Obama has dinner with 4 campaign donors

Two retirees, a U.S. Postal Service worker and a business owner from politically important Midwestern and Southwestern states, all donors to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, got a rare opportunity Thursday to bend his ear over dinner.

Obama said afterward that he's president because of people like them.

"This dinner is important because I'm only president thanks to the work of millions of Americans like the four I just met," he tweeted.

Obama's re-election effort offered "Dinner with Barack" to help boost campaign contributions in the April-to-June fundraising quarter, during which it reported raising more than $47 million. Giving was not required, but the campaign requested donations of at least $5 from anyone willing to contribute.

Keeping its end of the deal, the campaign was paying for one night in a hotel and flying in the contributors from Arizona, Colorado, Indiana and Minnesota -- all states important to Obama's re-election hopes.

Of those states, Obama lost only Arizona in 2008. His campaign has floated the idea of trying to compete this time around in the traditionally Republican-leaning state. Minnesota traditionally leans Democratic, but most of the upper Midwest states, which have suffered as a result of the economy, appear to be up for grabs heading into next year's presidential contest.

The donors were identified as: Juanita Martinez, a retired teacher from Brighton, Colo.; Wendi Smith, an artist and retired professor from Corydon, Ind.; Ken Knight, a U.S. Postal Service employee from Chandler, Ariz.; and Casey Helbling, an entrepreneur and small-business owner from Minneapolis.

Dinner was held at The Liberty Tavern in Arlington, Va., which serves modern American cuisine, according to its website.

Reporters allowed into the upstairs dining room before any food or drinks were served heard Obama and Knight chat about spring training and the Chicago White Sox, Obama's favorite baseball team. Obama, dressed casually in slacks and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, then asked each donor where they were from as reporters were escorted back downstairs. He spent about an hour at the restaurant before returning to the White House.

Vice President Joe Biden, a subsequent addition to the dinner, did not attend because he was out of the country, having led a U.S. delegation to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to offer condolences after the recent death of the kingdom's second-in-line for the throne.

Obama had dinner with campaign donors when he first ran for president. The dinner contest will be held quarterly as the presidential race steams toward a November 2012 finish line.

In a video announcement from his 2008 campaign, Obama said he wanted to meet donors over dinner because national political candidates spend too much time at fancy fundraisers with the well-to-do, closed off from hearing the concerns and needs of ordinary people.

Coincidentally, Thursday's dinner was scheduled a day after Obama returned from a three-day fundraising swing through Nevada, California and Colorado. He headlined six fundraisers, including at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas and the Hollywood home of actors Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas. The trip also included stops where Obama met everyday people, including at Roscoe's, a popular chicken restaurant chain in Los Angeles.

Two months ago, Obama had lunch on Capitol Hill with a group of campaign volunteers who were selected based on essays they wrote about organizing. Obama got his start in politics by working as a community organizer in Chicago.

Source  http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/10/27/obama_to_have_dinner_with_4_campaign_donors/

Lamborn apologizes to Obama over reference to tar baby

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn sent an apology to the White House Monday concerning a comment he made Friday during an interview with a Denver radio station.

He said during the interview about Obama's budget policies that being linked to President Barack Obama would be “like touching a tar baby.”

“I don’t even want to have to be associated with him. It’s like touching a tar baby, and you get it — you know, you’re stuck, and you’re part of the problem now, and you can’t get away,” Lamborn said. “I don’t want that to happen to us (Republicans), but if it does, or not, he’ll still get — properly so — the blame, because his policies, for four years, will have failed the American people.”

Though “tar baby” is defined in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as “something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself,” it has also long been recognized as a derogatory term for blacks.

Regardless of definition, Lamborn is taking serious heat from several angles. Two local black community leaders immediately condemned the congressman's comments, and said he should know better.

Rosemary Harris Lytle, president of the Colorado Springs chapter of the NAACP, said the connotations of the phrase "tar baby" are too well-known to make Lamborn's use of it excusable.

"The world already views (El Paso County) as ultra conservative, ultra right wing, Tea-Party-loving, gay bashing, an epicenter of hate. With two vitriolic words, our own Congressman again sealed our fate," Harris Lytle said.

Diane Allen-Philips, president of the Urban League of the Pikes Peak Region, said the congressman should be more conscious of the type of example he's setting.

"I don’t think you can just toss that phrase out and not have it associated with the past," said Allen-Philips. "If Barack Obama was not African American, would he have used the same terminology?"

In an email, Lamborn spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen wrote, "Congressman Lamborn regrets any misunderstanding. He simply meant to refer to a sticky situation or quagmire.”

