Despite Clinton Mission Obama, White House Says “Nothing had Changed” with North Korea.

Despite Clinton Mission Obama, White House Says “Nothing had Changed” with North Korea.

White House officials deliberately held back from making any conciliatory gestures to North Korea a day after former President Bill Clinton returned from the country having secures the release of two American women held there since March.

The message from official White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Thursday was that U.S policy towards North Korea has not changed in any way as a result of Clinton’s private mission.

Gibbs repeated the now familiar position that the US holds on the issue, that U.N sanctions will be upheld to ensure that the “weapons of mass destruction” held by the North Koreans are not spread.

In his first public statements since returning to the U.S Bill Clinton seemed to be measuring his words very carefully.

"I wanted those young women to be able to come home and I wanted our two countries to have the ability to decide where to go from here," he said. "But anything I say beyond that could inadvertently affect the decisions and moves either here or in North Korea and I have no business doing that. I'm not a policymaker anymore."

President Obama’s national security adviser, General Jim Jones, was a little more forthcoming than Robert Gibbs, but equally firm about the fact that at the moment nothing has changed about Obama’s stance toward Kim Jong II and his policies. When he was asked by the press corps if anything had changed as a result of Clinton’s mission he replied "No, I don't think so. I think that this was a humanitarian mission." He then went on to add “We certainly hope it will lead to good things. Who knows where the future will lead? ... We're delighted that it worked out this way, but I wouldn't draw any other conclusions beyond the fact."

Former President Clinton has been briefing both State and White House officials about his 90 minute meeting with the reclusive Kim Jong II. He said he had a brief telephone conversation with President Obama and as one might expect a far longer conversation with the Secretary of State, his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In an interview with CNN Hillary Clinton said “What we're hoping is that maybe, without it being part of the mission in a way, the fact this was done will perhaps lead the North Koreans to recognize they can have a positive relationship with us”.

Although it is presumed that the two Presidents will meet for a further discussion at some point a meeting between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton has yet to be scheduled.

Obama to Meet Leaders of Mexico, Canada

President Barack Obama will travel to Mexico on Sunday to attend his first summit with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts, in a meeting that the latter hope will shed light on how the U.S. plans to address trade disputes involving Mexican trucks and "Buy American" provisions seen as favoring U.S. companies.

Mr. Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are slated to touch on a wide range of topics in the two-day North American Leaders' Summit, including economic, energy, climate and security issues.

Canadian and Mexican officials said their countries will focus on trade, with Messrs. Harper and Calderón closely gauging Mr. Obama's response to disagreements over "Buy America" provisions in the U.S. economic-stimulus plan, and Washington's ban on Mexican trucks operating in the U.S.

The officials said Mr. Obama's positions on those issues could serve as a bellwether of the president's broader attitude toward Canada and Mexico, the U.S.'s first- and third-largest trading partners.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. is required to allow Mexican trucks to cross the border into the U.S., but U.S. trucking companies and other critics have opposed such a move, arguing Mexican trucks aren't safe. A pilot program allowed a small number of Mexican trucks to ply U.S. highways, but Congress killed that program in March following lobbying by the Teamsters Union, which represents U.S. trucking companies, among others.

Mexico retaliated by slapping an estimated $2.4 billion in tariffs on 89 industrial and agricultural products, ranging from potatoes and pears to precious-metals jewelry. Mexican truckers are also suing the U.S. under the NAFTA trade deal for $6 billion in compensation.

Mexican trucks shipping goods into the U.S. now must stop at the border to allow the goods to be reloaded onto U.S. trucks. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that this process adds about $400 million to the cost of U.S. imports from Mexico each year.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs declined to discuss U.S. negotiations on the issue in advance of the summit. "We don't expect to announce anything big coming out of this weekend," he said.

Transportation Department spokesman Sasha Johnson said, "We continue to work to find a solution that addresses the concerns of Congress and is consistent with our international obligations."

Canadian officials said they plan to raise "Buy American" legislative provisions that it worries could exclude Canadian companies from construction projects receiving economic-stimulus funding. The U.S. steel and building-materials industries have pressed to retain those provisions, which favor U.S. vendors and contractors for certain materials and labor in some stimulus-funded projects.

"The president insisted that whatever 'Buy American' provisions were put into the stimulus bill be consistent with our international obligations," Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, told reporters on Thursday. He said the U.S. was in talks with Canada and other trading partners about how to "implement the 'Buy American' provision in a way consistent with the law, consistent with our international obligations, while minimizing disruption to trade."

