Behind the White House 2010

White House Holiday Message

White House Staff: "It Gets Better"

Learn More about the "It Gets Better Project" here

What's New: Whattheheckhasobamadonesofar.com

In The News

From NPR: Senator Sanders' Filibuster Of The Tax Deal Strikes A Chord

From BWIE: The most powerful black women in Europe–Black Women in Europe™: Power List 2010 – A List of Our Own

From NY Times: David Brooks Commentary: Obama’s Very Good Week

White House Blog: The Framework for a Tax Agreement Is a Good Deal for Working Families

By Jason Furman & Gene Sperling

Some recent articles have incorrectly suggested that the tax framework did not do well by middle-income families, hard-pressed workers and their children. We wanted to clear up the record. The tax framework the President agreed to includes provisions he fought for and secured that are very positive policies for jobs and growth, for the middle class and for our nation’s most hard-pressed working families. The President fought for an increase in the child tax credit of up to nearly $1,500 for a low-income family with two children and will work to make it a permanent part of our tax code. Middle-class families will keep their tax cuts and get an additional tax cut worth hundreds of dollars more than what they get this year. And the economy will get additional jobs, with several outside economists estimating more than 1.5 million because of the items the President pushed for in this agreement. There are provisions that benefit that wealthy that the President would have preferred to exclude, but we should not miss the forest for the trees.

What the framework means for working families

Remember where the Republicans were when we started this process. Their tax proposals included no extension of tax credits like Making Work Pay, the expanded refundability of the child credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), or our new expanded – and partially refundable – tax credit for college. Several of these tax credits were not contained in the progressive and fiscally responsible House-passed tax bill supported by the President.

Let’s start with what the payroll tax cut means for working families. Any single person with kids who earns over $20,000 will do better under this framework than they would have if we had fully extended Making Work Pay with full refundability. So will any couple making over $40,000.

What is true is that if you look only at what we secured on the payroll tax cut, a single parent of two children working full-time at the minimum wage, making $16,000 a year, would get a payroll tax cut worth $320 – $80 less than what they got from Making Work Pay this year.

But that misses one of the most important wins for progressives in this negotiation. The President secured the full increase in the Child Tax Credit for working poor families that Democrats had fought so hard for in the Recovery Act – even though this type of refundability is strongly opposed by Republicans. That means that the same family making $16,000 would get an additional tax cut of nearly $1,500 – multiples more than the difference between Making Work Pay and the payroll tax cut.

On top of the refundable Child Tax Credit , the President successfully negotiated to ensure that every penny of the gains in the EITC that were passed in 2009 are secured for two more years. As is the President’s American Opportunity Tax Credit for college. Extending all of these provisions for two years puts the President in the position to succeed in making them permanent along with the rest of the middle-class tax cuts.

The President also secured a thirteen month extension of unemployment insurance. For the families that need it, this means $300 per week – dwarfing the $80 per year that family making $16,000 lost relative to Making Work Pay. Overall, more than two-thirds of the benefit from extending unemployment insurance flow to families making less than $100,000 per year.

Finally, and most importantly, there is nothing more important for the middle class and working poor than to accelerate the pace of job growth in our country. Nothing. Independent experts estimate that the provisions the President added to the agreement will create more than 1.5 million jobs over the next year – a benefit of this overall agreement that should not be ignored.

What the framework means for the middle class

The middle class faced a stark reality: on January 1 of next year, a typical family with two children making $50,000 was set to lose nearly $3,000 in tax benefits. This would have been devastating to middle class families and also to the economy – the Congressional Budget Office projected that this scenario could have reduced economic growth by 1.7 percentage points in 2011. Even if the tax cuts had been eventually extended, creating that degree of uncertainty in our economy at a time when unemployment is so high, would have been taking far too much risk with our economy and job situation.

The President not only got an extension of all of the tax cuts, his payroll tax cut will mean a larger tax cut and more jobs for middle-class families. A couple making $50,000 will see a continuation of all of their tax cuts plus a $1,000 payroll tax cut – which is $200 more than they got from Making Work Pay. A couple making $80,000 would get an $800 larger tax cut than they got from Making Work Pay.

What the framework means overall

Critics have said the overall agreement is too regressive. It is certainly more regressive and gives much more to high-income households than the President would have liked or than most economists think was economically effective. That is why the President insisted that these Republican provisions be extended for only two years, and why he intends to make the case vigorously that our country cannot afford to extend these tax cuts beyond 2012.

But make no mistake: the President did not compromise when it came to working families, the middle class and jobs. Working families get a continuation of major tax cuts, the middle-class see their taxes go down from 2010, and substantial numbers of new jobs will be created.

Jason Furman is Deputy Director of the National Economic Council

Gene Sperling is Counselor to the Secretary of Treasury

Read More at the White House Blog

Op-Ed: Bargaining For the Least Of These

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Finally, we have a President who stands up for the least of these! I applaud the President for finding a way to get the middle class tax cuts and the unemployed a new lease on life—to get them through the next 13 months and through the winter by extending unemployment insurance. I think the most urgent thing for the President to do was to lift up the least of these in the spirit of the upcoming holiday season. Tonight all over the news, a debate is going on about the compromise, but I will bet that among the least of these who have heard this news, there is no debate. There is just the joy and thanksgiving.

For those who have little or no income, the President has given them a survival line. I have listened to parents who saw no way to give their children a normal holiday season, and I have heard the fear and anguish in their voices about not being able to do so. We’ve been through too many fights during the past two years for us to believe that we have the luxury to turn down a chance to help the most vulnerable among us. The President refused to say poor people and the unemployed must wait until Congress could strike the perfect deal for them. The President understands why they cannot wait.

I believe in hard bargaining when you have got the power to back you up, but I don’t see the sense in an all or nothing approach when we don’t have the fire power to back up the President’s fight. If you ask the people who stood to lose the most—those with no job—I would be willing to bet they did not want the President to deny them a chance to have a few dollars to try to meet basic needs while our leaders are working to turn the economy around. No, they can’t wait.

