Most Presidents would be riding the part of the roller coaster that screams down before the loopty-loop with an economy that is bad due to unemployment. Obama enjoys a communication advantage and a voting majority that is rationale in their expressions of accountability for the previous administration. This advantage lives under the law of diminishing returns, even for a super-charismatic, once in a lifetime figure like Obama. Nothing will protect a President with 10% unemployment, especially a Democrat, three years into their term of office. It's imperative that Obama's administration return to at least +3.0 or higher GDP growth/quarter, with 400,000+ new jobs per quarter.

The President has eased the rate of job losses from -600,000 per quarter, to -300,000 per quarter by virtue of the second stimulus bill's money to the States which allowed them to retain infrastructure employees like Fire, Police, Teaching services. The full brunt of the the second economic stimulation won't be felt until 2011, because infrastructure projects take time for rational implementation. We don't write blank checks to Halliburton anymore.

Too many States have epic high deficits combined with balanced budget amendments and/or arcane budget rules, (California requires a 2/3 majority to pass a budget, no other legislative body is as irrationally restrictive), and politics that make it almost impossible to raise revenues AKA taxes. States are reflecting the old "borrow and spend" pitfall of democratic republicanism. Politicians both promise to retain and/or improve services and promises not to raise taxes. This is unsustainable. States have followed America's finance fever. Difficult choices are put off, and as tough choice are kicked down the road you reduce the dynamic capacity necessary to innovate and grow. In the 1990s when the nation and many of these same States had record surpluses, those surpluses where frittered away.

There is still a massive need for infrastructure development of bridges, water system, roads, rail system, on a reconstruction level scale. Many underground infrastructure mechanisms like water plumbing haven't been improved in eighty years. We can't write a check to the states and have them pay off their debts when the money is designed to put people to work rebuilding our national skeleton, re-building a tax base, and then paying off their budget imbalances in a sustainable way. We might as well write a check, directly to the PR China.

It's key to formulate political consensus that paygo rules are re-instated in the Congress and all spending is paid for, but we can't balance the budget if we don't have a growing economy where wages are enough to secure human relationships on all the levels of scale. That includes the democratic republic in which we all belong. Any Corporate CEO will tell you that you need to sometimes spend money to make money and then save money. Investing in our common economic defense is mutually beneficially and the only way to maintain domestic tranquility and pay off our debts.

The political factors that contribute to our economic problems are tangible, pervasive, and damaging. There is the ideological imperative for the GOP and at least 20-30% of "Blue Dog" Democratic seats to shrink the size of government, in order to placate their base, who neither want their services cut, nor taxes raised. Many of these GOP politicians have found their unsustainable as they lose legislative and executive positions and the United States demographically transitions to a nation where Democrats have 49-40% advantage in party id, party due to changes in America's racial chemistry, and the social libertarian divide but mostly due to the perception amongst young voters that the GOP is unscientific and incompetent in the execution of government. There is a severe need for economic/civics education on the K-12 level that is as comprehensive as our math, English, and science curriculums. There is just flat ignorance about the political process and that imperils us all because a democratic republic isn't like an oligarchy, there isn't one pilot, we all have to fly the proverbial plane. When one fragment of the society dominates because they have more money to contribute to politics, their speech is more free then yours, and the government doesn't work as it should. Hyperconstitutional concentrations of power only serve to retain the maintenance of concentrations of power. The first rule of power is, retain power. This comes in conflict with the desired effect of our institutions.

The coercive nature of campaign finance requirements that give lobbyists concentrated power assuages the full effect of government stimulation or any other bill for that matter, and no voter outside of the Democratic base wants to hear this, but, we need a third stimulus that is at least 10% of total GDP aimed at infrastructure and creating a green tech innovation and manufacturing base. Any stimulation takes two-three years to take full effect, because the money is broadcast by State politicians, and it takes time if you don't want to waste the money on bad projects and/or corrupt vendors. Opening the bidding process on the internet is helpful but execution of oversight responsibilities is the central factor that makes government "good" or "bad", it might take ten years for comprehensive infrastructure reconstruction to take place, outside of Obama's political re-election concerns, but putting people to work in high-paying, union, construction jobs is the quickest way to circulate money through the economy while receiving tangible benefits beyond just maximum employment.

