In Historic Vote, House Holds Holder In Contempt

All but two Republicans in the House have voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. But more than 100 Democrats boycotted the vote, calling it a political stunt.

The 2011 State of the Union Address: Enhanced Version

President Obama speaks about moving forward to create jobs, out-compete in the global economy by investing in innovation and education, and win the future for our children and our country. This enhanced version features charts, graphs and other visual aids that accompany the President's speech

History Of King Holiday All But Forgotten 25 Years Later

Image via Wikipedia

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Monday, January 17 marks the 25th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Day national holiday. President Obama and other administration officials have picked up on the call made repeatedly by the King family and civil rights and social service organizations for the day to be not just about celebration, pageantry, and parades, but a day of service.

Obama's "King initiative" for a day of service puts White House muscle behind the true meaning and spirit of the day and King's life and work. Polls show that a majority of Americans as individuals plan to observe the King holiday in some way.

However, the King holiday is still not the universally observed federal holiday that it could or should be. For the past few years the BNA, an Arlington, Virginia based business and information survey and print service, has taken an annual survey of businesses and governmental agencies to see who is and isn't celebrating observance of Martin Luther King Day. CONTINUE....

Duty Calls- President Obama uses his congressional speech to warn Americans that the "day of reckoning" has arrived.

By: Dayo Olopade

It was a poor man’s State of the Union—but we are all poor now. And, like a responsible parent, President Barack Obama wouldn’t let us forget it last night. Despite the sobering tumbles of financial markets and the steady uptick in job-loss numbers, the president asked the American people and their elected leaders in Congress to stay and fight. "What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more," he said. Echoing the words of a young girl from South Carolina who wrote to Congress asking for help with her crumbling school building, he said: “We are not quitters. We are not quitters.”

The speech, which was not an official State of the Union address, was previewed by advisers as “Reaganesque," and it lived up to the hype. With Reagan’s sunny style, Obama delivered a hybrid speech, mixing the gloomy global prognosis of his inaugural address and the call to responsibility that rang through some of his most memorable moments as a candidate. The starkly progressive address was a firm, impassioned call to “claim opportunity from ordeal.”

That’s a fancy way of asking America to make lemonade from lemons—though Obama has proven himself a master at pricking the national conscience while still winning our admiration (as with the 67 separate ovations the Democratic Congress offered its new leader). In the first, most populist, third of his speech, the president went heavy on the admonitions. “If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that for too long, we have not always met these responsibilities—as a government or as a people.” He called out bankers in search of “quick profit at the expense of a healthy market” and CEOs who “use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet.” All this was in line with the tone struck at this week's White House fiscal responsibility summit, held in advance of the unveiling of Obama's first budget tomorrow.

Duty Calls....

Highlights from President Obama's 2009 Address to a Joint Session of Congress

Commentary: Bush’s Support for African AIDS Relief Could Be the Bright Spot in an Otherwise Dark Legacy

By: Judge Greg Mathis






Congress, after some hesitation from its conservative members, finally passed legislation that would provide $48 billion to treat AIDS and other diseases in Africa and key Third World nations over the next five years.

Passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, the bill extends and more than triples spending for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The move is seen by many as an important step in not only stopping the spread of the AIDS virus in poor nations, but in also improving this country’s badly damaged international image, tarnished by years of poor foreign policies.

The African Medical and Research Foundation, an international health organization located in Kenya, reports that there will be approximately 18 million AIDS orphans in Africa by 2010. The disease, which is 100 percent preventable, has ravished the continent, killing more than 35 million since the disease was first discovered. Currently, PEPFAR funds treatment for nearly 1.5 million people in Africa and in Third World nations, preventing the spread of new infections and providing care for AIDS orphans.

COMMENTARY....

BREAKING DOWN THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS PROGRAM

Congress has passed and President Bush has signed into law the much discussed $168 billion economic stimulus package designed to prevent the nation from falling into a job-destroying recession.

Here is what that package will most likely mean for the average citizen.

