JUTICALPA, Honduras -- Ulises Sarmiento, a devout and wealthy follower of ousted Honduran President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, paid a heavy price for his loyalty: A few weeks ago, hit men attacked with grenade launchers and a deluge of bullets, killing his two bodyguards. An iron door kept the assassins at bay."Why do they come with grenades? You could hear this from a half mile away,'' said Sarmiento, 65, an Olancho businessman and a leader of Honduras' "Resistance Movement," formed after Zelaya was kicked out of the country at gunpoint in June. "They knew the police were never coming, and, sure enough, they did not come,'' said Sarmiento, now watched by six men, one of whom stays perched beside his bullet-ridden armored Ford F-250.As Zelaya approaches his sixth month of banishment, human-rights organizations here and abroad say Honduras has experienced a serious deterioration of civil rights in a country where death squads and extrajudicial killings already were commonplace.Resistance members say they have been subjected to a campaign by police, the military and paramilitaries to execute their leaders and members. Human-rights activists have documented the deaths of 26 members who have been stabbed or shot across the country.Activists say more than 3,000 people have been illegally detained, 450 beaten, and 114 now are political prisoners since the June coup.
JUTICALPA, Honduras -- Ulises Sarmiento, a devout and wealthy follower of ousted Honduran President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, paid a heavy price for his loyalty: A few weeks ago, hit men attacked with grenade launchers and a deluge of bullets, killing his two bodyguards.
An iron door kept the assassins at bay.
"Why do they come with grenades? You could hear this from a half mile away,'' said Sarmiento, 65, an Olancho businessman and a leader of Honduras' "Resistance Movement," formed after Zelaya was kicked out of the country at gunpoint in June.
"They knew the police were never coming, and, sure enough, they did not come,'' said Sarmiento, now watched by six men, one of whom stays perched beside his bullet-ridden armored Ford F-250.
As Zelaya approaches his sixth month of banishment, human-rights organizations here and abroad say Honduras has experienced a serious deterioration of civil rights in a country where death squads and extrajudicial killings already were commonplace.
Resistance members say they have been subjected to a campaign by police, the military and paramilitaries to execute their leaders and members. Human-rights activists have documented the deaths of 26 members who have been stabbed or shot across the country.
Activists say more than 3,000 people have been illegally detained, 450 beaten, and 114 now are political prisoners since the June coup.
KANSAS CITY -- Sebastian Pereria told a friend last year about his life in America.How he wanted to see his wife and children in India, but his boss kept his identification papers and wouldn't let him go. Other waiters who worked with him at a restaurant in Topeka, Kan., told of how they were forced to work 13-hour days, six days a week. They talked of how the boss underpaid them and pocketed their tips.In the end, Pereria, 46, got his wish. He finally arrived home last year.In a coffin.The U.S. government could not help Pereria, even though they said he fit the criteria for being a human trafficking victim. Other waiters he worked with got help and were rescued from the Globe Indian Restaurant. But for Pereria, even in death, a judge remained unconvinced.America declared war on human trafficking nearly a decade ago. With a new law and much fanfare, the government pledged to end such human rights abuses at home and prodded the rest of the world to follow its example.But an investigation by The Kansas City Star found that, in spite of all the rhetoric from the Bush and Obama administrations, the United States is failing to find and help tens of thousands of human trafficking victims in America.
KANSAS CITY -- Sebastian Pereria told a friend last year about his life in America.
How he wanted to see his wife and children in India, but his boss kept his identification papers and wouldn't let him go.
Other waiters who worked with him at a restaurant in Topeka, Kan., told of how they were forced to work 13-hour days, six days a week. They talked of how the boss underpaid them and pocketed their tips.
In the end, Pereria, 46, got his wish. He finally arrived home last year.
In a coffin.
The U.S. government could not help Pereria, even though they said he fit the criteria for being a human trafficking victim. Other waiters he worked with got help and were rescued from the Globe Indian Restaurant. But for Pereria, even in death, a judge remained unconvinced.
America declared war on human trafficking nearly a decade ago. With a new law and much fanfare, the government pledged to end such human rights abuses at home and prodded the rest of the world to follow its example.
