Why hasn't President Obama been able to accomplish more in his first year in office? It really comes down to one simple fact: A few Senate Democrats behave more like Republicans.

Take the public option: overwhelmingly popular among the public, and passed months ago in the House. But then, thwack, it ran into a brick wall in the Senate, when a handful of obstructionist conservative Democrats threatened a filibuster.1

It's happened over and over again. The President's plan to avert millions of looming foreclosures sailed through the House, but then, thwack, it hit the wall.2 Same thing with his new agency to protect consumers from greedy Wall Street banks: thwack, into the wall.3

Well, suddenly we have a chance to tear down that wall! One of the worst Democratic Senators, Blanche Lincoln from Arkansas, is now facing a very serious primary challenge from Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.

In less than 24 hours since his campaign announcement, grassroots progressives from across the country have already raised over $600,000 for Halter. If we can hit $1 million this week, we'll have a great shot of replacing Sen. Lincoln--and we'll send shock waves through the rest of the conservative Democrats in Congress.

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid, Senator McConnell, and Representative Boehner:

Thank you again for the time, energy, and preparation you invested in last Thursday

ST. PAUL, Minnesota: The president of Somalia on Sunday denounced the recruiting of young men from Minnesota's huge Somali community for terrorist activity in his war-ravaged homeland, and said he plans to work with the US government to bring those still alive back home.President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad spoke with the AP while visiting the Minneapolis area.

Britain's The Independent newspaper says Gulf Arab states are in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the US dollar with a basket of currencies in the trading of oil.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 6 — Steps by the United States to vastly expand its aid to Pakistan, as well as the footprint of its embassy and private security contractors here, are aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood as Washington pushes for greater action by the government against the Taliban. A US$1.5 billion (RM5.3 billion) aid package passed by Congress last week asks Pakistan to cease ...

LONDON, Oct 6 — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision to accept US-style televised debates in the run-up to next year’s general elections looks like a small gesture, but may have revolutionary consequences. For it will transform the nature of British politics, and may yet reshape the powers of the media. All previous British prime ministers rejected calls to hold televised debates, for ...

Don't play politics with court, SC tells Maya govtDon't play politics with court, SC tells Maya govt

Obama touts health plan to doctors, key vote nears

NEW DELHI: The world's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal is threatening to scrap a US$20bil project to build two major steel plants in eastern India because of problems with land acquisition.

The US President, Barack Obama, faces one of the toughest decisions of his presidency in coming weeks: to scale up the military effort in Afghanistan or step back and effectively acknowledge that the US is better off focusing counter-terrorism efforts in neighbouring Pakistan.

The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for its "insincerity" and asked it not to play politics with the bench. A bench headed by Justice BN Agarwal told the state government not to treat the court as its political rival.

O n the defensive because of an increasingly skeptical public, President Barack Obama has recently spoken extemporaneously about his health plan. In doing so, he has revealed his lack of understanding about aspects of medical practice and the reasons for rising health-care costs.

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