The first Clinton term faced many of the same economic and political problems that Obama does in the 1990s. I'm confident that using the Clinton recovery as somewhat of a guide, Obama's recovery should be in full effect within two years. The Obama Administration and Congress need the constant pressure and involvement of all educated voting citizens to function properly. Too many citizens, vote for President and think that they can set the nation for cruise control every four years, but that's not how it works and usually we get what we deserve. Democracy requires all citizens to execute their role as a job. Most people can't or don't. So the democracy gives you what you put into it.

OMBs Peter Orszag outlines how we can further reduce costs in the effort to reform Health Care,

IMAC, UBend

Peter R. Orszag, Director

Game-changers are appropriately on people’s minds as the work on health care continues on Capitol Hill. By now, close readers of the blog know that the Administration wants to make health care reform deficit neutral and bend the health care cost growth curve down in years to come. Both are critical to our fiscal future, and the latter is especially important in order to put the country on a more sustainable fiscal path.

There are a number of steps that can be taken to bend the curve – health IT, investing in research into what works and what doesn’t, and changing incentives so that doctors and hospitals give you better care not just more care. But one of the most potent reforms is a change in the process of health care policymaking: empowering an independent, non-partisan body of doctors and other health experts to make recommendation about Medicare payment rates and other reforms.

Today, the Administration sent a letter to congressional leaders outlining our support for this approach, with a proposal for an Independent Medicare Advisory Commission (as well as Senator Rockefeller’s similar proposal to accomplish this through the existing MedPAC) to detail how one might accomplish this goal.

The Independent Medicare Advisory Council (IMAC) would be an independent, non-partisan body of doctors and other health experts, appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serving for five-year terms. The IMAC would issue recommendations as long as their implementation would not result in any increase in the aggregate level of net expenditures under the Medicare program; and either would improve the quality of medical care received by the program’s beneficiaries or improve Medicare’s efficiency.

As with the military base-closing commissions, this proposed legislation would require the President to approve or disapprove each set of the IMAC’s recommendations as a package. If the President accepts the IMAC’s recommendations, Congress would then have 30 days to intervene with a joint resolution before the Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to implement them. If either the President disapproves the recommendations of the IMAC or Congress passes such a joint resolution, the recommendations would be null and void, and current law would remain in effect.

This approach would free Congress from the burdens of dealing with highly technical issues such as Medicare reimbursement rates while rightly giving them, your representatives, a say in the matter. Moreover, this kind of body would enable the health care system to respond to a very dynamic market and technical landscape, making Medicare policy more responsive and effective in the future. All together, the IMAC proposal would make sure that there is someone always on the beat, looking for ways to bend that curve.

Letter to the Speaker from OMB here.

This is the time to pressure The Senate Finance Committee. We have one week to get this right.

Follow the Health Care Reform Process with ongoing live updates here.

Some articles on how The President intends to work with Congress to pay for Health Reform,

From The Atlantic: Why Obama is Obsessed With Health Care Costs and another summary from the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

AFL-CIO Blog:

A health care reform package that includes a public health insurance plan option, shared employer responsibility, cost containment and an end to private insurance company abuses was approved by a key Senate committee this morning.

The action by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee comes one day after the House version of health care legislation was introduced. But unlike the House bill, the HELP committee’s measure does not address financing.

The Senate Finance Committee is reported to be close to finalizing the financing mechanisms for health care reform. Next, the two bills from HELP and Finance will have to be shaped into a single bill before the full Senate votes. After a series of hearings, the House is expected to vote on health care reform before it adjourns for its summer recess July 31.

Under the House version, about half the cost of health reform comes from Medicare modernization, the public health insurance option and the shared responsibility ”pay or play” requirement for employers.

But instead of taxing working families’ health care benefits, as some senators proposed, the House bill lands on the side of fairness. It calls for a small surtax on the nation’s wealthiest 1 percent to help provide health care for all Americans. In most cases, all or a large part of the surcharge is offset by the savings comprehensive health care reform will bring.