But an investigation by The Kansas City Star found that, in spite of all the rhetoric from the Bush and Obama administrations, the United States is failing to find and help tens of thousands of human trafficking victims in America.
MALTRATA, MEXICO -- Drug traffickers employing high-tech drills, miles of rubber hose and a fleet of stolen tanker trucks have siphoned more than $1 billion worth of oil from Mexico's pipelines over the past two years, in a vast and audacious conspiracy that is bleeding the national treasury, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials and the state-run oil company. Using sophisticated smuggling networks, the traffickers have transported a portion of the pilfered petroleum across the border to sell to U.S. companies, some of which knew that it was stolen, according to court documents and interviews with American officials involved in an expanding investigation of oil services firms in Texas. The widespread theft of Mexico's most vital national resource by criminal organizations represents a costly new front in President Felipe Calderón's war against the drug cartels, and it shows how the traffickers are rapidly evolving from traditional narcotics smuggling to activities as diverse as oil theft, transport and sales. Oil theft has been a persistent problem for the state-run Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, but the robbery increased sharply after Calderón launched his war against the cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006. The drug war has claimed more than 16,000 lives and has led the cartels, which rely on drug trafficking for most of their revenue, to branch out into other illegal activities. Authorities said they have traced much of the oil rustling to the Zetas, a criminal organization founded by former military commandos. Although the Zetas initially served as a protection arm of the powerful Gulf cartel, they now call their own shots and dominate criminal enterprise in the oil-rich states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas.
MALTRATA, MEXICO -- Drug traffickers employing high-tech drills, miles of rubber hose and a fleet of stolen tanker trucks have siphoned more than $1 billion worth of oil from Mexico's pipelines over the past two years, in a vast and audacious conspiracy that is bleeding the national treasury, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials and the state-run oil company.
Using sophisticated smuggling networks, the traffickers have transported a portion of the pilfered petroleum across the border to sell to U.S. companies, some of which knew that it was stolen, according to court documents and interviews with American officials involved in an expanding investigation of oil services firms in Texas.
The widespread theft of Mexico's most vital national resource by criminal organizations represents a costly new front in President Felipe Calderón's war against the drug cartels, and it shows how the traffickers are rapidly evolving from traditional narcotics smuggling to activities as diverse as oil theft, transport and sales.
Oil theft has been a persistent problem for the state-run Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, but the robbery increased sharply after Calderón launched his war against the cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006. The drug war has claimed more than 16,000 lives and has led the cartels, which rely on drug trafficking for most of their revenue, to branch out into other illegal activities.
Authorities said they have traced much of the oil rustling to the Zetas, a criminal organization founded by former military commandos. Although the Zetas initially served as a protection arm of the powerful Gulf cartel, they now call their own shots and dominate criminal enterprise in the oil-rich states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas.
It turns out that much can be learned about the drug traffickers that the Mexican Army is combating by examining the 765 vehicles crowding the military base here awaiting disposition from the courts. If you are what you drive, drug dealers are devious, malicious, extravagant and quite conscious about security. In some of the impounded vehicles, traffickers have installed hidden compartments, trap doors and fake sidewalls to hide drugs, drug profits and the arms they use to protect them. "We noticed the screws here weren't right," said General Solórzano, pulling off a fake rear bumper from what appeared a garden-variety pickup truck. Hidden inside, he said, were cocaine and guns."And look at this," he said, walking on to a Ford pickup, where he said $3 million in cash was recovered in November 2008.Many of the vehicles that are seized during drug busts or traffic stops turn out to be armored. While bulletproofing is not illegal, General Solórzano said vehicles that had been sealed with metal and inch-thick glass raised the suspicion of soldiers and prompted them to search more vigorously for contraband.
It turns out that much can be learned about the drug traffickers that the Mexican Army is combating by examining the 765 vehicles crowding the military base here awaiting disposition from the courts. If you are what you drive, drug dealers are devious, malicious, extravagant and quite conscious about security.
In some of the impounded vehicles, traffickers have installed hidden compartments, trap doors and fake sidewalls to hide drugs, drug profits and the arms they use to protect them.
"We noticed the screws here weren't right," said General Solórzano, pulling off a fake rear bumper from what appeared a garden-variety pickup truck. Hidden inside, he said, were cocaine and guns.
