Projected deficit unsustainable and deplorable

"Auditors for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have stated repeatedly that Mr. Obama's steroidal spending levels and sky groping deficits are unsustainable. On March 20, an AP story reported that the Obama budget would produce $9.3 trillion in deficit spending in ten years. While history shows that most government spending sprees and programs quickly surpass their budget projections, the CBO has thrown down a gauntlet in stating that the Obama budget is 'unsustainable.'

"Meanwhile, Obama has left more than 140 thousand troops in Iraq where their death toll has began to rise under his clouded mission there, while ordering a surge in Afghan American troop levels as much of Europe and Canada retreats. Already he has requested billions more in extra spending to pay for his Afghan surge. Many Americans are no less than shocked by these reversals from what he said he would do during his campaign and what he is doing as President.

"According to the CBO, whose purpose is to analyse such national budgets, the dismal figures regarding Barack Obama's budget means that Obama's deficit spending will be four times larger than those of the Bush Presidency. A growing number of Americans are experiencing buyer's remorse over the Obama Administration and those who did not vote for him are becoming even more outspoken. While the Obama Administration has simply blamed the former administration to date for everything wrong from economics to agriculture, more Americans are viewing the unsustainable debt that Obama and the Democratic Party are incurring on behalf of the next generation as a horrific burden that is being kicked down the road to their children."

The Fray> Politics> Re: Just another Obama Lie.

"Like working to reduce of earmarks.

or not having any lobbyists in his administration,

or having the most open, transparent government - see stimulus bill

or having the most honest administration - see Tim Geithner

or not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000, uh, er, families, yeah familes making less than $250,000

or closing Gitmo - well, not now, um, well, er, 'where's that damned teleprompter', ask me next year.

or using government funding for the general election,

Face it, he's a liar, and will say anything his teleprompter, er, anything that works for him today.

If you take him at his word, your a bigger idiot, than......Hillary?"

"So who's the bigger fool, the empty suit, or the fool who voted for the empty suit?"

"But don't worry, George Soros is having a really good recession. You see he supported Obama, and he bet on the economy crashing. But wasn't that the same bet?"

Can I repeat that?

"But don't worry, George Soros is having a really good recession. You see he supported Obama, and he bet on the economy crashing. But wasn't that the same bet?"

Let me say again:

"But don't worry, George Soros is having a really good recession. You see he supported Obama, and he bet on the economy crashing. But wasn't that the same bet?"

George Soros bet on the horse in the race that would make him a winner. He makes money from recesssions. You think he wants to lose money in a recovery?

Obama vindicates Bush, again

"When will Barack Obama apologize to George Bush? He spent the entire campaign impugning Bush’ handling of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, claiming that they required access to federal courts and that military detentions were not necessary. On Friday, Obama took another big step towards Bush by deciding to fight a federal court that essentially endorsed Obama’s views on the campaign trail."

Obama Policy: Imperialism thru Democracy

Something from the far black left:

'So far, we haven’t seen much separation between Barack Obama and Bush 43. Obama isn’t going to address the Reparations question, and so-called black leaders do not want to rock his presidential boat."

and

"In order to become free, black workers must make the decision to be the conscious enemies of capitalism. Black workers, the little guys, must become giant killers. You want Reparations, my People, STAND UP!! Stand up, People. To hell with Obama, he is no black savior. Only the People united will never be defeated."

Biden Won't Comment On State Secrets Law He Once Co-Sponsored

"The Vice President's office is declining to weigh in on a bill that would restrict use of the 'state secrets privilege' by the Department of Justice, despite the fact that, as a senator, Joe Biden co-sponsored that very piece of legislation.

"'No comment on this from here,' emailed Jay Carney, the vice president's communications director, when asked for Biden's position on a bill that would limit DOJ's ability to dismiss cases against government officials involved in warrantless wiretapping on grounds that sensitive information would be publicized."

Love those comments:

"you are right, Obama promised change and he delivered, he changed into Dick Cheney."

What's Next?

"There is also the general buyer's remorse of those who thought that Obama would bring change, which he did. Just not the change that they had anticipated. I myself was hoping that last September when Obama was complaining about the deficits that Bush had created he would do something after he was elected. I just didn't realize that his complaint was that Bush didn't go far enough."

Obama's Latest Speech Dodges Campaign Promise to Small Businesses

"PETALUMA, Calif., April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yesterday, President Barack Obama gave a 60-minute speech to the nation regarding the state of the economy. His speech discussed the Obama Administration's five pillars for addressing the economy, however President Obama's plans for helping America's biggest job creators, its small businesses, were conspicuously absent.

