Archive for juin, 2010

Retraites :Bayrou menage le chou et la chèvre

Dans son projet pour les retraites, Bayrou s’aligne sur le gouvernement quant au passage de l’âge légal à 62 ans mais critique d’autres points de la réforme, et accuse la gauche de tenir une position "non responsable".

Journée du mauvais arbitrage et de l’Injustice

Agenda Progressistes46 USA

By: Osvaldo Villar  
Sun 27, 2010 08:03 AM EST

McCHRYSTAL’s LAST BRIEFING TO NATO GAVE BLEAK OUTLOOK — Years, not months — The (British) Independent on Sunday: ‘[T]he ‘runaway general’ briefed defence ministers from Nato and the International Security Assistance Force earlier this month, and warned them not to expect any progress in the next six months. During his presentation, he raised serious concerns over levels of security, violence, and corruption within the Afghan administration. … [T]he ‘campaign overview’ left behind by General McChrystal … warned that … a ‘divergence of coalition expectations and campaign timelines’ are among the key challenges faced … [A] senior military source [said] that General McChrystal … had been told by White House aides his ‘time-frame was all wrong,’ with the general thinking in years while the President was thinking more in months [to show progress] … The general’s departure is a sign of politicians ‘taking charge of this war,’ a senior [British] official said.’

GEN. PETRAEUS’ CONFIRMATION HEARING is scheduled to begin Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., before the Senate Armed Services Committee. His title will be, ‘Commander, International Security Assistance Force and Commander, United States Forces Afghanistan.’ Hearing notice

BEHIND THE CURTAIN — Glenn Thrush and Mike Allen: ‘The White House sprang into action within minutes of [Joe] Barton’s saying to oil company CEOs at a hearing, ‘I apologize.’ … ‘We went crazy. It was a huge moment,’ an Obama official said. The president’s aides switched into campaign mode, lifting West Wing spirits dampened by weeks of body blows and sinking polls. Assistant press secretary Ben LaBolt, a specialist in defensive public relations who has been working on the Gulf spill response, blasted around a link to a video of Barton, with the subject line: ‘BP Apologizes to BP for WH Shakedown.’ LaBolt looped in Robert Gibbs and the president’s communications staff, plus energy adviser Carol Browner. ‘It was a no-brainer,’ a senior aide said. ‘Gibbs drafted a statement by himself in about a nanosecond and it went out exactly as he wrote it.’ Gibbs and the others realized that their own words alone wouldn’t cut it if they wanted the story to blow up. Vice President Joe Biden was already scheduled to deliver a slide show to reporters on the stimulus. So Gibbs approached Biden in the West Wing moments before the vice president was due to appear in the briefing room … Gibbs stood two feet from the unpredictable Biden during the questions and answers. Biden scored, calling Barton’s comment ‘outrageous’ and ‘astonishing’ — a clip that dominated cable news.’

FIRST LOOK — In the forthcoming New Yorker, Ken Auletta profiles ‘The Networker’ –Saad Mohseni, the chairman of Moby Group, Afghanistan’s preëminent media company, including top broadcast brands. Moby, started in 2002, has 400 employees and 11 businesses. Mohseni is described by Tom Freston, the former C.E.O. of Viacom, as ‘the nexus of everything going through Kabul.’ Auletta writes that Mohseni gathers information ‘from an intricate network of sources: government and anti-government Afghans, American officials, foreign correspondents, diplomats, intelligence operatives, reporters, business and tribal and even Taliban leaders.’ Aside from the Mohseni family, Auletta writes, the biggest contributor to Moby’s construction costs USAID, which granted the company almost $3 million. The U.S. continues to fund programming and pays for recruitment ads for the country’s Army and its police force. Mohseni, who grew up mostly in Australia, is staunchly pro-Western.’

RESURGENT REPUBLIC previews what Rs will be saying about Elena Kagan when her confirmation hearing begins tomorrow: ‘A plurality of likely voters in the November elections supports Elena Kagan’s confirmation, by a 46 to 28 percent margin … But her past positions on military recruitment while at Harvard and the District of Columbia’s handgun ban could harm that support, with undecided voters overwhelmingly saying they would be less likely to support a senator who voted to confirm Kagan on both issues.’

THE HOUSE may vote on Wall Street reform as early as Tuesday, but it could be Wednesday, a leadership aide tells Playbook.

CHENEY UPDATE: ‘Former Vice President Cheney was admitted to George Washington University Hospital [Friday] and was not feeling well. This was the result of a progressive retention of fluid related to his coronary artery disease. After receiving IV medication, the former Vice President is markedly improved. His physicians plan to discharge him in a day or so.’