The House bill’s small tax surcharge applies to individuals making more than $280,000 a year and married couples with annual incomes over $350,000. A study by the Commonwealth Fund estimates that the House bill would save the average American household more than $1,600,a year in reduced health care costs, with those earning more than $150,000 annually seeing a yearly savings of $1,656 to $2,948.

With the proposed 1 percent surcharge, a single person earning $280,000 might see a savings of $148 a year or pay a health care reform surcharge of a little more than $1,100. A married couple with a $350,000 annual income would see a surcharge of between $552 and $1,884 a year.

The small surcharge doesn’t seem to be much of a burden on someone making $134 an hour ($280,00 a year), $192 an hour ($350,000 a year) or more.

No doubt health care reform opponents like the private health insurance industry, the health care lobby and conservative groups will scream loudly and repeatedly about raising taxes. But put into a common-sense perspective, the health care surcharge makes great sense.

A small surtax on the wealthiest 1 percent buys health care reform for America. That’s not much to finally get a handle on costs that are dragging down the entire economy. Even the wealthy will get a big chunk of their money back in savings. Their premiums won’t go up as fast, and no one will have to pay the hidden $1,000 insurance premium add-on to cover costs for uncompensated care.

The House health care surtax is a fiscally responsible investment. It will pay steady returns every year.

I agree, and wouldn't oppose in addition to the House revenue stream, charging a nominal surcharge on Soda, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and any and all products that are clinically proven to be detrimental to health and health costs. The problem is that the Blue Dogs represent Sugar and Tobacco interests to a greater degree then their colleagues who represent more people then stalks of corn.

Real Progress today on the Health Reform Front,

Political Wire,

Pelosi Plans Health Care Vote in Two Weeks
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the Democratic health-reform bill would be on the House floor "not next week but the week after," reports NBC News.

Said Pelosi: "It's really important for everyone to know that when this bill passes shortly there after, pre-existing medical conditions will no longer bar people from having health care."

Meanwhile, in a related and very significant development, the American Medical Association endorsed the House bill.

***

Reid Plans Health Care Vote This Month
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters "that he hopes to put health care reform legislation on the Senate floor the week after next and to pass it before the four-week August recess," The Hill reports.

"Reid said that if the Senate Finance Committee completes markup of a bill by the end of next week, he would put it on the floor the following week."

GOP Reacts,





Keep up the pressure. The next two weeks are crucial to reforming the Health Care system to be more effective and efficient. Call, (202) 224- 3121 or hand write letters to your Senators, it's more effective then e-mails.

All the data and evidence you will ever need to win a debate on Progressive Reform of The US Health Care System.

Ben Sarlin at TPM does a new interview with Seymour Hersh today,

“I said what I said, they can always say what they say,” Hersh told The Daily Beast. “The last time they said the government doesn’t torture, this time it’s the government doesn’t assassinate.”

More new articles on this subject here.

It's down to The Senate Finance Commitee now that The Senate Health Commitee have finished marking up Health Care reform. I worry less about The House version. Demand a true public option and focus on these Senators, the membership of the Senate Finance Committee. I have starred the persuadable Republicans and the Democrats that might cause some concern do to their ties with Health Insurance Corporation Election Contributions. Democrats have a 13-10 majority, so it's important that we retain all four amongst Baucus, Conrad, Bingaman, and Lincoln. Remember the smaller the population of the state, the more that Senators depend on corporate campaign contributions because they have to deliver for less people, whereas large state Senators have a lot more people to pacify. In any event, the process is transparent, we know the players, we know the score, it's time to get this done.

Call: (202) 224- 3121

Democrats - Majority (13)

*Max Baucus, Chairman, Montana
Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia
*Kent Conrad, North Dakota
*Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico
John Kerry, Massachusetts
*Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas
Ron Wyden, Oregon
Charles Schumer, New York
Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
Maria Cantwell, Washington
*Bill Nelson, Florida
Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Thomas Carper, Delaware


GOP -Minority (10)

*Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member, Iowa
*Orrin Hatch, Utah
*Olympia Snowe, Maine
Jon Kyl, Arizona
Jim Bunning, Kentucky
Mike Crapo, Idaho
Pat Roberts, Kansas
John Ensign, Nevada
Mike Enzi, Wyoming
John Cornyn, Texas

Call: (202) 224- 3121

Remember calls and hand written leaders are more effective then e-mails. This two-week period is it. Now is the time to fight for a truly public option to compete with private plans.

