Rent: Too Damn High! Song:

Obama's OIL SPILL EXPERTS!!!

Fed up with Washington, wealthy boycott campaign fundraising:

Fed up with Washington, wealthy boycott campaign fundraising;

(Reuters) - They might not be among the jobless protesting against Wall Street, but the rich are angry, too. Furious over U.S. government gridlock, the wealthy have their own form of protest: Refusing to make political contributions.

A number of financial advisers say their wealthy clients have told them they will not make political contributions this year, many for the first time ever.

Bessemer Trust CEO John Hilton says in his 42 years advising ultra high-net worth investors, he has never seen clients so frustrated with the state of affairs in Washington.

He said a number of the firm's clients - who have an average of $30 million in investable assets - say they believe a lack of leadership and political wrangling are the primary cause of recent market problems - and the declines in their portfolios. Because of that, they say they're saying no to requests to make political contributions.

"People are pissed," said Alan Ungar, an adviser with Critical Capital Management Inc. in Calabasas, California. His clients have an average $1.6 million or more in assets invested with the firm. "This isn't about taxes," he said. "It's about the partisan dynamic."

Political contributions from wealthy donors are crucial for presidential campaigns, said Michael Beckel, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group that tracks donations and their impact on elections and policy in the U.S.

Thirty-one percent of all individual donations came from people who donated $2,000 or more during the 2008 presidential elections, according to the Federal Election Commission. "We are definitely seeing a slower start in donors giving money than we did four years ago," Beckel said.

In the second quarter of 2007, Republican candidates raised about $115 million from individual donors. In the second quarter of this year, the latest crop of candidates raised about a third of that, according to the Campaign Finance Institute.

ON THE SIDELINES

The frustration among wealthy donors has been building throughout the year.

For months, Congress fought about raising the federal government's borrowing limit. An agreement to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending in August came just in time to avert a possible debt default but concerns about the gridlock and the nation's budget deficits led credit rating agency Standard & Poor's to remove the United States' triple-A rating.

In the weeks that followed, stock indexes have seen wild swings, including a record number of days of 400-plus point swings in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Markets have remained volatile since and the gridlock continues. On Tuesday, the Senate blocked President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs bill.

One client told Hilton that he was recently contacted by the political party he is affiliated with to make a contribution. He told Hilton that he declined, telling the caller that considering the situation in Washington and with his retirement account down 25 percent partly because of it, he didn't want to contribute.

In the Washington, D.C. area, wealthy donors are often active in fund-raising for presidential campaigns. This year, many are sitting on the sidelines, said Ted Halpern, a Rockville, Maryland-based financial adviser whose average client has more than $2 million in assets.

"My clients are the ones who are usually hosting fund-raisers at their homes," he said. Many have historically been staunch Democrats, but Halpern said this year some say they might vote for a Republican because they hope a change will lead to action of some kind in Washington, Halpern said.

"There is just a lot of resentment out there," he said.

Jim Heitman, an adviser with Compass Financial Planning in Alta Loma, California, whose average account size is $1.3 million, said several of his clients are usually active in their parties. But this year, they're doing less and some are using the money they earmark for political contributions to pay off mortgages on vacation homes or to invest in alternative assets like gold, he said.

"The attitude is increasingly 'a pox on both their houses,'" Heitman said.

(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel, Additional reporting by Kim Dixon. Editing by Jennifer Merritt, Martin Howell)

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My 2 cents

The lack of the people's interest by the Government isn't something that just started, it has been going on for years, we didn't just get this way, the problem is the people elect the politicians, trust them to take care of America's business then turn a blind eye to what they are doing, in other words, No Accountability for the laws they make and then brake, if you had that kind of freedom with the Country Wealth and didn't have to worry about being punished for robbing the country blind you would do it to. America has stood by and let Dirty Politicians do away with just about every write we have, even our Constitutional Rights are under attack, The right to Bare Arms, Freedom of Speech ect... Where does it end? When do the people of America say that's enough? When do we tell our Government you will be held accountable to the same laws as the rest of American, only then will we start to see Honesty in Government...

