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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY COMING?
1/24/2012 5:52:12 PM

Montague Keen 1-22-12…”A beautiful New Dawn is approaching”

This message I see as strong and positive from Monty, particularly regarding what is to come. One point about the quotes below, in the last one he states, “We decide everything. You just follow our instructions. We see the full picture. Only those who are up to the challenge will be used.” I personally do not take this as a message that says we are to unquestioningly follow a “Galactic Guru”. The Guidance, no matter what our roles turns out to be, always comes from within us, and does not represent a “blind obedience” to a Galactic “Master”. At least that’s how I know it is for me.

Oh, and by the way, Monty repeats something at least one other channeled message has referred to, that is, we are undergoing “major reconstruction” in our bodies. And this is something many of you have mentioned. All I can add is, my mouth can attest to that!!

“The Centres we have planned will take shape. They will become active. Our two worlds will come together as never before. We will supply Natural Medicine that will restore health, no matter what was diagnosed. You will drink pure unadulterated water. You will have food that is not contaminated in any way…

“All the sacred sites around the world will be re-energised. This will be amazing to observe and experience. The planet will come alive once more. The world as you know it will end; all the suffering over, all control gone. Light and peace will return to all mankind.

“Those with a role to play will be summoned to come forward. We decide everything. You just follow our instructions. We see the full picture. Only those who are up to the challenge will be used. When we look on someone, we see everything about that person: the intentions deep within them as well as what they profess as their intentions. Nothing escapes us, we cannot be fooled. There are some who crave recognition and so can become a liability. We cannot have that. We need rock-solid people to whom the bigger picture is important also…”

Highlights

  • As people awaken, fewer can be conned into accepting without question all that governments demand.
  • A beautiful New Dawn is approaching, bringing with it truth and light, removing all the confusion of the past.
  • It has taken longer than anticipated but we are on the cusp of this massive Transition.
  • I am delighted that so many of you are enjoying researching ancient Ireland. You are flabbergasted at what you are finding.
  • Those of you who think for yourselves are looked on as difficult… so efforts are made to force you to conform. It is because so many of you conform that your world is in the state it is in…
  • Embrace the changes that we are putting in place as we continue to awaken mankind so that we can restore peace and freedom.
  • Your future is bright and full of promise. Everything is falling into place nicely.
  • We will supply Natural Medicine that will restore health, no matter what was diagnosed.
  • All the sacred sites around the world will be re-energised. This will be amazing to observe and experience. The planet will come alive once more.
  • Some of you are aware that your bodies are going through major reconstruction in preparation for full consciousness.
  • Only those who are up to the challenge will be used…. we cannot be fooled. There are some who crave recognition and so can become a liability.

—————————————————————————

Montague’s Message for Sunday, 22nd January 2012

As your oppressors seek new ways to keep you under control, remember this: the simple-minded will believe anything placed before them but the wise look well into everything before accepting it. As people awaken, fewer can be conned into accepting without question all that governments demand. A beautiful New Dawn is approaching, bringing with it truth and light, removing all the confusion of the past. Our plans are taking shape as we proceed with confidence towards our goal. All that you had accepted as truth must be discarded. When the real truth is placed before you, it will be a time of rejoicing and celebrating, as all restrictions are removed and the human race comes together as One. The energy that has been shut off from you will flow freely. Everything on Earth will be re-energised. The sun in all its glory will enter the minds and spirits of all and peace will reign. You have waited a long time for this. It has taken longer than anticipated but we are on the cusp of this massive Transition.

I am delighted that so many of you are enjoying researching ancient Ireland. You are flabbergasted at what you are finding. You ask how could so much have been kept hidden for so long? How could a nation be kept in ignorance of its great past? You learn that because of what was done to Ireland, the whole history of your world was changed and the world suffered as a consequence. Yes, it is difficult to take on board the evil plans that were put in place in Ireland that went on to systematically take over and destroy your world and its people.

This must stop. So many of you remain in the robotic, hypnotic state; your minds and bodies poisoned to keep you under control. Those of you who think for yourselves are looked on as difficult, and so efforts are made to force you to conform. It is because so many of you conform that your world is in the state it is in, with wars accepted as necessary and banks ruling the masses. They are destroying so much. Man was never meant to live like this.

