Obama says use, deployment of chemical weapons in Syria would force reassessment of US policy

President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. would reconsider its opposition to military involvement in the Syrian civil war if President Bashar Assad's beleaguered regime deploys or uses chemical or biological weapons. He called such action a "red line" for the United States.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Obama said the use of such weapons of mass destruction would considerably widen a conflict that has already dragged on for a year-and-a-half and killed some 20,000 people, according to activists. Syria possesses extensive chemical and biological weapons stockpiles and has threatened to use them if the country comes under foreign attack.

"That's an issue that doesn't just concern Syria. It concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us," Obama said, also acknowledging the possibility that militant groups might acquire some of those weapons. "We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people."

The president noted that he hasn't ordered any armed U.S. intervention yet, but said: "We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region, that that's a red line for us, and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front, or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly."

Keywords - Obama says use, deployment of chemical weapons in Syria would force reassessment of US policy, cannot have a situation where biological weapons are falling in the hands of wrong people.

Paul Ryan draws big crowds as VP pick energises Romney campaign

The Obama campaign has attempted to play down the apparent excitement generated by Mitt Romney’s new running mate Paul Ryan, a move that boosted crowds at the Republican presidential challenger's events.

Romney and Ryan, on their first full day campaigning together on Sunday, attracted much bigger audiences than normal for Romney events, which on the whole tend to be sparsely populated.

It comes at a time when Barack Obama’s own drawing-power has become an issue, with the campaign denying reports that turnout is well down on the 2008 campaign.

Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, interviewed on CBS on Monday morning, expressed scepticism over whether the Romney-Ryan ticket would continue to generate the kind of enthusiasm seen at campaign events in North Carolina on Sunday.

He recalled that when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, there was the same "kind of excitement". But in the longer term Ryan is, like Palin, "not going to be a plus for Mr Romney", Axelrod said.

Romney went campaigning on his own in Florida on Monday while Ryan went to Iowa to shadow Obama, who begins a three-day bus tour of the state, before hopping to Colorado, another swing state, where he will campaign on Tuesday.

Ryan attracted a large crowd to his speech at the Iowa state fair, including noisy hecklers who accused him of waging war on the working-class.

A New York Times reporter said Obama, at a fundraiser in his hometown Chicago on Sunday, attracted only a half-full crowd for an event where ticket prices began at $51. The Romney campaign spokesman, Ryan Williams, tweeted: "The thrill has gone."

The Obama campaign, as well as other journalists, disputed the the New York Times assessment by the reporter, who later deleted her first comment and posted a modified tweet. 

The Romney campaign denied this was why Ryan was sent to Iowa rather than Florida and stressed the Wisconsin congressman will be campaigning in Florida on Saturday.

Romney attracted a big crowd at his first event in Florida, at Flagler College, but this may have been partly because of earlier publicity suggesting that Ryan would also be present. As in North Carolina, some of the crowd had to listen from outside.

Romney defended Ryan's proposed Medicare shake-up, saying reform is necessary to protect the programme for future generations. "We want to make sure that we preserve and protect Medicare," Romney said.

At the same time, he has left himself a loophole if the controversy begins to damage his campaign, saying that the budget if he wins the White House would be his rather than Ryan's.

Keywords - Paul Ryan draws big crowds as VP pick energises Romney campaign, The Obama campaign has attempted to play down the apparent excitement generated by Mitt Romney’s new running mate Paul Ryan.

Obama on New Dollar Bill

The White House has approved the redesign of U.S. currency.  Barack Obama will be on the new dollar bill. The Obama Administration feels that the American dollar is in bad need of a makeover.  They have partnered with the Dollar Redesign Project to pick a new design for U.S. currency.  Currently, the design that the administration likes best was done by Dowling Duncan (a British duo), which features a unique vertical design.  It also features President Obama on the one dollar bill.

“We love the Dowling Duncan look.  They’ve come up with a creative design and put President Obama where he belongs… on number 1,” said David Axelrod, Senior Adviser to President Obama.

Keywords – Obama on new dollar bill.

What Are Paul Ryan’s Chances of Becoming President?

On Saturday when introducing his new running mate, Mitt Romney initially referred to Paul D. Ryan as the “next president of the United States.”

Mr. Romney quickly apologized for the slip-up, saying that he hoped that Mr. Ryan would become the next vice president instead. (Apparently, the stress of a vice presidential rollout can take its toll even on relatively unflappable candidates like Mr. Romney; Barack Obama made a similar slip when introducing Joe Biden four years ago.)

Of course, it’s not literally impossible that Mr. Ryan could turn out to be the 45th American president precisely (Mr. Obama is the 44th). It just couldn’t be through a sequence of events that Mr. Romney would be rooting for. Either the Republican ticket would have to win this year’s election — but with Mr. Ryan, not Mr. Romney, at the top of the ticket. Or, the more likely case: Mr. Obama would need to win the election and serve out his remaining four years, and Mr. Ryan would have to run for and win the presidency in 2016.

