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Posts Tagged ‘Ap Reports’

Change: Obama Reverses March 18 Deadline, Delays Asia Trip for Obamacare

Friday, March 12th, 2010

President Barack Obama has now delayed his trip to Asia and backed off his March 18 deadline for House action on Obamacare

The AP has just reported that President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to Asia to focus on passing Obamacare, despite strong claims by the Obama Administration that a House of Representatives vote must occur by March 18.   Now, the AP reports that Obama will not leave until March 21, making the March 18 deadline inoperative. The latest reversal of an Obamacare deadline set by Obama or one of his top officials is another in a pattern of false deadlines set by the Administration starting last summer. In a prescient article, CNN points out yesterday that the now-inoperative deadline is one of many set by the Obama Administration:

Washington (CNN) — President Obama has set them — and they’ve repeatedly been missed.

But with Easter recess coming, Obama’s latest deadline to pass health care reform legislation could be his last one.

Over the summer, as the health care reform battle was brewing in Congress and at town hall meetings across the country, the president called on both the House and Senate to pass legislation by the end of August in order for a comprehensive bill to see its way to his desk by the end of the year.

That didn’t happen.

Congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration are now struggling to produce 216 votes in the House of Representatives for Obamacare. The latest procedural trick proposed by Democrats is “Amending a Ghost” by having the House create a “rule” that “assumes” the Senate bill has been passed by the House already, and then have the House members vote on changes to the Senate bill, not the Senate bill itself. Such procedural trickery is “unprecedented” in American history and the next few days will determine whether Democrats will push forward with the “Amending the Ghost” strategy or instead simply have an up or down vote on the Senate bill in the House.

UPDATE: NPR adds some details, including a tweet by Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman:

A “alert” from the Associated Press:

“Obama delaying Asia trip from March 18 to March 21 to work on health care.”

The president’s trip will take him to Indonesia and Australia. We’ll update this news as the story develops.

Update at 9:10 a.m. ET. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs just “tweeted” that:

“The President will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia – will now leave Sunday – the First Lady and the girls will not be on the trip.”

Sunday must mean March 21.

This news is not exactly a surprise. As The New York Times’ The Caucus blog wrote yesterday, “with President Obama’s health care bill hanging in the balance, the White House is facing intensifying questions about whether Mr. Obama should take his planned trip to Indonesia and Australia next week.”

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AP: American Jihadist Sharif Mobley Is Longtime Extremist; UPDATE: Mobley Worked At US Nuclear Power Plants

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Apparent American Jihadist Sharif Mobley's Work History from 2002-2008 at US Nuclear Power Plants Has Increased Concerns over a Possible Planned Attack

The Associated Press has just reported that apparent American Jihadist Sharif Mobley, who federal and Yemeni authorities have confirmed today was detained by Yemen for suspicion of Al-Queda membership and subsequently killed at least one Yemeni in an escape attempt, is a longtime holder of extremist religious views. The AP reports on comments from an acquaintance of the 26-year-old Buena, New Jersey resident Sharif Mobley:

BUENA, N.J. — He was raised in New Jersey, where he was on the high school wrestling team and earned a black belt in karate. Nearly a decade later, Sharif Mobley is under arrest in Yemen, suspected of being an al-Qaida member and accused of killing a guard in an attempt to break out of a hospital.

While some acquaintances were startled by the news out of the Middle East on Thursday, a former classmate said that Mobley had strong religious views in high school, often trying to convert friends to Islam, and became increasingly radical, especially after they graduated in 2002.

Roman Castro, 25, who did a tour with the Army in Iraq, said the last time he saw Mobley, about four years ago, Mobley yelled, “Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer!”

The FBI, the State Department and other authorities said they were trying to gather information about Mobley. But the allegations appeared to illustrate a phenomenon U.S. intelligence officials have warning about: American Muslims becoming radicalized and joining terrorist movements overseas.

Mobley, a 26-year-old natural-born U.S. citizen, was identified by Yemeni officials as a Somali-American. A former neighbor said he moved to Yemen about two years ago, supposedly to learn Arabic and study Islam.

Authorities say he was rounded up in an al-Qaida sweep and shot two guards in a Yemeni hospital during an escape attempt. His parents say he is innocent.

