Treasury Dept. To Announce Plans That Would Cut Executive Compensation By Half at Bailed Out Firms
Obama's Pay Czar: Taxpayers Must Get Their Money Back
Kenneth Feinberg, the man appointed by President Obama to slash the salaries of top executives at seven companies that received TARP bailout money, sat down for an interview with ABC’s Betsy Stark today. We've posted the video and transcript below....
Cheney: Obama 'dithering' in Afghan war
by Mark Silva and updated
After a lull in fighting between former Vice President Dick Cheney and the Obama White House, the outspoken ex-veep has suited up again with a complaint that President Barack Obama is "dithering'' over war strategy in Afghanistan.
In a "hard-hitting speech'' at the Center for Security Policy last night, Cheney -- who received the center's "Keeper of the Flame'' reward -- complained about the time it is taking the Obama White House to decide about the deployment of tens of thousands of added troops that Gen. Stanley McChrystal is seeking in Afghanistan.
"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger," Cheney said. "Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries."
Obama, in an interview with NBC News yesterday, suggested that a decision could be forthcoming soon, but may not necessarily be announced before the outcome of the Nov. 7 runoff election in Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai has agreed to another round of voting in a contest with rival Abdullah Abdullah following an electoral commission's finding that fraud in the recent elections there deprived anyone of a 50 percent majority.
"I think it is entirely possible that we have a strategy formulated before a runoff is determined,'' Obama said. "We may not announce it.''
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today offered a rebuttal to Cheney's comments: "What Vice President Cheney calls dithering, President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and the American public. I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility serious...
"It is a curious comment," Gibbs said, "given, I think it is pretty safe to say that the vice president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan. Even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House including the vice president's for more than eight months -- a resource request filled by President Obama in March."
Karl Rove, the chief political adviser for the Bush administration, suggests in a Wall Street Journal essay accusing Obama of going "wobbly'' on Afghanistan that "t\ere is also the heavy whiff of politics in the administration's war deliberations. The president's senior political adviser, David Axelrod, apparently attends war cabinet meetings--something I did not do as President Bush's senior political adviser. ''
As for Cheney, Retired Army Gen. Paul Eaton, who oversaw training of the Iraqi military from 2003-4, had this to say: "The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters. They ignored Afghanistan for seven years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it.
"While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of Sept 11,'' said Eaton, national security adviser now for the Washington-based National Security Network.
In his speech, Cheney also was critical of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for asserting that the previous administration had failed to adequately assess conditions in Afghanistan before committing troops there.
"Now they seem to be pulling back and blaming others for their failure to implement the strategy they embraced," Cheney said. "It's time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity."
Cheney also challenged Obama's reversal of the Bush administration's plan for a missile defense in Eastern Europe, with the Obama White House scrapping plans to station missiles in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic.
The Obama White House maintains that adequate defenses can be staged to guard against a "rogue'' threat from Iran or others in the region, as Bush had framed the mission, without a missile installation that had heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
"President Obama's cancellation of America's agreements with the Polish and Czech governments was a serious blow to the hopes and aspirations of millions of Europeans," Cheney said. "These are faithful friends and NATO allies, and they deserve better... Our friends throughout the world are watching and wondering whether America will abandon them as well."
Eaton was equally pointed today.
"As one deeply invested in the Armed Forces of this country, I am grateful for the senior military commanders assigned to leading this fight and the men and women fighting on the ground,'' he said in a statement issued by his organization.
"But I dismiss men like Cheney who inject partisan politics into the profound deliberations our commander-in-dhief and commanders on the ground are having to develop a cohesive and comprehensive strategy.''
Protesters Rally At Health Industry Conference
The health industry was planning a quiet annual conference in Washington to discuss "state issues." But now that America's Health Insurance Plans are at the center of the health care debate, they are also a target for protesters who don't like what they're hearing.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar