Michelle jokingly said Barack would be sleeping on the couch if he didn't push the child nutrition bill through Congress. (CC BY/glyphobet/Flickr)

After passing unanimously through the Senate last summer and more narrowly through the House (264-157) earlier this month, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has finally received the president’s signature. The new law authorizes a federal nutrition program for children, reports the Associated Press. The $4.5-billion measure extends school lunch assistance to the needy, sets federal nutritional standards for all food in schools and will mandate programs to combat childhood obesity and related diseases.

Some say child nutrition bill smacks of socialism

Critics of the child nutrition bill object to the federal government determining what foods are healthy for children, believing that parents should make that decision. However, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is exceedingly popular in Washington, D.C., particularly with First Lady Michelle Obama. Child nutrition and exercise have been big talking points for Michelle Obama, and she has pushed the cause fervently with the president both in public and in private.

Publicly, President Obama spoke of the child nutrition bill as being “an act about doing what is right for children,” and he praised the bill as being a rare example of strong bipartisan cooperation.

Avoiding the couch

While First Lady Michelle Obama offered serious praise for the child nutrition bill passed during a presentation at Washington D.C.’s Harriett Tubman Elementary School, she also jokingly suggested that if the president had not taken the bill seriously, “he would have been sleeping on the couch.”

Lapsing back into serious discourse, Michelle Obama told the students, teachers and media gathered at the presentation of the new law that the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was a fundamental need for U.S. children.

“Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children. Nothing,” said Michelle Obama.

Taking from Peter to pay Paul

President Obama confirmed that the child nutrition bill will increase spending on school lunches by approximately 6 cents per child. In order to fund this increase, the president said that cuts were made to the national food stamp program. While he did offer that he is currently working with Congress to find a way to restore what was cut, this method of funding has raised some eyebrows.

Sources

Associated Press

WhiteHouse.gov

President Obama on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010

Michelle Obama may be smiling here, but Carla Bruni-Sarkozy claims Obama told her in confidence that being the first lady is hell. (Photo Credit: CC BY/Chuck Kennedy/Wikimedia Commons)

Being a world leader is a high-pressure job, no doubt. President Obama discovered this when he stepped into the United States’ economic minefield, and he has the gray hair to prove it. That same pressure of misstep weighs heavily upon the shoulders of First Lady Michelle Obama, too. According to the London Daily Mail, a new biography about French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy says Michelle Obama told her in confidence that being first lady is hell. Specifically, the Michelle Obama/hell statement in the Bruni biography is as follows: “Don’t ask! It’s hell! I can’t stand it!”

Michelle Obama, Bruni and the hell of conflict

Media sources hint that the relationship between Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy – while cordial in front of cameras – is strained when the flashbulbs fade. Rumors are that the pair attempts to outdo each other in terms of clothing and public image, although such a contentious relationship has not been confirmed. And it never will be if the U.S. and French administrations have anything to say about it. Such scandal will be saved for the pages of the biography “Carla and the Ambitious” and a recent unauthorized biography penned by Besma Lahouri. Lahouri’s allegations regarding Bruni-Sarkozy’s rock-star lifestyle before her marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy sit alongside the supposed proclamation Bruni-Sarkozy once uttered that Michelle Obama is “the only one able to challenge (her) for world’s sexiest and most glamorous first lady.”

The first lady is so very far away

Despite media campaigns that attempt to connect the first ladies of the United States and France with the concerns of the common people, the very nature of the job creates layers of separation between world leaders and the public. Michelle Obama encourages children to exercise daily in a recent television campaign, but the reality is that average children will never be able to go out and play with Sasha and Malia, regardless of how friendly and inviting Mrs. Obama comes across. The same holds true for Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and the French people, although there are some differences. While Michelle Obama comes from a background of law and higher education, Bruni-Sarkozy was a high-fashion model. She’s also a professional singer who has allegedly been connected via the bedroom to numerous titans of rock ‘n’ roll. Bruni-Sarkozy is (allegedly) quoted in the Lahouri biography as saying “On top of that, you expect me to be subtle? I am a femme fatale, my dear.”

Perhaps Michelle Obama’s right. It’s hell to be a first lady.

Sources:

London Daily Mail

Mo Rocca 180° exposes shocking Michelle Obama scandal

(Photo: Mike Baird/Flickr/CC-BY)

According to Fox News, first lady Michelle Obama is under fire for taking a private, luxurious trip to Spain with daughter Sasha and several Obama family friends. Of course, the so-called private vacation has quickly turned into a public affair, as the media is already criticizing her every movement. Now everyone wants in on everything the first lady’s private vacation entails.

Travel warning issued for Spain, where first lady vacations

While her husband celebrated his 49th birthday in Chicago with talk show mega-star Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, with 9-year-old daughter and friends of the family, went on what the White House described as a four-day “private trip” to the beautiful southern coast of Spain. While some are avoiding talking about the trip’s price, others are voicing concerns of safety.