"And look at this," he said, walking on to a Ford pickup, where he said $3 million in cash was recovered in November 2008.
Many of the vehicles that are seized during drug busts or traffic stops turn out to be armored. While bulletproofing is not illegal, General Solórzano said vehicles that had been sealed with metal and inch-thick glass raised the suspicion of soldiers and prompted them to search more vigorously for contraband.
BANGKOK -- In their first interview since being detained by Thai authorities, the crew of a cargo aircraft traveling from North Korea said Sunday that they did not know they had been transporting an arsenal of rockets, grenade launchers and other unidentified weapons weighing at least 30 tons. "They said it was oil drilling equipment," said Viktor Abdullayev, the plane's co-pilot. "That's what the manager told us," he said referring to his employer, a civilian cargo company from the former Soviet republic of Georgia.Officials in Thailand did little over the weekend to shed light on the perplexing seizure of the aircraft, offering only rudimentary details about the plane, its crew and its cargo.The five-man crew is to be charged in court Monday with possession of weapons of war, in a case that may shed light on the shadowy business of global arms trafficking -- and in North Korea's role, in particular. Thai authorities said the weapons were seized after a tip from American officials, and said the shipment appeared to violate a United Nations arms embargo but did not provide a detailed accounting of the armaments, which will undergo a more thorough inspection Tuesday.Thailand was acting, it said, under United Nations Resolution 1874, which was passed in June in response to nuclear tests in North Korea. The resolution is effectively an arms embargo covering the transport of heavy weaponry to and from North Korea. Such weapons sales are one of the few ways the country has been able to earn foreign currency.
BANGKOK -- In their first interview since being detained by Thai authorities, the crew of a cargo aircraft traveling from North Korea said Sunday that they did not know they had been transporting an arsenal of rockets, grenade launchers and other unidentified weapons weighing at least 30 tons.
"They said it was oil drilling equipment," said Viktor Abdullayev, the plane's co-pilot. "That's what the manager told us," he said referring to his employer, a civilian cargo company from the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Officials in Thailand did little over the weekend to shed light on the perplexing seizure of the aircraft, offering only rudimentary details about the plane, its crew and its cargo.
The five-man crew is to be charged in court Monday with possession of weapons of war, in a case that may shed light on the shadowy business of global arms trafficking -- and in North Korea's role, in particular.
Thai authorities said the weapons were seized after a tip from American officials, and said the shipment appeared to violate a United Nations arms embargo but did not provide a detailed accounting of the armaments, which will undergo a more thorough inspection Tuesday.
Thailand was acting, it said, under United Nations Resolution 1874, which was passed in June in response to nuclear tests in North Korea. The resolution is effectively an arms embargo covering the transport of heavy weaponry to and from North Korea. Such weapons sales are one of the few ways the country has been able to earn foreign currency.
Mingling among the tinsel and other trappings of Christmas, the men and women who constitute the backbone of Zanu-PF swayed to old party songs.Many wore the party's colours - black, green, yellow and red - and bore the image of President Robert Mugabe. Mr Mugabe - the man they have chosen to lead them for the past 30 years - this weekend received a mandate to continue for another five. With such a strong presence of Zanu-PF at the rally venue, it was hard to imagine that this was where last year's power-sharing deal was thrashed out. It was a deal born out of necessity, given Zanu-PF's dismal performance at the polls, and a deal which forced it into an unhappy marriage with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Mingling among the tinsel and other trappings of Christmas, the men and women who constitute the backbone of Zanu-PF swayed to old party songs.
Many wore the party's colours - black, green, yellow and red - and bore the image of President Robert Mugabe.
Mr Mugabe - the man they have chosen to lead them for the past 30 years - this weekend received a mandate to continue for another five.
With such a strong presence of Zanu-PF at the rally venue, it was hard to imagine that this was where last year's power-sharing deal was thrashed out.
