Barack Obama

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

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Death Threats, Blago Rumors Plague Emanuel

(Newser) - Fuming over rumors he was the Obama adviser who spoke with Rod Blagojevich about the president-elect’s Senate seat, Rahm Emanuel told ABC News today he's received death threats and the media have "intruded too much." Emanuel is not a target of prosecutors, sources told the AP late...

Collapsing Nations Threaten to Be Obama's First Crisis

Imploding world economies would demand tough foreign policy choices

(Newser) - Barack Obama's first major foreign policy crisis threatens to be no less that the complete collapse of a large and unstable nation, Marc Ambinder writes in the Atlantic. The transition team has so far been silent—in public, anyway—on the prospect, but there are indications they are convinced the...

Forget Blago: Rangel Plagues Obama
 Forget 
 Blago: 
 Rangel 
 Plagues Obama 
analysis
Dec 12, 2008 11:12 AM CST

Forget Blago: Rangel Plagues Obama

Key congressman's probe could hurt Obama's agenda

(Newser) - The Blagojevich mess may appear more damaging, but the bigger concern for Barack Obama is the scandal surrounding Charles Rangel, who is under scrutiny for a number of questionable dealings, writes Gerald Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Blago may soon be out of Obama’s hair, but Rangel's status...

Jackson's Senate Chances Now Slim to None

But if cleared, he could still have a shot

(Newser) - Former frontrunner Jesse Jackson Jr. is unlikely to get Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat because of his ties to Rod Blagojevich’s pay-to-play scandal, the Hill notes. The so-called "Candidate No. 5" has denied wrongdoing, but that may not matter. "Like anybody who's ever been named in...

Obama Steered Clear of Blago for Years
 Obama Steered Clear 
 of Blago for Years 
ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2008 8:03 AM CST

Obama Steered Clear of Blago for Years

President-elect kept his hands clean; guv was classic machine pol

(Newser) - Rising through Illinois politics, Barack Obama learned to recognize a crook when he saw one, so he kept a healthy distance from Rod Blagojevich, writes Eli Saslow in the Washington Post. At the convention, Obama disappointed Blagojevich by giving nearly every other Illinois official a speaking slot. Says a mentor,...

Maybe Cigarettes Make Him Better: Let Obama Smoke

Obama's trouble with cigs proves he's fallible, after all

(Newser) - Snooty media-types are giving Barack Obama a hard time for his dodges and weaves about trying to quit smoking. But we should all leave the poor addict alone, writes Ron Rosenbaum in Slate. Do we really want a nervous, edgy president dying for a cigarette while he's got his finger...

Daschle to Head Health Services, New Reform Office

Move seen to signal Obama's focus on issue

(Newser) - As expected, President-elect Barack Obama today nominated Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services, CQ Politics reports. Daschle will also head the new White House Office of Health Reform, geared toward providing near-universal health care to Americans. Daschle “will be responsible not just for implementing our health...

Google Taps Zeitgeist, Finds Palin a Winner

Alaska governor went zooming up search charts in '08

(Newser) - Every year, Google releases its analysis of the global zeitgeist based on billions of searches around the world. Newsweek reports the highlights:
  • Sarah Palin: "Obama" was the most searched for term overall, but the Alaska governor grabbed the top spot on the fastest-rising list.
  • Beijing 2008: The world was
...

Obama: I Had No Contact With Blago

(Newser) - Barack Obama went before reporters to introduce Tom Daschle as his pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services today, but the real attention was on his reaction to the Rod Blagojevich scandal. “I was as appalled and disappointed as anyone,” he said, sayinghe's still gathering...

Democrats Promote Volcker as Car Czar

White House, Dems see Obama's economic guru as good choice

(Newser) - Former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker is shaping up as the frontrunner for the new “car czar” position included in the Big Three bailout bill that passed the House last night, reports the Wall Street Journal. The selection is being coordinated between the White House and the incoming Obama...

