WhiteHouse.gov

President Obama’s civil rights agenda is the right thing to do. Period.
I swear, listening to so-called adults argue over the application of religious dogma in public policy is like watching pre-schoolers bicker over who has the better imaginary friend.

Donald from Hawaii…I can’t say it any better. Obama explained it so well in The Audacity of Hope. …”in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice…faith and reason operate in different domains” My God (pun intended), it’s about time we had a leader who understands this! I am so hopeful!

These people need to be treated as Jesus would have treated them, with love. Our Christian religion’s beside a few, seem to have lost track of Jesus. Our Government is a nation of all people, and all people should be protected. The Amish would have not survived in this country without our constitution to protect them. Let the government protect the citizens, and let religion get them to heaven. Seperation of church and state, and freedom of religion. Our constitution is our foundation for our government.

Amazing the economy section had the least details and was basically a copy of his speech loaded there.
this is NOT good…

My prayers are with you and yours everything with love. Simon and family XXX
UK

“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.’

And it is going to hurt our country after reading the policy.

if you are not “gay”, why do you care what “gay” people do?
live and let live.

I feel that religion governs who you are as a person but should not be the sole reason that helps you to decide what is best for all Americans. The government should not have been involved with abortion and let individual States decide how benefits and property rights etc. are decided on when it involves same sex couples.

I’m making a pitch for education! An educated population lessens all of our social problems. So many cannot read and write. Maybe we can start there?

If we don’t greatly improve our education defects, all else will eventually be for naught.

The “Buy American Act” — enforce it and the jobs will return to the USA!!

I am shocked that O is attacking a US citizen who has the right to “air” his views… Rush DOES SPEAK for millions of Americans and should not be singled out by any government official. May I remind the pres. that he represents all the people of the Union…or is he readying himself for dictatorship?? Sounds so much like he is!

I am stunned and astonished that those who do not pay income tax could receive money through your stimulus package. This is a terrible thought!
$200 Billion for contraceptive assistance is ridiculous!
Government needs to be smarter than this!

I want to voice my objection to any stimulus monies going to an organization that was under scrutiny during the election which is A.C.O.R.N.

obama won get over it.he is doing a great job.he did more in one week then bush did in 8 years.

Mr. President: have a talk with Nancy
Pelosi and get her to stop the pork barrel additions to your financial package. (Actually, I wish she was not the Speaker of the House.) Hope you get a line item veto, so you have the opportunity to get things right the first time around.
I voted for you and I trust you will do what is best for middle class America
and not just for the wealthy.

Obama is the President of the United States not the Creator of the Constitution or the Bible. Therefore, he needs to do what previous President’s and Prophet’s of the pass have done that is help write history with the best of his knowledge. White, black, or sexual preference is not his concern rather it’s his demise so Good Luck President Obama history will be written and we can measure the success of your policy then because attempting to measure it now is simply insane.

You really need to get a handel on this so called stimulus bill. It is making you all look really bad. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out it isn’t stimulating anything. Seems to be a political payback that our children will pay for.
Best wishes for all you have on your plate. You are the President for all of us. Keep us safe not only from greedy politicians but from treats brewing abroad.

I feel one of the first things for geithner to do is outlaw and dissolve all forms of derivative trading and wipe them off the books of banks.Can you believe 57 trillion at citi alone. Also get sarbanes oxley repealed.This would remove false debt,paper on paper that is worthless..

There are five actions that are not negotiable:Abortion,Euthanasia,Embryonic Stemcell research,human cloning and homosexual marriage.These are non-negogiable because they are wrong in ALL cases and against natural law.

I think that Pres. Obama should extend the courtesy of asking Dr. Howard Dean to be the Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Dean is qualified and should he accept would be able to rally many supporters to his ideas for Health Reform.
Dr. Dean certainly demonstrated his capability and leadership when he supported Pres. Obama as a candidate for the position he now holds. President of the United States.

IMPEACH OBAMA-SMOWBALL STIMULUS-DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT IT ALL MEANS?
WE NEED A TRUE LEADER NOT A CON.
IMPEACH OBAMA!!

“IT IS COMMON SENSE TO TAKE A METHOD AND TRY IT. IF IT FAILS, ADMIT IT FRANKLY AND TRY ANOTHER. BUT ABOVE ALL, TRY SOMETHING.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

