Society Noir

Obama Beats Romney Wins US Presidential Re-Election: Video & Full Transcript of Victory Speech

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:54:00 +0000

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden
Courtesy: Chris Carlson / AP Photo

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/07/3085514/text-of-barack-obamas-speech-after.html#storylink=cpy

Democratic US President Barack Obama handily beat Republican candidate Williard "Mitt" Romney in the contentious 2012 presidential election. Based on current logistics, President Obama received 52% vs Romney's 48% of the popular vote and Obama won 303 electoral college votes vs Romney's 206. Only 270 electoral college votes are needed to declare victory.

Florida's final results are not confirmed yet, but so far has Obama in the lead. Even if Obama was to lose Florida, it won't effect his victory, due to his successful, mass collection of electoral college votes.

President Obama accepted his re-election and delivered his victory speech in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Read the full transcript of President Barack Obama's victory speech or courtesy of website Mediaite, Watch Obama's 2012 Presidential victory speech :

President Obama's 2012 Victory Speech transcribed by Roll Call:

Thank you so much.

Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward.

It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.

Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.

I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time. By the way, we have to fix that. Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.

I just spoke with Gov. Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign. We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Gov. Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.

I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America's happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, Joe Biden.

And I wouldn't be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago. Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation's first lady. Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes you're growing up to become two strong, smart beautiful young women, just like your mom. And I'm so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now one dog's probably enough.

To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics. The best. The best ever. Some of you were new this time around, and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. But all of you are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have the lifelong appreciation of a grateful president. Thank you for believing all the way, through every hill, through every valley. You lifted me up the whole way and I will always be grateful for everything that you've done and all the incredible work that you put in.

I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you'll discover something else.

You'll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who's working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity. You'll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who's going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift. You'll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse who's working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home.

That's why we do this. That's what politics can be. That's why elections matter. It's not small, it's big. It's important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.

That won't change after tonight, and it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.

But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America's future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. A country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.

We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. We want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this - this world has ever known. But also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war, to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being.

We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. To the furniture worker's child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president - that's the future we hope for. That's the vision we share. That's where we need to go - forward. That's where we need to go.

Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. It's not always a straight line. It's not always a smooth path. By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won't end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must begin.

Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over. And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you, and you've made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.

Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do.

But that doesn't mean your work is done. The role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote. America's never been about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That's the principle we were founded on.

This country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that's not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. The belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That's what makes America great.

I am hopeful tonight because I've seen the spirit at work in America. I've seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job. I've seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back.

I've seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm. And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care.

I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd listening to that father's story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes, because we knew that little girl could be our own. And I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright. That's who we are. That's the country I'm so proud to lead as your president.

And tonight, despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I've never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.

I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.

America, I believe we can build on the progress we've made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn't matter whether you're black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you're willing to try.

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.

And together with your help and God's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.

Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States.

Sudan Blames Israel For Khartoum Bombing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:24:00 +0000

The Sudanese government is accusing Israeli jets of bombing a weapons factory located in Khartoum that killed two people. The Israeli government hasn't confirmed or denied their involvement, but ironically they soon thereafter declared Sudan to be a terrorist state.

Sudanese government is threatening retaliation and has asked the UN to intervene and condemn Israel.

Rwandan Opposition Leader Victoire Ingabire, Sentenced to 8 years in Jail

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:02:00 +0000

Photo:AFP

Victoire Ingabire, a Hutu Rwandan who fled to the Netherlands during the Rwandan Genocide, was jailed shortly after returning from exile in April 2010 and barred from a presidential election. Ingabire was found guilty of two of her six charges: treason for conspiring war against the country by sending money to Hutu extremists, as well as Rwandan genocide belittling. She was sentenced to eight years in jail, but may only serve six years due to time served. Prosecution initially asked for a life sentence.

Her lawyers contest that no true evidence was ever presented to justify charges against Ingabire.

Terrorism charges were dropped against Ingabire during the two-year trial and her genocide denial charges are a result of her questioning why Rwanda's official memorial to the 1994 genocide does not include any moderate Hutus, who were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.

Ms. Ingabire thinks the true reason for her arrest is that she dared to run in the presidential election as a candidate for the United Democratic Forces party, challenging the sitting president Paul Kagame. Mr. Kagame is the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, whose military victory ended the genocide in Rwanda. He has been the president of Rwanda since 1994. His final presidential term ends in 2017.

Ingabire doesn't consider the current Rwandan government under Kagame to be a democracy, but more-so authoritarian. Kagame has received mixed reviews from observers. Some praising him for his role in Rwanda's recovery after the genocide, but others feel he's sending a grim message to other Rwandan political parties that they could become political prisoners too.

Phil Clark, a lecturer at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, is quoted in the New York Times saying “I think this verdict will certainly cause concerns that if they contest they may find very serious charges brought against them as well,” he said. “It sends a warning to other parties who may want to run in future elections.”

Ms. Ingabire has 30 days to appeal against the verdict.

The Shameless Gentrification of Legendary Nina Simone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:35:00 +0000

Watch Nina Simone Perform "Four Women"

Apparently, amateur director Cynthia Mort, a Latin American doesn't think that an African American woman is good enough to play African American musician/activist Nina Simone, nor does Ms. Mort think it's necessary to conduct due diligence and depict a factual account of Nina Simone's life.

So what does Cynthia Mort do? She hires a fellow Latina, Zoe Saldana, a talented actress who is considered to be an Afro-latina but looks nothing like Ms. Simone and isn't African American. So, Ms. Mort attempts to darken Zoe's skin, adding a fake wide nose and an insulting afro wig that looks more like a giant Brillo pad; she falsely depicts Ms. Simone's homosexual personal assistant, Clifton Henderson as being her heterosexual lover; she doesn't consult with Ms. Simone's family at all and most importantly she disrespects and ignores Ms. Simone's philosophy and activism for Black Pride and the Civil Rights Movement.

Cynthia Mort chalks it up to her so-called "artistic license." Well, the African American community may chalk it up to a boycott of this inaccurate Nina Simone biopic.

Zoe Saldana

Aaron Overfield the content director for Nina Simone's website penned "An Open Letter To Anyone Who Cares About Nina Simone" addressing the issues with Zoe Saldana and Cynthia Mort's false depiction of Ms. Simone.

Here it is:

I’m writing this letter to anyone who cares about Nina Simone: her legacy, her artistry, her spirit, her genius, her music, her activism, everything. If you care at all about Nina Simone — even if you’ve only heard a few of her songs — then this letter is for you. If you’re here reading this, it’s for you.

I won’t waste time writing to Cynthia Mort or Zoe Saldana and releasing the words out into the public sphere for the chance they might cross paths, because even if that were the case the words would mean nothing to them. What they are creating proves those words would mean nothing, so why waste my breath (or finger taps)? They will not listen.

The issues surrounding this unauthorized film depicting Nina Simone, which we might as well call a biopic since they are naming the thing Nina, are complex, multilayered, and multifaceted. The discussions of the issues are as complex as they are controversial; however, they are important conversations to have and keep having. The most frustrating people are the ones who imply everyone should just shut up and “wait and see” or “leave them alone.” That kind of attitude and oppression is not in the spirit of Nina Simone whatsoever. Quite the opposite. Nina was vocal, defiant, a warrior, an activist. She would not have simply shut up and sat down. She would’ve shown up at the studio with a shotgun to speak with Ms. Mort and slapped the makeup off Zoe. So let’s get that straight first. We’re going to talk about this and those of us with strong, impassioned opinions are going to express them.

We will not be silent simply because it annoys those who aren’t in agreement.

Zoe’s complexion (the level of her “blackness”) has taken the forefront in the discussion. Her complexion as well as her phenotype/features. We’re going to have to address this since obviously it is dominating the outcry against this project, understandably so. However, I believe this issue is a byproduct of the much, much larger issue: the total gentrification of Nina Simone. This occurred at the inception of this film so it’s no wonder the script and casting have come to symbolize the total fictionalization of Nina as a person and as an artist.

The script, written by Latin American writer and first time director Cynthia Mort, is based in a series of lies. That is our starting point. Cynthia calls this her “artistic license.” Under that umbrella what Cynthia is implying is that she can pretty much do whatever the hell she wants and she doesn’t have to listen to anyone. Cynthia has focused her story on Nina’s relationship with her personal assistant, Clifton Henderson, himself a controversial person in Nina’s life. Well before Nina’s death, before talks about a movie, there were issues expressed about Clifton’s intentions regarding Nina and his efforts to seemingly keep her isolated. He was around Nina for the last few years of her life. He can be seen with her in a filming of Nina’s concert in Brazil in 2000, during shots of Nina being interviewed in a boat (http://vimeo.com/ninasimone/livebrazil).

After Nina’s death, Clifton sold his story to Cynthia and that became the basis for the movie. So, a (controversial) personal assistant’s relationship with Nina Simone for the very last few years of her life somehow became the focal point of the first ever Nina Simone movie. Moreover, that controversial relationship became fictionalized by Cynthia Mort by her writing the relationship as a romantic one (putting Nina in the role as sexual aggressor and as emotionally needy).

As has been stated before but is worth repeating: Clifton Henderson was a gay man. He was an out gay man. I met him at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem during Nina’s memorial service. He was neither a heterosexual male nor a man that Nina Simone had any kind of romantic relationship with. This might be a forgivable “fiction” for Cynthia to slip in if not for how many other fictions and whitewashings are built around this tale. Would Cynthia Mort be pleased with someone rewriting her own history to the point where her sexuality becomes a trivialized inconvenience? It is also the first instance of Cynthia’s script exploiting a marginalized identity by essentially putting “straightface” on an out gay man. This is rather curious since Mort herself is a lesbian and you’d wonder how she’d feel being rewritten as a heterosexual woman under the guise of someone else’s “artistic license.” Would Cynthia Mort be pleased with someone rewriting her own history to the point where her sexuality becomes a trivialized inconvenience? I guess someone would have to ask her that. I won’t bother.

The story of the movie is said to use this lie of a relationship as a focal point whereby they flash back to other moments in Nina’s life including other relationships and some of Nina’s music career. We don’t know much else than that. We know (or assume) there will be some mention of Nina’s civil activism, and her “rise and fall.” Tight-lipped as any filmmaker is, there’s not much else we can know.

However, based on all the clues available we can know this with certainty: the first film about Nina Simone is leaving out anything about Nina Simone that made her oh so very Nina Simone.

How, other than the fictionalized relationship being used as a focal and reference point for the script, can we know this?

One – Cynthia Mort has taken it upon herself to lay claim to the story of Nina Simone without consulting with Nina’s own family. They have not been involved in the process whatsoever. No research, no fact-checking, no basic decency of respect by simply including the family. Keep in mind: we’re talking about someone’s mother. How would any of you feel if a movie were being made about your mother and you weren’t consulted in any way so that the movie had legitimacy, authority, or integrity. Beyond simple respect for the family’s feelings, how can Cynthia Mort write a correct script that includes Nina Simone if she has not consulted with anyone involved with Nina’s legacy? For the most part, she can’t. (And from a personal standpoint I can say that Nina’s daughter Simone is very brutally honest, insightful, and objective about her mother. She does not glorify her but does want her mother recognized for her accomplishments.)

Two – Cynthia Mort is not a black woman. That is a very crucial point here. I am a white man. I know that as a white man I do not have the authority to speak of the black experience because it is not my experience. I cannot and will not “speak” for black people or assume to know the intricacies of racism, as experienced by black people. The privilege and arrogance it takes to do so is disturbing and downright disgusting.

How Cynthia Mort, (who some call a white woman, though I argue she’s Latin American) justifies this to herself boggles my mind. While she may consider herself a fan or admirer of Nina Simone, how does she make the leap to giving herself the authority to decide the version of Nina’s life that is worthy of telling (or fictionalizing) and the gall to decide who should portray Nina on film? The reason I can’t fathom what Cynthia Mort could possibly be thinking is because the arrogance on her behalf is appalling and I know for a fact I would not take such liberties. I would not completely disregard the feelings of a population whose experience I do not share and therefore cannot speak to with authority.
In other words, we know that Nina Simone is being left out of this project because it’s being fictionalized by someone with good intentions who might think she identifies with the subject, but who cannot align herself with the experience because she didn’t and doesn’t live the experience. For her to not acknowledge this fact is proof that she does not and literally cannot understand the criticism and outcry coming from so many people regarding this farce of a film. She has laid claim to the story of Nina Simone’s identity while disregarding the very people Nina spent her lifetime trying to reach, speak to, and impassion.

Cynthia Mort has laid claim to Nina Simone’s identity under the guise of “artistic license” so that she can rebuild Nina in a way that will tell the story Cynthia Mort wants to tell rather than simply telling the story of Nina Simone. Considering what is involved and what is at stake, that is the very definition of gentrification.

People need to wake up: Nina Simone has been gentrified.

Which brings us to…
Three – If the script and filmmaker and anyone behind the film were interested in telling the story of NINA SIMONE, this entire thing would’ve been different from the beginning and we wouldn’t be forced to look at what we’re now being forced to look at. There wouldn’t be such an outcry and there wouldn’t be so much disgust, anger, pain, and heartbreak.

Make no mistake about it, hearts are actually breaking over this. Nina Simone is a damn religious figure to many, a cultural icon to others. She cannot (and should not) be trivialized, marginalized, or repurposed into a Hollywood commodity.

And because this is what has happened, we have come to the casting of Zoe Saldana.
Discussions over Zoe being or not being “black enough” are the most heated and the most prevalent. While I understand this, I think it deals only with the symptom of what is going on rather than the underlying gentrification of Nina’s identity itself. I would argue that if the script accurately reflected Nina Simone – the true, very real, very raw Nina – it would’ve taken a different direction entirely and we would not be forced to look at Zoe Saldana in black(er)face and prosthetics. If they were telling the true story of Nina Simone, Zoe would not have ended up in this role.

Imagine if you will, telling the story of Nina Simone as a dark-skinned little girl with what are considered African features and phenotype (her hair, her nose, her lips, etc). Imagine that is the focus of the story we are going to tell in this film. It’s not hard to imagine it since that IS the story of NINA SIMONE. Anyone who knows anything about Nina Simone knows that the manifestation of her race, her features, her sex, and her personality clashed with societal norms in such a way that she struggled against them her entire life and it shaped her career and her spirit. It’s not hard for us to imagine telling her story using that struggle as the reference point because that was Nina Simone. Given that focus, given the focus on Nina’s fire of a spirit in fighting for beautiful dark skinned and wide nosed black women, how in the world could they have cast Zoe Saldana, only then to darken her and widen her nose?

Can you imagine Zoe all made up like she’s been, playing up on the big screen acting out and singing about Nina’s struggles against racism, colorism, her appearance, and being exploited and marginalized because of those things? Can you imagine how much of a parody that would turn into, as the audience sits back and, knowing what Zoe actually looks like, becomes so confused by what efforts have been taken to make Zoe look like Nina that they are distracted from the actual story? Would it even make any sense? Wouldn’t they wonder why Zoe ever got the role in the first place since that contradicts the entire nature of the movie – the entire nature of Nina’s life – and wouldn’t they sense the hypocrisy? Would it make ANY sense?

No, it wouldn’t. And if that were the story they were telling (again, the actual story of Nina Simone), Zoe Saldana would’ve never been cast in the first place for that very reason. How do we know this? Because to recognize the real Nina Simone and tell her true story means that you are cognizant of what Nina fought her entire life and what embittered her. You would be aware of how she was exploited, marginalized, disregarded, ignored, disrespected … so you wouldn’t continue to do so through the very process of making a film about her. That is, you wouldn’t employ the very same foundations of racism, colorism, exploitation, and disrespect in order to write and cast your movie.

Some keep implying that anyone against Zoe portraying Nina Simone for not being “black” enough are actually being “racist” themselves. (Zoe even agreed with someone who called it “reverse racism.”) No. No no no. NO! That is like someone who is homophobic saying that people are being intolerant by not accepting homophobia. Plus, it entirely misses the point.

