NBA all-stars joined President Barack Obama on Sunday to entertain wounded troops

WASHINGTON LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and other NBA all-stars joined President Barack Obama on Sunday to entertain wounded troops.The basketball superstars were joined by some retired legends, including Bill Russell and Magic Johnson. College player Maya Moore of the Connecticut Huskies women’s team also played.

The game was played for a group of “wounded warriors” – troops injured in action – and participants in the White House’s mentoring program.The action took place at a gym inside Washington’s Fort McNair, a short drive from the White House. The president was inside the gym for about two hours. (AP)

happy birthdays Mr. president barrack Obama , god bless you

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama is heading home to Chicago to celebrate his 49th birthday on Wednesday.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama’s birthday plans include having dinner with friends there and spending the night in his own house in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood.Obama hasn’t shied away from talking about his birthday, noting that his hair is getting more gray and his metabolism is slowing down as another year passes. Gibbs says that while there’s no doubt that the presidency comes with enormous physical and mental strain, Obama “greatly enjoys” the job.Obama is traveling to Chicago Wednesday and Thursday to tour an auto plant and attend Democratic fundraisers, returning Thursday night to Washington.

He won’t, however, be with his family, spending his birthday instead as a bachelor.First lady Michelle Obama is taking their youngest daughter, Sasha, to Spain this week and their other daughter, Malia, is away at camp. Gibbs demurred when asked if it was a source of Obama family tension that the president was celebrating his birthday without them.

“They’ll all be back together soon,” the press secretary said diplomatically.Meanwhile, the president’s birthday – though a year shy of the Big 50 milestone – is being used in this election year as a prime fundraising opportunity for Democratic candidates and party organizations, through mailings, e-mails, parties and other birthday-themed outreach.(AP)

viva Obama , happy birthdays Mr. president barrack Obama , god bless you . 😀

President Barack Obama is thanking senators for acting to restore unemployment benefits to 2.5 million people

WASHINGTON  President Barack Obama is thanking senators for acting to restore unemployment benefits to 2.5 million people who began losing their checks weeks ago.Senators voted 60-40 to overcome Republican delaying tactics and clear the way for a final vote later Tuesday.

Three earlier votes to move the bill had stalled. Republicans want the spending to be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget and Obama wants to continue treating the extension as emergency spending, meaning it will increase the deficit.Tuesday’s vote came after Carte Goodwin was sworn in to the Senate to succeed West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, who died last month.Obama had accused Republicans of holding the unemployed hostage through obstruction and game playing.(AP)

Obama, you went back on your promise to promote family values,said Michael Chavez of Houston

Opponents of Arizona’s new immigration law had a message for President Barack Obama at a rally Saturday at the Capitol in Austin.”Obama, you went back on your promise to promote family values,” said Michael Chavez of Houston.
“Deporting and separating family members is not an American value,” he said. Arizona’s immigration law, known as SB 1070, makes being an illegal immigrant a state crime and requires legal immigrants to carry papers that confirm their legal status.

Chavez, a veteran, said that people should remember Mexican immigrants are fighting for the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Several generations of his family have fought for the United States, including his grandfather, who fought in World War II, and his son, who just returned from Iraq, he said.The rally  National Day of Action Against SB 1070  drew a few hundred people, in contrast to the thousands of people who attended a rally at the Capitol against SB 1070 on May 1.

Many supporters in Austin went to Phoenix to participate in the protest there Saturday, said Amalia Martinez, a member of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition.Speakers at the rally said Obama should have already pushed the immigration reform he promised in his campaign through Congress.”If he wants to be re-elected, he needs to stop SB 1070,” Martinez said.

People from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and even Phoenix came to the rally in Austin.Justine Hecht said she and her boyfriend, Joe Sawinski, both from Phoenix, were just passing through Austin on a trip when they decided to come to the rally.They had already protested against the law in Arizona, but they said it was easier to express their views in Austin.”There’s just so much tension in Arizona right now,” Hecht said.

About 11 members from the Southwest Public Workers Union in San Antonio attended the rally, including Chavel Lopez, who said the Arizona law is racist.Jeff Gillum, who also attended the rally, said he supported Arizona’s law.”Immigrants have put a drain on health care and law enforcement,” Gillum said.The Austin City Council decided May 13 to end its business and travel ties with Arizona to protest the new law.Speakers at Austin’s rally Saturday said some Texas state legislators wanted to pass the same law as Arizona.”We will stop it in Texas, and we will stop it in Arizona,” said Gloria Rubac of Houston.”This is a civil rights issue for all of us.”

President Barack Obama will deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexican border and request $500 million

President Barack Obama will deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexican border and request $500 million for enhanced border protection, an administration official said on Tuesday.The troops will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, intelligence analysis, immediate support to counternarcotics enforcement and training capacity until Customs and Border Patrol can recruit and train more officers and agents to serve along the frontier.The funds will be used to enhance technology at the border and share information and support between law enforcement agencies as they target illegal trafficking in people, drugs, weapons and money.

