Obama administration – News Stories About Obama administration - Page 37

I Snorted Coke 40 Feet From Obama at DC Dinner: Actor

DRUG CZAR IN TRAINING

Oct 22, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

I Snorted Coke 40 Feet From Obama at DC Dinner: Actor

David Cross, of Arrested Development fame, says he did it on a dare

(Newser) - We’ve all done silly stuff on a dare, but probably not on the level of actor/author/comic/crazy guy David Cross, who says he snorted cocaine not 40 feet from President Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner (not, for the record, held at the White House). With cabinet secretaries, Supreme...

Bank Reform Shatters Usual Party Lines

NATE SILVER

Oct 22, 2009 11:37 AM CDT

Bank Reform Shatters Usual Party Lines

Next big domestic issue will be 'fascinating' to watch

(Newser) - Once health care reform is “settled,” Nate Silver writes, the White House will be searching for a new domestic issue. Card check is too hard, immigration will have to wait for 2012’s “younger, more diverse electorate,” and gay rights is a slog. The winner, in...

Clinton Boosts Kerry
on Afghan Mission

Oct 22, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Clinton Boosts Kerry on Afghan Mission

Old rivals appear to forge durable alliance

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton was instrumental in convincing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff election—but it was what she didn’t do that mattered most. She didn’t interfere with erstwhile rival John Kerry’s mission. In fact, sources say, Clinton facilitated the meeting between Kerry and Karzai and...

50% Pay Cuts
for Bailout Execs
Due Today

Oct 22, 2009 9:40 AM CDT

50% Pay Cuts for Bailout Execs Due Today

Warren confirms cuts to 25 top earners at 7 companies

(Newser) - The Treasury Department today is expected to order seven companies that have not paid back last year's US government bailouts to halve their top executives' average compensation. The cuts apply to the 25 highest-paid executives at banks and other companies that received the most assistance, with salaries being slashed by...

Stop Afghan 'Dithering' as Troops Face Danger: Cheney

Oct 21, 2009 9:52 PM CDT

Stop Afghan 'Dithering' as Troops Face Danger: Cheney

'Do what it takes to win,' former VP urges Obama

(Newser) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney tonight accused the White House of dithering over the strategy for the war in Afghanistan and urged President Barack Obama to "do what it takes to win." Cheney, accepting an award from a conservative national security group, added, "Make no mistake. Signals...

Rattner: Why I
Fired GM's Wagoner

Oct 21, 2009 3:33 PM CDT

Rattner: Why I Fired GM's Wagoner

Former car czar calls deficiencies 'appalling'

(Newser) - Barack Obama's former car czar says he had no choice but to fire GM's Rick Wagoner. "Everyone knew Detroit's reputation for insular, slow-moving cultures," Steven Rattner writes in an essay for Fortune. "Even by that low standard, I was shocked by the stunningly poor management that we...

Supreme Court Takes
Uighurs' Case

Oct 20, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

Supreme Court Takes Uighurs' Case

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will hear a new case about the rights of Guantanamo detainees, this time involving prisoners who remain in custody even after the Pentagon determines they're not a threat to the United States, the court said today. Last year, the court said in a 5-4 ruling that federal...

Defense Dept. Opposed Anti-Rape Rule for Contractors

Oct 20, 2009 9:19 AM CDT

Defense Dept. Opposed Anti-Rape Rule for Contractors

But lefties ripped GOP senators for nay votes

(Newser) - When 30 Republicans voted against an Al Franken amendment prohibiting defense contractors from forcing their employees to agree not to sue if they’re raped, Jon Stewart and liberals everywhere went ballistic. But those 30 Republicans weren’t alone, the Huffington Post reports; the Defense Department opposed the amendment as...

Obama Coming Up Short
on Human Rights

OPINION

Oct 20, 2009 1:19 AM CDT

Obama Coming Up Short on Human Rights

President's actions don't match the promises that wowed Berliners

(Newser) - President Obama's decision to skip the celebrations of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall highlights the gap between his rhetoric on the campaign trail and the realities of his presidency, writes Bret Stephens. Obama hailed the "dream of freedom" in his big speech in Berlin last...

Obama Pot Policy a Victory for States' Rights

OPINION

Oct 19, 2009 5:31 PM CDT

Obama Pot Policy a Victory for States' Rights

Administration takes long-overdue steps to end Bush-era excesses

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s decision to respect state laws on medical marijuana is good policy—and not just because it demonstrates compassion toward cancer and AIDS patients, writes Glenn Greenwald. Despite his critics’ charges of “socialism” and “fascism,” President Obama is showing that his administration, unlike the...