"During the campaign, President Obama said he would create millions of jobs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 98 percent of all U.S. firms have less than 100 employees, and those firms are responsible for over 98 percent of all new jobs in America. (www.asbl.com)

"To date, President Obama has given 100 percent of the stimulus funds to the top 1 percent of American firms. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, those large firms have not created one net new job since 1977.

"In his March 22, 2009 column in the New York Times, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman wrote about President Obama's plan to save the economy and stated, 'This is more than disappointing. In fact, it fills me with a sense of despair.' In March, Krugman also stated that Obama's economic policies are almost certain to fail. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/opinion/23krugman.html?_r=1)

"Since 2003, over 15 federal investigations have found that hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 corporations and thousands of other large businesses in the United States and Europe. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

"Groups like the American Small Business League (ASBL) are angry with President Obama because of his refusal to make good on a February 2008 campaign promise in which he stated, 'It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.'(http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

"Small business owners around the country are angered and disappointed that President Obama has refused to make good on his campaign promise, and has allowed an estimated $2 billion a week in federal small business contracts to be diverted to some of the largest corporations in the world, including Fortune 500 firms.

"'You don't have to be a Nobel Prize winning economist to figure this out. Small businesses create 98 percent of all new jobs. So far, not only has President Obama not given those companies a dime of the stimulus funding, but he is refusing to end blatant, widespread fraud and abuse in existing government economic stimulus programs for small businesses,' ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said."

SOURCE American Small Business League

And Another One

"What you do have to say about Uncle Obama? He is just like Bush. What was the change?"

Yet Again, LOVE THOSE COMMENTS!

"Right, and you know what's troubling? Not a whole hell of a lot of outrage from my side. Depressing. Country before party."

"No doubt that talking about torture gives fuel to the extremists... after all, torture is wrong...
Obama and co should air it all and stop it unconditionally....... get it all out there and stop doing it... We are hypocrites unless we stop doing this.... I don't want anyone tortured in my name. It doesn't work and that has been adequately documented over the last couple of years. It cost us millions and lives to chase down bad intelligence coming from tortured and often innocent people. Many of the CIA rendition victims were fingered by tortured people and were innocent...
Get it all out, hold everyone accountable and , damnit, stop doing it."

"Well, guess Keith O will have a new President to rip into. I won't hold my breath."

"We have the absolute right to know what our government is doing. Informed citizens are the foundation of democracy and transparency is a fundamental ingredient. Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, Transparency, and Transparency"

(I suspect, and I may be wrong, he hints that he wants transparency.)

"Guess this means that more names need to be added to the list of U.S. war criminals. If President Obama refuses to issue these memos or go after the Bush administration, does that mean we should call for his impeachment too, as so many here called for President Bush's head? Or is he simply being practical, now having access to information he did not have before?"

"It (sic) thought we were through with the dark, secretive days of Bush. So much for change."

"Torture is a war crime under international law and the Geneva Conventions. If Obama doesn't fully release information regarding these crimes under the Freedom of Information Act, then he's decided to shield and hold above the law members of the Bush administration who ordered the use of torture as well as those who carried out those orders. If pirates who take captives at sea are not above the law, if Blago must face justice for 'pay-to-play' politics, if Iraq must be destroyed on trumped up evidence as an 'immient threat' to US national security, how is it that the Bush administration can be held above the law for the illegal use of torture? America is not exceptional, not above the rule of law; neither are former presidents and their administrations simply because they once sat in the Oval Office or worked for the Executive Branch. If Obama is banking on his poll numbers to help sweep this under the rug, he'll be disappointed. This a unique test of US leadership because it calls upon the President to demand accountability for actions in violation of international law from this nation's fromer President. And it is not only Obama supporters who strongly dissent with him on this issue who'll be watching -- the whole world will be watching."

"I agree. This is NOT like the war. If he continues in this, it's HIS crime. He can't unwind this over time. Still, I wish we could seat Franken first."

"Obama, of course, leaks his position on a day when the rightwing is making fools of themselves and the leftwing is laughing and the media is taking full advantage of the furor, making it an entertainment event of distraction. Obama is just another politician, a tool of the corporate masters of the universe and doing what is expedient for himself and them, and unless we flood the media with demands that they cover this story and not the nonsensical faux Fox TV/Gingrich/Armey staged circus, Bush and cohorts will retire freely with their $billion$ and torture of anybody will be the accepted standard of doing business in a 'free and democratic world.'"