The immigration issue has been a subject of intense focus in Washington, with Obama calling for comprehensive reform, and speaking out against a tough new law in the border state of Arizona.The issue also was a focus of a state visit to Washington last week by Mexican President Felipe Calderon.(Reuters)

Obama ramps up criticism of Arizona immigration law

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama stepped up his criticism of Arizona’s controversial immigration law Wednesday, calling it “misdirected” and warning that it has the potential to be applied in a discriminatory fashion.Speaking at a joint news conference with Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon, Obama called for overhauling the nation’s immigration laws and said that can’t be done unless Republicans support it.

The controversy over the Arizona law, which would make it a state crime to be in the country illegally, hung over Calderon’s visit. Both leaders oppose the law, with Obama directing the Justice Department to review it for possible civil rights violations, and Calderon’s government issuing a travel warning for Arizona, out of concern that Mexicans face an adverse political environment there.

Calderon made good on his pledge to take up the immigration issue during his meetings with Obama. He said the Arizona law criminalized migration and could encourage discrimination. He also called for the U.S. and Mexico to work together to solve the complex, politically sensitive immigration issue.”We can do so if we create a safer border, a border that will unite us instead of dividing us, uniting our people,” Calderon said. “We can do so with a community that will promote a dignified life in an orderly way for both our countries.”

Almost twice as many people support the Arizona law as those who oppose it, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll this month. It found that 42 percent favored it, 24 percent opposed it and another 29 percent said they were neutral.Obama has asked the Justice Department to review the law for possible civil rights violations. He said Wednesday that he expects a final review soon, after which his administration will decide how to approach the law.

Obama has promised to start work on an immigration overhaul, but he’s also warned that Congress may not have the appetite to take on the sensitive issue this year. He said Wednesday that he can’t get the 60 votes he would need in the Senate to pass an immigration bill unless some Republicans step forward. That Republican support could be hard to come by for Obama in an election year.Obama also reaffirmed his commitment to Calderon’s offensive in the deadly drug wars that have affected both sides of the border, saying he admired Calderon’s courage in taking on the drug traffickers and cartels that have created a public safety crisis.

“This is not just an issue of the drug trade,” Obama said. “This is an issue of how is it affecting people’s day-to-day lives in Mexico.”More than 22,700 people have been killed since Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police across the country in December 2006 in an offensive against drug traffickers.

Obama said the U.S. has an obligation to deal with the demand for drugs in this country that has helped fuel the drug violence, a stance that has won Obama praise from the Mexican government.The two leaders spoke during a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden following a private meeting. Obama will host Calderon at a state dinner Wednesday night.(AP)

Obama suddenly lose 'appetite' over Arizona bill opposition?

Stating that he doesn’t want to press his opposition to Arizona’s new immigration bill “for the sake of politics,” President Obama has softened his “misguided” comments and backed off any High Noon-style confrontation.Did the president really lose his taste for the issue or did he fear that he and the Democratic Party were about to lose their lunch and their political futures over what could only turn out to be a heated and derisive issue?

It appears that a no-win situation was arising that could only bolster opposition to and anger at the administration’s already unpopular positions.Ironically, Mr. Obama’s quick draw comments about Arizona’s bill have forced him to head for the political hills, and will assuredly ruffle many Hispanic feathers.

But judging from polls and the fear of a backlash over upcoming protests, the president has perhaps done the right thing for the moment. His initial comments only stirred the pot, hardened hearts and brought out old hatreds.Yes, the prospect of thousands of illegal immigrants protesting against established federal and state laws would not sit well with most Americans.

It is obvious that President Obama does EVERYTHING for the sake of politics, and his backing down proves it. He knows he cannot win on this issue (at least for the moment) and he has done the wise thing politically.We all know by now that Mr. Obama is not a dumb man. He picks his spots. Liberals can rest assured that he will be back on his horse championing amnesty, no borders, free health care for illegal’s and other liberal issues once again. Like they say: one step backward, two steps forward.

President Barack Obama said that Congress needs to enact comprehensive financial reforms to protect consumers

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama said Saturday that Congress needs to enact comprehensive financial reforms to protect consumers, keep banks strong and ensure the U.S. economy doesn’t sink into another Great Depression.In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said “we need commonsense rules that will our allow markets to function fairly and freely while reining in the worst practices of the financial industry.”

That, he said, is the central lesson of the current financial crisis that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and nearly caused the collapse of the entire financial system.”And we fail to heed that lesson at our peril,” Obama said.

The Senate Banking Committee is set to begin debate on a more than 1,300-page bill authored by its chairman, Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., that would give the government unprecedented powers to split up firms that threaten the economy, force the industry to pay for its most spectacular failures and create an independent consumer watchdog.

Already, Obama said, industry lobbyists are gearing up to spend millions of dollars in an attempt to defeat the legislation.”In fact, the Republican leader in the House reportedly met with a top executive of one of America’s largest banks and made thwarting reform a key part of his party’s pitch for campaign contributions,” Obama said.The president said he remains a “vigorous defender” of free markets.

“But what we have seen over the past two years is that without reasonable and clear rules to check abuse and protect families, markets don’t function freely,” he said. (AP)