Mortensen said neither Lamborn's district or Washington, D.C. offices had received any complaint about the "tar baby" comment until Denver radio show host David Sirota aired the interview clip Monday morning on 760 AM.

Monday evening, Lamborn's office sent a news release saying he had "sent a personal letter to President Barack Obama apologizing for using a term some find insensitive." The release said Lamborn is "confident that the President will accept his heartfelt apology."

Earlier in the day, El Paso County Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Ricker called for just such an apology, saying the congressman's statement was not enough.

“I am ashamed to call Doug Lamborn the federal representative for my community,” said Ricker. “For all that we try to do to convince the nation that our community is not a backwards, hateful, area, this foolish man speaks before thinking because he believes that politically he is invincible and invulnerable.”

Ricker's comments were immediately dismissed as "cheap political shots" by Eli Bremer, chair of the El Paso County Republican Party. Bremer said Lamborn's statement was being taken out of context, and was not at all intended as a reference to Obama's skin color.

"It's disgraceful that anyone would try and insinuate that he was being racist," said Bremer. "I think there are people out there who believe it is a racist term, but what’s important is not how people construe it but how it’s intended. It’s really unfair to take something completely out of context and try to politically destroy them because of it."

Lamborn isn't the only politician to ever land in hot water by using those two words. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was lambasted in 2006 for using the phrase in reference to a construction project, and U.S. Sen. John McCain had to apologize in 2007, during his presidential run, for using it in reference to divorces.

The interview took place on the Caplis and Silverman radio show in Denver, on KHOW 630 AM. To listen to the full interview, visit www.khow.com/pages/caplisandsilverman and listen to the 5 p.m. hour.

Source http://www.gazette.com/articles/lamborn-122455-obama-rep.html

Shock! Hannity uses fake, discredited quote to smear Obama over Libya

So the Washington Times yesterday reported that White House advisor Samantha Power had claimed that President Obama deserves personal credit for the Libya uprising. They've since removed the story from their site because it was based on a totally inaccurate quote.

That didn't stop Sean Hannity from running with the story to smear President Obama, however. In fact, he made it the number one story on his 9 o'clock broadcast last night:

Ben Smith flagged the error at 5:48PM Eastern time yesterday, giving Hannity at least three hours to come up with a new opening to his program. But I guess in his world, a fake attack is as good as a real one.

By the way, CNN's Piers Morgan, whose program runs opposite Hannity's, asked Susan Rice a question based on the inaccurate Washington Times report. The question never made it to air, however, as the segment had been pre-recorded and Morgan decided to pull it after learning the quote attributed to Power wasn't real. Apparently, CNN actually employs fact-checkers. Good for them.

Source http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/30/961717/-Shock!-Hannity-uses-fake,-discredited-quote-to-smear-Obama-over-Libya

Ides of March Killed 'Bachelor' Brad Womack

The Ides of March is upon us and I do declare there's need to beware. Especially if you're Bachelor Brad. In this tale of love and betrayal, Brad will play Julius Caesar, Emily will play Brutus, and Chantal O'Brien will play the part of the emotional, and a little bit pudgy, soothsayer.

Boys and girls gather round as I tell the tale of Brad Caesar, a tall leader with a penchant for saying, "Please know that ... please know that" and his lover turned mortal enemy Emily, a young blood-thirsty blond with larger than life teeth and a desire to kill.

Last night on After the Final Rose, Emily Brutus stood up, grabbed the knife that you know Chris Harrison keeps in a strap under his pant leg, and stabbed poor Brad Caesar in the back. The first blow came when everyone noticed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring. In and out went the rusty knife.

The second wound was inflicted when she said she wasn't going to move to Austin. The third stab happened when she called off their wedding day ... the knife bloody with Brad Caesar's heart and soul, Emily kept going. She wanted to let the whole Senate of Viewers know that she wasn't happy -- that she wanted the power.

It was a brutal scene; Emily was relentless. She had waited months for this attack, and laid into him with a cunning force. And all Brad Caesar could do was take it. He was the one that built this empire and tried to make it a tyranny, so all he could do was take it. Everyone knows a dictator in perpetuity does not last long.

Chantal the soothsayer did all she could to persuade Brad not to choose Emily, knowing full well that Emily couldn't make Brad happy, but Brad refused to listen.

It was hard to watch, wasn't it. Emily took her time stabbing Brad to death, but he just kept taking blow after blow. He died right there on the stage and Emily did a little dance on his six-pack, then packed up and annexed herself to Charlotte. Poor Brad thought Emily loved him enough to follow him anywhere, do everything he says, but Emily will not be contained. Each "I love you" was about as real as her blond hair -- over-processed and lifeless.

