Celebrating the legend of Lincoln

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

All around the country Americans are celebrating the birthday of one of the most historical American political figures, Abraham Lincoln.

The Capitol held its own Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration, today, with President Barack Obama making an appearance to pay his respects to a man he said “made America’s story possible.”

President Obama said: “What Lincoln never forgot, not even in the midst of civil war, was that despite all that divides us - north and south, black and white - we were, at the heart, one nation and one people, sharing a bond as Americans that could bend but would not break...I feel great gratitude to this singular figure who in so many ways made my own story possible, and in so many ways made America’s story possible.”

Other politicians who spoke at the ceremony were Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-Ill), Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky), Representative Jesse Jackson Jnr. (D-Ill) and Representative Donald Manzullo (R-Ill).

The large audience, that filled the Rotunda in the U.S. Captiol, also heard tributes to the former President from Harold Holzer Co-chair of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Richard Norton Smith, Former Executive Director of the Lincoln Presidential Library and Presidential historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin.

In the closing statement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said: “Let us take our lead from Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln knew that the preservation of the union was a fight for the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. As he said ‘At stake was not just the future of our nation, but the future of people throughout the world’.”

Endless delay won’t get the job done

President Barack Obama spoke at a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

After losing nearly 600,000 jobs in the past month alone, the President said that, “We’ve had a good debate.  Now it’s time to act.  That’s why I am calling on Congress to pass this bill immediately.  Folks here in Elkhart and across America need help right now, and they can’t afford to keep on waiting for folks in Washington to get this done.”

Some of the critics of the bill say that jobs being created will only be government jobs, but according to the President, nearly 80,000 jobs will be created in Indiana and more than 90% of those will be in the private sector.

During the question and answer session, people wanted to know where the money will be going, and the President said that a website will be created at recovery.gov which will give people a report on how the money is being spent.

The President said that “I also can’t tell you with one hundred percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope.  But I can tell you with complete confidence that endless delay or paralysis in Washington in the face of this crisis will bring only deepening disaster.”

The President wants tax-cuts to go to the middle class and said that, “When you give a tax break to working families they will spend it,” and “When you give it to the wealthier families they just put it away somewhere, so it’s not circulating in the economy.”

“We know that even with this plan, the road ahead won’t be easy.  This crisis has been a long time in the making, and we know that we cannot turn it around overnight.  Recovery will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months.  But we also know that our economy will be stronger for generations to come if we commit ourselves to the work that needs to be done today.  And being here in Elkhart, I am more confident than ever before that we will get where we need to be.” said President Obama.

by Suzia van Swol, Talk Radio News Service-University of New Mexico

Republican Party Needs To Roll Forward Not Back

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser for the 2008 McCain Presidential Campaign; Jim Pinkerton, senior adviser for the 2009 Huckabee Presidential Campaign, former domestic policy aide to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and contributor to Fox News; Reihan Salam, fellow at NAF and author of "Grand New Party: How Conservatives Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream"; and David Gray, director at the Workforce and Family Program at NAF met today to discuss how the Republican Party can move on from their 2008, Presidential, election defeat.

David Gray opened the debate by asking the panel how the Republican Party needed to reflect on their 2008 performance. There was mixed consensus amongst the panel as Douglas Holtz-Eakin focused on the economy as being the downfall for the Party in the election campaign.

Holtz-Eakin said, "Right after the convention we were leading in the polls and then the wall street breakdown occurred. Then people started to look backwards." He claimed that in the election the Republican's lost every age group except the 85 and over, every minority group, working woman and college students.

Jim Pinkerton also blamed the economy, stating he felt the "recovery plan was a bad move," adding that "on competence the Republican Party deserved to lose." Describing how he felt , he said the party should "move forward" from their defeat. Adding, "I would advise the Republicans to fight global warming and fight tax increases to the death." Pinkerton also claimed that national security would have to be an key issue for the Republicans.

Reihan Salam said that concentrating on global issues would hep the Republican Party progress. He said: "the Republicans need to think outside the box purely in carbon price."

Holtz-Eakin further said that the Republican defeat had led some conservatives to believe that a return to the "Reagan handbook" would help the party. "I think the party is at a significant moment and replaying the 1980's handbook would not be useful." Holtz-Eakin insists that the party should move forward instead if looking back. He said, "we need to be more appealing to a wider demographic. We need to have a message for urban areas. We have to restore the integrity."

Holtz-Eakin also blamed mixed messages among the electorate for creating a downturn in Republican support in the election. In order for the Republican party to move forward Holtz-Eakin suggested, "we need to be for education reform...we need to send the message that we are here for the kids of America." He concluded saying, "you have to have a role for government, you have to be proud if it and the Republicans need to define that role."

Speaker Pelosi says- No recess until the economic bill is done.

“The issues like food stamps, and unemployment insurance, which affect so many people in the states and are necessary at this time when funds are short, but the economy is down, actually have the most stimulative affect on the economy,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a conference call with Governors Ed Rendell (D-PA) and Jim Douglas (R-VT). The house will begin debating the 825 billion dollar economic recovery bill today, 2/3 of which will go towards job recovery while the rest is proposed to be used for tax cuts. Speaker Pelosi said that, “Tax cuts where we have them, to the middle class, we think will give us our biggest return.”

The aim of the new bill is to help the states as quickly as possible. “The best news for the local and county governments, because of what Speaker Pelosi and the President are doing, assuming it gets passed, is that the county governments and the city governments will be in much better shape in terms of the money that they get from the state,” said Governor Rendell.

“Does it create jobs, does it turn the economy around, does it lead to long term stabilization of the economy, does it do so in an apparent way and with great accountability to the American people,” said Speaker Pelosi. This bill is the first legislative step towards turning the economy around, and if it is not passed by the President’s day recess, Pelosi said that there will be no recess.

by Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Vilsack Sets Out Top Priorities for USDA

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

In a conference call today, Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack set out the key areas the American people can expect the USDA to focus on, under the new Obama administration.

The top priorities he identified included promoting a sustainable, safe, sufficient and nutritious food supply for all Americans and people around the world. He further stated that combating childhood obesity, enhanced healthy nutrition, and supporting research in the health care debate would be a key focus. Vilsack also announced that the USDA will work on achieving Obama's target to eliminate child hunger by 2015.

Vilsack identified that another key area the USDA will be working on under the new administration would be research development in additional bio-fuels. The USDA will support the survival of the bio-fuel industry whilst promoting policies that will speed up the development of second and third generation feedstocks for these bio-fuels and in turn increase the potential to secure America's energy security and independence. He will lead the USDA in it's efforts to adopt management practices that promote and provide clean air, clean water and wildlife habitat. The USDA aim to support the profitability of farmers and ranchers, developing markets that reward them for carbon sequestration and eliminating greenhouse gases.

Vilsack concluded by stating that: "We have some serious challenges and many opportunities to pursue here at the USDA. I am looking forward to working with the dedicated employees of the USDA and all the departments to fulfill President Obama's desire of effecting change, promoting a stronger, more vibrant and more economically viable royal America".