FOR a guy who talks so much about wanting a new era of re sponsibility, President Obama spends an awful lot of time blaming Republicans for all the wild and reckless spending he crammed into his own budget.

After running a campaign against the $1 trillion deficit he “inherited” from President Bush and the Republicans, Obama quickly matched it. During his first 50 days in office, he and his Democratic-controlled Congress spent $1 billion an hour.

Under Obama’s proposed budget, the overall national debt doubles in five years and triples in 10.

Not exactly “moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest,” as he promised.

How does Mr. Responsibility explain the disconnect between this reality and his absurd claims? By insisting that Republicans were worse.

“To a bunch of the critics out there, I’ve already said, show me your budget!” he told a gathering of wealthy Democratic donors this week. “I’m happy to have that debate.”

Or, another time: “I suspect that some of those Republican critics have a short memory, because as I recall I’m inheriting a $1.3 trillion deficit, annual deficit, from them.”

In other words, Obama cannot defend his decision to double down on deficit spending. So, he simply trashes Republicans.

As if voters right now are looking for somebody just not as bad as the GOP. As if his campaign slogan wasn’t “Change You Can Believe In,” but rather “Vote for Me. I’m Not as Bad as Republicans.”

Anyway, Republicans tried this out-of-control spending derby — and just look where that got them. In a few short years, they lost control of every single lever of power exactly because of this kind of behavior.

Yet in even less time, Obama has put away his promises of Hope and Change and tossed aside the idealism of his campaign about remaking politics in Washington.

Surveying the political landscape here today, Obama is thinking of that adage cherished by cutthroats everywhere.

If you and a buddy are walking through the woods and encounter a hungry, angry bear, you don’t have to outrun the bear. You simply have to outrun your buddy.

Microsoft will release Windows 7 Release Candidate 1, Build 7100, on April 10th to MSDN and other select users. This will be followed by a public release on April 20th. some additional news (rumor) that Microsoft has decided it will in fact have a second Release Candidate, RC2, the last week of May.

As the finger pointing starts around 7,500 Carbonite customers have lost their online data stored with Carbonite. In a report published this weekend the Boston Globe reports that Carbonite has filed suit against Promise Technology and Interactive Digital Systems for breech of contract, fraud, and deceptive acts and practices.

WASHINGTON – The top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee says the Obama administration is on the right course to save the nation’s financial system.

But Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire also says President Barack Obama’s massive budget proposal will bankrupt the country.

Gregg says he has no regrets in withdrawing his nomination to become commerce secretary. He pulled out after deciding he could not fully back the administration’s economic policies.

The senator said Obama’s spending plan in the midst of a prolonged recession would leave the next generation with a country too expensive to live in.

Gregg appeared Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

While focus is critical for emerging innovation hubs, as they mature, they need to broaden their portfolios of businesses and sectors. This diversification is vital to the long-term survival of an innovation hub—it allows the hub to survive the unavoidable downturns that affect specific sectors and provides the impetus for continuous reinvention.

Microsoft is providing a 87% discount on Microsoft Office Standard 2007 for all Military men and women. If you have served Microsoft is thanking you with a copy of Microsoft Office for $49!!!

With no formal announcement of the number of layoffs Dell has confirmed they are laying off workers at the Winston-Salem plant. So far the number ranges somewhere between 150 and 300 workers were lead off the plant floor and informed they no longer worked for Dell.

By Mark Pittman

March 5 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve Board of Governors receives daily reports on loans to banks and securities firms, the institution said in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Bloomberg News.

The Fed refused yesterday to disclose the names of the borrowers and the loans, alleging that it would cast “a stigma” on recipients of more than $1.9 trillion of emergency credit from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

The bank provides “select members and staff of the Board of Governors with daily and weekly reports” on Primary Dealer Credit Facility borrowing, said Susan E. McLaughlin, a senior vice president in the markets group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a deposition for the Fed. The documents “include the names of the primary dealers that have borrowed from the PDCF, individual loan amounts, composition of securities pledged and rates for specific loans.”

The Board of Governors contends that it’s separate from its member banks, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York which runs the lending programs. Most documents relevant to the Bloomberg suit are at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which the Fed contends isn’t subject to FOIA law. The Board of Governors has 231 pages of documents, which it is denying access to under an exemption under trade secrets.

“I would assume that information would be shared by the Fed and the New York Fed,” said U.S. Representative Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican. “At some point, the demand for transparency is paramount to any demand that they have for secrecy.”

Bloomberg sued Nov. 7 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act requesting details about the terms of 11 Fed lending programs.

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