By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Chet Culver has re-emerged at campaign events for President Barak Obama, raising the question of whether Iowa’s former Democratic governor and secretary of state intends to get back into politics.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Culver says despite his low profile since his 2010 loss to Republican Terry Branstad, he never left politics and government.

He cites his appointment to the credentials committee of the Democratic National Convention and Obama’s appointment of him to a seat on the board of the Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corp., known as Farmer Mac. That job pays about $100,000 a year.

Culver says he serving in different ways, whether it be on the Farmer Mac board or backing the president in his re-election campaign, as he did last week in Kansas City.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.woi-tv.com/story/18565482/culver-in-politics-again-resurfacing-for-obama

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Chet Culver has re-emerged at campaign events for President Barak Obama, raising the question of whether Iowa’s former Democratic governor and secretary of state intends to get back into politics.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Culver says despite his low profile since his 2010 loss to Republican Terry Branstad, he never left politics and government.

He cites his appointment to the credentials committee of the Democratic National Convention and Obama’s appointment of him to a seat on the board of the Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corp., known as Farmer Mac. That job pays about $100,000 a year.

Culver says he serving in different ways, whether it be on the Farmer Mac board or backing the president in his re-election campaign, as he did last week in Kansas City.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.whbf.com/story/18565482/culver-in-politics-again-resurfacing-for-obama

The Camp David Summit of the Group of Eight world leaders focused on the economics of the current period. The G8 vowed to fight the financial crisis and committed to stability in Europe by endorsing Greece and promising to support growth in the euro area.

President Barak Obama hosting the leaders stressed on the importance of stability in Europe and the 17-nation currency bloc, where the failure to contain the crisis in Europe will have adverse impact on global growth and surely the U.S. economy, a risk Obama is not willing to take at an election year.

Finally we saw some sense and sensibility in the communique that focused on Growth and was more of a French flavored drive rather than a German one! The leaders clearly pressed against the tough austerity on the expense of growth as they called the task “our imperative” to prompt growth, ending a German dominance after France’s Hollande seems to find more supporting calls for growth measures. 

There will be austerity as it is still needed, but it is the balance that counts. The leaders said in the statement “we commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognizing that the right measures are not the same for each of us.” 

Also, their comments showed faith in Greece and reiterated the commitment to the small economy and readiness to support Greece as long as it honors its commitments. 

The challenges are enormous for the euro area economy with the inconclusive Greek stance till June 17 elections, instability in Spain and fears of a banking sector meltdown, and mounting market pressures on Italy, all that could worsen with the aftermath of a Greek euro exit.

G8 leaders are well aware of the challenges and risks ahead and realize that stimulating growth is the most important to help create the balance. The leaders said that “significant headwinds persist” for global growth but it is still showing promising signs; the European crisis for now remains the biggest pressure on growth and as President Obama reaffirmed that Europe has the capacity to meet its challenge he still warned that the costs will be “enormous” if they failed. 

We will see the next chapter now from the leaders and especially Europe, as the leaders meeting this week and will discuss the ongoing crisis. The markets will find some sense of relief from the G8 with the start of the week that might help with the relief after the heavy selloff that took the euro down for the third consecutive week and to its lowest in four months. 

Article source: http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093515050/G8-stands-behind-Greece-and-commits-to-spur-growth-?src=RSS

This is mighty interesting:

Breitbart News has obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton Dystel, which touts Obama as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.”

See the full article / photographs here: The Vetting

I’d not seen this one before. I’ve read through much of the “birther” material. What I believe about the topic isn’t relevant, nor would it make any difference. Dumping Obama and all the executive orders and laws he has passed however, would be uber-cool.

Just nobody hold their breath. Peons don’t count, and neither does the law. Might makes right (writ) and money greases all the squeaky wheels.

Anybody want to bet that this could cost Obama the (S)election?

At the very least, this means the guy has been manipulating the system for personal gain for a long, long time. At worst, he’s not supposed to be the President.

Article source: http://survivalacres.com/blog/barak-obama-pictures-shows-born-in-kenya/

H/T Lionhead

No, I’m not a birther…and no, the quote in the title of this post, is not mine.

It seems that Obama’s literary agent back in 1991, used that quote in a short published biography of their client:

Breitbart.com managed to get a copy of this publication that you can view HERE along with all the details.

One could drawn 2 possible scenarios to this:

1. Obama was indeed born in Kenya.

or

2. (my favorite) Obama used this fabrication to somehow advance his career or standing while at Harvard.

