Obama administration

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Sharpton, Gingrich Push Prez on Schools

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton ran into each other today at the White House, on purpose, to discuss education reform with President Obama, USA Today reports. Sharpton noted that they were “two who have not agreed on anything politically,” but joined in an effort to remedy a “...

Line by Line: Some Obama Budget Cuts
 Line by Line: Some 
 Obama Budget Cuts 
ANALYSIS
May 7, 2009 2:30 PM CDT

Line by Line: Some Obama Budget Cuts

(Newser) - President Obama said today proposed budget cuts are “not a criticism of” federal workers. Still, they take a toll, from defense to education. The Washington Post takes a look at what’s being trimmed:
  • Anthrax vaccine research: The administration says the goals of the program have been met, and
...

Obama's Toned-Down Take on Day of Prayer Irks Some

(Newser) - President Obama has opted to observe today’s National Day of Prayer in private, a sharp turn from his predecessor’s policies that angers at least one organization, the Boston Globe reports. President Bush held public celebrations at the White House. “We are disappointed in the lack of participation...

Tests Replace 'Uncertainty With Transparency'
Tests Replace 'Uncertainty With Transparency'
OPINION
May 7, 2009 7:56 AM CDT

Tests Replace 'Uncertainty With Transparency'

Tests on the biggest banks will make raising capital, paying it back easier

(Newser) - In an op-ed piece in the New York Times today, Timothy Geithner positions the stress tests—whose results are released officially today—as a way to restore longer-term confidence in the aftermath of the "tentative stability" achieved by the last administration. "We chose a strategy to lift the...

Budget Cuts Trim 'Pennies, Not Dollars'

(Newser) - President Obama’s vow to scour the federal budget for savings hasn’t amounted to as much as many hoped, the Washington Post reports. The administration will today announce $17 billion in proposed cuts to 121 programs, a sliver of the $3.4 trillion budget. “Even if you got...

Pentagon to Add 20K Jobs in Arms-Buying Overhaul

Obama says acquisitions program has 'run amok'

(Newser) - The Defense Department will add 20,000 jobs over the next 5 years in an overhaul of its $100 billion weapons-buying process, Reuters reports. New regulations will tie compensation more closely to performance, and the Pentagon will require “real, substantial” tax savings in any multiyear deals, a deputy defense...

Supreme Court Strategizing Should Include Birth Control

(Newser) - The battle for David Souter’s seat on the Supreme Court will be a pitched fight over Roe v. Wade, Cynthia Tucker writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Here’s a suggestion for a pragmatic president with excellent political instincts and the moral capacity to see the ethical quandaries inherent...

Obama Seeks $27B to Clamp Down on Border

Budget focuses on halting flow of guns, illegal immigrants

(Newser) - In the budget he’ll hand to Congress tomorrow, President Obama is seeking $27 billion for border and transportation security as he focuses on immigration enforcement and battling the flow of US arms to Mexico. The 8% increase over this year’s budget allows for an expansion of border teams,...

Oh, No! A Single Woman May Replace Souter
Oh, No! A Single Woman May Replace Souter
OPINION
May 6, 2009 9:41 AM CDT

Oh, No! A Single Woman May Replace Souter

Lack of a ring turns top female Supreme Court candidates into targets

(Newser) - David Souter is a lifelong bachelor, but the possibility of a bachelorette replacement has started an uproar. Why? Because those potential Supreme Court justices are women, and when a powerful woman is unmarried it "seems to make everyone think: lonely, misfit, or lesbian," write Dahlia Lithwick and Hanna...

Stakes Massive Ahead of Obama Af-Pak Summit

Zardari, Karzai in DC as Taliban surge in crumbling Pakistan

(Newser) - Barack Obama begins two days of talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan today as his administration faces what may be its first foreign policy crisis: rising militancy in the Swat Valley that threatens to spread across the nuclear-armed nation. Obama and his team are expected to pressure Asif...

