Britain General Election 2010: voters go to the polls in tightest election in decades

elford and Wrekin Council employees prepare the Iron Bridge Toll House in Shropshire as a polling station for the Parliamentary and Local Election

Millions of people across Britain will today go to the polls in the most tightly-contested General Election in a generation.

A string of eve-of-election opinion polls gave David Cameron's Conservatives a clear lead over Labour and the Liberal Democrats, but suggested that the Tories will not reach the level of support they need to claim an overall majority in the House of Commons.

With around 50,000 polling stations opening at 7am today, there was more uncertainty about who would eventually emerge as Prime Minister than in any election since 1992 and a real expectation of a hung Parliament for the first time since 1974.

On Wednesday night David Cameron urged the public not to allow fear to “triumph over hope” as he sought an outright victory with a final appeal to millions of undecided voters.

The Tory leader completed a gruelling 36-hour campaigning drive across the country with a pledge that he could make Britain better.



In a final rally in Bristol he told supporters: “In this election, don’t let fear triumph over hope. A Conservative government can get our economy moving again, can tackle our social problems, can make politics accountable.”

Meanwhile Gordon Brown returned to Scotland, where he rounded off his campaign at a rally in Dumfries with a plea to wavering voters: "At this moment of risk to our economy, at this moment of decision for our country, I ask you to come home to Labour."

And Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg addressed a crowd of hundreds of people on the steps of Sheffield City Hall, with an appeal for voters to "aim higher, don't settle for second best".

The final newspaper polls of the campaign all put the Conservatives in the lead with support ranging between 35 per cent and 37 per cent.

The other two parties were vying for second place, with Labour apparently edging slightly ahead on 28 per cent-29 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 26-28 per cent.

On an even swing, the figures would make the Tories the largest party, with between 268 and 294 seats in the House of Commons, but leave them well short of the 326 MPs Mr Cameron needs to lead a majority administration.

The polls suggest Labour could emerge with around 248-274 MPs, with the Liberal Democrats holding the balance of power on 77-82 seats.

The most up-to-date Guardian/ICM poll shows the Conservatives with an eight-point lead over Labour, just short of what they need for an overall majority.

The survey put the Conservatives on 36 per cent, Labour on 28 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 26 per cent.

But much will depend on performance in individual constituencies, particularly the 100 or so Labour/Conservative marginals which hold the key to tonight's result and where the fiercest battles have been fought.

Strategists believe that an unusually large number of voters will only make their minds up when they get into the polling booths, adding an additional layer of uncertainty to the result.

If the Lib Dems suffer from a classic last-minute "third party squeeze", with voters gravitating to the two larger parties, it could even have the effect of handing the balance of power to the Welsh and Scottish nationalists or the Northern Irish parties.

The Democratic Unionist Party last night claimed they were being courted by Mr Brown ahead of a possible hung Parliament, releasing a letter in which the Labour leader promised to maintain the size of the block grant from Westminster to Northern Ireland if he remains in 10 Downing Street.

The national newspapers did their bit to boost the chances of their preferred candidates.

The Sun hailed Mr Cameron as "Our Only Hope" in a front-page echoing the famous campaign posters of Barack Obama, while the Daily Mirror painted a less flattering picture, asking "Prime Minister? Really?" alongside a picture of the Tory leader and a CV featuring his Eton education and support for foxhunting and listing his real-life experience as "None".

Mr Cameron and wife Samantha will cast their votes early today in his constituency of Witney in Oxfordshire, while Mr Brown and Sarah will go to the polling station in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

Mr Clegg will be accompanied by wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez to the polls in Sheffield Hallam, but she will not be able to vote for her husband as she is a Spanish citizen.

As well as the 650 MPs of the new Parliament, voters are also electing councillors in 166 local authorities across England – including London boroughs – and mayors in Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Watford.

U.S. lawmaker caught looking at porn on Senate floor

Busted: Senator Mike Bennett looks at his computer screen - on which there is an image of topless women - while on the Senate floor during the debate of an abortion bill

'I was bored': Mike Bennett (file photo) claimed the image was in an email that he unwittingly opened from a colleague

In his flimsy defence, he was bored.

Unfortunately for Florida Senator Mike Bennett, that's just not a good enough reason to be looking at pictures of topless women while on the Senate floor.

Especially not while using his state-issued computer.

And especially not while a colleague is arguing that the law currently being debated is 'disrespectful towards women'.



Even if you do get caught in such a situation, you really shouldn't threaten the reporter who ran the story - trust us, it is just going to make matters worse.
But all these factors have collided in a perfect storm of scandal for the Republican lawmaker.

Sunshine State News reporter Lance Wright spotted video footage of the senator looking at the image of topless women on Thursday.

The footage shows the senator tilting his screen forward before closing down the image, tilting his screen back again.

Just to add to the poignancy of the moment, in the background Senator Dan Gelber's voice can be heard debating a controversial abortion bill.

'I'm against this bill,' Mr Gelber can be heard saying, 'because it disrespects too many women in the state of Florida.'

Indeed.

Later, Mr Bennett is also filmed watching what appears to be YouTube footage of a dog.
When approached by the reporter, Mr Bennett said he was sent the pornographic image in an email from a woman 'who happens to be a former court administrator'.

