Category Archives: Politics

Politics and political news

Posted on by

Obama: It is Time to Pass Debt Deal

The president of the United States of America Barack Obama is asking for the largest deal in deficit reduction which is part of his strategy to increase the debt ceiling. President Obama spoke to the press today.

The president said that he will continue to appeal to the congress to allow for the largest possible deal. He said that it is possible to shelve their political differences to put forward a package that is balancing. The president was very optimistic that the congress would pass the deal before the end of the month. He said that congress will do it and that the ball could be set rolling by 2nd of August.

President Obama and his economic team had warned of dangers that could befall the US and the global economy should the congress fail to increase the debt ceiling. The Republican Party has been opposing the move arguing that the only condition they can do that is if the government will create a deficit and debt reduction plan before they will allow the $14.3 trillion that the government is asking for debt ceiling.

While the president is seeking for a deal of $4 Trillion for a decade the Republicans are canvassing a contrary opinion. The House Speaker John Boehner had advocated a mid sized reform of $2 trillion without tax as the solution.

Posted on by

U.N. Approves Peacekeepers for South Sudan

The United Nations Security Council has approved a peace keeping force of 7000 soldiers for the newly independent state of South Sudan. The approval was given on Friday.

This is a signal that the UN will support the new state which became independent on 9th of July. The peacekeepers will act under the mandate that is called UNMISS. There is also the provision for more 900 police officers for South Sudan. This was revealed by Ambassador Peter Wittig who is representing Germany in UN and doubles as the president of the council.

Wittig told journalists that UN was doing that to address the security challenges that will be faced by the people of South Sudan. This development is contrary to the stand of Khartoum which said that it is opposed to such forces in Sudanese soil.

The UN is concerned with what might happen to the border state of Kordofanian where the North Sudanese army is engage in gun battle with a group that is loyal to South Sudan. The initial assignment of the UNMISS was supposed to end on Saturday, UN started its mandate in South in 2005 when the civil war ended, but with the renewed mandate the forces will continue to stay in South Sudan.

 

Posted on by

US Supreme Court confirms ethics laws

The Supreme Court in the United States of America has upheld the Ethic laws. It has reversed the ruling of Nevada High Court ruling on the same matter. The ruling by the Supreme Court means that the members of legislative houses in the country do not have the free right to vote on matters that are having a conflict of interest. In a unanimous decision the court uphold that the first amendment does not cover the legislator that is charged on ethic violation.

The court had ruled in the past that the constitution empowered the legislators with the power to speak freely but excluded the right to vote on matters that have conflict of interest. The court maintained that the right to vote in the legislative houses is a right the legislators are exercise for the people they are representing and not their private right.

This matter arose in the state of Nevada when Michael Carrigan who is a local legislator from Sparks was censored by the Ethics Commission of Nevada for casting a vote in the legislature in favor of hotel and casino project that is said to be owned by his campaign manager. The angle which the commission charged Carrigan is that he violated the state ethic laws adding that the law has required him from voting on the matter because he has a very close relationship with his campaign manager.

Posted on by

Fazul’s death shocks extremist al-Qaeda

American secretary of state Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton has described the killing of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed as a deadly blow to al Qaeda. Mr. Mohammed was killed along with other during a shoot out with the police in a s check point in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Before his death he was the African most wanted man. The sum of $5m bounty was placed on his head by the American government. He was among the people suspected of playing a major role in the bombing of US embassy in the East Africa in the year 1998. That incident led to the death of more than 224 people.

The crime he was accused of participating includes the attack on Israeli interests in 2002. He was also believed to be an active member of an Islamic terror group al-shabab the group is said to be in control of many areas in the southern part of Somalia.

The terror leader was killed in the hand of the transitional federal government in Somalia in Mogadishu the capital of Somalia. This was confirmed by police officials on Saturday. The police report said that the security forces fired at two men who refused to stop for a checkpoint search in the capital.

The official said that a search conducted on their bodies indicated that one of them had a foreign passport. The other items discovered to be in their possession before they were killed include medicine, laptops as well as mobile phones.

Posted on by

Sarah Palin criticizes Alaskan Press as ‘Biased’

The former governor of state of Alaska Sarah Palin has described the local media in her state as unfair and biased. She also praised the energy speech of Barack Obama when he was candidate for presidential election in America. This was shown through the emails she sent during her first two years as the governor of the state.

About 2400 emails from her term which was released showed what her administration did up to September 2008 just before she was selected as the running mate for the then presidential candidate of the Republican Party John McCain.

There are about six boxes of documents which weighed about 300 pounds containing such items as mails about budget, bears as well as oil and gas related issues. There is a mail on the dismissal of the public safety commissioner in the state.

One of the areas she commented was on the issue of Troopergate which she accused the media of being unfair and bias in their reporting. She said that the media reports about the DPS budgets were false. Greater part of the mail showed the former governor with her staff attending to state matters such as schedules, speeches, travels, job applicants and board appointments.

