 census by checking the box “African American/Negro after the media pressed Obama on the issue.

Like most mulatto’s, Obama chose to ignore his white parent in favor of playing the victim by calling himself “African American. This plays in his favor politically, even though mulatto’s are even more of a minority than African Americans.

Obama could have checked more than one racial box, given that his father was an African from Kenya and his mother was a white woman from Kansas. He could have checked “white” as well, or even “some other race” and written in “multiracial.”