6 killed in California salon shooting:

6 killed in California salon shooting;

8 photos - 1 hr 11 mins ago

View Gallery Investigators stand near the site where six people were killed and three were wounded …

SEAL BEACH, California (AP) — A shooting at a hair salon in a normally sedate California beach community Wednesday left six people dead and three wounded, authorities said.

The six deaths were confirmed and three other victims were taken to a hospital in critical condition, police Sgt. Steve Bowles told KCAL-TV.

Police arrested a man in a traffic stop a half-mile (1 kilometer) from the shooting scene and he was taken into custody, Bowles said. He added that multiple weapons were seized.

The motive was not immediately known.

The shooting was reported at 1:21 p.m. (2021 GMT) in a cluster of small businesses on Pacific Coast Highway.

The quiet beachfront city of approximately 25,000 residents identifies itself as the Gateway to Southern California's Orange County and is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

It is home to Leisure World, a gated senior citizen community of 9,000 people, as well as the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station military complex.

Pat Modell, actress and wife of Art Modell, dies:

Pat Modell, actress and wife of Art Modell, dies;


BALTIMORE (AP)—Patricia Modell, the wife of former NFL team owner Art Modell and a longtime television actress, has died. She was 80.

Mrs. Modell was pronounced dead around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, the Baltimore Ravens announced after being contacted by Modell’s son. She had been hospitalized for around five months.

During a 22-year acting career, Patricia Breslin Modell performed on the New York stage, in motion pictures and on television. She starred in the “People’s Choice” television series with actor Jackie Cooper and played the role of Meg Baldwin in the soap opera “General Hospital.” She also played Laura Brooks on the prime time soap opera “Peyton Place.”
Among her many television other roles, she was a regular on “Twilight Zone,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Perry Mason,” and “Maverick.”

At one point in her career, Mrs. Modell had appeared on more television shows than any other woman in U.S. history. Her record was eventually broken by one of her best friends, Lucille Ball.

She married Art Modell, former owner and president of the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, in 1969. She retired from acting at that time and immersed herself in her family and community improvement.

In Cleveland, Mrs. Modell served on the board at Ursuline College and was active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Cleveland Musical Arts Association, the Cleveland Ballet, the Playhouse Square Foundation, and the Cerebral Palsy Association. She actively supported the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and she started and funded, along with her husband, the Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland.

After Art Modell moved his football team to Baltimore in 1996, his wife served on several boards, including: House of Ruth, Gilchrist Hospice, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and The Walters Art Museum. In addition, the Modells contributed money to the St. Vincent’s Center and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The Modells also gave $3.5 million to the Lyric Opera House, which was recently renamed the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric.

The Modells pledged $5 million to help start a public boarding school for disadvantaged students. The SEED School, which opened in the Fall of 2008, recruits middle and high school students from around the state. The gift is believed to have been one of the largest private contributions to a single public school in Maryland.

Born in New York, Patricia Modell was the daughter of Edward and Marjorie Breslin. Her father was a Special Sessions Judge in New York City. Monsignor Patrick Breslin, for whom she was named, was Judge Breslin’s eldest brother.

Mrs. Modell graduated from the Academy of Mt. St. Ursuline and the College of New Rochelle.

She is survived by her husband, two sons, John and David, and six grandchildren.

Underwear bomber pleads guilty:

• 
  Law enforcement officials guard the Federal Courthouse in Detroit where Umar Farouk …
• 
  Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab pictured in this 2009 booking photograph released by the …

A Nigerian man dubbed the "underwear bomber" pleaded guilty Wednesday to trying to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009, saying he had sought to avenge the killing of Muslims.

In a six-minute speech to a shocked courtroom on the second day of his high profile-trial in Detroit, Michigan, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab insisted his actions were righteous and that the true crime was US foreign policy.

"I am guilty of this count in US law but not in the Koran," the 25-year-old Nigerian said as he reversed course in the trial and confessed to trying to kill 289 people on a packed transatlantic flight using explosives hidden in his underwear.

"The United States should be warned that if they continue and persist in promoting the blasphemy of Mohammed and the US continues to kill and support those who kill innocent Muslims then the US should await a great calamity through the hands of the Mujahedeen... or God."

