$819 trillion is a lot of money, $819 billion is chump change

If you thought that the $700 billion stimulus package that was passed by congress a few months ago was a big chunk of change, just wait until you hear what President Obama has cooking up. President Obama's "stimulus package number 2" is going to cost the country about $819 billion.

Today the US House of Representatives passed Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus package, and it is going to be voted upon in the senate next week. All 177 Republicans in the House voted against the stimulus package in addition to 11 Democrats, while 244 Democrats voted in favor of the bill to get it passed. President Obama is hopeful that by mid-February the bill will be sitting on his desk ready to be signed into law.

It is without doubt that before the bill is sitting on the President's desk it will go through some major tweaks, especially made by Congressional Republicans. Republicans feel that the bill does not concentrate enough on tax cuts, and is spending way too much for a risk that may not be worth the reward. Republican Representative Roscoe Bartlett from Maryland challenged President Obama's stimulus package, saying "Mr. President, I think our obsessive borrowing has fully mortgaged my kids and my grandkids, now we're working on mortgaging my two great-grandkids". He went on to say "I think it's more than a little bit selfish to try to solve our economic problems which we created by burdening future generations yet to be born".

Obama and the majority of Democrats are trying to assure the American people that this stimulus package will be well worth the money, every cent of it. They say that the stimulus package will not only boost our economy, but it will also create 3 million new jobs. The majority of the $819 billion is going to domestic issues such as rebuilding our schools, fixing our roads, bridges, and highways, providing health care for people who can't afford it, alternative energy production, as well as tax cuts.

President Obama, his administration, and the 111th Congress have some major work ahead of them, challenging work. I am hopeful that this chunk of change will help get our economy back on track and put Americans back to work. Let's hope and pray that both of these challenges can be met.

Top 5 awkward moments at the 2009 presidential inauguration

5) Pastor Rick Warren mentions Malia and Sasha Obama in the invocation as if they were prophets, similar to how he mentions Yeshua, Isa, and Jesus.



4) Cheney rolls out on 22 inch rims



3) Bush and Cheney are "boo'd", followed by the singing of "na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye"



2) Reverend Joseph Lowery spits some rhymes during the benediction



1) Barack Obama fouls up the oath of office.......twice



Bonus awkward moment at the 2009 presidential inauguration: President Obama actually took the "oaf of office"

Welcome to a new era

Welcome to a new era ladies and gentlemen. In 1795 african american slaves helped build the white house. Twelve of our earlier presidents at one point in time owned slaves, eight of whom owned them while in office. In 1954 the supreme court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. In 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act which prohibited discrimination of all kinds. 45 years later, Barack Obama stood upon a building that was once built by slaves, and was sworn in as the President of the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a new era.



Although we have come a long way from 1795 to 2009, the election of 2009 was not about race, but about change. Not change in the sense that after 43 white men our 44th is black, although that is change, but change in the direction that this country is headed. We once again want to be a country of peace, a country that helps other nations, a country that helps our citizens, a country that leads and sets an example for the rest of the world in technology, energy, education, etc.. As Obama said in his inauguration speech, we want to be a country of hope instead of fear. Welcome to a new era.

January 20th, 2009 will be a day that we will never forget.

OBAMANATION

Sorry

We are sorry that we haven't written any posts this past week. There has been so much going on in the news, but unfortunately our writers have been very busy (and very lazy). We promise to get up and running again after inauguration day, so come back soon for more "real talk".



Tomorrow we will celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest black civil rights leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By mere coincidence, the following day we will be swearing in our first african american president, Barack Obama. The swearing in of a United States President does not always happen the day after MLK Day, but this year it does, and it is very significant. Dr. King's dream finally became reality in 2008, in an America where the people can elect an african american to the highest political position in the country. God bless America, and let's all hope that the future will be brighter than the past.

Bush: 7 days left

One week left people.

Obama to be in Spiderman!

We're not kidding.  Real Talk Politic has discovered that Marvel comics has awarded Barack Obama, and avid Spiderman reader as a child, with an appearance in an upcoming Spiderman issue on inauguration day.  This guy just can't stop raising the bar.  The first black president to be in Spiderman!

