White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families

White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families: The Task Force is a major initiative targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America. It is comprised of top-level administration policy makers, and in addition to regular meetings, it will conduct outreach sessions with representatives of labor, business, and the advocacy communities. The Task Force will be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. The Vice President and members of the task force will work with a wide array of federal agencies that have responsibility for key issues facing the middle class and expedite administrative reforms, propose Executive orders, and develop legislative and policy proposals that can be of special importance to working families.

Members of the Middle Class Task Force include: Vice President Biden, Chair; the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Commerce, as well as the Directors of the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.

Goals of the task force:

Expanding education and lifelong training opportunities
Improving work and family balance
Restoring labor standards, including workplace safety
Helping to protect middle-class and working-family incomes
Protecting retirement security
We’d like to hear from you. Over the upcoming months, we will focus on answering those concerns that matter most to families. What can we do to make retirement more secure? How can we make child and elder care more affordable? How do we improve workplace safety? How are we going to get the cost of college within reach? What can we do to help weary parents juggle work and family? What are the jobs of the future that we can begin to create? Please share your story with us and give us ideas for how to get the middle class going again.

Transparency: The Task Force will operate in a transparent fashion, in an open, two-way dialogue directly with the American people. Any materials from meetings or reports produced will be made available to the public at www.AStrongMiddleClass.gov.

Illinois can forgetaboutit when it comes to money

The state of Illinois can forgetaboutit when it comes to money from the government. There is a paragraph in the $819 billion stimulus package which passed the House Wednesday--without the aid of Republicans--which excludes the state of Illinois from receiving any stimulus package funds while Rod Blagojevich is governor. Good thing the impeachment hearings are on going.

1 SEC. 1112. ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE
2 OF FUNDS.
3 None of the funds provided by this Act may be made
4 available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the
5 State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is
6 approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date
7 of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich
8 no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illi
9 nois. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any funds
10 provided directly to a unit of local government (1) by a
11 Federal department or agency, or (2) by an established
12 formula from the State.

This action lets you know where the President stands in this whole situation. So for you people who feel sorry for Mr. Blagojevich, understand where your loyalties lie because they are not with the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. (or the state of Illinois, apparently.)
Editor's Note: Yes, Mr. President holds all the trump cards and he is running a Boston.Here is the link. You can read it for yourselves.

Behind the scenes at Inauguration of President Obama

My Fellow Citizens...Thank You Father!

I am so moved. I am listening to "Air and Simple Gifts" and Barack and Michelle Obama are President and First Lady as of noon eastern time.
I have teared up.
I have waited so long for this moment and I am so grateful and thankful.
Thank You Jesus, for blessing America, for blessing this country that you love!
God is Good! Praise You Father!
Mr. President is now giving his acceptance speech. I must watch.
As I see it...
Now comes the end of the Era of the Sellout,
says so my President.
The real work and sacrifice is not a glamorous thing, as the President pointed out in his speech and many more times, it brings not with it wealth and fame but temporary, bearable pain with the end result of progress for the good of all humankind.
But who will stand on the front lines of "remaking America?"
Will it be you? I know that it has been me. Before it was popular and the thing to do. I did it because it was right and I am the only one who has to live with me and look me in the mirror. And I wanted to be able to do that without fear and shame.
And I have been beaten down and back, seemingly for naught but in time, its wisdom was revealed to me and made it all worth it and I saw growth--real God-given growth.
It was not easy and many times I asked God "why?"
and "what should I do now?"
Only those who know The Struggle understand my words.
I was comforted and I lived through it.
We will follow our newly appointed leader now. He is someone many of us in this country have placed out hopes upon and look to God to move in His direction.
And we will be comforted, and we will grow.
But it cannot be just him, our newly elected President or just me or just them--it must be (honestly) most of us.
I know that some of us cannot any longer bear the burden because you have been the rock and pillar the majority of your lives; worked for the community earnestly and gave from your hear, to others. Those who need rest now will take it and those who are right minded and strong and able, will take The Struggle upon them and win it for all of us.

Indiana man fakes his own death

HARPERSVILLLE | Authorities searching for a former Merrillville resident and Indiana businessman who may have tried to fake his own death in a plane crash say that he apparently escaped on a red motorcycle -- and could be anywhere.

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UK trade deficit hits a record as weak pound fails to help

The UK%u2019s trade deficit widened to a record level in November as a weaker pound failed to boost exports at a time when world demand for goods is collapsing.

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WW2 agents 'failed the honey trap test' at country house

Second World War trainee secret agents were tested for their resilience to the 'honey trap' at a Surrey manor house, according to a new analysis of the role Britain's country properties played during the war.

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