"All hail the new world order, north american union and the amero."

Great Speech, Obama! But Still Wrong About The Problem

"Let's go to today's speech (annotated segments first, then full text):

'No one really knew what the actual value of [the mortgage-backed securities that the banks were making and buying was], but since the housing market was booming and prices were rising, banks and investors kept buying and selling them, always passing off the risk to someone else for a greater profit without having to take any of the responsibility. [TRUE] Banks took on more debt than they could handle. [TRUE] The government-chartered companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose traditional mandate was to help support traditional mortgages, decided to get in on the action by buying and holding billions of dollars of these securities. AIG, the biggest insurer in the world, decided to make profits by selling billions of dollars of complicated financial instruments that supposedly insured these securities. Everybody was making record profits – except the wealth created was real only on paper. And as the bubble grew, there was almost no accountability or oversight from anyone in Washington. [TRUE]

'Then the housing bubble burst. Home prices fell. People began defaulting on their subprime mortgages. The value of all those loans and securities plummeted. Banks and investors couldn’t find anyone to buy them. [TRUE, BUT WITH AN IMPORTANT QUALIFIER...'at the price banks wanted to sell them.' This is the whole problem in a nutshell. The banks can't sell the assets at prices the market is willing to pay, because then they'll be bankrupt. Thus, this whole canard about how prices are artificially low--a canard that Obama is unfortunately buying into. ] Greed gave way to fear. Investors pulled their money out of the market. Large financial institutions that didn’t have enough money on hand to pay off all their obligations collapsed. Other banks held on tight to the money they did have and simply stopped lending. [NOT TRUE. BANKS HAVE SLOWED LENDING AND TIGHTENED LENDING STANDARDS, BUT THEY HAVEN'T STOPPED LENDING]

'This is when the crisis spread from Wall Street to Main Street. After all, the ability to get a loan is how you finance the purchase of everything from a home to a car to a college education. It’s how stores stock their shelves, farms buy equipment, and businesses make payroll. So when banks stopped lending money, businesses started laying off workers. When laid off workers had less money to spend, businesses were forced to lay off even more workers. When people couldn’t get car loans, a bad situation at the auto companies became even worse. When people couldn’t get home loans, the crisis in the housing market only deepened. Because the infected securities were being traded worldwide and other nations also had weak regulations, this recession soon became global. And when other nations can’t afford to buy our goods, it slows our economy even further. [TRUE]

'...[T]he recovery plan has been the first step in confronting this economic crisis. The second step has been to heal our financial system so that credit is once again flowing to the businesses and families who rely on it.'"

Exclusive: Obama Attorney Threatens Distinguished Veteran on Obama Birth Certificate Issue: Why?

“I represent President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden. I write to request that, in light of the District Court’s March 24, 2009 Rule 11 order in Hollister v. Soetoro, No. 08-2254, you withdraw the appeal filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, No. 09-5080. For the reasons stated in Judge Robertson’s order, the suit is frivolous and should not be pursued.

"Should you decline to withdraw this frivolous appeal, please be informed that we intend to pursue sanctions, including costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees, pursuant to federal Rule Appellate Procedure 38 and D.C. Circuit Rule 38.”

Barack Obama and the African American Community: A Debate with Michael Eric Dyson and Glen Ford

"Does Barack Obama present a hope for dealing with African American issues? Or has he watered down his platform to appeal to white voters? Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson and veteran journalist Glen Ford debate. [includes rush transcript]"

Australia’s Top Earth Scientist Dismisses Global Warming Theories

"The settled ’science’ of man-made global warming is about to become very unsettled indeed."

Hoodwinked bamboozled or is Obama just a murderer?

"Nonetheless, Obama hatched a direct hit! he murdered those young men he was set up by the right wing and for all of his high fullutting BS never saw it coming."

This woman lost her mind and did not bother to report it missing.

After all, the internet is not regulated...yet.

Obama Scores Again with His Supporters!

"By their works shall ye know them....

"Honestly, when Obama voted for FISA, I was angry, but I thought about the greater good and voted for him in good conscience. When he hinted that he wouldn't be pursuing charges against the Bush administration for war crimes, because it would be considered too 'partisan' to hold these men and women responsible for their hideous actions, I was furious, but considered that, with all the economic turmoil we are suffering at the moment, perhaps, prosecuting the neo-Cons for crimes against humanity would not necessarily be the best first action Obama could make at the moment. When Obama nominated Larry Summer as the head of the Economic Council, I was perplexed, not because of Summers' clueless remarks about female aptitude for the sciences, but rather because Summer has a history of being intolerant to dissenting viewpoints and bullying his ideological opponents into silence....exactly the LAST kind of person we need in any kind of position of authority during this economic crisis and exactly the opposite of what Obama claimed he needed as a consensus builder, but yet again, I kept silent and considered Obama may know something I did not.