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, pictured above, is facing trial soon for killing a US Army soldier in Little Rock, Arkansas after visiting Yemen

If Mr. Castro’s account is accurate, it will be interesting to see what information, if any, the FBI or State Department or CIA or National Counterterrorism Task Force (“NCTC”) had previously gathered on Mr. Mobley and whether Mobley was on any of the many watch lists America learned about in the aftermath of the Christmas Day attempted bombing. Furthermore, this apparent instance of homegrown Islamic extremism could be compared to “Jihad Jane” or Mr. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who also is an American citizen who also traveled to Yemen in search of Jihad. Mr. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad is the domestic terrorist who killed a US Army soldier and seriously wounded another back in June of 2009 at a Little Rock, Arkansas US Army recruiting center. We can only hope that no more American jihadists are lurking in Yemen or America or elsewhere waiting to strike. At the time of the Little Rock shooting, Stratfor, a news site for intelligence professionals, speculated on the role of the politics on the FBI’s tracking of radicalized Americans:

However, politics have proved obstructive to all facets of counterterrorism policy. And politics may have been at play in the Muhammad case as well as in other cases involving Black Muslim converts. Several weeks ago, STRATFOR heard from sources that the FBI and other law enforcement organizations had been ordered to “back off” of counterterrorism investigations into the activities of Black Muslim converts. At this point, it is unclear to us if that guidance was given by the White House or the Department of Justice, or if it was promulgated by the agencies themselves, anticipating the wishes of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

As STRATFOR has previously noted, the FBI has a culture that is very conservative and risk-averse. Many FBI supervisors are reluctant to authorize investigations that they believe may have negative blow-back on their career advancement. In light of this institutional culture, and the order to be careful in investigations relating to Black Muslim converts, it would not be at all surprising to us if a supervisor refused to authorize a full-field investigation of Muhammad that would have included surveillance of his activities. Though in practical terms, even if a full-field investigation had been authorized, due to the caution being exercised in cases related to Black Muslim converts, the case would most likely have been micromanaged to the point of inaction by the special agent in charge of the office involved or by FBI headquarters.

Considering the similarities in the cases of Sharif Mobley and Little Rock killer Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, it will be interesting to review the history and progress of American investigations of Mobley, if any, that occurred prior to the public disclosure of Mobley’s activities in Yemen. Finally, Mobley’s history as an activist Democrat in New Jersey who worked on former Governor Jim Corzine’s turnout drive in 2005 (as reported first by the NY Daily News) is sure to liven up the political discussion of today’s news.

UPDATE: More details are surfacing regarding Sharif Mobley’s background, including this troubling information that Mobley worked at US nuclear power plants from 2002 until 2008, when Mobley apparently headed off for Yemen.   Considering the attractiveness of nuclear power plants to terrorists, this new information about Mobley’s ties to US nuclear power plants could increase speculation about a possible Mobley role in a planned Al-Queda attack on US nuclear power stations:

A spokesman for a group of nuclear power plants in New Jersey says a U.S. man charged in Yemen with being a member of al-Qaida had previously worked at the plants.

PSEG Nuclear spokesman Joe Delmar says Sharif Mobley worked as a laborer for several contractors at its three plants on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek from 2002 to 2008 carrying supplies and doing maintenance work.

Delmar says he satisfied federal background checks as recently as 2008.

He says that the 26-year-old Mobley also worked at other plants in the region. Delmar says the plant is cooperating with authorities.

Nuclear reactors remain a tempting target for terrorists, requiring ever vigilant security measures.

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February 2010: Largest Monthly Budget Deficit in American History

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

President Barack Obama's government has run up the largest budget deficit in American history in February of 2010

As shown in a little-noticed release from the Treasury Department today, the Obama Administration has run up the largest budget deficit in American history in February of 2010, a whopping total of $220.9 Billion in just one month.   February 2010’s unprecedented total is more than most year-long budget deficits in American history,  including 2007’s year-long total of $161 Billion. AP reports in this historic monthly deficit:
 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year’s record for the full year.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the February deficit totaled $220.9 billion, 14 percent higher than the previous record set in February of last year.

The deficit through the first five months of this budget year totals $651.6 billion, 10.5 percent higher than a year ago.

The Obama administration is projecting that the deficit for the 2010 budget year will hit an all-time high of $1.56 trillion, surpassing last year’s $1.4 trillion total. The administration is forecasting that the deficit will remain above $1 trillion in 2011, giving the country thrree straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

The government’s monthly budget report showed the record $220.9 billion deficit for February reflected outlays of $328.4 billion and revenues of $107.5 billion. The February receipts marked the first time that revenues are up compared with the same month a year ago since April 2008. Revenues had fallen for 21 straight months as the recession cut into both individual and corporate income tax payments.

As President Obama and Congressional Democrats continue with their primary focus on passing Obamacare, considering the attendant increased government spending included therein, February 2010 may not have the record for largest monthly deficit in American history for very long.

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