Obama administration

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Obama: Sotomayor Race Charges Are 'Nonsense'

President says nominee would probably like to 'restate' controversial 2001 comment

(Newser) - President Obama said yesterday that while Sonia Sotomayor would probably like to rephrase her controversial 2001 comment about race, it doesn't warrant "all this nonsense that is being spewed out by conservative critics.” In an interview with NBC that will air next week, Obama stressed that Sotomayor’s...

Sotomayor's 'Word Choice Was Poor': Gibbs

(Newser) - Robert Gibbs said today Sonia Sotomayor regrets the way she phrased 2001 comments that have some Republicans calling the Supreme Court nominee a racist, the Hill reports. “I think she'd say that her word choice was poor,” the White House press secretary said. He suggested that Sotomayor was...

Sotomayor Lax in the Voting Department

Erratic record in state elections may arise in confirmation hearings

(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor isn't much of a voter. She skipped multiple New York elections in the past decade, including three for state supreme court, reports NY1. The 2nd Circuit appeals judge failed to vote for governor in 2002 and 2006, and for court positions in 1995, 1999, and 2007. Sotomayor is...

Obama Lays Out Plans for 'Cyber Czar'

(Newser) - The US has for too long failed to protect the security of its computer networks, President Obama said today, announcing he will name a new cyber czar to take on the job. This is a "transformational moment" for the country, Obama said, with computer networks probed and attacked millions...

Sotomayor Shows Democrats' True Face
Sotomayor Shows Democrats' True Face
OPINION
May 29, 2009 9:38 AM CDT

Sotomayor Shows Democrats' True Face

Confirm her, but make sure the country sees what it voted for

(Newser) - The people voted for Democrats, and Sonia Sotomayor reflects the views of the winning party. For that, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post, she deserves confirmation. But Republicans should seize the moment to illustrate what liberalism leads to. They should call Frank Ricci, the firefighter Sotomayor denied promotion. “...

Pentagon Plans New Command for Online War

Military unit will complement Obama's new civilian office

(Newser) - The Pentagon is pushing ahead with a new military command devoted to cyberspace as the armed forces ramp up abilities to not only defend against computer attacks but launch them as well, the New York Times reports. The new command will work in concert with a civilian organization, which President...

Banks Privately Chafe Against Derivatives Reform

Embrace change in public but quietly fight it

(Newser) - The Obama administration is pushing to reform the market for financial derivatives by requiring new reporting to make trades more transparent. In public, Wall Street is saying it's in favor of the changes, but as the Wall Street Journal reports, the banks are pushing hard against reforms behind the scenes....

Europe Balks at Taking Gitmo Detainees

After US Congress raises objections, allies change tune

(Newser) - The Obama administration has intensely lobbied its European allies to allow at least 50 Guantanamo detainees to resettle overseas. But as the US Congress rebels against the president's plans to move inmates to federal prisons, reports the Washington Post, an already skeptical Europe has strengthened its objections. "If the...

'Nutty Old White Men' Vex GOP With Sotomayor Slams

(Newser) - GOP operatives opposed to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor aren’t happy about the “help” they’re getting from Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, CQ Politics reports. Limbaugh called the nominee a “bigot” for saying “a wise Latina woman” will often make better decisions than a white...

Sotomayor Has Wide Support: Poll

She's popular, but not as much as Justice Roberts was

(Newser) - Nearly half of Americans consider Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court an "excellent" or "good" development, while just 13% judge her a "poor" choice, a Gallup poll finds. Respondents split along party lines, with 28% of Republicans and just 1% of Democrats deeming the nomination...

Obama Loses 'Empathy' Line After GOP Sullies Phrase

(Newser) - “Empathy” was a key part of President Obama’s vocabulary when he first started talking about his Supreme Court nominee, Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times, but the word has disappeared. “Conservatives have hijacked empathy and turned it into an epithet,” Stolberg writes. When...

Obama Picks Theology Prof as Vatican Envoy

High-profile Cuban native would be first Hispanic to hold post

(Newser) - President Obama has nominated a Minnesota theologian as his Vatican ambassador, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Miguel Diaz, 45, a Cuban-born professor who would be the first Hispanic US envoy to the Vatican, was an Obama campaign adviser. He was chosen after the Vatican reportedly rejected a series of possible...

US Plans Giant New Embassy in Pakistan

$1B project planned to boost US diplomats in region

(Newser) - The US is planning to invest $1 billion in building a bigger diplomatic presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including a huge new embassy in Islamabad, McClatchy reports. The Obama administration is seeking $736 million from Congress for the embassy and permanent housing for American officials in Pakistan’s capital—further...

National Security Adviser: Obama Makes US Safer

Jones rejects Cheney, notion that new policies increase vulnerability

(Newser) - President Obama's policies have made America a safer place, his national security adviser said yesterday in his first speech since taking the job. James Jones cited strategies like the renewal of ties with allies and rejected suggestions the president had made the US more vulnerable, AFP reports. "No administration...

White House Plans Unified Banking Regulator

New agency would replace hodgepodge of regulators blamed for financial crisis

(Newser) - The Obama administration is working on plans to create a single agency to do the work of the mishmash of regulators who failed to see the financial crisis coming, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new agency, which may be proposed to Congress next month, would strip powers from the...

Obama Orders Review of Government Secrecy

President creates task force to overhaul declassification policy

(Newser) - President Obama has ordered a sweeping review of the government's secrecy policy, the Washington Post reports. Obama sent a memo to government officials reaffirming his administration's commitment "to operating with an unprecedented level of openness," and directed his national security adviser  to review how classified information is handled...

Geithner Headed to China
 Geithner Headed to China 
May 27, 2009 4:08 PM CDT

Geithner Headed to China

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet with Chinese officials, including the president, next week in Beijing, the New York Times reports. Before being confirmed for the position, Geither had charged China with “manipulating” its currency. The visit is intended to solidify the trading relationship between the countries, and Geithner...

Hyperbolic Newt's Antics Highlight Desperate GOP

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich is back, and he’s here to stay. “It’s Gingrich time,” Paul Waldman writes for  the American Prospect. That’s not a good thing, for the Republicans or the country. “This is Newt's time again not only because there's a leadership vacuum in the...

Court Should Be Blind to Ethnicity: Will

We're wrong to think Court should be representational

(Newser) - Democrats are mistaken to consider the Supreme Court a representational institution, writes George Will in the Washington Post. Justices should be chosen based on their ability to uphold the law, he contends, not "categorical representation," which he detects in Sonia Sotomayor's nomination. "Her ethnicity aside, Sotomayor is...

Ooops: Socialist Quote Sure to Dog Sotomayor
Ooops: Socialist Quote Sure to Dog Sotomayor
OPINION
May 27, 2009 8:36 AM CDT

Ooops: Socialist Quote Sure to Dog Sotomayor

Princeton yearbook cites would-be prez Norman Thomas

(Newser) - Conservatives are likely to go crazy any second now, when they realize that Sonia Sotomayor is a (gasp) socialist. Sotomayor’s Princeton yearbook quote—“I am not a champion of lost causes, but of causes not yet won”—is from Norman Thomas, a six-time presidential candidate of the...

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