Source http://thestir.cafemom.com/entertainment/117535/ides_of_march_killed_bachelor

Other Obama pals unhappy with what he’s done for Rahm

President Obama’s near-endorsement of mayoral front-runner Rahm Emanuel is a bit of a sore point with Obama’s old friends running against Emanuel.

“During the presidential primary, when Rahm Emanuel was ‘hiding under his desk’ because of his friendship with the Clintons, I was doing the heavy lifting supporting Barack Obama,” a frustrated City Clerk Miguel del Valle said.

Del Valle sat with Obama in the Illinois state Senate for Obama’s full eight years there, fighting battles side by side with Obama and co-sponsoring legislation with him.

“I was the first Latino to endorse Barack Obama for U.S. Senate, and one of his opponents in that race was Gery Chico, so I know I have earned the president’s praise — he has spoken highly of my work on Chicago’s neighborhoods.”

Obama taped a gushing endorsement of del Valle when del Valle ran for City Clerk four years ago.

In 2003 when Carol Moseley Braun announced she was running for president, Obama, then mounting his run for U.S. Senate, sprinted up the stairs at the University of Illinois Chicago for Braun’s big announcement, hoping to get her endorsement for his Senate run. He smiled at her side as she spoke.

And after Obama dispatched him in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2004, Gery Chico turned around and endorsed him.

“I threw his first fund-raiser,” when he ran for president, Chico said.

But all that history — and the fact that Emanuel, virtually alone among Illinois’ top elected Democrats, refused to take sides during the endless primary between Obama and Hillary Clinton even as del Valle and Chico campaigned actively for him — became irrelevant during Emanuel’s service as chief of staff.

The president gave Emanuel an effusive send-off, using the words, “We are all very excited for Rahm as he takes on a new challenge for which he is extraordinarily well-qualified.” And he has raised no objection as Emanuel has played those words incessantly on Chicago television and radio.

Asked if he was endorsing Emanuel or making calls on his behalf, Obama said last week, “I don’t have to make calls for Rahm Emanuel. He seems to be doing just fine on his own.”

Asked about Obama’s comments later that morning, Emanuel said, “We talked last night as we do regularly. . . . This is for me to go earn.”

Emanuel could be heard taking a congratulatory call from Obama moments after he got the good news the state supreme court had ruled him on the ballot.

Chico, Braun and del Valle say they have not gotten any calls from Obama during the campaign.

Asked if Obama has promised to vote for him, Emanuel smiled and said, “That’s a private matter.”

All four candidates emphasize that Obama has made no formal endorsement in the race.

Braun said she did not endorse Obama in the presidential primary because she had retired from politics at the time. But that did not stop her from criticizing Emanuel for not endorsing Obama:

“The $14 million candidate didn’t endorse Barack Obama and he was in politics,” Braun said.

Source http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/3927317-418/obamas-kind-words-for-emanuel-hard-for-rivals-who-backed-president-to-hear.html

Obama administration proposes new planning rule for national forests

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the directive aims to promote ecological diversity and protect wildlife while also considering recreational and economic demands.

By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times Federal supervisors would have to run the country's national forests to maintain ecological health and species diversity under a proposed Obama administration rule that also requires them to prepare environmental reviews when they update forest management plans.

The 94-page document is the latest version of a forest planning rule that has gone through a decade of revision and litigation as changing administrations left their stamps on it. It would shape the future of the 193-million-acre national forest system, including more than 20 million acres in California.

The Bush administration rules, widely criticized for eliminating long-standing wildlife protections, were set aside by the courts, leaving in place management blueprints first adopted under President Reagan.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack described the Obama administration's proposal, released Thursday, as an attempt to strike a balance that would promote ecological diversity and protect wildlife but also recognize recreational needs and economic demands such as logging on the 155 forests and 20 grasslands in the national forest system.

"Forests don't have a single purpose," he said. "This is not about pitting one use against another."

Some environmental groups praised the proposed rule as a vast improvement over the Bush regulations. But advocates also complained that it would leave too much wiggle room for local forest supervisors to fudge protections.

"When you get right down to it, there are a lot of 'mays' but not that many 'musts'," said Jane Danowitz, U.S. public lands director for the Pew Environment Group.

The strongest criticism came from the Defenders of Wildlife, which successfully challenged the Bush rules in court. "We're disappointed," said the group's president, Rodger Schlickeisen. "They do a little thing here or there that's good. But this is a significant rollback of protections for wildlife and habitat."

He pointed to changes to a section of the 1982 Reagan rules, which require that national forests be managed to maintain "viable populations" of native and desirable nonnative vertebrate species. That mandate, dropped by Bush, takes a different shape in the Obama rules.