Embrace the changes that we are putting in place as we continue to awaken mankind so that we can restore peace and freedom. Those who have no right or any good intentions towards mankind will be removed from the planet, never to return. Your future is bright and full of promise. Everything is falling into place nicely. When you return to the fold, all is open to you and above board, and those who have lived off your energy are gone. Life will be so different.

The Centres we have planned will take shape. They will become active. Our two worlds will come together as never before. We will supply Natural Medicine that will restore health, no matter what was diagnosed. You will drink pure unadulterated water. You will have food that is not contaminated in any way.

So much has been done to you to dumb you down and make you compliant — slaves to their will. Very few have escaped completely. Everything will return to its rightful place. Nothing will be hidden. There are some, whose deeds have been so dastardly, that they will go to any length to prevent the truth from coming out. The vast riches they have accumulated at your expense will not save them. Their lives are totally driven by GREED, with no thought for the lives they have exploited and ruined. As we proceed, they will find it difficult to hold their shape. They will become more obvious.

All the sacred sites around the world will be re-energised. This will be amazing to observe and experience. The planet will come alive once more. The world as you know it will end; all the suffering over, all control gone. Light and peace will return to all mankind.

Some of you are aware that your bodies are going through major reconstruction in preparation for full consciousness. Tiredness sometimes accompanies this. It is temporary, so worry not. Mind-to-mind communication will be possible. The mind is capable of so much; learning to use it will be an enjoyable experience. Astral travel will be possible for the adventurous among you. How exciting is that !

Veronica, you know that everything is being put in place. You were shown evidence of this. Those with a role to play will be summoned to come forward. We decide everything. You just follow our instructions. We see the full picture. Only those who are up to the challenge will be used. When we look on someone, we see everything about that person: the intentions deep within them as well as what they profess as their intentions. Nothing escapes us, we cannot be fooled. There are some who crave recognition and so can become a liability. We cannot have that. We need rock-solid people to whom the bigger picture is important also. You and I have learned the hard way who we can trust.

Life is so busy for you on all levels but you must admit, it is exciting also. Your friends wanted to talk with me again. It was an enjoyable experience. One we will repeat soon. Try not to do too much, my dear. Your adoring husband, Monty.

NOTE FROM VERONICA

Last week, there was some confusion as to whom Monty was referring, and some thought it might be them. I want to make it quite clear that the people whom Monty referred to, as being disruptive, dishonourable and disgraceful, were G.S. in Arizona and T.R. in Scotland. They tried in vain to destroy our work. They even used others to do their dirty work for them. Monty wanted to point out that it had not gone unnoticed. One day, they may understand that their massive egos tried to prevent the Transition.

[Note: Montague Keen's earlier messages may be accessed athttp://www.montaguekeen.com/page3.html]

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY COMING?
1/24/2012 5:53:20 PM

SaLuSa 1-23-12…”Live according to your best understanding of what it is like to be an ascended Being”

Highlights

  • Our observations are that you are doing so well in bringing Light to the Earth, that it is continuing to increase exponentially and rapidly taking you forward to Ascension.
  • Those who have awakened will naturally wish to announce to the world the truth they have discovered, and we encourage the distribution of such information. However it must not be forced upon anyone…
  • Naturally in short time there will come an avalanche of information and advice about Ascension, and for those who are open to the truth it will give the opportunity to take a quantum leap forward.
  • No one is beyond help and it is always there ready to be given at the slightest indication that it is requested.
  • Various desired changes are moving along together, and we can see that there may well be a quick series of revelations that will carry you forward very quickly.
  • We see a great Love and Light expanding over the Earth and it carries the energy that will lift many up out of the darkness.
  • You will be pleased to know that the means to remedy the hunger and desperation, is ready to be put in hand but for the moment cannot be done without permission of those who are in authority.
  • There is of course a divine date after which we shall go ahead regardless of any other situation.
  • It must seem quite astonishing to you that the Universe waits for the civilization of your little Earth to complete the cycle of duality, so that they may ascend themselves.
  • Live according to your best understanding of what it is like to be an ascended Being.
  • You can rest easy as to what it will be like, as any upliftment into the higher vibrations is something to be desired and looked forward to.

