President Obama

Read the latest post-presidency news about President Barack Obama on Newser.com

Stories 4121 - 4140 | << Prev   Next >>

Obama's Financial Regulation Plan Nearly Ready

(Newser) - The Obama administration is finalizing a legislative proposal that would strengthen the reach of financial regulatory agencies, the New York Times reports. The plan wouldn’t likely consolidate the four major bank regulators, which could meet with fierce opposition in Congress. “I don’t mind overlap as much as...

US, Pakistani Attacks Have Rattled Al-Qaeda: Analysts

(Newser) - Recent US and Pakistani efforts have rattled al-Qaeda, intelligence officials tell the Washington Post, with unmanned drones having killed about half of the US’ 20 “high-value” al-Qaeda targets since last fall. Combined with Pakistan’s offensive against its Taliban allies in the Swat region, the terror group’s position...

Carter Wants Torture Pics Released

(Newser) - Jimmy Carter politely disagrees with the current president’s move to block photos depicting prisoner torture in Iraq and Afghanistan from public view. “I don't agree with him,” the former president said of Barack Obama. “But I certainly don't criticize him for making that decision,” he...

Defense Giants Stalk Cyberwar Contracts

(Newser) - Major defense contractors are already staffed with "hacker soldiers" who can help them earn billions of dollars in Washington's new cyberwar, the New York Times reports. Cranking rock tunes and piling up pop cans, engineers hack away at companies like Raytheon, working for the Pentagon or protecting internal documents....

Woodward Working on Obama Book

(Newser) - It's almost a political rite of passage at this point: Bob Woodward is writing a book about the Obama administration, reports Gabriel Sherman in the New Republic. No word on the focus, but Sherman notes that Woodward has a knack for making administrations nervous. “Every White House is wary...

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...

Paper Runs 'Unfortunate' Obama-Assassination Ad

(Newser) - Federal authorities are on the case after a Pennsylvania paper ran a classified ad that appears to call for the assassination of President Obama, Editor & Publisher reports. “May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley & Kennedy!” the ad read. Those presidents were assassinated in...

Obama Makes Second Burger Outing, Spends $80

Brian Williams joins take-out trip for cheeseburger, fries

(Newser) - Yes, President Obama would like fries with that. The commander-in-chief made another cheeseburger run today, shelling out almost $80 on lunch for an entourage that included NBC’s Brian Williams, the Chicago Tribune reports. The president took aides and the Nightly News anchor, who’s trailing him for a “...

Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs
Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs
OPINION
May 29, 2009 2:11 PM CDT

Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs

If posts are just plums for political donors, why have them?

(Newser) - Barack Obama opted for politics as usual in his ambassador appointments yesterday, writes David Rothkopf for ForeignPolicy. Like recent predecessors, Obama turned to deep-pocketed campaign donors; hence Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, will deal with a tech lawyer whose sole qualification seems to have been his ability to raise...

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...

Gibbs: Don't Worry About Sotomayor on Abortion

Past rulings unrelated to her pro-choice stance

(Newser) - President Obama nominated a candidate for Supreme Court with almost no record on abortion. Now, reports the Washington Post, he’s in the unexpected position of defending Sonia Sotomayor to his party’s pro-choice base. Spokesman Robert Gibbs went out of his way yesterday to suggest that Obama—who didn't...

LAX Security Removes Obama Letter Writer

(Newser) - A woman who insisted on trying to hand a letter to President Obama today got a special delivery courtesy of LAX airport security instead. Brenda Lee, 58, was carried away from the press area of the airport just before Air Force One touched down, reports the Orange County Register. Lee,...

Obama Meets Abbas, Pushes Israel on Settlements

(Newser) - Gingerly trying to advance Mideast peace, President Obama declared today that the US is a "stalwart ally" of Israel but challenged the Israelis to stop settlement construction in the West Bank. Obama delivered his message—which came on the same day Israel refused a demand to freeze all construction—...

Obama to Host G20 in Pittsburgh

Former steel capital showcases economic recovery: White House

(Newser) - The Obama administration has picked Pittsburgh to host September’s G20 summit, where leaders representing 85% of the world’s economy will measure progress since the last meeting and discuss further action to curb the global crisis, the Post-Gazette reports. Hit hard by the steel industry’s decline, the revitalized...

'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...

Stories 4121 - 4140 | << Prev   Next >>