'I was just sitting there, bored as they were debating the abortion bill,' Mr Bennett said.

'I opened it up and said holy s***! What's on my screen? and clicked away from it right away,' he told the Sunshine State News.

A Senate spokesman said Mr Bennett had thought the email was relating to the abortion bill.

It is unclear if he thought the video of the dog was also in relation to the bill.

He refused to show the Sunshine State News the original email on his computer after consulting with the Senate's top lawyer.

And when asked if he would ever watch porn on the Senate floor, he replied: 'You'd have to be insane to do that. It all goes through a server. I don't think anybody would be doing that.'

In an email to the Sunshine State News he wrote: 'Last Friday, I took a moment to check my personal email account during a quiet minute on the Senate floor. I received several emails from a former city colleague and life-long friend.

'I had no prior knowledge as to what the emails would contain and when the contents of one was discovered to be less than appropriate, it was promptly closed.

'I cannot control what individuals may send me and am disappointed that at a time when there are major issues impacting Florida, an insignificant issue such as this receives any attention.'

Sunshine State News columnist Nancy Smith wrote in response: 'I would like to have asked, if the ultrasound issue under discussion on the Senate floor during the bikini-babe download wasn't a significant enough issue to receive his attention, what was?'

When the Sunshine State News published the story, Mr Bennett was reportedly furious.

'He telephoned [reporter] Lane Wright in a rage, promising to make sure he never works in the Capitol again,' Ms Smith wrote.

Mr Bennett is due to announce that he will be running for Congress in two weeks.

Labour fights on after debate blow

David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown shake hands after the TV debate

Labour has vowed to carry on fighting to polling day after Gordon Brown failed to make the party's hoped-for breakthrough in the final leaders' debate.

A clutch of instant polls following the last of three televised head-to-heads made David Cameron clear winner, with the Prime Minister again trailing in third place.

With just a week to go and Labour still behind in the overall opinion polls, the party had been hoping desperately that Mr Brown would put in a performance that would change the dynamics of the campaign.

Mr Cameron cautioned that the election was "far from won" for the Conservatives and said that he would spend the next six days concentrating on winning every vote.

Labour election co-ordinator Douglas Alexander also insisted that the result of the election remained "wide open", and said that Mr Brown would carry on fighting until the end.



"He is going to be campaigning the length and breadth of the country in the days ahead," he told Sky News. "We are going to be fighting from now until the election for every single vote. This election is wide open. Nobody has any certainty how this election will play itself out."

But Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said Labour was out of it and the contest now was between his party and the Conservatives. "This is turning into a two-horse race. Unexpectedly, it is between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives," he said

Mr Cameron said it was essential that the Tories did not let up in the final run-in to polling day. "I am just very focused on the next week because this is still an election where we have to fight for every vote and every seat," he told BBC Radio WM.

"I am going to be doing everything I can in these next six days to say to people if you want real change, if you want to wake up on Friday May 7 with a different government, with a new prime minister, taking the country in a new direction, then please vote Conservative because this election is still far from won."

The debate drew a peak audience of eight million viewers, according to overnight viewing figures.

Election 2010: Tories to target Labour heartlands

The Conservatives hope to build on their opinion poll lead

The Conservatives are to step up campaigning in seats where Labour are defending healthy majorities, in the wake of the Lib Dem poll surge.

Tory strategists have identified a number of seats where they believe support for Labour is ebbing away.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has said first-past-the-post votes made "no sense at all" in a three-party system.

Lord Mandelson has warned Labour voters in Labour/Tory marginals: "Vote Nick, get Dave and George".

Labour will focus campaigning on its plans for the NHS on Monday, while the Lib Dems are highlighting their plans for a pay rise for junior ranks in the armed forces.

BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said the surge in the polls for the Lib Dems, in the wake of TV prime ministerial debates, had upset both the Tories' and Labour's election strategies.



Third runway

The Tories had hoped to take a swathe of seats from the Lib Dems in south-west England, thought to be needed if they were to get an overall majority.

Now they hope to take seats which have traditionally returned Labour MPs but where they believe the rise in Lib Dem support - at Labour's expense - could make a Conservative win possible. They will start to target those constituencies over the next few days.

The Conservatives are also targeting Lib Dem voters, posting about 500,000 pieces of campaign literature in marginal seats.

Mr Cameron said: "Today I want to speak directly to the people who have idealism and progressive ideals hardwired into their DNA. Everyone who is desperate for real change.

"Whether you've been a Lib Dem voter or a Labour voter or a Green voter - if you care about the environment, if you want action to improve your quality of life, if you care about civil liberties, if you want people power, you need the clean break that a Conservative government can give you."

'Eco-charlatans'

It marks the start of an offensive on two fronts for the Conservatives, as they aim to extend their lead in the opinion polls.

While four polls in Sunday newspapers suggested the party has a clear lead, they still pointed to a hung parliament - with the Conservatives short of an overall majority.

At a press conference in Edinburgh on Monday, Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg faced more questions about his comments on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday - in which he said it would be "preposterous" for Labour to come third in the popular vote, but remain in 10 Downing Street.