—————————————————————————

SaLuSa 23-January-2012

Our observations are that you are doing so well in bringing Light to the Earth, that it is continuing to increase exponentially and rapidly taking you forward to Ascension. So you are on course for a great victory over the dark Ones and there was never any doubt about it, and you have the strong will and intent to do so. After all, as Lightworkers it was the reason you came to Earth at such an important time, knowing fully well what your task was and faith in your ability to carry it out. As you can see, there are two main schools of thought that people follow, one supposes that life will carry on as usual and somehow get past the present problems, and the other sees immense change and the restoration of people’s rights. Both will to a large extent continue to follow their own path, and it will determine which one that they step upon when this cycle ends. The fact remains that you are all creating your own reality, using your freewill as a God given right to determine your own future.

Those who have awakened will naturally wish to announce to the world the truth they have discovered, and we encourage the distribution of such information. However it must not be forced upon anyone as in the ultimate they must be allowed to make their own decision, without feeling that they are under any pressure to accept. Those of the Light appreciate that each soul follows its own dictates, and that no two are necessarily at exactly the same point in their evolution. It is therefore far better that the truth is found through personal experience that creates a lasting impression. By all means sow the seeds of truth, and one day they will grow and becomes the flowers of understanding.

Naturally in short time there will come an avalanche of information and advice about Ascension, and for those who are open to the truth it will give the opportunity to take a quantum leap forward. It is a matter of whether people are ready to see beyond their existing beliefs, and become part of the new paradigm. If not there is no problem and they will be able to stay on their own path and continue to experience in the lower dimensions. It cannot be fairer than that by allowing you your choice, and all will be treated as any other soul with loving care and given every help possible. No one is beyond help and it is always there ready to be given at the slightest indication that it is requested.

Various desired changes are moving along together, and we can see that there may well be a quick series of revelations that will carry you forward very quickly. It will be sensational to many people and cause shock to those who are unprepared, but through our allies we shall ensure that the necessity for them is understood. Once the advantages are announced it will result in much support, and an eagerness on many peoples part to play an active role in it. There will be opportunities to take part and we will certainly need the support of all of you who are ready to play your part with us. Community work will be required to convey the nature of the changes, and how they can be implemented with the least inconvenience. Be assured we know you all and what your particular talents are, and what you came into this life to do.

We see a great Love and Light expanding over the Earth and it carries the energy that will lift many up out of the darkness. In the poorer countries of the world, many have lost hope as they see their plights largely ignored. They need sustenance and their basic needs covered, just so that they can survive the harsh conditions they exist in. Talk of Ascension has hardly any meaning to them and their faith in God and humanity is at a low ebb. There are people and organizations that care, but the task is so great it needs a coming together of those countries who are affluent and can afford to act. Humanity cannot in future stand by and allow such conditions to exist, and must grasp the truth that All Are One. Having said that, we know many of you are very compassionate and greatly desire that help is given to the worlds poorest people.

You will be pleased to know that the means to remedy the hunger and desperation, is ready to be put in hand but for the moment cannot be done without permission of those who are in authority. There are also karmic reasons that stop direct intervention, but we will address the whole situation once we are officially recognized. We know that you are sometimes puzzled by these problems in giving aid, but please bear in mind that we cannot take actions that would deny any soul commitment to their life plan. All will work out well in the end, but for the time being you could say that our hands are partly tied. There is of course a divine date after which we shall go ahead regardless of any other situation. We are ready for all possibilities having planned for all likely scenarios.

It must seem quite astonishing to you that the Universe waits for the civilization of your little Earth to complete the cycle of duality, so that they may ascend themselves. That is how extremely important your progress is to the future of other life, that like you is on a path back to the Source. The in-breath of God is drawing everything back, but it is only the first stage of many, many cycles that will eventually complete your “home coming”. Meanwhile keep at your task to see out this life as one who can go through to Ascension. Live according to your best understanding of what it is like to be an ascended Being. That will see you sail through the remaining days and months, and be assured of success. Nothing else really matters and it will be a very satisfying experience that will end with a joyful and happy conclusion.

I am SaLuSa, from Sirius and I feel privileged to be one of those appointed by the Galactic Federation to deal directly with you. The prospect of being amongst those who are to be the first to contact with you is quite thrilling. Even to one who has had so many experiences and adventures in the Universe, it is the magnitude of what is taking place, and the Ascension of both soul and body that makes it such a unique occasion. You can rest easy as to what it will be like, as any upliftment into the higher vibrations is something to be desired and looked forward to. We shall be there with you, and Love and Light will surround you on your journey.