BIRTHDAYS: Tony Fratto … Josh Gerstein is 4-0 … Eve Fairbanks (hat tip: Patrick Gavin).

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Good Sunday morning. The Group of 20 economic summit continues today in Toronto, then President Obama returns to the White House at 9:55 p.m.:

–AP’s Tom Raum and Jane Wardell: ‘Obama invited [Chinese President] Hu [Jintao] to Washington for a formal state visit — one of the most-coveted diplomatic invitations. Hu accepted, and White House officials said the two nations will work out a date. It would be the third state dinner of Obama’s presidency, following ones for India and Mexico.’

–Reuters’ Alister Bull and Patricia Zengerle: ‘Obama vowed to make a new push to complete a long-stalled free trade agreement with South Korea, one of the thorniest issues on his trade agenda. … The deal has met stern resistance in the U.S. Congress … ‘I want to make sure that everything is lined up properly by the time I get to Korea in November [Seoul for the next Group of 20 leaders meeting], and in a few months following that, I intend to present it to Congress,’ Obama said.’
–Mike Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economics, told reporters on a conference call: ‘[T]he President announced today that, to create jobs and improve the economy for all Americans, he was launching an initiative to complete the Korean-U.S. free trade agreement. … The President decided to do this as part of our national export initiative to … double our exports over the next five years and increase … the good-paying jobs that are associated with exports, and to maintain a competitiveness of U.S. exporters and our engagement in Asia.’

–POLITICO’s Carol E. Lee, ‘If there’s one takeaway snapshot, it’s President Obama exchanging beers with British Prime Minister David Cameron. The hour-long meeting between the two leaders Saturday was among the most important on Obama’s busy schedule during his three-day trip to Canada for the G8 and G20 summits … his first sit-down with the new leader of the United States’ closest ally … There is growing unease in Britain over the White House’s hard-nosed approach to BP, and also over Afghanistan … The two shared a near hour-long flight on Marine One as they left the G20 summit in Muskoka for the G8 summit in Toronto. … Seated in dark leather chairs, with the G8 and G20 logo serving as a backdrop in the small room, Obama and Cameron satisfied a wager they had made on the U.S-Britain soccer match. ‘Since it ended in a tie, we’re exchanging, by paying off our debts at the same time, this is Goose Island 312 beer from my hometown of Chicago,’ Obama said, holding a yellow-tagged bottle of beer. Cameron then handed his beer to a smiling Obama. ‘This is Hobgoblin,’ he said. ‘I advised him that in America, we drink our beer cold,’ Obama quipped. ‘He has to put it in a refrigerator before he drinks it, but I think that he will find it outstanding. » Photo

–Huffington Post banner: ‘DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE DO: U.S. Tells G-20 To Keep Up Stimulus Spending, While Senate Shelves Jobs Bill.’

— Those who have covered summits will appreciate this notation at the end of the transcript from the pool spray at the top of the Hu bilat: ‘[Press were escorted out of the room while President Obama was still speaking.]’

WEEKEND WEDDINGS:

–Gannet Tseggai, communications director for the White House Domestic Policy Council, wed Nick Kimball, spokesman at the Department of Commerce, at a beautiful reception at Mizzou, the bride’s alma mater, in Columbia, Mo. The couple have the Iowa caucuses to thank for bringing them together. Family and friends celebrated with cheesecake and dancing. (h/t Amy Brundage)

–A bipartisan wedding report by Jim Manley and Ron Bonjean: Ed Henry and Shirley Hung were married sat night at a very beautiful and moving ceremony in Las Vegas. Shirley was beautiful walking down the aisle in an ivory satin gown and hot blue Manolo Blahniks. The best man was Ed’s son Patrick and senior flower girl Ed’s daughter Mila Henry. Shirley’s mother Ching Hung and the mother and father of the groom Christine and Edward Henry were glowing. The ceremony itself was outdoors in a beautiful courtyard at the Wynn hotel. Readers included Bob Jones, Mike Emanuel with Fox News, Tim Warner and Sarah Irwin with Reuters. ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ was by Shirley’s sister Natalie Hung and Dave Neway. Guests were surprised by a top Elvis Presley impersonator who encouraged guests to sing along. Guests then went next door to the Encore Hotel, led by Elvis Presley, to the Society restaurant for a delightful reception for drinks and dinner. The wedding cake was a phenomenal replica of the White House. Guests took their pictures with Elvis and the White House wedding cake in the background. They then celebrated toasting the nuptials and enjoying the Vegas nightlife.’

