Obama's Host Governer's Dinner

The Obama’s hosted the Governor’s Dinner at the White House last night and were serenaded by Earth, Wind & Fire in the process.

Peep the terminator chillin' with Michelle Obama.

More pics below:

The Obama's Read to Children & The Books Aren't Upside Down

The Obamas were at the Capital City Public Charter School in northwest Washington Tuesday. The president told a group of gleeful second-graders: “We were just tired of being in the White House.” A moment earlier the president shook each child’s hand.

First African American To Lead Republican Party

Obama '12! We might as well start now. Although, this is still a good look.

Jesse Jackson- Letter to Barack Obama!

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., is one of the only other
African-American men to be seriously considered for the Democratic
nomination as president. Rev. Jackson's two presidential campaigns hit a milestone in U.S. politics: in 1984, his campaign registered over 1 million new voters, won 3.5 million votes and aided the Democrats in regaining control of the Senate in 1986. In 1988, his campaign registered over 2 million new voters and won 7 million votes.

A civil rights leader and founder of the RainbowPUSH Coalition, Inc., Jackson sat down to write an open letter to President Barack Obama. With the passion Jackson is known for, he challenges the nation's first Black President to carefully examine important policies including those relating to the
economy, education and Voting Rights Act.



Dear Mr. President:

What a joy and relief it is to be able to salute you as President Obama. Congratulations on a magnificently run campaign. Your discipline, vision, strength and courage will take America and the world a long way. Now that we have made it through the courtship of the primary season, the engagement party in Grant Park on November 4th, and the wedding on January 20th, we're entering into marriage—the final stage, one that is full of challenges.

It's high noon in our politics, when hope abounds. But it is midnight in our economics. But we have hope that the darkness will lead to a new light that will shine even brighter. We are in a time of the worst economic crisis of the last half century, and amid expanding wars and conflicts in Iraq, the Middle East and Africa. The two great themes of ending poverty at home and unnecessary wars abroad must dominate our priorities.

We need an economic stimulus. We also need equal protection under the law, which we've never had. Those who have been dealt the most inequality deserve targeted stimulation. Our character is measured, as you mentioned in your Inauguration speech, by how we treat the least of these. The least of these are gripped in poverty, high infant mortality, less access to capital, first-class jails and second-class schools, the highest victims of home foreclosures. They need targeted job creation and job training to offset targeted discrimination and denial leading to structural inequality. They need to be able to restructure and modify their loans, real foreclosure relief to save their homes.

Mr. President, I applaud your recent proposals to recommit our nation to education and invest in our most valuable asset, our youth. As you do, I'd like you to consider the RainbowPush Education Stimulus Plan, a simple yet sweeping plan to help families finance college costs that are steadily putting higher education out of the reach of most Americans. I propose that students holding and applying for college loans should be offered interest rates that do not exceed 1 percent—the same favorable terms that are being offered to large banks by the federal government. It's simply a matter of fairness.

Currently, students are generally forced to borrow loans with interest rates that range from 4 to 8 percent. Since that's inadequate to pay the costs of tuition and housing, most of them borrow from the commercial banks with 12 to 14 percent interest rates. Yet, these are the same banks that can borrow from the federal government at 1 percent interest; it's like scalping students. Many students must also finance their education with credit cards that carry interest rates of 20 percent or higher. As you know from your personal experience, graduating students will be saddled with debt for decades to come.

It gets worse when the students who get the loan cannot start payments within six months and are then penalized. As jobs are leaving, chances are they cannot start working in six months and need a longer grace period. Furthermore, the schools that lend them the money are penalized if students default on their loans; this pattern must end.

Through this 1 percent student loan program, along with the expansion of the Pell Grant program, which should correspond with the cost of the average college education, these programs will go a long way in developing the next generation of intellectual talent and leaders of our nation. This is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up. We must go another way and seek the change that you eloquently talked about and promised.

Section Five Voting Rights Act, the key to political enfranchisement for all Americans, is now in peril as the Supreme Court reviews its validity. We must fight for the Voting Rights Act and prevail. Lyndon Johnson was right in his vision of a Great Society and the War on Poverty. We must build up on that great democratic tradition and carry it forward today.

Lifting the boats at the bottom is our moral challenge. Our foreign policy must place a priority on the escalating Middle East crisis which affects the whole region. One thousand lives were lost in the Gaza crisis while 3,000 died from cholera in Zimbabwe. Children in Haiti—100 miles off our shores—are eating mud pies as a staple. We must have one set of rules and standards and not lure Cubans to come to U.S. as refugees, and then deport or jail Haitians.

