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		<title>Instant Breaking News - US Politics</title>
		<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/</link>
		<description>Instant Breaking News Articles</description>
		<language>en</language>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:55:18 -0500</pubDate>

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			<title>President Obama's New Twitter Feed</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Update: The White House began tweeting around noon Eastern time on Friday. There&rsquo;s also a new whitehouse profile on MySpace. T[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Update: The White House began tweeting around noon Eastern time on Friday. There&rsquo;s also a new whitehouse profile on MySpace. The usernames match those of the previously launched &ldquo;whitehouse&rdquo; accounts on YouTube and Flickr. The Obama administration has since announced its initiative as &ldquo;WhiteHouse 2.0.&rdquo;
Since the day Barack Obama took office as President, I&rsquo;ve urged him to keep up his eager use of Twitter. The fast-growing micro-blogging site had helped drive his campaign, both as a fundraising tool and as proof that the candidate had a firm grasp of the new, participatory Internet. But Mr. Obama&rsquo;s Twitter feed has only been updated twice since he took office on January 20th.
Good news: He&rsquo;ll be back, and soon, this time at twitter.com/whitehouse. What&rsquo;s funny is that the President&rsquo;s new feed has been hiding in plain sight since January: &ldquo;Welcome to the official Twitter page of the White House.&rdquo; Here&rsquo;s a screenshot from Thursday afternoon:
&nbsp;

&nbsp;









President Obama&rsquo;s staff is in the process of migrating his Twitter username from the campaign&rsquo;s &ldquo;BarackObama&rdquo; to the more Presidential &ldquo;whitehouse.&rdquo; The name change will allow White House staffers to do the President&rsquo;s tweeting for him without appearing disingenuous. The geeky use of all lowercase letters is a nice touch.
I&rsquo;ve been unable to confirm whether or not Mr. Obama will type some of the status updates himself. But even with two wars, an economic crisis and swine flu taking up his day, an occasional tweet from the world&rsquo;s best-known BlackBerry user would be a quick, easy, Web 2.0 version of FDR&rsquo;s fireside chats. I&rsquo;ve already clicked in my follow request.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/742/President_Obama's_New_Twitter_Feed</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/742/President_Obama's_New_Twitter_Feed</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2009 07:27:41 -0400</pubDate>
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			<title>Fidel Castro Says Obama Got It Wrong</title>
			<description><![CDATA[HAVANA -- Fidel Castro said Tuesday that President Obama &quot;misinterpreted&quot; his brother Raul's sentiments toward the United States and bristle[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[HAVANA -- Fidel Castro said Tuesday that President Obama &quot;misinterpreted&quot; his brother Raul's sentiments toward the United States and bristled at any suggestion Cuba should free political prisoners or reduce official fees on money sent to the island from the U.S.
Raul Castro touched off a whirlwind of speculation that the U.S. and Cuba could be headed toward a thaw in nearly a half-century of chilly relations last week, when he said Cuban leaders would be willing to sit down with their U.S. counterparts and discuss &quot;everything,&quot; including human rights, freedom of the press and expression, and political prisoners on the island.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she welcomed the &quot;overture,&quot; while Obama responded at the Summit of the Americas by saying Washington seeks a new beginning with Cuba. But he also said that Cuba should release some political prisoners and reduce official taxes on remittances from the U.S. as a sign of good will.&nbsp;
That appeared to enrage Fidel Castro, 82, who wrote in an essay posted on a government Web site that Obama &quot;without a doubt misinterpreted Raul's declarations.&quot;
The former president appeared to be throwing a dose of cold water on growing expectations for improved bilateral relations &mdash; suggesting Obama had no right to dare suggest that Cuba make even small concessions. He also seemed to suggest too much was being made of Raul's comments about discussing &quot;everything&quot; with U.S. authorities.
&quot;Affirming that the president of Cuba is ready to discuss any topic with the president of the United States expresses that he's not afraid to broach any subject,&quot; Fidel Castro wrote of his 77-year-old brother, who succeeded him as president 14 months ago.
&quot;It's a sign of bravery and confidence in the principles of the revolution,&quot; he said, referring to the rebel uprising that toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista and brought the Castros to power on New Year's Day 1959.
&quot;Nobody should assume that he was talking about pardoning those sentenced in March 2003 and sending all of them to the United States, if the country were willing to liberate the five Cuban anti-terrorist heroes,&quot; Castro wrote.
He was referring to 75 leading political opposition leaders who were rounded up and imprisoned six years ago. Some 54 of them remain behind bars, though Raul Castro suggested last year that Cuba would be willing to liberate some political prisoners if U.S. authorities would free five imprisoned Cuban spies.
Castro compared the prisoners arrested in 2003 to exiles who attacked the island's southern coast during the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and said they were &quot;at the service of a foreign power that threatens and blockades our country,&quot; referring to charges they conspired with Washington to destabilize the communist system.
The ex-president had previously expressed his admiration for Obama, but this time Castro blasted the new U.S. president for showing signs of &quot;superficiality.&quot;
He also defended Cuba's right to levy a 10 percent fee on every U.S. dollar sent to relatives on the island by Cuban-Americans, saying if the money arriving from abroad &quot;is in dollars, all the more reason we should do it because it is the currency of the country that blockades us.&quot;
All top Cuban leaders routinely call the 47-year-old trade embargo against this country a blockade.
&quot;Not all Cubans have family members overseas that send remittances,&quot; Castro said, adding that Cuba uses the revenue from fees on exchanging dollars to provide free health care, education and subsidized food to all of its population.