The President did the right thing, whether we like it or not. The President knows well how to do the right thing—as opposed to always being right. The President has been out there working his heart out to resolve the challenges he inherited, and I applaud him.

I am sticking with the President, and trusting that he is doing the very best he can. This is an emergency action to handle a crisis. This President is realistic, and I am glad he chose to bargain for the least of these without playing political games while unemployed American suffer even more. Fighting just for the sake of fighting is not very smart. The President was smart enough to know this. Since I was a little girl, I was taught that we often have to compromise in life, and that in bargaining, no one gets everything he/she wants. The deal the President reached with a Party that has said “No” to everything for the past two years, is not perfect, but it is defensible, and I will stand with the President who is standing with the least of these. They are enjoying a victory tonight—and I am proud of this President who has accomplished so much, and has through this action on the issue of tax cuts for the middle class and unemployment insurance for the jobless made a lot of families happy. They know that a little bit of something for the least of these is better than a whole lot of nothing for all!

(Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. is National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. You may reach her by calling 202/678-6788.)

Commentary: Where Is Our Deliverance?

By John McWhorter

When Barack and Michelle Obama stood together on Inauguration Day watching the helicopter carrying the Bushes as they began their journey home to Texas, it was the first time we really felt as if we had a new President. But not just a new President, nor just a Democratic one, nor one who wasn't Bush. The main thing on Americans' minds, we can all admit, was that we had a black President.

Beyond the monumental symbolism, what did it mean? Many hoped that with a black man in the Oval Office, it might be the beginning of a new day for black America. But dreams and reality diverge. As early as the first months of Obama's campaign, people paying close attention saw that while he was concerned with the plight of the poor, his agenda did not include an effort to "rescue" black people specifically. This lack of salvation became painfully clear during the recession. Earlier this year, radio host Tavis Smiley gathered a group of black thinkers for a televised confab calling on Obama to craft legislation addressing black concerns, but it was longer on rhetoric than results. (See photos of the world watching Obama's inauguration.)

In general, people have had two mistaken expectations about Obama and black Americans. The first is that a President of any color could solve the long-standing problems of African Americans in just a couple of years. The second is that the kind of change that a black President would bring to black America would be revolutionary, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In fact, Obama has offered more to black America than most people can see, because it isn't the kind of change they've been looking for. (See TIME's photoessay "From Emmett Till to Barack Obama.)

That it would have been political suicide for Obama to reign as a "black President" is the usual political analysis, but the substantive one is that the problems poor blacks face today are more abstract and difficult to solve than the stark injustice of Jim Crow. One problem is outdated beliefs about advancement. Few black street myths are more disabling than the observation that a man without a college degree used to be able to support a family on a low-skill manufacturing job but that in today's economy, uneducated black men are unqualified for meaningful employment. This bleak vision of ghetto black men's prospects requires a certain blindness. It's vanishingly rare for the typical cable-TV installer, mechanic, sound technician or air-conditioning specialist to be a white guy with a degree from Duke.

Yet the sense persists that to not go to college, in the traditional sense of four years of liberal-arts study, is a glum disability. Many of us assume this because we've been taught to think of vocational training as a kind of consolation prize, a lower track. But not so long ago, one did not shudder at the notion of a person choosing a career working with his hands. Today, one pathway to a satisfying and even middle-class career is community college. In that light, Obama's determination to invest billions of dollars in America's community colleges is exactly the black agenda we should be pursuing. (Who is best qualified to run a school system?)

Maybe such programs aren't hot news like Obama's beer summit about alleged racial profiling, but they matter. How many people have heard about Promise Neighborhoods? Obama's Department of Education worked overtime to get funding for 21 poor neighborhoods across the U.S. so they could try to replicate the efforts of social activist Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone. Canada has been seeking to eliminate poverty in 97 blocks of Harlem with a program that may include a combination of intensive charter schooling (starting with preschool), parental workshops and health initiatives. During his campaign, Obama vowed to expand this model nationwide, and he has delivered; funding will be increased as much as sixfold next year (to $60 million). It takes only a bit of imagination to see that this is black-positive as legislation goes, even if unaccompanied by stirring speeches full of words like crisis and expressions like at last. The case only gets stronger if you consider health care reform (an issue of special importance to blacks) and the increase in funding for historically black colleges and universities.

What used to be called the Struggle is still happening, but you have to know where to seek it. More often than not, the Struggle will not be in the headlines. Waiting for change in black America to once again be a matter of dramatic marches is like wondering why you can't find your favorite music on cassettes. Time passes. Reality changes. People move your cheese. Barack Obama has been a "blacker" President than the one Toni Morrison anointed as the first black one, Bill Clinton. After all, what's blacker — planting 21 rescue operations in depressed neighborhoods or playing the saxophone?

McWhorter's most recent book is Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English

Read more at Time.com

Site: International Black Women's Site Collaborative

Welcome to the International Black Women’s
Collaborative Groupsite

Collaborative: To Work Together in a Joint Intellectual Effort

This site is a meeting place that provides members of International Black Women’s Collaborative with a shared calendar, discussion forums, photo gallery, files and member profiles. This is a perfect platform for creating new personal and business connections. Live Local and Think Global! Ladies, let’s make this happen!

1. Update your profile: add a photo or logo image, add contact details, be creative.

2. Participate in Forum Discussions: The forum is a place to discuss current events, post opportunities you have to offer or are looking for, and find ways to do more good.

3. Add an Objective: This is a feature that allows you to post a project that you're working on to solicit group opinions and/or participation.

4. Add Key Connections: Key connections are people (yourself or people you know) who the members of IBWC Group could benefit from.

5. Add Events to the Calendar: You are free to post any events (virtual & local & international) whether it's an event you're organizing, attending, or just one you think our members might be interested in.

Sign up here

Op-Ed: Recent Elections, Congress And The Federal Reserve

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Keep up with the actions the Fed is taking and this QE2 thing that just happened. They knew all along they were going to pump the 600 billion into the economy, and they knew even though the economy was progressing under President Obama that corporations were deliberately withholding hiring so that the President would not get credit for saving our economy and putting more people back to work.