The trip to Elkhart, Ind. and the White House Press conference were magnificent. They are magnificent examples of going on the attack outside the beltway and mopping up inside the beltway.
What’s next??? Wait two days to see Congressonal activity or inaction??
Would Elkhart on Monday, Billngs on Tuesday, Santa Fe on Wednesday, Lake Charles, Louisiana Thursday and a Washington Press Conference on Friday Like President Kennedy used to do so the media could chew on it and be filled with commentary all weekend?? Would that have pushed the agreement over the top next week???
Reagan used to excoriate the congress every three weeks during a certain period of his administration.
Would every three days be appropriate under the circumstances of the National Economic Emergency?
The President made a magnificent start tonight. It was brilliantly blistering.
The President has tremendous grasp of the enormity of the economic emergency, but I was wondering if someone who is a little more grounded in MICRO ECONOMICS might be so kind as to run by him a few buzz words on what happened on main street.
The response to the Reuters question seemed less than adequate and might not ring nor resonate with the people of Elkhart nor of Chicago. Fuzzy does not seem like the President’s style.
Home buyers applied for bigger home than they could afford with the help or complicity of their loan officer.( Forty years ago you could not buy a home spending more than 25% of your take home pay. At the end of the Clinton administration that had climbd to 38% in Chicago. During the beginning of the prior administration it had climbed to 42%. Up until the collapse of the housing market, Banks were accepting loan applications with a mortgage payment verified at 48% of income.)Thirty percent of income is eaten up by tax takeouts. Adjusted Rate Mortagages kicked in at 51% of income three years to five years later. 81% of income is no longer available. If the homebuyer had an SUV payment and his wife had an SUV payment plus the school payments for the kids, and if they were charging their food purchases, when the ARM kicked in, they were ready to declare bankruptcy or lose the home in forclosure. (Their income did not increase as they had thought, or they were not able to sell the house for a profit as they had thought. )
This regrettable turn of events was promoted by bank loan officers who were paid bonuses for the number and the amounts of the mortgages they approved. This commission, incentive or bonus system was instituted to supply an increasing number of mortgage instruments that were later “bundled” and ” sold” in the unregulated derivatives market. The demand for this mortgage instruments by the derivatives market was so great that it translated into more and more fraudulent proactices of laon officers and borrowers.
The failure of many, many pleople making their mortgage payment which was largely interest, left banks without a steady source of cash for a variety of lending functions which they perform.
Lending to small businesses is one of those functions. While a homeowner may pay 4% or 5% or 6 % on a mortgage, small business people may pay 15% or more for their “line of credit” loan held at the bank. Deposits from the business must pay the businessperson’s bills and pay that interest. When fewer people come into the business for the product or service, some workers are let go, then smaller deposits are made, and the loan officer withdraws the line of credit. More workers are let go and only the owner or the owner and a family member try to wait out the hard times to fulfill on their dreams in the years ahead. A small business owner may have a very thin profit margin of only two or three percent. If the bank raises the interest rate in times of economic distress, many small business let go many workers. Thus, the multiplier effect in reverse in the deflationary cycle with attendant “economic dislocation.”
Surely, Mr Guetner is considering a wide range of options for top policy makers. Since transferring funds to a number of huge mega banks has resulted in a feeding frenzy in self preservation, would it be possible to consider beginnig from the ground-up. That is, beginning with regional banks, small Federal and Savings institutions where it would be easy for bank examiners to verify the implementation of mortgage payment modifications.
After the First Installment of the TARP, Citi Bank closed over two hundred branches where experienced loan officers worked. When Chicago homeowners called CitiBank for help in adjusting their mortgage payments (75% of a loaf is better that a foreclosed house on your books), they were met with an inexperienced new hire who took their name and promised to get back with them later.
Perhaps Mr Guetner could do the same. Perhaps he and his people could take the name and number of the big banks, pass them on the the interns, promising to get back to them after the other half of the TARP has been distributed to smaller, regionsl, and local banks.
Perhaps Senator Roland Burris, a former bank examiner could provide some insight as to who could be quickly trained in implementing the program. We don’t need any former administration foot-draggers. It will take a little longer unless GOVERNMENT HIRES ENOUGH QUALIFIED PEOPLE WHO ARE QUICLY TRAINED to transfer the Bailout quickly with the appropriate oversite. But wouldn’t it be worth it.
As a former Fed Chair recently lamented, he regreted that he did not properly evaluate the impact of “incentivizing mortgage instruments”. To put it another way, he appologized for deregulating the banking industry and turning bank officers into liar-loan, ARM busting, morgage pushers that eventually enabled the biggest economic crash in 70 years. Well boys, bless you boys for you knew not what you were doing. The experiment did’t work. OOpsie…or rather..Big OOOpsie…or…OOps…my bad. We accept your puny appology no matter how arcane and beautifully it was written. It is ludicrous you could make that statement in public and get away without even a slap on the wrist.
Oh, well, the President’s press conference was magnificent! It was a great way to kick off the new ball season. Charge!…Ring out justice …hammer out peace between our brothers and our sisters….that’s right… all over this land!
I think Marjory..Jan 24.. said it more beautifully than I could ever express it. I thank God President Barak Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are at home in the White House with Sasha and Malia. There is something comforting knowing that our young President is confident that we can work this out while the rest of the country aproaches life support in the economic critical care unit.
-Jer

