Black & Proud World News: 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

Obama: I'll act on my own on immigration - Yahoo News

Obama: I'll act on my own on immigration - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Conceding defeat on a top domestic priority, President Barack Obama blamed a Republican "year of
obstruction" for the demise of sweeping immigration legislation on Monday and said he would take new steps without Congress to fix as much of the system as he can on his own.

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"The only thing I can't do is stand by and do nothing," the president said. But he gave few hints about what steps he might take by executive action.

Even as he blamed House Republicans for frustrating him on immigration, Obama asked Congress for more money and additional authority to deal with the unexpected crisis of a surge of unaccompanied Central American youths arriving by the thousands at the Mexico-US border. Obama wants flexibility to speed the youths' deportations and $2 billion in new money to hire more immigration judges and open more detention
facilities, requests that got a cool reception from congressional Republicans and angered advocates.

The twin announcements came as the administration confronted the tricky politics of immigration in an election year with Democratic control of the Senate in jeopardy. The fast-developing humanitarian disaster on the border has provoked calls for a border crackdown at the same moment that immigration advocates are demanding Obama loosen deportation rules in the face of congressional inaction.

Obama's announcement came almost a year to the day after the Senate passed a historic immigration bill that would have spent billions to secure the border and offered a path to citizenship for many of the 11.5 million
people now here illegally. Despite the efforts of an extraordinary coalition of businesses, unions, religious leaders, law enforcement officials and others, the Republican-led House never acted. Obama wanted to make immigration overhaul the central accomplishment of his second term just as the health care law was the signature achievement of his first term.

"Our country and our economy would be stronger today if House Republicans had allowed a simple yes-or-no vote on this bill or, for that matter, any bill," Obama said in the Rose Garden. "They'd be following the will of the majority of the American people, who support reform.

And instead they've proven again and again that they're unwilling to stand up to the tea party in order to do what's best for the country." Obama said that House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, informed him last week that the House would not be taking up immigration legislation this year.

A growing number of advocates and congressional Democrats already have declared immigration dead, the victim, in part, of internal Republican politics, with the most conservative lawmakers resisting the calls of

party leaders to back action and revive the party's standing with Latino voters. The Central American migrant surge, along with the surprise defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor at the hands of an upstart candidate from the right who accused him of backing "amnesty," helped kill whatever chances remain.

Boehner blamed Obama for the outcome.

"I told the president what I have been telling him for months: the American people and their elected officials don't trust him to enforce the law as written. Until that changes, it is going to be difficult to make progress on this issue," he said. Boehner called Obama's plan to go it alone "sad and disappointing." Obama directed Homeland Security Department Secretary Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder to present him by the end of the summer with steps he can take without congressional approval.

For now the White House said he'd refocus resources from the interior of the country to the border, a move that would effectively further reduce the number of deportations in the country's interior by stressing enforcement action on individuals who are either recent unlawful border crossers or who present a national security threat, public safety, or border security threat.

Johnson made his third visit Monday in the last six weeks to the Border Patrol's McCallen station in southernmost Texas, touring the location with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. He said 150 more agents are being sent to the region to help deal with the surge. Johnson has been weighing various additional steps to refocus deportation priorities on people with more serious criminal records, something the

administration has already tried to do with mixed results. But advocates are pushing Obama for much more sweeping changes that would shield millions of immigrants now here illegally from deportation by expanding a
two-year-old program that granted work permits to certain immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Racial politics churn Miss. GOP Senate runoff - Yahoo News

Racial politics churn Miss. GOP Senate runoff - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Race is roiling the Republican Senate runoff in Mississippi, a state with a long history of divided politics where the GOP is mostly white and the Democratic Party is mostly black.

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National tea party groups say they are working to "ensure a free and fair election" by sending several dozen observers to precincts to watch who votes during Tuesday's GOP contest, concerned about six-term Sen. Thad Cochran's efforts to persuade Mississippi Democrats to cast ballots. Challenger Chris McDaniel and the tea party portray cross-party voting as dangerous and even illegal, though state law allows it.

"Thad Cochran and his establishment handlers are out trolling, begging for Democrats to cross over and vote in the Republican runoff," Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund chairwoman Jenny Beth Martin said in announcing
that her group and two others have hired an attorney to watch Tuesday's primary.

While Cochran rarely mentions race, he readily acknowledges he's seeking support from black and white voters.

