National Christmas Tree (2011- Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Ever wonder how the White House decorates for Christmas/Holidays? On December 6, the White House is hosting the annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree. While the tree probably will not have Christmas Tree Ornaments featuring the re-elected Barack Obama’s face, it does have a lot of fancy lighting.

To learn more about the lighting ceremony and to sign up for a chance to attend, visit Recreation.gov. You can also watch the festivities online at http://www.thenationaltree.org/

Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan criticized Barack Obama for not doing enough to help the economy. Photo: CBS News.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney‘s running mate Paul Ryan mocked President Barack Obama‘s decision to publish a 19-page booklet highlighting the policies he will be pursuing if he is elected to serve a second term. The Wisconsin representative was addressing a 1,000-strong crowd in Bristol, Virginia, when he dismissed the president’s program.

“You know President Obama hasn’t really given us a vision for a second term agenda. Just a couple of days ago, he came up with a slick new brochure, you know, with less than two weeks left to say, ‘Oh, I do actually have an agenda,’” Mr. Romney‘s running mate said.

The vice-presidential candidate was referring to the booklet released by the Obama campaign to silence critics who had pointed out that the incumbent president’s planned policies contained very few details.

Mr. Ryan also criticized the Obama administration for not doing enough to help the economy, which he described as stagnating. The Wisconsin congressman did not acknowledge the fall in the unemployment rate last month, which many believe was massaged ahead of the Nov. 6 contest.

“You see, where we are today is our economy is barely limping along. It is slower than it was last year. Last year was slower than the year before. Job growth in September was slower than August and August was slower than July,” Mr. Ryan said, before promising the coal industry that a Romney-Ryan administration would put an end to the “war on coal.”

“We, in Wisconsin, we use coal. It keeps our electricity rates down, it keeps our businesses operating. You produce coal, it keeps good families supporting wages and jobs. And this war on coal is going to end when we elect Mitt Romney the next President of the United States, I can guarantee you that,” Mr. Ryan pledged.

A few days following the first presidential debate, Mr. Romney addressed a crowd of supporters in Abingdon, Virginia, and emphasized the importance of energy independence and the role coal and oil could play in achieving such a goal. In addition, he criticized the Obama administration for placing too much emphasis on renewable energies.

“If I’m President, I’ll double them [the number of permits and licenses] and also get the oil from offshore in Alaska. And I’ll bring that pipeline in from Canada. And by the way, I like coal. I’m going to make sure we can continue to burn clean coal. People in the coal industry feel like it’s getting crushed by your policies. I want to get America and North America energy independent so we can create those jobs,” he also told Mr. Obama during the Oct. 3 debate.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul hopes that the official
unemployment numbers are not fooling anyone.

In a piece published on his website earlier on this week, Texas Congressman Ron Paul comments upon the job numbers published by the Department of Labor on Oct. 5 which showed that the official unemployment rate had fallen below eight percent (8%) for the first time since President Barack Obama took over from George W. Bush.

As Dr. Paul points out, these so-called promising numbers do not – or, more precisely, should not – fool anyone, especially since the job figures turned amazingly positive a few weeks ahead of the presidential election.

The numbers look “nothing like a recovery. 23 million people are still out of work or chronically underemployed,” Dr. Paul remarks, before adding that the number of people without a job and the number of those who want to work full time but are only able to find part-time employment are likely to increase substantially in 2013.

In addition, Dr. Paul reminds the reader that the way the unemployment rate is calculated purposely misrepresents the true economic situation. Indeed, Dr. Paul explains, back in 1994 government statisticians took the decision to create a new type of laborers, known as “discouraged” workers, that is those who have decided to give up looking for work simply because there aren’t any job openings, in order to exclude a large number of individuals from the unemployment statistics.

“Now all the government has to do to improve the unemployment numbers is discourage people from looking for a job,” Dr. Paul remarks. Although the Obama administration, and those preceding it, may have been able to deceive ordinary Americans and some businesses, astute business leaders know that these so-called official figures are far from being a reflection of the truth. Dr. Paul quotes Jim Rogers, a global investor and the co-founder of the Quantum hedge fund, who doesn’t not trust officials one iota and points out that, with an election a few weeks away, there are even more reasons to massage the figures.

“I have learned not to take advice from the government, especially the US government, which frequently misleads its citizens,” Mr. Rogers explains.

Source: Shadow Government Statistics, Oct. 5, 2012.