The three leaders are also expected to discuss cooperation on economic-recovery efforts, climate change and energy. Other topics on the agenda include how to control the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, which is believed to have originated in Mexico, and how to assist the Mexican government combat escalating violence among warring narcotics traffickers.

The North American Leaders' Summit has been held annually since 2005, with the aim of promoting cooperation among the countries on a variety of issues.

Drug industry helping Obama overhaul health care

WASHINGTON — The nation's drugmakers stand ready to spend $150 million to help President Barack Obama overhaul health care this fall, according to numerous officials, a staggering sum that could dwarf attempts to derail Obama's top domestic priority.

The White House and allies in Congress are well aware of the effort by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a somewhat surprising political alliance, given the drug industry's recent history of siding with Republicans and the Democrats' disdain for special interests.

The campaign, now in its early stages, includes television advertising under PhRMA's own name and commercials aired in conjunction with the liberal group, Families USA.

Numerous people with knowledge of PhRMA's plans said they had been told it would likely reach $150 million and perhaps $200 million. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to divulge details.

Additionally, the industry is the major contributor to Healthy Economy Now, which recently completed a $12 million round of advertising nationally and in several states. The ads were made by firms with close ties to Democrats and the White House and generally reflected the administration's changing rhetoric on health care.

In an interview, Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, said, "We will have a significant presence over the August recess, both on television and newspapers and on radio, but we have not finalized details for our fall campaign."

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said the partnership with the deep-pocketed drug industry is one of mutual self-interest, even though the two groups disagree on numerous issues. "We want to achieve coverage for everyone. For PhRMA, this would improve volume for prescription sales because everyone" would have better access to medicine, he said.

Any health care bill that makes it to Obama's desk is expected to extend health insurance to the nearly 50 million who now lack it. That would mean a huge new pool of potential customers for drug companies and other health care providers. That, in turn, has created an incentive to offer concessions to the White House and lawmakers in hopes of shaping the bill, rather than simply opposing it.

Drugmakers were the first group to reach agreement with the White House and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., announcing several weeks ago that they would absorb $80 billion in costs over a decade.

Even before the announcement, according to several individuals, the White House sought help from PhRMA in passing legislation.

Now, with the legislation under attack, the industry is providing key support during August as Republicans work to inflict a high-profile defeat on the president.

A significantly more ambitious advertising effort by PhRMA is expected to begin around Labor Day.

Jim Messina, a deputy White House chief of staff who is deeply involved in the administration's health care effort, brought Democratic senators up to date recently on the help PhRMA, labor unions and other outside groups are providing.

At the same time, the drugmakers are counting on the White House to block efforts by House Democrats to extract more than $80 billion from their industry in the legislation.

The partnership is complicated because many Democrats in both the House and Senate oppose key goals of the drug industry. Liberals, in particular, favor the importation of prescription medicine from Canada and other countries. They also want the government to have authority to negotiate directly with companies for lower drug prices under Medicare.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has been critical of drug manufacturers, and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said several weeks ago the House was not bound by PhRMA and Baucus' agreement.

By the White House tally, overall advertising so far by PhRMA and other supporters of the bill has swamped efforts by opponents. Republican strategists concede it would be extremely difficult to match an effort of the size PhRMA is planning.

For comparative purposes, 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain was limited to spending $84 million a year ago when he accepted government funding for his fall campaign.

Independent calculations show Healthy Economy Now has spent about $12 million on three ads that ran nationally and in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

The messages meshed with the White House's changing rhetoric. An ad that began in mid-June said patients would be able to choose their own doctors. Another, launched in mid-July, focused on consumer protections, including a ban on insurance companies denying coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.

To make the ads, the group hired GMMB, a political consulting and advocacy advertising firm with close ties to the White House and Senate Democrats, as well as AKPD, top White House strategist David Axelrod's former firm.

Jeremy Van Ess, a spokesman for Health Economy Now, said the decisions were made by the organization, and not at the White House's request.

"Absolutely not. ... It's no secret in Washington that these two firms we had are the best out there," he said.

PhRMA/Families USA spent about $5.7 million in nationwide advertising for the two months ending Aug. 9, according to information compiled by a different organization.

Two weeks ago, the drug industry added another weapon to its arsenal, launching a series of ads under its own name in a few key states at a cost of about $1 million so far.

Among them is Nevada, where the industry has purchased time through Labor Day to air commercials thanking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his efforts to pass health care reform. Reid's public approval is weak in the state, although he does not yet have a Republican opponent for 2010.

While the White House and Democrats benefit from PhRMA's help, they seem reluctant to discuss it openly.