First, you will need to have filed your 2007 income tax return. If you file by April, you will be looking at a tax rebate check from the government ranging between $300 and $1,200.

However, if you earned more than $75,000 last year as an individual or $150,000 as a couple, your tax rebate will be smaller - roughly $50 smaller for every $1,000 you earned above the $75,000 and $150,000 thresholds.

Meanwhile, the government will probably start distributing those rebate checks to the public around July. However, if you are low-income or a senior citizen, you could receive your rebate check as soon as May.

More specifically, most taxpayers can expect to receive a rebate check of close to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples. In addition, you can also expect an additional $300 for each child. The stimulus package is designed to stimulate spending and thus keep businesses humming and people employed. Will it work? Some economists doubt it. Several polls show a majority of taxpayers intending to save (not spend) the rebates. Others have indicated they plan to pay down debts and not undertake new spending.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 02.04.08

Bush send Congress $3.1 trillion budget.

Congress received a $3.1 trillion budget from President Bush earlier today. The proposal, for the 2009 fiscal year, would provide a big boost in defense spending and protect his signature tax cuts. It would save in the area of government health care, by slowing the growth of Medicare and Medicaid. However, Bush's spending blueprint would still generate huge budget deficits...about $400 billion for this year and next. Democrats attacked his plan saying the budget leads to more deficit, debt, tax cuts and more cutbacks in critical services.

A new poll shows Senator Hillary Clinton losing ground to Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. This comes on the eve of the critical Super Tuesday nominating contests. The two are now virtually tied, which indicates the New York Senator has lost a comfortable lead nationally that she's held for months. Analysts say endorsements from Oprah Winfrey, Maria Shriver, and Caroline Kennedy has given Obama a lot of momentum in this campaign. On the Republican side, the survey shows Arizona senator John McCain as the clear Republican front-runner.

One person is dead following a suicide blast earlier today at an Israeli shopping center.
Eleven others are wounded. An Israeli police officer may have prevented a second suicide bombing from happening in the same place when the officer shot a man wearing an explosives belt. That man had been knocked down by the initial blast. A number of Palestinian militant groups have claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was the first in Israel in more than a year.

And the New York Giants scored a last-minute touchdown over the New England Patriots to win last night's Super Bowl, 17 to 14. The upset shattered the Patriots' hope of becoming the first team since 1972 to complete a National Football League season undefeated. The win gives New York its first NFL title since 1991. Giants' quarterback Eli Manning was named the game's Most Valuable Player, a year after his brother, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, took the same honor.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 01.30.08

Edwards quitting presidential race.

Former senator John Edwards is reportedly bowing out of the Democratic race for president. He's expected to make the announcement in New Orleans this afternoon. Edwards has trailed former First Lady Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama in the early primaries.

On the Republican side, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is reportedly planning to quite his presidential run. This comes after Arizona Senator John McCain won Florida's Republican primary yesterday. Giuliani came in a distant third in that race. He's expected to endorse McCain at an event later today.

Congress has passed a 15-day extension of a temporary surveillance law that was set to expire later this week. The law was passed last year when the Bush administration warned of loopholes in its ability to monitor suspected terrorists. The extension is a means to buy time to decide on a permanent fix for the measure. President Bush is expected to sign the extension.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey won't say whether the controversial interrogation technique known as waterboarding is considered torture. The top U.S. law enforcement official is expected to clash with Democrats today over this issue at a Senate hearing. Mukasey did say waterboarding currently isn't being used by the CIA to interrogate suspected Al Qaeda members. But he said there are circumstances where the technique, which simulates drowning, is questionable as to whether it's illegal.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.05.07

Bush says Iran is still a danger.

President Bush says there'll be no change in U.S. policy on Iran. That's after a report was released this week saying the country halted a secret nuclear weapons program four years ago and hadn't resumed work as of this year. Bush said he still believes Iran is dangerous and the international community must remain vigilant.