Thank you SaLuSa.

Mike Quinsey.

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY COMING?
1/25/2012 12:33:46 AM

Occupy San Francisco gets down to business

After a brief hibernation, a refocused movement takes aim at corporate America










Warren Langley: from stock exchange chief to occupier

SAN FRANCISCO–Act II of the Occupy Wall Street movement, San Francisco version, kicked off on a rainy, blustery Friday in the heart of the city’s financial district. Targeting specific corporations like Wells Fargo and Bank of America and emphasizing real, tangible issues like home foreclosures, affordable health care and education as well as broader ones like the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, several hundred protesters – the exact number was impossible to estimate – fanned out across the city, snarling traffic, getting arrested, holding sidewalk teach-ins, and generally serving notice that after its brief winter hibernation, the Occupy movement was back and kicking.

Occupy’s first act, the Tent Phase, ended in early December, when city authorities raided its urban camp at Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building. But even before the tents were removed, it had become clear that the movement needed both to develop new tactics and deepen its strategic vision.

“After the raid, when our attention was no longer focused on [the encampment], people turned back to their neighborhoods and their campuses,” said David Solnit, who is part of a direct action working group associated with Occupy SF. “We started Occupy Bernal Heights [a multi-ethnic, mixed-income neighborhood on the edge of the Mission District], and we had 65 people at the first meeting. We went door to door meeting folks facing foreclosures. We got meetings with mid-level people at Wells Fargo Bank.”

Solnit – who is the brother of San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit – said that OccupySF Housing, a housing-related spinoff of the movement, had held marches in four neighborhoods and succeeded in saving four homes from foreclosure.

“We’re more diversified now, but more powerful than when all our eggs were in one basket,” Solnit said. “Gene Sharp came up with 198 different methods of nonviolent action. Camping out is one tactic. We still have 197 more tactics to go through, and another 500 to create.”

At 6:20 a.m., in pitch darkness, with a miserable rain pelting down in front of the enormous 52-story monolith of 555 California, it seemed like a good idea for Occupy to come up with a new tactic immediately. The schedule on the Occupy Wall St. West web site had announced that there would be a wacky 6 a.m. protest against Goldman Sachs, featuring a squid fry (“bring your own frying pan”) and protesters dressed as squids. (The squid theme derived from Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi’s famous description of Goldman Sachs as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.”) But no one seemed to be giving out fried calamari – not that anyone could have digested it at that ungodly hour — and there were only four protesters standing near the entrance. They were dwarfed by a phalanx of waiting police and TV journalists.

The last person you would expect to find standing in a bedraggled squid costume in front of a financial district skyscraper at six in the morning would be a 69-year-old retired psychology professor. But the Occupy movement is full of surprises. The human squid, Eleanor Levine, said, “I’m out here to bring attention to the irresponsible financial practices of Goldman Sachs. I also want to bring attention to the concept of corporate personhood [which was behind the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United]. Corporations are not people. This company played a role in bringing not just the country but the world to financial ruin. People have to face up to what Goldman Sachs has done. Their CEO made $28 million.” Asked if the dreadful weather had prevented more people from joining the protest, Levine said calmly, “Yes, the rain put a damper on the turnout, but more will come.” Her pink tentacles waving, she walked cheerfully off.

I approached a mustachioed man in a yellow poncho inscribed with the words “Money 4 Housing and Education, not 4 Banks and Corporations.” Alex Carlson, 34, was a paramedic who said the biggest reason he came out was to protest America’s lack of educational opportunities. “I couldn’t get into school just to get an EMI license. I had to beg a teacher to let me into his class. Nursing was my real goal, but there’s no money for nursing schools. It’s crazy because there’s a nursing shortage and there’s going to be a crisis of care when the bay boomers die off.”

Carlson said he had come out at the crack of dawn in the rain because he felt he had to.

“Like everyone else I’m just trying to carve out a little life for myself, but my knife is getting shorter and shorter,” he said. “I’m not a crazy activist person. I have a wife and a young son. Camping out isn’t an option for me. But I was able to come out today, so I did. And I’m proud.”