"I think it's important for everybody to participate," he said. "Voting rights has been an issue of great importance in Mississippi. People have really contributed a lot of energy and effort to making sure the
political process is open to everyone."

Cochran's campaign staff believes he would get a boost if Mississippi voters who traditionally go for Democrats — black voters and union members — participate in the GOP runoff. The Republican nominee will be a heavy favorite in November, and several prominent black Democrats are supporting the incumbent as far preferable to his primary challenger.

rally Sunday in Biloxi, McDaniel, a state senator, never mentioned race.
But he received loud applause when he said: "Why is a 42-year incumbent pandering to liberal Democrats to get re-elected?"

A man in the crowd shouted: "Reparations!" McDaniel did not respond.

Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund and two other independent groups that are supporting McDaniel, FreedomWorks and Senate Conservatives Fund, say they have hired a former Justice Department attorney, J. Christian Adams, "to ensure a free and fair election in Mississippi on June 24."

Adams was the Justice Department attorney who handled a 2007 case in which Ike Brown, a black elections official, was found to have violated the rights of white voters in majority-black Noxubee County. It was the first time the Justice Department had used the 1965 Voting Rights Act to allege racial discrimination against whites.

"Election integrity is essential, and Mississippi has a long, documented and tragic history of lawlessness in elections," Adams said. "The outcome of the runoff should be determined by who gets the most votes, not by who manipulates the system the best."

Adam Brandon said Monday that the groups will send several dozen
volunteers to precincts Tuesday, but he would not say where.

Asked if the Justice Department is watching this year's runoff, Justice
Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said in an email: "The department is aware of concerns about voter intimidation and is monitoring the situation." Voters who experience problems are encouraged to report them, she said.

Mississippi voters do not register by party, and state law says the only people prohibited from voting in the Republican runoff Tuesday are those who voted in the Democratic primary June 3.

But there's potential for confusion as the tea party groups cite another Mississippi law that says a voter can participate in a party primary only if he intends to support that party's nominee in the general election. A federal appeals court ruled in 2008 that the law is unenforceable. The ruling came in a case in which Democrats sought to block Republicans from crossing over in primaries. A McDaniel supporter filed a lawsuit Monday in McDaniel's home county citing that law, but it was not clear if a judge would consider the suit before polls open Tuesday.

general, a Democrat, and secretary of state, a Republican, issued a
joint statement Monday saying: "A person lawfully in the polling place
may challenge a voter based on party loyalty only if the voter openly
declares he does not intend to support the nominees of the party whose
primary the voter is participating in."

About 9 out of 10 white voters in Mississippi said they supported Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, and more than 9 of 10 black voters said they supported Democratic President Barack Obama, according to an exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and other news organizations. Still, Cochran is supported by some black Democrats, including Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs and state Sen. Willie Simmons.

Simmons told the AP on Monday that he voted in the Democratic primary June 3 and can't vote in the GOP runoff Tuesday, but he has campaigned for Cochran by making phone calls and sending letters to black churches citing the former Appropriations Committee chairman's support of Head Start and historically black universities.

"Sen. Cochran himself did not even ask me to support him," Simmons said. "I volunteered to support him because of the things he has done in the Senate."

Simmons said that while some black Mississippians quietly vote for Republicans in general elections, they might be reluctant to publicly declare their intentions by going to a Republican table to request a ballot on primary day.

"This election is going to put them in a position where they have to do two things that is unusual for them," Simmons said. "First, they have to pull out an ID and show it. And, second, they have to vote in a Republican runoff."

Simmons said if a poll watcher cites the unenforceable law about not voting in a primary unless intending to support the nominee in the general election, "that could lead to intimidation."

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Hillary Talks Guns In CNN Town Hall, Says Minority ‘Terrorizes’ Majority [VIDEO] - Yahoo News

Hillary Talks Guns In CNN Town Hall, Says Minority ‘Terrorizes’ Majority [VIDEO] - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
During a televised town hall, Hillary Clinton was asked about guns, and said that the viewpoint held

by gun-rights advocates “terrorizes” the majority of Americans.

The town hall, broadcast live on CNN on Tuesday, closely resembled a commercial for Clinton’s new memoir, “Hard Choices.”

“I was disappointed that the Congress did not pass universal background checks after the horrors of the shootings at Sandy Hook and now we’ve had more,” said Clinton in response to a question from a Maryland teacher named Gloria Santa Maria.