Political Wire,

The Boston Phoenix notes that Gov. Sarah Palin (R) "is poised to be the hottest brand to ever hit" the multi-billion-dollar conservative marketplace.

"And her entry is beautifully timed. Thanks to the election of Barack Obama and a heavily Democratic Congress, the conservative industry is, despite the recession, experiencing boom times."

A review of "the most recently available financial reports of some 250 conservative-advocacy groups and political-action committees; their combined gross revenues totaled more than $2 billion. And that's only the major players, in just the nonprofit portion of the industry."

Conservative leaders have had a problem putting aside the ease of telling a devoted minority niche what they want to hear, and collecting the proceeds in book sales and radio/TV ad space, when they should be trying to grow their minority into a majority if they really cared about the concerns of their constituents. It's easy to tell people what they want to hear, and profitable, but ultimately unsustainable with diminishing returns as the GOPs share of total party membership is 40% in relation to the Democrats 49%. The real bottom feeders will keep that 40% as a captive audience force feeding them metaphorical editorial "sweets" until the constituent's political capacity expires because they can't form a majority, and can't effectively participate in the process due to political incompetence in governing because they operate in a realistic world and not the real world. W's and Palin's GOP know a lot about campaigning, but once they take office, they really don't know what to do because hating government and intellectuals means not working with the material that would prepare them to execute. The sharps don't care because they see the marks as dinner, they don't need a majority to feed off a minorities cash, but the marks should care. Make no mistake many operators see politics as a for-profit business, and true believers including candidates, as fools who need to be parted from they money, especially in the "pro-business" GOP.

Conservative Media tried to curry favor with the Governor's office during the period when SC Governor Mark Sanford had gone missing in Argentina, new e-mails show. Fairly balanced. More information drawn from over 600 e-mails on the behind the scenes of the Sanford Affair.

Also, Senator John Ensign who had an affair with a staff member and then had his parents bribe off his mistress on the suggestion of Senator Tom Coburn, has refused to resign.

The GOP: always keeping it classy.

Greta, DO NOT Listen.

Political Wire,

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), "seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy, cited her 2001 'wise Latina' speech, and contrasted the view that ethnicity and sex influence judging with that of Judge Miriam Cedarbaum, who 'believes that judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices,'" the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Sessions: "So I would just say to you, I believe in Judge Cedarbaum's formulation."

Responded Sotomayor: "My friend Judge Cedarbaum is here. We are good friends, and I believe that we both approach judging in the same way, which is looking at the facts of each individual case and applying the law to those facts."

Needless to say, Sessions looked surprised.

Worst confirmation opposition ever. The Republicans can't even irrationally obstruct mainstream Judges anymore. What is this world coming to?

The Senate Health Committee is debating the contents of Health Care Reform Bill currently on C-Span.

Robert Reich on why the next two weeks are crucial for real Health Care reform,

Universal health insurance won't happen unless Obama can light a fire under the Senate Finance Committee this week. Within the next two weeks, the Committee must report out a bill that contains a public option and a credible source of money (either limiting deductions of the wealthy to 28 percent or capping tax-free employer-provided health care, or some of both). Obama then has to get both the Senate and the House (which reports out a bill today) to approve their respective bills before August 7, when Congress heads home for recess.

Why is timing so important? Because the health-care clock is ticking, and doesn't have many weeks left. Universal health care is so complicated -- touching on so much of the economy, stepping on the toes of so many vested interests -- that to allow the bills to languish past recess risks the entire goal. Speed is essential. Recall that after Bill Clinton was elected, universal health insurance looked inevitable; a year later, it was doomed. As Lyndon Johnson warned his staff after the 1964 landslide, "every day while I'm in office, I'm gonna lose votes."