The Fed could easily have announced what they were doing all along and what they were planning to announce yesterday. So wait until these new extreme right wingers (Tea Party folk--whatever!) come to Washington thinking they can change something. Are they in for surprises!

Take note of what happened yesterday regarding the Federal Reserve. The Fed can manipulate this economy anytime it wants to do so (and chose to do the day after the election) and they don't have to have Tea Party or any other approval from Congress. So all this talk about controlling spending (except war spending; they don't ask how we'll pay for that, and eliminating waste and fraud (except theirs; and Congresswoman Michelle Bachman thinks cutting the President's travel budget and having him do teleconferencing will resolve the debt problem that her party created)-- will they be in for a big shock! Wait until they actually have to sit down and negotiate bills (even with their own "just say no party"), they are in for a rude awakening!

They will also learn that Congress does not really control our economy. They are at the mercy of the Fed that Congress created! This is not partisan; this is reality! So try not to be too pessimistic about the recent elections. It would be nice to hear a lot of feel good conversation by Democratic Members of Congress for the next two years; but don't take the really weird stuff coming out of the mouths of some Republicans too seriously because the Fed has just told them how short their leash is. The real system that controls our economy is still in place and will not allow Congress to act too crazy!

It is still through our struggles that we gain our victories. So, cheer up. Make the most of what you have. Do as much good for as many people as you can. Forgive as many people that you feel have wronged you. Join an organization that helps the least of them. (It could be our organization--the National Congress of Black Women.

It could be the NAACP, Urban League, National Action Network, National Council of Negro Women, Rainbow Coalition, Big Brothers-Big Sisters--the list goes on and on.) Be grateful for everything you have, including family and good friends. Take care of yourself while you are at it--and know that the election did not end our world; we've always had to overcome something. I know many of you worked really hard in the recent election, but frustration and anger will not help. It will only consume and destroy us--so let's get over that and keep moving. Get ready for 2012 now so that the results will be different.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. For information, see http://www.nationalcongressbw.org or call 202/678-6788)

Pass It On: President Obama Parody

Michelle Obama Tops Forbes Most Powerful Women

Forbes:

• Age: 46
• Title: First Lady
• Residence: Washington, DC
• Country of citizenship: United States
• Education: JD , Harvard University; LLM, Harvard University; BA/BS, Princeton University
• Marital Status: Married
• Children: 2

Read more at Forbes.com and Salon.com

President Obama's Rolling Stone Interview

First Lady Michelle Obama Joins Nickelodeon to Turn Off the TV for Worldwide Day of Play, Saturday, Sept. 25

From PR Newswire:

The First Lady's Worldwide Day of Play Message will be fed via satellite on:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

4:30-4:45 PM EDT

Galaxy 28 Transponder 15C, Downlink Frequency: 4000 (V)

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, will join Nickelodeon in celebrating the network's seventh annual Worldwide Day of Play by sharing a special message encouraging kids and families to turn off their televisions and computers and to get out and play, at noon (all times ET/PT) on Saturday, Sept. 25. Worldwide Day of Play is Nickelodeon's signature health and wellness event marked by its TV channels and websites--including Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nick Jr., TeenNick and Nick.com--going off the air and offline from noon to 3 p.m. to inspire kids and families to get up and get active. Kids in 10 countries and in every state across the U.S. are expected to participate in Worldwide Day of Play at more than 3,000 local events scheduled worldwide.

The First Lady will appear on Nickelodeon at noon on Saturday, Sept. 25, to officially turn the channel off in celebration of Worldwide Day of Play, which is part of Nickelodeon's overall The Big Help health and wellness efforts. The goal of The Big Help pro-social campaign is to launch a kid-led movement, focusing on four key issues, health and wellness, education, community service, and the environment. As part of its $1 million commitment to provide grants through The Big Help campaign, Nickelodeon is awarding approximately $50,000 to schools and community organizations across the country to help create and expand opportunities for active play.

Read more of the First Lady's statement here

Snapshot!

The First Couple attended the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 33rd Annual Awards

Kamala Harris Makes The 2010 O Power List

A visionary educator...a headline-making newswoman...the designer every bride loves and cherishes... not to mention a 91-year-old who's still kicking up her heels: Meet 20 women (and one amazing horse) who blew us away this year.

The power of taking a stand...Kamala Harris
"Having grown up around strong women, I know firsthand the importance of never taking 'no' for an answer and following your dreams. What a long way we have come! But we have so much more work to do."

Read More of The 2010 O Power List

The President's Back to School Speech

Check It Out!

Department of Labor launched a new website called mySkillsmyfuture.org. The website provides tools for potential workers to search for jobs by entering in their previous work experience. An instructional video featured on the My Skills My Future homepage explains how to use the database to search for employment opportunities and local job training seminars. Pass it on to those seeking assistance for employment.

BWFO Endorses Kamala Harris for California Attorney General

BLACK WOMEN FOR OBAMA FOR CHANGE ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS, ESQ.
FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL, CALIFORNIA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Black Women for Obama for Change, (BWFO4Change) announced today their endorsement of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, Esq. for the next Attorney General of the State of California. In a joint statement, BWFO4Change Co-Chairs Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. and Dr. Stephanie E. Myers said, “We applaud the vision and tenacity of Kamala Harris to tackle reform of the criminal justice system in California, and to work to improve the educational system. Her new and innovative ideas regarding reform in the California justice system and in public education will set the tone for the rest of the nation. As former residents of the State of California, we are confident that wise California voters will elect Kamala Harris to be the next Attorney General of California. We are proud that her election will make her the first African American woman to be elected to Attorney General, in a major State.

California State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass, Candidate for Congress, 33rd Congressional District of Los Angeles, stated, "We have an incredible opportunity to elect an Attorney General who has innovative ideas to prevent and reduce crime. I am proud to say we have worked together to pass legislation in California that replicates the Back on Track program created by District Attorney Harris to reduce recidivism."