Burris brings circus to Capital Hill

Roland Burris showed up to Capital Hill this morning expecting to take the senate seach which used to belong to President-elect Barack Obama. The appointment of Burris has been tainted ever since Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois whom appointed Burris, was accused of selling this very senate seat to the highest bidder. Burris was swarmed by reporters and security as he walked to join the other senators on the first day of the new congress. Upon reaching the Senate House, he was turned away! The Secretary of the Senate would not seat him because Burris' senate "access card" was missing the signature of Illinois' Secretary of State. The event was a circus media frenzy to say the least.

This issue may very likely end up in the Supreme Court. On one hand Blagojevich is still technically the Governor of Illinois until he is found guilty of the charges against him, and therefore technically still has the right to appoint Burris. On the other hand, the idea of Blagojevich having the authority to appoint a man to a senate seat which he is accused of selling does not sit well with most Americans.

Do you think Burris should be allowed to take the Illinois Senate Seat, or do you think there should be a special election under these circumstances?

Franken Wins!

It makes sense that the first comedian to make it to the Senate would reveal so much hilarity. Here are some bits and pieces of irony that have come out of the democracy toilet clog that was the 2008 Minnesota Senate Race.

1. Republicans are actually now complaining about voter fraud!

A republican fretting about voter fraud is a little like a NBA player complaining about layups. Since republicans got the better side of the mother of all election thefts in 2000, they're lucky they still even get to have conventions.

2. Wellstone Wins After All!

You may remember that the reason Norm Coleman won the tightly contested race of 2002 was that the conservative media outlets hijacked the the memorial of his Democratic opponent, Paul Wellstone.

Wellstone had died in a plane crash just two weeks before the election. During the four hour ceremony, one man made a comment about how everyone should rally together and vote in the demcratic replacement "for Paul!"

Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Peggy Noonan, the Wall Street Journal and others took this comment and ran with it to make it look like the democrats were trying to revel in the death of their peer and would desecrate any gathering no matter how sacred just to increase power. The Coleman campaign ran with this fallacy and ended up winning.

This was the reason that Franken ended up running, to vindicate his personal friend, Paul Wellstone. It seems that the Republican attack on the Wellstone memorial just cost them that very senate seat. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

3. This guy is a senator now.

That is all. Minnesota is definitely in the house (and Senate)!

Peace.

Counting ends in Minnesota, or does it?

There has finally been a winner declared in the Minnesota senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. After exactly two months of counting ballots, Franken has been declared the winner by a mere 225 votes. It is rediculous that in 2009, with all the technology we have, we still have problems when it comes to electing our political figures. After the disaster in Florida during the presidential election of 2000, I thought we would never see this again. But sure enough the old motto stands true, that history repeats itself. Coleman's campaign will probably challenge the decision, considering they beleive that 650 rejected absentee ballots should have counted. When will we have an electoral system in this country that does not fail us?

Could Hamas be seeing its last days?

After about a week of Israeli air attacks on Gaza, the Israeli army has now began its ground operation. Hundreds of armed vehicles and tanks have crossed into Gaza, manned by thousands of Israeli soldiers. Despite worldwide protests against Israel's actions, the Israeli government has insisted that it will continue with their attacks so long as Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel. Not only has Hamas continued firing rockets to show Israel that they will not stop, but they have even threatened, in an almost daring manner, for Israel to launch its ground invasion by having their officials say that if Isreal goes ahead with it, "Palestinian children would be picking over the ruins of Israeli tanks and the body parts of Israeli soldiers". This is a full out war, and neither side is backing down, that is for sure.

Although it is horrifying to see a country like Israel with such a powerful military kill hundreds of Palestinians, many of whom are civilians, I still do not feel that Israel is doing anything wrong. Hamas, the group its people elected to political power in Gaza, is the one calling the shots. When they stop attacks on Israel, Israel will stop the attacks on them. Until then, Hamas is asking for more destruction to its people and its land.

Defence Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, had this to say about the ground campaign against Hamas, "our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel". In other words, Israel is defending its people, and it has the right to do so. President-elect Barack Obama, while visiting Israel during his campaign, said "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same things. This is what the Israelis are doing." If Hamas does not stop launching rockets, I believe there is a chance that in 2009 we might be seeing the end of Hamas.