I walked down a block to a building housing Wells Fargo, where people protesting the bank’s role in the national foreclosure crisis had chained themselves in front of the entrances on all four sides. In one of the entrances, about eight people were squeezed in, their arms inside big yellow PVC pipes that were connected together. A policeman came up and politely informed them they were creating a public health risk and would be arrested if they didn’t leave. Dozens of police waited on the corner.

A woman with a bullhorn shouted slogans. A wildly energetic street band, three saxes, a trumpet, a big bass drum and a snare, played surreally cheerful Kurt Weill-like tunes, their vaguely Weimar sound oddly appropriate.

A fresh-faced young woman with glasses was sitting among the crowd in the entrance, with a sign that said “Give us our homes back.” I asked her why she was there. “My parents had their home in Southern California foreclosed,” she said. Her said her name was Sarah Lombardo and she was 28 years old. “They couldn’t make their payments because of medical costs. My mom had breast cancer and my dad had a stroke. They were told to leave in two weeks and our house was auctioned off. Now they’re living in an apartment, but their credit was destroyed so they had to pay three times the normal deposit.”

Lombardo said her mom was a purchasing agent and her dad was a factory worker. “I’m the first one in my family to go to college.” She said she came out because she wanted “to put a face to the statistics.” It was a face that looked like it belonged to the girl next door, or to your daughter.

She said that now that she had finished college, it made it possible for her to be arrested. “It’s for a good cause.”

I asked her if she had ever been arrested before. “No.” Was she afraid? “No, I’m not scared.”

Later, behind a cordon of police, I watched as protesters on the north side of the building were arrested, frisked and loaded into a paddy wagon. I rode off on my bike to cover some more actions. When I came back, Lombardo and the rest of the group of people in the doorway had been arrested.

Back up at 555 California, beyond the big turd-in-a-plaza artwork jokingly called the “banker’s heart,” I came upon an older man in a suit, carrying a sign that said “Give Us Our City Back.” I was intrigued: he was definitely not the usual Occupy protester. But when I asked him who he was, he turned out to be even more unusual than I could have expected. He was Warren Langley, the 69-year-old former head of the Pacific Stock Exchange.

What brought a man with his background out to protest?

“I was in the industry. I worked for an option trading firm that was sold to Goldman Sachs. So I played the game on the other side. But I have two grandkids and two daughters, and I became increasingly concerned that their future wouldn’t offer them the same opportunities that I had as a young man. The income inequities in our society are a huge problem.”

Langley said he first heard about the Occupy movement from his pal Ben Cohen, of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. “He was scooping ice cream for them in New York. And he told me, ‘These are the real deal.’ So one day I was eating lunch at the Ferry Building, and I walked across the street to the camp and started talking to these young people. And they were the real deal. They’re folks who lost their jobs, or are just out of school and can’t get a job. I could bring my credibility to the movement, so I decided to get involved.”

Langley decried the deregulation of the financial industry, in particular the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that eroded the wall between banks and investment houses and gave birth to the wild, insanely profitable speculation

that ultimately dealt the world’s economy a devastating blow. “They bet our money and then we paid off the bookmaker.”

I asked Langley what his former colleagues in high finance thought about the Occupy Movement.

“Well, there are some who say, ‘They’re a bunch of whiners and need to get a job.’ But those are the ones who haven’t actually talked to the people in the movement. There are others who are more open-minded. I know one guy, very wealthy, who told me, ‘What’s their plan? I’m ready to give them $250,000 if they have a plan.’ And I told him, ‘It’s not their job to give you a plan. They’re hurting.’ So whether it’s job opportunities, or better health care, or fairer taxes, we need through the political system to come up with a plan. It isn’t their job. He didn’t get it. But his kids, who are also very wealthy, were more sympathetic. It’s a generational thing.”

Langley went on to say that Occupy was sharpening its ideas. “It’s moving to get a more specific message across, from ‘We’re hurting’ to “This is what’s hurting us.’ He said he didn’t see the Occupy movement ever aligning with any political party. “Chuck Schumer does as much damage as John Boehner. In the end, it’s about occupying people’s minds, so people who aren’t down here will see that the system is not fair.

There was also a nurse-led protest across town against the big medical group California Pacific Medical Center, which RN Jane Sandoval said is shifting resources away from poorer patients. Another nurse, Eileen Prendiville, said CMPC is emblematic of America’s broken, for-profit health care system, even though it is nominally a non-profit.