He said he had been "pointing out what I think is the obvious, which is we have an irrational and unfair democratic system" which he said was "going well past its sell-by date".

Asked if he would support Labour, if it won the most seats but came third in terms of number of votes, Mr Clegg said "no" and criticised the convention that if there is no clear winner, the current PM has the first right to seek to govern.

But he repeated his belief that if a party won the most seats and the most votes but was short of an overall majority, it had the right to seek to reach out to other parties first.

Mr Clegg said the way in which politicians would "speak to each other" after the election depended on the result and the "priorities that each of the parties sets out".

On whether changing the voting system would be a pre-requisite for Lib Dem support in a coalition, he said electoral reform was "an absolute precondition for renewal in this country".

He will set out his party's plans to boost the pay of junior soldiers as part of their plans for Armed Forces reform - increasing the pay of an Army private by up to £6,000 a year, to bring it into line with the salary of a police constable.

He said Labour had "failed" on the environment, the Conservatives "align themselves with climate change deniers" in Europe and that the next government would be the last that is able to stop "dangerous" climate change.

The Green Party responded to Mr Clegg's assertion that they "cannot make a difference in Westminster" by calling his party the "biggest eco-charlatans on this part of the planet".

As Labour switch their focus to the NHS in England, with hints they will spell out their vision in even more detail than the manifesto, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson rallied party supporters in an e-mail.

Saying they were "in the fight for our political lives", he reminded them that a third of the electorate remained undecided.

"In his interviews, Nick Clegg has been making clear his hostility to Labour and his preference to side with the Tories in a coalition if this arises," he said.

"Or, in other words, vote Nick and get Dave and George," a reference to the Conservative leader and his shadow chancellor George Osborne.

British politics-Leaders square up for second debate-Questions over Lib Dem leader's funding before TV debate

Nick Clegg


David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg

The leaders of the three major parties will go head-to-head in the second live televised debate of the General Election campaign.

The debate in Bristol is expected to see Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg come under pressure from his two rivals, after his widely-praised performance in last week's broadcast gave his party a boost of up to 12 points in the polls, transforming the election into a real three-horse race.

Labour's Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron will seek to highlight Lib Dem policies on the Trident nuclear deterrent and the European Union, which they believe will prove unattractive to voters.






But in a 90-minute debate on Sky News focused on foreign affairs, Mr Clegg is likely to respond by reminding voters that his party opposed the Iraq War, which both Tories and Labour supported.

Domestic affairs and the economy are also certain to feature among the questions from the studio audience, on a day when crucial borrowing figures will indicate whether the Government is on track to meet its Budget forecasts.

Polls suggest that the "Clegg bounce" was still having an impact a week after last Thursday's debate, with Lib Dems continuing to pip Labour for second place. A ComRes survey for ITV and The Independent put Conservatives ahead on 35% to the Lib Dems' 27% and Labour's 25%, while a YouGov poll for The Sun had the Tories on 33%, Lib Dems 31% and Labour 27%.

There were signs of Tory-supporting newspapers putting the Lib Dem leader under intense scrutiny ahead of the debate.

The Daily Telegraph reported that regular payments from three Lib Dem donors were paid directly into Mr Clegg's private bank account before he became leader. A party spokesman said that the gifts went towards funding staff for his parliamentary office and were "properly made and declared".

Mr Cameron insisted he was "aiming for outright victory", but left open the door for co-operation with the Liberal Democrats if they held the balance of power.

"We are trying to win the election, we are trying to win outright," he said. "If it falls short of that we have to behave responsibly, make sure that we have a working government of this country and things get done."

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, was accused of irregular funding arrangements Thursday as party leaders geared up for the second pre-election TV debate.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Clegg, whose strong showing in last week's first televised clash boosted his party's support, received a series of payments from party donors directly into his private bank account.

Three donors paid up to 250 pounds a month before he became party leader in 2007, said the rightwing daily.

The paper reported the payments were made by three businessmen, citing personal bank statements submitted in 2006 by Clegg to back up his expense claims.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman accepted the payments had been made but denied any impropriety.

"The donations were properly made and declared and were used to fund part of the salary of an additional member of Nick Clegg's parliamentary staff," said a party spokesman.

But the former head of a watchdog that monitors lawmakers' conduct told the Telegraph the arrangements appeared "irregular."

"Given that he's been very holier than thou about these things, it would seem he has some explaining to do to his party and the electorate," said Alistair Graham, ex-chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

"It would now make sense for someone independent to check these accounts."

Lawmakers are still struggling to repair their tarnished reputations after last year's expenses scandal, which revealed lawmakers had claimed public money to pay everything from adult films to tennis court repairs.

The centrist Liberal Democrats have traditionally been the third-largest party in politics, consistently lagging far behind the ruling Labour Party and the main opposition Conservatives in opinion polls.

But Clegg's strong performance in last week's first US-style televised pre-poll clash saw his party, which has never held power, surge into second, and sometimes first place in a series of polls.

He will be hoping to repeat the performance in the second debate Thursday, which focuses on foreign policy.

Democrats pare differences over health overhaul- Alleged funding of abortion cause big differences.