Sentimental Souter: 'Just Give Them My Love'

(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice David Souter thinks the worth of a jurist is “not in the great moments, but in being part of the great stream,” he said in an emotional farewell today to appeals-court judges. Souter said he didn’t intend that news of his retirement be leaked...

Obama Attacks Tax Havens to Save Health Care: Reich

(Newser) - Offshore tax havens may not be fair, but they’ve been around for decades. So why is President Obama taking them on now, Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich asks in Salon. It’s not to try to keep jobs here, as the White House claims; the move might even drive...

Obama Insider 'Queasy' Over '12 Challenge From Utah Gov.

(Newser) - President Obama’s campaign manager says he’s a “wee bit queasy” about a possible election challenge from Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman in 2012, Salt Lake City’s KTVX-TV reports. “I think he’s really out there speaking a lot of truth about the direction of the party,...

Big Biz, Dems Rebel on Offshore Tax Reforms

Business groups and lawmakers worry about effect on US competitiveness

(Newser) - President Obama’s plan to crack down on the tax practices of US-based multinationals has elicited much squawking from business groups and lawmakers who fear it may limit the competitiveness of American firms, the Hill reports. Even Democrats have greeted Obama’s proposals with trepidation: “I want to make...

Obama Puts Human Rights on Back Burner, Activists Say

Sometimes confrontation isn't best tactic, administration suggests

(Newser) - Human-rights workers had high hopes for the Obama administration after President Bush’s inconsistent, too-hot-too-cold policies—but so far, the Washington Post reports, activists think President Obama has let rights take a back seat to more pressing concerns. For example, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said pushing China on human...

Rove and Plouffe Go Negative at Book Event

Old-school politicos can't help but go at it

(Newser) - Old campaign hacks never die; they just bicker at events to boost book sales. Last night Obama campaign geek-in-chief David Plouffe and Bush hatchet man Karl Rove went at it in Monterey, California, only half-playfully, the Huffington Post reports. Rove attacked Obama’s commitment to bipartisanship; shot back Plouffe, “...

Obama Tells GOP's Hatch He'll Pick a Pragmatist

Senate Judiciary Committee member expects choice to be made this week

(Newser) - President Obama has told him he won't be picking a radical to fill Justice Souter's spot on the Supreme Court, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch tells Politico. Hatch—who believes the president will make his choice before the end of this week—said he raised his concerns in a phone call...

What Thatcher Could Teach Obama
 What Thatcher 
 Could Teach Obama 
OPINION
May 4, 2009 2:52 PM CDT

What Thatcher Could Teach Obama

Reflecting on Iron Lady 30 years after her election

(Newser) - Thirty years after Margaret Thatcher’s election as Britain’s prime minister, Michael Elliott reflects on three things the Iron Lady could teach President Obama. First, Elliott notes in Time, Thatcher “knew what she wanted,” using a “short set of criteria” to evaluate proposals. “Keeping things...

Torture Convictions Would Be a Long Shot
Torture Convictions
Would Be a Long Shot
analysis
May 4, 2009 8:34 AM CDT

Torture Convictions Would Be a Long Shot

Prosecution possible, but nailing Cheney a legal headache

(Newser) - Those calling for Bush administration prosecutions on torture-related grounds may have their way—but whether those in question can actually be convicted is a whole other kettle of fish, Jeffrey Rosen writes in New York. Much of the case would likely hinge on whether authorities believed their own claims in...

Falling Wages Compound Economic Woes
Falling Wages Compound Economic Woes
OPINION
May 4, 2009 8:00 AM CDT

Falling Wages Compound Economic Woes

Without new stimulus, US faces Japan-style slump: Krugman

(Newser) - From bailed-out automakers to newspapers facing cutbacks, companies across the US are slashing wages, and employees—even those with unions—are sitting still for it. While cuts may look like a good alternative to unemployment, but they're more harmful than they appear, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times....

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