Showing posts with label Jack Lew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Lew. Show all posts

Saturday, February 23, 2013

moose cake’s "hubby"s sequester deal-changer

h/t DJ


Every one who voted for Obama once or twice should be given an opportunity to read this piece by Bob Woodward. Paste subject in your browser (Ed Note: See below)  and read the Washington Post's article detailing Obama big lie about the sequestration evil he originated and blames on others.

BW reveals how Obama is lying about the sequestration, has been and may even continue lying although his 
press spokesman revealed finally that yeah it was not congresses idea it was the President's idea.

Those who voted for him must have believed he was not a liar, much less a pathological one.  They may be shocked, shocked and stunned too.

Most psychologists and psychiatrists  are diagnosing Obama as being a pathological liar.

I met one once and was amazed.  The guy never stopped lying.  It is what he did.   All  the time.  The facts and any proofs that what he was saying was not true did not faze him at all.  He did not recognize the facts or proofs but wove them into bigger follow  lies.   

He was commissioned as an infantry officer.

Often wondered if he got fragged.  

Gotta wonder if Biden has a grenade stored with his shotguns and pistols.  Which reminds me, Biden got nailed for plagiarism and got reelected too.  But of course they both are amateurs compared to good old Clinton.  He never had sex with that woman and that DNA is not his if you use the correct definition of what "is"  "is".......

Maybe lying is a prerequisite for being a Democratic candidate.  Ya wonder????

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bob-woodward-obamas-sequester-deal-changer/2013/02/22/c0b65b5e-7ce1-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_story_1.html


Obama’s sequester deal-changer

Bob Woodward (woodwardb@washpost.com) is an associate editor of The Post. His latest book is “The Price of Politics.” Evelyn M. Duffy contributed to this column.
Misunderstanding, misstatements and all the classic contortions of partisan message management surround the sequester, the term for the $85 billion in ugly and largely irrational federal spending cuts set by law to begin Friday.
What is the non-budget wonk to make of this? Who is responsible? What really happened?
Gallery
Gallery
The finger-pointing began during the third presidential debate last fall, on Oct. 22, when President Obama blamed Congress. “The sequester is not something that I’ve proposed,” Obama said. “It is something that Congress has proposed.”
The White House chief of staff at the time, Jack Lew, who had been budget director during the negotiations that set up the sequester in 2011, backed up the president two days later.
There was an insistence on the part of Republicans in Congress for there to be some automatic trigger,” Lew said while campaigning in Florida. It “was very muchrooted in the Republican congressional insistence that there be an automatic measure.”
The president and Lew had this wrong. My extensive reporting for my book “The Price of Politics” shows that the automatic spending cuts were initiated by the White House and were the brainchild of Lew and White House congressional relations chief Rob Nabors — probably the foremost experts on budget issues in the senior ranks of the federal government.
Obama personally approved of the plan for Lew and Nabors to propose the sequester to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They did so at 2:30 p.m. July 27, 2011, according to interviews with two senior White House aides who were directly involved.
Nabors has told others that they checked with the president before going to see Reid. A mandatory sequester was the only action-forcing mechanism they could devise. Nabors has said, “We didn’t actually think it would be that hard to convince them” — Reid and the Republicans — to adopt the sequester. “It really was the only thing we had. There was not a lot of other options left on the table.”
A majority of Republicans did vote for the Budget Control Act that summer, which included the sequester. Key Republican staffers said they didn’t even initially know what a sequester was — because the concept stemmed from the budget wars of the 1980s, when they were not in government.
At the Feb. 13 Senate Finance Committee hearing on Lew’s nomination to become Treasury secretary, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) asked Lew about the account in my book: “Woodward credits you with originating the plan for sequestration. Was he right or wrong?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Lew responded, “and even in his account, it was a little more complicated than that. We were in a negotiation where the failure would have meant the default of the government of the United States.”
“Did you make the suggestion?” Burr asked.
“Well, what I did was said that with all other options closed, we needed to look for an option where we could agree on how to resolve our differences. And we went back to the 1984 plan that Senator [Phil] Gramm and Senator [Warren] Rudman worked on and said that that would be a basis for having a consequence that would be so unacceptable to everyone that we would be able to get action.”
In other words, yes.
But then Burr asked about the president’s statement during the presidential debate, that the Republicans originated it.
Gallery
Gallery
Lew, being a good lawyer and a loyal presidential adviser, then shifted to denial mode: “Senator, the demand for an enforcement mechanism was not something that the administration was pushing at that moment.”
That statement was not accurate.
On Tuesday, Obama appeared at the White House with a group of police officers and firefighters to denounce the sequester as a “meat-cleaver approach” that would jeopardize military readiness and investments in education, energy and readiness. He also said it would cost jobs. But, the president said, the substitute would have to include new revenue through tax reform.
At noon that same day, White House press secretary Jay Carney shifted position and accepted sequester paternity.
“The sequester was something that was discussed,” Carney said. Walking back the earlier statements, he added carefully, “and as has been reported, it was an idea that the White House put forward.”
This was an acknowledgment that the president and Lew had been wrong.
Why does this matter?
First, months of White House dissembling further eroded any semblance of trust between Obama and congressional Republicans. (The Republicans are by no means blameless and have had their ownepisodes of denial and bald-faced message management.)
Second, Lew testified during his confirmation hearing that the Republicans would not go along with new revenue in the portion of the deficit-reduction plan that became the sequester. Reinforcing Lew’s point, a senior White House official said Friday, “The sequester was an option we were forced to take because the Republicans would not do tax increases.”
In fact, the final deal reached between Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2011 included an agreement that there would be no tax increases in the sequester in exchange for what the president was insisting on: an agreement that the nation’s debt ceiling would be increased for 18 months, so Obama would not have to go through another such negotiation in 2012, when he was running for reelection.
So when the president asks that a substitute for the sequester include not just spending cuts but also new revenue, he is moving the goal posts. His call for a balanced approach is reasonable, and he makes a strong case that those in the top income brackets could and should pay more. But that was not the deal he made.


