April D. Ryan

The day before thanksgiving was a work day for President Obama. He signed nine executive orders to continue the work of certain federal advisory committees to include the presidents board of advisors on historically black colleges. The continuatrion was extened until 2013. The day also produced an annual Presidential tradition of the pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey. President Obama made the turkey pardons with the first daughters standing by his side at the North Portico.

President Obama says he will veto any bill coming to his desk that would stop the across the board cuts in domestic spending and to the Pentagon in 2013.   The President is hopeful his veto threat will force Hill leaders on both sides of the aisle to act within the year.   This action comes as the Deficit Reduction Super Committee could not come to a resolution on how to cut over 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years.   The White House wanted revenue, meaning new taxes.  They also felt reform of entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security were needed along with other well thought out cuts.     Meanwhile, the President contends congress has a year to find ways to strategically cut the budget without having to go to the drastic measure of automiatic across the board cuts.

The White House and even President Obama view First Lady Michelle Obama as the Administration’s secret weapon. Her approval numbers have surpassed the Presidents numbers especially this past year.   Over the weekend, there was a shift in how the First Lady has been received.     The residue from the negative political discourse tainted First Lady Michelle Obama’s reception at a NASCAR Race. Mrs. Obama nor Mrs. Biden are elected officials.   Mrs. Obama, and Second Lady Jill Biden were booed when they were introduced at a Championship NASCAR Race just before they gave the call for the drivers to “start your engines.”   In the past, GOP Presidents and Republican Presidential candidates have frequented NASCAR to stump for crucial votes.

The Penn State scandal has evoked so many emotions from people on so many different sides of the spectrum. At issue, numbers of boys were allegedly molested between 1994 and 2009 by Penn State College Football Coach Jerry Sandusky. This month Sandusky was charged with over 40 counts of sexually abusing children. President Obama even said over the weekend, it is a problem when no one weighed in to protect those kids. A 23-page grand jury report described crimes that Sandusky allegedly committed.  The crimes allegedly occurred on campus, both during and after his tenure at Penn State.  Sandusky is currently out on bail. Also, Jerry Sandusky lives near a school in his community. Reports indicate that school is taking steps to ensure the safety of the kids inside as Sandusky is currently charged with sexually abusing boys.

President Obama has signed another Executive Order to cut spending in the Federal Government, going around congress.  Republicans are blocking his attempts for passage of economic bills to include the American Jobs act. The Executive Order would limit on the number of technology devices that can be issued to employees; stop unnecessarily printing of documents; shrink the executive fleet of the federal government.

It is a first for President Barack Obama.  He is using his Executive Powers through the Antiquities act making a historic site designation to create jobs.  President Obama is designating, Hampton, Virginia’s Fort Monroe as an historic site. The fort started its military action defense for Jamestown in 1609.  The 570-acre site was also considered as one of the original slave ports in the Colonies.  The designation is also expected to boost the economy in that state with the creation of three thousand jobs.

Fort Monroe’s historic significance also contributes to African American history by being one of the points of entry for slaves into the colonies for many enslaved Africans in America. White House statements contend, after the Middle Passage, that area is a place where Dutch traders first brought enslaved Africans to America in 1619.    More than 200 years later, during the Civil War, the fort, under Union possession, turned into a place of refuge for thousands of escaped slaves. Fort Monroe Closed last month and was turned over to state control. Concern swirled the Fort would fall into developer’s hands if the President did not act. Fort Monroe is Virginia’s 22nd National Park. Data reveals national parts are responsible for 13.3 billion dollars of local, and private sector economic activity nationwide supporting 267 thousand jobs.