The very casting of Zoe itself was based in the still present subtleties of racism, colorism, and beauty standards.

The very casting of Zoe itself was based in the still present subtleties of racism, colorism, and beauty standards. The fact that Zoe ended up being approached for the role (which might make sense considering Cynthia Mort is Latin American), is indicative of the same system that Nina fought her entire life. It shows the entire movie has been misguided from the beginning and Cynthia Mort’s “artistic license” is no more than a spit in the face of Nina’s legacy.

I would also argue this…
People who say that Zoe’s complexion and features shouldn’t matter are ignoring the fact that they are going to such lengths to darken her skin and change her features, thereby proving those things DO matter. Since Zoe was approached for this film, it has to make you wonder why she was ever approached in the first place. Given the history of Nina Simone: her pride in being a dark skinned woman with her features while lamenting treatment based on skin tone (give Four Women a listen), plus her desire to inspire younger women with similar features – why was Zoe ever approached in the first place?
They’re not actually making a movie about the real Nina Simone

Oh, that’s right, because of Cynthia Mort’s “artistic license” … and the fact that they’re not actually making a movie about the real Nina Simone and what made Nina Simone oh so very Nina Simone.

We’re not going to stop this movie from happening. And people will continue to claim there’s nothing wrong with it or we should wait and see or we should just stop all the complaining.

Nina recognized injustice, and Nina never shut up.
So should we, and neither should we.

-Aaron Overfield
website content manager for ninasimone.com

Cynthia Mort's upcoming biopic on Nina Simone is the EPITOME of an oxymoron. For shame, for shame....

Serena Williams Wins the WTA Championship

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:24:00 +0000

On Sunday, Serena Williams beat opponent Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3, winning the Istanbul hosted WTA Championship for the third time and ending the season with a 59-4 record.

After surviving a serious injury and near-fatal healthcare, Williams has had an outstanding award-winning year earning seven titles and taking the victor's role in Wimbledon, the Olympic gold medal and U.S. Open, to name a few.

Ms. Williams told the Associated Press "I had such a good year, it was important to end on a good note. It was good for my sanity to win," Williams said. "I really wanted it although I didn't need it. "

Mellody Hobson Appointed as Chairman of DreamWorks Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:01:00 +0000

Mellody Hobson & George Lucas

Financial guru, Mellody Hobson, is replacing Roger Enrico as Chairman of DreamWorks Animation. Hobson, 43, has been highlighted several times on Society Noir for her illustrious achievements. The Princeton graduate is president of Ariel Investments a Chicago-based African-American owned firm which manages more than $3 billion in assets, and chairwoman of Ariel Mutual Funds. The beautiful MidWestern brainiac is also a financial contributor on the popular television show Good Morning America. In addition, she’s also a director of Estee Lauder, Starbucks, and Groupon, and sits on the boards of the Sundance Institute, Chicago’s Field Museum, and the Chicago Public Education Fund.

Hobson, whose been romantically linked to world-renowned filmmaker George Lucas since 2006, brings an interesting dynamic to DreamWorks Animation. Bucking the status quo in the male, non-black dominated world of Hollywood it will be more than interesting to see the influence Ms. Hobson will yield.

To say the least, Ms. Hobson's appointment as Chairman to DreamWorks Animation is certainly a welcomed departure.

Read our past coverage of Mellody Hobson here and here.

Full Video and Transcript of US Presidential Debate 10/16/12

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:19:00 +0000

Transcript of President Obama and Mitt Romney’s remarks at the second presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y. on Oct. 16, 2012. Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service.

CANDY CROWLEY: Good evening from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. I’m Candy Crowley from CNN’s State of the Union. We are here for the second presidential debate, a town hall sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The Gallup Organization chose 82 uncommitted voters from the New York area. Their questions will drive the night. My goal is to give the conversation direction and to ensure questions get answered.

The questions are known to me and my team only. Neither the commission nor the candidates have seen them. I hope to get to as many questions as possible. And because I am the optimistic sort, I’m sure the candidates will oblige by keeping their answers concise and on point. Each candidate has as much as two minutes to respond to a common question, and there will be a two-minute follow-up.

The audience here in the hall has agreed to be polite and attentive; no cheering or booing or outbursts of any sort. We will set aside that agreement just this once to welcome President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. (Cheers, sustained applause.)

Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us here tonight. We have a lot of folks who’ve been waiting all day to talk to you, so I want to get right to it. Governor Romney, as you know, you won the coin toss, so the first question will go to you. And I want to turn to a first- time voter, Jeremy Epstein, who has a question for you.

Q: Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment. Can — what can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?

MITT ROMNEY: Thank you, Jeremy. I appreciate your — your question, and — and thank you for being here this evening. And to all of those from Nassau County here that have come, thank you for your time. Thank you to Hofstra University and to Candy Crowley for organizing and leading this — this event. Thank you, Mr. President, also for being part of this — this debate.

Yours question — your question is one that’s being asked by college kids all over this country.

I was in Pennsylvania with someone who’d just graduated. This was in Philadelphia, and she said, I — I — I got my degree. I can’t find a job. I’ve got three part-time jobs. They’re just barely enough to pay for my food and pay for an apartment. I can’t begin to pay back my student loans.

So what we have to do is two things: we have to make sure that we make it easier for kids to afford college and also make sure that when they get out of college, there’s a job. When I was governor of Massachusetts, to get a high school degree, you had to pass an exam. If you graduated in the top quarter of your class, we gave you a John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, four years tuition-free to the college of your choice in Massachusetts. It’s a public institution. I want to make sure we keep our Pell — Pell Grant program growing. We’re also going to have our loan program so that people are able to afford school.

But the key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of school. And what’s happened over the last four years has been very, very hard for America’s young people. I want you to be able to get a job. I know what it takes to get this economy going. With half of college kids graduating this year without a college — or excuse me, without a job and without a college-level job, that’s just unacceptable. And likewise, you got more and more debt on your back. So more debt and less jobs.

I’m going to change that. I know what it takes to create good jobs again. I know what it takes to make sure that you have the kind of opportunity you deserve. And kids across this country are going to recognize we’re bringing back an economy. It’s not going to be like the last four years. The middle class has been crushed over the last four years, and jobs have been too scarce. I know what it takes to bring them back, and I’m going to do that and make sure when you graduate — when do you graduate?

Q: (Off mic.)

MR. ROMNEY: 2014. When you come out in 2014 — I presume I’m going to be president — I’m going to make sure you get a job. (Chuckles.) Thanks, Jeremy. Yeah, you bet.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Jeremy, first of all, your future is bright, and the fact that you’re making investment in higher education is critical, not just to you but to the entire nation.

Now, the most important thing we can do is to make sure that we are creating jobs in this country, but not just jobs, good-paying jobs, ones that can support a family. And what I want to do is build on the 5 million jobs that we’ve created over the last 30 months in the private sector alone. And there are a bunch of things that we can do to make sure your future is bright.

Number one, I want to build manufacturing jobs in this country again. You know, when Governor Romney said we should let Detroit go bankrupt, I said, we’re going to bet on American workers and the American auto industry, and it’s come surging back. I want to do that in industries, not just in Detroit but all across the country. And that means we change our tax code so we’re giving incentives to companies that are investing here in the United States and creating jobs here. It also means we’re helping them and small businesses to export all around the world in new markets.

Number two, we’ve got to make sure that we have the best education system in the world. And the fact that you’re going to college is great, but I want everybody to get a great education. And we worked hard to make sure that student loans are available for folks like you, but I also want to make sure that community colleges are offering slots for workers to get retrained for the jobs that are out there right now and the jobs of the future.

Number three, we’ve got to control our own energy, you know, not only oil and natural gas, which we’ve been investing in, but also we’ve got to make sure we’re building the energy sources of the future, not just thinking about next year, but 10 years from now, 20 years from now. That’s why we’ve invested in solar and wind and biofuels, energy-efficient cars.

We’ve got to reduce our deficit, but we’ve got to do it in a balanced way — asking the wealthy to pay a little bit more, along with cuts, so that we can invest in education like yours. And let’s take the money that we’ve been spending on war over the last decade to rebuild America — roads, bridges, schools. If we do those things, not only is your future going to be bright, but America’s future’s going to be bright as well.

MS. CROWLEY: Let me ask you for a more immediate answer, beginning with Mr. Romley (sic).

Just quickly, what can you do — we’re looking at a situation where 40 percent of the unemployed have been unemployed for six months or more. They don’t have the two years that Jeremy has. What about those long- term unemployed who need a job right now?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, what you’re seeing in this country is 23 million people struggling to find a job, and a lot of them, as you say, Candy, have been out of work for a long, long, long, long time.

The president’s policies have been exercised over the last four years, and they haven’t put Americans back to work. We have fewer people working today than we had when the president took office. If the — the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent when he took office. It’s 7.8 percent now. But if you calculated that unemployment rate taking back the people who dropped out of the workforce, it would be 10.7 percent. We have not made the progress we need to make to put people back to work.

That’s why I put out a five-point plan that gets America 12 million new jobs in four years and rising take-home pay. It’s going to help Jeremy get a job when he comes a out of school. It’s going to help people across the country that are unemployed right now.

And one thing that the — the president said which I want to make sure that we understand — he — he said that I said we should take Detroit bankrupt, and — and that’s right. My plan was to have the company go through bankruptcy like 7-Eleven did and Macy’s and — and — and Continental Airlines and come out stronger. And — and I know he keeps saying, you wanted to take Detroit bankrupt. Well, the president took Detroit bankrupt. You took General Motors bankrupt. You took Chrysler bankrupt. So when you say that I wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt, you actually did. And — and I think it’s important to know that that was a process that was necessary to get those companies back on their feet, so they could start hiring more people. That was precisely what I recommend and ultimately what happened.

MS. CROWLEY: Let me — let me give the president a chance. Go ahead.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, what Governor Romney said just isn’t true. He wanted to take them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open, and we would have lost a million jobs.

And that — don’t take my word for it; take the executives at GM and Chrysler, some of whom are Republicans, may even support Governor Romney. But they’ll tell you his prescription wasn’t going to work.

And Governor Romney says he’s got a five-point plan. Governor Romney doesn’t have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan. And that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules. That’s been his philosophy in the private sector; that’s been his philosophy as governor; that’s been his philosophy as a presidential candidate. You can make a lot of money and pay lower tax rates than somebody who makes a lot less. You can ship jobs overseas and get tax breaks for it. You can invest in a company, bankrupt it, lay off the workers, strip away their pensions, and you still make money.

That’s exactly the philosophy that we’ve seen in place for the last decade. That’s what’s been squeezing middle-class families. And we have fought back for four years to get out of that mess, and the last thing we need to do is to go back to the very same policies that got us there.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, the next question is going to be for you here.

And Mr. Romney — Governor Romney, there’ll be plenty of chances to go on, but I want to — we have all these folks —

MR. ROMNEY: That — that Detroit — that Detroit answer — that Detroit answer and the rest of the answer — way off the mark.

MS. CROWLEY: I — OK. We’ll — you certainly will have lots of time here coming up. I — because I want to move you on to something that — sort of connected to cars here, and go over — and we want to get a question from Philip Tricolla.

Q: Your energy secretary, Steven Chu, has now been on record three times stating it’s not policy of his department to help lower gas prices. Do you agree with Secretary Chu that this is not the job of the Energy Department?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: The most important thing we can do is to make sure we control our own energy.

So here’s what I’ve done since I’ve been president. We have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years. Natural gas production is the highest it’s been in decades. We have seen increases in coal production and coal employment.

But what I’ve also said is we can’t just produce traditional sources of energy; we’ve also got to look to the future. That’s why we doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars. That means that in the middle of the next decade, any car you buy, you’re going to end up going twice as far on a gallon of gas. That’s why we’ve doubled clean energy production like wind and solar and biofuels. And all these things have contributed to us lowering our oil imports to the lowest levels in 16 years.

Now, I want to build on that. And that means, yes, we still continue to open up new areas for drilling. We continue to make a — it a priority for us to go after natural gas. We’ve got potentially 600,000 jobs and a hundred years’ worth of energy right beneath our feet with natural gas. And we can do it in an environmentally sound way. But we’ve also got to continue to figure out how we have efficient energy, because ultimately that’s how we’re going to reduce demand, and that’s what’s going to keep gas prices lower.

Now, Governor Romney will say he’s got an all-of-the-above plan, but basically his plan is to let the oil companies write the energy policies. So he’s got the oil and gas part, but he doesn’t have the clean energy part. And if we are only thinking about tomorrow or the next day and not thinking about 10 years from now, we’re not going to control our own economic future, because China, Germany — they’re making these investments. And I’m not going to cede those jobs of the future to those countries. I expect those new energy sources to be built right here in the United States.

So that’s going to help Jeremy get a job, it’s also going to make sure that you’re not paying as much for gas.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, on the subject of gas prices.

MR. ROMNEY: Well, let’s look at the president’s policies, all right, as opposed to the rhetoric, because we’ve had four years of policies being played out. And the president’s right in terms of the additional oil production, but none of it came on federal land. As a matter of fact, oil production is down 14 percent this year on federal land, and gas production is down 9 percent. Why? Because the president cut in half the number of licenses and permits for drilling on federal lands and in federal waters. So where’d the increase come from? Well, a lot of it came from the Bakken Range in North Dakota. What was his participation there? The administration brought a criminal action against the people drilling up there for oil, this massive new resource we have. And what was the cost? Twenty or 25 birds were killed, and they brought out a migratory bird act to go after them on a criminal basis.

Look, I want to make sure we use our oil, our coal, our gas, our nuclear, our renewables. I believe very much in our renewable capabilities — ethanol, wind, solar will be an important part of our energy mix. But what we don’t need is to have the president keeping us from taking advantage of oil, coal and gas. This has not been Mr. Oil or Mr. Gas or Mr. Coal. Talk to the people that are working in those industries. I was in coal country. People grabbed my arms and say, please, save my job. The head of the EPA said, you can’t build a coal plant. You’ll virtually — it’s virtually impossible, given our regulations. When the president ran for office, he said, if you build a coal plant, you can go ahead, but you’ll go bankrupt. That’s not the right course for America. Let’s take advantage of the energy resources we have, as well as the energy sources for the future. And if we do that, if we do what I am planning on doing, which is getting us energy-independent, North American energy independence within eight years, you’re going to see manufacturing come back jobs because our energy is low-cost.

They’re already beginning to come back because of our abundant energy.

I’ll get America and North America energy-independent. I’ll do it by more drilling, more permits and licenses. We’re going to bring that pipeline in from Canada. How in the world the president said no to that pipeline, I will never know. This is about bringing good jobs back for the middle class of America, and that’s what I’m going to do.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me just see if I can move you to the gist of this question, which is are we looking at the new normal? I can tell you that tomorrow morning, a lot of people in Hempstead will wake up and fill up, and they will find that the price of gas is over $4 a gallon. Is it within the purview of the government to bring those prices down, or are we looking at the new normal?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, there’s no doubt that world demand’s gone up. But our production is going up, and we’re using oil more efficiently.

And very little of what Governor Romney just said is true. We’ve opened up public lands. We’re actually drilling more on public lands than in the previous administration. And my — the previous president was an oilman. And natural gas isn’t just appearing magically; we’re encouraging it and working with the industry.

And when I hear Governor Romney say he’s a big coal guy — and keep in mind when — Governor, when you were governor of Massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and pointed at it and said, this plant kills, and took great pride in shutting it down. And now suddenly you’re a big champion of coal.

So what I’ve tried to do is be consistent. With respect to something like coal, we made the largest investment in clean coal technology to make sure that even as we’re producing more coal, we’re producing it cleaner and smarter. Same thing with oil; same thing with natural gas.

And the proof is our oil imports are down to the lowest levels in 20 years, oil production is up, natural gas production is up, and most importantly, we’re also starting to build cars that are more efficient.