Courtesy of Foxnews.com]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/699/Fidel_Castro_Says_Obama_Got_It_Wrong</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/699/Fidel_Castro_Says_Obama_Got_It_Wrong</guid>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:05:20 -0400</pubDate>
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			<title>Obama Calls for Swift Move To High-Speed Rail System</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 2:11 p.m.


&nbsp;

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack&nbsp;Obama called Thursday for the country to move swiftly to[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 2:11 p.m.


&nbsp;

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack&nbsp;Obama called Thursday for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air and save on energy.


Appearing with Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood,&nbsp;Obama said the country cannot afford not to invest in a major upgrade to rail travel. He said he understands it necessarily will be &quot;a long-term project&quot; but said the time to start is now.

The president allocated $8 billion in the enormous $787 billion economic stimulus spending package for a start on establishing high-speed&nbsp;rail corridors nationwide. A White House list of possible corridors includes one that would be centered in Chicago with Ohio stops in Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Obama said, &quot;This is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It's happening now. The problem is, it's happening elsewhere.&quot; He cited superior high-speed rail travel in countries like China, Japan, France and Spain.

The&nbsp;rail upgrades are critically needed, Obama said, because the nation's highways and airways &quot;are clogged with traffic.&quot;

The money will go not only to high-speed&nbsp;rail development but also to a parallel effort to improve rail service along existing lines - upgrades that would allow faster train travel.

The White House said funding will move into the&nbsp;rail system through three channels, first to upgrade projects already approved and only in need of funding, thus providing jobs in the short term. The second and third would focus on high-speed rail planning and then a commitment to help in the execution of those plans far into the future when the stimulus funds are no longer available.

Transportation Department officials say about six proposed routes with federal approval for high-speed&nbsp;rail stand a good chance of getting some of the $8 billion award. The spurs include parts of Texas, Florida, the Chicago region, and southeast routes through North Carolina and Louisiana.

The U.S. Federal&nbsp;Railroad Administration says the term high-speed rail applies to trains traveling more than 90 mph. The European Union standard is above 125 mph.

Many overseas bullet trains - most powered by overhead electricity lines - run faster than that. In France, for example, the TGV (&quot;Train a Grande Vitesse&quot;) covers the 250 miles between Paris and Lyon in one hour, 55 minutes at an average speed of about 133 mph.