Clem Clarke, BWFO4Change/San Francisco and bay area community organizer commented, "Kamala Harris is the only choice in this race for California Attorney General. She is not only tough on crime, but she is smart on crime. I hope that everyone around the nation will encourage their friends, family members and colleagues who live and vote in California, to join us in our support of the next California Attorney General – Kamala Harris."

*Black Women for Obama for Change is a nation-wide volunteer social networking blog community. The organization monitors public policy, educates networkers about significant national issues and endorses candidates for public office. Disclaimer: This press release does not imply any endorsement from the White House or President Barack Obama.

Op-Ed: Obama Will Triumph -- So Will America

By Frank Schaeffer

Before he'd served even one year President Obama lost the support of the easily distracted left and engendered the white hot rage of the hate-filled right. But some of us, from all walks of life and ideological backgrounds -- including this white, straight, 57-year-old, former religious right wing agitator, now progressive writer and (given my background as the son of a famous evangelical leader) this unlikely Obama supporter -- are sticking with our President.

Why?-- because he is succeeding.

We faithful Obama supporters still trust our initial impression of him as a great, good and uniquely qualified man to lead us.

Obama's steady supporters will be proved right. Obama's critics will be remembered as easily panicked and prematurely discouraged at best and shriveled hate mongers at worst.

The Context of the Obama Presidency

Not since the days of the rise of fascism in Europe , the Second World War and the Depression has any president faced more adversity. Not since the Civil War has any president led a more bitterly divided country. Not since the introduct ion of racial integration has any president faced a more consistently short-sighted and willfully ignorant opposition - from both the right and left.

As the President's poll numbers have fallen so has his support from some on the left that were hailing him as a Messiah not long ago; all those lefty websites and commentators that were falling all over themselves on behalf of our first black president during the 2008 election.

The left's lack of faith has become a self-fulfilling "prophecy"-- snipe at the President and then watch the poll numbers fall and then pretend you didn't have anything to do with it!

Here is what Obama faced when he took office-- none of which was his fault:

# An ideologically divided country to the point that America was really two countries

# Two wars; one that was mishandled from the start, the other that was unnecessary and immoral

# The worst economic crisis since the depression

# America 's standing in the world at the lowest point in history

# A country that had been misled into accepting the use of torture of prisoners of war

# A health care system in free fall

# An educational system in free fall

# A global environmental crisis of history-altering proportions (about which the Bush administration and the Republicans had done nothing)

# An impasse between culture warriors from the right and left

# A huge financial deficit inherited from the terminally irresponsible Bush administration.

And those were only some of the problems sitting on the President's desk!

"Help" from the Right?

What did the Republicans and the religious right, libertarians, and half-baked conspiracy theorists--that is what the Republicans were reduced to by the time Obama took office--do to "help" our new president (and our country) succeed?

They claimed that he wasn't a real American, didn't have an American birth certificate, wasn't born here, was secretly a Muslim, was white-hating "racist", was secretly a communist, was actually the Anti-Christ, (!) and was a reincarnation of Hitler and wanted "death panels" to kill the elderly!

They not-so-subtly called for his assassination through the not-so-subtle use of vile signs held at their rallies and even a bumper sticker quoting Psalm 109:8. They organized "tea parties" to sound off against imagined insults and all government in general and gathered to howl at the moon. They were led by insurance industry lobbyists and deranged (but well financed) "commentators" from Glenn Beck to Rush Limbaugh.

The utterly discredited Roman Catholic bishops teamed up with the utterly discredited evangelical leaders to denounce a president who was trying to actually do something about the poor, the environment, to diminish the number of abortions through compassionate programs to help women and to care for the sick! And in Congress the Republican leadership only knew one word: "No!"

In other words the reactionary white, rube, uneducated, crazy American far right,combined with the educated but obtuse neoconservative war mongers, religious right shills for big business, libertarian Fed Reserve-hating gold bug, gun-loving crazies, child-molesting acquiescent "bishops", frontier loons and
evangelical gay-hating flakes found one thing to briefly unite them: their desire to stop an uppity black man from succeeding at all costs!


"Help" from the Left?

What did the left do to help their newly elected president? Some of them excoriated the President because they disagreed with the bad choices he was being forced to make regarding a war in Afghanistan that he'd inherited from the worst president in modern history!

Others stood up and bravely proclaimed that the President's economic policies had "failed" before the President even instituted them! Others said that since all gay rights battles had not been fully won within virtually minutes of the President taking office, they'd been "betrayed"! (Never mind that Obama's vocal support to the gay community is stronger than any other president's has been. Never mind that he signed a new hate crimes law!)

Those that had stood in transfixed legions weeping with beatific emotion on election night turned into an angry mob saying how "disappointed" they were that they'd not all immediately been translated to heaven the moment Obama stepped into the White House!

Where was the "change"? Contrary to their expectations they were still mere mortals!

And the legion of young new supporters was too busy texting to pay attention for longer than a nanosecond. "Governing"?! What the hell does that word, uh, like mean?"

The President's critics left and right all had one thing in common: impatience laced with little-to-no sense of history (let alone reality) thrown in for good measure. Then of course there were the white, snide know-it-all commentators/talking heads who just couldn't imagine that maybe, just maybe they weren't as smart as they thought they were and certainly not as smart as their president. He hadn't consulted them, had he? So he must be wrong!

he Obama critics' ideological ideas defined their idea of reality rather than reality defining their ideas-say, about what is possible in one year in office after the hand that the President had been dealt by fate, or to be exact by the American idiot nation that voted Bush into office. twice!