“Seventy-four more,” Santa Maria interjected, seemingly referencing a now-debunked claim made last week
by the pro-gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.

Everytown published a graphical map, which CNN aired, purporting to show 74 school shootings that have
occurred since the December 14, 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut.

The network later corrected the claim saying that only 15 of the 74 shootings that occurred at schools
had factors similar to the shooting at Sandy Hook, in which Adam Lanza killed 26 people, mostly children.

Many of the 74 shootings involved interpersonal disputes and other criminal activity, though
neither Clinton nor Amanpour corrected Santa Maria’s statistic. (RELATED: CNN Slashes School Shooting Stats Claim By 80 Percent)

“We cannot let a minority of people – and that’s what it is, it is a minority of people – hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people,” said Clinton.

The former secretary of state and likely 2016 presidential candidate also made imprecise references to “automatic” weapons.

“I don’t think any parent, any person should have to fear about their child going to school or going to
college because someone…could possibly enter that school property with an automatic weapon and murder innocent children, students, teachers,” she said.

“We’re going to have to do a better job protecting the vast majority of our citizens, including our children, from that very, very, very small group that is unfortunately prone to violence and now with automatic weapons can wreak so much more violence than they ever could have before.”

Automatic weapons are tightly regulated in the United States and were not used in the Sandy Hook shooting.

allAfrica.com: Libya: Joint U.S. Department of Defense Statements On the Capture of Ahmed Abu Khatallah

allAfrica.com: Libya: Joint U.S. Department of Defense Statements On the Capture of Ahmed Abu Khatallah
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Statement from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the Capture of Ahmed Abu Khatallah
"I want to commend all the service members who were involved in the
planning and execution of the operation to capture Ahmed Abu Khatallah.
Their tireless efforts may only be known to a few but are felt by all
Americans who are proud of what they do every day to defend this
nation. This successful counter terrorism operation is another example
of the extraordinary capabilities of the United States military and our
unrelenting commitment to hold accountable those who harm American
citizens."

Statement by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey
"Over the weekend, U.S. military forces in support of the U.S.
Department of Justice, captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah. Abu Khatallah faces
criminal charges for his role in killing Americans in the attack on the
U.S. temporary mission facility in Benghazi in 2012. This team of
professionals acted with extraordinary skill, courage and precision,
successfully carrying out a dangerous and complex capture operation
resulting in no casualties. I'm proud of those who tirelessly defend our
nation, our freedoms and our way of life."

Friday, June 6, 2014

Judge rules revocation of teacher tenure, 25% contracts unconstitutional

Judge rules revocation of teacher tenure, 25% contracts unconstitutional
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Judge Robert H. Hobgood issued a written order in Wake County Superior
Court today declaring the 2013 General Assembly’s actions unconstitutional
in eliminating due process rights, or career status, for teachers who
already had obtained it. Hobgood made the ruling three weeks ago and issued
his written order today. The trial court also permanently halted the 25 ... more »

Saturday, May 31, 2014

US soldier freed from captivity in Afghanistan - Yahoo News

US soldier freed from captivity in Afghanistan - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The only American solider held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed from Taliban captivity in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama administration officials said Saturday.

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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. special forces by the Taliban Saturday evening, local time, in an area of eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. Officials said the exchange was not violent and the

28-year-old Bergdahl was in good condition and able to walk.

In a statement, President Barack Obama said Bergdahl's recovery "is a reminder of America's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield."

The handover followed secret and indirect negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban, with the government of Qatar serving as the go-between.
Qatar is taking custody of the five Afghan detainees that had been held at Guantanamo Bay.

According to a senior defense official traveling with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Singapore, once Bergdahl climbed onto the noisy helicopter he took a pen and wrote on a paper plate, the "SF?" — asking the troops if they were special operations forces.

They shouted back at him over the roar of the rotors: "Yes, we've been looking for you for a long time."

Then, according to the official, Bergdahl broke down.

Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, is believed to have been held by the Haqqani network since June 30, 2009. Haqqani operates in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and has been one of the deadliest threats to U.S. troops in the war. The network, which the State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2012, claims allegiance to the Afghan Taliban, yet operates with some degree of autonomy.
Officials said
Bergdahl was expected to be transferred to Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, for medical evaluations, then on to the United States.

Several dozen U.S. special operations forces flew into Afghanistan by helicopter and made the transfer with the approximately 18 Taliban members. The official said
the commandos were on the ground for a short time before lifting off with Bergdahl.

