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World warming to US under President Obama, BBC poll suggests …


Graph showing positive negative views of selected=

Views of the US around the world have improved sharply over the past year, a BBC World Service poll suggests.

For the first time since the annual poll began in 2005, America’s influence in the world is now seen as more positive than negative.

The improved scores for the US coincided with Barack Obama becoming president, a BBC correspondent notes.

As in 2009, Germany is viewed most favourably while Iran and Pakistan are seen as the most negative influences.

Nearly 30,000 people in 28 countries were interviewed for the poll, between November 2009 and February 2010.

Fifteen of the countries have been surveyed every year since 2005, allowing long-term trends to be discerned.

In these nations – or 14 of them, not including the US itself – positive views of the US fell to a low of 28% on average in 2007, from 38% in 2005, but recovered to 35% in 2009 and 40% in this year’s poll.

After a year, it appears the ‘Obama effect’ is real
Steven Kull, director of Pipa

Meanwhile, perceptions of China in the 14 other countries have been declining – falling from 49% on average in 2005, to 34% in 2009 and 2010.

“People around the world today view the United States more positively than at any time since the second Iraq war,” said Doug Miller, chairman of international polling firm GlobeScan, which carried out the poll with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (Pipa) at the University of Maryland.

“While still well below that of countries like Germany and the UK, the global standing of the US is clearly on the rise again.”

China ‘in neutral’

Pipa director Steven Kull noted: “After a year, it appears the ‘Obama effect’ is real.

Chart showing positive and negative views of US

“Its influence on people’s views worldwide, though, is to soften the negative aspects of the United States’ image, while positive aspects are not yet coming into strong focus.”

He added: “While China’s image is stuck in neutral, America has motored past it in the global soft-power competition.”

Of the full list of 28 countries surveyed this year, the US is viewed positively in 19 (20 including the US itself), while six lean negative and two are divided.

Compared with 2009, positive views of the US jumped 21% in Germany, 18 in Russia, 14 in Portugal and 13 in Chile – though Russia and Germany continued to have a negative view of the US overall.

SEE THE FULL RESULTS
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Meanwhile, negative opinions of the US declined by 23% in Spain, 14 in France and 10 in the UK, with the result that all three lean towards a positive view of the country.

In only two of the 28 countries, Turkey and Pakistan, do more than 50% have a negative view of the US.

Germany is the most favourably viewed nation (an average of 59% positive), followed by Japan (53%), the United Kingdom (52%), Canada (51%), and France (49%). The European Union is viewed positively by 53%.

In contrast, Iran is the least favourably viewed nation (15%), followed by Pakistan (16%), North Korea (17%), Israel (19%) and Russia (30%).

The 15 countries included in the poll every year since 2005 are: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, the UK and the US.

Black History

Congress schedule … C-SPAN.org radio/live stream


The Senate Convenes: 2:00pm updates as needed

Morning Business until 3:00pm with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to debate the nomination of Lael Brainard to be Under Secretary of the Treasury. At 5:30pm, the Senate will proceed to roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Brainard nomination.

As a reminder, Senator Reid filed cloture on the following nominations:

– Lael Brainard, of the District of Columbia, to be an Under Secretary of the Treasury;
– Marisa J. Demeo, of the district of Columbia, to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia;
– Christopher H. Schroeder, of North Carolina, to be an Assistant Attorney General;
– Thomas I. Vanaskie, of Pennsylvania, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit; and
– Denny Chin, of New York, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit.

118: Motion to Invoke Cloture on the nomination of Lael Brainard to be Under Secretary of the Treasury:
Invoked: 84-10

Unanimous Consent:
Adopted S.Res.489, a resolution honoring the life and achievements of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks.

Adopted H.Con.Res.243, a concurrent resolution authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for a June 6, 2010 event to celebrate the birthday of King Kamehameha.

Passed HR4360, a bill to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs blind rehabilitation center in Long Beach, California as the “Major Charles Robert Soltes, Jr., O.D. Department of Veterans Affairs Blind Rehabilitation Center.”

The House Convenes 4/20/2010

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Monday mashup … c-span.org


Word that all 41 GOP Senators oppose financial reform is not a surprise; hoping it shines a big light on the deception, dirty partisan behavior from McConnell; it is disappointing that Susan Collins has decided to use a completely bogus reason to vote against the financial reform that shoved our economy into a ditch by saying that financial reform should be done with bipartisanship… WHAT!

Now, it’s obvious that even a good bill means nothing to Senator Susan Collins or the rest of the Republicans.