And that’s creating jobs. That means those cars can be exported, because that’s the demand around the world. And it also means that it’ll save money in your pocketbook. That’s the strategy you need, an all-of-the-above strategy, and that’s what we’re going to do in the next four years.

MR. ROMNEY: But that’s not what you done in the last four years. That’s the problem.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Sure it is.

MR. ROMNEY: In the last four years, you cut permits and licenses on federal land and federal waters in half.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Not true, Governor Romney.

MR. ROMNEY: So how much did you cut them by?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: It’s not true.

MR. ROMNEY: By how much did you cut them by, then?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Governor, we have actually produced more oil on —

MR. ROMNEY: No, no, how much did you cut licenses and permits on federal land and federal waters?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Governor Romney, here’s what we did. There were a whole bunch of oil companies —

MR. ROMNEY: No, I had a — I had a — I had a question —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: No, you — no, you — you — you want —

MR. ROMNEY: — and the question was how much did you cut them by?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — you want me to answer a question, I’m —

MR. ROMNEY: How much did you cut them by?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — I’m happy to answer the question.

MR. ROMNEY: All right, and it is?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Here’s what happened. You had a whole bunch of oil companies who had leases on public lands that they weren’t using. So what we said was, you can’t just sit on this for 10, 20, 30 years, decide when you want to drill, when you want to produce, when it’s most profitable for you. These are public lands. So if you want to drill on public lands, you use it or you lose it.

MR. ROMNEY: OK — (inaudible) —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And so what we did was take away —

MR. ROMNEY: That’s —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — those leases, and we are now reletting them so that we can actually make a profit.

MR. ROMNEY: And — and — and production on private — on government lands is down.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And the production is up. No it isn’t.

MR. ROMNEY: Production on government land of oil is down 14 percent.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Governor —

MR. ROMNEY: And production of gas is down 9 percent.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: What you’re saying is just not true. It’s just not true.

MR. ROMNEY: I — it’s absolutely true. Look, there’s no question but that the people recognize that we have not produced more oil —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’ll give you your time. Go ahead.

MR. ROMNEY: — and gas on federal lands and in federal waters. And coal — coal production is not up, coal jobs are not up. I was just at a coal facility where some 1,200 people lost their jobs. The right course for America is to have a true all-of-the-above policy. I don’t think anyone really believes that you’re a person who’s going to be pushing for oil and gas and coal.

You’ll get your chance in a moment. I’m still speaking.

(Chuckles.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, Governor, if — if you’re asking me a question, I’m going to answer it.

MR. ROMNEY: My — and the answer is I don’t believe people think that’s the case, because I — I’m — that wasn’t a question.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: OK. All right.

MR. ROMNEY: That was a statement. I don’t think — (chuckles) — the American people believe that. I will fight for oil, coal and natural gas. And the proof — the proof of whether a strategy is working or not is what the price is that you’re paying at the pump. If you’re paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then the strategy is working. But you’re paying more. When the president took office, the price of gasoline here in Nassau County was about a buck eighty-six a gallon. Now it’s four bucks a gallon. Price of electricity is up.

If the president’s energy policies are working, you’re going to see the cost of energy come down. I will fight to create more energy in this country to get America energy-secure. And part of that is bringing in a pipeline of oil from Canada, taking advantage of the oil and coal we have here, drilling offshore in Alaska, drilling offshore in Virginia where the people want it.

MS. CROWLEY: Let me —

MR. ROMNEY: Those things will get us the energy we need.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, could you address — because we did finally get to gas prices here — could you address what the governor said, which is: If your energy policy was working, the price of gasoline would not be $4 a gallon here. Is that true?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, think about what the governor — think about what the governor just said. He said when I took office, the price of gasoline was 1.80 (dollars), 1.86 (dollars). Why is that? Because the economy was on the verge of collapse; because we were about to go through the worst recession since the Great Depression as a consequence of some of the same policies that Governor Romney is now promoting. So it’s conceivable that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices, because with his policies we might be back in that same mess. (Audience murmurs.)

What I want to do is to create an economy that is strong and at the same time produce energy. And with respect to this pipeline that Governor Romney keeps on talking about, we’ve — we’ve built enough pipeline to wrap around the entire Earth once. So I’m all for pipelines; I’m all for oil production.

What I’m not for is us ignoring the other half of the quotation. So for example, on wind energy, when Governor Romney says these are imaginary jobs, when you’ve got thousands of people right now in Iowa, right now in Colorado who are working, creating wind power, with good- paying manufacturing jobs, and the Republican senator in that — in Iowa is all for it, providing tax credits to help this work and Governor Romney says, I’m opposed, I’d get rid of it, that’s not an energy strategy for the future. And we need to win that future, and I intend to win it as president of the United States.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, I got to — I got to move you along. And the next a question is for you —

MR. ROMNEY: No, he — he gets the first — he actually got — he actually got the first question. So I get the last question — last answer on that one.

MS. CROWLEY: If — actually, in the follow-up. It doesn’t quite work like that.

MR. ROMNEY: Actually —

MS. CROWLEY: But I’m going to give you a chance here. (Laughter.) I promise you I’m going to.

And the next question is for you, so if you want to, you know, continue on, but I don’t want to leave all these guys sitting here and — because —

MR. ROMNEY: Candy, Candy, Candy, I don’t have a policy of — of stopping wind jobs in Iowa and that — they’re not phantom jobs. They’re real jobs.

MS. CROWLEY: OK.

MR. ROMNEY: I appreciate wind jobs in Iowa and across our country. I appreciate the jobs in coal and oil and gas. I’m going to make sure —

MS. CROWLEY: So you’re — OK. Thank you, Governor.

MR. ROMNEY: — that taking advantage of our energy resources will bring back manufacturing to America. We’re going to get through a very aggressive energy policy, 3.5 million more jobs in this country. It’s critical to our future.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, it’s OK.

MS. CROWLEY: We’re going to move you along to taxes —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’m used — I’m used to being interrupted. You know, the —

MS. CROWLEY: (Chuckles.) We’re going to move you both along to taxes over here and all these folks that have been waiting.

Governor, this question is for you. It comes from Mary Pollano — Follano. Sorry.

MR. ROMNEY: Hi, Mary.

Q: Governor Romney, you have stated that if you’re elected president, you would plan to reduce the tax rates for all the tax brackets and that you would work with the Congress to eliminate some deductions in order to make up for the loss in revenue. Concerning the — these various deductions — the mortgage deduction, the charitable deductions, the child tax credit and also the — oh, what’s that other credit?

I forgot. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You’re doing great.

Q: Oh, I remember. The education credits, which are important to me because I have children in college. What would be your position on those things, which are important for the middle class?

MR. ROMNEY: Thank you very much. And — and let me tell you, you — you’re absolutely right about part of that, which is I want to bring the rates down, I want to simplify the tax code, and I want to get middle-income taxpayers to have lower taxes.

And — and the reason I want middle-income taxpayers to have lower taxes is because middle-income taxpayers have been buried over the past four years. You’ve seen, as middle-income people in this country, incomes go down $4,300 a family even as gasoline prices have gone up $2,000. Health insurance premiums — up $2,500. Food prices up, utility prices up. The middle-income families in America have been crushed over the last four years. So I want to get some relief to middle-income families. That’s part — that’s part one.

Now, how about deductions? Because I’m going to bring rates down across the board for everybody, but I’m going to limit deductions and exemptions and credits, particularly for people at the high end, because I am not going to have people at the high end pay less than they’re paying now. The top 5 percent of taxpayers will continue to pay 60 percent of the income tax the nation collects. So that’ll stay the same. Middle-income people are going to get a tax break.

And so in terms of bringing down deductions, one way of doing that would be to say everybody gets — I’ll pick a number — $25,000 of deductions and credits. And you can decide which ones to use, your home mortgage interest deduction, charity, child tax credit and so forth. You can use those as part of filling that bucket, if you will, of deductions. But your rate comes down, and the burden also comes down on you for one more reason.

And that is every middle-income taxpayer no longer will pay any tax on interest, dividends or capital gains, no tax on your savings.

That makes life a lot easier. If you’re getting interest from a bank, if you’re getting a statement from a mutual fund or any other kind of investments you have, you don’t have to worry about filing taxes on that, because there will be no taxes for anybody making $200,000 a year and less on your interest, dividends and capital gains.

Why am I lowering taxes on the middle class? Because under the last four years, they’ve been buried, and I want to help people in the middle class. And I will not — I will not under any circumstances — reduce the share that’s being paid by the highest-income taxpayers, and I will not under any circumstances increase taxes on the middle class. The president’s spending, the president’s borrowing will cost this nation to have to raise taxes on the American people, not just at the high end.

A recent study has shown that people in the middle class will see $4,000 a year higher taxes as a result of the spending and borrowing of this administration. I will not let that happen. I’ll get us on track to a balanced budget, and I’m going to reduce the tax burden on middle-income families. And what’s that going to do? It’s going to help those families, and it’s going to create incentives to start growing jobs again in this country.

MS. CROWLEY: Thanks, Governor.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: My philosophy on taxes has been simple, and that is, I want to give middle-class families, and folks who are striving to get in the middle class, some relief, because they have been hit hard over the last decade, over the last 15, over the last 20 years. So four years ago I stood on a stage just like this one — actually, it was a town hall — and I said I would cut taxes for middle-class families, and that’s what I’ve done by $3,600. I said I would cut taxes for small businesses, who are the drivers and engines of growth, and we’ve cut them 18 times. And I want to continue those tax cuts for middle-class families and for small businesses.

But what I’ve also said is if we’re serious about reducing the deficit, if this is genuinely a moral obligation to the next generation, then in addition to some tough spending cuts, we’ve also got to make sure that the wealthy do a little bit more.

So what I’ve said is your first $250,000 worth of income, no change. And that means 98 percent of American families, 97 percent of small businesses, they will not see a tax increase. I’m ready to sign that bill right now. The only reason it’s not happening is because Governor Romney’s allies in Congress have held the 98 percent hostage because they want tax breaks for the top 2 percent.

But what I’ve also said is for above 250,000 (dollars), we can go back to the tax rates we had when Bill Clinton was president, we created 23 million new jobs. That’s part of what took us from deficits to surplus. It will be good for our economy, and it will be good for job creation.

Now, Governor Romney has a different philosophy. He was on “60 Minutes” just two weeks ago, and he was asked, is it fair for somebody like you, making $20 million a year, to pay a lower tax rate than a nurse or a bus driver, somebody making $50,000 a year? And he said, yes, I think that’s fair. Not only that, he said, I think that’s what grows the economy.

Well, I fundamentally disagree with that. I think what grows the economy is when you get that tax credit that we put in place for your kids going to college. I think that grows the economy. I think what grows the economy is when we make sure small businesses are getting a tax credit for hiring veterans who fought for our country. That grows our economy.

So we just have a different theory. And when Governor Romney stands here after a year of campaigning, when during a Republican primary, he stood onstage and said, I’m going to give tax cuts — he didn’t say tax rate cuts; he said tax cuts — to everybody, including the top 1 percent, you should believe him, because that’s been his history.

And that’s exactly the kind of top-down economics that is not going to work if we want a strong middle class and an economy that’s thriving for everybody.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor Romney, I’m sure you’ve got a reply there. (Laughter.)

MR. ROMNEY: (Chuckles.) You’re absolutely right. You heard what I said about my tax plan. The top 5 percent will continue to pay 60 percent, as they do today. I’m not looking to cut taxes for wealthy people. I am looking to cut taxes for middle-income people.

And why do I want to bring rates down and at the same time lower exemptions and deductions, particularly for people at the high end? Because if you bring rates down, it makes it easier for small business to keep more of their capital and hire people. And for me, this is about jobs. I want to get America’s economy going again.

Fifty-four percent of America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed as individuals. So when you bring those rates down, those small businesses are able to keep more money and hire more people.

For me, I look at what’s happened in the last four years and say, this has been a disappointment. We can do better than this. We don’t have to settle for how many months, 43 months with unemployment above 8 percent, 23 million Americans struggling to find a good job right now. There are 3 1/2 million more women living in poverty today than when the president took office. We don’t have to live like this. We can get this economy going again.

My five-point plan does it: energy independence for North America in five years; opening up more trade, particularly in Latin America, cracking down on China when they cheat; getting us to a balanced budget; fixing our training programs for our workers; and finally, championing small business. I want to help small businesses grow and thrive. I know how to make that happen. I spent my life in the private sector. I know why jobs come and why they go.

And they’re going now because of the policies of this administration.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, let me ask the president something about what you just said. The governor says that he is not going to allow the top 5 percent — I believe is what he said — to have a tax cut, that it will all even out, that what he wants to do is give that tax cut to the middle class. Settled?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: No, it’s not settled. (Chuckles.) Look, the cost of lowering rates for everybody across the board 20 percent, along with what he also wants to do in terms of eliminating the estate tax, along what he wants to do in terms of corporates changes in the tax code — it costs about $5 trillion. Governor Romney then also wants to spend $2 trillion on additional military programs, even though the military’s not asking for them. That’s $7 trillion. He also wants to continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. That’s another trillion dollars. That’s $8 trillion.

Now, what he says is he’s going to make sure that this doesn’t add to the deficit, and he’s going to cut middle-class taxes. But when he’s asked, how are you going to do it, which deductions, which loopholes are you going to close, he can’t tell you. The — the fact that he only has to pay 14 percent on his taxes when a lot of you are paying much higher — you know, he’s already taken that off the board. Capital gains are going to continue to be at a low rate, so we — we’re not going to get money that way. We haven’t heard from the governor any specifics, beyond Big Bird and eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood, in terms of how he pays for that.

Now, Governor Romney was a very successful investor. If somebody came to you, Governor, with a plan that said, here; I want to spend 7 (trillion dollars) or $8 trillion, and then we’re going to pay for it, but we can’t tell you until maybe after the election how we’re going to do it, you wouldn’t have taken such a sketchy deal. And neither should you, the American people, because the math doesn’t add up.

And — and what’s at stake here is one of two things. Either, Candy, this blows up the deficit — because keep in mind, this is just to pay for the additional spending that he’s talking about, 7 (trillion dollars), $8 trillion. That’s before we even get to the deficit we already have. Or alternatively, it’s got to be paid for not only by closing deductions for wealthy individuals. That will pay for about 4 percent reduction in tax rates. You’re going to be paying for it. You’ll lose some deductions. And you can’t buy this sales pitch. Nobody who’s looked at it that’s serious actually believes it adds up.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me get — let me get the governor in on this.

And Governor, let’s — before we get into a vast array of who said what — what study says what, if it shouldn’t add up, if somehow when you get in there, there isn’t enough tax revenue coming in, if somehow the numbers don’t add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20 percent —

MR. ROMNEY: Well, of course they add up. I was — I was someone who ran businesses for 25 years and balanced the budget. I ran the Olympics and balanced the budget. I ran the — the state of Massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does, and balanced the budget all four years.

When we’re talking about math that doesn’t add up, how about $4 trillion of deficits over the last four years, 5 trillion (dollars). That’s math that doesn’t add up. We have — we — we have a president talking about someone’s plan in a way that’s completely foreign to what my real plan is, and then we have his own record, which is we have four consecutive years where he said, when he was running for office, he could cut the deficit in half. Instead, he’s doubled it.

We’ve gone from $10 trillion of national debt to $16 trillion of national debt. If the president were re-elected, we’d go to almost $20 trillion of national debt. This puts us on a road to Greece.

I know what it takes to balance budgets. I’ve done it my entire life. So for instance, when he says, yours is a $5 trillion cut, well, no, it’s not, because I’m offsetting some of the reductions with holding down some of the deductions and — and this —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy —

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, I got to — I got to —

MR. ROMNEY: I’m — and I’ve told you — yeah.