The official added that the U.S. still believes that Bergdahl was being held for the bulk of the time in Pakistan, but it was not clear when he was transported to eastern Afghanistan.

Officials said Obama spoke with Bergdahl's parents Saturday, shortly after their son had been taken into U.S. custody. Bergdahl's family was in Washington on a previously scheduled visit when they received the news.

All the officials insisted on anonymity in order to discuss details of Bergdahl's transfer. Officials said Obama spoke with Bergdahl's parents Saturday, shortly after their son had been taken into U.S. custody. Bergdahl's family was in Washington on a previously scheduled visit when they received the news.

The parents of the freed soldier, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, said in a statement that they were "joyful and relieved."

"We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son," they said.

The five Afghan detainees from Guantanamo were still at the base as of Saturday morning, but were being transferred into the custody of Qatari officials. Under the conditions of their release, the detainees will be
banned from traveling outside of Qatar for at least one year.

The detainees are believed to be the most senior Afghans still held at the prison. They are believed to be:

—Abdul Haq Wasiq, who served as the Taliban deputy minister of intelligence

—Mullah Norullah Nori, a senior Taliban commander in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif when the Taliban fought U.S. forces in late 2001 —Khairullah Khairkhwa, who served in various Taliban positions including interior minister and had direct ties to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden

—Mohammed Nabi, who served as chief of security for the Taliban in Qalat, Afghanistan, and later worked as a radio operator for the Taliban's communications office in Kabul

—Mohammad Fazl, whom Human Rights Watch says could be prosecuted for war crimes for presiding over the mass killing of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001 as the Taliban sought to consolidate their control over the country.

The circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's capture remain something of a mystery. There has been some speculation that he willingly walked away from his unit, raising the question of whether he could be charged with being absent without leave (AWOL) or desertion.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Miss. Judge Slaps Black Man, Tells Him ‘Run N—er Run’ | News One

Miss. Judge Slaps Black Man, Tells Him ‘Run N—er Run’ | News One
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
A Madison County Justice Court judge faces accusations that he struck a mentally disabled man and used racial slurs while working as a security guard at an event in Canton.

The family of the 20-year-old African-American man, Eric Rivers, has filed a police complaint against Judge Bill Weisenberger in connection with the May 8 incident at a flea market. WLBT-TV reports that the Madison District attorney said the case will go to a grand jury.

Witnesses told The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/1p4Klxm ) that Weisenberger, who is white, struck the young man and yelled racial slurs.

William Truly of a Mississippi NAACP chapter said Weisenberger should stop hearing cases or resign pending an investigation.

Weisenberger has not commented and did not immediately return a phone call seeking a response Sunday afternoon.

Cathy Hendrix of Tuscaloosa, a vendor at the Canton Flea Market, told The Clarion-Ledger that she and other vendors rely on local people to help load and unload their vehicles, paying for the help.

On May 8, she saw Rivers standing on the sidewalk, asking if they needed help, she said. “That young man was wanting to work to earn money to buy a bike.”

Her sister, Tammy Westbrook, also of Tuscaloosa, told the newspaper she saw Weisenberger “rear back and slap” Rivers twice and use a racial epithet as the Rivers ran.

“No citizen should have to face justice before a judge who holds such a high degree of racial animus and hatred,” Truly said in a news conference Friday.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Russian bombers, fighter jets 'seen over Crimea' - Yahoo News

Russian bombers, fighter jets 'seen over Crimea' - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Several dozen Russian planes including what appeared to be strategic bombers and fighter jets have
been spotted in the sky above the Moscow-controlled peninsula of Crimea, witnesses and experts said.

According to Russian media, President Vladimir Putin is poised to visit Crimea on Friday after overseeing the main military parade on Red Square when Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

A local aviation expert told AFP on Sunday that he had sighted a number of planes over the peninsula's main city of Simferopol on Saturday, including supersonic heavy strategic bombers and heavy military transport aircraft. The expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had also seen refuelling tankers and MiG-29 jets.

Another expert, Alexei Savich, who was shown footage of the aircraft, said a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet could be seen among the planes. He also identified the tankers and military transport planes.

Many local residents have also seen the aircraft rumble over the peninsula including in Simferopol and the neighbouring town of Bakhchisarai.

"It was a bit scary," local resident Arzy Khaibulaeva told AFP. "Children were frightened."