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Benghazigate: Research Help Request – White House 9-11-12 Photo During Benghazi 7 Hour Seige…. ?



http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2013/01/04/white-house-9-11-12-white-house-photo-during-benghazi-7-hour-seige/#more-55619

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=163864

Benghazigate: Research Help Request – White House 9-11-12 Photo During Benghazi 7 Hour Seige…. ?

updateALL UPDATES After original post BELOW  – Need Viral Assistance.
The White House has refused repeated attempts by journalists to produce pictures of President Obama and his team in the White House Situation Room during the 9-11 Benghazi terrorist attacks [3:30pm to 11:00pm Eastern Time].
Personally, after researching the offical reports minute by minute, and comparing them to the media released statements, I believe the Situation Room was empty.
Today the White House released this picture taken on 9-11-12.  It was included in a White House FLICKR Album “The Year In Pictures“.  You Decide:
White House 9-11-12
(Sept. 11, 2012)  – ”Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor, left, updates the President and Vice President on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Chief of Staff Jack Lew are at right.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
A couple of notes:  It’s twilight outside, so this is close to sunset on September 11th.  The vehicles are noted through the window and you can tell it is twilight.   Sunset Was 7:22pm, with end of civil twilight at 7:49pm on Sept 11th 2012.   The metadata embedd shows the picture was taken at 7:26pm.
So this picture was taken four hours after the fire-fight started, and they are NOT in the “situation room”.   We know the video & audio feed from the Benghazi faux-State Dept. Consulate was live;  So, simultaneous to this photograph it was 1:26am Benghazi Time.  That is the exact time (01:30am) the rescue team of Navy SEAL’s Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty arrived back in the CIA annex with the body of Sean Smith.
The first Reuters report did not hit the media until 00:30am on Sept. 12th, and was not reported on TV until approx 00:45 eastern (6:45am Benghazi) as a “breaking story”.
POTUS “Schedule Binder” is on the couch in front of Donilon, it is closed.    Someone is visible in the reflection at the collar of McDonough.  Someone else is visible (seated) in the reflection over the shoulder of Lew.  Neither are the photographer.
Biden is holding scratch notes [of events?] including people.  One of the first notes is “Rice to BD or BB” (?)  (Click HERE For BIG VERSION)   [4096 x 2731 pixel]