MS. CROWLEY: I need you have you both — I understand the stakes here. I understand both of you. But I will get run out of town if I don’t allow — (inaudible) —

MR. ROMNEY: And I just — and I just described to you, Mr. President —

MS. CROWLEY: OK, great.

MR. ROMNEY: I just described to you precisely how I do it, which is with a single number that people can put — and they can put their deductions and credits — (inaudible) —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Inaudible.)

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, you’re — we’re keeping track, I promise you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: OK.

MS. CROWLEY: And Mr. President, the next question is for you, so stay standing.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Great. Looking forward to it.

MS. CROWLEY: And it’s Katherine Fenton, who has a question for you.

Q: In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, Katherine, this is a great question. And you know, I was raised by a single mom who had to put herself through school while looking after two kids. And she worked hard every day and made a lot of sacrifices to make sure we got everything we need. And my grandmother, she started off as a secretary in a bank. She never got a college education, even though she was smart as a whip. And she worked her way up to become a vice president at a local bank.

But she hit the glass ceiling. She trained people who would end up becoming her bosses during the course of her career. She didn’t complain; that’s not what you did in that generation.

And this is one of the reasons why one of the first — the first bill I signed was something called the Lilly Ledbetter bill.

And it was named after this amazing woman who had been doing the same job as a man for years, found out that she was getting paid less, and the Supreme Court said that she couldn’t bring suit because she should have found out about it earlier, when she had no way of finding out about it.

So we fixed that. And that’s an example of the kind of advocacy that we need because women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family. This is not just a women’s issue. This is a family issue. This is a middle-class issue. And that’s why we’ve got to fight for it.

It also means that we’ve got to make sure that young people like yourself are able to afford a college education. Earlier Governor Romney talked about he wants to make Pell Grants and other education accessible for young people. Well, the truth of the matter is, is that that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve expanded Pell Grants for millions of people, including millions of young women, all across the country. We did it by taking $60 billion that was going to banks and lenders as middlemen for the student loan program and we said, let’s just cut out the middleman. Let’s give the money directly to students. And as a consequence, we’ve seen millions of young people be able to afford college, and that’s going to make sure that young women are going to be able to compete in that marketplace.

But we’ve got to enforce the laws, which is what we are doing. And we’ve also got to make sure that in every walk of life, we do not tolerate discrimination. That’s been one of the hallmarks of my administration. I’m going to continue to push on this issue for the next four years.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor Romney, pay equity for women.

MR. ROMNEY: Thank you. And — important topic and one which I learned a great deal about, particularly as I was serving as governor of my state, because I had the — the chance to pull together a Cabinet and all the applicants seemed to be men. And I — and I went to my staff, and I said, how come all the people for these jobs are — are all men?

They said, well, these are the people that have the qualifications. And I said, well, gosh, can’t we — can’t we find some — some women that are also qualified?

And — and so we — we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women’s groups and said, can you help us find folks? And I brought us whole binders full of — of women. I was proud of the fact that after I staffed my cabinet and my senior staff that the University of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states and concluded that mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America.

Now, one of the reasons I was able to get so many good women to be part of that team was because of our recruiting effort, but number two, because I recognized that if you’re going to have women in the workforce, that sometimes they need to be more flexible. My chief of staff, for instance, had two kids that were still in school. She said, I can’t be here until 7:00 or 8:00 at night. I need to be able to get home at 5:00 so I can be there for — making dinner for my kids and being with them when they get home from school. So we said, fine, let’s have a flexible schedule so you can have hours that work for you.

We’re going to have to have employers in the new economy, in the economy I’m going to bring to play, that are going to be so anxious to get good workers they’re going to be anxious to hire women. In the — in the last four years, women have lost 580,000 jobs. That’s the net of what’s happened in the last four years. We’re still down 580,000 jobs. I mentioned 3 1/2 million women more now in poverty than four years ago.

What we can do to help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong that employers are looking to find good employees and bringing them into their workforce and adapting to a — a flexible work schedule that gives women the opportunities that — that they would otherwise not be able to — to afford.

This is what I’ve done, it’s what I look forward to doing, and I know what it takes to make an economy work.

And I know what a working economy looks like. And an economy with 7.8 percent unemployment is not a real strong economy. An economy that — that — that has 23 million people looking for work is not a strong economy. An economy with — with 50 percent of kids graduating from college that can’t find a job, or a college-level job — that’s not what we have to have.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor —

MR. ROMNEY: I’m going to help women in America get — get good work by getting a stronger economy and by supporting women in the workforce.

MR. CROWLEY: Mr. President, why don’t you get in on this quickly, please?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Katherine, I just want to point out that when Governor Romney’s campaign was asked about the Lilly Ledbetter bill, whether he supported it, he said, I’ll get back to you. And that’s not the kind of advocacy that women need in any economy.

Now, there are some other issues that have a bearing on how women succeed in the workplace: for example, their health care. (Inaudible) — a major difference in this campaign is that Governor Romney feels comfortable having politicians in Washington decide the health care choices that women are making. I think that’s a mistake. In my health care bill, I said insurance companies need to provide contraceptive coverage to everybody who is insured, because this is not just a — a health issue; it’s an economic issue for women. It makes a difference. This is money out of that family’s pocket.

Governor Romney not only opposed it; he suggested that, in fact, employers should be able to make the decision as to whether or not a woman gets contraception through her insurance coverage. That’s not the kind of advocacy that women need. When Governor Romney says that we should eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, there are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for not just contraceptive care. They rely on it for mammograms, for cervical cancer screenings. That’s a pocketbook issue for women and families all across the country.

And it makes a difference in terms of how well and effectively women are able to work. When we talk about child care and the credits that we’re providing, that makes a difference in terms of whether they can go out there and earn a living for their family. These are not just women’s issues. These are family issues. These are economic issues. And one of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are getting the same fair deal as men are.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And I’ve got two daughters, and I want to make sure that they have the same opportunities that anybody’s sons have. That’s part of what I’m fighting for as president of the United States.

MS. CROWLEY: I want to move us along here to Susan Katz, who has a question.

And Governor, it’s for you.

Q: Governor Romney, I am an undecided voter because I’m disappointed with the lack of progress I’ve seen in the last four years. However, I do attribute much of America’s economic and international problems to the failings and missteps of the Bush administration. Since both you and President Bush are Republicans, I fear a return to the policies of those years should you win this election. What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?

MR. ROMNEY: Great. Thank you. And I appreciate that question. I — I just want to make sure that — I think I was supposed to get that last answer, but I want to point out that I don’t believe —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I don’t think so, Candy.

MR. ROMNEY: I don’t believe —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I want to make sure our timekeepers are working here.

MS. CROWLEY: OK. The timekeepers are all working.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right.

MS. CROWLEY: And let me tell you that the last part, there’s — it’s for the two of you to talk to one another, and it isn’t quite as — (inaudible). But go ahead and use this two minutes any way you’d like to. The question is on the floor.

MR. ROMNEY: I — I’d just note that I don’t believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not, and I don’t believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care or not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives. And — and the — and the president’s statement of my policy is completely and totally wrong.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Governor, that’s not true.

MR. ROMNEY: Let me come back and — and — and answer your question.

The — President Bush and I are different people, and these are different times. And that’s why my five-point plan is so different than what he would have done. I mean, for instance, we can now, by virtue of new technology, actually get all the energy we need in North America without having to go to the — the Arabs or the Venezuelans or anyone else. That wasn’t true in his time. That’s why my policy starts with a very robust policy to get all that energy in North America, become energy-secure.

Number two, trade. I’ll crack down on China. President Bush didn’t. I’m also going to dramatically expand trade in Latin America. It’s been growing about 12 percent per year over a long period of time. I want to add more free trade agreements so we have more trade.

Number three, I’m going to get us to a balanced budget. President Bush didn’t. President Obama was right. He said that that was outrageous to have deficits as high as half a trillion dollars under the Bush years. He was right. But then he put in place deficits twice that size for every one of his four years, and his forecast for the next four years is more deficits almost that large. So that’s the next area I’m different than President Bush.

And then let’s take the last one, championing small business. Our party has been focused on big business too long. I came through small business. I understand how hard it is to start a small business. That’s why everything I’ll do is designed to help small businesses grow and add jobs. I want to keep their taxes down on small business. I want regulators to see their job as encouraging small enterprise, not crushing it.

And the thing I find most troubling about “Obamacare” — well, it’s a long list, but one of the things I find most troubling is that when you go out and talk to small businesses and ask them what they think about it, they tell you it keeps them from hiring more people.

My priority is jobs. I know how to make that happen. And President Bush had a very different path for a very different time. My path is designed in getting small businesses to grow and hire people.

MS. CROWLEY: Thanks, Governor. Mr. President.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, I think it’s important to tell you that we did come in during some tough times. We were losing 800,000 jobs a month when I started.

But we have been digging our way out of policies that were misplaced and focused on the top doing very well and middle-class folks not doing well. And we’ve seen 30 consecutive — 31 consecutive months of job growth, 5.2 million new jobs created. And the plans that I talked about will create even more.

But when Governor Romney says that he has very different economic plan, the centerpiece of his economic plan are tax cuts. That’s what took us from surplus to deficit. When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China and is currently investing in countries — in — in companies that are building surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks. That’s — Governor, you’re the last person who’s going to get tough on China.

And what we’ve done when it comes to trade is not only sign three trade deals to open up new markets, but we’ve also set up a task force for trade that goes after anybody who is taking advantage of American workers or businesses and not creating a level playing field. We’ve brought twice as many cases against unfair trading practices than the previous administration, and we’ve won every single one that’s been decided.

When I said that we had to make sure that China was not flooding our domestic market with cheap tires, Governor Romney said I was being protectionist, that it wouldn’t be helpful to American workers. Well, in fact we saved a thousand jobs, and that’s the kind of tough trade actions that are required.

But the last point I want to make is this. You know, there are some things where Governor Romney’s different from George Bush. George Bush didn’t propose turning Medicare into a voucher. George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform. He didn’t call for self-deportation. George Bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood.

So there are differences between Governor Romney and George Bush, but they’re not on economic policy. In some ways, he’s gone to a more extreme place when it comes to social policy, and I think that’s a mistake. That’s not how we’re going to move our economy forward.

MS. CROWLEY: I want to move you both along to the next question because it’s in the same wheelhouse. So you will be able to respond. But the president does get this question. I want to call on Michael Jones.

Q: Mr. President, I voted for you in 2008. What have you done or accomplished to earn my vote in 2012? I’m not that optimistic as I was in 2012. Most things I need for everyday living are very expensive.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, we’ve gone through a tough four years; there’s no doubt about it. But four years ago I told the American people and I told you I would cut taxes for middle-class families, and I did. I told you I’d cut taxes for small businesses, and I have. I said that I’d end the war in Iraq, and I did. I said we’d refocus attention on those who actually attacked us on 9/11, and we have gone after al-Qaida’s leadership like never before, and Osama bin Laden is dead.

I said that we would put in place health care reform to make sure that insurance companies can’t jerk you around, and if you don’t have health insurance, that you’d have a chance to get affordable insurance, and I have. I committed that I would rein in the excesses of Wall Street, and we passed the toughest Wall Street reforms since the 1930s. We’ve created 5 million jobs, gone from 800,000 jobs a month being lost. And we are making progress. We saved an auto industry that was on the brink of collapse.

Now, does that mean you’re not struggling? Absolutely not. A lot of us are. And that’s why the plan that I put forward for manufacturing and education and reducing our deficit in a sensible way, using the savings from ending wars to rebuild America and putting people back to work, making sure that we are controlling our own energy, but not just the energy of today but also the energy of the future — all those things will make a difference. So the point is, the commitments I’ve made, I’ve kept. And those that I haven’t been able to keep, it’s not for lack of trying, and we’re going to get it done in a second term.

But you should pay attention to this campaign, because Governor Romney’s made some commitments as well, and I suspect he’ll keep those, too. You know, when members of the Republican Congress say, we’re going to sign a no tax pledge so that we don’t ask a dime from millionaires and billionaires to reduce our deficit so we can still invest in education and helping kids go to college, he said, me too. When they said, we’re going to cut Planned Parenthood funding, he said, me too. When he said, we’re going to repeal “Obamacare,” first thing I’m going to do — despite the fact that it’s the same health care plan that he passed in Massachusetts and is working well — he said, me too. That is not the kind of leadership that you need, but you should expect that those are promises he’s going to keep.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me let —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And the choice in this election is going to be whose promises are going to be more likely to help you in your life, make sure your kids can go to college, make sure that you are getting a good-paying job, making sure that Medicare and Social Security will be there for you.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, thank you.

Governor.

MR. ROMNEY: I think you know better. I — I think you know that these last four years haven’t been so good as the president just described and that you don’t feel like you’re confident that the next four years are going to be much better either. I can tell you that if you were to elect President Obama, you know what you’re going to get. You’re going to get a repeat of the last four years. We just can’t afford four more years like the last four years.

He said that by now we’d have unemployment at 5.4 percent. The difference between where it is and 5.4 percent is 9 million Americans without work. I wasn’t the one that said 5.4 percent. This was the president’s plan — didn’t get there.

He said he would have by now put forward a plan to reform Medicare and Social Security because he pointed out they’re on the road to bankruptcy. He would reform them. He’d get that done. He hasn’t even made a proposal on either one.

He said in his first year he’d put out an immigration plan that would deal with our immigration challenges — didn’t even file it.

This is a president who has not been able to do what he said he’d do. He said that he’d cut in half the deficit. He hasn’t done that either. In fact, he doubled it.

He said that by now middle-income families would have a reduction in their health insurance premiums by $2,500 a year. It’s gone up by 2,500 (dollars) a year. And if “Obamacare” is passed — or implemented — it’s already been passed. If it’s implemented fully, it’ll be another 2,500 (dollars) on top.

The middle class is getting crushed under the policies of a president who has not understood what it takes to get the economy working again. He keeps saying, look, I’ve created 5 million jobs.

That’s after losing 5 million jobs. The entire record is such that the unemployment has not been reduced in this country. The unemployment, the number of people who are still looking for work, is still 23 million Americans. There are more people in poverty — one out of six people in poverty. How about food stamps? When he took office, 32 million people were on food stamps; today 47 million people are on food stamps. How about the growth of the economy? It’s growing more slowly this year than last year and more slowly last year than the year before.

The — the president wants to do well; I understand. But the policies he’s put in place, from “Obamacare” to Dodd-Frank to his tax policies to his regulatory policies — these policies combined have not led this economy take off and grow like it could have. You might say, well, you got an example of when it worked better? Yeah, in the Reagan recession, where unemployment hit 10.8 percent. Between that period — the end of that recession and equivalent period of time to today, Ronald Reagan’s recovery created twice as many jobs as this president’s recovery. Five million jobs doesn’t even keep up with our population growth. And the only reason the unemployment rate seems a little lower today is because of all the people that have dropped out of the workforce.

The president has tried, but his policies haven’t worked. He’s great as a — as a — a — a — as a speaker and — and describing his plans and his vision. That’s wonderful, except we have a record to look at. And that record shows he just hasn’t been able to cut the deficit, to put in place reforms for Medicare and Social Security to preserve them, to get us the rising incomes we — median incomes are down $4,300 a family, and 23 million Americans out of work. That’s what this election is about. It’s about who can get the middle class in this country a bright and prosperous future and assure our kids the kind of hope and optimism they deserve.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, I want to move you along.

Don’t go away, and we’ll have plenty of time to respond. We are quite aware of the clock for both of you.

But I want to bring in a different subject here. Mr. President, I’ll be right back with you. And Lorraine Osario has a question for you about a topic we have not heard —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is for Governor Romney?

MS. CROWLEY: Yes, this is for Governor Romney, and we’ll be right with you, Mr. President. Thanks.

MR. ROMNEY: Is it Lorraina (ph)?

Q: Lorraine.

MR. ROMNEY: Lorraine?

Q: Yeah, Lorraine, yeah.

