Obama administration

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GOP Balks at Stimulus Plan
 GOP Balks at  
 Stimulus Plan 
Jan 23, 2009 2:38 AM CST

GOP Balks at Stimulus Plan

Republicans, Democrats trade charges of under-the-table partisanship

(Newser) - The $825 billion stimulus plan before Congress has hit a wall of Republican objections despite the president's call for bipartisan unity, reports the Washington Post. GOP lawmakers charge that Democrats have shut them out of the decision-making process and that the plan pours cash into Democratic agenda items like arts...

Geithner: China 'Manipulating' Its Currency

Strong charge could roil relations at a delicate time

(Newser) - Tim Geithner today accused China of "manipulating" its currency, a volatile charge in the diplomatic world that is certain to anger Beijing and possibly prompt it to sell some of its massive reserves of US dollars, the New York Times reports. The Treasury nominee made the accusation in a...

36 Years After Roe, Obama Affirms Support for Choice

Thousands protest on anniversary of landmark abortion ruling

(Newser) - President Obama acknowledged the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade today by reaffirming his support for the abortion rights that ruling secured, CBS reports. “I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose,” Obama said in a statement, adding that, regardless of political persuasion, reducing unwanted...

Crocker Cautions Against Abrupt Iraq Withdrawal

Ambassador cautions that al-Qaeda will take advantage of power vacuum

(Newser) - The US ambassador to Iraq warned today against an abrupt troop withdrawal, saying it would invite foreign fighters, CNN reports. If we “decide suddenly we’re done, they would certainly work to use space that opened up,” Ryan Crocker said of al-Qaeda. Crocker, who will step down shortly,...

Mitchell, Holbrooke Named Special Envoys

Former senator gets Mideast portfolio; ex-ambassador Afghanistan and Pakistan

(Newser) - President Obama and newly minted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved quickly today to build the administration’s diplomatic efforts, naming George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke special envoys, Reuters reports; both appointments were expected. Former Sen. Mitchell will focus on facilitating peace talks between Israel and Palestine, while ex-UN ambassador...

First White House Briefing Addresses Gitmo, Oath

Lots of questions, little actual news as Gibbs meets the press anew

(Newser) - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs met his audience for the first time, covering everything from President Obama’s oaths to the economy to torture, the Chicago Tribune reports. Gibbs faced questions about the administration’s hiring of a lobbyist, against previously stated rules—“Any standard is not perfect”...

McGovern to Obama: Call 'Time-Out on War'

War not the best solution to terrorism, ex-candidate argues

(Newser) - George McGovern would like to take the “war” out of the war on terror. The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, writing in the Washington Post, cautions President Obama against diving headlong into Afghanistan, a battleground that has broken two empires already. “Let me suggest a truly audacious hope for...

Closing Gitmo Will Be Tough
 Closing Gitmo Will Be Tough 
ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2009 1:16 PM CST

Closing Gitmo Will Be Tough

Detainees should be tried or released, but dangerous ones worry Obama, lawyers

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s pledge to close Guantanamo Bay has been widely hailed, but it’s not going to be easy, the Christian Science Monitor reports. There’s broad agreement that many detainees can be tried in federal or military courts, while others can be released. But some are deemed too...

10 Democrats Obama Must Watch Out For
10 Democrats
Obama Must
Watch Out For
ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2009 1:05 PM CST

10 Democrats Obama Must Watch Out For

Conyers, Feinstein, Biden could be pains in president's rear

(Newser) - The good vibrations can’t last forever. Sooner or later,  President Obama is bound to run afoul of members of his own party. Glenn Thrush, in Politico, scopes out the suspects:
  • John Conyers: The irrepressible House Judiciary chairman wants to investigate the US attorneys scandal and other potential Bush-era
...

Obama's Staff Finds High Office Means Low Tech

'Kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,' one says of White House's rigid apparatus

(Newser) - Tech-savvy Obama staffers had a rude awakening on their first day at the White House, saddled with disconnected phone lines, limited Internet access, and 6-year-old PCs, the Washington Post reports. “It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” a spokesman said of the disconnect...