Fox News reports that the State Department had advised Americans traveling to Spain to take caution as “racist prejudices could lead to the arrest of Afro-Americans who travel to Spain,” a message posted on its website. The wording, however, can no longer be found, as it appears it was quickly pulled when the first lady and daughter Sasha left on their trip. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, when asked if there was a travel warning for Spain, said, “I don’t believe so.”

The costs of the first lady’s vacation trip to Spain

The biggest worry concerning the first lady’s vacation trip to Spain is the overall cost of the trip and the affect it has on taxpayer money. On Thursday, New York Daily News writer Andrea Tantaros trash-talked Michelle Obama, calling her a “modern day Marie Antoinette” for taking such a lavish vacation while most of the U.S. is financially struggling. According to the Yahoo News, the first lady and companions are staying at the luxury Hotel Villa Padierna, often described as one of the world’s top 10 hotels, with rates that range from $500 to $2,500 a night.

Whether it was the Obama delegation or Secret Service that chose the location, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has stated that the first lady will pay for her own personal expenses, as will the private entourage traveling with her. The overall cost of the trip, however, will not be fully covered with personal out-of-the-pocket money, given that the first lady has full-time Secret Service protection and has to travel on board an official Air Force charter plane, which is covered by taxpayers.

(Photo: commons.wikimedia.org)

It’s time for Forbes‘ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. These are women who have achieved great things in the public and the private sector. They’ve made contributions to society that will not be forgotten, and as a result they’ve garnered no small amount of fame. If I can in any way parlay the glow of their accomplishments into hawking auto loans and the best payday loans on the World Wide Web, I’ll be very happy. Please apply here by clicking the green button below. It’s green because it’s safe.

Who makes the list?

Corky Siemaszko of the New York Daily News reports that America’s First Lady, Michelle Obama, has debuted on the list and is poised to rise to even greater heights next year. Mrs. Obama took the 40^th spot. By contrast, Laura Bush peaked at number 60 in 2007.

“Not only is she a First Lady, she’s the first African-American First Lady and that accords her a certain amount of power,” said Heidi Brown of Forbes.

“A media magnet”

Brown, who was one of the compilers of the list, told Siemaszko that the Forbes 100 most powerful women list takes into account how much total media attention a candidate receives, and judging by how often Michelle Obama appears in the media for things as serious as political issues or as splashy as what she’s wearing, it’s clear that she’d a “media magnet.”

“She’s done a lot to get her message out,” Brown said. “She’s been effective at reaching out not only to the media, but to regular people as well.”

More Obama administration members made the list

Michelle Obama is definitely not alone on the Forbes magazine “100 Most Powerful Women” list. Additional ranking members include Homeland Security leader Janet Napolitano (51), Security and Exchange Commission chief Mary Schapiro (55) and Health and Human Services leader Kathleen Sebelius (56). Perhaps Sebelius received that ranking before she came out in public and said that the public option was “not the most important” part of President Obama’s health care reform initiative.

Justice and a New York state of mind

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New Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor made her debut on the Forbes 100 most powerful women list at 54, but she has some catching up to do with fellow justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who sits at 48. Both justices are New Yorkers, but they are not the state’s highest ranked woman. That honor belongs to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, who continued her hold on the number three slot.

Speaking of New York, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is still on the Forbes 100 most powerful women list at 36^th, but she has lost a little ground since the 2008 presidential election, when she ranked at number 28.

More from the corporate world

Yahoo! head Carol Bartz ranked high on the Forbes 100 most powerful women list at number 12. This proved to be more than enough to earn her the cover shot on this edition of Forbes magazine.

Heidi Brown told the Daily News that another woman on this year’s Forbes 100 most powerful women list who should prove to be an up-and-comer is Sallie Krawcheck. While she was forced out of Citigroup, she quickly caught on with Bank of America, where she is now the Chief Executive for Global Wealth Management. Krawcheck ranks 87^th on the list in 2009.

Mary Erdoes of J.P. Morgan may bring up the rear on Forbes 100 most powerful women list, but that certainly doesn’t mean that her accomplishments in the banking and investment world have not been tremendous.

Where’s the media?

Forbes decided that they’d introduce a separate list of female media “movers and shakers,” said Brown. That’s why people like “Today” show host Meredith Viera, “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric or “Good Morning America” co-host Diane Sawyer don’t appear in the Forbes 100 most powerful women list.

“They wield a different a different kind of influence,” Brown said.

“And the winner is…”

For the fourth year running, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken the number one spot on the Forbes 100 most powerful women list. She finished ahead of America’s Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair, Sheila Bair. Bair was last year’s runner up, too, although if America’s banking crisis is turned around, I’d say that Bair deserves serious consideration for the number one slot in 2010. Healthier banks and a stronger flow of auto loans and the best payday loans would indicate a healthier economy, which is something that should make anyone smile.

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