If the new Occupy is meatier and more substantive, it still thrives on spectacle and encounters with authority– and the latter can be a double-edged sword. After one nasty encounter outside 555 California when a young guy who engaged in a scuffle with the cops when they rushed forward was arrested, quite a few people in the crowd began shouting “**** you, pigs!”, “you slaves!”, “pigs go home!” and “your warrant is to serve your corporate masters” to the police, probably not winning any hearts and minds in the process. No one told them to can the Black Panther rhetoric. At the same time, in one of those weird juxtapositions that Occupy specializes in, across the street stood two gentle souls holding a big black banner that read, “Buddhist Peace and Justice League: May All Beings Be Happy and Secure.”

Based on Friday’s actions – which I only saw part of — Occupy’s new approach seems to have three components.

First, it has become more of a big-tent movement, welcoming outside groups like labor unions. Second, it is taking deliberate, loud, public aim at specific corporate targets, like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Perhaps most important, as David Solnit pointed out, it is reinventing itself as a grass roots organization – reaching out to ordinary people who may not know much about the Occupy movement, but whose lives have been devastated by anonymous corporate decisions.

It’s an ambitious, multi-faceted reset, and there’s no way of knowing how effective it will be. Simply camping out and saying “We are the 99 percent” has the downside of being vague, but for that very reason it has an abstract, jarring purity. More specific, targeted protests are more substantive and show the movement is serious, but also make it more conventional. Still, as long as the movement attracts followers as committed, intelligent and impressive as the people I talked to, it will remain a force to be reckoned with. It seems certain to play a role in the national discourse not just during this election season, but for a long time.

Gary Kamiya is a Salon contributing writer.More Gary Kamiya

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"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY COMING?
1/25/2012 12:48:38 AM

State of the Union: The Buffett Rule Returns

By Ann Compton | ABC News

Obama to target tax fairness in speech

The president will make a renewed push for the Buffett Rule in tonight's State of the Union address. Special guest

There are always lots of secretaries in attendance at the State of the Union. High-ranking officials like the Secretary of State, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Defense and the rest of the President's cabinet traditionally attend. This year Warren Buffet's secretary will be there too.

That's right, a special guest of President Obama at this year's State of the Union address, sitting in the box reserved for First Lady Michelle Obama, will be Debbie Bosanek, aka Warren Buffet's secretary, who the billionaire investor famously says pays a higher tax rate (as a percentage of her income) than he does.

President Obama intends to make a renewed push for what he calls the Buffett Rule in his State of the Union address, on the very day Republican contender Mitt Romney released his millionaire tax returns showing he paid a lower rate than many Americans.

"Billionaires should not pay a lower effective tax rate than the middle class. He'll talk about details tonight," Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer tells ABC News. Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and supporter of President Obama's, has stated that he should not pay a rate lower than his own secretary.

Fact Check: Do Billionaires' Secretaries Pay Lower Tax Rates?

Pfeiffer says that secretary, Bosanek, will be seated with Michelle Obama this evening, listening to the address from the first lady's box in the gallery.

Tax fairness will be the central theme of the president's third State of the Union address. Pfeiffer says it comes down to American values.

"We can make sure everyone is being responsible, everyone is playing by the same set of rules. And the system both on Wall Street and in Washington is not being rigged at the expense of middle-class and working class Americans."

After the speech, the president follows tradition and takes his arguments on the road to settings which illustrate his priorities.

"On Wednesday, he's going to talk about manufacturing," Pfeiffer says of the first stops in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Phoenix, Arizona. "How we can discourage outsourcing and encourage 'insourcing' in this country so jobs are created here. On Thursday, [in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Denver, Colorado] he's going to talk about how a new era of American energy can create jobs here at home and make America more secure. And then on Friday in Michigan he's going to talk about how we can make college affordable because right now a college degree e is a critical gateway to success."


Also read:

Buffett Blames Congress for Romney's 15% Rate

Romney reports tax bill of $6.2 million for 2010-11

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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RE: IS THE NEW AGE REALLY COMING?
1/25/2012 9:56:39 AM

In State of the Union address, Obama says ‘basic American promise’ is at risk

Obama: Nation's middle class at risk

The president warns of the dangers of inequality in the State of the Union address.'No challenge is more urgent'

President Obama warned in his State of the Union address Tuesday that the nation's middle class is at risk because of growing economic inequality, and argued that the government must do more to preserve the basic American dream.