The botched plot, which US officials say was the work of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, failed because the explosives did not fully detonate and instead caused a fireball.

Passengers and crew members were able to restrain Abdulmutallab and put out the fire as the Northwest flight from Amsterdam made an emergency landing in Detroit on December 25, 2009.

The eight terrorism counts he pleaded guilty to cumulatively carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The botched operation triggered global alarm and led the United States to adopt stringent new screening and security measures.

The reputation of the US intelligence services also took a hit because Abdulmutallab's father, a prominent Nigerian banker, had warned the CIA about his son's growing radicalization.

Republicans capitalized on the missteps and the revived fears to paint President Barack Obama as weak on terror, as well as to undermine his plans for shutting down Guantanamo Bay and prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other high-profile "enemy combatants" being held there in US civilian courts.

They are currently pushing legislation that would ensure that any terror suspects who are not US citizens be handed over to the military rather than be prosecuted by civil law enforcement and the courts.

Attorney General Eric Holder hailed the guilty plea for removing "any doubt that our courts are one of the most effective tools we have to fight terrorism and keep the American people safe."

"We will continue to be aggressive in our fight against terrorism and those who target us, and we will let results, not rhetoric, guide our actions," Holder said in a statement.

The head of the FBI's Detroit field office said the case showed that civilian law enforcement is the best way to handle domestic terrorism cases.

There were no military officials among the hundreds of agents and officers who rushed to the airport on that Christmas Eve, he noted.

"We operate under the rules of engagement of the US constitution that we were sworn to uphold," Andrew Arena told reporters.

"We did get actionable intelligence that day and in the days after that."

The abrupt end to the trial means that many questions -- including the degree of involvement of slain Al-Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaqi -- remain unanswered.

Abdulmutallab kept his description of how he carried out the plot to the absolute minimum required to satisfy the judge that he was indeed guilty of all charges. Every admission included an accusation.

Abdulmutallab said he "had an agreement with at least one person" to attack the US in retaliation for US support for Israel and in revenge for the killing of innocent Muslims in Palestine, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and beyond.

"I attempted to use an explosive device, which under US law is called a weapon of mass destruction, which I call a blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims for the US used weapons of mass destruction on innocent Muslims," he told the court. He is to be sentenced on January 12.

His court-appointed standby counsel said he had urged the young man to see the trial through but Abdulmutallab was not interested in trying to avoid spending the rest of his life behind bars.

"He wanted to say something for some time and that was satisfying to him," Anthony Chambers told reporters.

GOP senators vote to defeat Obama's jobs bill:

GOP senators vote to defeat Obama's jobs bill;

prevnext

• President Barack Obama gestures while speaking about jobs, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, …
  
• 
  President Barack Obama arrives to speak at the International Brotherhood of Electrical …

• President Barack Obama speaks at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers …
  
• Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky returns to his office during …

• Article: White House adviser says GOP lacks ideas on jobs
  17 hrs ago
• WASHINGTON (AP) — United against Barack Obama, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday night to kill the jobs package the president had spent weeks campaigning for across the country, a stinging loss at the hands of lawmakers opposed to stimulus-style spending and a tax increase on the very wealthy.
  
  
  The $447 billion plan died on a 50-49 tally that garnered a majority of the 100-member Senate but fell well short of the 60 votes needed to keep the bill alive. The tally had been 51-48, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., switched his vote to "nay" so that he could force a future revote.
  
  
  The demise of Obama's jobs package was expected, despite his campaign-style efforts to swing the public behind it. The White House and leaders in Congress were already moving on to alternative ways to address the nation's painful 9.1 percent unemployment, including breaking the legislation into smaller, more digestible pieces and approving long-stalled trade bills.
  
  
  "Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight," Obama said in a statement after the vote. "Because with so many Americans out of work and so many families struggling, we can't take 'no' for an answer."
  
  
  The White House appears most confident that it will be able to continue a 2-percentage-point Social Security payroll tax cut through 2012 and to extend emergency unemployment benefits to millions of people — if only because, in the White House view, Republicans won't want to accept the political harm of letting those provisions expire.
  