She said the planes were flying low and some were seen re-fuelling in mid-air. The Russian defence ministry declined to comment on Sunday.

Savich suggested that Moscow might be moving "some serious military aircraft" to the peninsula.
"Russia is most likely ramping up its military presence on the peninsula," he told AFP.

In March, Putin sent troops to Ukraine's Russian-speaking peninsula claiming he had to protect the local population after a popular uprising ousted Ukraine's Moscow-backed president.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Al Qaeda chief urges Westerner kidnappings - Yahoo News

Al Qaeda chief urges Westerner kidnappings - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has called on Muslims to kidnap Westerners, particularly Americans, who could then be exchanged for jailed jihadists including a blind Egyptian cleric convicted in 1995 of conspiring to attack the United Nations and other New York landmarks.

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In a wide ranging audio interview, the al Qaeda leader expressed solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood which is facing a violent crackdown by the army-backed government in Egypt and urged unity among rebels in their fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the Zawahiri tape, but the voice resembled that of the al Qaeda leader.

"I ask Allah the Glorious to help us set free Dr. Omar Abdel-Rahman and the rest of the captive Muslims, and I ask Allah to help us capture from among the Americans and the Westerners to enable us to exchange
them for our captives," said Zawahiri, according to the SITE website monitoring service.

Abdel-Rahman is serving a life term in the United States for a 1993 attack on New York's World Trade Center.
Zawahiri also urged "jihad and overthrowing the criminal al-Assad regime" in Syria and renewed his call to end infighting among jihadists that increased this year, pitting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against rival rebels including other hardline Islamists. "The Ummah (Muslim world) must support this jihad with all that it can, and the mujahideen (Islamist militants) must unite around the word of Tawhid (unity)," said Zawahiri, an Egyptian-born doctor. "So everyone should prioritize the interest of Islam and the Ummah over

his organizational or partisans interest, even if he gives up for his brothers what he sees as right."

The infighting between the different rebel factions has hindered the battle against Assad and pushed rival rebel groups to consolidate power in their respective areas of control. Al Qaeda said it was breaking with ISIL in February after disputes over the group's refusal to limit itself to fighting in Iraq rather than in Syria, where the Nusra Front is al Qaeda's affiliate. Asked about the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Zawahiri answered: "the duty on every Muslims is to deter the aggressor by any means, and especially the oppressed Muslims." Security forces have killed hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and arrested thousands, including most of its leaders, since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3 following mass protests against his rule. Egypt designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization last year.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Group of deputies wants Gorbachev investigated over Soviet break-up - Yahoo News

Group of deputies wants Gorbachev investigated over Soviet break-up - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
A small group of lawmakers have asked Russia's top prosecutor to investigate whether the last Soviet
leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, should face treason charges over his role in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev dismissed the request as an act of publicity-seeking and said there were no grounds to charge him. It follows a surge of patriotism since Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last month, which has revived nostalgia among some Russians for the Soviet Union and boosted President Vladimir Putin's popularity ratings.

The seven-page request for an investigation says Gorbachev and other senior Soviet officials violated the law and the will of the people by letting the republics that made up the Soviet Union declare independence and break away.

"As a result of these criminal actions, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a global superpower, was destroyed and ceased existing as a geopolitical reality," says the letter.

The Prosecutor General's office declined comment but said it generally
takes up to 10 days to decide whether to start an investigation.

Gorbachev is celebrated in the West for his policies of "perestroika" (restructuring) and glasnost" (openness) and not resorting to widespread use of force to hold the Soviet Union together.

But many Russians blame him for the superpower's collapse and some hanker for what they see as the relative stability of Soviet times.

"The catastrophic consequences have manifested themselves throughout the years since the collapse of the USSR, in Russia as well as on the territory of the (other) former Soviet republics," the lawmakers wrote,
describing the crisis in Ukraine as among the consequences.

Prize laureate said: "Such calls only reflect how certain lawmakers
seek their own PR and like being talked about, but the request is
completely ill-considered and absolutely unjustified from the point of
view of historic facts."

Gorbachev has repeatedly criticized Putin and his treatment of political dissent, saying Russia needs a new system of governance. He also co-publishes an independent newspaper that is critical of the Kremlin.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Senate approves jobless aid extension

Senate approves jobless aid extension
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The U.S. Senate approved legislation Monday that would reinstate expired jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, but the proposal faces opposition from House Republicans who say it doesn't do enough to
spur job creation. The bill passed 59-38.

The bipartisan Senate bill, crafted by Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., is a short-term fix. It would reinstate benefits for five months and would be paid retroactively through May.

Unemployment benefits for workers who have been unemployed for longer than 26 weeks expired in December. About 2.79 million Americans will be eligible for benefits if the extension is approved.

The nearly $10 billion cost of the extension would be paid for by extending custom user fees through 2024 and by allowing companies to change the way they pay in to their pension programs.

The legislation faces an uncertain fate. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says he does not support extending jobless benefits if the package does not include any provisions intended to create jobs.

"I made clear that if we're going to consider dealing with emergency unemployment, we ought to do something about creating better jobs in America, higher wages in America," Boehner recently told reporters. Asked whether he was concerned about the millions affected by the congressional impasse, he replied, "What those people want is a chance at a good job, and I'm trying to get them one."

President Obama said in a statement after the Senate vote, "Each week Congress fails to act on this crucial issue, roughly 70,000 long-term unemployed Americans lose their vital economic lifeline. I urge House Republicans to stop blocking a bipartisan compromise that would stem this tide, take up the bill without delay, and send it to my desk."

There is support among House Republicans to amend the package and send it back to the Senate, but there is no consensus on what to ask for in exchange for their support. Proposals have been floated on a number of issues, including job training programs, approval of construction for the Keystone XL oil pipeline or the repeal of an unpopular tax on medical devices.

The House has previously bowed to pressure from the Senate and public demand to extend jobless benefits without conditions.
At least seven House Republicans from centrist districts asked the speaker to put the bill to a vote. The measure would probably pass on the strength of Democratic support.

GOP Reps. Pete King, Chris Gibson and Michael Grimm of New York; Frank LoBiondo, Chris Smith and
Jon Runyan of New Jersey, and Joe Heck of Nevada are all publicly in support of reinstating the unemployment benefit.
Jobs and the economy are a top focus for both parties in the 2014 midterm elections.

Senate Democrats will move forward in the coming weeks on legislation on pay equity for female workers and a federal hike in the minimum wage. Republicans have rejected those Democratic efforts as election-year
gambits to motivate their base, noting that efforts by GOP lawmakers, such as Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to forge a compromise on the wage increase have been dismissed by Democrats.

Monday, March 31, 2014

America May Have Just Unveiled a New Weapon to Combat Russia's Action in Ukraine

America May Have Just Unveiled a New Weapon to Combat Russia's Action in Ukraine
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
There are lots of weary eyes looking at the situation between Russia and Ukraine. Russia has already annexed Crimea, and a very sizable army has been deployed to the Russian-Ukranian border that has many worried there may be more to the conflict. There is little appetite for a military response from America and its Western allies, and the response so far has some concerned it isn't enough to make any significant impact. Recently, though, the U.S. government did something it hasn't done in almost 25 years, and it could be an indication of how the U.S. will retaliate.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy.
The world's most powerful weapon: Oil
For several years, the United States' Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, has rarely garnered any attention, mostly because it is used so sparingly. Since 1977, when it was implemented, there have been only a handful of times that it has tapped, the last being in 2011, when President Obama authorized the release of 60 million barrels in response to the crisis in Libya.
That is what makes the recent "test sale" of 5 million barrels of oil so intriguing. This is the first time since 1990 that there has been a test sale from the SPR, which just happens so coincide with the time there was concern that Iraq could invade Saudi Arabia. While correlation does not always mean causation, the release of those 5 million barrels coincided with a 2.7% drop in crude oil prices.

Hit 'em where it hurts -- their wallet
It's no secret that Russia is one of the world's leading exporters of oil and gas. It exports about 8.5 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products, as well as 19.3% of the worlds natural gas exports. What is less known is Russia's nearly crippling dependence on oil and gas revenues to pay the bills. The $662.3 billion petroleum industry in Russia represents 26.5% of GDP, and over 50% of the federal government's revenue comes from royalties. Unfortunately for Russia, its oil doesn't come cheap. Even with oil at $100 per barrel and current production levels, the country projects only 1.8% GDP growth, and if oil were to fall any lower it would force massive federal budget cuts.