In one of the mails it was disclosed where the former governor was in Washington and was asked to meet one Pete Rouse who was Obama’s chief of staff in senate. The mail read that Pete Rouse was the chief of staff to a guy called Barack Obama.

Posted on by

Republicans to flay Obama on Israel policy in campaign

The last visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to US has opened another contentious issue in the American politics. The prime minister had disagreed with President Obama’s policy on 1967 border.

The prime minister was applauded as he addressed the congress on the state visit. Republicans have already started making issue over Obama’s 1967 border. Republican congressional leaders and presidential aspirants have agreed with Netanyahu that it is only land swap and not 1967 border that would bring lasting peace in the Middle East.

The Obama statement was a big political miscalculation because the American Jews always have more confidence in Democratic Party than the republicans. In the past the Jews have bank rolled the funding of the democratic candidates. The republicans wanted to cash in on this blunder to eliminate the millions of dollars that the Jews would have donated to aid the Obama 2012 rerun bid.

They are not expecting to use this to win the loyalty of the Jews. The republicans are doing calculations on how they will win the votes in the swing states.

It was the view of John Bolton that this mistake by Obama could make the Jews, pastors and evangelists who are very critical of Islam to support the republicans in 2012 elections.

It is apparent that the democrats are worried by Obama statement by the way they tried to over applaud the republicans during the speech by Netanyahu. Already some democratic leaders in the house have started distancing themselves from Obama over the issue.

Posted on by

Democrat win G.O.P as Republicans lose over Medicare

One of the most contentious issues in American politics today is the issue of Medicare plan and it has polarized the American society. It appears that some politicians have started to pay for their stand on the Medicare issue. One of the casualties is Jane Corwin who could not retain her seat in the special election that was conducted in New York on Tuesday.

The outcome of the result has sent a message to the Republicans that Americans did not like the party position on the issue. It is a source of worry to them because the general election will come up in 2012 and for them to have lost their traditional stronghold over the Medicare issue they may have a rethink.

Not many people would believe the outcome of that election because the winner the Democrat party member Kathy Hochul was behind the Republican loser two months ago in opinion polls. Most of the people who had earlier voted for Republic party had decided to change camp as results of the Republicans stand on the issue.

However not many republicans believed that their candidate lost the election because of the Medicare issue. Some believe the party went for the election divided. They said that Jack Davis who came third was a member of the party but had to join Tea Party after losing the Republican nomination.

Posted on by

Obama sanctions on Syrian leaders

The president of the United States of America Barack Obama has placed sanctions on the key political leaders in Syria. Those affected by the sanction include the Syrian leader Assad, his six deputies and some other key government officials for using excessive force against the citizens of that country who are protesting for regime change in the country.

The president announced this just he makes his major policy statements on the revolution that is sweeping the Middle East.

The president has signed the executive order that imposed the sanctions against these selected key leaders of Syria. This was part of the efforts of the US to press pressure on the government of Syria to stop the use of violence to quell the protests in the country.

The US government observed that the Syrian government has used force and harassment and arrest to deal with the protests that is sweeping away the government. The sanctions were later extended to other 10 officials of the Syrian government who are also involved in serious human rights violations in the country.

It will be recalled the US and the other international organization has called on the government not to use excessive force against the people that are protesting against the government.

Posted on by

Syrian military increases attck on opposition

The Syrian government has identified its attack against the protesters who are demanding for the regime change in the country. The military is reported to have used heavy weapons such as tank to shell the third largest city in the country causing a huge migration among the population as well as the associated human crisis. The attack was reported as one of the fiercest since the protest started in the country.

It is reported the major targets of the military attack is the town that is known as Homs which is located very close to Lebanon. The rampaging soldiers have earlier subdued the protest in Daraa as well as in Baniyas which is near the Mediterranean coast.

It was reported that the soldiers attacked the city with dozens of armored tanks. The tanks were manned by the army supported by the militiamen. There were about 1.5 million people that are residing in that city. It was reported that about 19 people have already been killed by the soldiers. Homs is a commercial and industrial center and that explains the large number of people that are living in that city. Already hundreds of thousands of people are migrating out the city. Hundreds of thousands others are besieged.

Posted on by

Libyan rebels: Misrata not under our control

There is a conflicting report over which group is having the control of Libyan city of Misrata which has been besieged for sometimes now. The rebels and the representatives of the Transitional National Council are offering conflicting information as regards the status of Misrata.

The spokesman for the TNC said on Thursday that the town had been liberated from the government control but this was countered by the rebel which said that the government is still having the control of the eastern gate of the town.

However it does appear that the rebels and the goverenment are sharing the control of the city with the government control some portions while some parts is under the control of the government of Moamar Gadhaffi.

As the war in Libya intensifies it was reported that not less than 4 people were killed in the country’s capital Tripoli by bomb that was directed at the compound of Moamar Gadhaffi. Libyan government officials took some journalists to the scene of the attack which was smoking with fire. The government official also reported that about 27 civilians who were affected by the attack were receiving treatment in a hospital somewhere in the town. The building was the one that was attacked by NATO last month.