–Mazel tov, good times and Godspeed to the publicity-shy pride of Mobile, code name Consummate Staffer.

TOP TALKERS:

–FRANK RICH, ‘The 36 Hours That Shook Washington’: ‘THE moment he pulled the trigger, there was near-universal agreement that President Obama had done the inevitable thing, the right thing and, best of all, the bold thing. But before we get carried away with relief and elation, let’s not forget what we saw in the tense 36 hours that fell between late Monday night, when word spread of Rolling Stone’s blockbuster article, and high noon Wednesday, when Obama MacArthured his general. … 1) Much of the Beltway establishment was blindsided by Michael Hastings’s scoop, an impressive feat of journalism by a Washington outsider who seemed to know more about what was going on in Washington than most insiders did; 2) Obama’s failure to fire McChrystal months ago for both his arrogance and incompetence was a grievous mistake that illuminates a wider management shortfall at the White House; 3) The present strategy has produced no progress in this nearly nine-year-old war, even as the monthly coalition body count has just reached a new high. … It’s the Hastings-esque outsiders with no fear of burning bridges who have often uncovered the epochal stories missed by those with high-level access. Woodward and Bernstein were young local reporters … when they cracked Watergate. Seymour Hersh was a freelancer when he broke My Lai. … The general’s significant role in the Pentagon’s politically motivated cover-up of Pat Tillman’s friendly-fire death in 2004 should have been disqualifying … He should have been cashiered after he took his first public shot at Joe Biden during a London speaking appearance … The war … has no chance of regaining public favor unless President Obama can explain why American blood and treasure should be at the mercy of this napping Afghan president … [A]bsolutely no one was paying attention. Everyone is now. That, at least, gives us reason to hope that the president’s first bold move to extricate America from the graveyard of empires won’t be his last.’

–MAUREEN DOWD, in San Francisco, ‘Are Cells the New Cigarettes?’: ‘The great cosmic joke would be to find out definitively that the advances we thought were blessings – from the hormones women pump into their bodies all their lives to the fancy phones people wait in line for all night – are really time bombs. Just as parents now tell their kids that, believe it or not, there was a time when nobody knew that cigarettes and tanning were bad for you, those kids may grow up to tell their kids that, believe it or not, there was a time when nobody knew how dangerous it was to hold your phone right next to your head and chat away for hours. … San Francisco just became the first city in the country to pass legislation making cellphone retailers display radiation levels. … ‘You see all these kids literally glued to their phones,’ Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, told me. ‘And candidly, my wife was pregnant and on her cellphone nonstop.’ … When Newsom proposed the bill, telecommunications lobbyists went to the mattresses, as did hoteliers, who feared losing convention business. … ‘This is tobacco money, oil money,’ he said. ‘But these guys from D.C. do not know me because that has exactly the opposite effect. Shame on them, to threaten the city. It’s about as shortsighted as one could get in terms of a brand. … I love my iPhone. »

THE AGENDA:

–‘Wall St. reform winners and losers,’ by Carrie Budoff Brown and Ben White, with Chris Frates: ‘THE WINNERS: Citigroup and the business of banking … Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and his Bay State banks … Walmart: It was pure pitchfork-populism when Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) floated an amendment designed to cut down the fees merchants must pay to banks every time someone swipes a debit card. The amendment will potentially cut in half the $20 billion generated annually for banks such as JPMorganChase, Citi and Bank of America. … Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and her derivatives fight … Goldman Sachs [if the firm drops its their designation as a bank holding company].

‘THE LOSERS: Goldman Sachs and the rest of traditional Wall Street … All big banks: The bigger they are, the more they pay. … Senate Banking Committee Republicans … Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac … Mortgage lenders and brokers. …

‘TOO SOON TO TELL: Consumers.’

–‘Senate Democrats see opportunity in energy debate: Many Democrats hope a summer discussion on energy will establish a strong contrast with Republicans before this fall’s election,’ by L.A. Times’ Lisa Mascaro and Richard Simon: ‘President Obama will meet Tuesday with a bipartisan group of senators to push for a new energy policy. … A broad carbon-pricing system would essentially require power plants, manufacturers and transportation industries to limit the pollution that scientists say is causing climate change and would tax entities that exceed their caps. Republicans dismiss such a cap-and-trade system as a new tax on households and business — ‘cap-and-tax,’ they call it. … Still, a majority of Democrats appear willing to risk legislative failure, believing a robust summer discussion on energy would establish a stark contrast between the parties before the fall election. … A group of senators is expected to meet this week to begin crafting legislation that could come to the floor in mid-July.’

