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Obama flip flops in the same day Obama to 'refine' Iraq plan He backed off his firm promise to withdraw combat forces from Iraq immediately and instead said he could “refine” his plan after his trip to Baghdad later this month.
Earlier, a top Obama adviser had said that the senator is not “wedded” to a specific timeline.
Obama told reporters in Fargo, N.D., that he is “going to do a thorough assessment."
"When I go to Iraq and I have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies," he said, according to CBS News. “I have been consistent, throughout this process, that I believe the war in Iraq was a mistake.”
Obama later said at a second news conference he still intends to stick to the timeline.
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McCain backs initiative barring gay marriage in California The endorsement, announced Thursday night on ProtectMarriage.com, the Web site of the Protect Marriage campaign, was not a surprise. The Arizona senator previously said he was happy Californians would be voting on the measure, which the secretary of state's office designated Friday as Proposition 8. "I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona," McCain said in a statement released by the Protect Marriage campaign. "I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."
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Israel has a year to stop Iran bomb, warns ex-spy: A former head of Mossad has warned that Israel has 12 months in which to destroy Iran's nuclear programme or risk coming under nuclear attack itself. He also hinted that Israel might have to act sooner if Barack Obama wins the US presidential election. Shabtai Shavit, an influential adviser to the Israeli parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee, told The Sunday Telegraph that time was running out to prevent Iran's leaders getting the bomb. Mr Shavit, who retired from the Israeli intelligence agency in 1996, warned that he had no doubt Iran intended to use a nuclear weapon once it had the capability, and that Israel must conduct itself accordingly. |
| Employers cut jobs for sixth straight month Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent.
After-tax incomes and spending show big gains: The millions of economic stimulus payments gave a massive jolt to household finanances in May, sending after-tax incomes up by the largest amount in 33 years. The payments helped boost consumer spending by the largest amount in six months. Inflation Now Enemy No. 1 for Fed Bernanke is determined to avoid a repeat of the mistakes that contributed to the Great Depression. But he's also mindful of how Fed mistakes contributed to the Great Inflation in the 1970s, and he wants to show he's determined to avoid those as well.
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"Republican spines are further stiffened by conservative bloggers such as Tom Del Beccaro" Tom Del Beccaro v. Willie Brown
Tom's Latest Montecito Journal Article A Special PV Presentation A pictorial study of
Orange County Register Review of the Publisher
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Labor Committee Vice Chair, Senator Mark Wyland, Issues Statement Regarding Job Killer Legislation
Senate Labor Committee Vice Chair, Senator Mark Wyland of Carlsbad, today issued the following statement after the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation released a study showing California would lose 370,000 jobs within 5 years if legislation requiring paid sick leave is signed into law. Assembly Bill 2716 is currently before in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, and will be heard on Wednesday, June 25th.
“Lawmakers need to provide a better business environment to protect jobs in California, not set-up more roadblocks or increase taxes. With unemployment at record levels in California, this study shows how legislators can further weaken the job market. This mandate will result in a $4.6 billion tax, primarily to small businesses, which will only kill more jobs in our state.
“In these tough economic times, hard-working Californians are concerned about losing their homes and jobs, and rising prices at the grocery store and gas pump. Senate Republicans understand how strengthening our economy is intrinsically tied to improving our budget; a healthy economy will grow states revenues, bringing in much-needed dollars to the state’s coffers without raising taxes. That’s why we have presented a number of ideas to stimulate our economy, streamline government and reform our broken budget system. We urge Democrats to consider these common-sense ideas rather than create more obstacles to our state’s economic recovery.”
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PV's Selected Readings For Today
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