----

-----

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 12, 2010


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., left, along with Gina Owens from Seattle, Wash.,left, whose daughter, Tiffany Owens died after losing her job and health care, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill. center, and others, arrive for a health care news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 11, 2010.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 12, 2010.



President Barack Obama delayed next week's Asian trip on Friday to seize on suddenly improved prospects for his sweeping health care legislation, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi forecast final passage of the overhaul in days.

"It's going to be historic," she said as House and Senate leaders and the White House reached for final agreement on the measure.

Pelosi said it appeared a second administration priority, far-reaching changes in the student loan industry, would be added to the legislation. The measure would have the government originate assistance to needy college students, ending a system that has allowed banks and other private lenders to do so at a fee.

The change is estimated to save tens of billions of dollars over a decade, money that would be plowed back into higher Pell Grants and other student aid.

The health care legislation is designed to extend insurance to millions who lack it, while banning insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people who have been sick. Most Americans would be required to get coverage under law, and many would receive subsidies to make insurance more affordable.

Republicans are implacably opposed to the measure, which they say would amount to a government takeover of the health care system, financed by cuts to Medicare and higher taxes.

As a result, the prospect of a party-line vote on such far-reaching legislation ensures that the issue will reverberate into the fall elections for control of Congress.

At the White House, a senior administration official said Obama's scheduled trip to Indonesia, Guam and Australia will be pushed back from March 18 to March 21 and the president will return on March 26, instead of March 24. The official divulged this information on the grounds of anonymity because Obama's change in travel plans had not yet been announced.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs had insisted earlier that Congress act by March 18 — Obama's original departure date. But the White House seems to have backed off of that as Democratic leaders scurried to round up votes.

Additionally, the White House announced Obama would travel to Ohio on Monday — the third in a string of campaign-style appearances since he vowed several days ago to do everything in his power to assure enactment of his top domestic priority.

Pelosi spoke with reporters after a closed-door meeting of the Democratic rank and file, a session that she said left her feeling "very exhilarated" about the prospects of passing the legislation.

"We stand ready to stay as long as necessary" to finish it, she said. A two-week Easter break is scheduled to begin March 26.

"I think that we're at a very good place," she said, adding that a revised measure, complete with a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, will be sent to the Budget Committee and posted on the Internet within a week.

The health care bill appeared on the cusp of passage in early January, but was derailed when Senate Republicans gained the strength needed to sustain a filibuster and prevent final approval.

In the weeks since, leaders have come up with a two-part rescue strategy. It calls for the House to pass legislation that cleared the Senate in December, despite numerous objections, and for both houses to follow immediately with a second bill that makes changes to the first.

The second, fix-it bill would be drafted under rules that prevent Republicans from demanding Democrats produce a 60-vote super-majority, a threshold now beyond their reach.

House Democrats continued private meetings Friday to review elements of the still-emerging fix-it bill, but few details were immediately available.

In general, though, it would provide additional assistance to lower-income families who are unable to afford insurance, help states that already provide above-average benefits under Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor, as well as gradually close a gap in coverage under the Medicare prescription drug program.

Activist accused of tampering with US senator's phone

The U.S. Justice Department charged four men on Tuesday with tampering with phones in the New Orleans office of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, one of them a conservative filmmaker who last year provoked a scandal involving a liberal grass-roots group.

The FBI said among those arrested on Monday was James O'Keefe, who, posing as a pimp and accompanied by a woman pretending to be a prostitute, filmed workers with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, giving advice on how to flout housing laws.
The film attracted a big audience after being posted on YouTube.
"This is a very unusual situation and somewhat unsettling for me and my staff," Landrieu said in a statement. "I am as interested as everyone else about their motives and purpose, which I hope will become clear as the investigation moves forward."

According to the criminal complaint, two of O'Keefe's associates dressed as telephone repairmen entered the office of the Louisiana senator in the Hale Boggs Federal Building under the pretense of performing repairs.
While O'Keefe used a mobile phone to film them, Robert Flanagan and Joseph Basel "manipulated the telephone system" in the reception area of Landrieu's office, the FBI said.

The men were apprehended by U.S. marshals after Flanagan and Basel tried later to gain access to telephone equipment in the U.S. General Services Administration office in the same building, the agency said.
Flanagan and Basel were dressed in denim work suits, florescent vests, tool belts and hard hats, the FBI said. The two admitted later they were not telephone repairmen, according to the affidavit.
A fourth man, Stan Dai, was arrested for having helped O'Keefe, Flanagan and Basel in "planning, coordination and preparation of the operation," the FBI said in a statement.


 -----------


----------



Read more about US Capitol.

President Obama Changes Tone Ahead of State of the Union Address

Two months ago, few would have heard of the state senator, and rarely has a freshman senator come to the nation's capitol with so much fanfare. But his shocking win has rattled the political world and threatens to topple Democrats' health care agenda, even before he is sworn in.

On the eve of President Obama's State of the Union address and the end of his first year in office, Republican Scott Brown's astonishing win in the Massachusetts special Senate race not only reset politics in that state, but reset politics for the entire nation.


"The entire political community was caught a little bit unawares on that one," White House senior adviser David Axelrod said today on ABC's "This Week" of Brown's win.