So what exactly would releasing oil from there do? Let's say U.S. production and imports from Canada and Mexico were to hold place. The U.S. would need to release about 950,000 barrels per day to meet all of
the United States' current demand. Based on the SPR's 727 million barrels in storage, we could do this for well over two years and drive down global prices significantly. Surprisingly, though, we don't even need to go to that extreme. According to economist Phillip Verleger in a recent Quartz article, if the U.S. were to release only 500,000 barrels per day from the SPR, it would lead to a $10 drop in oil prices and would cost Russia $40 billion in sales. At this pace, we could maintain this pace for more than four years and could potentially cause Russia's GDP to drop by 4%.

We've done it before, but it will be harder this time
There are two ways to describe the collapse of the Soviet Union: The storybook version is about the arms race that eventually bankrupted the USSR and led to its evenutal collapse. The one that doesn't get told as
much, though, is the other half of what caused the bankruptcy: cheap oil. In a coordinated effort with Saudi Arabia to increase global crude production, inflation-adjusted oil prices fell 69% between 1981 and 1988. This resulted in massive revenue shortfalls for the USSR and became a critical piece that eventually led to its downfall.

The challenging part about such a move this time around is that Saudi Arabia may be less willing to go along with the idea. The Kingdom has been very much against Russia's support of the Syrian regime and even gave some veiled threats about potential terrorist attacks at the Sochi Olympics if it maintained its stance there. However, it has become more and more dependent on high oil prices to maintain its budget as well. According to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia needs oil at $85 per barrel to keep its own budgets in line. So even though a major price drop would hurt Russia more than the rest, Saudi Arabia may not have the stomach for it, either.

What a Fool believes
There have been several calls from members in Congress to expand the amount of LNG export licenses to take a bite out of Russia's dominance in the global gas markets. It sounds all well and good, but the first US LNG export facility is not expected to come online until the middle of 2015 and the rest until later in the decade. In fact, opening the SPR would actually serve a very similar purpose, because Russian natural gas prices are indexed to the price of oil.

Using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a political tool is something that we have basically never done since it was created following the oil embargos of the 1970s, and using it in this situation would cause some harm to U.S. oil producers because it would lower the price of oil and by default the returns on that barrel of oil. However, most of the shale resources in the U.S. would fare much better than Russia in the event of lower oil prices, and it should be something considered if the situation in Ukraine were to elevate any further.

The energy landscape is changing radically. Oil exports from America continue to rise as our country gains energy independence. And there is one company front and center that is poised to make its investors rich. Warren Buffett has already committed to it, and you can too. Click here to learn about this company in the Motley Fool's special report: OPEC's Worst Nightmare.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Obama: No, Romney Was Wrong. Russia Is Weak, Not Strong. - Yahoo News

Obama: No, Romney Was Wrong. Russia Is Weak, Not Strong. - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
During a press conference today in The Netherlands, ABC's Jonathan Karl asked President Obama if he

thought "Mitt Romney had a point" when he said in 2012 that Russia was America's "number one" geopolitical foe. Obama took advantage of the question to slam his current political opponent, Vladimir Putin.

Karl's question began with a challenge. "In China, Syria, and Egypt — and now in Russia — we have seen you make strong statements and issue warnings that have been ignored. Are you concerned that America's influence in the world, your influence in the world, is on the decline?" And, he added, in light of recent developments, have you rethought your critiques of Romney? During the 2012 campaign, Romney called Russia "our number one geopolitical foe," later downgrading that to a geopolitical foe as The Washington Post notes.

The Obama campaign quickly criticized Romney for the statement, but Putin's invasion of Crimea has led to a round of told-ya-so's from Romney and his supporters.

Obama's Romney response could have served as a response to both of Karl's questions. From a rough transcript:

The truth of the matter is that America has got a whole lot of challenges. Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors — not out of strength, but out of weakness. ...We have considerable influence on neighbors. We generally don't need to invade
them in order to have a strong cooperative relationship with them. The fact that Russia felt the need to go in militarily and lay bare these violations of international law indicates less influence, not more.

My response [to Romney] then continues to be what I believe today, which is: Russia's actions are a problem. They don't pose the number one national security threat to the United States.

Instead, Obama said, his main concern was "the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan," bringing the conversation back to the security summit that he was in The Netherlands to attend.

It's a clever argument, one that was also reflected in his answers to questions about the role of sanctions in bringing Putin to heel. Obama's stated goal is to "spend as much effort on bolstering the economy inside of Ukraine" as possible, increasing its global strength against what he depicts as Russia's weakness. And that work only happens, he said, in concert with other countries. "What the United States has been consistently been able to do and continues to be able to do is mobilize the international community around a set of principles and norms," he said in response to Karl. "We may not act militarily, but that does not mean that we don't steadily push against those forces that would violate those principles and ideals we care about."