Although forests would have to be managed to protect endangered species and others of concern under the Obama proposal, the emphasis for most forest species would be to maintain a healthy ecosystem that supports diverse plant and wildlife communities.

Joel Holtrop, deputy Forest Service chief, said the directive in some ways "goes beyond" the existing "viable populations" benchmark because it would cover native plants and invertebrates as well.

"If we maintain or restore the structure, the function, the composition of ecosystems and watersheds," he said, "we're going to provide for diversity of the vast majority of species."

The proposal retains a requirement dropped by the Bush administration that supervisors prepare environmental impact statements when they revise management plans for individual forests. Those plans dictate which activities are allowed on every acre, including recreation, logging and mining.

The proposed rule also stresses the importance of protecting watersheds and river and stream banks, which have sometimes been severely damaged by logging operations.

Nathaniel Lawrence, director of the Forest Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, found "a lot to like" in the document.

"It takes a sober view of the need to restore degraded lands and consider the future effect of major processes like climate change," he said. He called the proposal "a stark contrast from repeated efforts in the Bush administration to degrade the planning process."

In an e-mail, Michael Goergen, chief executive of the Society of American Foresters, said the proposed rule appears "to give discretion to land managers and requires significant collaboration with stakeholders. SAF has been calling for these elements in planning for decades. For any forest plan to be successful it must be flexible and adaptable."

California's 18 national forests run the length of the state and cover a fifth of its land mass.

Source http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-forests-20110211,0,3611210.story

Farm Column: Wisconsin is among top agriculture states

A rich history spanning almost 200 years contributes to make our state one of the top agricultural states in the nation.

From Wisconsin's climate and natural resources to the agribusiness infrastructure and farm heritage, agriculture has become a signature industry.

It was during the Ice Age, as glaciers cut through Wisconsin, that the dairy industry started to take shape.

The countryside of rolling hills and lush pastureland that was left behind reminded European immigrants of the landscape of their homeland and led them to settle here.

The conditions suited agriculture well as farmers grew quality wheat, hops and other grains. Dairy farming followed and soon there was an abundance of top quality milk.

Cheese-making

Our earliest farmers and agribusiness men took the milk and transformed it into cheese, mostly because cheese-making kept milk from spoiling.

Because the use of iceboxes and refrigerated railcars didn't really occur until the 1870s, much of the milk produced in our state in the 19th century was made into cheese and butter.

One of the earliest cheese factories in Wisconsin made its home in Fond du Lac County.

Twenty years after the Hazen family settled near Ladoga, Chester Hazen built the first cheese factory in Fond du Lac County on land near their homestead.

The factory was known as "Hazen's Folly" by critics of industrialization of the cheese-making process, who believed Hazen was crazy for his large-scale operation.

However, after the first year, the cheese factory was a success, making cheese from the milk of more than 300 cows.

The factory became prosperous — at one time making cheese from milk of more than 1,000 cows.

Hazen began to ship cheese out of state in railcars in 1870 and even won first prize for his cheese at the 1878 International Dairy Fair in New York.

Opportunity

The dairy industry gave others in Fond du Lac a great opportunity. Cheese-making equipment and utensils were made independently until 1904, when Edward and George Damrow started a shop to accommodate this business.

The Damrow Brothers Company opened in Fond du Lac in 1908 and furnished the dairy industry with vats, tanks, hoops for cheese molds and other items.

Around 1939, Carl Kiekhaefer purchased an outboard business with the intention of making magnetic separators and clutches for the dairy industry.

However, because of the the need for cash and 300 defective outboards that came with the building he purchased, the magnetic separators were never manufactured, and Kiekhaefer rebuilt the motors so well that many more were ordered.

Mercury Marine was started at the site of Corium Farms, known for its great dairy cattle of the time.

Take a closer look at the history of agriculture in the Fond du Lac County area and beyond at the eighth annual Fond du Lac Agriculture Showcase.

The showcase's theme, "Past, Present & Future: A Historical Walk through Agriculture," will feature pictures, tools as well as the many changes in agriculture throughout time.

From the first cheese factory to the dairy farms of today, the Agriculture Showcase will open people's eyes to the agriculture industry in Wisconsin.

Enjoy the variety of cheeses and beverages, kids activities, stage presentations and cheesecake contest displays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds Recreation Building.

Admission is $2, with half of that amount benefiting the Agricultural Ambassador program. Children 10 and under are admitted free.

Brenda Gudex is the director of agricultural programs with the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce. To reach Gudex with questions, call 921-9500 or e-mail her at Brenda@fdlac.com.

Source  http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20110123/FON03/101230307/Farm-Column-Wisconsin-is-among-top-agriculture-states