What is written on the paper in the hands of VP Biden?

biden hands
Again – A Big Downloadable Version Is HEREDoes anyone have good imaging software to clean up the pixel distortion?  [Here is another image black/white blown up from Reegs]
Reports ‘after the fact’ stated President Obama went to bed at 00:30am – while Ambassador Stevens was still missing.   President Obama spoke in the Rose Garden at approximately 11am 9/12 before flying to Nevada for a campaign fundraiser.
Linked at iOTW -and- Free Republic - Thanks.
HatTip Recoverydotgod  for an example of Biden’s handwriting (link):

Update 1. Here are some graphics to understand camera angle:
Oval Office ariel with photog detail
Camera Angle
Update 2. Need Comparison Timeline from “official” WH/state dept. reports as to who was where, when. So we can compare them to “official” state dept./Pentagon timeline for actual attack happening on ground in Benghazi.
Also, what were offical schedules for players? on that date.
Update 3.  Possible the notes in Biden’s hand have to do with phone call earlier to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which occurred on same date.   White House Link
Sept 11, 2012 President Obama spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu for an hour tonight as a part of their ongoing consultations. The two leaders discussed the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues.  (link)
and CNN Story Link.
Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call Tuesday night about the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, according to a White House statement.
Obama placed the call to Netanyahu, a senior administration official told CNN. [...]  The Obama administration pushed back later Tuesday…  (link)
However, non of this changes the aspect of inquiry.   If the attack began at 3:30pm (DC time) 9:30pm (Benghazi) – Then what was happening at 7:30pm when this picture was taken?   Obviously POTUS was not situationally aware.    Was this the “first” notification of the crisis?   Yet it is a FULL FOUR HOURS after the attack began?
Update 4.  Here is a brief timeline:   Compiled from HERE and HERE

Timeline of 9/11 Benghazi Consulate Attack According to CBS:

Ambassador Stevens sent cables to DC citing security incidents and “growing frustration with police and security forces who were too weak to keep the country secure.”
CBS elaborated on the video protest in Cairo, nearly 750 miles away.
9:00 p.m. – Ambassador Stevens goes to bed. There are five security agents on site, three based in Benghazi and two traveling with Stevens. The front gate is staffed by Libyan security guards.
9:40 pm – Gunfire is heard and dozens of armed people flow through the gate at the main entrance. The CIA security team in the annex and the Libyan 12th of February Brigade, which they claim is one of the most powerful militias serving as a presence in Benghazi. The embassy in Tripoli and State Department command are notified.
State Dept. Diplomatic Security follow the events in real time via audio.
All but one agent in the compound leaves to get gear in another building. The mob sets fire to the Libyan barracks on site. The agent with the  Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith, Scott Strickland, secures the men in an unvented windowless room.
The attackers get into the building where the Ambassador, Smith and Stickland are hiding. They set it on fire. Strickland leaves by a window but the two men are not behind him. He returns to look for them several times but can’t find them because of the heavy smoke. He goes to the roof and radios the other agents.
Three agents return to look for the men and find Smith’s body which they take with them.
Hillary Clinton is told of the incident shortly after it began at 4 pm DC time, 10 pm Benghazi time, and she in turn calls Libyan President Mohammed Magariaf to enlist his support.
10:05 pm: government and intelligence agencies re alerted including the White House Situation Room, the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI. They are informed that ”US Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack” — “approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well. Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four COM (Chief of Mission/embassy) personnel are in the compound safe haven.”
10:25 pm: A six-member CIA team arrives at the annex with 40 to 60 members of the Libyan brigade. They remove Smith’s body.
10:54 p.m. (4:54 p.m. ET): An alert from the State Dept. Operations Center: “the firing… in Benghazi has stopped. A response team is on site attempting to locate COM personnel.”
11 p.m. (5 p.m. ET): Just ahead of the weekly meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey, White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon tells President Obama of the attack and the fire at the main villa. The president is updated several times throughout the evening.
At the compound, the 17th of February Brigade says they can’t hold the perimeter and withdraws.
DS agents make final search for Stevens and leave with the CIA team in an armored vehicle heading for the annex, taking fire along the waInside room of murdered U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens
Of note, when CBS News’ Elizabeth Palmer visited the compound in one of several trips to Libya, she found little evidence of an extensive firefight at the compound’s walls and main gate, likely indicating the fiercest fighting occurred away from the compound.
Midnight (6 p.m. ET) Agents arrive at the annex, which receives sporadic small-arms fire and RPG rounds over a roughly 90-minute period. The security team returns fire and the attackers disperse.
12:07 a.m. (6:07 p.m. ET): An alert from the State Dept. Operations Center states that the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli reports the Islamic military group “Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibilty for Benghazi Attack”… “on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli.”
Around 12:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. ET): The Pentagon issues an order to a special operations team in Europe to move to Sigonella, Sicily – less than one hour’s flight away from Benghazi. Over the next three hours an additional special operations team based in the U.S. is ordered to deploy to Sigonella. Neither arrived in time.
1:00 a.m. (7 p.m. ET): The first of two unmanned U.S. Predator drones, which already had been flying over eastern Libya, is diverted to Benghazi, as reported by CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson and David Martin on Oct. 15.