Meanwhile back in the reality-based community - in just 12 short months -- President Obama:


#Continued to draw down the misbegotten war in Iraq

(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)


#Thoughtfully and decisively picked the best of several bad choices regarding the war in Afghanistan
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Gave a major precedent-setting speech supporting gay rights
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Restored America 's image around the globe
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Banned torture of American prisoners
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stopped the free fall of the American economy
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Put the USA squarely back in the bilateral international community
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Put the USA squarely into the middle of the international effort to halt global warming
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stood up for educational reform
(Bu t that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Won a Nobel peace prize
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Moved the trial of terrorists back into the American judicial system of checks and balances
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Did what had to be done to start the slow, torturous and almost impossible process of health care reform that 7 presidents had failed to even begin
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Responded to hatred from the right and left with measured good humor and patience
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stopped the free fall of job losses
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Showed immense personal courage in the face of an armed and dangerous far right opposition that included the sort of disgusting people that show up at public meetings carrying loaded weapons and carrying Timothy McVeigh-inspired signs about the "blood of tyrants" needing to "water the tree of liberty".
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Showed that he could not only make the tough military choices but explain and defend them brilliantly
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

Other than those "disappointing" accomplishments -- IN ONE YEAR -- President Obama "failed"! Other than that he didn't "live up to expectations"!

Who actually has failed...

...are the Americans that can't see the beginning of a miracle of national rebirth right under their jaded noses. Who failed are the smart ass ideologues of the left and right who began rooting for this President to fail so that they could be proved right in their dire and morbid predictions. Who failed are the movers and shakers behind our obscenely dumb news cycles that have turned "news" into just more stupid entertainment for an entertainment-besotted
infantile country.

Here's the good news: President Obama is succeeding with out the help of his lefty "supporters" or hate-filled Republican detractors!

The Future Looks Good

After Obama has served two full terms, (and he will), after his wisdom in moving deliberately and cautiously with great subtlety on all fronts -- with a canny and calculating eye to the possible succeeds, (it will), after the economy is booming and new industries are burgeoning, (they will be), after the doomsayers are all proved not just wrong but silly: let the record show that not all Americans were panicked into thinking the sky was falling.

Just because we didn't get everything we wanted in the first short and fraught year Obama was in office not all of us gave up. Some of us stayed the course. And we will be proved right.

National Congress of Black Women Annual Luncheon

The President and Family Bookstore Retreat

BWFO Celebrates

After two years of dedication, BWFO4 Change Networkers continue to show their support around the country and celebrate the President's birthday and achievements!

*Cake designer - Jean D. Shanklin, King George, Virginia
Triple Chocolate Fudge with Raspberry Filling & Fresh Berries With Dark Chocolate Frosting

Op-Ed: Hands Off Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson, BWFO4Change/NY

Well, it’s déjà vu all over again. The so-called ethics committee is going to “investigate” Congressman Charlie Rangel, for alleged unethical practices.

Don’t you find it interesting that this is similar to the b.s. investigation they leveled against Adam Clayton Powell Jr., when he became head of the House Ways and Means Committee, and attached more bills in favor of African Americans to any bill on the floor in the history of Congress? They came up with trumped up charges against him as well, and finally were able to use their bogus allegations to drive him out of office.

Interesting isn’t it that both men are Black, both from New York, both take principled stands, and both were head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee?

Does anyone see the parallel between that and now? Is this a familiar issue to us? You bet your sweet a___ it is! Who here really believe that Charlie Rangel is guilty of anything egregious enough to be brought before the so-called "Ethics" committee. Who really understands that the same yellow journalism that has been leveled against President Obama, by mainstream media has been leveled against Congressman Rangel? The mainstream media have been used by the right wing to hound him, in much the same way they did Bill Clinton, to blow out of proportion issues that should not have even made a quarter inch column.

Compared to his track record, this is minutiae blown out of proportion. But, as with anything, we are not only ten times more talented, we are generally painted as ten times more guilty and culpable than any white (yes I said it) white congress person, white president, etc.

We have to see it for what it really is.

There is no ethics in the ethics committee. It’s in name only. It’s convenient when they have allowed the court of media-fanned public opinion to push them into knee jerk action.

Case in point: Where was the ethics committee when people like Strom Thurmond or Robert Byrd were around? Both were blatant racists; both card carrying members of the KKK. Both were segregationists, racists. Their just making an apology does not mitigate what African Americans suffered at their hands. How many were hung, burned, or castrated under their watch, while they were still in office?? Apology from them brought exoneration. Now isn't that special!

How can we be sure that Charlie Rangel is being dealt with ethically, equitably, with the same criteria the give their Caucasian peers. Why should we give credence to this trial; where they tie his feet to the fire, while the others are able to skulk around, flying low under the radar.

Where was the ethics committee when the Vice President Cheyney under George Bush, Jr., accidentally on purpose shot someone during a hunting trip? Where were they when Cheyney was running the White House and ruining America by fiat? Where were they when the entire bottom dropped out of our economy, under the advise and consent of key people in the Republican dominated administration?

I find it highly unethical that the ethics committee is basing its so-called investigation of Rangel on media hype and dirt digging; kind of funny, because I’d be willing to bet that most of our elected officials have one or more homes; have one or more business connections; and have raised funds in some of the most "creative" fashions..

My suspicion of this witch hunt grew even more when I found that they are investigating 8 (eight) Black congressmembers, among them the honorable Maxine Waters of California. It then begins to smell like exactly what is is. Not ethics - but a kind of ethnic cleansing under the guise of ethics. If it looks like a snake and hisses like a snake, it's a snake. Shades of McCarthyism running rampant in the halls of Congress, under the guise of ethics -- trying to assuage the yellow journalists -- we see you for who and what you are.

If the Democrats are worried about this splitting the party, they should be.

But, the Republicans should be petrified with fear. Because we truly do recognize where this is coming from. These are the same people who tried to have Clinton impeached. These are the same people who brought you Sarah Palin, Richard TD Nixon, George Bush (1 & 2); Ford, Goldwater, and the ever unpopular Reagan. Each time they've had a hand on this country, we've been left eviscerated, disgraced, embarrassed and broke. And they leave with their pockets lined with our money, while they tread on our dignity and our trust. We have just had a blatant example of how little the Republicans care for Americans, when they filibustered over the extension of Unemployment funds to desperate families, who lost jobs as a result of their completely bankrupting the country under the Bush Administration. We know who you are.

