View full post on All Stories

View full post on All Stories

View full post on All Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The House of Representatives’ former Republican Conference chairman criticized President Barack Obama Friday in a speech that implied he had become arrogant in using his power.

“You must always be wary of a president who seems to float upon his greatness,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.).

Pence’s comments appear to be another sign that Republicans believe their victories in the midterm elections this month have positioned them to unseat Obama in the 2012 presidential election.

Pence resigned from his House leadership position this week while acknowledging he is considering a run for the presidency.

Pence spoke Friday during a meeting of a conservative legal group called the Federalist Society in Washington, D.C.

Although he spoke in broad terms about the Constitutional duties of a president, he left little doubt he was referring to lapses by the Obama administration.

He quoted statements from Obama’s transition team saying the president was preparing to “take power” and “rule.”

“This is not now nor should it have ever been the model of the American president,” Pence said.

He also drew parallels between Obama and kings in other countries.

“We are not subjects, we are citizens,” he said.

Pence joins former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in leaving hints they plan to run for president.

Pence said on ABC television’s “Top Line” this week that he would decide whether to run for president, or governor of Indiana, “sometime early next year.”

He also said, “Our decision is going to be wholly dependent on taking the time to prayerfully consider where we can make the most difference on the conservative values that brought us to Washington to begin with.”

Pence introduced a bill this week that would permanently extend tax cuts from the Bush administration. They are set to expire at the end of this year.

Palin said she would consider a run for the presidency if no other candidates step in who share her political vision.

“I’m looking at the lay of the land now, and … trying to figure that out if it’s a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family,” she told ABC’s Barbara Walters.

When Walters asked whether she could beat Obama, she said, “I believe so.”

Her comment drew a rebuff from Vice President Joe Biden Friday.

Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, Biden said, “I don’t think she could beat President Obama.”

He also said, “But, you know, she’s always underestimated.”

Huckabee said during a radio interview in Des Moines, Iowa, this week he’s not “ruling it out” whether he will run for president in 2012.

“And that’s not a yes, but it’s definitely not a no,” Huckabee said.

However, Romney was the leading Republican choice for president in a recent Gallup poll.

It found 19 percent of Republicans surveyed preferred Romney, compared with 16 percent for both Palin and Huckabee, who tied for second.

View full post on Politics Stories

Read more…

View full post on All Stories

Washiington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States has briefed Pakistan on President Barack Obama’s decision to endorse Indian aspirations to join U.N. Security Council with a permanent seat and is leaving it to Islamabad to deal with the facts, according to the State Department.

Answering questions on Friday, PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman told journalists, “We have briefed the government of Pakistan on the President’s announcement. I’m not aware that there was any particular concern expressed.”

“This (Obama’s support) is a reflection of the growing importance of the region to the rest of the world, and Pakistan should not see this as something that comes at their expense. It does not,” he said at his daily press briefing.

“I think they (Islamabad) understand what we told them, and beyond that, I’ll leave it to the government of Pakistan to describe its own reaction,” Crowley replied when asked about Islamabad’s strong reaction about President Obama’s endorsement of India for the Security Council bid.

Earlier on Monday addressing the joint session of Indian Parliament during his visit, Obama said, “I can say today, in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.”

“No one should see this in zero-sum terms. And first of all, understand that there is a process. It involves the Security Council and many countries that will have a say in the possible reform of the UN Security Council,” Crowley added.

Crowley noted that the U.S. had briefed Islamabad Obama’s decision, assuring its ally that his support to the bid is not at its expense.

View full post on Politics Stories

View full post on All Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – A civil rights commission’s report that criticizes the Justice Department’s handling of a voter intimidation case was delayed Friday when one of the commissioners walked out of a meeting in protest.

He called the commission’s planned vote on whether to approve the report a “kangaroo court” against the Obama administration.

The Justice Department is accused in the report of allowing the New Black Panther Party to intimidate white witnesses during a 2008 election in Philadelphia.

The Justice Department dropped its suit against the group, a fact some political analysts say could hurt the Obama administration’s public image and jeopardize Democrats’ chances during the Nov. 2 election next week.

The heavily conservative U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was scheduled to vote on whether to approve a draft copy of the report on the Philadelphia incident. A vote of approval would mean it could be used as evidence for any follow-up investigations or hearings by Congress.

However, Commissioner Michael Yaki, a Democratic appointee, walked out of the meeting, leaving the commission without a quorum.

A quorum of five commissioners is required under U.S. Commission on Civil Rights rules to approve reports or take any other official action.

“It’s not my responsibility to make a quorum for this kangaroo court,” Yaki told reporters after he walked out of the meeting. “They want to score political points against the Obama Justice Department.”

Yaki is a former senior adviser to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The report accuses the Justice Department of failing to protect white voters from intimidation and being “at war with its core mission of guaranteeing equal protection (under) the laws for all Americans.”

The report was written by the majority members of the commission.

They denied political motivations for accusations in the report. They also accused the Justice Department of refusing to turn over evidence and telling witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation.

The civil rights commission is scheduled to meet again next week and try again for a quorum vote on the 131-page report.

The year-long investigation leading to the report resulted from an incident in which two New Black Panther Party members wearing paramilitary uniforms were videotaped in Philadelphia in 2008.

One of the men carried a nightstick as they stood outside the polling place on Election Day.

No voters filed complaints but conservatives were outraged when the videotape ran on a local television station’s news broadcast the next day.

The Bush administration’s Justice Department sued the two men in uniforms, the New Black Panther Party and its chairman.

The lawsuit still was pending when President Obama took office.

Shortly afterward, the Justice Department dismissed the claims against three of the defendants and obtained a narrowly-defined injunction against a fourth.

The civil rights commission’s draft report said the Justice Department engaged in “repeated attempts to obscure” the role of political appointees in the lawsuit dismissal.

It also said the lawsuit dismissal raises “questions about what the [Justice] Department is trying to hide.”

The report was compiled from media reports and testimony from two Justice Department attorneys.

A Justice Department spokeswoman denied the agency makes decisions on who to prosecute based on race. She also said the Justice Department turned over about 4,000 pages of documents to assist the civil rights commission in its investigation.

View full post on Politics Stories

View full post on All Stories

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The White House on Thursday announced that President Barack Obama, spoke with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on the positive outcome of rescue operations in his country.

The WH communique said, the U.S. president called the Chilean president, “to congratulate him and the Chilean government on the historic rescue of the 33 miners trapped under more than 2,000 feet of rock in northern Chile since August 5.”

“The President hailed the rescue as a tribute not only to the determination of the rescue workers and the Chilean government, but also the miners and the Chilean people who have inspired the world,” Obama said.

President Pinera thanked,”the President, the United States government, and the American companies and individuals who provided support for the rescue efforts.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Obama, called the rescue operation a tremendous inspirational story.

“I talked to [President Obama] about this, this morning. He was watching last night. I asked him what he was thinking about when he watched it. He said obviously this was a tremendously inspirational story, a story with a happy ending,” Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs told journalists at a press gaggle on Wednesday.

“The President is enormously proud of their efforts, of the efforts of the government of Chile, and hopefully will be in contact with some of the CEOs of those companies and the government shortly,” Gibbs added.

View full post on Politics Stories