Obama administration – News Stories About Obama administration - Page 76

ANALYSIS

Mar 17, 2009 4:47 AM CDT

AIG Uproar Squanders Obama Capital

Anger over AIG creates more obstacles for president's agenda

(Newser) - Mounting outrage over the bonuses paid to AIG execs is threatening to bring Barack Obama's presidential honeymoon to a bitter end, the Washington Post reports. Lawmakers from both parties are demanding answers the administration is struggling to provide, and the uproar is threatening to sap both public and congressional support...

Give Summers'
Genius More Leeway

OPINION

Mar 16, 2009 3:13 PM CDT

Give Summers' Genius More Leeway

To combat crisis, perhaps Obama's economic genius should be given free reign: Scheiber

(Newser) - The most common worry over Larry Summers’ directorship of President Obama’s economics advisory council has been that his hard-charging intellectual style would alienate politicians the administration needs, writes Noam Scheiber in the New Republic. But considering Summers’ experience as Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, as well as his prescient 1991...

Obama's Agenda
Dwarfs His Staff

Mar 16, 2009 11:08 AM CDT

Obama's Agenda Dwarfs His Staff

President's team stretched thin despite flurry of appointments

(Newser) - President Obama is filling government jobs more quickly than his predecessors, but there's so much going on that his team is still stretched thin, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama is juggling the economic crisis, stimulus package, and two wars, all with just 43 confirmed aides. "No one since...

In Bailout Fight, Team
Obama Fears Backlash

analysis

Mar 16, 2009 8:56 AM CDT

In Bailout Fight, Team Obama Fears Backlash

Prez could be seen as bank 'advocate,' sparking anger

(Newser) - The Obama administration is getting more and more nervous about the possibility of a populist backlash, as anger toward the institutions at the heart of the financial crisis swells, the New York Times reports. That anger may be aimed at anyone linked to Wall Street—including the government that’s...

Valerie Jarrett:
Obama's
Consigliere

Mar 15, 2009 3:51 PM CDT

Valerie Jarrett: Obama's Consigliere

Senior adviser and family friend speaks softly, carries big clout

(Newser) - Among the strong-willed Beltway rockstars that make up President Obama's White House, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett's style is strikingly low key. But while Jarrett lacks the Washington experience of Rahm Emanuel or David Axelrod, she makes up for it with a deft ability to manage big egos and keep outside...

Washington Needs to Give Obama His Due

OPINION

Mar 15, 2009 2:07 PM CDT

Washington Needs to Give Obama His Due

Pundits too often advocate outdated 'imperial policy'

(Newser) - You just can’t please the Washington establishment, Fareed Zakaria observes in Newsweek. Beltway pundits almost universally blasted former President Bush’s foreign policy as arrogant and incompetent. But now that President Obama is charting a decidedly different course—closing Guantanamo, nixing torture, and signaling openness to talks with Syria,...

Dems Draw
a Bead on
'Party of No'

Mar 15, 2009 12:03 PM CDT

Dems Draw a Bead on 'Party of No'

After earmark battle, a plan to show GOP as devoid of ideas

(Newser) - Democrats are going on the attack in a new campaign labeling Republicans as “the party of ‘no,’” Politico reports. Officials and ads will argue that Republicans are playing a knee-jerk political game in opposing Democratic measures, like President Obama’s budget proposal, without offering alternatives. The...

Prez Won't
Fight Tax on
Health Benefits

Mar 15, 2009 7:45 AM CDT

Prez Won't Fight Tax on Health Benefits

Plan echoes McCain proposal slammed by campaigning Obama

(Newser) - Despite attacking John McCain for the idea on the campaign trail, President Obama will not oppose taxing some worker health benefits to fund health care reform, reports the New York Times reports. On the stump, Obama called a similar plan “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” While...

New
Strategy
for Obama:
Blame Bush

Mar 14, 2009 10:19 AM CDT

New Strategy for Obama: Blame Bush

Post-partisan pledges give way to new attack role

(Newser) - President Obama is reminding Americans more and more lately that he's inherited much of this mess from George Bush, reports the Washington Post. It's a shift for Obama, who has long preached against the petty politics of old. The move comes as Republicans step up their own attacks against Obama...

Obama Promises
Food-Safety Overhaul

Mar 14, 2009 8:14 AM CDT

Obama Promises Food-Safety Overhaul

Cites 'public health hazard,' names FDA picks

(Newser) - President Obama announced a food-safety overhaul in his weekly radio address today, describing a new panel that will review the issue and naming his choices for FDA heads, the New York Times reports. “In the end, food safety is something I take seriously, not just as your president, but...