After Brown's upset win ended the 60-seat majority in the Senate that Democrats needed in order to push through health care reform without a Republican vote, the White House is adjusting its political operation by bringing in Obama's 2008 presidential campaign manager David Plouffe. The move comes ahead of mid-term elections in the House and Senate this November, where Republicans hope to capitalize on the momentum of Brown's win and pick up more seats, which could further endanger the president's agenda.


White House advisers played down Plouffe's hire, denying an association with Brown's win.


"David Plouffe has been a regular adviser to the president throughout the year," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"We have a very strong political operation. What it's a reflection of is that David was working on his book for the last year. He's done with that now. He's enormously talented, as everyone knows, and he brings value added to our operation as we look forward, in terms of strategy and tactics, and he'll be consulting with us on that, and we'll be stronger for it," Axelrod said.

Also back were themes from Obama's presidential campaign.

"This president's never going to stop fighting to create jobs, to raise incomes, and to push back on the special interests' dominance in Washington and this withering partisanship that keeps us from solving problems," Axelrod said.

Axelrod said those same themes propelled Brown to victory.

"This is the Obama who ran for president," he said. "And the themes that he talked about in that campaign were very much echoed by Senator Brown in his campaign, which tells you that the hunger for that kind of leadership is still very strong."


In another throwback to campaign rhetoric, on Friday at a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio, Obama used the word "fight" more than 20 times.

White House advisers say the president will continue with his current health care reform push despite Brown's win.

"The underlying elements of it are popular and important. And people will never know what's in that bill until we pass it, the president signs it, and they have a whole range of new protections they never had before," Axelrod said.

Yet Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell argued Americans were against the Democrats' health care reform initiative, citing a recent Washington Post/Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University poll of Massachusetts voters that found that 48 percent opposed the health-care proposals advanced by Obama and congressional Democrats while 43 percent of them said they supported them.



"The people are telling us, 'Please don't pass this bill.' Now, if they get past this arrogant phase that they've been stuck in for about a year that, 'We know best. We don't want to listen to public opinion here, we want to 'make history,' if they can work their way past that and concentrate on the real problem, which is the cost, we're willing to look at it." McConnell said on NBC.

"We see it all over the country in tea parties and town halls. People are alarmed and angry about the spending, the debt, the government takeovers," said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., on ABC.

Obama's advisers say they understand people are frustrated.

"I think people are angry in this country -- they were angry in Massachusetts -- that we haven't made more progress on the economy," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on "FOX News Sunday."

"I think we have to stay focused on solving people's problems, and I think the politics will flow from there," Plouffe said in an interview with ABC News.

Obama has an opportunity to address that frustration in his State of the Union address this Wednesday evening, when he can speak directly to the American people.

"He'll be able to set forth his priorities, and they will be focusing on the middle class. Our middle class is struggling out there. they're frustrated, they're angry, they're working hard to try to make ends meet. They're having to make terrible choices between paying their rent and putting food on the table and paying for their health care and sending their kids to college. These are the same principles that the president advocated in the course of the campaign," Jarrett said, previewing the speech.

"I think the reason that you had the victories in Virginia and New Jersey and most improbably in Massachusetts of all places was the American people are saying, 'We want to go in a different direction.' I hope the president will get the message and change direction , and we'll begin to see that next Wednesday night," McConnell said. "









-----------

-----------



----------

---------

----------

-----------

Obamas head to Hawaii for holidays-Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle

The Obama family leaves for Hawaii

US President Barack Obama headed for Hawaii Thursday on a 10-day holiday vacation in his native state cheered by a major health reform victory.

The first family lifted off on Air Force One shortly after 10:30 am (1530 GMT), hours after the Senate passed a sweeping bill to remake the battered US health care system, the president's top domestic priority.

Obama, First Lady Michelle and First Daughters Sasha, eight, and Malia, 11, were clad in thick winter coats as they boarded the blue and white presidential jumbo jet. They were sure to shed those coverings when they land in warm Honolulu, Hawaii, where they will spend time at the beach.

They are scheduled to leave Honolulu on Sunday, January 3.

Before departing the White House, Obama called 10 US troops fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- two from each of the five military branches.

Showing she has grown quite comfortable with the perks of her dad's job, Sasha said Tuesday she expected Christmas to stay this same this year, but for one thing.

"It will be easier to get on the plane than last year," she told a group of children to a chorus of laughter.

Since Obama took office in January, he and his family have had two luxuriously outfitted Boeing 747 airplanes at their disposal.

Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961, where he lived until he was 18, except for a stint in Indonesia from the age of six to 10.


Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle Wednesday, setting up a Christmas Eve vote to pass the legislation extending coverage to 30 million Americans. Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster and move to a final vote Thursday. All 58 Democrats and two independents hung together against unanimous Republican opposition.