We over understand the situation. That does not mean that so-called "blue dog Democrats" are not on our radar, but character assassination is the province of the Republican party. In either case, both parties will be walking on eggs if harm politically, socially, financially or emotionally comes to Congressman Rangel, Maxine Waters or any of the other Black congress members undergoing this ignominiously disgraceful grilling.

And always remember, there is the LARRY FLYNT FACTOR. The rep and office you save may be your own.

WE ARE WATCHING AND REGISTERING AND VOTING. Consider the consequences.

In case you missed my point, I reiterate, the blatant issue is that both Charlie Rangel and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. were and are Black, and in charge of the most powerful committee in the nation. So the racist hounds of hell went after them the way they do whenever a Black person wields power. The allegations are pure racist b.s.

Yes, I said it! It’s racist b.s.

Charlie's apartments and real estate were purchased nearly 30 years ago. It wasn't an issue then, and it's not an issue now. Having a property in the Dominican Republic is not a crime. And as far as I know, no one has died as a result of either of these two acts. But, I can almost bet you that under KKK Byrd in West Virginia many a Black man and woman have become "strange fruit"; segregated, denigrated, violated. Where is the real standard? Where is the real moral compass? Since the ethics committee didn’t deal with Byrd, or any of the other characters who have committed egregious acts against America, Republican and Democrat, they get a vote of no confidence from me.

By the way, exactly what does the Ethics Committee’s standard, or code of ethics consists of? Share them with the world, so we can see if they are truly equitable. List them so we can all see them. Then I think we should have full disclosure as to where each member of the ethics committee stands or falls along that criteria. Additionally, who are their contributors? How did they get elected? Who’s in their closet? What’s their track record? If they can’t stand the litmus test, they shouldn’t serve on the committee.

Biblically speaking, he or she who is without sin can cast the first stone.

Otherwise, HANDS OFF CHARLIE RANGEL and MAXINE WATERS!!!! And the other members of Congress of African heritage.

To all of you who are likewise reading this, don't just sit there and nod your heads in agreement. Pass this on, and get your people together to make sure that we are VOTING OUT OF OFFICE THOSE WHO WOULD UNDERMINE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPORTING PRESIDENT OBAMA -- because this is really where it's coming from. Let's make sure we send home a few more Republicans. Let's not be sitting on our hands and sitting at home when we need to be at the polls. It's the bigger picture time. And it's time to let them know those days are over.

Time to take out the trash.


Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLESSED

Snapshot!

Coming back from their time in Spain, The First Lady and daughter Sasha greet the President.

BWFO Endorses Vincent Gray

BLACK WOMEN FOR OBAMA FOR CHANGE ENDORSES DC COUNCIL CHAIRMAN VINCENT GRAY FOR MAYOR, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Black Women for Obama for Change (BWFO4Change) proudly announces their endorsement of DC Council Chairman Vincent Gray for Mayor, District of Columbia. This social networking advocacy group of African American women began during the 2008/09 Presidential race and continued post-election. In announcing their endorsement, they cited Chairman Gray’s strong support for education reform, commitment to job creation and economic development.

In a joint statement BWFO4Change Co-Chairs Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., resident Ward 6 and Dr. Stephanie E. Myers, resident Ward 5 stated, “During the recent Presidential Election we helped create change on a national level. Now we must create change in the District of Columbia, by electing Council Chairman Vincent Gray to be our next Mayor. Mr. Gray has a proven record as a champion of issues important to District residents, including women, small businesses, community-based organizations and citizens. In our endorsement interview, Mr. Gray responded with solid answers to questions regarding issues we are concerned about. We are therefore proud to endorse Council Chairman Vincent Gray for Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Ms. Johnnie Rice, resident of Ward 7 and retired Director, Community Outreach, for DC Councilman David Catania stated, “Vincent Gray has a love of the people in our City. He is a hard-worker with the ability to lead without intimidation. He shows respect for those who want to make Washington, D.C. one City for all of the people—not a City divided between the haves and the have-nots. I’m going to work hard to elect Vincent Gray Mayor of the District of Columbia.”

Dr. Louise White Cashin, resident of Ward 4 said, “Vincent Gray has been in the trenches in the District of Columbia for over 30 years. He knows the issues and needs of the citizens. He is respectful of the elderly and cares about the youth. As someone who worked with leaders and public officials all of my career, I can say Vincent Gray is an outstanding leader and will make a great Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Black Women for Obama for Change is a volunteer social networking blog community. The organization monitors public policy, educates networkers about significant national issues and endorses candidates for public office. In support of Chairman Gray, the group has created an advocacy network, “Women for Gray for Change” at email: women4gray4change@earthlink.net

*Disclaimer: This press release does not imply any endorsement from the White House or President Barack Obama.

Happy Birthday Mr. President!

President Obama will mark his 49th birthday today with a dinner celebration with friends in Chicago, while first lady Michelle Obama is vacationing in Spain with daughter Sasha, and older daughter Malia is away at summer camp.

*flyer was designed by Erica White/BWFO4Change/DC

Snapshot!

U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha attend a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) game between the Washington Mystics and the Tulsa Shock in Washington on August 1, 2010. UPI/Joshua Roberts/Pool Photo via Newscom

Save The Date!

Let's get energized and support our President!!

Save The Date!

Please join the Hampton Young and Professional Democratic Committee to celebrate President Barack Obama's Birthday.

Weds. Aug. 4,2010

6pm-8pm

The Comfort Zone Restaurant

(located in the Riverdale shopping center)

1118 W. Mercury Blvd.

Hampton 23666

WEAR YOUR OBAMA GEAR!

for more information- (757)287-0277

This is a Dutch Treat event.

Show your support for our community and bring food to support the

Peninsula Foodbank

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_wavy_va_foodbank_asks_for_publics_help_20090304

The Foodbank is in need of the following items.