In a speech that is likely to set the theme of his 2012 re-election bid, Obama said "the basic American promise" that hard work can allow one to own a home and support a family are at risk if the government doesn't do more to balance the scale between the nation's rich and poor.

"The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important," Obama declared. "We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them."

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In his third such address to the Congress, Obama's focus was not just on the future—as he laid out broad proposals to boost an "economy built to last, where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded."

But in a message that was unmistakably aimed at voters in the upcoming presidential election, Obama reminded his audience that the nation's economic troubles began long before he arrived at the White House, starting with the collapse of the nation's leading banks in 2008 due to lax regulation and "bad behavior."

"In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly four million jobs. And we lost another four million before our policies were in full effect," Obama said.

But he argued that the country is turning around under his policies, pointing to 3 million jobs created in the last 22 months. In a sign that Obama will campaign against the Republican-led Congress as much as a his eventual GOP presidential rival, the president indicated he will take a hard stand against lawmakers determined to block his economic agenda.

"The state of our union is getting stronger, and we've come too far to turn back now," Obama insisted. "As long as I'm president, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place."

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The president argued that he's laying out a "blueprint for an economy that's built to last" based on four main themes: American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers and "a renewal of American values."

Among other things, Obama called for a rollback for tax breaks for American companies that outsource jobs overseas and proposed new tax cuts for manufacturers that build their products stateside--a proposal that generated muted applause among Republican lawmakers in the House chamber. He also announced the creation of a "trade enforcement unit" that would investigate unfair trade practices in counties including China--an issue that has been a big issue on the 2012 campaign trail.

"Our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, I promise you--America will always win," Obama declared.

Tackling an issue that will be big in the general election, Obama called on Republicans to pass immigration reform, including the DREAM Act. "If election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let's at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country," Obama said. "Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away."

Obama also called for aid to boost the nation's struggling housing market--proposing new tax incentives to help homeowners save $3,000 a year on their mortgages. He also announced the creation of a federal task force to monitor banks, mortgage lenders and credit card companies for fraud.

"Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same," Obama said. "It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody."

Obama sounded familiar themes on energy--calling for a rollback of tax cuts on oil companies in favor of investments in clean energy sources. He announced a federal incentive to build clean energy projects on government land.

On education, he called on states to pass laws to mandate that all minors stay in school until they graduate or turn 18. He also called on Congress to enact measures to ensure student aid--but he also warned higher education institutions to crack down on skyrocketing education costs.

"If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down," Obama said. "Higher education can't be a luxury--it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford."

He repeated a call for investment in the nation's crumbling infrastructure, announcing that he will sign an executive order to clear the "red tape" slowing federal construction projects. "But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we're no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home," Obama said.

The White House has been signaling for weeks that Obama would embrace populist themes about the economy, as a way of drawing a line in the sand between him and his Republican rivals ahead of his 2012 re-election push. Like other presidents before him, he was joined in the House chamber by individuals aimed at personifying elements of his speech, including Debbie Bosanek, the secretary to billionaire financier Warren Buffett, whose argument that he shouldn't be paying a lower tax rate than average workers has become a rallying cry for the White House.

"We don't begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it," Obama insisted. "When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. It's because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference."

But the larger message of Obama's remarks was obvious, as the president at one point returned to one of the major themes of his 2008 presidential bid: Rising above cynicism and partisan gridlock to enact real change in Washington. He noted that the "greatest blow to confidence in our economy" came during last year's combative debt ceiling talks.

"Who benefited from that fiasco?" Obama asked. "I've talked tonight about the deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street. But the divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad--and it seems to get worse every year."

He called for lawmakers to "lower the temperature" and "end the notion" that Democrats and Republicans must be locked in a "perpetual campaign of mutual destruction."

At the same time, he warned again that he wouldn't wait for Congress to enact major reforms in Washington. "With or without this Congress, I will keep taking actions that help the economy grow," Obama said. "But I can do a whole lot more with your help. Because when we act together, there is nothing the United States of America can't achieve."



(Saul Loeb/Pool via Getty Images)


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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