On his personal index of foes, Obama claims that Putin isn't at the top. Fair enough. But his answer to Karl suggests that Romney doesn't even make the list.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Reid slams GOP over Crimea; Senate bill advances - Yahoo News

Reid slams GOP over Crimea; Senate bill advances - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Republicans may have helped Russia annex Ukraine's
Crimean Peninsula, delivering a surprisingly sharp attack just before lawmakers advanced a bill authorizing sweeping U.S. sanctions on Russia and $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine.

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The 78-17 procedural vote in favor of the legislation spared President Barack Obama an embarrassing setback while he lobbies U.S. partners on a weeklong trip overseas to punish Moscow for its annexation of the Crimean peninsula. But Reid's tone suggested a compromise with the Republican-controlled House may prove difficult, prolonging Congress' inaction in the two weeks since Russian President Vladimir Putin's
military intervention.
Reid focused his ire on the GOP senators who blocked the bill before lawmakers went on break March 14. He urged them to consider "how their obstruction affects United States' national security as well as the

people of Ukraine" and said their delay of any congressional action "sent a dangerous message to Russian leaders."

"Since a few Republicans blocked these important sanctions last work period, Russian lawmakers voted to annex Crimea and Russian forces have taken over Ukrainian military bases," Reid said. "It's impossible to know whether events would have unfolded differently if the United States had responded to Russian aggression with a strong, unified voice."

The Nevada Democrat's charge came despite widespread bipartisan support for providing Ukraine with much-needed economic assistance and hitting Putin's government with sanctions. And GOP Senate aides noted the House has passed different legislation, meaning the Senate bill could not have become law before recess anyhow. They blamed Reid and Democrats for blocking the Senate from taking up the House legislation.

Reid "sounds completely unhinged," fired back Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The House has acted, and is continuing to act, in a reasonable and responsible way to give the White House the tools it needs to hold President Putin accountable." The Senate bill includes a proposal from one of Obama's fiercest critics, Republican Sen. John McCain, enabling the president to impose economic penalties on Russian government officials for corruption even within Russia's own borders. The broadness of the authorization is unprecedented for Russia, even if applying the sanctions would be at Obama's discretion.

But it also includes GOP-opposed reforms of the International Monetary Fund, which the United States, Europe and others are working with to stabilize Ukraine's economy. The IMF's 2010 reforms increase the power of emerging countries in the lending body and shift some $63 billion from a crisis fund to a general account it can use for economic stabilization operations around the world.

Republicans have long spurned the administration's attempt to ratify the IMF changes, saying they'd increase the exposure of U.S. taxpayers in foreign bailouts managed by the fund. Making the shift now, opponents such as Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio argue, also would marginally increase Russia's voting power over the fund's finances.

The Obama administration and Democrats counter that unless the U.S. approves the new rules, Washington will lose its influence at the IMF and hamper the body's ability to avert economic meltdowns in places precisely like Ukraine. The U.S. is the only major country that has yet to sign off. With American officials warning that Russia could opt to expand further into Ukraine, McCain urged his colleagues to look beyond the IMF provisions. He stressed the need for Congress to pass the Senate bill quickly.

"If we do not send this message now," McCain said, "Putin will be encouraged to enact further acts of aggression against Crimea and in the region."

Reid interpreted the logjam differently. He said Republicans blocked the bill before Congress' one-week recess to "protect the anonymity of their big-money donors" such as the Koch brothers, two of America's wealthiest men who've strongly supported conservative causes. He was referring to an unsuccessful attempt by some Republicans to include an amendment to the bill halting new IRS regulations on groups claiming tax-exempt status.

"Republicans objected to moving forward with this aid package unless Democrats agreed to allow the Kochs and billionaires like them to continue to anonymously spend millions trying to buy America's democracy," Reid said. "It's hard to believe. But that's the truth."

Nevertheless, a majority of Senate Republicans joined Democrats in passing the cloture vote Monday evening, setting the stage for full Senate passage of the bill later this week.

House members are preparing to write their own Russia sanctions bill at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs committee Tuesday, supplementing the aid legislation they passed earlier this month. Neither includes any
reference to the IMF.

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