The top ten items needed are:

• peanut butter
• chunky soup
• canned meats
• canned tuna
• canned vegetables
• juice
• cereal
• macaroni and cheese
• pasta
• pasta sauce

authorized by the Hampton Democratic Committee

President Obama's Weekly Address: Autos, Obstruction on Small Business

National Design Awards

National Congress Black Women Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC, July 14, 2010: Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc., commends the leadership demonstrated by the Obama Administration and the direct action taken by Attorney General Eric Holder in personally serving indictments on New Orleans police officers who allegedly committed murder in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“It is extremely gratifying and comforting to know that the sanctity of life and the timeless pursuit of justice for the individual citizen are of paramount importance at the highest levels of our government,” states Dr. Williams. “Working under the premise of the presumption of innocence, it is the hope of the NCBW that there will be a process of judgment that will deliver a swift and honest determination of guilt or innocence.”

BWFO Endorses Representative Niki Tsongas

Press Release:

BLACK WOMEN FOR OBAMA FOR CHANGE ENDORSES REP. NIKI TSONGAS FOR RE-ELECTION TO U.S. CONGRESS, 5th DISTRICT, MASSACHUSETTS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Black Women for Obama for Change, (BWFO4Change) announced today they are endorsing Congressswoman Niki Tsongas for re-election to the U.S. Congress, 5th Congressional District, Massachusetts. After an interview with Congresswoman Tsongas, the group decided to support her based on her advocacy of fair treatment of active-duty women in the military, support for recently passed Obama Health Reform legislation, assistance to small/minority/women owned businesses as well as for support for a Two-State solution in the Middle East. The group is particularly supportive of Ms. Tsongas’s commitment to healthcare for returning Veterans and efforts to stop sexual harassment of active-duty women service members.

"The Honorable Niki Tsongas has distinguished herself in the U.S. Congress and we support her campaign for re-election. We appreciate her work on behalf of returning veterans and her concerns about the troubling statistics regarding sexual harassment of active-duty women in the military, " said Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. and Stephanie E. Myers, in a joint statement from BWFO4Change. “We are glad she is serving on the Congressional Oversight Committee regarding the Gulf Oil disaster and appreciate her support of the Obama Administration’s investigation into whether there was criminal activity that occurred in actions leading up to the oil spill.”

Longtime Massachusetts activist, radio personality and BWFO4Change Networker Faye Morrison said, “Niki Tsongas is an excellent leader and has brought vision and advocacy to many issues that are critical to voters in the 5th District of Massachusetts. I am pleased to support her and urge voters in the 5th District of Massachusetts to vote for her re-election to the U.S. Congress.“

Black Women for Obama for Change is a volunteer social networking blog community established during the 2008 Presidential primaries by businesswomen and civic activists Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., and Stephanie E. Myers. The organization monitors public policy, educates networkers about significant national issues and endorses candidates for local and national public offices. Disclaimer: This press release does not imply any endorsement from the White House or President Barack Obama

Rahm Emanuel Explains the Difference of Political Philosophies

Congressional Picnic

BY CHRISTINE SIMMONS, AP:

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress lined up near a fire pit on the South Lawn on Tuesday to eat Northwest-style salmon while others chomped down on Chicago-style hot dogs.

It was all part of the White House's annual congressional picnic, and this year the event featured foods from regions across the country for a "Tastes of the States" theme.

Read The President's remarks here

Michelle Obama Cooking For Change

Cooking Up Change with Michelle Obama

A Maine Chef Visits Michelle Obama at Home

Storm Over Greece

By Brian Brown

Between chronic borrower and chronic lender, no difference in
vice or virtue separates them

Judging from the intense swirl enveloping Greece these past weeks, the financial crisis has returned without having ever left. Greece verged on social combustion but for the joint EU/IMF trillion dollar bailout that also included three other nations along the European lip of the Mediterranean basin. The crash of their nation’s financial position and the chorus of European partners and international banks singing the tune of harsh austerity must have perplexed the average Greek. They did not know what befell their nation. Suddenly they felt like helpless props, steered by invisible forces toward an uncertain and perilous end. To understand what was happening, they should have peered into their past. Had they recourse to their famous ancestor, Sophocles the playwright, he would have instantly told them of the nature of events and their grinding inexorability. Sophocles would have informed his descendants the situation resembled one of their nation’s great contributions to western culture: the Greek tragedy.

The bailout pieced together by the EU and IMF plugged an imminent sinkhole that could have quickly devoured Greece and started the other troubled Mediterranean nations down its maw. However welcome the relief may be, it is just that. It is relief not resolution. The 2008 global financial crisis had two central factors. The most discussed was the excess speculation and debt leveraging afflicting the large financial houses. They wagered their honored solvency on a fanciful lark through the real estate market and the murky swamp known as derivatives. Governments took trillions of dollars out of taxpayer pockets and pocketbooks to give unguent to the banks whose self-indulgence defaced their integrity and that of the financial system.

The other contributing factor to the global crisis was scarcely discussed because its solution was even more evasive than the tricky matter of taming bank misconduct. Trade and capital flows in the global economy are substantially imbalanced. There are chronic surplus countries like China and Germany. While China is a much greater culprit, both nations are export-driven, suppressed domestic demand economies. They are neo-mercantilist. Favorable trade flows means currency surpluses. This sounds good but nothing occurs in isolation. For one country to register a surplus, another must fall into deficit. When one nation enjoys a protracted surplus, another must be perpetually in the red.

Our moral and ethical upbringing tends to look admiringly on the creditor and less charitably toward the debtor. However, in macro-economic terms, both are equally liable for the systemic disequilibrium. Imbalance leads to trouble in the long-term. Thus, both steep deficit and hardy surplus denote a situation that cannot endure. Both equally strain the economy because they are inseparable phenomenon. Caught between the flaming pit of excessive debt and crumbling pillar of excessive surplus, no one is safe.

