Missing ACORN Funds

Missing ACORN funds spark lawsuit, power struggle
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN – Oct 17, 2008

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — ACORN, the national activist group dogged by a high-profile voter registration fraud scandal, has another bruising item on its agenda when its board of directors meets here this weekend.

Leaders of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now are locked in a legal dispute stemming from allegations that the brother of the group's founder misappropriated nearly $1 million of the nonprofit's money several years ago.

The embezzlement case, a recent revelation to some board members, has spawned a lawsuit and set off a power struggle inside ACORN at a time when the liberal group's voter registration practices are the subject of fraud investigations and fodder for presidential campaign attacks.

Bertha Lewis, ACORN's interim chief organizer, called the lawsuit "a distraction from us marshaling our forces to deal with the Republican right-wing attacks" over ACORN's voter registration.

The lawsuit filed in August by two board members accuses ACORN founder and former chief organizer Wade Rathke of either concealing or failing to properly report that his brother Dale embezzled around $948,000 from New Orleans-based ACORN and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000.

Instead of reporting the allegations to law enforcement authorities, a small group of ACORN executives allowed the Rathke family to repay the misappropriated money, according to the lawsuit brought by board members Karen Inman and Marcel Reid.

Inman and Reid said the agreement, which called for the stolen money to be carried on the books of an ACORN affiliate as a loan to an officer, was kept a secret from the full 51-member board until earlier this year.

"We need to find out what happened, when it happened and make sure that ACORN is viable," Inman said during a press briefing about the dispute Thursday in New Orleans. Inman also says she wants an independent audit of ACORN's books.

Rathke, who founded ACORN in 1970, defended the decision to keep his brother's actions an "internal matter" and resolve it with "private restitution." Reporting the case to law enforcement could have left the group at risk of financial ruin, Rathke said.

"One choice would have been to go that way, but then we wouldn't have been able to collect that money," he said.

No working phone number for Dale Rathke could be found and a request by The Associated Press to contact him through his brother wasn't immediately answered.

Lewis said the group's board recently hired attorneys to explore whether Dale Rathke's actions warrant a criminal investigation or could be the subject of a civil case.

"Remember, we just found this out in June," she said.

Rathke said he took responsibility for his brother's "mistakes" by resigning, while Inman says he was fired. Rathke blames a "small group of dissidents" for the turmoil that has followed his departure.

"I wish they would have kept the internal affairs of the organization internally," he said.

Inman and Reid filed suit for access to ACORN financial records that staff members allegedly refused to give them.

During their meeting this weekend, board members are expected to discuss the lawsuit and explore ways to resolve it. A state judge presiding over the case has asked for a transcript of the board's discussion.

Lewis said Inman and Reid don't speak for the entire board and didn't have authority to file suit on the board's behalf.

"As you can well imagine, any organization that just fired its founder after 38 years would have internal issues," she said.

Wade Rathke says he stepped down as ACORN's chief organizer in June, but remains chief organizer for ACORN International. A spokesman for ACORN said the two organizations are separate entities, although they have shared office space in New Orleans.

Rathke shrugged off the board members' lawsuit, calling it a "minor matter," and expressed confidence that the voting registration controversy won't consume the group.

"ACORN is a big organization now, and they're big enough to weather this," he said.

ACORN, which says it has more than 1,200 chapters in 110 cities, has become a household name in this year's presidential election. During his debate Wednesday with Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain said ACORN could be on the verge of "destroying the fabric of democracy."

ACORN is accused of submitting false voter registration forms for some of the 1.3 million young people, minorities, and poor and working-class voters it has registered. The FBI has joined nearly a dozen states in investigating.

Some of ACORN's rank-and-file members in New Orleans fear the double dose of bad publicity could have a chilling effect on fundraising and jeopardize the group's work on the city's fragile recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Vanessa Gueringer, who chairs ACORN's chapter in the city's Lower 9th Ward neighborhood, said the embezzlement case isn't stopping volunteers from gutting homes, registering voters and campaigning for better access to health care in storm-battered New Orleans.