In Japan, which opened the first high-speed&nbsp;rail in the 1960s and carries more passengers than any other country, the Japanese Shinkansen trains hurtle through the countryside at an average of about 180 mph.

Super-fast trains also run in Germany, Spain and China, at speeds up to 140 mph, according to a 2007 survey in the trade publication&nbsp;Railway Gazette.

The only&nbsp;rail service that qualifies under America's lower high-speed standard is Amtrak's 9-year-old Acela Express route connecting Boston to Washington, D.C.

The trains are built to reach speeds up to 150 mph, but only average about 80 mph because of curving tracks and slower-moving freight and passenger trains that share the route. On the densely traveled line from New York City to the nation's capital, the Acela arrives just about 20 minutes earlier than standard service, at more than twice the cost during peak travel times.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/648/Obama_Calls_for_Swift_Move_To_High-Speed_Rail_System__</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/648/Obama_Calls_for_Swift_Move_To_High-Speed_Rail_System__</guid>
			<pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:10:11 -0400</pubDate>
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			<title>What Obama Paid in Taxes</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Taxes are the pits, but at least they don't discriminate&nbsp;&mdash; everybody has to  pay 'em. And that includes the leader of the free world and[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Taxes are the pits, but at least they don't discriminate&nbsp;&mdash; everybody has to  pay 'em. And that includes the leader of the free world and his right-hand  man.
The tax returns for President  Obama and Vice  President Biden were recently released to the public. Quicker than you can  say &quot;spread the wealth,&quot; searches on both documents skyrocketed.
Now, normally tax returns don't inspire a lot of buzz. But when it's the  Obamas' and the Bidens', the 1040s are actually pretty interesting. According to  an article from Reuters,  President Obama (who filed jointly with his wife, Michelle), reported an  adjusted gross income of $2,656,902. They paid roughly $855,000 in federal  income taxes and almost $78,000 in state income taxes.
Now hold up&mdash;since when do (honest) politicians make millions of dollars?  Well, normally they don't. But Mr. Obama is also a best-selling author. The  majority of his 2008 income came from sales of his two memoirs, &quot;Dreams  of My Father&quot; and &quot;The  Audacity of Hope.&quot; Interestingly, the Obamas' income took a substantial drop  in 2008. According to Fox  News, the couple actually pulled in $4.2 million in 2007.
In comparison to his boss's return, Vice President Biden's 1040 looked  downright modest. The VP and his wife reported an income of $269,256 for 2008.  That's roughly a tenth of what the Obamas declared. Still, a good portion of  that came from sales of Mr. Biden's memoir, &quot;Promises to Keep.&quot; UPI  reports that the Bidens reported donations of $1,885 to charity in 2008, but  the White House notes that the Bidens made additional donations to their church  that weren't included (lest you think they're stingy).
If you'd like to take a gander at the actual tax returns, you can click  here for the Obamas', and here  for the Bidens'.]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/644/What_Obama_Paid_in_Taxes</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/644/What_Obama_Paid_in_Taxes</guid>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:59:12 -0400</pubDate>
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			<title>Gates to Cut Spending on F-22 Figher Jet</title>
			<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates is proposing deep cuts to some big weapons programs such as the F-22 fighter jet as the Pentagon takes a[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates is proposing deep cuts to some big weapons programs such as the F-22 fighter jet as the Pentagon takes a hard look at how it spends money.&nbsp;