Because of this widespread distrust, renowned economist Walter J. “John” Williams set up Shadow Government Statistics in order to “show business leaders the real economic picture.” Using more trustworthy calculation methods, Mr. Williams found that the real unemployment figure is, in fact, close to 23 percent.

“This is a difficult figure to accept as the actual truth. Perhaps if the politicians did, the people would finally demand real change and real solutions. Perhaps they would consider that all of the so-called stimulus spending, quantitative easing and mountains of regulation from Washington has only crippled the economy,” Dr. Paul concludes.

President Obama told Diane Sawyer that Mr. Romney was
rewriting his political program as he went along.

Asked by Diane Sawyer whether he had ruined his chance of serving a second term, Mr. Obama was categorical.

“Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It’s not the first time I’ve had a bad night. What’s important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven’t changed. You know, Governor Romney went to a lot of trouble to try to hide what his positions are,” he said.

Mr. Obama then suggested that presidential debates were like sports games, and that, in most cases, a defeat increased a person’s determination.

“If you have a bad game, you just move on. You look forward to the next one. And it makes you that much more determined. The difference between this and sports is that the stakes are so high,” Mr. Obama stated.

Various polls conducted following the Oct. 3 debate have shown that viewers felt Mr. Romney had dominated the 90-minute exchange.

Mr. Obama told Tom Joyner on the Morning Show on Wednesday that he would be far less polite and more aggressive when he faces the former governor again next week on Long Island.

“I think it’s fair to say that we will see a little more activity at the next one,” the president warned.

Ms. Sawyer also asked the president to comment on the former Massachusetts governor’s recent remarks on abortion. In an interview with the Des Moines Register on Tuesday, Mr. Romney told the newspaper that the issue did not figure in his agenda.

“There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda,” he stated.

Mr. Obama said that these comments were another good example of the former governor’s attempts at rewriting his political program as the election draws closer.

“This is another example of Governor Romney hiding positions he’s been campaigning on for a year and a half,” the president told the channel.

The former governor, who has pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who are well known for their opposition to Roe v. Wade – a ruling which granted abortion rights to women in some circumstances – reiterated his position on Wednesday.

“I think I’ve said time and again that I’m a pro-life candidate and I’ll be a pro-life president,” he insisted.

The second presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 16 and will be moderated by CNN’s Candy Crowley.

Source: The Commonwealth Fund, October 2012.

According to the fund, 72 million U.S. citizens would end up with no health insurance coverage by 2022 if the former Massachusetts governor’s care plan came into force. In contrast, President Barack Obama‘s signature law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would reduce the number of uninsured citizens from 47.9 million in 2011 to an estimated 27.1 million in 10 years’ time. This number, the fund emphasizes, assumes that all the states would fully participate in the voluntary Medicaid expansion.

In addition, the study reports that, under Mr. Obama‘s plan, the number of uninsured Americans would drop in every single age group, whereas it would increase under a Romney-Ryan administration. Whereas 10 percent of non-senior citizens would be uninsured under the Affordable Care Act in 2022, around a quarter (26 percent) would have no health coverage under his opponent’s plan. The Commonwealth Fund states that the significant difference between the two health care schemes can be explained by Mr. Romney‘s planned changes to Medicaid.

Other studies, however, suggest that Mr. Romney‘s scheme, which would provide federal funds directly to the states in the form of block grants, would enable citizens to get more health care for each dollar the state receives. In addition, the states would be allowed to run those programs with a lot more flexibility than is currently the case, enabling them as a result to shop around for cheaper alternatives.

Ryan Williams, a spokesperson for the Romney campaign, told Politico that the fund’s latest report was “flawed.”

“Under ObamaCare, Americans have seen their insurance premiums increase, small businesses are facing massive tax increases, and seniors will have reduced access to Medicare services. The American people did not want this law, our country cannot afford this law, and when Mitt Romney becomes president he will repeal it and replace it with common-sense, patient-centered reforms that strengthen our health care system,” he wrote in an email.

Finally, the fund calculated that Medicare would be insolvent by 2017 if Mr. Romney‘s plan was implemented. Under Mr. Obama‘s signature law, the government-administered social insurance program for senior citizens would not go into the red until 2024.

Mitt Romney 2011 tax return shows that his blind trust invested
in the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)
between 2009 and 2011.