"We look at this as a ripple in the pond — something that happened eight years ago and has been resolved," she said. "Our hope is that people won't focus on the negative and focus on the positive."

article

There is no Media Bias...LOL

OBAMA interview with Charlie Gibson, June 2008
How does it feel to break a glass ceiling?
How does it feel to “win”?
How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling?
Who will be your VP?
Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP?
Will you accept public finance?
What issues is your campaign about?
Will you visit Iraq?
Will you debate McCain at a town hall?
What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech?
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5000184

PALIN interview with Charlie Gibson, Sept. 2008
Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders?
Aren’t you conceited to be seeking this high level job?
Questions about foreign policy
-territorial integrity of Georgia
-allowing Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO
-NATO treaty
-Iranian nuclear threat
-what to do if Israel attacks Iran
-Al Qaeda motivations
-the Bush Doctrine
-attacking terrorists harbored by Pakistan
Is America fighting a holy war? [misquoted Palin]

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002950353

US Constitution

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

(In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.) (This clause in parentheses has been modified by the 20th and 25th Amendments.)

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

20th Amendment

3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

Amendment 25 - Presidential Disability and Succession. Ratified 2/10/1967.

1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Obama and Acorn Ties

Obama: Burying ACORNs

The ad says that "Obama's ties to ACORN run long and deep" – that he "taught classes" for the group, paid a "front" $800,000 for get-out-the-vote efforts, and was endorsed by ACORN for president.

• That last one's true – ACORN's political action committee did offer an Obama endorsement.
  
• It's also true that Obama has worked with the group in the past. In 1995, Obama helped represent ACORN in a successful lawsuit to require the state of Illinois to offer "motor voter" registration at DMV offices.
  
• Obama has said that this is his only association with ACORN, but that's not the case – he has had other, though less direct, interactions with the organization.
  
• After law school, Obama directed a Chicago registration drive for Project Vote, which works closely with ACORN.
  
• And when Obama was on the board of directors of the Woods Fund, the foundation gave grants of $75,000 in 2001 and $70,000 in 2002 to ACORN's Chicago office. The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee cite an additional grant of $45,000 in 2000. The Woods Fund has not responded to our calls about their 2000 grants.

The Obama campaign also paid Citizens Services Inc., a group affiliated with ACORN, more than $800,000 for get-out-the-vote (not voter registration) efforts during the primary election. The nature of CSI's services was initially misrepresented on the Obama campaign's disclosures to the Federal Election Commission, which the campaign describes as an oversight. The Obama campaign says it has not been involved with ACORN during the general election.

As for "teaching classes" for the group, the McCain campaign cites a March 2008 Newsday article, which says that ACORN organizer Madeleine Talbot "initially considered Obama a competitor" when both were working to get asbestos insulation removed from a Chicago housing project, but that "she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff." Newsday does not say whether Obama accepted the invitation. An article by Chicago alderman Toni Foulkes says that "we [ACORN] have invited Obama to our leadership training sessions to run the session on power every year" between 1992 and 2004, when the article was written. The Obama campaign says that Obama participated in two, one-hour trainings in a volunteer capacity. Foulkes could not be reached for comment.

Full Article at FactCheck

Obama Misleading on McCain's Medicare Plan

He accuses McCain of proposing to cut benefits. Not true.

Summary

In a TV ad and in speeches, Obama is making bogus claims that McCain plans to cut $880 billion from Medicare spending and to reduce benefits.

* A TV spot says McCain's plan requires "cuts in benefits, eligibility or both."

* Obama said in a speech that McCain plans "cuts" that would force seniors to "pay more for your drugs, receive fewer services, and get lower quality care."