Summers: Stimulus
Is Starting to Work

Mar 13, 2009 10:51 AM CDT

Summers: Stimulus Is Starting to Work

(Newser) - Larry Summers sounded a note of cautious optimism today about President Obama's stimulus plan, the Washington Post reports. While it's way too early to assess its "broader economic impact," Obama's chief economic adviser called it "moderately encouraging" that consumer spending appears to be back on track.

Obama's Lobbyist Ban Haunting Him

analysis

Mar 13, 2009 8:15 AM CDT

Obama's Lobbyist Ban Haunting Him

He's losing good people for hard-to-fill administration spots

(Newser) - President Obama’s campaign pledge to run a lobbyist-free White House is coming back to haunt him, writes Jonathan Martin in Politico. The problem is that there’s an army of Democratic specialists in hard-to-master policy areas who worked as lobbyists during the Bush administration—and they're all off-limits. “...

Obama Aide
on Leave After DC Raids

Mar 12, 2009 10:45 PM CDT

Obama Aide on Leave After DC Raids

Computer chief isn't charged, but his old office is involved

(Newser) - President Obama's new computer chief is on leave after the FBI raided his old DC government office and arrested a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said. Vivek Kundra has not been charged, and he does not appear to be a target of...

Obama: End 'Cycles
of Bubbles and Bust'

Mar 12, 2009 4:13 PM CDT

Obama: End 'Cycles of Bubbles and Bust'

(Newser) - President Obama told the chief executives of America's biggest companies today that the US has to end its "endless cycles of bubbles and busts," Bloomberg reports. "Instead, we must build this recovery on a foundation that lasts," Obama said in an address to the Business Roundtable....

Treasury Pick Withdraws After Vetting 'Issue'

Mar 12, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

Treasury Pick Withdraws After Vetting 'Issue'

Cohen, tabbed as deputy, is third to pull out in less than a week

(Newser) - Staffing the Treasury Department is proving to be a pickle for the Obama administration, with the third candidate in less than a week withdrawing from consideration today, ABC News reports. H. Rodgin Cohen, a partner with law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, was considered the top choice for Deputy Treasury Secretary...

Bribery Sting Nets Employee of Obama Tech Appointee

Mar 12, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

Bribery Sting Nets Employee of Obama Tech Appointee

Vivek Kundra not linked to DC investigation: FBI

(Newser) - FBI agents raided the office of the District of Columbia’s chief technology officer today as part of a federal bribery investigation, WTOP-AM reports. The FBI arrested an employee of the agency and a private contractor who has received several hundred thousand dollars in city contracts. Vivek Kundra, President Obama’...

Obama Takes Baby Steps on Earmark Reform

ANALYSIS

Mar 12, 2009 12:45 PM CDT

Obama Takes Baby Steps on Earmark Reform

Some say he missed opportunity; others fault lack of specifics

(Newser) - President Obama announced moves to curb pork-barrel spending yesterday, but not as decisively as some hoped, Politico reports. Obama said he was signing the “imperfect omnibus because it’s necessary for the ongoing functions of government,” but in future he wants fewer earmarks in federal spending measures, and...

Obama's Drugs Czar: More Treatment For, Less War On

Mar 12, 2009 10:25 AM CDT

Obama's Drugs Czar: More Treatment For, Less War On

Kerlikowske says key is to reduce demand

(Newser) - President Obama’s choice for drug czar signals a 180-degree pivot from the Bush administration’s policies, the Washington Post reports. The White House says it’s pushing to use alternative drug courts that would mandate treatment, rather than jail, for offenders. That’s a big break from President Bush’...

Stimulus Sours Obama's
European Honeymoon

Mar 12, 2009 10:15 AM CDT

Stimulus Sours Obama's European Honeymoon

US urges more spending; EU focused on regulation

(Newser) - European leaders’ love affair with President Obama has hit its first snag: Obama is pushing Europe to spend more to battle the financial crisis, while Europe would prefer to focus on stricter regulation, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The Americans should be more modest about giving lessons, because the...

Intel Pick's Ouster a Victory for Lobbyists

OPINION

Mar 12, 2009 9:26 AM CDT

Intel Pick's Ouster a Victory for Lobbyists

Loss of excellent public servant a loss for country: Broder

(Newser) - When Charles Freeman withdrew from consideration to chair the National Intelligence Council, the Obama administration “suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the lobbyists the president vowed to keep in their place,” writes David Broder of the Washington Post. Freeman boasted “one of the most distinguished...