Obama honoring our veterans

Barack's Memorial Day speech in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Here's the full text to the speech.

Obama's Wesleyan Commencement Speech

Barack spoke for Senator Ted Kennedy at the commencement address at Wesleyan University.

He encouraged graduates to follow the example of the Kennedy family and work towards a more just society.

I was born the year that his brother John called a generation of Americans to ask their country what they could do. And I came of age at a time when they did it. They were the Peace Corps volunteers who won a generation of goodwill toward America at a time when America’s ideals were challenged. They were the teenagers and college students, not much older than you, who watched the Civil Rights Movement unfold on their television sets; who saw the dogs and the fire hoses and the footage of marchers beaten within an inch or their lives; who knew it was probably smarter and safer to stay at home, but still decided to take those Freedom Rides down south – who still decided to march. And because they did, they changed the world.

I bring this up because today, you are about to enter a world that makes it easy to get caught up in the notion that there are actually two different stories at work in our lives.

The first is the story of our everyday cares and concerns – the responsibilities we have to our jobs and our families – the bustle and busyness of what happens in our own life. And the second is the story of what happens in the life of our country – of what happens in the wider world. It’s the story you see when you catch a glimpse of the day’s headlines or turn on the news at night – a story of big challenges like war and recession; hunger and climate change; injustice and inequality. It’s a story that can sometimes seem distant and separate from our own – a destiny to be shaped by forces beyond our control.

And yet, the history of this nation tells us this isn’t so. It tells us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us – by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have served this country in ways that have forever enriched both.

I say this to you as someone who couldn’t be standing here today if not for the service of others, and wouldn’t be standing here today if not for the purpose that service gave my own life.

Obama's Plan for the Housing Crisis

Barack's Plan for the Housing Crisis

Sen. Barack Obama spoke in North Las Vegas, on the housing crisis and the need to protect home ownership. Here are the details of the plan:

As president, Obama will:

* Support the Dodd/Frank proposal to create a new FHA Housing Security Program to provide incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages and make them stable 30-year fixed mortgages;

* Make an additional $10 billion in bonds available to help middle class families buy their first home or avoid foreclosure;

* Give a tax credit to middle class homeowners that would cover 10 percent of the interest on their mortgages every year;

* Mandate accurate loan disclosure to ensure consumers fully understand their loan agreements;

* Penalize predatory lenders and use those fines to help families stay in their homes;

* Eliminate income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 per year;

* And implement a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of $1,000 per family or $500 per worker.

The full transcript of the speech as well as more information about his plan can be read here

Speaker Pelosi will step in at DNC

Pelosi Prepared to Step in to Stop Convention Fight

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will step in if necessary to make sure the presidential nomination fight between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama does not reach the Democratic National Convention - though she believes it could be resolved as early as next week.

Pelosi predicted Wednesday that a presidential nominee will emerge in the week after the final Democratic primaries on June 3, but she said "I will step in" if there is no resolution by late June regarding the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan, the two states that defied party rules by holding early primaries.

"Because we cannot take this fight to the convention," she said. "It must be over before then."

Key Clinton constituencies Moving Toward Obama

From the latest Gallup poll:

Gallup Poll Daily tracking has documented a surge in Democratic voters' support for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in recent days, swelling from a four percentage-point lead for Obama during the first part of May to a record 16-point lead for him in polling from May 16-18.

...The broadening of Obama's appeal for the nomination seen in Gallup's May 16-18 polling is fairly widespread, with the percentage favoring him increasing among most demographic categories of Democratic voters. However, as a result, certain groups that were already highly supportive of Obama for the nomination -- men, 18- to 29-year-olds, postgrads, and upper-income Democrats -- are now overwhelmingly in his camp. Obama is currently favored among these groups by a 2-to-1 margin, or better, over Clinton.

...At the same time, support for Clinton among some of her traditionally stalwart support groups -- women, Easterners, whites, adults with no college education, and Hispanics -- has fallen below 50%.

United Mine Workers of America Endorse Obama

The United Mine Workers of America have endorsed Barack Obama for President. Here's UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts...

We are extremely proud to make this endorsement today. Sen. Obama shares the values of UMWA members and our families. He understands and will fight for the needs our members have today and the hopes our members have for a secure future for themselves and their families.

Most of all, Sen. Obama will implement the clear change in direction UMWA members–indeed, all American working people–must have if they are to once again move forward and have a true opportunity to realize the American dream. After eight years of being pushed aside by an administration which neither respects nor values the contributions American working families make to our society, we are looking forward with great anticipation to a new era in our nation starting with the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009...