These claims are false, and based on a single newspaper report that says no such thing. McCain's policy director states unequivocally that no benefit cuts are envisioned. McCain does propose substantial "savings" through such means as cutting fraud, increased use of information technology in medicine and better handling of expensive chronic diseases. Obama himself proposes some of the same cost-saving measures. We're skeptical that either candidate can deliver the savings they promise, but that's no basis for Obama to accuse McCain of planning huge benefit cuts.

Read full article at FactCheck

Obama Birth Certificate

Why this matters :
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Why this matters in regard to Barack Obama:
Apparently, no committee or agency that verifies that a candidate has the required qualifications. We assume that the nominating Party (DNC or RNC) verifies a candidate before nominating.

Barack Obama is a lawyer, a constitutional law professor, graduated from Harvard Law School Magna Cum Laude ... a brilliant lawyer by all accounts. Are we expected to believe that he does not know the requirements to run for the office of POTUS?

Some have questioned Barack Obama's claim of birth in Hawaii due to the following information.

1. Obama Born In Kenya? His Grandmother Says Yes.
by Tamar Yonah

Someone is lying. According to Obama's Kenyan (paternal) grandmother, as well as his half-brother and half-sister, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Kenya, not in Hawaii as the Democratic candidate for president claims. His grandmother bragged that her grandson is about to be President of the United States and is so proud because she was present DURING HIS BIRTH IN KENYA, in the delivery room. -This, according to several news sites.
(comment: I have not found these news sources. Do they exist?)

2. Sen. Obama is reported via wikipedia and various news articles as having been born at two hospitals.
Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at the Kapiolani Medical Center.
Barack Obama was born at the Queen’s Medical Center on 4 August 1961.

3. The campaign refused to release to the St. Petersburg Times in April:

We tried to obtain a copy of Obama’s birth certificate, but his campaign would not release it and the state of Hawaii does not make such records public.

Has anyone seen it? Why shouldn’t the record be in the public domain for presidential candidates?

4. Various assertions...
"There appears to be no question that Defendant Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was a U.S. citizen. It is also undisputed, however, that his father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a citizen of Kenya. Obama’s parents, according to divorce records, were married on or about February 2, 1961.

Defendant Obama claims he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961, (6 MONTHS AFTER HIS PARENTS MARRIED) and it is uncertain in which hospital he claims to have been born. Obama’s grandmother on his father’s side, his half-brother and half-sister all claim Obama was born not in Hawaii but in Kenya. Reports reflect that Obama’s mother traveled to Kenya during her pregnancy; however, she was prevented from boarding a flight from Kenya to Hawaii at her late stage of pregnancy (which, apparently, was a normal restriction, to avoid births during a flight).

By these reports, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama gave birth to Obama in Kenya, after which she flew home and registered Obama’s birth. There are records of a “registry of birth” for Obama, on or about August 8, 1961 in the public records office in Hawaii.

Upon investigation into the alleged birth of Obama in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama’s birth is reported as occurring at two (2) separate hospitals, Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital. Wikipedia English Version, under the subject “Barack Obama,” states Obama was born at Kapiolani Hospital. Wikipedia Italian Version, under the subject “Queens Hospital,” states Barack Obama was born in Queens Hospital.

Furthermore, the Rainbow Edition News Letter, November 2004 Edition, published by the Education Laboratory School, attached as EXHIBIT “1”, did a several page article of an interview with Obama and his half-sister, Maya. The Rainbow Edition News Letter reports Obama was born August 4, 1961 at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

More interesting in February 2008, Obama’s half-sister, Maya, was again interviewed in the Star Bulletin, attached as EXHIBIT “2”, and this time, Maya states Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children.

Wayne Madsen, Journalist with Online Journal as a contributing writer published an article on June 9, 2008 stating that a research team went to Mombassa, Kenya, and located a Certificate Registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. to his father, a Kenyan citizen and his mother, a U.S. citizen, attached as EXHIBIT “3”.