The former Massachusetts governor’s blind trust first invested in the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the very same state-owned company which is believed to be negotiating with Tehran for the development of the North Pars Gas Field, in October 2009. North Pars, which was discovered in 1967 in the Persian Gulf, is thought to be one of the biggest gas fields in the country.

Mr. Romney‘s tax reports also reveals that the Republican nominee’s blind trust bought additional shares at a later date before liquidating the entire holding in August 2011. The investment yielded in excess of $10,000 in profit. The Obama campaign accused Mr. Romney of being hypocritical after he accused the president of being too soft on China.

“As he rolls his bus through many Ohio towns that are benefiting from [the president's] actions to protect American workers from unfair Chinese trade practices, Mitt Romney will, as they say, have some explaining to do,” an Obama spokesman said.

Michelle Davis, an aide to the Romney campaign, explained that the former governor had no control over the investments made by his blind trust, although its trustee, R. Bradford Malt, would always make every effort to hold investments which were consistent with Mr. Romney‘s political views.

“The trustee of the blind trust has said publicly that he will endeavor to make the investments in the blind trust conform to Governor Romney’s positions, and whenever it comes to his attention that there is something inconsistent, he ends the investment,” she stated.

CNOOC Limited is attempting to take over Canadian resource firm Nexen, an oil company based in Calgary. The takeover of the Canadian firm, which has significant assets in the Gulf of Mexico, would enable China to operate in North America without having to worry about getting the go ahead from Washington.

“Gaining an operating role in the United States via the acquisition of a Canadian company is a smart approach,” Erica Downs of the Brookings Institution pointed out. “If CNOOC was attempting to buy an American energy company for $15 billion, I would be much less optimistic about the transaction getting a green light,” she explained.

President Barack Obama spoke about Mitt Romney's controversial remarks with CNN's David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater
in New York on Sept. 18, 2012. Photo: Getty.

Mr. Obama pointed out that, although he did not exactly know what Mr. Romney was alluding to during his May speech, a president had a duty to look after all Americans.

“One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country. If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone,” Mr. Obama told The Late Show on Tuesday. He also referred to the 2008 presidential election and pointed out that he had not excluded any Americans during his first term in the White House.

“When I won in 2008, 47 percent of the American people voted for [Arizona Sen.] John McCain. They didn’t vote for me and what I said on election night was: ‘Even though you didn’t vote for me, I hear your voices. And I’m going to work as hard as I can to be your president,” Mr. Obama stated at the time.

The program’s host did remind the president that, back in 2008, he himself caused some controversy when he told donors that some Americans would “cling to their guns and religion.” Mr. Obama admitted that he had made a gaffe but stressed that he had immediately apologized, unlike Mr. Romney who has stood by his comments and simply acknowledged that he had not been particularly sensitive when he expressed his point of view.

“It [was] not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I was speaking off the cuff in response to a question,” he said during a hastily arranged news conference on Monday night.

Mr. Obama also said that he believed Americans needed to help one another irrespective of their background and wealth.

“We’ve got some obligations to each other, and there’s nothing wrong with us giving each other a helping hand so that that single mom’s kid, even after all the work she’s done, can afford to go to college,” the president told Mr. Letterman.

The Republicans seem equally divided over their presidential nominee’s remarks.

President Barack Obama outraised Mitt Romney for
the first time in four months in August.

President Barack Obama outraised Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for the first time in four months in August, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Monday.

Mr. Obama‘s campaign in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee and other Democratic groups collected in excess of $114 million in August, which represents a 50 percent increase from the previous month. In July, the Democrats had only managed to raise $75 million.

“The key to fighting back against the special interests writing limitless checks to support Mitt Romney is growing our donor base, and we did that substantially in the month of August. That is a critical down payment on the organization we are building across the country – the largest grassroots campaign in history,” Jim Messina, Mr. Obama‘s spokesman, stressed.

The filings also show that over 1.1 million people made a financial contribution to the president’s campaign in August, 317,000 of whom were first-time donors. This means that, to date, the total number of donors has exceeded the three-million mark. Most of the contributors (98 percent) gave $250 or less, while the average donation stood at $58.

The former Massachusetts governor, in conjunction with the Republican National Committee and state Republican parties, raised slightly less than his Democratic opponent, although last month’s $111.6 million haul marked the fourth successive month in which the Romney campaign had raised a three-figure total. Again, the vast majority (94 percent) of the donations were for $250 or less.