KAGAN CONFIRMATION STARTS TOMORROW:

–N.Y. Times A1, ‘At Kagan Hearings, the Topic May Be Obama and Roberts,’ by Sheryl Gay Stolberg: ‘With an eye on the midterm elections, Democrats will use Ms. Kagan’s hearings … to put the Roberts court on trial by painting it as beholden to corporate America. Republicans will put Mr. Obama on trial over what they view as his Big Government agenda, and will raise questions about whether Ms. Kagan, his solicitor general and former dean of Harvard Law School, is independent enough to keep that agenda in check.’

–L.A. Times A1, ‘Kagan’s a not-so-leftist liberal: She’s practiced at finding middle ground on controversial issues,’ by James Oliphant, Richard A. Serrano and David G. Savage: ‘At 50, she is firmly in the establishment, apparently as comfortable with conservatives such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whom she also feted at Harvard, as with her mentor, liberal Justice Thurgood Marshall. … On her path toward this moment, she cast aside the black-and-white, good-versus-evil idealism of her father and her youth, instead pursuing a life of pragmatism, nuance and politics. She would leave the crusading to others.’

ALSO DRIVING THE CONVO:

–THIS IS A BIG ISSUE — THE ARMY FAILS TO IDENTIFY AND PROMOTE STARS — WashPost lead story, ‘IN TWIN WARS, FAST EXITS FOR TOP GENERALS’ — online headline: ‘Military disturbed by rapid turnover at top in Afghan, Iraq wars,’ by Greg Jaffe: ‘Since 2001, a dozen commanders have cycled through the top jobs in Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S. Central Command, which oversees both wars. Three of those commanders — including the recently dismissed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal — have been fired or resigned under pressure. History has judged many others harshly, and only two, Gen. David H. Petraeus and Gen. Ray Odierno, are widely praised as having mastered the complex mixture of skills that running America’s wars demands. … Some young officers blame the Pentagon’s insistence on sticking with its peacetime promotion policies. Military personnel rules prevent the top brass from reaching down into the ranks and plucking out high-performers who have proved themselves especially adept at counterinsurgency or have amassed significant knowledge about Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘In all previous wars, promotions were accelerated for officers who were effective,’ a senior Army official said.’

–The (London) Sunday Times, top of col. 1, ‘BP set to plug oil leak early’: ‘The operation to close the well is further ahead than the company has disclosed, according to engineering experts. Sources in Houston, Texas, say it could be finished in mid-July, ahead of the public target of early August. Sealing the well early would be a huge boost to the oil giant, potentially saving it billions of pounds in liabilities and cleanup costs and easing fears about its financial stability. Its market valuation has plunged by a staggering $100 billion. It would also help Barack Obama, whose political ratings have dived because of his handling of the disaster. David Cameron discussed BP and its efforts to plug the well with Obama at the G20 meeting in Toronto yesterday.’

–The (London) Sunday Telegraph, lead story,  »Get on your bike’ jobless told’: ‘RADICAL PLANS to relocate the long-term unemployed to areas where there are jobs are being drawn up by the Coalition. … The controversial plan echoes the words of [Thatcher minister and former Conservative chairman] Norman Tebbit in 1981 when he told the unemployed to ‘get on your bike’ and look for work. It is part of tough action to cut spiralling welfare bills and tackle Britain’s record deficit. Last week, a shake-up of housing benefit and increased health checks for disability claimants were announced as part of the biggest cuts in public spending for almost a century. … The scheme would allow them to go to the top of the housing list in another area rather than lose their right to a home if they moved.’

SPORTS BLINK — ‘Africa still has its team,’ by Chris Jones, for ESPN.com: ‘RUSTENBURG, South Africa … Yes, Landon Donovan came through one last time, tying the game with a perfect penalty kick in the second half, lighting another fire, but then extra time came and went with only Ghana managing another goal. This small African nation, Ghana and its beloved Black Stars, had knocked out the Americans in yet another World Cup, and again by the same painful score: 2-1. It’s a crushing loss for the U.S., which, perhaps unfairly, had suddenly been saddled with the burden of being the favorite. Donovan’s extra-time goal against Algeria had flicked a switch, sparking talk of a semifinal berth and this likeable, hardscrabble crew taking over the world. They had the draw and the heart to do it. Instead, they finished their time in South Africa on the grass here, laid out, on their knees, their faces in their hands. They looked totally defeated. They knew how much this would have meant. They knew how much this mattered.’ Chris Jones is a contributing editor to ESPN The Magazine and a writer-at-large for Esquire.