ECONOMY.
First, they have to rein in the banks on all these exhorbitant charges of late fees, in which the purposely hold up payments and then charge 38%. Bail out these thugs that sold out Americans? Never. They have to reinstate guidelines for banking loans. One set amount for everyone. No point system. No balloon mortgages. period. Hold the banks to the original mortgage rate that they sold the properties for.
What needs to be “bailed” out is transportation. These dweeb oil barons that bled us dry through “speculation”, should be hog tied and duct taped and put on trial. Nothing hurt Americans more than that increase in gasoline charges. Supply demand, oil should have never been over $40.00 a barrel, even with the drop of the dollar.
Increased spending in transportation of food, and goods vastly damaged the economy. Swelling the expenses of household heating electric, food, and goods. People in other countries were buying much of our good until the postage went so far up. And, stop selling the Chinese crap at our Government post offices. If product made in the U.S. then reinstate import tax on that product. Say no to imported poisonous food, and toys, and dog foods.
Put an end to all pork in all those bills. tequila from Mexico, condoms, wooden arrows, bridges and roads to nowhere, hockey stadiums, all these museums, research on just plain dumb stuff. All those useless research on who gives a heck on most of that stuff? If any of these pork items put people to work or made money, someone would have already done it.
Reverse anything Bush did. Good start. 8 years of shear hell. Every time a Republican gets in, heat, electric housing goes sky high. Never will I ever vote another one in any office. Conservative? my foot, only conservative if they use their own money.
Go and look at parts of Europe, sound banks, sound ecomony. They follow the rules. Banks are not in trouble because everyone gets the same fair shake.

Congress needs to write a Stimulus Package that contains nothing but stimulus incentives. Don’t put a four-year agenda in the 2009 bill.
Please!
They wrote the wrong bill.
What happened to change you can believe in? What happened to bipartisonship?
Come On! Let’s do what is right for our country and preserve our precious freedoms!!

I’m a re-tread Democrat. First, a Treasurer who can’t understand how to pay his own taxes? Second, and most important, an Attorney General who’s last acts during the Clinton Administration were at the least questionable? Third, a lobbyist for Asst.SECDEF? Damn is anyone paying attention. PLEASE NO PORK! Rep.Schumaker (D) NY is WRONG! I’m the dummy who lived within his budget. I’m lower middle income. People on Welfare make more than my USMC 20 yr. ret. Whch is why I run my own business. How could anyone let these people get sub prime loans for 300K?
This is the first time I ever wanted to live in the PRC. TYCO,ENRON,Lehman Bros. Executives and crooked Hedge Fund managers would all have received JUSTICE there.

I am so ashamed of our government.My son is out of work and soon to be out of a home,where is the help for all of u?????When will politicians remember the little guy,only when they need the votes????When will we get the help we need to survive,not only to live???

The situation has worsened in Afghanistan,and a significant increase in troops is being planned. With this in mind, I offer a suggestion that will (a) relieve our over-stressed troops of some of the burden of this conflict, and (b) provide a source of fresh troops to replace them.
The U.S. has hundreds of thousands of troops acting as a “presence” in numerous countries around the world. Since there is no imminent danger of hostilities in many of these locations, troops could be withdrawn without compromising our “presence”. These troops could then be given a crash course on fighting terrorists and guerillas, based on lessons learned during the past six years, outfitted with the latest equipment, and rotated to yhe war zones in the mideast. They certainly would be better trained and equipped than the original troops were when they went to Iraq, and would be effective replacements for the incumbent troops who are over-stressed from multiple tours of duty.
Additionally, the returning troops would be able to receive necessary medical treatment and therapy, without time constraints, enabling them to recover physically, mentally, and emotionally from their multiple tours of duty. If nothing else, it would cut down on the suicide rate.
This would also be a great time to evaluate the real need for some 500,000 troops, some whom are largely stationed in stable areas such as Japan.

Dear Mr. President,
After all our bailouts how can we borrow money to rebuild Gaza??? .
I fear that the dollar will become worthless.
Please put America First.
Bring the troops home and put them on the Border.
Our returning troops are having trouble finding jobs.
Rebuild America; we cannot be everything to everyone.

I’m sorry Mr. President, but, work on the economy first.(Financial & Housing).Do not focus on healthcare and education right now. There is no time to waste!
12.5 Americans are out of work, and more to come in 2009. There were 3 million foreclosures in 2008. How many in January and February of 2009, so far?
Where are Secretary Geithner’s assistants? We all know the Fed fell asleep at the switch for years, but
throwing money at each big bank is doing no good.
We need good women and men who understand the economics of a swift recovery.
Let’s focus on the positives now! We are not a people of doom and gloom. We
are a positive people. Look how far we
have come? This country has come a long
way and we don’t want the Carter years
back again, once was enough.
Let’s work hard and keep this country
strong and free and keep our borders,
culture and language – very important to
our survival and our children’s and
their children. We cannot burden them
with debt for decades to come.
God Bless this Country, the USA, the
country that I was raised in and love
so much!
Protect her Mr. President!!

You’re not making it clear that the Bush Administration & Treasury Secretary Paulson were the ones who gave AIG a blank slate. The Republicans are blurring Tarp I and Tarp II, leaving the whole mess on the Democrat’s doorstep, and it’s becoming accepted!