President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush greet president-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Monday at the White House.



How Sweet is that



WASHINGTON — In a rite of passage marking the first steps in the transition to a new administration, President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama met at the White House Monday in what a Bush spokesperson called a "tone of cooperation."
Bush and First Lady Laura Bush greeted Obama, and his wife, Michelle, at the South Portico, also known as the diplomatic entrance, of the White House. The Obamas arrived 11 minutes early.


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"Good to see you," the First Lady said. Obama replied, "thank you so much."

Presumably referring to the chilly weather, the president-elect also told the First Couple: "You both look autumnal."


The first lady and Michelle Obama were taking a tour of the residence, with particular emphasis on where the two Obama children will be living when the new president moves in on Jan. 20.

Obama, who has never been in the Oval Office, was meeting one-on-one with Bush during the 90-minute visit in a "tone of cooperation," despite sharp attacks on the president's record during the campaign, said White House spokesperson Dana Perino.

Perino referred to the transition as "critically important," because of the ailing economy and the continuing threat of a terrorist attack.

The traditional get-acquainted ritual follows a long, bitter presidential campaign in which Obama hammered the "failed policies" of the Bush administration.

Perino dismissed worries that such political attacks might chill their meeting. Bush lets those things "slide off his back" and "just lets those things go."

Bush and Obama have political differences, but are proceeding with a "tone of cooperation" and a "spirit of partnership" when it comes to the overall running of the government, she said. "They both love their country equally," Perino said.

Bush, in remarks to the outgoing executive staff, said last week it was time to put politics aside and ensure a smooth transition to the new administration.

Obama, who left for Washington from Chicago Monday after taking his two daughters to school, said last week that he planned to meet with Bush "with a spirit of bipartisanship, and a sense that both the president and various leaders of Congress all recognize the severity of the situation right now and want to get stuff done.

Perino said there will also be a separate meeting between White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and John Podesta, who is heading Obama's transition team.

Bolten said he was sure that Bush and Obama "will have a list of issues to go down."

"But I think that's something very personal to both of them," Bolten said on C-SPAN in an interview with The Associated Press and The Washington Post. "I know the president will want to convey to President-elect Obama his sense of how to deal with some of the most important issues of the day. But exactly how he does that, I don't know, and I don't think anybody will know."

Meanwhile, Obama's aides were off and running, prodding Congress to act quickly on new federal aid to the middle class, the devastated auto industry and people facing high energy bills.

"The American people, right now, need help economically," incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos.


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In a series of interviews Sunday, Emanuel and Podesta said the president-elect has a set of priorities on which he wants quick action. They include:

• A stimulus plan to boost the economy by extending unemployment benefits, helping states provide health insurance and creating jobs by building roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

• Help for the auto industry, which is reeling from the financial crisis. Emanuel also said the current administration can rush the spending of a $25 billion loan package to help companies retool their factories to develop more fuel-efficient cars.

• Repealing some of President Bush's more controversial executive orders, including those restricting federal money for embryonic stem cell research and making certain public lands in Utah available for oil and gas drilling, Podesta told Fox News Sunday.

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action," Podesta said.

Perino said every new administration makes policy changes. She said Bush's orders "are in the best interest of the nation."


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Emanuel said Obama would follow through on the new economic plan that he pledged during the campaign. That includes repealing Bush's tax cuts for wealthier people while providing new tax cuts for middle-class and working families who face higher bills for energy, education and health care, he said.

Obama's "tax plan is a net tax reduction," he told CBS' Face The Nation.

Contributing: Fredreka Schouten in McLean, Va.

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Comments: (616)Showing: Newest first Oldest first

changeforever wrote: 58m ago
Kate wrote: <1m ago
apbadogs wrote: <1m ago
You know why America is such a great country and will continue to be? Where else can you openly (well, behind a computer but you could be found) call the sitting president by whatever name you want (Chimp, Shrub, Dumbya, Loser, on and on...) without fear of repercussion?
**************
Except if Obama is referred to as a Chimp. Then it will be called racism.
-----------------------
Black men and women have been called worse YA KNOW!





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apbadogs wrote: 58m ago
JW Goethe wrote: 12m ago
In the pic it's odd to see a Pres elect with a Sox cap, North Face jacket and Nike pants on. I've never seen that before.
****************************
He's so dreamy!


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Kate wrote: 58m ago
perfect.angel wrote: 1m ago
Kate wrote: <1m ago
Perfect Angel - Back with a new name I see.
Is you avatar Obama with a hair-piece?
****************************************
Kate I told you that you don't exist to me so, focus else where.
**********
Aha. I thought so. Kicked off, were you?


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B in Illinois wrote: 58m ago
MEANWHILE, the hidden $140 BILLION dollar gift to Banks from BUSH in connection with the Bail-out, only noticed recently by experts--see this excerpt from an article today in the Washington Post:

" A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks
With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy

By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 10, 2008; Page A01

The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.

But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.

The sweeping change to two decades of tax policy escaped the notice of lawmakers for several days, as they remained consumed with the controversial bailout bill. When they found out, some legislators were furious. Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin.

"Did the Treasury Department have the authority to do this? I think almost every tax expert would agree that the answer is no," said George K. Yin, the former chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the nonpartisan congressional authority on taxes. "They basically repealed a 22-year-old law that Congress passed as a backdoor way of providing aid to banks."

The story of the obscure provision underscores what critics in Congress, academia and the legal profession warn are the dangers of the broad authority being exercised by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. in addressing the financial crisis. Lawmakers are now looking at whether the new notice was introduced to benefit specific banks, as well as whether it inappropriately accelerated bank takeovers.

The change to Section 382 of the tax code -- a provision that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers -- came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists.

Andrew C. DeSouza, a Treasury spokesman, said the administration had the legal authority to issue the notice as part of its power to interpret the tax code and provide legal guidance to companies. He described the Sept. 30 notice, which allows some banks to keep more money by lowering their taxes, as a way to help financial institutions during a time of economic crisis. "This is part of our overall effort to provide relief," he said.

The Treasury itself did not estimate how much the tax change would cost, DeSouza said.

A Tax Law 'Shock'

The guidance issued from the IRS caught even some of the closest followers of tax law off guard because it seemed to come out of the blue when Treasury's work seemed focused almost exclusively on the bailout.

"It was a shock to most of the tax law community. It was one of those things where it pops up on your screen and your jaw drops," said Candace A. Ridgway, a partner at Jones Day, a law firm that represents banks that could benefit from the notice. "I've been in tax law for 20 years, and I've never seen anything like this."

More than a dozen tax lawyers interviewed for this story -- including several representing banks that stand to reap billions from the change -- said the Treasury had no authority to issue the notice.

Several other tax lawyers, all of whom represent banks, said the change was legal. Like DeSouza, they said the legal authority came from Section 382 itself, which says the secretary can write regulations to "carry out the purposes of this section." "


MORE ILLEGALITY from an ILLEGAL ADMINISTRATION. And you thought these guys didn't believe in CORPORATE WELFARE????? THIS TAKES THE CAKE. Banks laughing their way "to the bank." More of the same, eh??

Obama: PLEASE step in and REVOKE THIS as soon as you come into office. It turns the stomach just to think about it.