Health Industry Shakedown Imperils Reform

OPINION

Oct 19, 2009 3:32 PM CDT

Health Industry Shakedown Imperils Reform

Obama must ignore lobbyists for insurers, doctors, drug makers

(Newser) - In dealing with pharmaceutical companies, insurers, and the AMA, President Obama should take a page from David Letterman's book and not fall prey to blackmail, writes former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Promises the administration made to those three constituencies in exchange for staying neutral or positive about health care reform...

Obama-Bashing Is Manchurian Candidate Crap

OPINION

Oct 19, 2009 1:20 PM CDT

Obama-Bashing Is Manchurian Candidate Crap

Claims he has an anti-US agenda go well beyond Bush-loathing

(Newser) - Liberals questioned George W Bush's legitimacy and wanted him to fail, writes Michael Tomasky, so what's the difference between those Bush haters and the birthers, teabaggers, and "paranoid" “committed conservatives” who Tomasky writes are way “off the continuum” of political debate over Barack Obama’s presidency? No...

GOP Plans
Stall Tactics for
Health Bill Fight

Oct 19, 2009 1:02 PM CDT

GOP Plans Stall Tactics for Health Bill Fight

Opponents hope long debate will force voters to 'understand this thing'

(Newser) - Lacking the votes for a filibuster and increasingly resigned to the fact that Democrats will stand united, GOP senators have a novel strategy to stall the health care reform bill: They’re going to stall it however they can. The Democratic plan “is inconsistent with the American people,”...

In Switch,
'Real Economy'
Hits Big Banks

PAUL KRUGMAN

Oct 19, 2009 9:49 AM CDT

In Switch, 'Real Economy' Hits Big Banks

Slumping profits are 'payback' from Main Street whipped by bad practices

(Newser) - Those concerned about the nation’s banks should forget about the “softly, softly policy” of the Obama administration that has allowed Goldman Sachs to go back to business as usual in spectacular fashion. The real problem, Paul Krugman writes, is banks like Citi and Bank of America that are...

Obama Tries to Hobble Chamber of Commerce

Oct 19, 2009 8:50 AM CDT

Obama Tries to Hobble Chamber of Commerce

Conservative business group now 'radioactive' in Washington

(Newser) - The Obama administration is deliberately freezing out a US Chamber of Commerce seemingly chilly to its entire agenda. White House officials have pointedly ignored the Chamber, speaking instead directly with the CEOs of its member companies. “We prefer the approach where the actual people who are on the front...

Feds Will
Back Off
Medical Pot
Operations

Oct 19, 2009 7:27 AM CDT

Feds Will Back Off Medical Pot Operations

No more crackdowns on outlets that comply with state law

(Newser) - The Obama administration will stop cracking down on medical marijuana centers operating legally under state law, according to a new policy expected to be released today. The move is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which continued to bust such operations for breaking federal law. Under the new strategy,...

In Fight With Fox,
White House Can't Win

analysis

Oct 18, 2009 4:24 PM CDT

In Fight With Fox, White House Can't Win

Administration has 'brought a knife to a gunfight': David Carr

(Newser) - By tackling Fox News head-on, the Obama administration has almost certainly bitten off more than it can chew, apparently prioritizing payback ahead of rising above the fray. "While there is undoubtedly a visceral thrill in finally setting out after your antagonists," media columnist David Carr writes for the...

Obama Sets Softer Sudan Policy

Oct 17, 2009 8:51 AM CDT

Obama Sets Softer Sudan Policy

(Newser) - Though Obama advocated a confrontational approach to Sudan on the campaign trail, his administration will announce a somewhat soft policy toward the country on Monday. Ending months of internal wrangling, the policy is designed use to "pressure and incentives" to bend the government to address US concerns over the...

White House Doesn't Take Glenn Beck 'Very Seriously'

worth crying over

Oct 16, 2009 7:05 PM CDT

White House Doesn't Take Glenn Beck 'Very Seriously'

Administration not sweating Fox host's campaign against Anita Dunn

(Newser) - Fox talking head Glenn Beck has White House communications director Anita Dunn in his crosshairs, but the administration isn't exactly sweating. "I caught some of that from the Glenn Beck show yesterday, but I don't think anybody takes it—takes his attacks very seriously," the deputy White House...

Record $1.4T Deficit
Imperils Recovery

Oct 16, 2009 6:35 PM CDT

Record $1.4T Deficit Imperils Recovery

Gap dwarfs FY2008 figure, spells trouble for new stimulus plans

(Newser) - The federal deficit in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was $1.4 trillion, lower than projected but still a record. At 10% of GDP, the figure is the largest since 1945, when the deficit was 21.5% of GDP. The figure made public today coincides with early rumblings...