Obama's secret security booklet found inside a Gutter in Canberra!!!

A CLASSIFIED booklet containing President Barack Obama's Australian visit schedule down to the minute, as well as details of his security convoy and the mobile phone numbers of dozens of senior US and Australian officials, was found by The Age on a Canberra street on 17 November 2011.

The booklet, Overall Program and Orders of Arrangements, for Mr Obama's visit, was found by the Age reporter in a gutter about 100 metres from the front entrance to Parliament.

One of Australia's top national security analysts, Alan Dupont, said the find represented a ''significant security breach''

''If that had got into the wrong hands, it would certainly put the President and some of his entourage at risk if someone could respond quickly enough to having the information,'' said Professor Dupont, who is the Michael Hintze chair of international security at Sydney University.

''Even if you were an ordinary crim, there would be a market for that kind of book, so it's not good news.''

The 125-page booklet is classified ''In-Confidence'' and its cover states the information it holds ''is not to be communicated either directly or indirectly to any person not authorised to receive it''.

More than 120 pages are dedicated to a minute-by-minute description of Mr Obama's schedule, and it even reveals which limousine door the President will use at events.

I suspect this booklet was accidently thrown or slipped from a person who is directly involved in the preparation of this visit.

It was not intentional.

''On a signal from the Presidential Advance Agents, the Prime Minister, [Australian ambassador to the US Kim] Beazley and [US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey] Bleich alight from their vehicles,'' the booklet states for the event at the Darwin RAAF base.

It also lists the ''seating arrangements'' for the presidential motorcade, the world's highest-security convoy.

It lists the exact breakdown of Mr Obama's Secret Service presidential protective division, including its ''Counter Assault Teams'' a ''comms vehicle'', an ''intel car'' and the ''Hammer Truck'' (Hazardous Agent Mitigation Medical Emergency Response). It is the Secret Service team that provides emergency medical treatment.

Then there are the dozens of mobile-phone and landline numbers for senior Australian and US military and civilian staff. The phone numbers included the mobiles of the US deputy ambassador Jason Hyland and the US consuls-general in Victoria, Sydney and Perth; a marine major who works as an embassy attache; three Australian air force wing commanders in Canberra and Darwin; and the Federal Police co-ordinator for foreign dignity protection.

''It's incredible,'' Professor Dupont said. ''It could be exploited down the track because it's got all sorts of numbers in it. And if you are somebody who could exploit that or sell it to someone who could exploit that, it could be serious because you could listen in to the telephone calls of people who are very senior.''

The booklet also names a long-serving member of Mr Obama's Secret Service unit.

Hey.. come on Obama....

Barack Obama, debt deal reached

Whatever the super powers do, we have to give attention for it will affect us.

Republican and Democratic leaders have agreed on a plan to raise the United States debt ceiling, President Barack Obama announced Sunday night, 31th July 2011.

The announcement arrives after months of intense closed-door negotiations, and just two days before the deadline set by the Treasury Department.

According to the details available, the agreement would slow the growth of government spending over the next decade by $2-$3 trillion and allow enough borrowing to put off another vote to raise the ceiling to 2013.

About $1 trillion will be cut immediately, and the details of the remaining spending reductions will be handled by a bipartisan committee of 12 lawmakers from both chambers, who will recommend cuts for Congress to vote on. To appease the GOP's conservative wing, the deal would also require a vote in both chambers on an amendment to the Constitution requiring the federal government to balance its budget each year.

"I want to announce that the leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default--a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy," Obama said. "Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. . . . But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year."

House Speaker John Boehner held a conference call Sunday evening with House Republicans in which he urged them to support the package, declaring that the deal in place "meets our principles of smaller government."

"There is a framework in place that would cut spending by a larger amount than we raise the debt limit, and cap future spending to limit the growth of government," he said, according to a transcript provided by Boehner's office. "Now listen, this isn't the greatest deal in the world. But it shows how much we've changed the terms of the debate in this town."