Republicans don't want any bill. Blue Dog Democrats are afraid of the costs of any bill. The AMA, private insurers, and pharmaceutical companies would be delighted if universal health care died. If bills aren't passed in the House and Senate before August 7th, the fights in both chambers over the public option and money will carry over into the Fall, where they'll become more intense and more prolonged. Obama won't have a bill on his desk before the end of the end of the year. That's a death sentence for health-care reform. The gravitational pull of the mid-term elections of 2010 will frighten off Blue Dogs and delight Republicans.

So call your Senators, e-mails are too easy to ignore. A few calls and hand written letters will have the maximum effect. Muiltipy your efforts by asking others who you know agree with you to make a few calls and write a few letters and help where you can. The next two weeks matter as much as the two weeks prior to Obama's election. Treat it like a Presidential election, or you'll not like what happens.

Senate Switchboard: (202) 224- 3121

Seymour Hersh and 60 Minutes: Bin Ladin was allowed to Escape Tora Bora when cornered by Delta Force Soon after 9/11 or,
What The Hell is Really Going On?

Hersh broke the story that in November of 2001 Special Forces had Bin Ladin cornered in Tora Bora, an account later described from the ground view on 60 minutes by The Delta Force Commander on the ground at the time. It's unknown why Bin Ladin was allowed to escape, but it's very odd. The Commander on the ground is very pissed as you can see in the 60 minutes interview. It's strange that Cheney would establish an Al-Qaeda hit squad, spend millions of dollars, and then never actually "hit" the supposed targets.

To this day we all know BIn Ladin is in the Tribal Regions of Pakistan. Capture or kill him. I don't know about you but I'm still pissed about 9/11 and I won't be satisfied until Bin Ladin is brought to justice. With consultaion with the Congress the Obama administration can and probably has devised a plan to get at Bin Ladin. The major problem is that after he was allowed to escape Tora Bora, he ditched electronic communication for couriers. It's almost impossible to infiltrate an old world subterfuge ring. Bin Ladin is surrounded by familial layers that make it hard to obtain a bombing location let alone get him in your crosshairs. Tribal bonds insulate him from the real world. Usually bribes and/or coercison is used to get at people the CIA/Special Forces Targets. The Tribal region of Pakistan it seems, can't be bought because they have too much money from Opium profits. Once the poppy money is gone, then leverage could be achieved. Even still, high Al-Qaeda leaders only deal with known quantities that have been vetted better then most of the people the POTUS comes into contact with. In any event, we must use our intellectual advantage to legally bring Bin Ladin to justice, with stealth, so as not to provoke the destabilation of Pakistan.

Part of the reason Americans are suspicious about the Tora Bora incident, is that the threat of Bin Ladin still looming, "out there" allowed Bush to manufacture the political capital he required to pass bizarre laws like the Patriot Act and it allowed for $3.7 trillion in off budget expenditures to be frivolously spent with no income offsets. Having Bin Ladin manufactures the consent to hold humans without redress of grievances, or just trial, creates the vacuum to replace humans as "detainees" or "enemy combatants", and makes the American people look the other way when we torture and abuse prisoners.

Bin Ladin, it could be said, was Bush's most effective legislative ally. What wasn't signed into law in the 2001-2008 that wasn't either cast as q requirement for patriotism or a necessary unintended consequence of security? How frivolously did Bush ignore the FISA act while wire tapping citizens in violation of the 4th amendment, when he could have retroactively obtained permission from the very reasonable FISA Court. The vast majority of FISA warrants are apprvoed, even retroactively. Having Bin Ladin replace the Soviets as Bogey Man #1 allowed a sociopath like John Yoo to not only have a platform to express his bizarre philosophies, Bin Laden made it possible for the President of the United States to adopt the belief that Bush had unlimited power, and Bush expressed that unlimited power to little tangible value.

Of course Bush adopted the opinion of Yoo because they were convenient, not correct. For all of that Oligarchy, what did Bush accomplish? Does anyone really believe that we've been lucky and not good in so much we've not had an attack on US soil, given the wide variety of Bush incompetentcies made public and the fact that terror attacks with American victims are way up all around the world post 9/11?

