US Politics News

The former Alaska public-safety official at the center of a controversy surrounding Sarah Palin said in an interview that he and other police officials heard from the Alaska governor, her husband and aides "at least a dozen times" on the subject of Gov. Palin's former brother-in-law.

Walt Monegan, the former Alaska public-safety commissioner, told The Wall Street Journal that he never received explicit orders to fire the brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, who is a state trooper. But he said this was the implication during the discussions, which he said included suggestions that Mr. Wooten was unfit for his job. Mr. Monegan kept Mr. Wooten on staff.

Palin has support from older evangelical Christians but stirred debate among young evangelicals, some of whom say she represents a step backward.

Big Government: Barack Obama and Democrats blame the historic financial turmoil on the market. But if it's dysfunctional, Democrats during the Clinton years are a prime reason for it.

Obama in a statement yesterday blamed the shocking new round of subprime-related bankruptcies on the free-market system, and specifically the "trickle-down" economics of the Bush administration, which he tried to gig opponent John McCain for wanting to extend.

But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street's most revered institutions.

Ratified in 1781, the Articles established a weak central government with a crippling handicap: It had no taxing authority.

The Congress, unlike the British Parliament, was not given final authority over the Constitution, which partly explains why the judicial authority was lodged in a separate and in­dependent branch of government. In Britain the supreme judicial authority is exercised by a committee of the House of Lords, which is appropriate in a system of parliamentary supremacy, but, although it was suggested they do so, the Framers refused to follow the British example.

Reprinted From The National Center For Constitutional Studies

In honor of Constitution Day, and the Constitution's 221st Anniversary

When it comes to energy policy, the Alaska governor is the most experienced politician on either ticket.

In all the analysis, commentary, reaction, second guessing and prognosticating on the impact of John McCain's choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, her most obvious area of experience and expertise is being strangely negelected: She is the only candidate among the four on the major party tickets who has a firsthand understanding of the energy sector. That is an important credential in a national campaign where anxiety over energy issues now surpasses even war fatigue among voters' top concerns.

What This Community Organizer Really Did

Most people have not heard of Saul Alinsky. He was a radical of the first order. His tactics, strategies, and thinking influenced a number of modern leftist politicians, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

According to the Washington Post, a group of Alinsky’s “disciples hired Barack Obama, a 23-year-old Columbia University graduate, to organize black residents on the South Side, while learning and applying Alinsky's philosophy of street-level democracy.”

CNN) — It appears Barack Obama's teleprompter is hitting the campaign trail.

The Democratic presidential nominee has never tried to hide the fact he delivers speeches off the device, though normally he doesn't use one at standard campaign rallies and town hall events.

But the Illinois senator used a teleprompter at both his Colorado events Monday — making for a particularly peculiar scene in Pueblo, where the prompter was set up in the middle of what is normally a rodeo ring.

(CNN) – The Obama campaign is preparing rolling out a new line of “faith merchandise” – the latest move in an ambitious effort to win over religious voters.

“Check out the Believers for Barack, Pro-Family Pro-Obama, and Catholics for Obama buttons, bumper stickers and signs….” says Obama Deputy Director of Religious Affairs Paul Monteiro in an e-mail obtained by the Beliefnet Web site.

With Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket, the McCain campaign has adopted Obama's watchword, "change." But "change" means different things for each candidate.

No matter how proud their tradition, every military organization has its embarrassments.

The U.S. Marine Corps has John Murtha – currently a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania.

During Vietnam, Murtha gave signs of being quite patriotic. However, something has changed him and many who once respected him wonder if Murtha’s ambitions for leadership in a political party that has a 40 year tradition of trashing the military led to his incredible behavior.

Americans strongly oppose giving the president more power at the expense of Congress or the courts, even to enhance national security or the economy, according to a new poll.

The Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll of views on the Constitution found people wary of governmental authority after years of controversy over the Bush administration's expansion of executive power, and especially skeptical of increasing the president's powers.

"There is clearly a concern about executive power and the balance of power that comes out in a couple of different ways," said Joseph Torsella, president of the Philadelphia-based organization. The nonpartisan center is dedicated to educating the public about the Constitution.

Torsella said he believes the polls reflect long-standing skepticism of presidential power. "I think it's a basic chord in the American song and it gets louder and stronger depending on what's happening in the headlines," he said.

Newsmax.com

Self-proclaimed "hockey mom" Sarah Palin had a private tanning bed installed in the Governor's Mansion in Juneau, Alaska, Usmagazine.com confirmed on Monday.

"I told all four that there were going to be some times where we don't agree with each other. But that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." Gov. George W. Bush (R-TX), President-elect, December 18, 2000

Fascism: A philosophy or system of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often a policy of belligerent nationalism; oppressive or dictatorial control.

A little over a week ago, these united States of America took another gigantic step towards Fascism when the U.S. Department of Treasury and the unconstitutional, privately owned "Federal" Reserve" bailed out two more private corporations ostensibly to calm fears in the market:

By Devvy Kidd

Senator Barack Obama raised more money in August than any presidential candidate has ever recorded in a one-month period, with his campaign disclosing on Sunday that it collected $66 million and drew 500,000 first-time donors to his candidacy.

As the baton is passed to a new commander and a new president, there is still delicate work to be done.

On September 16, General Raymond Odierno will succeed General David Petraeus as commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. The surge strategy Petraeus and Odierno developed and executed in 2007 achieved its objectives: reducing violence in Iraq enough to allow political processes to restart, economic development to move forward, and reconciliation to begin. Violence has remained at historic lows even after the withdrawal of all surge forces and the handover of many areas to Iraqi control. Accordingly, President Bush has approved the withdrawal of 8,000 additional troops by February 2009.

With Barack Obama's recent declaration that the surge in Iraq has succeeded, it should now be possible to move beyond that debate and squarely address the current situation in Iraq and the future. Reductions in violence permitting political change were the goal of the surge, but they are not the sole measure of success in Iraq.

A fascinating fact about economics is that there are two sides to every action. This holds true whether an individual believes the Government should take care of the populace or if a person thinks the Government should stay out of individual lives. Barrack Obama must understand that no matter what policy he pursues, negative effects abound. The fact that Obama does not share these obvious facts underscores the dishonesty of his economic policies. Obama holds that he will: create five million green collar jobs, increase the minimum wage to $9.50, and raise taxes on capital gains and dividends. On the surface these features will appeal to many citizens, at least those folks that do not understand economics. We all must pay attention to truth and know what Mr. Obama’s policies truly mean for our economy.

Eric Jeffery

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

Family Values: a core --- at least advertised as such --- component of the GOP platform, now apparently includes racism. An exhibitor at the 2008 Value Voters Summit - sponsored by the Family Research Council has been selling seemingly racist anti-Obama waffles.

Pentagon officials are crafting a full 2010 defense blueprint even though the coming change in administration likely will shift the nation’s defense spending priorities, sources said.

That decision marks the resolution of a debate that began earlier this year among the Bush administration and Pentagon officials about whether to hand the next president a full six-year military spending plan, or do a partial plan that left it to the new administration to fashion its own version.