  
  White House officials are also hopeful of ultimately garnering votes for the approval of infrastructure spending and tax credits for businesses that hire unemployed veterans.
  
  
  "Now it's time for both parties to work together and find common ground on removing government barriers to private-sector job growth," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said after the vote.
  
  
  Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana — both up for re-election next year in states where Obama figures to lose — broke with their party on Tuesday night's vote. Every Republican present opposed the plan.
  
  
  Earlier in the day, Obama capped his weekslong campaign for the measure in an appearance typical of the effort — a tough-talking speech in a swing state crucial to his re-election. Like earlier appearances, it seemed aimed more at rallying his core political supporters heading into the election than changing minds on Capitol Hill.
  
  
  "Any senator who votes no should have to look you in the eye and tell you what exactly they're opposed to," Obama said to a union audience in Pittsburgh. "I think they'll have a hard time explaining why they voted no on this bill — other than the fact that I proposed it."
  
  
  Democrats were not wholly united behind the measure. In addition to Nelson and Tester, Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who aligns with Democrats, said they oppose the underlying measure despite voting to choke off the filibuster.
  
  
  Obama's plan would combine Social Security payroll tax cuts for workers and businesses and other tax relief totaling about $270 billion with $175 billion in new spending on roads, school repairs and other infrastructure, as well as unemployment assistance and help to local governments to avoid layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police officers.
  
  
  Obama said that the plan — more than half the size of his 2009 economic stimulus measure — would be an insurance policy against a double-dip recession and that continued economic intervention was essential given slower-than-hoped job growth.
  
  "Right now, our economy needs a jolt," Obama said. "Right now."
  
  
  Unlike the 2009 legislation, the current plan would be paid for with a 5.6 percent surcharge on income exceeding $1 million. That would be expected to raise about $450 billion over the coming decade.
  
  
  "Democrats' sole proposal is to keep doing what hasn't worked — along with a massive tax hike that we know won't create jobs," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday, saying there are 1.5 million fewer jobs than when Obama's 2009 economic package became law. "Why on earth would you support an approach that we already know won't work?" McConnell said.
  
  
  The White House and Democratic leaders, however, were pleased that the great majority of Democrats voted for the plan. Support among Democrats was shored up by replacing Obama's tax increases — particularly a proposal to limit the value of itemized deductions for families making more than $250,000 — with the surcharge on annual income over $1 million.
  
  
  That millionaires proposal would hit about 392,000 households, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank. In 2013, the first year the tax would take effect, those wealthy households would see their taxes increase by an average of $110,500, according to the analysis.
  
  
  Just before the vote on Obama's jobs plan, the Senate passed legislation aimed at punishing China for keeping its currency undervalued against the dollar. Lower-valued currency helps Chinese exports at the expense, bill supporters say, of American jobs.
  
  Next, both the House and Senate will turn Wednesday to approving trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that could create tens of thousands of jobs, one of the few areas of agreement between Republicans and the administration on boosting the economy.
  
  
  In coming weeks and months, Democrats promise further votes on jobs. But it remains to be seen how much of that effort will involve more campaign-stoked battles with Republicans and how much will include seeking common ground in hopes of passing legislation.
  
  
  Leaders of the GOP-controlled House have signaled they support tax cuts for small businesses and changes to jobless insurance to allow states to use unemployment funds for on-the-job training. And they've indicated they'll be willing to accept an extension of cuts to the Social Security payroll tax. But stimulus-style spending is a nonstarter with the tea party-infused chamber.
  
  
  Tuesday's vote played out as disaffected crowds continued to occupy Wall Street, a square in Washington and parts of other cities around the country in protest of income inequality and related issues.
  
  
  Obama advisers said they were working with Senate Democratic leaders on how and when to break out separate aspects of the overall jobs bill for votes.
  
  
  Even before Tuesday's defeat, the White House was casting the Senate vote as but the first act in what one Obama adviser called a long-term play — essentially, an autumn full of action to force Congress to take action on jobs. Senior Obama officials said it was important for the Senate to act to keep pressure on the Republican-led House.
  
  
  Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., was recuperating from surgery and did not vote.
  
  
  ___
  
  
  Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Pittsburgh and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.