1920

Sept. 16, New York City: TNT bomb planted in unattended horse-drawn wagon exploded on Wall Street opposite House of Morgan, killing 35 people and injuring hundreds more. Bolshevist or anarchist terrorists believed responsible, but crime never solved.
1975

Jan. 24, New York City: bomb set off in historic Fraunces Tavern killed 4 and injured more than 50 people. Puerto Rican nationalist group (FALN) claimed responsibility, and police tied 13 other bombings to the group.
1979

Nov. 4, Tehran, Iran: Iranian radical students seized the U.S. embassy, taking 66 hostages. 14 were later released. The remaining 52 were freed after 444 days on the day of President Reagan's inauguration.

1982–1991 (Reagan Administration 1980-1988)
Lebanon: Thirty US and other Western hostages kidnapped in Lebanon by Hezbollah. Some were killed, some died in captivity, and some were eventually released. Terry Anderson was held for 2,454 days.

1983
April 18, Beirut, Lebanon: U.S. embassy destroyed in suicide car-bomb attack; 63 dead, including 17 Americans. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

Oct. 23, Beirut, Lebanon: Shiite suicide bombers exploded truck near U.S. military barracks at Beirut airport, killing 241 marines. Minutes later a second bomb killed 58 French paratroopers in their barracks in West Beirut.

Dec. 12, Kuwait City, Kuwait: Shiite truck bombers attacked the U.S. embassy and other targets, killing 5 and injuring 80.

1984

Sept. 20, east Beirut, Lebanon: truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy annex, killing 24, including 2 U.S. military.

Dec. 3, Beirut, Lebanon: Kuwait Airways Flight 221, from Kuwait to Pakistan, hijacked and diverted to Tehran. 2 Americans
killed.

1985

April 12, Madrid, Spain: Bombing at restaurant frequented by U.S. soldiers, killed 18 Spaniards and injured 82.

June 14, Beirut, Lebanon: TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome hijacked to Beirut by Hezbollah terrorists and held for 17 days. A U.S. Navy diver executed.

Oct. 7, Mediterranean Sea: gunmen attack Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro. One U.S. tourist killed. Hijacking linked to Libya.

Dec. 18, Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria: airports in Rome and Vienna were bombed, killing 20 people, 5 of whom were Americans. Bombing linked to Libya.

1986

April 2, Athens, Greece:A bomb exploded aboard TWA flight 840 en route from Rome to Athens, killing 4 Americans and injuring 9.

April 5, West Berlin, Germany: Libyans bombed a disco frequented by U.S. servicemen, killing 2 and injuring hundreds.

1988 (Beign GHW Bush Administration)
Dec. 21, Lockerbie, Scotland: N.Y.-bound Pan-Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight from a terrorist bomb and crashed into Scottish village, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on the ground. Passengers included 35 Syracuse University students and many U.S. military personnel. Libya formally admitted responsibility 15 years later (Aug. 2003) and offered $2.7 billion compensation to victims' families.

1993 (Clinton Administration)
Feb. 26, New York City: bomb exploded in basement garage of World Trade Center, killing 6 and injuring at least 1,040 others. In 1995, militant Islamist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 9 others were convicted of conspiracy charges, and in 1998, Ramzi Yousef, believed to have been the mastermind, was convicted of the bombing. Al-Qaeda involvement is suspected.

1995

April 19, Oklahoma City: car bomb exploded outside federal office building, collapsing wall and floors. 168 people were killed, including 19 children and 1 person who died in rescue effort. Over 220 buildings sustained damage. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols later convicted in the antigovernment plot to avenge the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Tex., exactly 2 years earlier. (See Miscellaneous Disasters.)
Nov. 13, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: car bomb exploded at U.S. military headquarters, killing 5 U.S. military servicemen.

1996

June 25, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: truck bomb exploded outside Khobar Towers military complex, killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds of others. 13 Saudis and a Lebanese, all alleged members of Islamic militant group Hezbollah, were indicted on charges relating to the attack in June 2001.

1998

Aug. 7, Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously near 2 U.S. embassies, killing 224 (213 in Kenya and 11 in Tanzania) and injuring about 4,500. 4 men connected with al-Qaeda 2 of whom had received training at al-Qaeda camps inside Afghanistan, were convicted of the killings in May 2001 and later sentenced to life in prison. A federal grand jury had indicted 22 men in connection with the attacks, including Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who remained at large.