"However, when I read in this morning's New York Times that Obama is considering letting Bush's tax cuts 'lapse' in 2011 rather than rescinding them as he promised during the campaign, I can no longer stomach anyone else telling me to have 'faith'in Obama or trust his instincts without question. I think it's time we all removed the scales from our eyes. It was lovely that we all voted in the first black biracial President, but if we voted in yet another slick Democratic pathological liar who, this time, happens to be of African descent, I fail to see why I or anyone else should be prevented from pointing out the emperor has no clothes before he even ascends the freaking throne."

-- Assezmalicieuse

Obama Lied...and Continues to Break Promises

"It seems that all of the gripes the liberals had against Bush and the GOP are not all that bad now that Barry Obama is in office.

"Bush was ridiculed because he 'suspended Habeas Corpus' and denied those pitiful souls at Gitmo to be held without a trial. Obama was upset about that too and was especially upset about the expanse of Executive Power under Bush...right up until he became the President. Now it isn't so bad: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/11/bagram/index.html

"Bush was demonized for his stance on warrantless wiretapping. The Dems cried about the gross abuse by the government and how Bush was using the Patriot Act to listen to phone conversations without sufficient enough reason to obtain a subpoena. Obama was against this practice too...right up until he was sworn in. Now it seems like the right thing to do. After all, you never know when you may have to listen in to some of those gun-toting, Bible-carrying, bitter-clingers: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/obama-doj-worse-than-bush

"Obama swore during his campaign that an Obama Administration would be completely transparent...not at all like the 'secrets' mean old Bush and Cheney had been keeping. After all, the American people have a right to know what is going on in their government. Well, apparently Obama meant to say that the American people had a right to know what was going on in the government before and after his presidency...because what Barry knows and how Barry knows is a really big secret: http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/04/shut_up_its_still_a_secret.php"

Obama Declares Bush Was Right

"Seems the democratic party tune has changed now, and it has many on the left wondering if they did in fact vote out Bush last year or not."

DISCLAIMER: This post is for information only. I have disagreements with the writer.

Vote NO On The Bush (Oops!) Obama Iraq/Afghan War Budget

"I am so sorry for my almost error in the headline to this commentary above concerning which presidential administration, Bush’s or Obama’s, is asking for a supplemental war budget of some 85 billion dollars to cover incidental war expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year or so. Over the past several years we have gotten so use to seeing this little ploy used and having to make an additional fight against the imperial war budget that I felt that I was in something of a time warp."

Where is the Change? -- VIDEO

Liberals had high hopes for Barack Obama and his mantra of 'change,' but many are confused by his, so far, familiar cabinet picks."

Piss on me and tell me it is raining.

Pirates, Obama, And Tea

"Kerry said some very foolish things about how people like pirates or terrorists would listen to a black American president because he is black."

Obama Admin Relying On Same Characters Used By Bush

"The US administration headed by Barack Obama is using the same old characters in the war on terrorism, who were used by former US president George W. Bush. The people of tribal areas have the expectations that the new administration will change the characters, but at the moment it seems that it has the same interests. Now this impression is gaining ground in Pakistan that there will be no change in the policies of former president Bush and new US President Barack Obama. Senator John Kerry has visited Peshawar and held meetings with NWFP Governor, who is the controlling authority of tribal areas. It is not yet clear what they have discussed in the meeting. Later, the US Senator has held a meeting with NWFP Chief Minister, who is the administrative head of the province.

"Earlier, President Obama has stated that no blank cheque will be given to Pakistani rulers, but the US Senator during his visit to Islamabad and Peshawar has given the blank cheque to the rulers of Pakistan. There is contradiction in the earlier statements of US officials and the present statement of the US Senator. Now the people of Pakistan want a real change in the US policy vis-a-vis Pakistan and tribal areas. Now there should be new people with whom the US officials should hold meetings. Now there must be moderate people, with whom the US can talk. The present rulers of Pakistan are incapable in running the affairs of Pakistan. Now the country is slipping into the hands of terrorists."

In other words, Bush opponents thought his administration was the worst.

Now those same people think that Obama shows good judgement in choosing the same people from that administration?

