Obama administration

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Surge Worked in Iraq, But Beware Afghanistan
 Surge Worked in Iraq, 
 But Beware Afghanistan 
BOOK REVIEW
May 12, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Surge Worked in Iraq, But Beware Afghanistan

(Newser) - A new book on the surge in Iraq could offer lessons to the Obama administration about Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins writes in the New Republic. Thomas E. Ricks’ The Gamble details the success of a small band of contrarian US generals, led by David Petraeus, in turning around the war. But...

US Threatens to Limit Intel Sharing With UK

... if British courts release details on Guantanamo abuse

(Newser) - The Obama administration says it will cut down on intelligence sharing with the UK if British courts reveal details on the treatment of a former Guantanamo detainee, the Washington Times reports. In a letter to the British Foreign Office, the administration says that releasing a report on the treatment of...

EPA Backs Off Promise to Regulate CO2

Apparent flip follows White House warning on economic fallout

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency is backing away from emissions regulation after a White House memo warned of its economic consequences. As administrator Lisa Jackson presented today an agency finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health, she told Congress this “does not mean regulation.” Previously, Jackson said such a...

US Lands Seat on UN Human Rights Council

Bush White House had boycotted body over Israel, Darfur stances

(Newser) - The US today won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the first time, along with four countries accused of serious human rights violations: Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia. President Bush's administration had boycotted the council over its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite...

White House Rips Sykes' 9/11-Limbaugh Joke

(Newser) - Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today distanced the administration from 9/11-related comments made by comedian Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents dinner, Politico reports. Some things “are better left for serious reflection,” Gibbs said. “There's no doubt 9/11 is part of that.” Sykes suggested that “...

Obama's Brainwashing You With This Photo

(Newser) - The release of an “Air Farce One” image is a calculated move by a White House that hopes to brainwash citizens with “the Messianic omnipotence of the Obama presidency,” Victor J. Massad writes on American Thinker. With the Statue of Liberty confined to the lower background, “...

US to Replace Afghan Commander

(Newser) - Gen. David McKiernan will be replaced as chief of NATO’s Afghan mission by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special ops officer, ABC News reports. McKiernan has held his post for just 11 months, and it is unclear where he will go. The move, to be announced at a...

US Deficit to Quadruple to $1.8T, Top 2008 Record

pls. try to get into head/deck that this figure is 4x the record, set in 2008

(Newser) - With the economy performing worse than hoped, revised White House figures point to deepening budget deficits, with the government borrowing almost 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year. The deficit for the current budget year will rise by $89 billion to above $1.8 trillion—about four times...

Bully for Health Care Players Joining in Cost Cutting

But is the gift on offer a Trojan horse?

(Newser) - The last time Democrats tried to reform health care, the insurance industry crushed them, spooking the public with its infamous "Harry and Louise" campaign. This time, it’s offering to help, along with doctors, hospitals, unions, and medical-device makers. “On the face of it, this is tremendously good...

GOP: Torture Probe Must Include Pelosi

Republicans say speaker knew; hope to quiet Dems on matter

(Newser) - As calls continue for an investigation of Bush administration officials over torture, Republicans think they may have an ace in the hole: Nancy Pelosi, they say, knew waterboarding had taken place but didn’t try to stop it. Some Republicans think threatening the House Speaker will make her and fellow...

Obama Antitrust Chief Gets Tough on Big Biz

In reversal of Bush policy, the DOJ will aggressively enforce anti-monopoly laws

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s top antitrust official plans to aggressively pursue a tougher enforcement policy to keep large corporations from dominating smaller rivals, the New York Times reports. In speeches today and tomorrow, Justice Department antitrust chief Christine Varney will announce the reversal of lax Bush-era antitrust policies, and encourage...

Anonymous Briefings Rile White House Press Corps

Members considering staging protest

(Newser) - The White House press corps is fed up with background briefings given by “senior administration officials” whose names can’t be revealed, and journalists are considering a protest, Politico reports. An AP reporter has urged the press to team up against such briefings. But frustrated reporters are still attending...

Obama to Revive Gitmo Military Tribunals

(Newser) - The Obama administration will reinstate the military tribunal system for trying Guantanamo Bay detainees, after moving the proceedings onto American soil and instituting several changes, including barring evidence obtained by techniques like waterboarding, officials tell the Washington Post. Human rights groups had hoped Obama’s 120-day suspension of the tribunals,...

White House Aide Quits in Flyover; Gates Sorry

(Newser) - Robert Gates has apologized for the Air Force One photo op debacle over New York last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. “We deeply regret the anxiety and alarm that resulted from this mission,” the defense secretary wrote in a letter posted on the website of John McCain,...

Squeamish Feds Learn From 1976 Swine Flu Debacle

Panic and Gerald Ford caused hundreds to receive unnecessary shot

(Newser) - Federal health officials are hoping to avoid a catastrophic case of déjà vu as they develop plans to inoculate Americans against swine flu, the Washington Post reports. A vaccine released during the 1976 flu outbreak left dozens dead and hundreds reporting serious side effects like blindness and paralysis. Now,...

US Won't Use Polar Bear to Battle Emissions

Law barring connection between carbon and habitat stands

(Newser) - The Obama administration will not use the plight of polar bears and their melting habitat to regulate greenhouse gases, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that a Bush-era law barring government scientists from considering emissions as they attempt to save the endangered species will stand....

Obama Needs to Take Gay Marriage Stance

(Newser) - Barack Obama has called himself a “fierce advocate of equality for gay and lesbian Americans,” but with legalized same-sex marriage spreading to state after state and “don’t ask don’t tell” ripe for repeal, he’s been silent, complains Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. Washington...

Time to Stress Out About Stress Tests
 Time to Stress Out 
 About Stress Tests 
OPINION
May 8, 2009 7:22 AM CDT

Time to Stress Out About Stress Tests

Washington is leading us to a second crisis: Krugman

(Newser) - Sure, yesterday's release of the stress tests' results felt pretty anti-climatic. But while bankers might be reassured, Americans have no reason to be, writes Paul Krugman. For the New York Times columnist, the less-than-rigorous stress tests are part and parcel of an Obama administration strategy to "muddle through the...

Bailed-Out GM to Take More Jobs Overseas

Cars sold here, built elsewhere to double amid taxpayer support

(Newser) - General Motors is set to boost its overseas operations, nearly doubling the number of cars it builds outside the US but sells here—even though billions of government dollars are supporting the firm and its restructuring plans, the Washington Post reports. This puts the Obama administration in a tight position:...

Obama Budget Cuts Funds for Abstinence-Only Sex Ed

(Newser) - Take that, Bristol. The Obama administration seeks to cut most federal funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama's proposed budget for 2010 would scrap two programs that fund abstinence education—with $145 million—and replace them with a $160 million initiative that funnels 75% of...

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