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President Bush is meeting today with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He wanted to talk to the King about increasing production of Oil. If Saudi Arabia who is the biggest producer in the world would increase production it would put pressure of prices to go down.
Oil was selling at $127 per barrel this morning on the futures market. Saudi Arabia has said in the past they do not see any reason for increased production and they are already producing at almost 100% of their capacity. They say based on those factors they will not be able to raise production significantly to impact the market price of oil.
Greater demand from India and China in particular has pushed demand much higher in recent years and have contributed to the doubling of price in the barrel of oil in the past year.
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Saudi Arabia also wanted to speak to Bush about what he is going to do about Iran. They are worried as is most of the world that Iran will have nuclear weapons soon and do not want that to happen.
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Osama Bin Laden released a 10 minute audio tape which he released on the day of the 60th Anniversary of Israel. On the audio tape he reiterates his displeasure with the existence of the State of Israel.
He urges Arabs to work toward liberating Palestine. The newest tape comes one day after he released another tape condemning Europeans on some of their actions towards Arabs in Europe.
Israel was created in 1948 and President Bush spoke to the Israel Parliament yesterday to commemorate the event.
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Afershocks hit Western China with magnitudes as high as 5.5. They came shortly after the President of China, Hu Jintao came to visit the area. The aftershocks caused avalanches and rock slides that make a bad situation worse. China has reported about 22,000 dead even though the final number will be much higher.
Estimates are that up to 50,000 people have died from the earthquake, 150,000 have been injured and 4.5 million people homes have been destroyed. Yesterday some people were found and dug out of the rubble. There are going to be more of these survivors found in coming days but with the earthquake coming several days ago, time is short to find survivors.
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Chicago, IL -- Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement in response to the passage of the Senate Farm Bill.
"I applaud the Senate's passage today of the Farm Bill, which will provide America's hard-working farmers and ranchers with more support and more predictability."
"The bill places greater resources into renewable energy and conservation. And, during this time of rising food prices, the Farm Bill provides an additional $10 billion for critical nutrition programs. I am also pleased that the bill includes my proposal to help thousands of African-American farmers get their discrimination claims reviewed under the Pigford settlement."
"This bill is far from perfect. I believe in tighter payment limits and a ban on packer ownership of livestock. As president, I will continue to fight for the interests of America's family farmers and ranchers and ensure that assistance is geared towards those producers who truly need them, instead of large agribusinesses.
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But with so much at stake, we cannot make the perfect the enemy of the good."
"By opposing the bill, President Bush and John McCain are saying no to America's farmers and ranchers, no to energy independence, no to the environment, and no to millions of hungry people."
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Today, Hillary Clinton participated in a “Solutions for the Rural Economy” town hall at the Jones’ family farm in Bath, SD. She was joined by farm-owner Dennis Jones, and his son, Jarrett, who both spoke of the challenges they face and the benefits that the Farm Bill would bring South Dakota farmers.
Hillary reinforced her support for the Farm Bill, which is expected to be voted on in the Senate today, and its benefits for the over 31,000 South Dakota farmers. Hillary also criticized Senator McCain for his opposition to the Farm Bill. Hillary believes South Dakota’s farmers deserve a president who will stand for them. “Saying no to the farm bill would be saying no to rural America,” said Senator Clinton. Yet two weeks ago, Senator McCain made it clear he sides with President Bush, who has repeatedly threatened to veto the Farm Bill. “I do not support [the Farm Bill]. I would veto it," Senator McCain told voters in Iowa.
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As President, Senator Clinton will work as hard for the producers of South Dakota as she has worked for the 34,000 family farms in New York over the past eight years. “When Bear Stearns needed assistance, we stepped in with a $30 billion package. But when our farmers need help, all they get from Senator McCain and President Bush a veto threat,” said Senator Clinton.
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President Bush delivered a speech in Israel, saying: There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It's natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Jews and Americans have seen the consequences of disregarding the words of leaders who espouse hatred. And that is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century.
Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
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Spokepersons for President Bush say the speech was not directed at any one particular person. Some people have speculated he was talking about Barack Obama who has said he would meet with the President of Iran with no preconditions.
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The California Supreme court by a 4-3 margin overturned California's ban on same sex marriages. California becomes the second state in the United States to recognize Gay marriage rights.
Anti-Gay marriage Activists are already trying to put a Marriage Amendment on the November ballot as has been done in many other states in the past. Basically the ammendments say that a marriage can only be between a man and a women.
The city of San Francisco and about two dozen gay and lesbian rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco's same-sex weddings.
This could be avery big campaign issue in the November elections throughout the country as groups on both sides battle it out.
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Today, John McCain detailed what he envisions achieving as President by the end of his first term in 2013.
John McCain will put the national interest ahead of partisanship to build an America that is safer, freer and more prosperous than when he was elected.
When John McCain is President, the era of the permanent campaign will end. He will work with anyone who wants to get this country moving again and will listen to any idea intended to solve our problems, not make them worse.
In forming government policy, John McCain will work with members of Congress from both parties.
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John McCain's administration will set new standards for transparency and accountability.
John McCain will not leave our problems for another unluckier generation of Americans to fix after they have become even harder to solve.
John McCain also outlined his views on presidential power. The President's powers are rightly checked by the other branches of government, and John McCain will not attempt to acquire powers granted to Congress. He will exercise his veto but not subvert legislation through statements.
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After four years of a McCain administration, America will be more secure and working with its allies and partners around the world to make us safer. In 2013:
The Iraq War has been won, Iraq is a functioning democracy, violence is much reduced, and America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure.
The United States maintains a military presence in Iraq, but a much smaller one that does not play a direct combat role.
The threat from a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced.
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There is a functioning League of Democracies th | | |