Gates announced a broad range of cuts Monday to weapons spending, saying he plans to cut programs ranging from a new helicopter for the president to ending production of the $140 billion F-22 fighter jet. The Army's modernization program would be scaled back, while a new satellite system and a search-and-rescue helicopter would be cut.&nbsp;
Gates says his budget will &quot;profoundly reform&quot; the way the Pentagon buys weapons and does business.&nbsp;
To fight new threats from insurgents, Gates is proposing more funding for special forces and other tools.]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/612/Gates_to_Cut_Spending_on_F-22_Figher_Jet</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/612/Gates_to_Cut_Spending_on_F-22_Figher_Jet</guid>
			<pubDate>Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:56:24 -0400</pubDate>
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			<title>Legalizing Marijuana To Help California's Economy?</title>
			<description><![CDATA[Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legisla[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale - a move that could mean billions of dollars for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
&nbsp;
&quot;The state of California is in a very, very precipitous economic plight. It's in the toilet,&quot; says Ammiano. &quot;It looks very, very bleak, with layoffs and foreclosures, and schools closing or trying to operate four days a week. We have one of the highest rates of unemployment we've ever had. With any revenue ideas, people say you have to think outside the box, you have to be creative, and I feel that the issue of the decriminalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana fits that bill. It's not new, the idea has been around, and the political will may in fact be there to make something happen.&quot;
&nbsp;
Ammiano may be right. A few days after he introduced the bill, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that states should be able to make their own rules for medical marijuana and that federal raids on pot dispensaries in California would cease. The move signaled a softening of the hard-line approach to medicinal pot use previous Administrations have taken. The nomination of Gil Kerlikowske as the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy may also signal a softer federal line on marijuana. If he is confirmed as the so-called drug czar, Kerlikowske will take with him experience as police chief of Seattle, where he made it clear that going after people for possessing marijuana was not a priority for his force.
&nbsp;
In 1996 California became one of the first states in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. Currently, $200 million in medical-marijuana sales are subject to sales tax. If passed, the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (AB 390) would give California control of pot in a manner similar to that of alcohol while prohibiting its purchase by citizens under age 21. (The bill has been referred to the California state assembly's public-safety and health committees; Ammiano says it could take up to a year before it comes to a vote for passage.) State revenues would be derived from a $50-per-oz. levy on retail sales of marijuana and sales taxes. By adopting the law, California could become a model for other states. As Ammiano put it, &quot;How California goes, the country goes.&quot;
&nbsp;
Despite the need for the projected revenue, opponents say legalizing pot would only add to social woes. &quot;The last thing we need is yet another mind-altering substance to be legalized,&quot; says John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Peace Officers' Association. &quot;We have enough problems with alcohol and abuse of pharmaceutical products. Do we really need to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?&quot; Lovell says the easy availability of the drug would lead to a surge in its use, much as happened when alcohol was allowed to be sold in venues other than liquor stores in some states.
&nbsp;
Joel W. Hay, professor of pharmaceutical economics at USC, also foresees harm if the bill passes. &quot;Marijuana is a drug that clouds people's judgment. It affects their ability to concentrate and react, and it certainly has impacts on third parties,&quot; says Hay, who has written on the societal costs of drug abuse. &quot;It's one more drug that will add to the toll on society. All we have to do is look at the two legalized drugs, tobacco and alcohol, and look at the carnage that they've caused. [Marijuana] is a dangerous drug, and it causes bad outcomes for both the people who use it and for the people who are in their way at work or other activities.&quot; He adds, &quot;There are probably some responsible people who can handle marijuana, but there are lots of people who can't, and it has an enormous negative impact on them, their family and loved ones.&quot;
&nbsp;
In response, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray, a longtime proponent of legalization, estimates that legalizing pot and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute and imprison nonviolent offenders could save the state $1 billion a year. &quot;We couldn't make this drug any more available if we tried,&quot; he says. &quot;Not only do we have those problems, along with glamorizing it by making it illegal, but we also have the crime and corruption that go along with it.&quot; He adds, &quot;Unfortunately, every society in the history of mankind has had some form of mind-altering, sometimes addictive substances to use, to misuse, abuse or get addicted to. Get used to it. They're here to stay. So let's try to reduce those harms, and right now we couldn't do it worse if we tried.&quot;
By ALISON STATEMAN]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/573/Legalizing_Marijuana_To_Help_California's_Economy?</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/573/Legalizing_Marijuana_To_Help_California's_Economy?</guid>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:51:42 -0400</pubDate>
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			<title>Geithner seeks new powers over financial companies</title>
			<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON &ndash; Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called on Congress Tuesday to grant him new powers to regulate huge financial companies like in[...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[WASHINGTON &ndash; Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called on Congress Tuesday to grant him new powers to regulate huge financial companies like insurance giant AIG, whose failure would pose a grave danger to the U.S. financial system and the broader economy.
Specifically, Geithner wants powers similar to those of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which has authority to seize control of banks, take over their bad assets and sell good ones to competitors.