Well piss on me and tell me it is an April shower.

Keith Olbermann Lashes Out And Obama’s Diminishing Support With the Far Left

"The far left actually believed that the president was going to end the war regardless of what the commanders on the ground said. The far left also believed that the president would end warrant-less wiretapping and many of the other fail-safes that have been put in place by the Bush administration to monitor terrorist activity. And why wouldn’t they? While a candidate the president hammered the Bush administration’s policies and promised to end them. However, now as president he looks to continue many of the Bush administration’s policies including warrant-less wiretapping and it is not sitting well with the far left wing of his party which is growing ever more dissatisfied.

"Now that he is no longer a candidate and now that he is the president that Utopian vision has disappeared and reality has set in. The president now realizes that what he said during the campaign does not match reality and he has adjusted his position. He is not going to recklessly and irresponsibly end the policies that have kept us safe. Unfortunately for the president his far left admirers are not privy to the information that he is (especially since he has now invoked state privilege) and now they are turning on him."

and

"'Obama has said no place should be out of reach of the law. Now, he’s done precisely that,' said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. 'You have this administration routinely stating principles as a precursor to violating those very same principles.'"

and

"What we have here is a classic case of a candidate saying whatever it took to get elected but once the candidate became the president and he entered the real world he learned that things weren’t as easy as they seemed. There is a difference between campaign rhetoric and reality, especially on an issue as vital as this. Now his supporters need to realize this.

"The problem is that the far left bought this package hook, line, and sinker and now that he can’t fulfill his campaign promises to end Bush era war policies they are disgruntled. While they should have known better it isn’t totally their fault, the president is an empty suit and a blank canvas. He was able to paint a picture on that canvas, and much like art, the interpretation is left up to the viewer. Because this president had no record on which he could be judged the interpretation was left up to the voters. The voters were able to interpret the art into whatever they saw fit. Whatever they wanted to believe.

"When you are the Democrat nominee for president of the United States you can say whatever the hell you want to in order to appease the far left, but once you actually are sworn in and sitting in the oval office it is a different world altogether. Suddenly the world isn’t all rainbows and gumdrops. Suddenly there is an enemy that won’t throw down their arms just because you promise to appease them. Suddenly the threat that you mocked is real and there is no longer an opportunity to appease.

"The president managed to convince the voters that all of President Bush’s policies on the war and foreign relations were wrong and now that he is following Bush’s policies he will have to attempt to spin this back into his favor. So far he is losing that battle.

"People like Keith Olbermann feel duped and are taking out their frustrations on the president. They need to look into the mirror, because they saw in this president what they wanted to see. Keith Olbermann’s view of the world may be idealistic and glorious but it is not based in reality.

"The crux of this dissatisfaction seems to be coming from the president invoking the state secrets privilege, executive privilege, that he derailed the Bush administration for invoking. In a way I don’t blame his supporters for growing angry at the president, they were sold a bill of goods. But really, did they think that all would be right in the world just because their man became president? Did they really think that this administration would keep no secrets from them?"

Obama Administration's Positions in War on Terror Cases Anger Supporters

"On the Bagram detainees, legal scholar Jonathan Turley was similarly critical of Obama. 'Obama has said that no place should be out of the reach of the law,' Turley said. 'Now, he's done precisely that.'

"The criticism must come as a surprise to the Obama Administration, which up until now has been lauded by the left as the antidote to all the alleged ills of the Bush Administration. In reality, however, the arguments taken by the Administration in the war on terror cases have more to do with legal expediency then with agreement on the merits of the position. Still, the anti-war left was a big part of the coalition that Obama put together to win the White House. President Obama would doubtlessly much rather have them focusing their ire on Republicans than on his Administration's policies."

What if Bush made the "legal expediency" excuse? He would have been scaled, cleaned, fileted, and fried in oil.

Change, Change, Change, Not

"Up until his election, Obama persisted in the view that America's involvement in Iraq was, all in all, unalloyed folly.

"His assessment now seems substantially less harsh.

"Not only is he avoiding the abrupt withdrawal he hinted at during his campaign, he's keeping 50,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely.

"After meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, President Obama sounded less like the anti-war Obama of campaign days and more like , dare we say it? , George W. Bush.

"He , Obama, not Bush , spoke of 'our shared resolve and commitment' as he stood with Iraq's prime minister and declared that resolve and commitment 'greater than the obstacles that stand in our way."

"While he was thanking the troops in Iraq, Obama also might have thanked his predecessor and his campaign opponent."