------------

----------

------------

-----------

RELATED POSTS:-

• Democrats claim big victory on health care-cost in 10 years time $1.05 trilion promised health coverage of 96% of citizen
• Report: Health bills show some price gaps
• Request for more USA troops in Afganisthan if not failure will occur. Obama still thinking about it.
• Obama: No quick decision on troops to Afghan- Need for training of Afganisthan security force in view of increase insurgents
• Senior black Democrats have claimed the intensity of the anger shown by opponents of Barack Obama is largely rooted in racism
• President Barack Obama said he is confident Congress will pass "a good health care bill,"
• South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yells 'You lie!' to the president
• Rep Joe Wilson In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum shouted " You lie" at President of Americaa guest of the House and Senate.
• Obama's "green jobs" guru Jones resigns after uproar-Van Jones resignesigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements
• Obama to address Congress on healthcare
• Death gives Massachusetts 1st open Senate seat in decades
• Prime suspect in Philippine massacre surrenders-A scion of a powerful clan surrendered for investigation for murder of 57 people massacre of unarmed .
• 21 Filipinos killed on way to file election papers
• Palestinian shock: President says he wants to quit
• Afghan Election Officials Declare Karzai Winner
• UN chief in Kabul as pressure mounts over run-off vote-Abdullah Abdullah quit 2nd election becoz Kanzai refuse sack corrupt Election officials.
• Abdullah the main candidate against Kazai boycott 2nd Election. No guarantee that election fraud will stop at 2n election
• Karzai needed convincing twice on new election
• Karzai Nears Victory Threshold As Fraud Claims Grow-Some stations receive more than 100% attendance and 1 candidate won 100% votes.show fraud.
• New government in Japan = LDP rule of half a century comes to an end.- New First Lady is confident and alleged has been abducted by aliens

Lieberman Stands in Middle of Health Care Debate

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. and Sen. Susan Collins., R-Maine meet with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington,


Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., right, accompanied by Sen. Susan Collins, Maine meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009.


Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009.


Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., right, accompanied by Sen. Susan Collins, Maine meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009.

The senator Republicans love and liberals love to hate is at it again.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, who no longer considers himself a Democrat but is holding tight to a coveted chairmanship, thoroughly rattled the Obama administration and his colleagues in the last 48 hours when he threatened to join Republicans in blocking health care overhaul over government-run insurance and an expansion of Medicare.

"Say it ain't so, Joe," Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I think Joe's judgment is wrong."

Don't count me as a "no" vote just yet, Lieberman indicated Tuesday.

As long as any government plan or Medicare expansion stays out of the bill, "then I'm going to be in a position where I can say what I've wanted to say all along: that I'm ready to vote for health care reform," the Connecticut lawmaker told reporters.

Lieberman isn't the typical Democrat the party machinery is primed to appease as President Barack Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., cobble together the 60 votes required to pass a health care bill.

No, this is Lieberman — Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's running mate in 2000 but now independent in every sense of the word. Lieberman lost his party's primary in 2006 in part because of his pro-Iraq war votes and won re-election as an Independent.

Then he committed what some Democrats still consider the ultimate apostasy: He endorsed Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona with a rousing speech at the GOP national convention and campaigned heartily for his longtime friend.

Back in the Senate with McCain — after Obama moved into the White House — Lieberman later apologized to his Democratic colleagues. Seething but needing Lieberman to get to the 60 vote-majority required to break filibusters, they allowed him to keep the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee.

From Obama on down, they vowed to step past the unpleasantness and look to the future.

But there held another chapter in Lieberman's tortured relationship with Democrats.

By Tuesday, Lieberman was telling Obama and his colleagues that the debate has been tough on him. Outside with reporters, he blamed the tussle on Democrats trying to cram too much — namely, any kind of government health insurance — into the overhaul

"What happens then is you run the risk of losing everything," Lieberman told reporters.

That's exactly what Democrats feared was happening on Sunday, when they heard Lieberman call the latest iteration of their bill, a plan to allow people age 55 to 64 to buy Medicare benefits, too costly.

There, potentially, went Reid's 60th vote, a development that unnerved Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and must have come in some measure as a surprise to Reid. Only two months earlier, the majority leader had called Lieberman "the least of Harry Reid's problems."

By Monday, Lieberman headed Reid's list of senators who must be accommodated. Democrats circulated a videotaped newspaper interview from September showing Lieberman saying he supports the idea of a Medicare expansion. Lieberman said in a statement later that the details of the bill had changed since then and so had his opinion.

The White House got involved, and by nightfall, the Medicare provision was out. And Lieberman sounded like he was back in.

At a private White House complex meeting with Senate Democrats Tuesday, Lieberman said Obama greeted him warmly.

"He said 'hello, how are you brother?' It was a good conversation," recalled the senator, who in an interview with CNN signaled he could switch parties again. "It's unlikely I'd run as a Republican, but I wouldn't foreclose any possibility. I think the more likely thing is that I'd run as an Independent because that's what I am," he said.

Congressional Democrats, both furious and wary of re-offending their mercurial colleague, began speaking of Lieberman only when asked, mostly in the bland terms.

What was Lieberman thinking?

"I have no idea," Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said with a polite grin. "Our focus is on 60 votes."

Does he have too much power over the shape of the overhaul?

"That's a Senate matter," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., demurred.

"You're too Lieberman-focused," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told reporters afterward.

Lieberman himself said later that he's prepared to live with his opposition to publicly funded insurance, convinced, he said, that it would increase taxes.