Bill Could Kill Doc-Owned Hospitals
 Bill Could Kill 
 Doc-Owned Hospitals 
ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2009 12:36 PM CST

Bill Could Kill Doc-Owned Hospitals

Feds may see $1.2B in savings if for-profit facilities come under new regulation

(Newser) - A clause in a child-health bill just passed by the House would restrict Medicare payouts for, and the expansion of, doctor-owned hospitals, the specialized-care units blamed for hurting income at nonprofit facilities, the Wall Street Journal reports. There are 200 such facilities nationwide, touted for their efficiency but criticized for...

Obama Signs Order to Close Gitmo

(Newser) - President Obama today signed orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year, review the military terror trials, and ban the harshest interrogation techniques, the AP reports. “There we go,” the president said with satisfaction after signing the orders, which promise to fundamentally reshape the country's...

Committee Approves Geithner
 Committee Approves Geithner 
Jan 22, 2009 10:47 AM CST

Committee Approves Geithner

Confirmation goes to full Senate

(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee has approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary despite his tax mistakes, the AP reports. This morning's 18-5 vote sends Geithner's confirmation to the full Senate. President Obama is hoping for quick approval so the point man for the administration's economic rescue effort can...

Clinton Takes Over at State
 Clinton Takes Over at State 
Jan 22, 2009 10:08 AM CST

Clinton Takes Over at State

Hundreds of employees cheer her arrival

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton began her first day as secretary of state with a message for her new employees, the New York Times reports. “This is a new era,” she said as State Department workers applauded her arrival this morning. “We will make clear as we go forward that...

'Google-like' System to Link US Intelligence Agencies

Overhaul includes databases, email

(Newser) - The computer databases of the 16 US intelligence agencies soon will be linked, the Wall Street Journal reports. The system comes nearly 5 years after the spy agencies got heat for failing to "connect the dots" before the Sept. 11 attacks. Analysts will be able to search through secret...

Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry
 Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry 
Jan 22, 2009 4:13 AM CST

Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry

Spy-proof smartphone tech means Obama won't have to give up beloved 'BarackBerry'

(Newser) - Security agents aren't going to have to pry the BlackBerry out of Barack Obama's hands after all, Marc Ambinder reports in the Atlantic. A government agency has added super-encryption technology to a standard BlackBerry, which the president will be allowed to use for routine and personal messages. It's not known...

Prez to Shut Gitmo, Secret CIA Prisons

Orders directing sweeping detention, interrogation overhaul expected today

(Newser) - The president will sign orders today ordering the Guantanamo Bay detention center shut down within a year—and directing the CIA to dismantle its network of secret prisons overseas, government officials tell the New York Times. The CIA will still be allowed to detain terror suspects in foreign countries, but...

Arts Need a New Deal, Too
 Arts Need a New Deal, Too 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2009 7:40 PM CST

Arts Need a New Deal, Too

Cultural anthropologist suggests President Obama appoint arts cabinet

(Newser) - Fifty years after FDR’s Public Works Art Project paid and promoted American talent, President Obama has people dreaming of a new deal for arts, cultural anthropologist Patricia Williams Lessane writes in Ebony. While division spawned the Harlem Renaissance, Lessane is hopeful an arts resurgence would be “born out...

It's a Do-Over: Obama Retakes Oath of Office

(Newser) - Better safe than sorry: Chief Justice John Roberts went to the White House this evening and re-administered the oath of office to President Obama, the Washington Post reports. The two made up for their much-publicized bungle on Inauguration Day "out of an abundance of caution," said White House...

Hillary Is Sworn In After Senate Vote

(Newser) - It took a little longer than expected, but Hillary Clinton is the new secretary of state, the New York Times reports. Clinton was sworn in this evening in a private ceremony about an hour after the Senate voted 94-2 to confirm her nomination. The vote came after Sen. John Cornyn...

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