MR. ROMNEY: (Great ?).

Q: How you doing?

MR. ROMNEY: Good, thanks.

Q: President — Romney, what do you plan on doing with immigrants without their green cards that are currently living here as productive members of society?

MR. ROMNEY: Thank you, Lorraine. Did I get that right? Good. Thank you for your question. And let me step back and tell you what I’d like to do with our immigration policy broadly and include an answer to your — your question.

First of all, this is a nation of immigrants. We welcome people coming to this country as immigrants. My dad was born in Mexico of American parents. Ann’s dad was born in Wales and is a first- generation American. We welcome legal immigrants into this country.

I want our legal system to work better. I want it to be streamlined, I want it to be clearer. I don’t think you have to — shouldn’t have to hire a lawyer to figure out how to get into this country legally. I also think that we should give visas to people — green cards, rather, to people who graduate with skills that we need, people around the world with accredited degrees in — in science and math get a green card stapled to their diploma, come to the US of A. We should make sure that our legal system works.

Number two, we’re going to have to stop illegal immigration. There are 4 million people who are waiting in line to get here legally. Those who’ve come here illegally take their place. So I will not grant amnesty to those who’ve come here illegally.

What I will do is I’ll put in place an employment verification system and make sure that employers that hire people who have come here illegally are sanctioned for doing so. I won’t put in place magnets for people coming here illegally, so for instance, I would not give driver’s licenses to those that have come here illegally, as the — as the president would.

The kids of — of those that came here illegally, those kids I think should have a pathway to become a — a permanent resident of the United States.

And military service, for instance, is one way they would have that kind of pathway to become a permanent resident.

Now, when the president ran for office, he said that he’d put in place, in his first year, a piece of legislation — he’d file a bill in his first year that would reform our — our immigration system, protect legal immigration, stop illegal immigration. He didn’t do it. He had a Democrat House and Democrat Senate, supermajority in both houses. Why did he fail to even promote legislation that would have provided an answer for those that want to come here legally and for those that are here illegally today? That’s a question I think the — the president will have a chance to answer right now.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good. I look forward to it. Was — Lorena? Lorraine.

We are a nation of immigrants. I mean, we’re just a few miles away form Ellis Island. We all understand what this country has become because talent from all around the world wants to come here, people who are willing to take risks, people who want to build on their dreams and make sure their kids have an — even bigger dreams than they have.

But we’re also a nation of laws. So what I’ve said is we need to fix a broken immigration system. And I’ve done everything that I can on my own and sought cooperation from Congress to make sure that we fix this system.

First thing we did was to streamline the legal immigration system to reduce the backlog, make it easier, simpler and cheaper for people who are waiting in line, obeying the law, to make sure that they can come here and contribute to our country. And that’s good for our economic growth. They’ll start new businesses. They’ll make things happen to create jobs here in the United States.

Number two, we do have to deal with our border. So we’ve put more Border Patrol on than anytime in history, and the flow of undocumented workers across the border is actually lower than it’s been in 40 years.

What I’ve also said is, if we’re going to go after folks who are here illegally, we should do it smartly and go after folks who are criminals, gang bangers, people who are hurting the community, not after students, not after folks who are here just because they’re trying to figure out how to feed their families, and that’s what we’ve done.

And what I’ve also said is, for young people who come here, brought here oftentimes by their parents, have gone to school here, pledged allegiances to the flag, think of this as their country, understand themselves as Americans in every way except having papers, then we should make sure that we give them a pathway to citizenship, and that’s what I’ve done administratively.

Now, Governor Romney just said that, you know, he wants to help those young people, too. But during the Republican primary, he said, I will veto the DREAM Act that would allow these young people to have access. His main strategy during the Republican primary was to say, we’re going to encourage self-deportation, making life so miserable on folks that they’ll leave. He called the Arizona law a model for the nation. Part of the Arizona law said that law enforcement officers could stop folks because they suspected maybe they looked like they might be undocumented workers and checked their papers. And you know what, if my daughter or yours looks to somebody like they’re not a citizen, I don’t want — I don’t want to empower somebody like that.

So we can fix this system in a comprehensive way. And when Governor Romney says the challenge is, well, Obama didn’t try, that’s not true. I sat down with Democrats and Republicans at the beginning of my term, and I said, let’s fix this system, including senators previously who have supported it on the Republican side.

But it’s very hard for Republicans in Congress to support comprehensive immigration reform if their standard bearer has said that this is not something I’m interested in supporting.

MS. CROWLEY: Let me get the governor in here, Mr. President. Let’s speak to, if you could, Governor —

MR. ROMNEY: Let’s —

MS. CROWLEY: — the idea of self-deportation.

MR. ROMNEY: Let — no, let — let me go back and speak to the points that the president made and — and let’s get them correct. I did not say that the Arizona law was a model for the nation in that aspect. I said that the e-Verify portion of the Arizona law, which is — which is the portion of the law which says that employers could be able to determine whether someone is here illegally or not illegally — that that was a model for the nation. That’s number one.

Number two, I asked the president a question I think Hispanics and immigrants all over the nation have asked. He was asked this on Univision the other day. Why, when you said you’d file legislation in your first year, didn’t you do it? And he didn’t answer. He don’t — he doesn’t answer that question. He said the standard bearer wasn’t for it. I — I’m glad you thought I was a standard bearer four years ago, but I wasn’t. Four years ago you said in your first year you would file legislation. In his first year — (chuckles) — I was just getting or — I was licking my wounds from having been beaten by John McCain. All right? I was not the standard bearer. My — my view is that this president should have honored his promise to — to do as he said.

Now let me mention one other thing, and that is, self-deportation says let it — let people make their own choice. What I was saying is, we’re not going to round up 12 million people, undocumented, illegals, and take them out of the nation. Instead, let — make — people make their own choice. And if they — if they find that — that they can’t get the benefits here that they want and they can’t find the job they want, then they’ll make a decision to go a place where — where they have better opportunities. But I’m not in favor of rounding up people and — and — and — and taking them out of this country. I am in favor, as the president has said, and I agree with him, which is that if people have committed crimes, we got to get them out of this country.

Let me mention something else the president said.

It was a moment ago, and I didn’t get a chance to — when he was describing Chinese investments and so forth. Let me —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, hold on a second. The — (inaudible) — there’s some points we got to —

MR. ROMNEY: I — I — you know, I’m still — Mr. President, I’m still speaking.

MS. CROWLEY: I’m sorry.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Governor Romney, I — I’m — I’m — I’m — (inaudible) — make sure — (inaudible) —

MR. ROMNEY: Mr. President, why don’t you let me finish? I’m going to — I’m going to continue. I’m going to continue. The president made a —

MS. CROWLEY: Go ahead and finish, Governor Romney. Governor Romney, if you could make it short. See all these people? They’ve been waiting for you. Could you make it short, and then —

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah. Just going to make a point. Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in — in Chinese companies. Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Inaudible) — Candy —

MR. ROMNEY: Have you looked at your pension?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’ve got to say — (inaudible) —

MR. ROMNEY: Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours, so it — it doesn’t take as long. The —

MR. ROMNEY: Well, let me — let me give you — (laughter) — let me — let me give you some advice.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I don’t check it that often. (Chuckles.)

MR. ROMNEY: Let me give you some advice. Look at your pension.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Chuckles.) OK.

MR. ROMNEY: You also investments in Chinese companies.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yeah.

MR. ROMNEY: You also have investments outside the United States.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yeah.

MR. ROMNEY: You also have investments through a Caymans trust, all right?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right. (Inaudible) —

MS. CROWLEY: And we are way — we’re sort of way off topic here, Governor Romney. We are completely off immigration.

MR. ROMNEY: So — so Mr. President — so —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We’re — we’re — we’re a little off topic here, yeah. Come on. The — I thought we were talking about immigration. I — I — I — I — I — I — I do want to — I do want to — I do want to make sure that —

MR. ROMNEY: I came — I came back to what you spoke about before.

MS. CROWLEY: And we were. So quickly, Mr. President — if I could have you sit down, Governor Romney. Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I do want to make sure that we just understand something. Governor Romney says he wasn’t referring to Arizona as a model for the nation. His top adviser on immigration is the guy who designed the Arizona law, the entirety of it — not E-Verify, the whole thing. That’s his policy, and it’s a bad policy. And it won’t help us grow. Look, when we think about immigration, we have to understand there are folks all around the world who still see America as the land of promise. And they provide us energy, and they provide us innovation. And they start companies like Intel and Google, and we want to encourage that.

Now, we’ve got to make sure that we do it in a smart way and a comprehensive way and we make the legal system better. But when we make this into a divisive political issue, and when we don’t have bipartisan support — I can deliver, Governor, a whole bunch of Democrats to get comprehensive immigration reform done.

And we can’t — we can’t —

MR. ROMNEY: I’ll get it done. I’ll get it done, first year.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We have not seen Republicans —

MS. CROWLEY: OK, Mr. President let me move you on here, please.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — serious about this issue at all.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And it’s time for them to get serious on it. This used to be a bipartisan issue.

MS. CROWLEY: Don’t go away, though. Don’t go away, because —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’m — I’m here.

MS. CROWLEY: — I want you to talk to Kerry Ladka, who has a — wants to switch a topic for us.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: OK. Hi, Cara (ph).

Q: Good evening, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’m sorry, what’s your name?

Q: It’s Kerry, Kerry Ladka.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Great to see you here.

Q: This question actually comes from a brain trust of my friends at Global Telecom Supply in Mineola yesterday. We were sitting around talking about Libya, and we were reading and became aware of reports that the State Department refused extra security for our embassy in Benghazi, Libya, prior to the attacks that killed four Americans. Who was it that denied enhanced security and why?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, let me, first of all, talk about our diplomats, because they serve all around the world and do an incredible job in a very dangerous situation. And these aren’t just representatives of the United States; they’re my representatives. I send them there, oftentimes into harm’s way. I know these folks, and I know their families. So nobody’s more concerned about their safety and security than I am.

So as soon as we found out that the Benghazi consulate was being overrun, I was on the phone with my national security team, and I gave them three instructions. Number one, beef up our security and — and — and procedures not just in Libya but every embassy and consulate in the region. Number two, investigate exactly what happened, regardless of where the facts lead us, to make sure that folks are held accountable and it doesn’t happen again. And number three, we are going to find out who did this, and we are going to hunt them down, because one of the things that I’ve said throughout my presidency is when folks mess with Americans, we go after them.

Now, Governor Romney had a very different response. While we were still dealing with our diplomats being threatened, Governor Romney put out a press release trying to make political points. And that’s not how a commander in chief operates. You don’t turn national security into a political issue, certainly not right when it’s happening.

And people — not everybody agrees with some of the decisions I’ve made. But when it comes to our national security, I mean what I say. I said I’d end the war in Libya — in Iraq, and I did. I said that we’d go after al-Qaida and bin Laden. We have. I said we’d transition out of Afghanistan and start making sure that Afghans are responsible for their own security. That’s what I’m doing.

And when it comes to this issue, when I say that we are going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable, and I am ultimately responsible for what’s taking place there, because these are my folks, and I’m the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home, you know that I mean what I say.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, I got to move us along. Governor?

MR. ROMNEY: Thank you, Kerry, for your question. It’s an important one. And — and I — I think the president just said correctly that — that the buck does stop at his desk, and — and he takes responsibility for — for that — for that — the failure in providing those security resources, and those terrible things may well happen from time to time.

I — I’m — I feel very deeply sympathetic for the families of those who lost loved ones. Today there’s a memorial service for one of those that was lost in this tragedy. We — we think of their families and care for them deeply.

There were other issues associated with this — with this tragedy.

There were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous demonstration or actually whether it was a terrorist attack. And there was no demonstration involved. It was a terrorist attack, and it took a long time for that to be told to the American people. Whether there was some misleading or instead whether we just didn’t know what happened, I think you have to ask yourself why didn’t we know five days later when the ambassador to the United Nations went on TV to say that this was a demonstration. How could of we not known?

But I find more troubling than this that on — on the day following the assassination of the United States ambassador — the first time that’s happened since 1979 — when we have four Americans killed there, when apparently we didn’t know what happened, that the president the day after that happened flies to Las Vegas for a political fundraiser, then the next day to Colorado for another event, another political event, I think these — these actions taken by a president and a leader have symbolic significance, and perhaps even material significance, in that you’d hoped that during that time we could call in the people who were actually eyewitnesses. We’ve read their accounts now about what happened. It was very clear this was not a demonstration. This was an attack by terrorists.

And this calls into question the president’s whole policy in the Middle East. Look what’s happening in Syria, in Egypt, now in Libya. Consider the distance between ourselves and Israel, where the president said that — that he was going to put daylight between us and Israel. We have Iran four years closer to a nuclear bomb. Syria — Syria’s not just the tragedy of 30,000 civilians being killed by a military, but also a strategic — strategically significant player for America. The president’s policies throughout the Middle East began with an apology tour and pursue a strategy of leading from behind, and this strategy is unraveling before our very eyes.

MS. CROWLEY: Because we’re closing in, I want to still get a lot of people in. I want to ask you something, Mr. President, and then have the governor just quickly. Your secretary of state, as I’m sure you know, has said that she takes full responsibility for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

Does the buck stop with your secretary of state as far as what went on here?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I’m the president. And I’m always responsible. And that’s why nobody is more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I did (sic).

The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror. And I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime. And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and grieving with the families.

And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I do as president. That’s not what I do as commander in chief.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, if you want to reply just quickly to this, please.

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah, I — I certainly do. I certainly do. I — I think it’s interesting the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack, he went in the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror. You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please proceed.

MR. ROMNEY: Is that what you’re saying?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please proceed, Governor.

MR. ROMNEY: I — I — I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Get the transcript.

MS. CROWLEY: It — he did in fact, sir.

So let me — let me call it an act of terrorism — (inaudible) —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Can you say that a little louder, Candy? (Laughter, applause.)

MS. CROWLEY: He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take — it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that.

MR. ROMNEY: This — the administration — the administration — (applause) — indicated that this was a — a reaction to a — to a video and was a spontaneous reaction.

MS. CROWLEY: They did.

MR. ROMNEY: It took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group and — and to suggest — am I incorrect in that regard? On Sunday the — your — your secretary or —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy —

MR. ROMNEY: Excuse me. The ambassador to the United Nations went on the Sunday television shows and — and spoke about how this was a spontaneous reaction.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, I’m — I’m happy to —

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me — I —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I’m happy to have a longer conversation about foreign policy.

MS. CROWLEY: I know you — absolutely. But I want — I want to move you on.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: OK, I’m happy to do that too.

MS. CROWLEY: And also, people can go to the transcripts and —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I just want to make sure that —

MS. CROWLEY: — figure out what was said and when.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — you know, all these wonderful folks are going to have a chance to get some — their questions answered.

MS. CROWLEY: Because what I want to do, Mr. President — stand there for a second, because I want to introduce you to Nina Gonzales, who brought up a question that we hear a lot, both over the Internet and from this crowd.

Q: President Obama, during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, you stated you wanted to keep AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. What has your administration done or plan to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, we’re a nation that believes in the Second Amendment. And I believe in the Second Amendment. You know, we’ve got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves.

But there have been too many instances during the course of my presidency where I’ve had to comfort families who’ve lost somebody, most recently out in Aurora. You know, just a couple of weeks ago, actually probably about a month, I saw a mother who I had met at the beside of her son who had been shot in that theater.

And her son had been shot through the head. And we spent some time, and we said a prayer. And remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable, good as new. But there were a lot of families who didn’t have that good fortune and whose sons or daughters or husbands didn’t survive.

So my belief is that A, we have to enforce the laws we’ve already got, make sure that we’re keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We’ve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we’ve got more to do when it comes to enforcement.

But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets. And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced, but part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence, because frankly, in my hometown of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence, and they’re not using AK-47s, they’re using cheap handguns.