It was a deal born out of necessity, given Zanu-PF's dismal performance at the polls, and a deal which forced it into an unhappy marriage with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
President Mugabe has told Zimbabweans that he expects elections to be held "soon" - raising fears that he will mount a new campaign of terror and violence in his determination to hold on to power. He was speaking on Saturday at the end of his Zanu (PF) party's five-yearly congress that, predictably, endorsed him and his lieutenants to continue in office. There was no suggestion at the congress that he should retire. If he fought and won an election next year, he would be 92 at the expiry of his term of office. "Elections are not too far away," he said. "The inclusive government (shared between his Zanu (PF) and the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change) was given a short life. Let's go out and drive the engine at top gear." The coalition agreement prescribes a two-year period for a new democratic constitution to be drafted and under which the country's next elections should be held, although it does not specify a deadline.
President Mugabe has told Zimbabweans that he expects elections to be held "soon" - raising fears that he will mount a new campaign of terror and violence in his determination to hold on to power.
He was speaking on Saturday at the end of his Zanu (PF) party's five-yearly congress that, predictably, endorsed him and his lieutenants to continue in office. There was no suggestion at the congress that he should retire. If he fought and won an election next year, he would be 92 at the expiry of his term of office.
"Elections are not too far away," he said. "The inclusive government (shared between his Zanu (PF) and the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change) was given a short life. Let's go out and drive the engine at top gear."
The coalition agreement prescribes a two-year period for a new democratic constitution to be drafted and under which the country's next elections should be held, although it does not specify a deadline.
[Murdoch Alert] The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
Think of a tubby man dressed in red who has an army of helpers distributing Christmas toys, and the odds are you visualise Santa Claus, elves and the north pole.Think again. President Hugo Chávez is delivering festive gifts to the tropics with Venezuela's first socialist toy fair.The government has spent $1.4m (£860,000) importing 124,000 toys from China and is selling them at rockbottom prices to hordes of grateful parents. So many swamped the inaugural feria socialista de juguetes in the capital, Caracas, that police officers on horseback intervened to impose order over the weekend."It's amazing. There were thousands waiting this morning even before we opened," said Jesus Alvarez, a government co-ordinator, as crowds threatened to break through police lines. Dozens of colleagues, all dressed in red, feverishly unpacked boxes of toys while an official with a megaphone appealed for calm.Depleted stocks of dolls, puzzles and remote control cars may force the fair, which opened on 7 December, to close this Wednesday, a week early. Barbies sold out within the first few days.With discounts of up to 80%, there is no mystery to its success. Venezuela is in recession and suffering 26% inflation, Latin America's highest. Many families are struggling to buy food, let alone gifts.
Think of a tubby man dressed in red who has an army of helpers distributing Christmas toys, and the odds are you visualise Santa Claus, elves and the north pole.
Think again. President Hugo Chávez is delivering festive gifts to the tropics with Venezuela's first socialist toy fair.
The government has spent $1.4m (£860,000) importing 124,000 toys from China and is selling them at rockbottom prices to hordes of grateful parents. So many swamped the inaugural feria socialista de juguetes in the capital, Caracas, that police officers on horseback intervened to impose order over the weekend.
"It's amazing. There were thousands waiting this morning even before we opened," said Jesus Alvarez, a government co-ordinator, as crowds threatened to break through police lines. Dozens of colleagues, all dressed in red, feverishly unpacked boxes of toys while an official with a megaphone appealed for calm.
Depleted stocks of dolls, puzzles and remote control cars may force the fair, which opened on 7 December, to close this Wednesday, a week early. Barbies sold out within the first few days.
With discounts of up to 80%, there is no mystery to its success. Venezuela is in recession and suffering 26% inflation, Latin America's highest. Many families are struggling to buy food, let alone gifts.
Chile is voting for a new president, with opinion polls suggesting billionaire Sebastian Pinera is the frontrunner.The centre-right businessman is one of four men vying for the job. He is up against three left and centre-left candidates - Eduardo Frei, Marco Enriquez-Ominami and Jorge Arrate. BBC correspondents say the signs are that the country could be about to shift to the right, after 20 years of centre-left rule. If no-one manages to get 50% of the vote on Sunday, the two leading candidates will go through to a run-off on 17 January. Growth promiseMr Pinera, 60, owns a television channel, a stake in Chile's most successful football club and has millions of dollars in investments. He has campaigned on a tough law-and-order ticket and has also vowed to use his business know-how to reactivate the economy, promising Chileans an annual growth rate of 6% for the next four years.