Twisting words sometimes has deadly consequences. What is an economic political refuge? Well, they are all human beings fleeing for their lives.
We're anxious to work with you, Mr. President. To follow through on Dr. King's last message, brought forward on his last birthday celebration, let us gather the moral courage to end poverty at home and end unnecessary wars abroad. I'm convinced that, yes, we can. We will. We must.

Keep hope alive.

Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
President and Founder
RainbowPUSH Coalition, Inc.

Obama’s $3000 cell phone… ‘Barack-Berry’

Barack Obama’s fight to keep his cell phone leads to a revolutionary invention.

The Presidential cell phone has officially arrived and is appropriately nicknamed the “Barack-Berry,” but, in fact, President Obama’s new smartphone is a $3,350 device that has all the bells and whistles of a CIA secure computer server.

The president has fought the National Security Agency to keep his BlackBerry phone, saying they would have to “pry it out of my hands.” He protested that a mobile device would help him stay in touch with the real world.

However, e-mail has long been treated with suspicion by the Secret Service because of fears it could be hacked into by foreign espionage agencies, or that sensitive information could reach the public.

To prevent hacking, the NSA has created a spy-proof BlackBerry alternative called Sectera Edge. The cell phone is reportedly capable of encrypting top secret voice conversations and handling classified documents.

Check out the prototype below.

Republicans Against President Obama’s Stimulus Plan!!

Republicans plan to test President Barack Obama’s commitment to bipartisanship as his $825 billion stimulus package heads to the floor of the House of Representatives this week, with the House Republican leader saying Sunday morning that many in his party will vote no unless there are significant changes to the plan.“Right now, given the concerns that we have over the size of this package and all of the spending in this package, we don’t think it’s going to work,” the House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And so if it’s the plan that I see today, put me down in the no column.” While the plan can potentially pass the Democratic-dominated House without Republican support, it will continue to face opposition when it comes before the Senate, said Senator John McCain of Arizona, speaking on “Fox News Sunday.” At least two Republicans will need to approve the bill for a filibuster-proof majority vote of 60. Senator McCain, who lost the presidential election to Mr. Obama in November, said that he planned to vote no unless the bill were changed. “We need to make tax cuts permanent, and we need to make a commitment that there’ll be no new taxes,” Mr. McCain said. “We need to cut payroll taxes. We need to cut business taxes.” “We need to have a commitment that after a couple of quarters of G.D.P. growth that we will embark on a path,” he said about the gross domestic product, “to reduce spending to get our budget in balance.” The Republican objections came as President Obama dispatched his top economic adviser, Lawrence H. Summers, to the talk shows to defend aspects of the plan that have come under attack. More details about the stimulus package, the largest of its kind in the nation’s history, have become clear this weekend, as Democrats released a more detailed list of the spending. Speaking on “Meet the Press,” Mr. Summers, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said that the president was attempting to strike a balance between tax cuts and longer-term initiatives in the bill, like spending on renewable energy and college tuition assistance.

Young Jeezy Responds To O'Reilly's Comments

According to MTV News:

...the Atlanta-based rapper believes writing the song was “necessary.” “I never ever paid attention to any election,” he told MTV. “Not really [into] politics or anything like that. It never benefited us. This time around, it’s not a black-or-white thing — you got somebody in there for us that’s well-spoken and gonna handle their business. I just wanted to do my part and let them know we need change, we need help, it’s rough out there.” “It’s crazy, man, just to see the energy, just to see the support. All these millions of people are here for one cause. Everybody is out here. I got a couple of homies who drove from Atlanta, who flew in from Atlanta. The kids are out here. The clubs are crazy, the parties. It’s big.”

Barack Obama's First Press Conference as President

This is President Obama's first press conference, he discusses his crack down on lobbying among other topics.

Barack Obama Gets Sworn In The White House & His 2009 Inauguration Speech [22 Min] (History Is Made - First African American President)

A Huge Crowd formed at Barack Obama's Inauguration

Crowds have packed the National Mall ahead of the inauguration of Barack Obama. People started showing at in packs @ 4:00am.

Obama graces the TIME Cover

Looks like TIME magazine aged President Obama on the cover. Maybe this cover is a reflection of the future perceived by TIME. Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Michelle Obama!

Lets get it in people.