It's a truism about the Senate that the end of sensitive negotiations present outsized opportunities for clout and attention for any senator with a request or a demand. Power in this debate has flowed largely to those on the fence or in the middle. But while senators like being courted, the position can be uncomfortable.

Inside Obama's closed-door meeting at the White House complex Tuesday, Lieberman stood.

"I said, 'I haven't really had a lot of fun the last couple of weeks,'" the besieged senator told reporters.

"And then (Ohio Democratic Sen.) Sherrod Brown got up and said, 'I haven't been having fun either,'" Lieberman recalled. "And the president said, 'Why don't we all begin to have some fun? Let's pass the bill."


-----------

---------

-----------

RELATED POSTS:-

• Gordon brown faces critism of lying about withdrawal from Irag to British , as Obama send 30 000 troops more to Afganisthan
• Obama brings broad agenda to meeting with China's Hu-US owns $1 trillion in debts to China.Obama in a barrel.
• President Obama in China
• First picture of heroine of Fort Hood who took down gunman-Confront the Maj Hasan directly and open fire.Stopped carnage gun rampage.
• After Afghan vote, an awkward task for Obama
• Photographers go hungry as Michelle Obama and 30 schoolchildren settle down for a picnic
• White House hosts Halloween-Trick or treaters in White house
• Misunderestimated George Bush makes his debut as 'motivational speaker'
• Carter roils lawmakers by calling Obama critics racist
• Lieberman Stands in Middle of Health Care Debate
• EPA's Carbon Decision Gives Obama Copenhagen Tool-Official declared Co2 is dangerous to mankind.-Backlash fear of expensive energy and cut jobs
• NY bill defeat.Gay marriage is not legalized.
• Democrats claim big victory on health care-cost in 10 years time $1.05 trilion promised health coverage of 96% of citizen
• Report: Health bills show some price gaps
• Request for more USA troops in Afganisthan if not failure will occur. Obama still thinking about it.
• Obama: No quick decision on troops to Afghan- Need for training of Afganisthan security force in view of increase insurgents
• Senior black Democrats have claimed the intensity of the anger shown by opponents of Barack Obama is largely rooted in racism
• President Barack Obama said he is confident Congress will pass "a good health care bill,"
• South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yells 'You lie!' to the president
• Rep Joe Wilson In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum shouted " You lie" at President of Americaa guest of the House and Senate.

Carter roils lawmakers by calling Obama critics racist

President Obama and Ex President Jimmy Carter. Carter accuse racism are basic reason for intensity objections obama received.




Former President Jimmy Carter fueled a renewed political furor over race by saying Rep Joe Wilson's outburst during President Barack Obama's speech last week was "based on racism."

The former president's remarks drew a rebuke Wednesday from Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who called accusations of racism "an outrage."

The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday, "The president does not believe that the criticism comes based on the color of his skin."

Mr. Obama has sought during his presidential campaign and much of his first months in office to downplay racial divisions. But Mr. Wilson's shout of "You lie," during Mr. Obama's speech on health care, and the reaction to that event, have brought sensitive issues of race back to the surface.

Mr. Carter made his remarks about Rep. Wilson's interruption in response to a question at a town-hall meeting in Atlanta on Tuesday. "There is an inherent feeling among many people in this country that an African-American ought not to be president, and ought not to be given the same respect as if he were white," Mr. Carter said.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," Carter told NBC News.

He said this "racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Mr. Steele, who is African-American, replied on Wednesday. "Characterizing Americans' disapproval of President Obama's policies as being based on race is an outrage and a troubling sign about the lengths Democrats will go to disparage all who disagree with them," Mr. Steele said."President Carter is flat out wrong. This isn't about race. It is about policy," he said in a statement. "This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run healthcare plan that the American people simply oppose."

The furor didn't prompt Mr. Carter to back down. He reiterated his argument in a talk Wednesday night at Emory University, citing various attacks on Mr. Obama, though not Mr. Wilson's comment.

Mr. Wilson couldn't be reached Wednesday. On the Washington Times'"America's Morning News" radio program Wednesday, Mr. Wilson said, "That is such a distraction and a diversion from the issues that we should be discussing."

Previous Controversial.

Obama, America's first black president, was steering clear of the issue, weeks after he injected himself into a debate about race in Massachusetts after black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his own home on suspicion of breaking into it.

After Obama created an uproar by saying that Cambridge, Massachusetts, police had acted stupidly in the case, he later expressed regret for the tone of his remarks and had the professor and police officer to the White House for a beer in what was dubbed a "beer summit."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the uproar among Obama's opponents was more likely a reaction to some of the decisions Obama had made to help the U.S. economy, such as bank and auto bailouts.

"We understand that people have disagreements with some of the decisions that we've made," he said.