Chile is voting for a new president, with opinion polls suggesting billionaire Sebastian Pinera is the frontrunner.
The centre-right businessman is one of four men vying for the job.
He is up against three left and centre-left candidates - Eduardo Frei, Marco Enriquez-Ominami and Jorge Arrate.
BBC correspondents say the signs are that the country could be about to shift to the right, after 20 years of centre-left rule.
If no-one manages to get 50% of the vote on Sunday, the two leading candidates will go through to a run-off on 17 January.
Growth promise
Mr Pinera, 60, owns a television channel, a stake in Chile's most successful football club and has millions of dollars in investments.
He has campaigned on a tough law-and-order ticket and has also vowed to use his business know-how to reactivate the economy, promising Chileans an annual growth rate of 6% for the next four years.
Chilean woman might not be burning their bras but they are certainly loosening the shoulder straps. So why the sudden change?Women's rights groups are almost unanimous in their response: the Bachelet factor. Chile's first-ever female president, 57-year-old Michelle Bachelet, is credited with pushing gender issues up the political agenda.On assuming power in March 2006, she appointed female ministers to half her cabinet. She also gave the national ministry for women a long-overdue budgetary boost. Her motives were not impersonal. A separated mother, she juggled bringing up three children while carving out a successful career in Chile's male-dominated medical profession."Given the quantity of women in power under this administration, we can no longer say we are excluded", Laura Albornoz, Chile's women's minister.She is quick to reel off the achievements of Bachelet's administration; a more than fivefold increase in the number of free crèches, a best practice code on flexible working; occupational training for 36,000 female heads of household.
Chilean woman might not be burning their bras but they are certainly loosening the shoulder straps. So why the sudden change?
Women's rights groups are almost unanimous in their response: the Bachelet factor. Chile's first-ever female president, 57-year-old Michelle Bachelet, is credited with pushing gender issues up the political agenda.
On assuming power in March 2006, she appointed female ministers to half her cabinet. She also gave the national ministry for women a long-overdue budgetary boost. Her motives were not impersonal. A separated mother, she juggled bringing up three children while carving out a successful career in Chile's male-dominated medical profession.
"Given the quantity of women in power under this administration, we can no longer say we are excluded", Laura Albornoz, Chile's women's minister.
She is quick to reel off the achievements of Bachelet's administration; a more than fivefold increase in the number of free crèches, a best practice code on flexible working; occupational training for 36,000 female heads of household.
SANTIAGO, Chile -- When Gen. Augusto Pinochet held a referendum on his rule in 1988, a surge of young voters was the decisive difference in emphatically turning the country toward democracy. But as Chileans head to the polls on Sunday, with the fate of the 20-year old governing coalition in the balance, young voters are not likely to play a major role.Even as its democracy has matured and its steady economic management has become the envy of Latin America, Chile's youngest citizens have developed a serious case of political apathy.Just 9.2 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds are registered to vote on Sunday, the lowest number for a presidential election since democracy was restored in 1990, and slightly lower than the percentage registered in 2005 when Chileans elected Michelle Bachelet, the first woman to become president. She is not allowed to seek a second consecutive term under the Constitution."I hope that 9 percent becomes zero percent," said Gonzalo Castillo, an 18-year-old history major at the University of Chile, who said he refused to register. "All the candidates represent the interests of the oligarchy, of big business interests."
SANTIAGO, Chile -- When Gen. Augusto Pinochet held a referendum on his rule in 1988, a surge of young voters was the decisive difference in emphatically turning the country toward democracy.
But as Chileans head to the polls on Sunday, with the fate of the 20-year old governing coalition in the balance, young voters are not likely to play a major role.
Even as its democracy has matured and its steady economic management has become the envy of Latin America, Chile's youngest citizens have developed a serious case of political apathy.
Just 9.2 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds are registered to vote on Sunday, the lowest number for a presidential election since democracy was restored in 1990, and slightly lower than the percentage registered in 2005 when Chileans elected Michelle Bachelet, the first woman to become president. She is not allowed to seek a second consecutive term under the Constitution.