WH PHOTO TAKEN AT THIS TIME

1:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. ET): A U.S. security team from Embassy Tripoli lands in Benghazi and learn that the ambassador is missing. They try to arrange for transportation into town, with the goal of locating Stevens.
4:07 a.m. (10:07 p.m. ET): Secretary Clinton issues a statement acknowledging the death of one State Dept. officer.
5:00 a.m. (11:00 p.m.): A second U.S. Predator drone arrives, per CBS News’ Attkisson and Martin.
5:15 a.m. (11:15 p.m. ET): The U.S. Regional Security Office in Tripoli gets a phone call from an Arabic-speaking source who says a Westerner has been found in Benghazi and is perhaps at a hospital. It’s believed to be Ambassador Stevens. Transfer to airport is arranged.
At around the same time, the additional security team finds transportation from the airport under the escort of the Libyan Shield, another local militia, but decides to head to the annex after learning that Stevens was almost certainly dead. Just after their arrival, the annex takes mortar fire, sustaining three direct hits. The precision of the attacks indicates a level of sophistication and coordination.
Former U.S. Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty are killed in the mortar assault, which lasts just 11 minutes before dissipating; a DS agent and annex security member are severely wounded.
After the mortar attack, about 30 Americans evacuate the annex and head to the airport, with the assistance of the Libyan security convoy.
Ambassador Stevens is confirmed dead later that morning, as Americans see his body at the airport
The plane is too small for all of the Americans, so the first flight out takes U.S. diplomats and civilians to Tripoli, leaving behind security staff and bodies.
8:00 a.m. (2 a.m. ET): The second flight leaves Benghazi for Tripoli with U.S. security members and bodies.
President Obama is told of Stevens’ death. State Department tells all diplomatic posts around the world to review their security posture and to take all necessary steps to enhance it
Update 5.  More people concur, the notes in Biden’s hand pertain to the phone convo with Netanyahu – not benghazi.   There is a time of 6:2(?) written in his notes.  This could be a Benghazi convo immediately following that phone call.  (*off subject* funny how the media never reported Biden was on the phone — propping up inept Obama?)
However, knowing with specific certainty that this picture was taken at 7:26pm, if you really think about the prior reported timelines from the media -including those above – this photograph appears to destroy many of those previous timeline narratives regarding who was doing what, and when.   Specifically it would be interesting to know where was Panetta and Dempsey when this photo was taken?
Previously Reported @ (5 p.m. ET): Just ahead of the weekly meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey, White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon tells President Obama of the attack and the fire at the main villa. The president is updated several times throughout the evening….
…”updated several times thoughout the evening“….   was this an update?   Remember, again, this photo is FOUR hours after the attack began.   Would POTUS take a previously scheduled call with Netanyahu at 6:30 ish (1:30am Israel)  three hours into a known embassy attack ?   Yeah, he was getting beat up by the Republicans about ignoring BiBi, but was that worry stronger than the situation in Benghazi?    Lots of questions….
and where is Hillary?