Even if Obama was, in fact, born in Hawaii, he lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother re-married and moved to Indonesia with her Indonesian husband. In or about 1966, when Obama was approximately five (5) years old, his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, married Lolo Soetoro, a citizen of Indonesia, whom she had met at the Hawaii University, and moved to Indonesia with Obama. Obama lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother married Lolo Soetoro, and took up residency in Indonesia.

Loss of citizenship, in these circumstances, under U.S. law (as in effect in 1967) required that foreign citizenship be achieved through “application.” Such type of naturalization occurred, for example, when a person acquired a foreign nationality by marriage to a national of that country.

Nationality Act of 1940, Section 317. A minor child follows the naturalization and citizenship status of their custodial parent. A further issue is presented that Obama’s Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, either signed an acknowledgement acknowledging Obama as his son or Lolo Soetoro adopted Obama, giving Obama natural Indonesia citizenship which explains the name Barry Soetoro and his citizenship listed as Indonesian.

Obama admits in his book, “Dreams from my father” Obama’s memoir (autobiography), that after his mother and Lolo Soetoro were married, Lolo Soetoro left Hawaii rather suddenly and Obama and his mother spent months in preparation for their move to Indonesia. Obama admits when he arrived in Indonesia he had already been enrolled in an Indonesia school and his relatives were waiting to meet him and his mother.

Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian State citizen, could not have enrolled Obama in school unless Lolo Soetoro signed an acknowledgement acknowledging Obama as his son, which had to be filed with the Government. Under Indonesian law, when a male acknowledges a child as his son, it deems the son, in this case Obama, as an Indonesian State citizen. (BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA aka LARRY SOETORO can not have it both ways).

Constitution of Republic of Indonesia, Law No. 62 of 1958 Law No. 12 of 2006 dated 1 Aug. 2006 concerning Citizenship of Republic of Indonesia, Law No. 9 of 1992 dated 31 Mar. 1992 concerning Immigration Affairs and Indonesian Civil Code (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Perdata) (KUHPer) (Burgerlijk Wetboek voor Indonesie) states in pertinent part, State citizens of Indonesia include: (viii) children who are born outside of legal marriage from foreign State citizen mother who are acknowledged by father who is Indonesian State citizen as his children and that acknowledgment is made prior to children reaching 18 years of age or prior to marriage; Republic of Indonesia Constitution 1945, As amended by the First Amendment of 1999, the Second Amendment of 2000, the Third Amendment of 2001 and the Fourth Amendment of 2002, Chapter X, Citizens and Residents, Article 26 states, “(1) Citizens shall consist of indigenous Indonesian peoples and persons of foreign origin who have been legalized [sic] as citizens in accordance with law. (2) Residents shall consist of Indonesian citizens and foreign nationals living in Indonesia.”
Bill Warner Private Investigator www.wbipi.com

(commentary: So, why the mystery? It's simple. Have the DNC make a clear and direct statement that they are satisfied that their candidate qualifies. Or have your campaign release an official statement. But they won't. And that makes me suspicious. Or at least curious. What they have said is below this comment...from stopthesmears.com which is fine except it does not address several issues - dual nationality of Kenya and/or Indonesia etc.. Honestly, what is the big deal? Not showing passports (such as for travel to Pakistan at a time Americans did not get to travel there) or school registrations, or school admission records just makes it SEEM as though you are trying to hide something.)

The Truth: (from official Obama campaign website)

Barack Obama was born in the state of Hawaii and is therefore a natural-born citizen of the United States. His campaign has even released a copy of his birth certificate showing this fact.

Lawsuits:
Hawai'i Supreme Court asked to issue emergency writ opening secret Obama birth files
The Hawai'i Supreme Court petition supplements and expands on a lawsuit filed Friday, October 18th in the Circuit Court of Hawai'i. ANDY MARTIN Executive Editor ContrarianCommentary.com

September 24, 2008 : Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Senator Barack Obama file a motion to dismiss.