Commenting on these latest figures, National Finance Chair Spencer Zwick and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus explained that voters understood that the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate were the only candidates who had the vision to take America forward.

“Mitt Romney and [Republican vice-presidential nominee] Paul Ryan are offering bold solutions to our country’s problems. That is why we are seeing such tremendous support from donors across the country,” they said in a statement.

The Romney campaign also confirmed that it had $168.5 million cash on hand at the end of August, which means that it spent just under $130 million last month.

“What we very deliberately did, we held our powder and we knew these [last Friday's] jobs numbers were going to be a big moment. And we loaded up to come back on Friday, and we’ve gone up in a big way,” one of the former Massachusetts governor’s advisers explained.

Last week, the Department of Labor revealed that the economy had created a mere 96,000 new jobs in August, far fewer than the 123,000 analysts had expected.

Source: Rasmussen Reports, Sept. 2, 2012.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national poll published on Sunday shows that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has overtaken his Democratic opponent, as he benefits from the usual convention ‘bounce.’ The GOP, which held its national convention last week, saw Mr. Romney‘s wife, Ann, give a speech about the ‘real Mitt.’Last Thursday, the former Massachusetts governor accepted his party’s nomination.

According to Rasmussen, Mr. Romney currently garners the support of 48 percent of voters, while Mr. Obama is now the favorite of 44 percent of the electorate. Earlier on last week, the incumbent president was leading his Republican opponent by two percentage points. Five percent (5%) of those questioned remain undecided, while another three percent (3%) told the pollsters they preferred another candidate.

The survey also reveals that 51 percent of voters “at least somewhat” disapprove of Mr. Obama‘s performance, with 42 percent expressing strong disapproval. Forty-eight percent (48%) said they “at least somewhat” approved of the way he was handling his job, while 27 percent said they strongly approved.

In addition, 48 percent believe Mr. Romney is more likely to deal with the U.S. economy adequately, whereas 44% still trust Mr. Obama to do so.

Commenting upon the GOP convention and the forthcoming Democratic National Convention, Scott Rasmussen pointed out that, nowadays, the conventions provided “a stark reminder of how out of touch our political system [had] become.”

“A half-century ago, conventions mattered because they actually selected presidential candidates. Today, they only serve to remind us that what interests – and entertains – the political class has little to do with what America needs,” he added.

Rasmussen conducted this latest survey between Thursday, August 30, the day the GOP convention ended, and Saturday, September 1. A total of 1,500 likely voters were interviewed over three separate nights.

President Obama insists that the changes he proposed for Medicare would not penalize senior citizens.

Just over a week ago, the Romney campaign started running an ad accusing Mr. Obama of diverting around three quarters of a trillion dollars from Medicare in order to fund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and telling Americans that all the cash they had paid towards their guaranteed healthcare would be going into a massive new government program that was not meant for them.

“Over the last few weeks, there’s been a lot of talk about Medicare, with a lot of accusations and misinformation flying around. So, today, I want to step back for a minute and share with you some actual facts and news about the program,” Mr. Obama told his audience.

The president also reiterated that his plans for Medicare would not threaten the entitlements senior citizens are currently benefiting from. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) itself said in July that the $716 billion of ‘cuts’ would not affect any of the benefits currently available. Indeed, the CBO pointed out, the $716 billion of savings were directly linked to lower payments made to hospitals as well as lower prices paid to prescription drug suppliers.

“I’ve proposed reforms that will save Medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the health care system and reining in insurance companies, reforms that won’t touch your guaranteed Medicare benefits. Not by a single dime,” Mr. Obama insisted.

The president then turned to the reforms put forward by Mr. Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, which would do away with Medicare as Americans know it and replace it with a voucher system.

“That means that, instead of being guaranteed Medicare, seniors would get a voucher to buy insurance, but it wouldn’t keep up with costs. As a result, one plan would force seniors to pay an extra $6,400 a year for the same benefits they get now. And it would effectively end Medicare as we know it,” Mr. Obama warned.

The president also promised to continue to look at ways to make Medicare even better, while insisting that any changes would not be detrimental to anyone.

“I’m willing to work with anyone to keep improving the current system, but I refuse to do anything that undermines the basic idea of Medicare as a guarantee for seniors who get sick,” Mr. Obama pledged.

Meanwhile, polls continue to show that over 50 percent of Americans are in favor of repealing ObamaCare, the president’s signature law.