And so what can we do to intervene to make sure that young people have opportunity, that our schools are working, that if there’s violence on the streets, that working with faith groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of control?

And so what I want is a — is a comprehensive strategy. Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they occur.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor Romney, the question is about assault weapons, AK-47s.

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah, I — I’m not in favor of new pieces of legislation on — on guns and — and taking guns away or — or making certain guns illegal. We of course don’t want to have automatic weapons, and that’s already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons.

What I believe is we have to do as the president mentioned towards the end of his remarks there, which is to make enormous efforts to enforce the gun laws that we have and to change the culture of violence we have. And you ask, how are we going to do that? And there are a number of things.

He mentioned good schools. I totally agree. We were able to drive our schools to be number one in the nation in my state, and I believe if we do a better job in education, we’ll — we’ll give people the — the hope and opportunity they deserve, and perhaps less violence from that.

But let me mention another thing, and that is parents. We need moms and dads helping raise kids. Wherever possible, the — the benefit of having two parents in the home — and that’s not always possible. A lot of great single moms, single dads. But gosh, to tell our kids that before they have babies, they ought to think about getting married to someone — that’s a great idea because if there’s a two-parent family, the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically. The opportunities that the child will — will be able to achieve increase dramatically.

So we can make changes in the way our culture works to help bring people away from violence and give them opportunity and bring them in the American system.

The — the greatest failure we’ve had with regards to gun violence, in some respects, is what is known as Fast and Furious, which was a program under this administration — and how it worked exactly, I think we don’t know precisely — but where thousands of automatic and — and AK-47-type weapons were — were given to people that ultimately gave them to — to drug lords. They used those weapons against — against their own citizens and killed Americans with them.

And this was a — this was a program of the government. For what purpose it was put in place, I can’t imagine. But it’s one of the great tragedies related to violence in our society which has occurred during this administration which I think the American people would like to understand fully. It’s been investigated to a degree, but the administration has — has carried out executive privilege to prevent all the information from coming out. I’d like to understand who it was that did this, what the idea was behind it, why it led to the violence — thousands of guns going to Mexican drug lords.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor, Governor, if I could, the question was about these assault weapons that once were banned and are no longer banned. I know that you signed an assault weapons ban when you were in Massachusetts. Obviously with this question, you no longer do support that. Why is that? Given the kind of violence that we see sometimes with these mass killings, why is it that you’ve changed your mind?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, Candy, actually, in my state, the pro-gun folks and the anti-gun folks came together and put together a piece of legislation, and it’s referred to as a — as an assault weapon ban, but it had at the signing of the bill both the pro-gun and the anti- gun people came together, because it provided opportunities for both that both wanted. There were hunting opportunities, for instance, that hadn’t previously been available and so forth. So it was a mutually agreed upon piece of legislation.

That’s what we need more of, Candy. What we have right now in Washington is a place that’s — that’s gridlocked. We haven’t had — we haven’t — we haven’t — we haven’t had the leadership in Washington to work on a bipartisan basis.

MS. CROWLEY: So if I could, if you could get people to agree to it, you’d be for it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy —

MR. ROMNEY: I was able to do that in my state and bring these two together.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy.

MS. CROWLEY: Quickly, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: The — first of all, I think Governor Romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was against it. And he said that the reason he changed his mind was in part because he was seeking the endorsement of the National Rifle Association.

So that’s on the record. But I think that one area we agree on is the importance of parents and the importance of schools, because I do believe that if our young people have opportunity, then they’re less likely to engage in these kinds of violent acts. We’re not going to eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed, and we’ve got to make sure that they don’t get weapons. But we can make a difference in terms of ensuring that every young person in America, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, have a chance to succeed.

And Candy, we haven’t had a chance to talk about education much. But I think it is very important to understand that the reforms we put in place, working with 46 governors around the country, are seeing schools that are some of the ones that are the toughest for kids starting to succeed. We’re starting to see gains in math and science. When it comes to community colleges, we are setting up programs, including with Nassau Community College, to retrain workers, including young people who may have dropped out of school but now are getting another chance — training them for the jobs that exist right now. And in fact, employers are looking for skilled workers, and so we’re matching them up. Giving them access to higher education — as I said, we have made sure that millions of young people are able to get an education that they weren’t able to get before.

Now — but —

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, I have to — I have to move you along here. You said you wanted to hear these questions, and we need to do it here.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — but — but it’ll — it’ll — it’ll — it’ll be just — just one second, because —

MS. CROWLEY: One —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — because this is important. This is part of the choice in this election. And when Governor Romney was asked whether teachers — hiring more teachers was important to growing our economy, Governor Romney said that doesn’t grow our economy. When — when he was asked — (inaudible) — class size —

MS. CROWLEY: The question, of course, Mr. President, was guns here. So I need to move us along.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I understand.

MS. CROWLEY: You know, the questions was guns. So let me — let me bring in another —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: But this will make a difference in terms of whether or not we can move this economy forward for these young people —

MS. CROWLEY: I understand.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — and reduce our violence.

MS. CROWLEY: OK. Thank you so much. I want to ask Carol Goldberg to stand up, because she gets to a question that both these men have been passionate about. It’s for Governor Romney.

Q: The outsourcing of American jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy. What plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the United States?

MR. ROMNEY: Boy, great question, an important question, because you’re absolutely right. The place where we’ve seen manufacturing go has been China. China is now the largest manufacturer in the world. Used to be the United States of America. Lot of good people have lost jobs. A half a million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last four years. That’s total over the last four years.

One of the reasons for that is that people think it’s more attractive, in some cases, to go offshore than to — than to stay here. We have made it less attractive for enterprises to stay here than to go offshore from time to time.

What I will do as president is make sure it’s more attractive to come to America again. This is the way we’re going to create jobs in this country. It’s not by trickle-down government saying, we’re going to take more money from people and hire more government workers, raise more taxes, put in place more regulations. Trickle-down government has never worked here, has never worked anywhere. I want to make America the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, for small business, for big business to invest and grow in America.

Now, we’re going to have to make sure that as we trade with other nations, that they play by the rules, and China hasn’t. One of the reasons — or one of the ways they don’t play by the rules is artificially holding down the value of their currency, because if they put their currency down low, that means their prices on their goods are low. And that makes them advantageous in the marketplace. We lose sales, and manufacturers here in the U.S. making the same products can’t compete.

China has been a currency manipulator for years and years and years. And the president has a regular opportunity to — to label them as a — as a currency manipulator but refuses to do so. On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able to put in place, if necessary, tariffs where I believe that they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers.

So we’re going to make sure the people we trade with around the world play by the rules.

But let me — let me not just stop there. Don’t forget: What’s key to bringing back jobs here is not just finding someone else to punish — and — and I’m going to be strict with people who we trade with to make sure they — they follow the law and play by the rules — but it’s also to make America the most attractive place in the world for businesses of all kinds. That’s why I want to bring down the tax rates on small employers, big employers, so they want to be here. Canada’s tax rate on companies is now 15 percent. Ours is 35 percent. So if you’re starting a business, where would you rather start it? We have to be competitive if we’re going to create more jobs here.

Regulations have quadrupled. The rate of regulations quadrupled under this president. I’ve talked to small businesses across the country. They say we feel like we’re under attack from our own government. I want to make sure that regulators see their job as encouraging small business — not crushing it. And there’s no question but that “Obamacare” has been an extraordinary deterrent to enterprises of all kinds hiring people. My priority is making sure that we get more people hired. If we have more people hired, if we get back manufacturing jobs, if we get back all kinds of jobs into this country, then you’re going to see rising incomes again. The reason incomes are down is because unemployment is so high. I know what it takes to get this to happen, and my plan will do that, and one part of it is to make sure that we keep China playing by the rules. Thanks.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, two minutes here because we are then going to go to our last question.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: OK. We need to create jobs here. And both Governor Romney and I agree, actually, that we should lower our corporate tax rate. It’s too high.

But there’s a difference in terms of how we would do it. I want to close loopholes that allow companies to deduct expenses when they move to China, that allow them to profit offshore and not have to get taxed, so they have tax advantages offshore. All those changes in our tax code would make a difference.

Now Governor Romney actually wants to expand those tax breaks. One of his big ideas when it comes to corporate tax reform would be to say, if you invest overseas, you make profits overseas, you don’t have to pay U.S. taxes. But of course if you’re a small business or a mom- and-pop business or a big business starting up here, you’ve got to pay even the reduced rate that Governor Romney’s talking about. And it’s estimated that that will create 800,000 new jobs. Problem is, they’ll be in China or India or Germany. That’s not the way we’re going to create jobs here.

The way we’re going to create jobs here is not just to change our tax code but also to double our exports. And we are on pace to double our exports, one of the commitments I made when I was president. That’s creating tens of thousands of jobs all across the country. That’s why we’ve kept on pushing trade deals but trade deals that make sure that American workers and American businesses are getting a good deal.

Now Governor Romney talked about China. As I already indicated, in the private sector, Governor Romney’s company invested in what were called pioneers of outsourcing. That’s not my phrase; that’s what reporters called it.

And as far as currency manipulation, the currency’s actually gone up 11 percent since I’ve been president because we have pushed them hard. And we’ve put unprecedented trade pressure on China. That’s why exports have significantly increased under my presidency. That’s going to help to create jobs here.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, we have a really short time for a quick discussion here.

IPad, the Macs, the iPhones, they are all manufactured in China, and one of the major reasons is labor is so much cheaper here. How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?

MR. ROMNEY: The answer is very straightforward. We can compete with anyone in the world as long as the playing field is level. China’s been cheating over the years, one, by holding down the value of their currency, number two, by stealing our intellectual property, our designs, our patents, our technology. There’s even an Apple store in China that’s a counterfeit Apple store selling counterfeit goods. They hack into our computers. We will have to have people play on a fair basis. That’s number one.

Number two, we have to make America the most attractive place for entrepreneurs, for people who want to expand a business. That’s what brings jobs in. The president’s characterization of my tax plan —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: How much time (you ?) got, Candy?

MR. ROMNEY: — is complete — is completely — is completely false.

MS. CROWLEY: (Inaudible) — let me go to the —

MR. ROMNEY: Let me tell you —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Wait, wait, wait ?) —

MS. CROWLEY: Let me go to the president here, because we really are running out of time. And the question is can we ever get — we can’t get wages like that. It can’t be sustained here.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Candy, there are some jobs that are not going to come back, because they’re low-wage, low-skill jobs. I want high- wage, high-skill jobs. That’s why we have to emphasize manufacturing. That’s why we have to invest in advanced manufacturing. That’s why we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got the best science and research in the world.

And when we talk about deficits, if we’re adding to our deficit for tax cuts for folks who don’t need them and we’re cutting investments in research and science that will create the next Apple, create the next new innovation that will sell products around the world, we will lose that race. If we’re not training engineers to make sure that they are equipped here in this country, then companies won’t come here. Those investments are what’s going to help to make sure that we continue to lead this world economy not just next year, but 10 years from now, 50 years from now, a hundred years from now.

MS. CROWLEY: Thanks, Mr. President.

Governor Romney —

MR. ROMNEY: Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs. (Chuckles.)

MS. CROWLEY: — but Governor Romney, I want to introduce you to Barry Green, because he’s going to have the last question to you first.

MR. ROMNEY: Barry? Where’s Barry? Hi, Barry.

Q: Hi, Governor. I think this is a tough question. Each of you: What do you believe is the biggest misperception that the American people have about you as a man and a candidate? Using specific examples, can you take this opportunity to debunk that misperception and set us straight?

MR. ROMNEY: Thank you. And that’s an opportunity for me, and I appreciate it. In the nature of a campaign, it seems that some campaigns are focused on attacking a person rather than prescribing their own future and the things they’d like to do. And in the course of that, I think the president’s campaign has tried to characterize me as — as someone who — who is very different than who I am.

I care about a hundred percent of the American people. I want a hundred percent of the American people to have a bright and prosperous future. I care about our kids. I understand what it takes to — to make a bright and prosperous future for America again. I — I spent my life in the private sector, not in government. I’m a guy who wants to help, with the experience I have, the American people.

My — my — my passion probably flows from the fact that I believe in God, and I believe we’re all children of the same God. I believe we have a responsibility to care for one another. I — I served as a missionary for my church. I served as a pastor in my congregation for about 10 years. I’ve sat across the table from people who were — were out of work and worked with them to try and find new work or to help them through tough times. I went to the Olympics when they were in trouble to try and get them on track. And as governor of my state, I was able to get a hundred percent of my people insured — all my kids; about 98 percent of the adults. Was able also to get our schools ranked number one in the nation so a hundred percent of our kids would have a bright opportunity for a future.

I understand that I can get this country on track again. We don’t have to settle for what we’re going through. We don’t have to settle for gasoline at four bucks. We don’t have to settle for unemployment at a — at a chronically high level. We don’t have to settle for 47 million people on food stamps. We don’t have to settle for 50 percent of kids coming out of college not able to get work. We don’t have to settle for 23 million people struggling to find a good job.

If I become president, I’ll get America working again. I will get us on track to a balanced budget. The president hasn’t. I will. I’ll make sure we can reform Medicare and Social Security to preserve them for coming — coming generations. The president said he would. He didn’t.

MS. CROWLEY: Governor —

MR. ROMNEY: I’ll get our incomes up. And by the way, I’ve done these things. I served as governor and showed I could get them done.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, last two minutes belong to you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Barry, I think a lot of this campaign, maybe over the last four years, has been devoted to this notion that I think government creates jobs, that that somehow is the answer. That’s not what I believe.

I believe that the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of prosperity the world’s ever known. I believe in self-reliance and individual initiative and risk-takers being rewarded. But I also believe that everybody should have a fair shot and everybody should do their fair share and everybody should play by the same rules, because that’s how our economy is grown. That’s how we built the world’s greatest middle class.

And — and that is part of what’s at stake in this election. There’s a fundamentally different vision about how we move our country forward. I believe Governor Romney is a good man. He loves his family, cares about his faith.

But I also believe that when he said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country considers themselves victims who refuse personal responsibility — think about who he was talking about: folks on Social Security who’ve worked all their lives, veterans who’ve sacrificed for this country, students who are out there trying to, hopefully, advance their own dreams, but also this country’s dreams, soldiers who are overseas fighting for us right now, people who are working hard every day, paying payroll tax, gas taxes, but don’t make enough income.

And I want to fight for them. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last four years, because if they succeed, I believe the country succeeds.

And when my grandfather fought in World War II and he came back and he got a GI Bill and that allowed him to go to college, that wasn’t a handout. That was something that advanced the entire country, and I want to make sure that the next generation has those same opportunities. That’s why I’m asking for your vote and that’s why I’m asking for another four years.

MS. CROWLEY: President Obama, Governor Romney, thank you for being here tonight. On that note, we have come to an end of this town hall debate. (Applause.) Our thanks to the participants for their time and to the people of Hofstra University for their hospitality. The next and final debate takes place Monday night at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Don’t forget to watch. Election Day is three weeks from today. Don’t forget to vote. Good night.

Richest Person Who Ever Lived is an African King - (Inflation Adjusted)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Yes, you read this headline correctly, the richest human being in history is indeed an African king. According to researchers at Celebrity Net Worth, the 14th century West African king, Mansa Musa I of the Mali had a personal net worth of $400 Billion at the time of his death in 1331. Celebrity Net Worth explained their findings are based upon them adjusting for inflation "For example, $100 million in the year 1913 is equal to $2.299.63 billion in 2012 dollars thanks to the annual rate of inflation of 2199.6%."

Mansa Musa's immense wealth was due his Malian Empire's production and trade of gold and salt. He inherited his empire via his role as deputy of the king, when the previous ruler never returned from an expedition on the Atlantic Ocean. Mansa Musa I, a devout muslim, used some of his wealth to build statuesque mosques that are still standing to this very day and a university in Timbuktu to attract scholars and encourage education.