When PhRMA became the first big health care provider to agree to accept reductions as part of legislation, Obama made the announcement at the White House with the head of AARP in attendance. Billy Tauzin, the former Republican congressman who is head of PhRMA, was not invited.

More recently, Reid omitted the drugmakers from a list of outside interests trying to help pass legislation.

The drug industry's campaign is the culmination of a broader shift it has undertaken. A few years ago, the industry hired Steve McMahon, a longtime Democratic strategist, to oversee its political advertising.

Drugmakers have also funneled more money to Democrats in recent years, a trend that began soon after they gained control of Congress.

Obama denies US creating military bases in Colombia

* Obama: no intention of sending large numbers of troops

* Venezuela's Chavez says U.S. plan a step toward war

* Obama says opposition is "anti-Yankee rhetoric"

WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday denied the United States is planning to set up military bases in Colombia as part of an upgraded security agreement with the South American nation.

"There have been those in the region who have been trying to play this up as part of a traditional anti-Yankee rhetoric. This is not accurate," Obama told Hispanic media reporters.

Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- a persistent critic of Washington -- has said the enhanced U.S.-Colombian security plan could be a step toward war in South America. On Sunday, Chavez called on Obama not to increase the U.S. military presence in Colombia.

Obama said this was a myth.

"We have had a security agreement with Colombia for many years now. We have updated that agreement. We have no intent in establishing a U.S. military base in Colombia," Obama said.

"This is continuation of assistance that we had been providing them. We have no intention of sending large numbers of additional troops into Colombia, and we have every interest in seeing Colombia and its neighbors operate peacefully."

The new security arrangement would allow the Pentagon to lease access to seven Colombian military bases for U.S. support in fighting drug traffickers and guerrillas involved in the cocaine trade.

The agreement would also increase the number of American troops in Colombia above the current total of less than 300 but not more than 800, the maximum permitted under the existing pact.

Colombia has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of assisting Marxist FARC rebels waging a four-decade-old guerrilla war against the Colombian state.

"I think Colombia has some legitimate concerns about the FARC operating from over the border. I hope that could be resolved in conversations with its neighbors," Obama said. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle, editing by Eric Beech)

add add * American economy saved from 'catastrophe':Obama

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Aug 7 (PTI) US President Barack Obama today said his administration has pulled the American economy back from the brink and the worst of the recession may be over, after a surprise drop in the unemployment rate.

"While we have rescued our economy from catastrophe, we have also begun to build a new foundation for growth," Obama said in his remarks on the US economy at White House.

"We have pulled the financial system back from the brink, and a rising market is restoring value to those 401(k)s that are the foundation of a secure retirement," the President said, but also warned that tough times lay ahead before the economy would be restored to full prosperity.

Obama's remarks came following latest figures this morning which revealed that there has been few less job losses than previous months.

Barack Obama - The Challenges of a Life Time

We should be proud of Mr. Obama and what he has accomplished. It has been a long and arduous road. The campaign is over. The hard work begins. Barack has promised change. Change comes from within. Most Americans voted for change. That is all well and good. But we should stop that common misconception that it is a leader who can bring change. Leaders can only initiate change, but whatever they do, they cannot change the country if the citizens won't cooperate. No candidate can "really" change things. You can (Yes you can). And, since there are a lot of changes that need to be made, it must be a common effort and we need a mutual understanding to be able to achieve things. Each and every citizen (young and old) should make a self evaluation and have the will to change. Once the assessment is made, when everyone changes then change can happen. It is good leadership and willing citizens that will make change happen.

Mr. Obama faces great tasks ahead. We need to look at ourselves and remember that we are intelligent beings and, we must stop relying on an external locus of control. We must promote "self growth." We are looking at Mr. Obama as the great beacon of hope, the anointed one, the messiah, to come and heal our ills. While Mr. Obama wants an economic recovery package that may help our sagging economy, and help restore jobs, our response should be to evaluate "us" and start "helping us." Mr. Obama is not going to pay your mortgage, fill up your tank, or feed your children, that is not what is meant by helping the middle class. He will address the problem in our economy, it is up to us to become resourceful and seek help if and when it is needed. You must become an active being.