The imbalance between Germany and its neighbors was bound to climax before the Sino-American discrepancy. The primary dumping ground for China’s goods is the U.S. economy, the largest in the world. The American economy has considerable dimension and capacity to carry debt as long as it remains the largest economy and its currency is globally preferred. In other words, China is running to catch the U.S. Loading the America with debt has a certain logic to it. In Germany’s case, the logic is inverted. Germany is the big boy on the euro block. Instead of absorbing goods from its smaller, poorer neighbors to the south, it ships the products of enviable Teutonic efficiency to them. The big boy runs unencumbered while the smaller ones are weighed down with a heavy saddle.

China chases the United States to close an economic gap. Germany runs far in front, widening the economic asymmetry between it and its less industrious cronies. Compounding this inconsistency is that stability of the eurozone is predicated on the macroeconomic operations of its members falling within a narrowing band of acceptable performance. The eurozone assumes the long-term convergence of economic performance among its participants. However, in macro-economic terms, Germany is running away from its lesser companions despite their explicit agreement to stay closely tethered by the common currency. German’s frugality, coupled with Greece’s libertine spending, is antithetic to eurozone stability.

When crisis hit, reactions were predictable. As such, they were more regrettable than useful. While ostriches are not native to Germany, the nation’s leaders did their best imitations of the long-necked fowl by placing their heads in the sand only to come up for air long enough to harangue the Greeks: “Well, you borrowed the money. Pay it up!” Greece had 50 billion euro in interest payments due and had not the funds to make the installment. Default of sovereign debt loomed. Financial markets quaked not because of Greece alone but fears that Portugal, Italy and Spain were standing closely behind it in the default line. Interest rates climbed, available funds dissipated and stock prices felt the effects of gravity. The present aroma of scorched financial deals was redolent of 2008. Something had to be done to stop impending collapse.

Logic called for the immediate restructuring of the debt coupled with a generous dose of financial discipline in Athens. However, the large financial houses did not want this route. It would have necessitated partial write-down in value of the Greek debt and possibly of its three other neighbors. The banks would have incurred significant profit loss. The banks were politically strong enough to persuade the political leaders. With restructuring off the table, other European nations reluctantly prepared to give Greece a flimsy string of a lifeline. Germany remained recalcitrant. Joined by the menacing troll known as the IMF, Germany wanted Greece to imbibe debtor’s hemlock by cutting government spending, freezing wages and raising taxes. Greece was to amputate more than 10 percent of its spending overnight. The measures it wanted Greece to adopt were beyond austere. They were draconian and would have ushered the nation into a decade or more of stagnation and possible depression. The Greek public literally rebelled at the prospect of being subjected to the type of emergency package usually hoisted on third world debtors. This attempted dose of creditor vengeance moved Greece breathtakingly close to the political and economic brink.

At the eleventh hour, the one trillion dollar EU/IMF bailout was cobbled together. Germany was persuaded the fall of Greece and the other nations would crimp German’s export driven economy. Financial contraction in these nations would shrink demand for German goods and thus slow the German economy. Despite initial moralizing about debtors paying what they owe, Germany begrudgingly realized it would incur great costs if Greece and others were forced to materially throttle their economies in order to pay debts. To keep the eurozone alive and thus continue reaping advantage from this regional free trade zone, Germany would have to apply some of its surplus to bolster the debtor nations from which much of the German surplus was derived in any case. This was poetic justice born of economic reason.

For a moment, markets rebounded because the precipice had been avoided. The euphoria was as deprived of value as a Greek treasury bond. When people examined the fine print, the workout was less than what first met the eye. The bailout is contingent on Greece and the others enacting significant deficit reduction measures. Exactly how much is significant appears left to chance. If the agreement is but softer, euphemistic language demanding the same brutal cuts that sparked last week’s riots, the EU just wasted a lot of people’s time. The proposed cuts are politically untenable. Any government that attempts them will find itself voted out at the next turn. While waiting to be run out of office, it will be busy staring social unrest squarely in the face.

More importantly, the bailout does not address the glaring inconsistency in the eurozone. Unless the vast gap between the fundamentals of German’s economic trajectory and the debtor quartet’s path is resolved, the eurozone will be likened to an aircraft with its nose and aft moving toward separate destinations. Dismantlement of the zone will become an inevitability like the rising of the moon.

The world financial system and the global real economy rest precariously on flawed recovery measures, themselves in need of rescue. Although the year 2008 is twice removed, the crisis it reckoned into our lives remains with us. The measures taken then to protect private banks saved them but did not reform them. They are back to their tricks of massive speculation and arbitrage that add nothing to economic productivity or genuine wealth. Now, the EU/IMF, with a little help for the American Federal Reserve, have papered over the fundamental inconsistency in the eurozone. Crises have been averted but not their causes. Beasts have been feed but not tamed or destroyed. They are bound to return but government’s ability to toss money at them is not boundless. Tough decisions about Germany’s role as the adhesive holding the eurozone together must be made. This means German will have to sacrifice its policy of economic maximization to some extent in order to enhance its political leadership.

Critical lessons are to be drawn from this episode. Those who believed the financial crisis is gone better think again. It is a predator lurking in the shadows. The international financial system is as vulnerable to shock and rapid diminution as it was the day before the 2008 crisis erupted. Great prudence is required to prevent a massive aftershock that in the injury exacted would be indistinguishable from the initial quake.

This episode also brings into question the propriety of establishing a monetary zone comprised of a large number of nations of significantly different sizes, economic characteristics and political cultures. The eurozone was formed at a time of relative economic bliss. All was optimism. Thus, its structures were not designed in contemplation of dealing with a situation where the very fundamentals of key members’ economies become diametrically opposed. The events should force any region or nation contemplating a large monetary union to pause and ask if this is the right approach.

Nigeria and Africa should not too soon forget 2008 by allowing its financial systems to become arenas of speculation and brusque profiteering. The natural tendency is for investors to believe the storm is over. They will want to get back into the game, eager to recoup what was previously lost. Any sign that markets are again firm and lucrative will be over-read. This is how post-crisis bubbles are made and twin crises are born. The recent drama warns us the evil spirits are still on the loose. Countries allowing their financial systems to sprint unguarded will almost dash into trouble. There was almost a Greek tragedy this time. There is no need to have an African one. We have been warned.