Legend has it that Mansa Musa I was a generous king who believed in spreading the wealth to the commoners and elders. He put Mali on the map during his hajj/ pilgrimage to Mecca when he gave away gold freely to those he encountered along the way. Within two generations of Mansa Musa's death, his heirs were unable to successfully defend the kingdom from invading conquerors and civil wars and as such, his wealth was lost.

Quick Facts about Mansa Musa I

Catalan Map of Mansa Musa 1375, with translation

Mansa means "king" or "leader."
Mansa Musa I lived from 1280-1331.
Mansa Musa I was a descendant of the Mandingo ruler, Sundiata Keita (Sunjata), who was the founder of the Mali empire.
He ruled West Africa's Malian Empire (modern day Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali).
To manage successfully, his empire was broken into provinces and villages, with each village having a mayor to help manage government.
He was a devout muslim who allowed freedom of religion and occupation.
Mansa Musa I's army guarded the gold mines and also guarded the section of the Trans-Sahara Trade Route that passed by Mali.
He was highly cultured and encouraged education, even building an impressive university in Timbuktu
Mansa Musa brought back from hajj/ pilgrimage an Arabic library, religious scholars, and the Muslim architect al-Sahili, who built the great mosques at Gao and Timbuktu and a royal palace.

Mansa Musa's Mosque of Djenne

Celebrity Net Worth's List of the 25 Richest People in History

#1 Mansa Musa I – Net Worth $400 Billion
#2 The Rothschild Family – Net Worth $350 Billion
#3 John D. Rockefeller – Net Worth $340 Billion
#4 Andrew Carnegie – Net Worth $310 Billion
#5 Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov – Net Worth $300 Billion
#6 Mir Osman Ali Khan – Net Worth $230 billion
#7 William The Conqueror – Net Worth $229.5 Billion
#8 Muammar Gaddafi – Net Worth $200 Billion
#9 Henry Ford – Net Worth $199 Billion
#10 Cornelius Vanderbilt – Net Worth $185 Billion
#11 Alan Rufus – $178.65 billion
#12 Bill Gates – Net Worth $136 Billion
#13 William de Warenne – Net Worth $147.13 Billion
#14 John Jacob Astor – Net Worth $121 Billion
#15 Richard Fitzalan 10th Earl of Arundel – Net Worth $118.6 Billion
#16 John of Gaunt – Net Worth $110 Billion
#17 Stephen Girard – Net Worth $105 Billion
#18 A.T. Stewart – Net Wort $90 Billion
#19 Henry Duke of Lancaster – Net Worth $85.1 Billion
#20 Friedrich Weyerhauser – Net Worth $80 Billion
#21 Jay Gould – Net Worth $71 Billion
#22 Carlos Slim Helu – Net Worth $68 Billion
#22 Stephen Van Rensselaer – Net Worth $68 Billion
#23 Marshall Field – Net Worth $66 Billion
#24 Sam Walton – Net Worth $65 Billion
#25 Warren Buffett – Net Worth $64 Billion

Feedback From Nina Simone's Daughter Regarding Controversial Biopic

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:43:00 +0000

With the growing controversy regarding the upcoming Nina Simone biopic, Ms. Simone's daughter, Simone gives her feedback, penning an open letter on her mother's website.

Here you go:

Simone responds to casting of Zoe Saldana in biopic

Greetings Nina Simone Lovers, Simone here.

I have read many of the comments am happy you all took the time to share your thoughts and feelings.

Here’s mine:

When the announcement initially hit the press with MJ Blige cast as Nina (about 6 yrs ago) I heard it along with everyone else. The story was written as a love story between my mother and her former nurse, Clifton Henderson and primarily takes place during the last 8 years of her life.

Please note, this project is unauthorized. The Nina Simone Estate was never asked permission nor invited to participate.

I have seen many names regarding who you think should play the role of Nina. Remember Angela Bassett as Tina Turner? SHE NAILED IT! Angela Bassett is an ACTRESS! And, we all know she lip synced along with Tina and did an amazing job. Personally, I prefer an actress to a singer. Just because a person is great at one does not mean they will be great at the other. If written, funded and CAST PROPERLY a movie about my mother will make an lasting imprint.

My vision of a movie about my mother includes SO many pivotal moments that are monumentally important towards relaying the journey of a woman whose journey began as a child prodigy born in North Carolina in the 1930′s…too many to list here but, trust when I say the tale will inspire through the sheer sharing of HOW Eunice Waymon became Nina Simone, The High Priestess Of Soul renowned worldwide. How many of you know my mother’s FIRST love was classical music? Do you know the hours she practiced preparing to audition for the Curtis Institute of Music only to be rejected because of the color of her skin?

**After my mother made her transition I accepted a diploma from that very same institute with a speech she began writing but was unable to finish prior to her death.**

As a child, my mother was told her nose was too big and she was too dark yet she graduated valedictorian of her high school class – The Allen School for Girls – AND, skipped two grades. Nina was one of the most outspoken, prolifically gifted artists using the stage to speak out against racism during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960′s. Her friends included Betty Shabazz, Lorraine Hansberry (my godmother), Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Miriam Makeba, Stokely Carmichael, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings and Queens worldwide.

Had she become a classical pianist, which was her dream….shattered, I doubt she would have found her true destiny. Nina Simone was a voice for her people and she spoke out HONESTLY, sang to us FROM HER SOUL, shared her joy, pain, anger and intelligence poetically in a style all her own.

My mother stood up for justice, by any means necessary hahahaha YES, she was a revolutionary til the day she died. From Tragedy to Transcendence – MY VISION. The whole arc of her life which is inspirational, educational, entertaining and downright shocking at times is what needs to be told THE RIGHT WAY.

By the way:

Clifton Henderson was gay. He was not attracted to women. So, the truth is…Nina Simone and Clifton Henderson NEVER had a relationship other than a business one.

Please correct me, but isn’t a biopic the story of one’s life?

I have faith things will work out the right way and my mother’s real story will be told. For all she endured while here and all of the lives she has touched, she DESERVES to be remembered for who she truly was; not some made up love story from a former nurse/manager (now deceased) who sold his life rights because of his relationship to Nina Simone.

Ciao Y’All….Simone

More African-American Men Currently in Prison System than Were Enslaved Pre-Civil War

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:55:00 +0000

via Jeremiah Adebayo @ http://my.opera.com/diplomat2009/blog/

Law professor and author, Michelle Alexander spoke with concerned citizens in Pasadena, California about her bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and the staggering number of African-American men who are caught up in the for-profit, American prison system. This comes at a significant cost to the African-American community. Many of these men have felony convictions and lose their voting rights, have children and aren't allowed to partake in many economic and educational opportunities. From elections to employment to education, these men are disenfranchised. America is the land of opportunity, but it is also the land of the highest incarceration rate in the world!

via Prison Culture, http://www.usprisonculture.com/

“More African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began,” Michelle Alexander told a standing room only house at the Pasadena Main Library this past Wednesday, the first of many jarring points she made in a riveting presentation.

Alexander, currently a law professor at Ohio State, had been brought in to discuss her year-old bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Interest ran so high beforehand that the organizers had to move the event to a location that could accommodate the eager attendees. That evening, more than 200 people braved the pouring rain and inevitable traffic jams to crowd into the library’s main room, with dozens more shuffled into an overflow room, and even more latecomers turned away altogether. Alexander and her topic had struck a nerve.

Growing crime rates over the past 30 years don’t explain the skyrocketing numbers of black — and increasingly brown — men caught in America’s prison system, according to Alexander, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun after attending Stanford Law. “In fact, crime rates have fluctuated over the years and are now at historical lows.”

“Most of that increase is due to the War on Drugs, a war waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color,” she said, even though studies have shown that whites use and sell illegal drugs at rates equal to or above blacks. In some black inner-city communities, four of five black youth can expect to be caught up in the criminal justice system during their lifetimes"

Hip Hop Meets Politics: Rhymefest Still Aiming for Role as Alderman in Chicago's 20th Ward

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:22:00 +0000

In what is turning out to be an landmark year for politics in the Midwest, Grammy-award winning rapper Che "Rhymefest" Smith is running for a seat on Chicago's City Council as Alderman of the 20th Ward.

Smith has pledged to give up a portion of his aldermanic salary for loans to bring business to the poverty-stricken area, as well as cleaning up the empty lots and neighborhood. Smith says "Let's start a 20th Ward renaissance," and that he's going to enlist the help of fellow Chicagoans Kanye West and Common to open businesses.

The homegrown Chicagoan who already has the gained ear of Chicago's youth via his music, has also garnered the support of the powerful Chicago Teachers' Union and even the brilliant Dr. Cornel West.

Yesterday Mr. Smith received 20% of the vote, which gives him enough leverage to battle incumbent Alderman Willie Cochran in an April 5th runoff. Incumbent, Mr. Cochran, received 46% of the votes, he needed 50% to be declared the winner.

“A lot of people didn’t vote for Cochran. People want change, and those who voted for Andre and George Davis will join up with me for change,” Che Smith said. “I’m having a revolution of love. We want the 20th Ward to be a village again," Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Besides being a successful musician, Smith has attended Columbia College and Purdue University, served as a substitute teacher and youth counselor, as well as supported organizations such as The Happiness Club and Cabrini Connections.

The Co-writer of "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West, is no stranger to politics though. He has previously appeared before US Congress as an advocate for the entertainment industry, in addition to meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and discussing the impact the hip hop community can have on politics and social activism.

Nigeria Labour Congress Protests Union Bank of Nigeria's Anti-Labour Practices,While Shareholders File Suit Against the Executive Management

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:04:00 +0000

Many Employees of the Union Bank of Nigeria are fed up with what they say are oppressive, anti-labour practices that treats them like slaves. The National Labour Congress (NLC) acted on this disenchantment by picketing and literally shutting down several branches of Union Bank of Nigeria.

Simultaneously, Union Bank's shareholders are taking action by filing a lawsuit against the Managing Director of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mrs Funke Osibodu. The shareholders allege that Mrs. Osibodu and her colleagues are engaged in corruption, using the bank's funding for their personal benefit to the shareholders and bank's detriment.

Unfortunately, the customers who have money in the Union Bank of Nigeria are unable to access their much needed money and caught in the middle of what could be an important turning point in workers' rights in Nigeria.

MANY customers of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, who thronged the branches of the bank on Wednesday to transact business, were helpless as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) continued its picketing of the branches of the bank across the country.

The NLC took over all the branches and offices of Union Bank in Abuja on Wednesday, sealed them off, switched off their sources of power and chased out the few staff who were on duty.

As early as 8.00 a.m., officials of the NLC led their members in what the congress described as a final showdown and complete closure of the bank and instantly commenced the picketing from the bank’s headquarters in Area 3, Abuja.

Other branches of the bank picketed included those of Area 10, Area 8, Maitama, Wuse and Bullet House and the Three Arms Zone.

All the branches and offices were sealed off, locked with chains and padlock, while customers who wanted to withdraw money waited in vain.

A customer, Mr Mike Ahamba, who spoke on behalf of other customers at the Area 3 branch, regretted that the NLC came to seal off and took control of the bank without alerting the customers to the picketing.

He explained that he had come to the bank to collect money for his children to go back to school and for his needs, but regretted that the situation had really affected him and his household.

He said: “I am a civil servant, and I have an account in this bank. The situation is affecting me seriously. My children are at home and they cannot go back to their schools. Since last week, I can’t get my money.

“The approach is wrong, they should have informed us. Now, I have no money to spend at home. We are pleading and calling on the NLC to adopt another approach. They are supposed to take another step. I have been coming here everyday, I was here on Monday, and now today, but I cannot get my money.”

He pleaded that the NLC should call the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to intervene in the issue rather than making life difficult for the customers.

Nigerian Tribune investigation also showed that the workers of the bank were in support of the NLC action.

As both shareholders and NLC aim for reform, Union Bank's management takes a firm postion and this could end up being a long resolution process...

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Operations, Information Technology and Services of Union Bank Plc, Mr Shonubi Adebisi, has declared that the picketing by NLC has plunged the bank into yet to be quantified huge losses, despite every effort made by the bank to engage in dialogue with the labour on ways to resolve the crisis.

Adebisi said this on Wednesday, while briefing newsmen of the impact of the picketing on the bank.

In a related development, the Managing Director of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mrs Funke Osibodu, has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice B.I. Molokwu, to strike out a suit filed against her and others by some aggrieved shareholders of the bank, over an alleged reckless spending, saying that the shareholders lacked locus standi to institute the action.

The shareholders, led by the national coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Nwosu Nnamdi , had filed the case, accusing Osibodu and others of expending the funds of the bank for their personal benefit to the detriment of the bank and its shareholders.

They also alleged that Mrs Osibodu and others appointed on the board of the bank by the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi, had been running the affairs of the bank in an illegal and oppressive manner, to the prejudice of shareholders and contrary to the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Union Bank.

The shareholders, in a case instituted by their counsel, Onyebuchi Aniakor, also listed Musa Gella Yakubu, Adekunle Adeosun, Philip Ikeazor, Ibrahim Kwargana, Folashodun Shonubi, Mansur Ahmed, Ahmadu Abubakar, Onikepo Akande, Ibrahim Gobir, Onajite Okoloko, Festus Odimegwu, Olusegun Olusanya and Cosmas Udofot, all as co-respondents.

However, in a joint preliminary objection, Osibodu and others submitted that the shareholders lacked locus standi to institute the action, adding that the suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action against them.

Source: Nigerian Tribune
Photo: Nigeria Daily News

Movers & Shakers: Desiree Rogers Discusses Her New Role at Johnson Publishing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:11:00 +0000

Unless you live under a rock, you probably know of Chicago power-broker, socialite and personal friend of the Obamas, Desiree Rogers. Before she filled the role as White House Social Secretary, Rogers was already a very accomplished woman with a more-than-impressive resume. Now she can add her new role as CEO of Johnson Publishing Co. to the list.

One year after leaving her job as White House social secretary, Desiree Rogers is back on the party-hosting circuit, this time with a new agenda.

White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers poses for portrait in the Green Room of the White House in Washington D.C., March 4, 2009.

Rogers in August was named chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Co., owner of Ebony and Jet magazines and Fashion Fair cosmetics. As the new public face of the brands, the New Orleans native has been hosting cocktail receptions, dinner parties and events in New York, Chicago and, this week, here, clinking glasses and creating buzz for the magazines and for a new Ebony Fashion Fair retrospective clothing exhibit at Macy’s stores.
“Who knew my time at the White House would prepare me to take on this role?” said Rogers, who left Washington last February with a track record filled with both successes (the much-praised White House music series) and scandals (wannabe reality TV stars crashing a state dinner).

On the phone one recent afternoon from Johnson headquarters in snowed-in Chicago, Rogers called her new position a “perfect fit.”
“I enjoy business and the creative process involved in the magazines and, of course, the social aspect. And I’m getting to do it with my best friend.”

Johnson Publishing, the nation’s largest African-American-owned media company, was founded by John Johnson in 1942. His daughter and Rogers’ friend, Linda Johnson Rice, is chairwoman.

The Macy’s exhibit, “For the Love of Color,” honors the legacy of Rice’s mother, Eunice Johnson, founder of the Ebony Fashion Fair, a series of traveling runway shows. The exhibit will be on display from Thursday through Monday at the Macy’s at Lakeside Shopping Center. Rogers will host an opening reception on Thursday at the Metairie store.
Eunice Johnson, who died last year at 93, moved in elite fashion circles. Rogers does as well.

In some ways, the exhibit feels like a passing of the torch.

Source

Fun fact about Desiree Rogers:
Ms. Rogers grew up in New Orleans 7th ward, reigned Queen of Zulu (Mardi Gras) and is the daughter of the late Roy Glapion a former New Orleans City Councilman who reigned as King of Zulu (Mardi Gras) posthumously.