------------


President Jimmy Carter tells Brian Williams that the Hatred against President Obama is Racism. Keith talks about the racist overtones by the republicans and their followers. The signs are out there. We have all seen them.
-------------

Related Posts

• Rep Joe Wilson In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum shouted " You lie" at President of Americaa guest of the House and Senate.
• President Barack Obama said he is confident Congress will pass "a good health care bill,"
• South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yells 'You lie!' to the president
• President Obama said his administration has "stopped the economic free fall
• Beer Summit in White House - President Obama , Sgt James Crowley , Pro Gates , Joe Biden...They meet , they drank but no apologies.Agreed to disagreed
• The last of the Kennedy - Ted Kennedy dies at 77 uear old.
• Senior black Democrats have claimed the intensity of the anger shown by opponents of Barack Obama is largely rooted in racism
• President Obama increase tire tariff from China.- May cause Trade war from China.
• Osama Bin Laden new message-Short ,Show weakness and loss of popularity,Praise 3 USA presidents , recommend books.
• Obama's "green jobs" guru Jones resigns after uproar-Van Jones resignesigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements

President Barack Obama said he is confident Congress will pass "a good health care bill,"

President Barack Obama holds health insurance reform rally, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)


In this photo provided by FOX News, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., appears on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/FOX News Sunday, Freddie Lee)





White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is interviewed on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Washington


In this photo provided by FOX News, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., appears on "Fox News Sunday" in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009


White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is interviewed on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)


President Obama speaks to a joint session of Congress on health care at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Sept. 9, 2009. Obama decried the "partisan spectacle" that has stymied the debate over health care in recent months


President Barack Obama said he is confident Congress will pass "a good health care bill," as months of rancor over reforming the nation's health care system seemed to be easing Sunday, with the White House playing down an immediate role for a government insurance option.

At the same time, Obama was critical of Republican opponents who he said were trying to block an overhaul of the nation's heath care system for political gain.

"I believe that we will have enough votes to pass not just any health care bill, but a good health care bill that helps the American people, reduces costs, actually over the long-term controls our deficit. I'm confident that we've got that," Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes. "There are those in the Republican party who think the best thing to do is just to kill reform. That that will be good politics."

"I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails. That doesn't work," Obama told CBS. "You know, I intend to be president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it."

Obama wants to make sure that any overhaul imposes strict measures to ban companies from refusing insurance to people with existing medical conditions, dropping coverage when policyholders become ill and imposing caps on what a person can claim for one illness or in his lifetime.

He told CBS he didn't want Americans to say in the future: "'You know what? This hasn't reduced my costs. My premiums are still going up 25 percent, insurance companies are still jerking me around.'

"I'm the one who's going to be held responsible," Obama said. "So I have every incentive to get this right."

Obama is trying to sweeten the deal for Republicans by indicating he is open to their ideas.

In his Wednesday speech and again in the CBS interview, the president signaled he was open the idea of so-called tort reform. Under current practice, doctors and hospitals must pay huge amounts to insure themselves against malpractice lawsuits by patients seeking large court-ordered settlements for poor treatment.

Democrats, thanks to heavy backing from lawyers, have not supported Republican efforts to limit such payments. Doctors — and Republican politicians — say the current system drives up costs through unneeded medical procedures ordered by physicians who fear being sued.

"I would be willing to ... consider any ideas out there that would actually work in terms of reducing costs, improving the quality of patient care," Obama said in the Sunday interview, which was taped Friday.

While he said he did not back limits on court-ordered rewards for malpractice, he said "there are a range of ideas that are out there, offered by doctors' organizations like the AMA (American Medical Association), that I think we can explore."

"I specifically said that I think we can work together on a bipartisan basis to do something to reduce defensive medicine, where doctors are worrying about lawsuits instead of worrying about patient care," Mr. Obama said in the interview, which aired Sunday.

Republicans had suggested after Mr. Obama's address last week that the president's overture didn't go far enough. Many Republicans believe that limiting medical professionals' liability in malpractice suits is key to bringing down health-care costs.

A central issue in the debate is whether to impose caps on monetary payments awarded in medical malpractice suits. There is broad support among Republicans for such caps, but Democrats have long opposed them.

Signaling that he is only willing to compromise so much on the issue, Mr. Obama on Sunday said he didn't support caps on payments. "So far the evidence I've seen is that caps will not" reduce costs, he said.

---------

---------------



-----------------


President Barack Obamas Heath and Human Services Secretary backed off requirements that a heath care reform bill include a public insurance option. A key Democratic Senator, Kent Conrad, declared the public option dead in the Senate. But Howard Dean predicts that the bill will pass with the public option intact.

It will pass with the public option, and the president will sign it sometime in December,

---------------



Sen. Kent Conrad told Fox News' Chris Wallace that there are not enough votes in the Senate to pass a public option for health insurance. "The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for a public option. There never have been," said Conrad.
----------------------

Related Posts

• Rep Joe Wilson In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum shouted " You lie" at President of Americaa guest of the House and Senate.
• South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yells 'You lie!' to the president
• The last of the Kennedy - Ted Kennedy dies at 77 uear old.
• President Obama speaking directly to school children.Parents protests for indoctrining politic policy to children and creating cult personalities.
• Planned Obama speech to students sparks protest
• Obama's "green jobs" guru Jones resigns after uproar-Van Jones resignesigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements
• Obama to address Congress on healthcare
• Obama speech to school children , white house posted copy online.
• Death gives Massachusetts 1st open Senate seat in decades
• 16 Honored With Medal Of Freedom