What, exactly, are the odds of one of these scenarios transpiring?

For that matter, what are Mr. Ryan’s odds of someday becoming president — whether he’s the 45th, 46th, 47th, or some later number in the sequence of people to hold the office?

Even more broadly, what does the future hold for running mates on winning tickets? And what about those on losing ones?

There are too many variables to compute these chances exactly, but we can make some reasonable guesses based on the historical record.

First, let’s consider the case that Mr. Romney would be most pleased with: that he and Mr. Ryan are the winning ticket in November, and Republicans re-capture the White House.

Twenty-eight men have been elected vice president since 1900, double-counting those (like George Herbert Walker Bush in 1980 and 1984) who were elected twice. Let’s give Mr. Biden a mulligan, since he hasn’t yet had a chance to seek an open nomination. That leaves us with 27 cases.

In the chart that follows, I’ve sorted the 27 winning vice presidents by the margin by which their ticket won the popular vote. Then I documented whether they sought the presidency in some subsequent election, whether they won a party nomination, and whether they were actually elected to the Oval Office.

Keywords – What are Paul Ryan’s chances of becoming president? , Mitt Romney referred Paul D. Ryan as the next president of United States.

Romney pushes back at protester in Wisconsin

Via POLITICO's Ginger Gibson, Mitt Romney pushed back hard at protesters who tried to disrupt his rally with Paul Ryan in Wisconsin:

"You see young man, this group here is respectful of other people’s right to be be heard. And you ought to find yourself a different place to be disruptive, because here we believe in listening to people with dignity and respect."

Previously, Ryan had spoke at length without an interruption, but after Romney began speaking a handful of protesters disrupted his remarks.

The crowd shouted down the first group, chanting "USA" to drown them out. But after the police had escorted most away from the stage, another group of protester broke out.

Romney rarely confronts protesters, and rarely with such force as he confronted the ones in Waukesha.

While it couldn't be heard what the protester was yelling about from the press area, Romney tied the shouters to President Obama's campaign, arguing that they were playing dirty politics.

It was the second time on Sunday that he had been disrupted while speaking. At a rally in High Point, N.C., earlier in the day, a Ron Paul supporter had started shouting while Romney was recognizing veterans.

At that point, Romney had more calmly voiced unhappiness for the interruption.

Keywords - Romney pushes back at protester in Wisconsin.

US should change bio fuel policy to avoid food crisis said UN

The U.N.'s food agency stepped up the pressure on the United States on Friday to change its biofuel policies because of the danger of a world food crisis, arguing the importance of growing crops for food over their use for fuel.

Global alarm over the potential for a food crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 has escalated as drought in the U.S. Midwest has sent grain prices to record highs, fuelling a 6 percent surge in the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's July food price index.

The FAO's Director-General Jose Graziano Da Silva wrote in the Financial Times on Friday that competition for a U.S. corn crop that has been ravaged by the worst drought in 56 years was only going to intensify.

"Much of the reduced crop will be claimed by biofuel production in line with U.S. federal mandates, leaving even less for food and feed markets," he wrote in an editorial.

"An immediate, temporary suspension of that mandate would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channelled towards food and feed uses," he said in the high profile yet indirect message to Washington.

Under the five-year-old Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), U.S. fuel companies are required to ensure that 9 percent of their gasoline pools are made up of ethanol this year, which means converting some 40 percent of the corn crop into the biofuel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday slashed its estimates for the size of the corn crop by more than expected, sending corn futures prices, already up 60 percent since June, to a fresh all-time high.

Keywords – US should change bio fuel policy to avoid food crisis, FAO’s Director wrote in financial times.

Obama takes 7 point lead over Romney based on opinion poll

With US presidential elections less than three months away, President Barack Obama has taken a 7-point lead over his Republican rival Mitt Romney, a latest opinion poll has said.

Romney's unfavorable rating is now up, according to a CNN /ORC International survey.

Most of the Americans think that Romney favours the rich and it appears that the number of people who believe that the economy will not get better if he is elected has edged up slightly.

At the same time, the polls also reveal that Romney's supporters are increasingly getting behind him in his campaign against Obama.

The latest CNN/ ORC survey said yesterday that over 52% of the registered voters said that they would re-elect Obama for another term, while 45% said Romney was their favorite for the November presidential elections.

"Among independent voters, the poll indicates President Obama has a 53% - 42% lead. The President holds a nine point advantage among women voters and a smaller six point edge among men," said the CNN polling director, Keating Holland.

However there is some good news for Romney, the CNN said.

Four months after he wrapped up the race for the GOP nomination, 56% of Romney voters say they strongly support him, up from 47% in May. Sixty-one % of Obama voters say they strongly support him, the polls said.

According to RealClearPolitics.Com, the average of top 10 polls shows that Obama has a 3% lead over Romney.

Keywords – Obama takes 7 point lead over Romney, CNN/ORC International survey.