With all the rhetoric … the good, bad and the really ugly by people who distrust government, mad that Republicans are not in power anymore, are anti-Obama and or are racists.   It’s my contention that the Media and the guests they invite into the fray are by far the number one vehicle of people feeling this so-called palpable tension being felt all over the country.  The rhetoric is admittedly from the right and left stirring up trouble.  The problem is not freedom of speech it’s when talking heads or public servants such as Michelle Bachmann- lose sight of their responsibility when on the airwaves get emotional and start saying things that upset and rile their audiences up; that includes all of Fox news as well as some people on the left who feel our President has betrayed them or consider the President to be Wall Street controlled. All talkingheads on the airwaves need to be reminded continually … Words Matter and some of those words have unintended consequences.

April 19th has become a day in which people remember as a warning of what can happen when a person desperate or a group of people use desperation to behave extreme use violent rhetoric openly and wage war against our government and its people.

We the People mourn all those victims in Oklahoma as well as other victims of  terrorism.

Today, we must remember the past and pledge to all do our best to see the signs hear the rhetoric and report any suspicious behavior by people who resemble the men and women who practice hate, exclusion in its most extreme way includes violence.

In good news … it’s nice to know that financial reform will be dealt with before the end of the month and clearly Wall Street will finally get it’s due,  and it’s not a permanent bailout like the Republicans are trying to get the public to believe; it’s dishonest and the American people are much smarter than they think. All Americans must ask ourselves why would Republicans say one thing and do another?  Republicans need to pick …  are they on the side of big Banks or are they for the people even Justice Roberts has helped big money big greed corps with infinite amounts of money get into the game of politics by making corporations equal to individuals … which makes no sense.

Is it me or does the obvious disrespect for the effort of bipartisan on the part of  the Democrats offer Republicans is way beyond  offensive. Republicans keep saying no to reforming all aspects of the government but not because the government is broken and needs to be fixed but because they are not the governing party in charge and all those statements of taking their country back definitely have to be because the President is a person of colour.

I know that there are smart people out there who might be misguided misinformed by the right and need to hear the truth see it for yourself by listening to c-span live stream listen to the rhetoric on tv by Republicans who refuse to be bipartisan and fix our economy.

In the eight years that the house of Bush was in office he managed to get us into 2Wars give tax cuts…huge tax cuts to the rich and while informed of financial problems the Bush administration apparently did nothing.  And as reported; the only Republican that has waved an alarm is ron paul and the man is definitely not even accepted into his own party.   The Political Party of No remains on the side of Wall Street and greed or why would Mitch Mcconnell or Cornyn visit major Financial Fund consultants and ask for not only money but talking points to fool the public.    Apparently, the public are fools; to believe that the current administration is at fault is beyond me; again, change takes time and for those to feel the President betrayed them is absurd

Again, people are  either stupid, have forgotten  or didn’t believe we were close to having our whole economy system derailed by folks who dabbled in financial products that were set to fail.  The last minute announcement by the house of Bush right before the new President was going to be voted into place should not only remind people who was in charge and did nothing; ask yourself at what point in the months prior to the Presidential vote did the house of Bush know the economy was moving toward a depression.


Other News …

**Talks with Waste Management and Seattle garbage workers are at an impasse;with no meetings scheduled

**2top alqae da leaders in Iraq were eliminated via a rocket fire

**The President will be campaigning for Sen B.Boxer in California

**Vice President Joe Biden is facing the ladies of ‘The View‘ this week.

**Reports that the mistress of jjames got a tv gig …how disrespectful to the wife, marriage and what tv producers won’t do for money;hopefully the public will choose the wife, what is right and wrong behavior over the mistress and boycott the show

**The President will be in New York Thursday

The talk show announced Monday that Biden will be its featured guest on Thursday’s show.

**Massey Energy CEO paid Don Blankenship $17.8 million last year, “a $6.8 million raise over 2008 and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also has a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million at the end of last year.”TP

**On Friday, Obama promised to veto the financial reform bill if it doesn’t regulate the market for derivatives, which contributed to the nation’s economic problems after their value plummeted during the housing crisis.AP

C-span.org live stream

Listen to C-SPAN Radio

watch Pres. Obama’s Weekly Address 4/17

Ceremony Commemorates the 15th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing

Today

Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, a remembrance ceremony will be held on the grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. In a speech last week, former Pres. Bill Clinton warned about the possible effects of incendiary language from antigovernment activists.