(commentary: Why file for dismissal? Why not file that the documents are privileged information and shouldn't be publicly disclosed? Or better yet - why not just end this saga - questions about Obama's citizenship have been out there for over a year now. It does seem suspicious for Sen . Obama to choose to avoid the request if he is legitimately qualified and has documents.)

Was Obama a member of one or more socialist parties?

November 1996
populist.com

"New Party members and supported candidates won 16 of 23 races, including an at-large race for the Little Rock, Ark., City Council, a seat on the county board for Little Rock and the school board for Prince George's County, Md. Chicago is sending the first New Party member to Congress, as Danny Davis, who ran as a Democrat, won an overwhelming 85% victory. New Party member Barack Obama was uncontested for a State Senate seat from Chicago. "

Jim Cullen The Progressive Populist

Obama Tax Cuts?

There is a website where you can see exactly how Obama's tax plan will affect you. You can put in your tax filing status; single, married filing jointly, etc., and then put in your taxable income. Put your amount in for 2008 which shows what you will owe under the current tax plan. Then put that same amount in and set it for 2000, which is what you will owe once Obama repeals Bush’s tax cuts. Look for the box like the one above at the website and give it a try.

"Spread the wealth around" Senator Barack Obama October 2008

Samples:
Taxable amount 70,000
Married filing jointly
2008 Tax rate (McCain Plan) = 10,188
2000 Tax rate (Obama Plan) = 13,900

Taxable mount 40,000
single filing single
2008 Tax rate (McCain Plan) = 6,344
2000 Tax rate (Obama Plan) = 7,788

Taxable mount 24,000
single filing single
2008 Tax rate (McCain Plan) = 3,600
2000 Tax rate (Obama Plan) = 3,199

Biden warning : US will be attacked

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities.
And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."


Related Article:
By Tim Shipman in Washington for The Telegraph (London)
Last Updated: 1:31PM BST 19 Oct 2008

President Bush's team have briefed Senator Obama's staff on terrorism to ensure a smooth handover in the event of an Obama win

Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election.

For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one.

Intelligence chiefs expect an attempt to emulate the terrorist strikes on Britain when Gordon Brown took power and are concerned that Russia or Iran could use the 77 days of paralysis between the election and the inauguration on January 20 for acts of international brinkmanship, like the invasion of Georgia.

An official involved in the transition discussions told The Sunday Telegraph: "There has been no specific threat but the assessment is that someone will try something.

"It could be a terrorist attack on US assets overseas. It could be the leader of a rogue state chancing his arm. Putin and Ahmadinejad have form."

The transition of power in the US is a chaotic process. More than 1,100 political appointees in senior posts have to be approved by the Senate, a process that can take months.

On Wednesday the current White House chief of staff, Josh Bolten, chaired a meeting of senior White House staff and representatives of both Mr Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.

President Bush's creation of this Presidential Transition Coordinating Council, the earliest ever, is designed to avoid a repeat of the situation on September 11 2001, when only one third of his national security appointees had been approved by the Senate, nine months into his presidency.

Martha Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, an independent group that advises the transition teams of both campaigns, told The Sunday Telegraph: "The times of changing of power are soft times, times of vulnerability. Just look at what has happened around the world, including in Great Britain.

"You had the failed bombings in London and then the attack at Glasgow airport three days after Gordon Brown took office. In Spain the Madrid bombings were three days before the presidential election."

There have been particularly intensive efforts to make sure Mr Obama has his national security team in place, not just because he is widely expected to win the election on November 4, but because intelligence analysts believe America's enemies are more likely to try to take advantage of Mr Obama's international inexperience than they would of Mr McCain.

A senior official in the Obama camp, whose name has been submitted for FBI vetting, said: "We will be ready and we will be seen to be ready."

He said that Mr Obama is close to finalising plans for his first 100 days in power - which will include major moves on the economy, healthcare and Iraq in his first week, designed to make his priorities clear to Americans.