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That’s why we created Elevate America, a program enabling Microsoft to partner with local governments and organizations to offer free or low-cost technology training.

We’re committed to helping people get the critical skills they’ll need to get back to work, adapt to today’s changing economy and keep America competitive and thriving into the next century. Learn more here. www.Microsoft.com/citizenship **

Le projet de la taxe bancaire en Europe

 

Le projet défendu par l’Europe pourrait rapporter quelques centaines de millions à un milliard d’euros en France. La Grande-Bretagne vise 2 milliards de livres par an.

Les contours de la taxe bancaire voulue par les européen se précise. En France, la ministre de l’Economie, Christine Lagarde, a confié au Wall Street Journal que la mesure devrait rapporter un milliard d’euros au budget de l’Etat, à partir de 2011. Le ministère des Finances a rectifié et évoque un gain de quelques centaines de millions d’euros. En outre, Bercy affirme que la taxe, assise sur le bilan des banques, figurera dans le projet de loi de finances de 2011.

Les gouvernements allemand, britannique et français ont publié hier une déclaration commune sur l’adoption d’une telle taxe. Les trois pays «proposent l’instauration de prélèvements sur les banques, assis sur leur bilan». Les modalités d’application pourront ensuite varier en fonction de chaque pays. Et à l’approche du sommet du G20 qui se tient ce week-end à Toronto, les gouvernements allemand, français et britannique se montrent déterminés à faire adopter l’idée par leurs homologues. Pour l’heure, le Canada et les pays émergents se montrent opposés au projet. Ils indiquent ne pas vouloir payer pour les excès de banques situées hors de leurs frontières.

De son côté, Londres a déjà annoncé que la mesure sera mise en œuvre dès l’année prochaine. Le gouvernement britannique estime que la loi pourrait rapporter près de 1,5 milliard d’euros en 2011 et 2,5 milliards l’année suivante. L’objectif est également de réduire le déficit public de la Grande-Bretagne qui a explosé à 11% du PIB cette année.

Modérer les bonus

 

Par ailleurs, la ministre française a emboité le pas du président des Etats-Unis et plaide en faveur de la mise en place de recommandations sur la modération des bonus. «Nous avons des indications selon lesquelles certaines banques n’appliquent pas les normes qui ont fait l’objet d’un accord à Pittsburgh», lors du précédent sommet du G20 en septembre, a souligné la ministre.

Mesures d’austérité attendues

 

Concernant l’application des plans d’austérité, Christine Lagarde a affirmé qu’il serait important de ne pas retirer trop brutalement les mesures de relance. Une opinion partagée par le secrétaire au Trésor Tim Geithner qui prévient que la réduction des dépenses publiques ne doit pas pénaliser la croissance à court terme. Mais Christine Lagarde a confié au wall Street Journal que des mesures seront annoncées dès l’été si les objectifs de croissance n’étaient pas remplis. La ministre de l’Economie avait elle-même reconnu dimanche, lors du Grand Jury RTL-LCI-Le Figaro, que la prévision actuelle d’un taux de croissance de 2,5% l’an prochain est «audacieuse». La Commission européenne et le Fonds Monétaire International avaient tous deux critiqué l’optimisme du gouvernement

Sarkozy au G-20 exige la rigueur

  .

Les USA est le challenge du Mondial  

Super ! USA Footbal team from dispair to Delirium !

Estados Unidos inmenso en el Mundial

Les six équipes du continent Américain passent haut les mains en 1/8 de finale !

 

 

 

 

 

 

2010 FIFA World Cup,Michael Bradley,United States

 

Minutes away from being eliminated from the World Cup, the U.S. team advanced to the knockout round and won its group when Landon Donovan scored during the first minute of stoppage time.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/#ixzz0rmHc9pyv

 

Le président Bill Clinton a assisté au match.

Por Osvaldo Villar

ogv.communication@gmail.com

Batalla "echol’eau" por perforación du petrol au Golf de México

 

Por Osvaldo Villar

Una plataforma de perforación en aguas poco profundas navega hoy, 22 de junio de 2010, cerca de Port Sulphur, Luisiana (EE.UU.). Un juzgado federal ordenó este martes una moratoria de seis meses en los nuevos proyectos de perforación después del derrame masivo generado por la British Petroleum (BP) en el Golfo de México. El escape de petróleo de la Deepwater Horizon, que comenzó dos meses antes, es el mayor en la historia de Estados Unidos y continúa amenazando la vida salvaje, el ecosistema y la economía del Golfo mientras el Gobierno y la BP tratan de detener el vertido y remover el que ha sido liberado. 

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