Obama administration

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Obama 'Mystery Shoppers' to Check Doctors' Access

They'll try to see whether physicians give preference to private insurance

(Newser) - The Obama administration fears there are too few primary care doctors to go around—so it’s launching a team of “mystery shoppers” to look into the physicians’ availability. The undercover callers will seek appointments at doctors’ offices nationwide to determine ease of access. Some will say they’ve...

Senate OKs Panetta as Defense Chief, 100-0

He will replace Robert Gates at end of the month

(Newser) - The Senate today uanimously approved the nomination of Leon Panetta to be the next defense chief, handing him a crowded agenda of overseeing the drawdown of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, tamping down congressional unrest over the Libyan conflict, and cutting the budget. Panetta will replace Defense Secretary Robert...

White House Misses Solar Panels Deadline

Promised last October panels would be installed by end of spring

(Newser) - Summer officially begins today, which means spring ended yesterday, which means the White House has a broken promise it made last October: to install solar panels on the roof of the most iconic home in the nation by spring 2011. The Energy Department did release a statement yesterday, saying it'...

Obama Escalates Raids for Illegal Immigrants

US Chamber of Commerce is displeased

(Newser) - The Obama administration has notified 1,000 businesses in all 50 states that it’ll be scouring their hiring records for signs of illegal immigrant employees, in a surge of so-called “silent raids,” the Wall Street Journal reports. ICE wouldn’t identify the targets, but did say that...

Obama: Economy 'Going to Take Time'

President pleads for patience in weekly address

(Newser) - President Obama today sought the public's patience with a slowing economy and said training workers for manufacturing jobs despite declines in that sector will help put the economy on a path toward growth. "We didn't get into this mess overnight. And we won't get out of...

Austan Goolsbee to Leave White House

Economic guru returning to teach at University of Chicago

(Newser) - Another one bites the dust: Austan Goolsby, President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers chairman, is heading off into the sunset to return to his job as a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. He's been on leave for four years to serve Obama, Politico notes, and...

Obama Weighs Quicker Afghanistan Pullout

But Gates, Petraeus point to risks

(Newser) - With Osama bin Laden dead and war costs increasing, the Obama administration is weighing a sharper drawdown of troops from Afghanistan than it had planned, the New York Times reports. But the issue is still very much up in the air, and outgoing defense secretary Robert Gates advocates slower steps....

Lawmakers: Obama Breaking the Law in Libya

He's quietly blown by 60-day deadline for Congress' approval

(Newser) - Rumblings are growing in Congress about President Obama’s failure to get congressional approval for the military operation in Libya, the Washington Post observes. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Obama needs congressional approval for a military action within 60 days of launching it, but that deadline came and...

WH Vows to Block Indiana Planned Parenthood Law

Medicaid recipients have right to choose providers: White House

(Newser) - Indiana’s new law that strips Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds took effect on May 10—but it's subject to federal review, and the White House says it won’t approve the measure. The Obama administration, which says the law denies Medicaid recipients’ right to choose healthcare providers, has...

Mideast Envoy George Mitchell to Resign

He hasn't been able to advance talks between Israel, Palestinians

(Newser) - US officials say the Obama administration's special Mideast peace envoy, George Mitchell, is resigning after more than two largely fruitless years of trying to press Israel and the Palestinians into negotiations. The officials tell the AP that the White House is expected to announce today that the former senator...

Huntsman Defends Service to Obama
 Huntsman 
 Defends 
 Service 
 to Obama 
ELECTION 2012
May 7, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Huntsman Defends Service to Obama

Ex-China ambassador gearing up for White House run

(Newser) - Jon Huntsman is officially back from China and today used his first public appearance to address Republican tongues wagging about the fact that the most recent boss on his resume is one Barack Obama. "Serve [America], if asked," Huntsman told the University of South Carolina's Class of...

Holder Bars Deportation of Gay Man in Civil Union

With DOMA in question, Eric Holder wants case reviewed

(Newser) - The attorney general made the surprising move of suspending the deportation of a gay man in a civil union with a US citizen yesterday. The AP reports that Holder has asked the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider its decision. The board had called for the deportation of Paul Wilson...

Both Parties Look to Cut Corporate Tax

Lobbyists eager for next big legislative push

(Newser) - The Obama administration is planning to propose a new set of cuts in the corporate tax rate, hoping to strike a vein of bipartisan cooperation. “This would send a reassuring signal to the economy, and is something both parties should support in theory,” a senior administration official tells...

Supreme Court Steps Into Thorny Case on Jerusalem

Case questions birth country of Jerusalem-born American

(Newser) - The Supreme Court is about to take on a case that tangles Israeli politics with questions of congressional and executive power. It will hear an appeal from the parents of an American born in Jerusalem—a city the US doesn’t recognize as belonging to Israel—who wants Israel listed...

Court Overturns Stem Cell Ban
 Court Overturns Stem Cell Ban 
Apr 29, 2011 12:06 PM CDT

Court Overturns Stem Cell Ban

Federal funding can now be used for human embryonic cell research

(Newser) - A federal appeals court overturned the ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research today in a 2-1 ruling. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that such funding did not violate a 1996 law forbidding the use of federal money for research...

Panetta Moves to Pentagon, Petraeus to Helm CIA

According to AP sources

(Newser) - The big security shakeups are out, by way of unidentified AP sources, and as predicted , Leon Panetta is in as the new secretary of defense, succeeding Robert Gates. Gen. David Petraeus will be nominated to fill Panetta's shoes as CIA director. Five-time ambassador Ryan Crocker, who retired in 2009...

Banks Profited by Loaning Fed Money Back to ... Feds

They charged bigger interest rates on cheap money from Uncle Sam

(Newser) - Crisis-walloped banks aided with federal loans likely made a fortune by lending the same money back to the federal government at substantially higher interest rates, a new report indicates. The study by the Congressional Research Service supports complaints that the largest banks essentially engaged in taxpayer-financed arbitrage by cashing in...

US to Freeze Syrian Assets, Impose Sanctions

Europe also considering action

(Newser) - With the bloodshed mounting in the streets of Daraa , the Obama administration is preparing sanctions against Syria, including freezing the assets of top Syrian officials, the LA Times reports. That may not have a ton of impact, since Syrian officials don’t own all that many US assets to begin...

Obama Looks to Crack Down on Secret Donations

Administration actions would replace law Congress fails to pass

(Newser) - The Obama administration has drafted an executive order that would force all companies seeking government contracts to disclose their donations to groups airing political ads, as part of a multi-pronged attack on the kind of anonymous campaign spending Republicans walloped Democrats with last year. The FEC is also moving to...

Supreme Court Skeptical About Climate Suit

Justices likely to throw out case brought by states against power plants

(Newser) - The Supreme Court looks like it will throw out a major environmental case against coal-fired power plants, reports the Los Angeles Times . The US solicitor general and several justices held that such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and shouldn’t be decided by judges. The...

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