Which is it?

The Breitbart piece does suggest that The biography does, however, fit a pattern in which Obama–or the people representing and supporting him–manipulate his public persona.

Please note:
I did not consider the fact that it could have been a mis-print or mistake, because it was not withdrawn, corrected or denied at the time by Obama.

Article source: http://www.rightspeak.net/2012/05/barak-obamaborn-in-kenya-and-raised-in.html

barack obama david cameron Image 1

Article source: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2012/05/20/david-cameron-joins-barack-obama-for-talks-to-stop-greece-sparking-meltdown-86908-23866683/

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Chet Culver has re-emerged at campaign events for President Barak Obama, raising the question of whether Iowa’s former Democratic governor and secretary of state intends to get back into politics.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Culver argued that while he hasn’t been seeking attention since his 2010 loss to Republican Terry Branstad, he never left politics and government. What’s changed, he said, is his role.

He cites his appointment to the credentials committee of the Democratic National Convention and Obama’s appointment of him to a seat on the board of the Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corp., known as Farmer Mac. That job pays about $100,000 a year, including shares of stock that board members receive.

“I’ve never really taken much of a step away. It’s just a different role, whether it’s serving at the request of the president on the Farmer Mac board or highlighting the differences between Mitt Romney and President Obama on the campaign trail,” Culver said in a telephone interview last week while returning from a campaign event in Kansas City.

At that stop, Culver criticized likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at a shuttered GST Steel factory. Romney’s company Bain Capital bought the company, which ultimately went bankrupt, idling 750 workers.

Romney left the Bain before the bankruptcy, but the plant was the focus of an Obama advertisement that has run in Iowa.

Romney’s campaign has argued that overall, Bain created far more jobs than it lost.

Culver, who started a renewable energy consulting business after leaving office, said he’s getting more requests to make campaign appearances as he did for Obama in 2008, when he campaigned in a half dozen states.

“I enjoy getting involved. This is a big election. We have a real choices and I’m doing my part to make that choice as clear as I can and I firmly believe that President Obama deserves to get elected,” Culver said.

Obama’s campaign spokeswoman in Iowa, Erin Seidler said it makes sense for Culver to work on the president’s behalf again because both men have similar priorities.

“Governor Culver’s record from his time in office match well with a lot of the key messages we’re going to be talking about in the campaign here in Iowa,” said Seidler, who served as Culver’s spokeswoman for about seven months in late 2009 and early 2010.

She noted that renewable energy, for example, has been a priority for both Culver and Obama.

Culver said he finds the work on the Farmer Mac board fascinating. He travels to meetings six or seven times a year but continues to live in the Des Moines area with his wife and two children and runs his consulting business.

“I’ve really enjoyed starting a small company,” he said. “I can still stay involved with policy. I’m wearing a little different hat now in the private sector but it’s been very rewarding and I certainly enjoy the time I’m able to spend with my wife and two kids.”

Culver deflected questions about whether his campaigning indicated a desire to again run for office.

Bill Knapp, a prominent Des Moines real estate developer and long-time Culver supporter, said he also thinks it’s too soon to speculate on Culver’s future.

“I think what he’s doing for the president is just because he’s a good Democrat and he cares about politics and I think at this point he will continue to do that,” Knapp said. “Whether he’ll get involved in running for office again is too early to speculate on.”

Doug Gross, an Iowa Republican strategist, who ran for governor in 2002, said it’s more likely that Culver is working to raise his visibility to generate income and perhaps position himself for a potential role in a second Obama term if the president is re-elected.

“It appears to me he’s sort of on a track of income generation rather than political regeneration,” said Gross, who was Romney’s 2008 Iowa campaign chairman but isn’t working for any candidate this year. “You do this so you have some capital associated with Obama and if he wins again there’s an opportunity for further appointment beyond what he has now.”

Culver acknowledged he misses aspects of his job as governor, but he said he’s not focused on potential opportunities in the Obama administration.

“We’ll just see what the future holds,” he said. “I’m just enjoying this new chapter.”

Article source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Culver-in-politics-again-resurfacing-for-Obama-3572103.php

How close? Wright inspired the title of Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope.” He conducted the Obamas’ wedding ceremony and baptized the Obama girls. He led the family in prayer on the day Obama announced his candidacy for president.

Four years later, the mere mention of Wright by political opponents is considered racist.