&quot;AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system,&quot; Geithner told the House Financial Services Committee. &quot;We must ensure that our country never faces this situation again.&quot;
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, appearing with Geithner, agreed. He said the government's bailout of troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc. underscores the urgent need to safely wind down financial giants on the verge of collapse and subject them to much stronger regulatory oversight.

Much of the discussion centered on ways to help the government better deal with future AIG-like companies whose failure could devastate the financial system and the drag down the economy.
Geithner made it clear he believes the treasury secretary should be granted unprecedented power, after consultation with Federal Reserve Board officials, to take control of a major financial institution and run it. The treasury chief is an official of the administration, unlike the FDIC, which is an independent regulatory agency.

Bernanke and Geithner were braced for a scolding before lawmakers over the handling of bonuses at American International Group Inc., which has become a symbol of reckless risk-taking on Wall Street.

For his part, the Fed chief said he wanted to sue to stop insurance giant AIG from paying millions in bonuses, but lawyers advised against doing so.
AIG is a globally interconnected colossus, with 74 million customers worldwide and operations in more than 130 countries. The government decided it was simply too big to let fail.

&quot;Its failure could have resulted in a 1930s-style global financial and economic meltdown, with catastrophic implications for production, income and jobs,&quot; Bernanke told the panel.
As a result, the government has bailed out AIG four times, to the tune of more than $180 billion altogether. The company recently paid at least $165 million in bonuses to employees who worked in the financial products division that has been blamed for its near-collapse. The bonuses came even as AIG reported a stunning $62 billion loss, the biggest in U.S. corporate history.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday that 15 employees who received some of the largest bonuses from AIG have agreed to return them in full, totaling about $50 million.
Bernanke said it was &quot;highly inappropriate to pay substantial bonuses&quot; to the employees. Bernanke said he asked that the payments be stopped but was told that they were mandated by contracts agreed to before the government seized control of AIG on September 16.
&quot;I then asked that suit be filed to prevent the payments,&quot; he said. Bernanke said that his legal staff counseled against this action on the grounds that Connecticut law provided for substantial punitive damages in the event any such suit failed. AIG's financial products division has a base in Connecticut.

AIG's decision to pay millions in bonuses has created a public relations headache for President Barack Obama at a time when he is trying to gin up public and political support for his economic policies, bank-rescue plan and overhaul of the nation's regulatory structure.
The FDIC-like powers being sought by Geithner would allow the treasury secretary to set up a conservator ship or receivership for a failing financial company. The government would have the power to take control of the firm and sell or transfer parts of it to reduce its risky position.

The secretary also would be allowed to make loans, buy assets, guarantee loans and make equity stakes to help stabilize the company. Importantly, Geithner said the government would have the power to &quot;renegotiate or repudiate&quot; a company's contracts, including those with its employees.
If such powers were in place last year, the government argues, it could have used them to better handle AIG and Bear Stearns, which were bailed out by the government, and Lehman Brothers, which wasn't rescued and was forced into bankruptcy. 

Government bailouts of AIG, Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and others have put billions of taxpayers' dollars at risk over the past year and have angered the American public.

Courtesy of news.yahoo.com]]></content:encoded>			<link>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/556/Geithner_seeks_new_powers_over_financial_companies</link>
			<guid>http://www.instantbreakingnews.com/article/556/Geithner_seeks_new_powers_over_financial_companies</guid>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:30:45 -0400</pubDate>
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