He is a brilliant man. Barack is contemplative, deliberate, serene, and collective. He does not appear as one who is quick to act. I can't wait to see what he'll do next. Now that the "reality" is set in and Mr. Obama is our president, he is going to have to deal with the financial crisis, Russia's aggression, Iraq, Iran, unemployment, the middle class, and bailouts, etc. It won't be a stroll in the park. We won't agree with some of his choices; but, according to him, he will "listen especially when we disagree." I almost feel sorry for the man. While it is good to expect the best, however, it is too great of expectations to bestow on Mr. Obama. He is going to be pulled in all different directions. Any president who comes into a situation like the one we are facing now is going to be faced with unpopular choices. It's just which choice is going to be the right one. Everyone can't and won't agree. May God help him!

The change we need is change of self. If someone tells us that we all have to be responsible for our actions, take control of our health, consider our food choices, and stop using so much energy . . . would you have elected him? People don't like to hear about their flaws. What this would do is annoy people as they are told what they are doing wrong. Unfortunately people don't like to face to reality. People would rather hear a bunch of false promises that can't be fulfilled. What we need to change most of all are ourselves. We need to learn to respect ourselves, listen to one another, move away from hate, stop the blaming, take responsibility for you choices. Change begins at "home." Only you can determine the changes you want.

We all need to make changes within ourselves in order for our country to improve. Those expectations we have on Barack are totally unrealistic. He cannot take us out of the ghetto, or feed our families. He cannot make the teacher give your child good grades. He cannot make your son or daughter go to college. He cannot make your neighborhood safer. He cannot discipline your teenager. You must take action. A lot of people are waiting for Mr. Obama to make things better, and to repair the ills in their lives. Everyone feels that Mr. Obama is that messiah, that beacon of hope who is going to make their lives better. He can't and he won't. If you don't take control of your actions, and life goes wrong, it is not Mr. Obama's fault but your own. You must take charge. Barrack Obama is not a panacea.

A President can have all sort of goodie planned in their list of things to do, but without the support of Congress, all of those ideas are meaningless. Mr. Obama's thesis highlights change; all that is well and good; as a result, some people blindly flock to the "idea" of change, even when they don't know what that change is. Change starts in your home, in your neighborhood, in our schools, in your job, in your "self" and only you can make that change. You have the power to determine your destiny by the choices you make. You are the only one who has the power to change by taking charge of your life. Barack has. This is something you can take from Barack; that is, he has made a change for him by focusing on his actions, and his choices. He is a doer. With great action, and sound choices, you yield positive results. Don't bask in Mr. Obama's hard work, and sound choices, they are things he has earned. You must take action and create your own destiny. You may stumble. However, you can't fail if you don't give up.

I truly do not think any one person should have as much pressure on their shoulders as this man does. America must work together to regain its greatness. In order to achieve that greatness, you must make positive changes for yourself in your life. Mr. Obama cannot change your life for you. You have that power. You have to do the best you can in order to make things happen for you, in your life. I hope that you understand that no matter who is President, you have to be responsible. You must take charge of your life. You have the power to make your own change. Find a passion, and become passionate about your passion.

The fact that we have elected a Black President does not mean we now have racial equality. It is a wonderful idea toward equality. You can't think that Mr. Obama is going to change the world and all of its ills. If you think that having a black president will change the mind your racist neighbors, or how they feel about you, you are mistaken. Barack, being president, is not going to change people's mind about their preconceive ideas, and, or prejudices. No one can do that except you. You have to change. Your life is like a garden that must be cultivated. It is up to you to decide wether you want to: grow nice green grass, have beautiful hedges, and flowers. Wether you tend to your garden or not, it will grow. It is up to you to grow the desired shrubs. Cultivate your garden. Barack has cultivated his garden by the choices he has made. He has completed his education, gotten married, and is a true daddy to two darling young girls. He did not just father them. You can use his achievements as a template to better yourself, by going to school, get off the street corner, stop selling and using drugs, clean up your neighborhood, read different books. (Reading is the window to the world.) This change in your attitude in turn will change the quality of your life. Tend to your garden. We must work together, to get the job done.

While I am jubilant and proud that someone "different" has been elected to preside over our country, I can't, for the life of me, understand why some of you feel that Barack will have a direct influence on your life. Only his immediate family has the right to assume that stance. He's just a man, who got where he is by challenging himself, by making good choices, all the while, trying to discover who he is, and where he fits in. He is smart, ambitious and a very hard worker. He sets lofty goals for himself and strives to obtain them. As a result of his actions, he thrives. Mr. Obama finds a passion and became passionate about it. Once you have passion, you can become whatever you so desire. You need to have passion. Mr. Obama is a passionate man. He tends to his garden. He cultivates his garden. You can look up to Mr. Obama in that way. Use his model. Make him your role model. Plant the seeds that you want to grow in your garden and tend to it. You can use his success to motivate "you" to go back to school, to make something of yourself, to stop cutting classes, to stop being disruptive in school and allowing the teachers do their job. You must cultivate your garden. " Yes you can" Mr. Obama cannot tend to your garden for you.