2000 (Bush Administration)

Oct. 12, Aden, Yemen: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives blew up alongside it. 17 sailors killed. Linked to Osama bin Laden, or members of al-Qaeda terrorist network.
2001

Sept. 11, New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.: hijackers crashed 2 commercial jets into twin towers of World Trade Center; 2 more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,9921: 2,749 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, 40 in Pa., and 19 hijackers. Islamic al-Qaeda terrorist group blamed. (See September 11, 2001: Timeline of Terrorism.)

2002
June 14, Karachi, Pakistan: bomb explodes outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12. Linked to al-Qaeda.

2003 1
May 12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected.

2004

May 29–31, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists attack the offices of a Saudi oil company in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, take foreign oil workers hostage in a nearby residential compound, leaving 22 people dead including one American.

June 11–19, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: terrorists kidnap and execute Paul Johnson Jr., an American, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 2 other Americans and BBC cameraman killed by gun attacks.

Dec. 6, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: terrorists storm the U.S. consulate, killing 5 consulate employees. 4 terrorists were killed by Saudi security.

2005
Nov. 9, Amman, Jordan: suicide bombers hit 3 American hotels, Radisson, Grand Hyatt, and Days Inn, in Amman, Jordan, killing 57. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

2006

Sept. 13, Damascus, Syria: an attack by four gunman on the American embassy is foiled.

2007

Jan. 12, Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy is fired on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.

Dec. 11, Algeria: more than 60 people are killed, including 11 United Nations staff members, when Al Qaeda terrorists detonate two car bombs near Algeria's Constitutional Council and the United Nations offices.

2008

May 26, Iraq: a suicide bomber on a motorcycle kills six U.S. soldiers and wounds 18 others in Tarmiya.

June 24, Iraq: a suicide bomber kills at least 20 people, including three U.S. Marines, at a meeting between sheiks and Americans in Karmah, a town west of Baghdad.

June 12, Afghanistan: four American servicemen are killed when a roadside bomb explodes near a U.S. military vehicle in Farah Province.

July 13, Afghanistan: nine U.S.soldiers and at least 15 NATO troops die when Taliban militants boldly attack an American base in Kunar Province, which borders Pakistan. It's the most deadly against U.S. troops in three years.

Aug. 18 and 19, Afghanistan: as many as 15 suicide bombers backed by about 30 militants attack a U.S. military base, Camp Salerno, in Bamiyan. Fighting between U.S. troops and members of the Taliban rages overnight. No U.S. troops are killed.

Sept. 16, Yemen: a car bomb and a rocket strike the U.S. embassy in Yemen as staff arrived to work, killing 16 people, including 4 civilians. At least 25 suspected al-Qaeda militants are arrested for the attack.

Nov. 26, India: in a series of attacks on several of Mumbai's landmarks and commercial hubs that are popular with Americans and other foreign tourists, including at least two five-star hotels, a hospital, a train station, and a cinema. About 300 people are wounded and nearly 190 people die, including at least 5 Americans.

Bush implants policies that would seem to the layman that the would be tough and so in their mind effective, drag net surveillance, torture, invading Iraq, but as you can see Bush's record on terror is the worst of any President in history, with Ronald Reagan a close second. It's important to be tough but not stupid. Reagan and Bush pursued stupid policies and used the bully pulpit ineffectively. There were more American terrorist attack deaths under Bush then under any President in history and Reagan is a close second. Less you fear I ignore Clinton. Clinton like all Democrats have to prove how tough they are so that they can deflect political rhetoric. Clinton, did a much better job then the other two, because even though he had to compensate he knew how to use diplomacy, and may have been philosophically wrong on some points, but he was nearly always effective due to his high degree of competence.

Is it rationale to suggest that Bush didn't deter terror but perhaps inadvertently provoked terror through incompetence and unsophisticated policy option selections? Is it more likely that Al-Qaeda has been holding back, preparing for an even more spectacular attack featuring WMDS, is it plausible that this would please Republicans because they would have the ability to manufacture the necessary to continue to push their political agenda. I hope not.