Fabrice Armand & NYC Young Professionals Host "Haiti Cherie" Soiree to Benefit Haiti's Grace International

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:42:00 +0000

Fabrice Armand & Keenyah Hill

Prince Kunle Omilana and Princess Keisha Omilana

Angellika Morton


D'Isabella Lee, Fabrice Armand, Kwame Jackson, Calcie Cooper

Although it’s been over a year since Haiti endured a devastating earthquake, do-gooders like the NYC Young Professionals and philanthropist Fabrice Armand continue to raise awareness and offer Haitians much needed support by presenting the “Haiti Cherie: Pride, Love, Commitment” benefit in support of Grace International, Inc and the tent camp of Grace Village.

An impressive collection of guests ranging from African royalty to socialites, philanthropists, media personalities and high-powered executives gathered at the soiree celebrating not only the Haitian people’s resilience, but also to celebrate organizer, philanthropist and native son of Haiti Fabrice Armand’s birthday.

NBC's DeMarco Morgan was the Master of Ceremonies and notable guests at the soiree included: Nigerian Prince Kunle Omilana and Princess Keisha Omilana; Keenyah Hill, America’s Next Top Model; Musician, Tiga Jean Baptiste; Plus Size Model, Angellika Morton; Publicist and Socialite, BJ Coleman and Stylist, Alexa Winner, Apprentice contestant & Krimson by Kwame Founder, Kwame Jackson, to name a few.

To RESCUE, RELIEVE and RESTORE Haiti, is Grace International’s mission and they act on this mission by providing healthcare, education, feeding programs, and empowered living to Haitians in need. Grace Village, the base of the organizations work is located in Port au Prince in Carrefour County. Grace Village is Port au Prince’s second largest tent camp, with over 25,000 residents. Efforts are being made by Grace International to resettle many of these residents and create small communities that model holistic, industrious and sustainable living.

“Grace International is doing amazing work to bring a sense of normalcy to the lives of the more than 25,000 people who reside at Grace Village. I’m proud that we were able to raise awareness and support for the great work that they do,” said Fabrice Armand, Organizer of Haiti Cherie.

Haiti Cherie also raised funds by having a fabulous raffle contest & a silent auction for guests to bid on as they sipped Hennessey Privilege and Given Liquer. Some of the auction items available were a sunset cocktail cruise for two for 4 days, 3 nights all-inclusive sponsored by the Barbados Tourism Authority; a photo shoot with celebrity photo journalist, Kimberly Butler; autographed works by Shari Belafonte and by Maurizio Fiorini; and a shirt and tie by B. Oyama; Hank Aaron autographed baseball, an autographed copy of Wyatt Gallery’s Tent Life: Haiti, B. Braxton gift certificates and much more.

A gorgeous crowd, giving back & a good time is the perfect recipe for a great event!

Find out the various ways you can help Grace Village at:

Grace International Inc.

Tiga Jean Baptiste

BJ Coleman and Briana Bigham

Alexa Winner and Guest

Claire Sulmers and Fabrice Armand

Conner Cakes & Catering

Mike "Mancini" McConnell and DJ CEO

Phylicia Fant, Fabrice Armand, Candice Cook, Esq and Guest

Trevor Julien, Fabrice Armand, David Zelikovsky

Given Liquer Models

Mike Muse and Guest

Latoya Henry and Fabrice Armand

Guest and Emelyn Stuart

Guests

DeMarco Morgan, Fabrice Armand, Nkrumah Pierre

"Haiti Cherie's" Host Committee:
Yahve Alcinay; Kevin Alexander, Partner, Planet PR; Fabrice Armand; Yves Aubry; Tamar Bazin; Kelly Arrington Booker, Esq.; Meron Bravo, Founder, Bravo Globe; Marcia Cole, Founder, Amber Magazine; Alejandro Clabiorne; Sarah Clarkson; BJ Coleman, Coleman Entertainment Group; Candice Cook, Esq.; Calcie Cooper; John Dabu; Barbara Delaleu; Jeffrey Dessources; Diana Dessources, Esq.; Will “Nook” DuBose, CEO, DuBose Design; Sheila Gaillard; Dr. Gary Grant; Latoya Henry; Keenyah Hill, America’s Next Top Model; Andrea Hoffman, Diversity Affluence; Kwame Jackson, Krimson by Kwame; Demetria Lucas, Essence; John Magzalcioglu, Diamond Club International; Anne-Marie Martinez; Busie Matsiko, Executive Director, The Global Syndicate; Dr. Aletha Maybank; Michael “Mancini” McConnell; Myrdith Leon McCormack; DeMarco Morgan, WNBC New York; Mackenten Petion, President, RINY Media; Nkrumah Pierre; Arlene Pitterson; Jacques Philippe Piverger, Founder, The Global Syndicate; Diallo Shabazz; Brian Simon, Deputy Chief of Staff, Senator Gillibrand; Shana Stephenson, Marquee Matchups; Claire Sulmers, The Fashion Bomb; Cassandre Theano, Esq.; Alexa Winner, CEO, Alexa Winner Inc.; David Zelikovsky, Fund Art Now

Find out the various ways you can help Grace Village at:
Grace International Inc.

South Sudan Overwhelmingly Votes for Secession from North, Gains Independence

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Year 2011 seems to be starting off as a "year of change" for Africans.The war-torn and oil dependent country of Sudan will undergo significant changes this year amid the results of a landslide vote from South Sudan to secede from the north. Southern Sudan is jubilant over the outcome of gaining its independence after enduring genocide, oppression and slavery under the regime of wanted war-crimes criminal President Omar Al-Bashir and the Khartoum government. Salva Kiir the President of Government of Southern Sudan urged the Sudanese people to be patient until their independence becomes official on July 9th.

"This is our day for freedom. We are ready to celebrate all night long," Santino Machar, a student, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Official figures released on Monday showed that 98.83 per cent of voters from the south chose to secede from the north.

The results, displayed at an announcement ceremony in Khartoum, revealed that out of 3,837,406 valid ballots cast, only 44,888 votes, or 1.17 per cent, favoured the status quo of unity with the north.

The event in the Sudanese capital was attended by Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, and Salva Kiir, the southern leader.

"Today we received these results and we accept and welcome these results because they represent the will of the southern people," al-Bashir said on state television.

"But we are committed to the links between the north and the south, and we are committed to good relations based on co-operation."

His comments reflect the economic dependence between the two: southern Sudan, which is rich in oil, cannot export its oil resources without using a pipeline that runs through the north.

The January 9-15 vote came six years after north and south Sudan ended a civil war spanning more than two decades, which left at least two million people dead.

It has been seen as the climax of the 2005 peace deal, which set out to reunite the country and instill democracy.

A formal declaration of independence will be made on 9 July.

Look for more follow up on Sudan and how you can help!

Source

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams: The Father of Heart Surgery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Watch this video excerpt about the history of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams is the Official Father of Open Heart / Cardiac Surgery

What you should know...

On January 23, 1891 Daniel Hale Williams helped establish the interracial hospital, Provident Hospital and Training School Association; where he trained black nurses and employed doctors of all races.
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams is the first person to perform an open-heart surgery.
Dr. Williams was also the first surgeon to open the chest cavity successfully without the patient dying of infection
On July 9, 1893, Dr. Williams successfully performed open heart surgery on a young Black man named James Cornish, who was injured in a bar fight and stabbed in the chest with a knife.
51 days later James Cornish walked out of Dr. Williams' Provident Hospital fully recovered and went on to live another 50 years.
He was known for his professionalism and insistence on upstanding sanitation and operating procedures
In 1902, he performed another breakthrough operation, successfully suturing a patient's spleen
Williams' Provident Hospital had an 87% success rate in its first year of operation.

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams other notable facts & achievements are:

Lived from 1/18/1856 to 8/4/1931
Live in Pennsylvania & Annapolis, Maryland before relocating to the Midwest to Wisconsin, then Illinois.
When he moved to Janesville, WI as a young man, he became fascinated with a local physician and decided to follow his path. He began working as an apprentice for 2 years to the physician, Dr. Henry Palmer.
1880 he entered what is now known as Northwestern University Medical School in Illinois
In 1883, he opened his own medical office in Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Williams became a surgeon on the staff of the South Side Dispensary
He was a clinical instructor in anatomy at Northwestern University
1889 he was appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health
In February 1894, Daniel Hale Williams was appointed as Chief Surgeon at the Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C.
When the American Medical Association refused to accept Black members, Williams helped to set up and served as Vice-President of the National Medical Association.
Dr. Williams received honorary degrees from Howard and Wilberforce Universities
He is a charter member of the American College of Surgeons and was a member of the Chicago Surgical Society.

So, the next time you read some ridiculous article about how people of African descent are genetically and intellectually inferior, how we've never made significant contributions to civilization ... remember Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.

Sources:
http://www.blackinventor.com
http://www.providentfoundation.org

Egypt's Modern Day Revolution is Demanding Change

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:33:00 +0000

Keep a watchful eye on the ongoing protests, a Modern Day Revolution in Egypt. Protesters have taken to the streets to protest the rule of President Muburak, whom they consider a dictator.

There comes a time when people simply become fed up with being mistreated, abused, taken for granted and/or disrespected. At some point, one has to stand up for his or her self and DEMAND change; whether it's from a mate, family member or the government.

Americans can actually learn something from these Egyptian civilians. Modern-day American's are hoping and asking for change, instead of DEMANDING change (I'll touch on this in a later post) like the Egyptians and Tunisians are.

I hope people of other African nations on the Great Continent and beyond who are under dictatorships and/or oppression rise up and demand change and fair treatment.

We can all dream... Can't we?

GIFSoup

Stay Aware by watching the Al Jazeera live stream of the current events:click here

or here on LiveStation for live streams from other various foriegn media channels.

We're Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Hello Everyone!! Society Noir is happy to say that it become active again. It has been two years since our last post, which was about President Barack Obama's Inauguration.

For a while, I had been going back and forth on whether I should continue publishing Society Noir, as well as the purpose it can & should serve. Not to be a "Debbie Downer,"but as I observed the African diaspora these past two years (especially here in America) it has become painfully clear that mainstream media just refuses to proportionately and objectively cover Black America, the black diaspora and Africa.

So, we're back in action. Look forward to Society Noir still covering charitable causes, the upscale lifestyle, events, black socialites,and business profiles. But also look forward to more serious discussions about our global society, politics and resolutions to the ills in our diaspora.

Happy New Year!

Barack Obama Officially Becomes President of the USA

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:41:00 +0000

The Most Powerful Man in the World is a Black Man

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

(Please View for Inauguration stream)

The sweetest day in history is upon us people. Barack Obama is the first African-American to become President of the United States of America. President Obama, his beautiful wife, First Lady Michele and children Malia and Sasha will hold a special place in the hearts of blacks around the world, I believe, until the day we die. What this means to us is indescribable. Many of our relatives and friends within the last century have endured unspeakable acts and dedicated as well as, sacrificed their lives to bring about this moment in time. Children from around the world, whether their American, Iraqi, Rwandan, Haitian or Tibetan realize that they are worthy of happiness and respect, that they are capable of greatness. Self-esteem and morale is bubbling over.

I feel like the angels are singing today. My ancestors, our African ancestors are smiling.

Movers & Shakers Gather in the Hamptons to Support Evidence, A Dance Company

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:58:00 +0000

Ronald K. Brown (artistic director) and Reginald Canal of HSBC (and Evidence Board Member).

Bernard Hampton Jackson III, Esq. Judge Bernard Jackson II and Nia Gandy of HYT ME

Nadja Bellen-White, VP/Dir, Marketing for Publicis Modem and friends.

Author/Producer Crystal McCrary Anthony, Reginald Van Lee (Chair of Evidence and Partner at Booz Allen Hamilton) and guests

(Photos: Margot Jordan)

The Brooklyn-based Evidence, A Dance Company held their 5th annual summer fundraiser "On Our Toes" in the Hamptons last week at Nova's Ark Sculputure Park. The annual benefit was held to support community outreach activities and educational programs for performing arts enthusiasts of all ages. Highly regarded choreographer and Artistic Director Ronald K. Brown founded Evidence in 1985 and the company tours across the U.S. and abroad 25 – 30 weeks a year.

Numerous prominent philanthropists, celebrities and senior executives of the African-American community were all smiles and looked summer chic as they supported the worthy cause. "On Our Toes" was initiated by Evidence Board Chair, Reginald Van Lee of Booz Allen Hamilton and Susan Taylor, former editorial director of Essence Magazine. This summer's Honorary Chair was writer, producer and activist Crystal McCrary Anthony and TV personality René Syler was the mistress of ceremonies.

Evidence patrons contributed $500 each and enjoyed a cocktail reception, dance performance and a "Dancing with the Dancers" after-party. "On Our Toes" notable sponsors included: HSBC Premier, 10 Cane Rum, Pfizer, Verizon, Bloomberg, Sony OLED, Banyan Tree Mayakoba Residencies, Booz Allen Hamilton, Continental Airlines, Emily and Ashley, Hamptons.com, Dr. N. V. Perricone, The Ark Project, Tiffany & Co. and UPTOWN magazine.

If you missed out on this fabulous charitable event, not to worry, Evidence will be hosting its other major fundraiser: Winter Gala in Manhattan on February 3, 2009 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel.
Special thanks to Andrea Hoffman!!
View my post from Winter Gala 2008

Barack Obama's Moment in History

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:29:00 +0000

His positive energy is so contagious and morale in the black community is at an all time high...All I can say is WOW! This is one for the history books...

Michelle Obama's Speech @ the DNC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:39:00 +0000

Future First Lady, Michelle Obama, gave a speech on behalf of her husband, Barack, last night in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. I'll sum Michelle, the cute little girls and her speech up in one word...AUTHENTIC!

Back to the Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:05:00 +0000

View from my terrace.

I know, I know...it's been a while since my last post. I sincerely appreciate the updates you've sent me and I'll belatedly share them with the readers. This summer was truly a whirl-wind experience!

It started off with business trips to the Hamptons.

Engaging in community service with my daughter as we had a great time joining Miami artist and studio owner, Addonis Parker, politicians and other volunteers in painting a mural on the MLK overpass.

Next, it was off to Paris with my hubby,where we hung out at our usual spots: Le Meurice, Hotel Costes, enjoyed scrumptious tarts at La Duree, enjoyed nightcaps at George V and mingled with french socialites during Sunday Brunch at Tajan.

But my special treat for this trip was the discovery of Paris' Drouot, the ultra popular auction center with multitudes of auctions ranging from medieval artifacts to vintage Hermes bags. Drouot averages around 15,000 visitors a day, if you're a serious shopper then this is a must-see!

Most of our summer was spent wheelin' & dealin' as we spent time traveling and yachting.

We ended our traveling spree with a trip to NYC, where we took our daughter to Broadway's Hairspray, had a tea party at The Plaza and rode the rickshaws (she loves NYC ). As usual we had: a yummy brunch at Sara Beth's on the Upper East Side, a solid shopping fix at Herve Leger and Giuseppe Zanotti, delicious meals at Les Halles and Mario Batali's Lupa and visited St. Regis, in addition to engaging in deep conversations over nightcaps at the Waldorf Astoria.

So, now it's finally back to our terrace in Miami Beach, where we gaze at the ocean and shape of the earth (literally)... I swear this is the best place in the world!

Michelle Obama on Colbert Report

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:55:00 +0000

The future 1st Lady was on the hilariaous "Colbert Report" last night and was fabulous. This sista from Chi-Town is no joke! I love the statement she made about "4 spoons" in this clip. She's incredibly elegant, intelligent and gorgeous. Michelle Obama represented black women flawlessly!

Vintage Music Mondays: Nice& Wild's"Diamond Girl"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Diamond Girl was my JAM back in the day!! Here in Miami this song is a local radio favorite and every time I hear it I remember the skating rink sessions with my friends jam skating! Thank God, guys don't dress and wear their hair like this anymore (well Prince still does).