He is planning a series of early interventions to stamp his authority on the economic crisis. This will include legislation proposing a $300bn stimulus package which would be published before President Bush has even left the White House, so that it can be passed as soon as he takes power.

Mr Obama is also planning executive orders that do not require legislation on his first day in office, which could include plans to promote renewable energy resources and create jobs.

His transition team, which is reportedly much more extensive and active than Mr McCain's, features 10 working groups in different policy areas to convert campaign promises into concrete legislation. It is chaired by John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former White House chief of staff who runs the Centre for American Progress, a think tank long seen as a Democratic administration in exile.

Mr Podesta is working closely with Michael Signer, a former foreign policy aide to John Edwards in charge of homeland security affairs. Mr Podesta and Jason Furman, one of Mr Obama's two most influential economic advisers, have already held talks with sceptical conservative Democrats to line up the votes to pass a stimulus package.

Mr Obama has also worked to cultivate a close relationship with the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, and personally asked him to help out during the transition, sparking speculation that he might keep Mr Paulson in post for the first year of his presidency.

Ms Kumar said: "There are things that a president can do immediately that establish his brand of leadership and help establish with the public what the priorities are.

"Reagan issued executive orders at the luncheon following the inauguration. He didn't even wait to get to the White House. He wanted to show how seriously he took the issue of the economy."

FBI vetting is also under way on 100 people from both campaigns, including Susan Rice, expected to be made the second successive black woman national security adviser after Condoleezza Rice; Greg Craig, a Washington lawyer tipped to become Mr Obama's chief White House counsel and his likely White House chief of staff; and the former senator and campaign chairman Tom Daschle. If Daschle prefers to become Health Secretary, Obama's current chief of staff Pete Rouse, nicknamed the 101st Senator for his connections on Capitol Hill, would take the job.

Other key national security officials will include Denis McDonough, chief foreign affairs adviser to the campaign and Richard Danzig, a secretary of the Navy under Clinton.

John Kerry, the Democratic candidate four years ago, and his fellow senator Chris Dodd, a failed candidate this year, are vying to become Secretary of State.

Mr Kerry, an Army veteran, is also a contender to take control of the Pentagon, but many expect that post to go to a Republican, perhaps the maverick senator Chuck Hagel. Colin Powell, a former secretary of state and chairman of the joint chiefs could return to government if he endorses Obama, as many expect. The veteran Democratic Senator Sam Nunn's name is also in the frame.

McCain/Palin popularity rises

John McCain's appearance on Letterman gave Dave his highest rating since Dec. 2005!
Sarah Palin's appearance on Saturday Night Live gave that show its highest ratings in 14 years!


Big Ratings for McCain-Letterman Summit
Joal Ryan – Fri Oct 17, 4:40 pm ET
Last night's audience for David Letterman and John McCain's summit meeting was Late Show's biggest since Letterman and Oprah Winfrey reached an on-air peace accord in December 2005, CBS said. The McCain show averaged an estimated 6.5 million viewers. It trounced Jay Leno's Tonight Show, which countered with Barack Obama running mate Joe Biden, but probably should have checked to see if Sarah Palin was available.

Palin-Fey meeting nabs best 'SNL' ratings in 14 years show
By JEFFREY RESSNER | 10/19/08 10:11 PM EDT
Doggone it, “Saturday Night Live” scored its best overnight ratings in more than 14 years this weekend, thanks to the highly anticipated face-off between GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her comedic doppelganger, "SNL" alum Tina Fey.

Based on overnight results from the 56 biggest markets, the show received a 10.7 rating, which means more than 14 million viewers tuned in to see Palin's visit with the comedy troupe that has decimated her for the past month.

Polls show race tightening

The race continues to tighten in McCain/Palin's favor. The national poll average today show Obama only 4.8 points ahead versus 7 points a few days ago.

Real Clear Politics