Julie Mason

Obama defends Olympic trip to Denmark

The White House defended President Obama’s trip to Denmark this week to promote Chicago’s bid for the Olympic Games, saying health care reform is in good enough shape for him to miss a couple of days. “I think he believes he can do this and get back in time,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “He felt strongly and personally that he should go and make the case of the United States, and that’s what he’s going to do.” Obama will lead a delegation that includes first lady Michelle Obama, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Oprah Winfrey and others. The International Olympic Committee on Friday...

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Ex-president Bill Clinton on Team Obama ­— for the moment

With his mission to North Korea to secure the release of two imprisoned journalists, former President Bill Clinton officially joined Team Obama — but whether he proves a durable asset is less certain. The White House on Tuesday remained secretive about the trip, which press secretary Robert Gibbs described as a “private mission.” “This obviously is a very sensitive topic,” Gibbs said. “We will hope to provide some more detail at a later point. Our focus right now is on ensuring the safety of two journalists that are in North Korea.” The former president was in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Tuesday and is expected home shortly with Lisa Ling and...

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Obama tries to reboot after rough July

At the six-month mark amid polls showing slipping public support for his ideas, President Barack Obama is convening the Cabinet for a two-day huddle. “It’s an opportunity for the president, the vice president, senior White House staff and Cabinet officials all to get together and talk about the agendas both past and forward, [and] how we can continue to work together to make progress,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. He added, “It’s not a midcourse correction or a report card.” The group will gather at Blair House and the White House Conference Center, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. They will dine together today and...

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Polls on economy, health care bring Obama down to earth

President Barack Obama’s plans to mount a new appeal for public support on health care reform were brought up short by a spate of new polls showing enthusiasm for his policies — including health care — on the wane. A new poll by ABC News and The Washington Post found public support for Obama’s leadership on health care reform dropped from 57 percent in April to 49 percent in July, while support for his handling of the economy dropped from 58 percent to 52 percent. The White House had hoped to rally public favor behind Obama’s health care agenda in order to pressure Congress to move quickly to shape reform. But rising public doubts highlighted in several...

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Constant campaign continues for Obama White House

With their health care and economic programs far from settled, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday took a sharp detour from policy back to electoral politics. Obama was in New Jersey, stumping for embattled Gov. Jon Corzine, while Biden headed to Richmond to raise money for gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds. Their absence from Washington at a crucial time underscores acute Democratic worries about 2009 races and beyond — and also the administration’s continued dedication to the endless campaign. “Hello, New Jersey,” Obama told a rally for Corzine in Holmdel after a private reception with big donors. “We are counting on...

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Tough talk from Obama on health, but no clear action

Saying he wants to “put everybody on notice,” President Barack Obama took an aggressive stance on passing health care reform, denouncing “cynics” and “small thinking” working to derail his efforts. “There was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone,” the president said in the Rose Garden. “For those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don’t bet against us.” After a week overseas that saw health care reform placed on a legislative back burner, Obama dropped the consensus-building, sales-themed rhetoric of the past several months for a more authoritative message. The shift in tone...

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Obama asks for patience as unemployment mounts

The Obama administration Thursday insisted its $787 billion stimulus program geared toward job creation was working, despite new figures showing the nation’s jobless rate climbed to its highest point in nearly 26 years. “We’ve taken some extraordinary measures to blunt the hard edges of the worst recession of our lifetime,” said President Barack Obama. “But as I’ve said from the moment that I walked into the door of this White House, it took years for us to get into this mess, and it will take us more than a few months to turn it around.” Unemployment rose to 9.5 percent in June, and economists and White House officials predict it will reach 10...

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Global warming bill a test of Obama’s Capitol clout

The White House blamed “misinformation” for a tough battle over energy and climate change legislation, urging lawmakers to embrace the future by supporting the bill. “I know this is going to be a close vote, in part because of the misinformation that’s out there that suggests there’s somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and our economic growth,” President Barack Obama said. The past few days have seen a final-hour push by the White House to gather support for the bill. With a House vote set for Friday, the administration quickly added an energy event — remarks in the Rose Garden — to Obama’s schedule. Energy in...

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Sanford’s stumble opens field for GOP contenders

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s diminished political fortunes are shifting the field for prospective 2012 presidential candidates, with a sudden vacancy on the Republican Party’s short list. “It’s way too early to talk sensibly about the 2012 field, but that’s no reason not to do it,” said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University. Sanford’s admission of an affair Wednesday after a bizarre four-day absence from public duties effectively deprives Republicans of a promising fiscal conservative who was among the party’s best hopes to challenge President Barack Obama. The Sanford revelation came fast on the heels...

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Obama strengthens rhetoric on Iran, but still 'waiting to see'

President Barack Obama toughened his rhetoric on Iran Tuesday, declaring he is “appalled” by the government crackdown and vowing “no iron fist” would prevent the world from witnessing post-election violence in Tehran. “We have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets,” Obama told reporters at a mid-day press conference. “While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history.” In nearly an hour of fielding questions, the president continued to calibrate his response on...

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Watchdogs push Obama on health care execs visiting White House

A watchdog group pressing the Obama administration to fulfill promises on transparency filed a request Monday for the names of health care executives who have visited the White House. “If you are going to criticize other people for secrecy, you better have an open door,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “They talk about transparency more than they exhibit it.” The organization’s Freedom of Information Act request follows an earlier demand for a log of coal executives visiting the White House, which was followed by a lawsuit when those records were refused. A spokesman for the administration...