Rep. Levin to speak about tax cuts and the economy

Today

Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), the new chairman of the House Ways & Means Cmte., will likely discuss the fate of billions of dollars in tax cuts when he speaks about the economy at the National Press Club today. The Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. In March, Rep. Levin replaced Cmte. chair Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who stepped aside due to an ethics investigation.

watch NPC: C-SPAN at 1pm ET
visit NPC Website visit Rep. Levin Website

Commission Questions Armys Oversight of Service Contracts

Today

Defense contracts are estimated to total $80 billion over the past five years in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Wartime contracting commission will investigate what Co-Chairman Shays calls, “a serious gap in reviewing contracts between $100 million and $1 billion in value.” The commission is concerned that the Army lacks adequate resources for planning, managing, and overseeing services contracts that are critical to the success of military operations. Currently, those contracts account for nearly two-thirds of contracts in Southwest Asia, and are mostly managed by the U.S. Army.

watch Hearing Begins: C-SPAN2 at 9:30am ET
visit Commission on Wartime Contracting
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Thinkprogress.org …must read info

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UNDER THE RADAR

RADICAL RIGHT — MCDONNELL WANTS TO WITHHOLD STATE MONEY FOR ABORTION WHEN MOTHER’S HEALTH IS AT RISK: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has proposed an amendment to the state budget that would withhold “state money for abortions, including cases in which the health of the mother is at risk or the child might be born with a deformity. Under the proposal, money could be spent on abortions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk” — thus meeting the bare minimum requirements of the federal Hyde Amendment. State lawmakers will return for a one-day session next Wednesday to either “override the amendments or write them into law.” McDonnell’s amendment would tighten the already strict limits on state abortion funding in Virginia. Currently, public funding is prohibited unless 1) the woman’s health or life would be substantially endangered, 2) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest that has been reported to a law-enforcement or public-health agency, or 3) a physician certifies that the fetus will be born with a gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency. A woman may not obtain an abortion until at least 24 hours after a provider offers a medical explanation of the procedure, the probable gestational age of the fetus and offers to review state-prepared materials about alternatives to abortion. McDonnell’s new funding restrictions are intended to encourage women to go through with their pregnancies, but his other budget proposals would actually make it more difficult for mothers to obtain needed government assistance. For instance, McDonnell “proposed capping state spending on comprehensive services for at-risk and troubled children. The change would result in a $9.9 million cut to funding for programs that were already reduced by $86 million over two years.”

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A message from President Obama …


It has now been well over a year since the near collapse of our entire financial system that cost the nation more than 8 million jobs. To this day, hard-working families struggle to make ends meet.

We’ve made strides — businesses are starting to hire, Americans are finding jobs, and neighbors who had given up looking are returning to the job market with new hope. But the flaws in our financial system that led to this crisis remain unresolved.

Wall Street titans still recklessly speculate with borrowed money. Big banks and credit card companies stack the deck to earn millions while far too many middle-class families, who have done everything right, can barely pay their bills or save for a better future.

We cannot delay action any longer. It is time to hold the big banks accountable to the people they serve, establish the strongest consumer protections in our nation’s history — and ensure that taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out big banks because they are “too big to fail.”

That is what Wall Street reform will achieve, why I am so committed to making it happen, and why I’m asking for your help today.

Please stand with me to show your support for Wall Street reform.

We know that without enforceable, commonsense rules to check abuse and protect families, markets are not truly free. Wall Street reform will foster a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, or offer a new service.

Consumer financial protections are currently spread across seven different government agencies. Wall Street reform will create one single Consumer Financial Protection Agency — tasked with preventing predatory practices and making sure you get the clear information, not fine print, needed to avoid ballooning mortgage payments or credit card rate hikes.

Reform will provide crucial new oversight, give shareholders a say on salaries and bonuses, and create new tools to break up failing financial firms so that taxpayers aren’t forced into another unfair bailout. And reform will keep our economy secure by ensuring that no single firm can bring down the whole financial system.

With so much at stake, it is not surprising that allies of the big banks and Wall Street lenders have already launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign to fight these changes. Arm-twisting lobbyists are already storming Capitol Hill, seeking to undermine the strong bipartisan foundation of reform with loopholes and exemptions for the most egregious abusers of consumers.

I won’t accept anything short of the full protection that our citizens deserve and our economy needs. It’s a fight worth having, and it is a fight we can win — if we stand up and speak out together.

So I’m asking you to join me, starting today, by adding your name as a strong supporter of Wall Street reform:

http://my.barackobama.com/StandForWallStreetReform

Thank you,

President Barack Obama