I think we will see improvements and evidence that you can legally protect this nation, because if the terrorists make us rip up our constitution and change the way we conduct our selves, then they've changed us, made us more militant, adversarial, and more like them. The goal of Al-Qaeda is to push our buttons to the point where we destroy ourselves. The election of Barack Hussein Obama sends a clear message, Americans are committed to our values and our security. We're smart enough to do it all.

Michael Scheuer, (former CIA chief of Bin Ladin Operation:

The only thing that can keep this country safe from a spectacular attack by al-Qaeda would be a spectacular attack by al-Qaeda.

Both videos:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Political Wire:

In a MSNBC appearance, New York Times columnist David Brooks discusses the loss of dignity in America and recounts a dinner party where he had the misfortune to sit next to a GOP senator who "had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here."

When asked who it was, Brooks said, "I'm not telling you, I'm not telling you."

Does the current GOP weirdness have no end?

High Praise From The Detroit Free Press Columnist Tom Walsh on Obama's Handling of the Auto Industry,

President Barack Obama has every reason to boast and preen about the Detroit auto industry bailout when he comes to town Tuesday.

He won't do so -- he's too smart for that, and a treacherous road still lies ahead for General Motors and Chrysler.

But at every turn, Obama's auto industry task force has defied the odds, surprised skeptics and soldiered on through a cacophony of wailing by aggrieved banks, bondholders, dealers, suppliers, pensioners and labor unions to overhaul Chrysler and GM via Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 42 and 40 days, respectively.

Conceding that GM and Chrysler both have much to prove, it's still a staggering achievement to have brought them this far.

Let me count the ways.

Bankruptcy baloney. Auto industry bosses insisted that consumers would never buy cars from a bankrupt company and that the process itself would take years. GM and Chrysler would have to liquidate. Zoom, zoom -- both flew through in a flash.

Wall Street vultures grounded. The high-finance sharpies figured banks and bondholders would elbow past other creditors, derailing the rescue. But they got steamrolled, and they're still whimpering about Team Obama overturning decades of contract law precedent. Boo-hoo.

Dealers done in. GM, Chrysler and Obama's task force used bankruptcy to void hundreds of dealership agreements. Dealers are lobbying friends in Congress to reverse those actions.

Labor's half-a-loaf. Lots of UAW folks figured their guy in the White House would just ride to the rescue. Today, after dozens of plant closings and thousands more jobs lost in the shrinking of Chrysler and GM, some in labor are scratching their heads. And the UAW, which already had done the automakers a favor by agreeing to manage a trust for retiree health care, had to take company contributions in stock -- which could be worthless -- instead of cash.

It ain't easy being green. Team Obama wanted to force Detroit to making nothing but tiny cars that run on seaweed, right? Wrong. It's clear now that the feds want their money back even if it takes building lots of Chevy Tahoes and Dodge Rams to do it. GM's government masters have even blessed the "unretirement" of Bob Lutz, who once pronounced global warming a "crock of" uh, you know.

So Obama's auto rescue commandos have proven to be pragmatic, tough, nonideological. Go figure.

There is no way Obama could have allowed the Industrial Midwest to collapse and suck the rest of the United States into a depression. Obama and the Democrats are showing that they don't just do "something" when confronted with problems, they are providing eloquent solutions.

The second stimulus, (remember Bush signed the first stimulus package) will be spent between now and 2011. All of the money can't inserted into the economy immediately because it takes time to intelligently select projects and efficiently spend the money without wasting it. If need be we will have a third stimulation in order to prevent a slide into depression. The path out of deficit spending is GDP growth, we can't stop trying new ideas until we are growing as an economy again. The Democrats and Obama are committed to budget neutral programs and pay as you go budget policy. Reforming Health Care is part of the strategy to control spending and reduce the budget deficit while improving health care results and covering many, many more Americans. For full details on how reforming Health Care is the key to balancing budget read Peter Orszag's, Director of the Office of Managment and Budget in the White House, testimony to the Congressional Budget Office.


Here's an interview with Orszag from PBS's Newshour that summarizes the administrations comprehensive views on the budget, the defecit, and their solutions.