Questions Obama Should Answer About Blago
 Questions Obama Should 
 Answer About Blago 

ANALYSIS
Dec 11, 2008 8:26 AM CST

Questions Obama Should Answer About Blago

(Newser) - Barack Obama says he hasn't spoken with Rod Blagojevich about his successor, but that's not all we need to know, writes Politico. Some suggested ice-breakers for today's Obama press conference:
  • "Did you communicate directly or indirectly with Blagojevich about picking your replacement in the US Senate?” Blago's wiretapped conversations
...

Obama Loyalists Block Questions About Blago From Website

Fans flag mentions of ties as 'inappropriate'

(Newser) - Supporters of Barack Obama appear to be doing their best to wipe questions about indicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich from the president-elect's new "Open for Questions" website, Politico reports. The site, designed to allow citizens to submit questions for Obama and vote on one another's questions, allows users...

Sit Tight: Blago Isn't Going Anywhere Yet

Dismissing calls for resignation, guv says it's 'business as usual'

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich is innocent—or so says his attorney, as the Illinois governor returned to work for what his office called "business as usual." In the face of unanimous disgust and calls to resign from across the Democratic party, Blagojevich has no plans to step down. According...

Forget That Stimulus Bill: 5 Things Obama Should Fix

Obama shouldn't rely on a stimulus package for a cure-all

(Newser) - Barack Obama and his team are devoting much effort to a proposed stimulus package for 2009, but that is simply a superficial fix, writes James K. Galbraith in Mother Jones. “The effect ends when the stimulus does, when the sugar shock wears off,” says Galbraith, who suggests five...

Obama Energy Pick a Nobel Physicist
Obama Energy
Pick a Nobel
Physicist
Dec 10, 2008 5:15 PM CST

Obama Energy Pick a Nobel Physicist

Chu was an early advocate for climate change solutions

(Newser) - Nobel laureate Steven Chu is Barack Obama's nominee for energy secretary, the Wall Street Journal reports. The acclaimed physicist, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change, and his lab is doing groundbreaking work in developing carbon-neutral sources of energy,...

Obama to Blago: Resign Already

NOTE: Headline is intentional callback to the Tribune editorial earlier

(Newser) - President-elect Barack Obama is calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign. An Obama spokesman says the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

Blago Dialogue Worthy of Mamet
 Blago Dialogue 
 Worthy of Mamet 
OPINION
Dec 10, 2008 11:42 AM CST

Blago Dialogue Worthy of Mamet

(Newser) - An astute reader of the criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich will notice that, with shockingly little tweaking, the wiretapped conversations between the Illinois governor and his co-conspirators could be dialogue from a David Mamet play. Choire Sicha demonstrates in Salon, turning it into a quick one-acter. From the trash-talking femme...

Complaint Shows Blago's Wife Plotted With Him

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's wife was deeply involved in his alleged scheming, the Chicago Tribune reports, based on details in the federal complaint against the Illinois governor. Though Patricia Blagojevich has not been charged with a crime, she was a vocal party to wiretapped conversations. In one recording, she can be heard...

Blago Scandal Will Test Obama's Cred
Blago Scandal Will Test
Obama's Cred
ANALYSIS
Dec 10, 2008 9:50 AM CST

Blago Scandal Will Test Obama's Cred

How fast, and how bluntly, will he move to censure corrupt pols?

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s first test was supposed to come from somewhere like Iran. Instead, write Charles Mahtesian and Jonathan Martin at Politico, it sneaked up from his home turf in the form of Rod Blagojevich—not to mention blossoming charges against Rep. Charlie Rangel. If Obama wants his change message...

Tuskegee Airmen to Attend Inaugural

Invitation recognizes their contribution to historic event

(Newser) - The Tuskegee Airmen of WWII have been invited to the inauguration of the nation's first black president, the New York Times reports. Barack Obama has acknowledged his debt to the elite all-black force, whose heroes fought for a country that discriminated against them. Now in their 80s and 90s, it's...

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