"I hope that 9 percent becomes zero percent," said Gonzalo Castillo, an 18-year-old history major at the University of Chile, who said he refused to register. "All the candidates represent the interests of the oligarchy, of big business interests."
This past week, before he left for Europe to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft sat down with the president in the Map Room at the White House for a wide ranging discussion, much of it focused on his decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.... Kroft: The West Point speech was greeted, it was greeted with a great deal of confusion. Obama: I disagree with that statement. Kroft: You do? Obama: I absolutely do. Forty million people watched it. And I think a whole bunch of people understood what we intend to do. Kroft: But it raised a lot of questions. Obama: Now, it- Kroft: Some people thought it was contradictory. That's a fair criticism. Obama: I don't think it's a fair criticism. I think that what you may be referring to is the fact that on the one hand I said, "We're gonna be sending in additional troops now." On the other hand, "By July 2011, we're gonna move into a transition phase where we're drawing our troops down." Kroft: Right. Obama: There shouldn't be anything confusing about that. That's- Kroft: Well- Obama: First of all, that's something that we executed over the last two years in Iraq. So, I think the American people are familiar with the idea of a surge. In terms of the rationale for doing it, we don't have an Afghan military right now, security force, that can stabilize the country. If we are effective over the next two years, that then frees us up to transition into a place where we can start drawing down. ...
Kroft: The West Point speech was greeted, it was greeted with a great deal of confusion. Obama: I disagree with that statement. Kroft: You do? Obama: I absolutely do. Forty million people watched it. And I think a whole bunch of people understood what we intend to do. Kroft: But it raised a lot of questions. Obama: Now, it- Kroft: Some people thought it was contradictory. That's a fair criticism. Obama: I don't think it's a fair criticism. I think that what you may be referring to is the fact that on the one hand I said, "We're gonna be sending in additional troops now." On the other hand, "By July 2011, we're gonna move into a transition phase where we're drawing our troops down." Kroft: Right. Obama: There shouldn't be anything confusing about that. That's- Kroft: Well- Obama: First of all, that's something that we executed over the last two years in Iraq. So, I think the American people are familiar with the idea of a surge. In terms of the rationale for doing it, we don't have an Afghan military right now, security force, that can stabilize the country. If we are effective over the next two years, that then frees us up to transition into a place where we can start drawing down. ...
ahahahaha suuuuuckahhss.. d'ohh wait! this one's gonna leave a mark...
Obama: I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of, you know, fat cat bankers on Wall Street. The only ones that are gonna be paying out these fat bonuses are the ones that have now paid back that TARP money and aren't using taxpayer loans. Kroft: Do you think that's why they paid it back so quickly? Obama: I think in some cases that was a motivation. Which I think tells me that the people on Wall Street still don't get it. They don't get it. They're still puzzled. "Why is it that people are mad at the banks?" Well, let's see. You guys are drawing down $10, $20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in decades, and you guys caused the problem. And we've got ten percent unemployment. Why do you think people might be a little frustrated. Kroft: Do you think that they've made some of these bonuses based in part on the generosity and policies of the United States government to help put the financial system back on its feet? Obama: I think there is no doubt about it. And what's most frustrating me right now
Kroft: Do you think that's why they paid it back so quickly?
Obama: I think in some cases that was a motivation. Which I think tells me that the people on Wall Street still don't get it. They don't get it. They're still puzzled. "Why is it that people are mad at the banks?" Well, let's see. You guys are drawing down $10, $20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in decades, and you guys caused the problem. And we've got ten percent unemployment. Why do you think people might be a little frustrated. Kroft: Do you think that they've made some of these bonuses based in part on the generosity and policies of the United States government to help put the financial system back on its feet? Obama: I think there is no doubt about it. And what's most frustrating me right now
ooohh shiiit... the bu'wheat defense...
is you've got these same banks who benefitted from taxpayer assistance who are fighting tooth and nail with their lobbyists up on Capitol Hill fighting against financial regulatory reform. Kroft: Why is it taking so long? Obama: Well, everything appears to take long in Congress. We can talk about health care (LAUGHS) if you want. This is democracy in action.
very funny, yassuh. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
