13 Juni 2011

Vice President Joe Biden

Good morning,
Did you know that the government spends millions to maintain buildings that have sat vacant for years? Or that your tax dollars pay to needlessly ship copies of the Federal Register to thousands of government offices across the country even though the same information is available online? 

And I bet you didn't know that your tax dollars pay for a website dedicated to the Desert Tortoise. I'm sure it's a wonderful species, but we can't afford to have a standalone site devoted to every member of the animal kingdom. It's just one of hundreds of government websites that should be consolidated or eliminated.

This kind of waste is just unacceptable. Particularly at a time when we’re facing tough decisions about reducing our deficit, it's a no-brainer to stop spending taxpayer dollars on things that benefit nobody. 

That’s why President Obama asked me to head up the Campaign to Cut Waste—a new effort to root out wasteful spending at every agency and department in the Federal Government. 


Like millions of American families, the Federal Government has to take a hard look at spending and live within its means. Most of these cuts we’re going to make are small. They won’t close our deficit or solve all of our fiscal problems. However, no amount of waste is acceptable, and these cuts will add up over time. This year alone we’ve found $33 billion in savings, but we know there’s a lot more work to be done. 

30 Mei 2011

Dr. Jill Biden, The White House

This Memorial Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and I are asking our fellow citizens to honor the brave men and women who have served and sacrificed so much for our country by supporting our military families and veterans.
Will you join me in sending a note of thanks to our military families? You can submit your message on JoiningForces.gov:

Send Your Message of Thanks
Our military families are true American heroes: they are parents who raise their kids alone while their spouse is deployed overseas, they are the grandparents who provide much needed support, and they are military kids who work hard in school while bravely awaiting their mom or dad's return from deployment. They serve our country bravely and without asking for recognition for their sacrifices.

22 Mei 2011

Skenario Kosovo Untuk Papua Merdeka

Penulis : Hendrajit (Penulis adalah Direktur Eksekutif Global Future Institute-GFI)

Ini bukan rumor ini bukan gosip. Sebuah sumber di lingkungan Departemen Luar Negeri mengungkap adanya usaha intensif dari beberapa anggota kongres dari Partai Demokrat Amerika kepada Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) untuk membantu proses ke arah kemerdekaan Papua secara bertahap.
Menarik juga informasi ini jika benar. Karena dengan tampilnya Presiden Barrack Obama di tahta kepresidenan Gedung Putih, praktis politik luar negeri Amerika amat diwarnai oleh haluan Partai Demokrat yang memang sangat mengedepankan soal hak-hak asasi manusia. Karena itu tidak heran jika Obama dan beberapa politisi Demokrat yang punya agenda memerdekakan Papua lepas dari Indonesia, sepertinya memang akan diberi angin.
Beberapa fakta lapangan mendukung informasi sumber kami di Departemen Luar Negeri tersebut. Betapa tidak. Dalam dua bulan terakhir ini, US House of Representatives, telah mengagendakan agar DPR Amerika tersebut mengeluarkan rancangan FOREIGN RELATION AUTHORIZATION ACT (FRAA) yahg secara spesifik memuat referensi khusus mengenai Papua.

Indonesia Harus Keras pada PBB

Barack Obama seems unrepentant over his comments on Israel's border and appears to think that his own personality will be enough to resolve a '100-year-old headache'.


Striding to the podium inside the Washington Convention Centre, President Barack Obama did his very best to avoid any sense that he felt intimidated by entering what was, in political terms, the lion's den.
There was tepid applause and a couple of isolated boos from the crowd of almost 10,000 members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as Aipac, the premier and most hardline mainstream group in the powerful pro-Israel lobby in the United States.

Obama defends vision, raps Hezbollah





WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama defended Sunday his endorsement of Israel’s 1967 boundaries as the basis for a future Palestine, adding that his views reflected long-standing American policy that needed to be stated clearly.
Speaking to an audience at the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC Policy Conference, Obama warned that the Jewish state would face growing isolation without “a credible peace process.”
The U.S. president also vowed to “keep up pressure” on Tehran to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, as he condemned its support for groups in the region, namely Hezbollah, which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States.

Obama and Romney lead the pack in fundraising


The two have raised far more than other contenders in the 2012 presidential race, which is expected to exceed the $2.4 billion spent in the 2008 election.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, began the week with a carefully… (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
May 20, 2011|By Kim Geiger and Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times
Frenzied fundraising by presidential contenders this week served to underscore the bracing reality of the 2012 campaign: When it comes to money, President Obama and Mitt Romney occupy a plateau far above everyone else.
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, began the week with a carefully staged fundraising event that drew $10 million in pledges — an amount that, even if ultimately not fully realized, was meant as a brush-back pitch at his opponents.

19 Mei 2011

Michelle Obama makes first foray into new campaign

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama made her first foray into the 2012 presidential campaign Thursday, telling donors that her husband needs them to "work like you have never worked before" so he can finish the job he started.
First lady Michelle Obama speaks at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, Thursday, May 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

First lady Michelle Obama speaks at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, Thursday, May 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
First lady Michelle Obama speaks at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, Thursday, May 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)