Just ask Republican political strategist Fred Davis. Or his once-potential client, billionaire Joe Ricketts. Davis prepared a proposal for an ad campaign for Ricketts’ consideration titled “The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good” — and all hell broke loose.

The proposal, which highlights the Obama-Wright relationship and resembles an ad rejected the last go-round by the John McCain campaign, has made tsunami waves thanks to a story on The New York Times’ front page. Who leaked the 54-page proposal may be the most interesting aspect of this story, but we may die without knowing.

The intent of the ads was to shine a light on how Obama’s character was formed and why he should not be re-elected. They were not a good idea, obviously, but they also were never ads. They were a proposal born of a sense among Republicans that Obama’s relationship to Wright was never sufficiently vetted.

The question of Obama’s character pertains to his denial of the degree of that relationship, not that he found a father figure in Wright when he was still in his 20s. Nevertheless, to question Obama’s character based on his association with Wright at this point seems too much too late.

Obama has a record as president and can be challenged on that record. Raising Wright now would have been a serious miscalculation and would have been interpreted as attempting to inspire racial animus. But it is unfair to smear Davis as a racist, as some have suggested. He obviously created a proposal based on his sense that this would appeal to Ricketts, who said upon viewing the rejected McCain ad: “If the nation had seen that ad, they’d never have elected Barack Obama.”

Davis, whose creativity is widely acknowledged, was obviously aware of the possible racial sensitivity, which is why he also hoped to include prominent African-Americans, such as radio host Larry Elder, questioning Obama’s character. Whites cannot do this without suffering the consequences now in play.

But the leaking of the document and the prominent display of the story have been a boon to Obama. They provided yet another welcome distraction, as well as a helpful fundraising tool, and smeared Romney by association.

The power (and hubris) of individual political donors and their offspring — the ads they want to sire — may become the tragedy of this election season. Romney is nothing like a racist, yet suddenly he is forced to distance himself from ads about which he knew nothing. And we now can agree that resurrecting Wright for any purpose would do more political harm than good.

Article source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-19/news/ct-oped-0521-parker-20120519_1_obama-girls-ad-campaign-mccain-ad

David Cameron reiterated Mr Obama’s message adding, “contingency plans need to
be put in place and the strengthening of banks, governance, firewalls – all
of those things need to take place very fast.”

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/g8/9277904/Barack-Obama-warns-eurozone-to-focus-on-jobs-and-growth.html

President Barack Obama is in his home town of Chicago, Illinois, where he will host leaders of the 28 trans-atlantic allies for the NATO summit beginning Sunday.

Obama arrived in Chicago after discussions with leaders of the Group of 8 major developed economies in Camp David, Maryland.

That G8 summit covered the Eurozone debt crisis, the Arab Spring and Syria, energy security and oil prices, food security, and Afghanistan, the key focus of the NATO summit.

NATO leaders, along with partner countries, will discuss and decide on the level of financial support for Afghanistan’s military after 2014, when foreign troops are to formally end their combat role.

In a statement to media before leaving Camp David, President Obama looked ahead to the decisions NATO needs to make: “Tomorrow we begin our NATO summit in my home town of Chicago, where we will discuss our plans to responsible end the war in Afghanistan,” he said.

Obama’s first meeting Sunday morning will be with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.  

NATO plans call for about $4 billion in annual support to sustain Afghanistan’s military. By next year, Afghan forces are to assume the full security lead in all areas of the country.

However, there are concerns about levels of support, with NATO members facing budget tightening.  France’s President Francois Hollande has reaffirmed his plan to withdraw 3,300 French troops by the end of this year, saying France supports Afghanistan in other ways.

The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is also here.  Pakistan decided last week to re-open supply lines in its territory crucial to the movement of NATO supplies into Afghanistan.

With heads of state and government of some 60 countries here, along with officials and leaders of international organizations, security in Chicago is the tightest seen in decades.  

Authorities established a cordon, or protective area, around the huge convention center where the NATO summit is taking place.  Journalists covering the summit are bused from hotels 15 minutes away.

Though there have been demonstrations over the past week about NATO military policies and a variety of other issues, the largest protest is expected on Sunday as the leaders of NATO countries and partner nations begin their discussions.

Chicago police said three men arrested in a raid on an apartment last week planned to attack President Obama’s campaign headquarters, the home of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, police stations, and other targets.

The three were formally charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism and possession of explosives.  But attorneys for the men said they were victims of entrapment by Chicago undercover police.

Article source: http://www.voanews.com/content/nato-afghanistan-obama-chicago/727396.html