It's time to stop blaming or relying on external forces, and start accepting responsibility. It's you who did not pay attention in school and eventually drops out. It's you who break the law. It's you who do drugs. Whether you tend to your garden or not, it will grow. Only you can determine what types of plant grow in your garden.

Here is a list of ways to better yourself: Don't rely on others; Get an education. Even if you're working for minimum wage, or doing something you may find trivial, that's fine. Just Whatever you do, make sure you give it your best and do it well.

Either use protection or stay with the women you impregnate. Abortions should not be used as a form of birth control. Be either more careful, or live with your choices. Don't abandon your kid.

Stay in school. The work is not that hard, it becomes difficult when you don't pay attention or you are too busy disrupting class. If you actually pay attention in class, the work is manageable. Put away the flashy cell phone, stop bragging about your expensive clothes, Stop getting the bathroom-pass for the sole purpose of showing off your brand-new overpriced sneakers. Actually focus on the lessons.

Lay off the drugs. You don't need weed or crack. You have the potential to be something great. Cultivate your garden, trim your hedges. "Yes you can."

Become a seeker; seek knowledge. Ask your teachers for help if you lack understanding of the subject they teach. Become the "Obama" in your neighborhood. You can achieve any goal. You have to make that choice. You have to stand up for the changes you want in your life. Achievements start from within. Use your inner strength, focus on your internal energy. Create a goal and achieve it. "Yes you can"

No president since FDR and Reagan have had a tougher road ahead of him than this new president-elect. Barack Obama has daunting tasks ahead. He does not need to have your unrealistic "expectations" weighing on him. He has to confront an economic crisis that does not look like it is going to go away anytime soon. He has to take the necessary steps in easing the credit crisis while helping working families to restore growth and prosperity. He has many decisions to make on different level such as: National security and the financial crisis. The fundamentals of our economy are not strong at this time. As a new generation of leadership, he has to continuously revise his goals.

It is important that Mr. Obama gets going quickly. Big problems need big deliberate solution. He needs to be careful, decisive and very thorough in his analysis. Whomever he selects, I am sure, will be the best for the job. Obama, apparently, has an open mind. Hopefully, he will pick the best team he can find, and the team will work as a whole allowing him to meet his objective. While we are proud, excited about this turn in our history, we may feel a bit of uncertainty with a hint of pessimism and fear. Obviously this uneasiness is not due to our lack of confidence in Barack, but because he has an arduous road ahead. Do your part, become an active being, take action, make sound choices. "Water your lawn", cultivate your garden. "Yes you can."

Obama Signs Cash for Clunkers Extension into Law.

President Barack Obama signed a new bill on Friday that will keep the very popular “Cash for Clunkers” program going.

Both the Senate and the President acted quickly so that the extension, which provides for another $2 billion in funding for the program, could be signed into law before the August recess begins. The House had already voted by a comfortable margin to extend the program last week.

So far the “Cash for Clunkers” program has been far more successful than perhaps anyone had imagined it might be. Since first being enacted in July the original $1 billion in funding is already gone.

Under the terms of the scheme, those purchasing a new, fuel efficient car after July 1^st 2009 are eligible for refund vouchers of either $3,500 or $4,500 if they trade in an old gas guzzler. In order to be considered the trade in vehicle has to have a combined city and highway fuel economy rating of 18 m.p.g or less.

Many of the people who have taken advantage of the “Cash For Clunkers” program describe themselves as “fence sitters”. They had been considering trading in their old cars for a new upgrade and for many taking advantage of the savings offered by the program pushed them onto the car lots.

To obtain the credit buyers must purchase a new car that has a fuel economy rating of at least 22 m.p.g. and although the program was designed in part to aid the ailing American car industry, foreign cars are eligible for the program as well.

But what cars are people buying when they take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program? According to government data the big winners have been compact and hybrid cars, which are exactly what the Obama government hoped, would be the case.

Coming in at number one is the Ford Focus, a compact model that gets a very respectable 27-28 combined highway/city fuel economy rating. The highest ranking hybrid car is the Honda Civic which places third on the list. The Toyota Prius, another hybrid, which can achieve an astonishing 46 m.p.g. is fourth.

Although the program is so successful, this is likely to be the last time it will be extended. According to Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin getting enough votes to extend the program this time was a hard task, and he does not believe that Congress will be willing to extend it again.