With the approval of leaders of the House and Senate, and Tuesday's deadline looming, Congress must act quickly to convince enough members to seal the deal with a vote on Monday. The deal will require bipartisan support due to the opposition within factions of both parties.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Leader Harry Reid will both present the deal to their caucus Monday at 11 a.m. with a vote expected afterward.

God Bless the World.

Barack Obama signs $938 billion health bill into law

Obama signing the $938 billion dollar bill!!!!! My Gosh - $938 Billion!!! No wonder the Republicans refused to support the healthcare bill... It is indeed very very costly Mr Obama!!!

United States of America President Barack Obama has signed his landmark healthcare bill into law in a ceremony at the White House, on March 23rd, 2010.

The new law will eventually extend health insurance cover to about 32 million Americans who currently do not have any.

Mr Obama said he was signing the bill for people like his mother "who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days".

The bill is strongly opposed by the Republicans, who say it is too costly.

“ The bill I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see ”
President Barack Obama

Immediately after the signing, attorneys general from 13 states - 12 Republicans and one Democrat - began legal proceedings against the federal government seeking to stop the reforms on the grounds that they are unconstitutional.

Mr Obama was joined at the White House signing ceremony by healthcare reform supporters including Democrats from both Houses of Congress who supported the measure.

He said the bill's provisions were "desperately needed", adding: "The bill I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see."

He hailed the "historic leadership and uncommon courage" of the Democratic leadership in Congress that secured the bill's passage, singling out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for particular praise.

“ The Democrats feel a new optimism with a solid victory under their belt. They feel they've proved that they can govern, can make a difference ”
Mark Mardell, BBC North America editor

He concluded: "Today after almost a century of trial, today after over a year of debate, today after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. Today.

"All of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform."

Mr Obama now has to sell the reforms to a divided American public before November's mid-term elections.

On Thursday, he will go to the state of Iowa to talk about how the new law will help to lower healthcare costs for small businesses and families.

KEY HEALTHCARE REFORMS

Cost: $940bn over 10 years; would reduce deficit by $143bn
Coverage: Expanded to 32m currently uninsured Americans
Medicare: Prescription drug coverage gap closed; affected over-65s receive rebate and discount on brand name drugs
Medicaid: Expanded to include families under 65 with gross income of up to 133% of federal poverty level and childless adults
Insurance reforms: Insurers can no longer deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions
Insurance exchanges: Uninsured and self-employed able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges
Subsidies: Low-income individuals and families wanting to purchase own health insurance eligible for subsidies
Individual Mandate: Those not covered by Medicaid or Medicare must be insured or face fine
High-cost insurance: Employers offering workers pricier plans subject to tax on excess premium

After a heated debate, the House of Representatives voted 219-212 late on Sunday to send the 10-year, $938billion bill to Mr Obama. Not one Republican voted for the bill, and some Democrats also voted against it.

The measure, which the Senate passed in December, is expected to expand health insurance coverage to about 95% of eligible Americans, compared with the 83% covered today.

It will ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with existing medical problems.

Correspondents say the bill represents the biggest expansion of the federal government's social safety net since President Lyndon Johnson enacted the Medicare and Medicaid government-funded healthcare programmes for the elderly and poor in the 1960s.

Mr Obama's campaign to overhaul US healthcare seemed stalled in January, when a Republican won a special election to fill the late Edward Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat, and with it, enough Republican votes to prevent the bill from coming to a final vote in the Senate.

But Democrats came up with a plan that required the House to approve the Senate-passed measure - despite its opposition to many of its provisions - and then have both chambers pass a measure incorporating numerous changes after the president signed it into law.

President Barack Obama vs Bret Baier of Fox News Channel

If you are a journalist, would you dare to do this to the President of the United States of America??

Obama looked very uneasy and annoyed with Bret Baier of Fox News who constantly interrupted him during this exclusive interview in the White House.

They were talking about the Health Care plan.