Meanwhile, Iran has welcomed that new U.S. intelligence report. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the report a "declaration of victory" for the country's nuclear program. Another government official said that his government would welcome any countries wanting to correct their views toward Iran. Officials didn't address the intelligence report's finding Iran was actively trying to build nuclear weapons before 2003.

Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is calling on his supporters to end what's known as "push-polling." Push-polling is a tactic that offers negative information about a candidate's rivals in ads. A group founded by some of Huckabee's supporters launched a series of automated calls to Iowa Republican voters over the weekend. But the group's executive director says he doesn't plan on stopping since the effort is completely independent from Huckabee for president campaign. The former Arkansas governor oftentimes boasts about running an above-the-mud campaign that doesn't smear his GOP rivals.

A staff member of Senator Maria Cantwell is facing child sex charges. The 28-year-old staffer was arrested by federal agents last Friday after he allegedly tried to arrange to have sex with a 13-year-old boy. A spokesman for the Democratic Washington Senator said the man was immediately fired. He added that Cantwell has zero tolerance for crimes against children.

DAVID BANNER CONTINUES CAPITOL HILL RANT

Rapper still fired up about defending hip hop.

As previously reported, David Banner attended the recent hip hop hearings hosted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. Congress and read a prepared statement to vigorously defend the genre's use of offensive language and images.

The Mississippi-born and bred rapper continues to speak passionately against hip hop's detractors in a follow-up interview with Billboard.com.

In his prepared statement on Capitol Hill, Banner said, "If you fix our communities, we'll fix our lyrics." Asked how that would affect change, he tells Billboard: "In the Katrina hearing, one congressman asked, 'Haven't we done enough for Katrina?' They live in a world that we don't live in, and it's hard to speak for a majority when you don't live under the same conditions. People don't sing happy songs if they're broke."

"Rap music does for us the same thing gospel did for the slaves," he adds. "We communicate our anger through our music."

Banner has also taken issue with folks who are attempting to remove the words "bitch" and "hoe" from rap lyrics.

"Aren't there bitches out there?," he says. "Don't they exist? Those types of women exist, and if they didn't it'd be different. When someone yells in a room full of women the word 'dyke,' my mother isn't insulted because she isn't one."

"Rap is an art, and I can say whatever the hell I want to," he continues. "I use the words I use because they are graphic and they hurt. It's supposed to get people's attention. Where we come from, we speak that way."

David Banner's complete interview is available at Billboard.com.

CONGRESS ASKS QUESTIONS ABOUT HIP HOP LYRICS

Congress took aim yesterday at rappers and the labels who promote them as lingering fallout from the DON IMUS controversy continued, writes THE NEW YORK POST. Testifying were VIACOM CEO PHILIPPE DAUMAN, UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP CEO DOUG MORRIS, WARNER MUSIC GROUP CEO EDGAR BRONFMAN JR. and RADIO ONE CEO ALFRED LIGGINS.

The execs, along with rappers MASTER P and DAVID BANNER, were summoned before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, chaired by BOBBY RUSH (D-IL), to answer questions about sexist and racially charged lyrics in hip-hop.

MORRIS, whose company has a pair of smashes with new albums from KANYE WEST and 50 CENT, was quick to downplay hip-hop's influence. He noted that sales in the genre are off by 44% since 2000 and now account for just 10% of total industry sales.

Meanwhile MORRIS and BRONFMAN both said their companies attempt to alert parents about potentially inappropriate lyrics by including parental advisory labels on releases intended for mature audiences. DAUMAN said that VIACOM, owner of MTV and BET, monitors videos for offensive language and gestures.

"You won't hear the "b" word or "h" word or "n" word in any of our music videos . . . nor will you see gang symbols or portrayals of violence and drug use," said DAUMAN.

Rappers testifying were split in their opinions on the situation. MASTER P apologized for his past use of offensive lyrics, while DAVID BANNER said hip-hop was misunderstood and the subject of unfair scrutiny."Hip-hop is sick because AMERICA is sick," he said.

MORRIS cautioned that the issue is ultimately one of free speech and choice. "People buy and listen to what they like -- and we have landfills full of CDs they don't like," he said.