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Obama extends benefits to partners of gay fed workers

The White House was on the defensive Wednesday over extending limited federal benefits to domestic partners of federal employees, including same-sex couples. President Barack Obama issued a memorandum prohibiting discrimination against federal employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identification, and clarified certain benefits for domestic partners. “It’s a day that marks a historic step towards the changes we seek, but I think we all have to acknowledge this is only one step,” Obama said in an Oval Office signing event. The president’s action opens federal long-term care insurance to unmarried domestic partners of federal workers, gay and...

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Obama looks for others to take the lead on Iran vote

President Barack Obama said Monday he was disturbed by the violence following last week’s Iranian elections, but stopped short of calling them fraudulent. “I am deeply troubled by the violence I am seeing on television,” Obama said during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. “I think that the democratic process, free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent, all of those are universal values and need to be respected.” The president said he sympathizes with Iranians’ “sense of having been betrayed” by the outcome, which ended in the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While the Iranian...

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Obama defends stimulus despite new jobless data

Feeling pressure to show results from massive federal spending amid the highest unemployment in 26 years, President Barack Obama defended his stimulus plan Monday, promising to “create or save” 600,000 more jobs in the next 100 days. The White House later conceded those jobs would include some temporary, summer and part-time jobs, which economists regard as not stimulative to the economy. The unemployment rate is 9.4 percent — well above what the White House predicted when it sold Congress on the stimulus bill. “The reason that this wasn’t a $787 billion hundred-day plan economic recovery plan, why it’s a two-year recovery plan, is because we never...

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Sotomayor pick has White House in full sales mode

President Barack Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court squeezed Republicans into a corner and fortified his own party’s position with key constituencies. Meet Sonia Sotomayor » Name: Sonia Sotomayor » Age-birthdate-location: 54; June 25, 1954; New York, N.Y. » Experience: judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, 1998-present; judge, U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1992-1998; private practice, New York City, 1984-1992; assistant district attorney, New York County, 1979-1984 » Education: B.A., Princeton University, 1976; J.D., Yale Law School, 1979. » Family: Divorced; no children. Obama, relaxed...

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Obama’s policies giving activists a wake-up call

Andy Freedman, of Silver Spring, was a young volunteer on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, but he nurtured a grain of cynicism. “Even at the inauguration, I was skeptical that so many people thought Obama coming in would mean everything would change,” said Freedman, 22. “That’s not the way the world works.” Obama has already given some of his most fervent believers a wake-up call, as key promises to reform government and end Bush administration secrecy and war policies confront the realities of office. The president on Friday announced plans to revive Bush-era military tribunals for terrorism detainees, with some revisions, after promising as a...

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Administration focuses on strategy shift in Afghanistan

The White House on Tuesday defended President Barack Obama’s new war strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, placing blame on the Bush administration for neglecting the region. “That’s the best way to keep this country safe, to go after the terrorist threat — something the previous administration didn’t do,” said spokesman Robert Gibbs. The remarks came as the administration makes major command and strategic shifts in Afghanistan, amid stepped-up criticism from former Vice President Dick Cheney, who claims Obama’s policies are endangering the nation. Congress this week is expected to consider the administration’s request for $91 billion to...

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Obama: Health industry concessions ‘watershed event’

President Barack Obama on Monday hailed as a “watershed event” a commitment from the health care industry to cut $2 trillion in spending increases over the next decade. Industry groups, eager to shape Obama’s push for health care reform, offered the concession as Congress and the White House prepare to tackle how to insure some 46 million Americans without coverage and bring down the costs for others. “What they’re doing is complementary to and is going to be completely compatible with a strong, aggressive effort to move health care reform through here in Washington,” Obama said. The president’s statement followed a closed-door meeting at the...

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Obama takes immigration reform off priority list this year

President Barack Obama has said he won’t tackle comprehensive immigration reform this year, but a spate of budget proposals and incremental policy shifts signal the beginning of a new direction on the issue. “We want to move this process. We can’t continue with a broken immigration system,” Obama said recently. “It’s not good for American workers. It’s dangerous for Mexican would-be workers who are trying to cross a dangerous border. It is putting a strain on border communities, who oftentimes have a deal with a host of undocumented workers. And it keeps those undocumented workers in the shadows, which means they can be exploited at the same time...

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White House takes tougher tone with Israel

The Obama administration signaled a tougher stance on Middle East relations Tuesday, pushing Israel to accept a permanent Palestinian state. “Israel has to work toward a two-state solution,” Vice President Joe Biden told the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual conference. “This is show me a deal — not based on faith. Show me.” President Barack Obama met privately with Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office, ahead of what is expected to be a more substantive visit later this month from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden told the pro-Israel lobbying group that Iran was exploiting the long-running conflict to expand its...

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Oh -- Hi! Obama stops by the briefing room

"There's a job to do, you gotta do it yourself," Obama said. (ap photo) President Obama busted up Robert Gibbs' White House briefing today with the news that he "just got off the telephone" with Justice Souter, who conveyed his intention to retire from the Supreme Court. "I am incredibly grateful for his dedicated service," Obama said of Souter. The president praised Souter and described what he's looking for in a replacement: Someone smart who knows the law, "someone who understands justice is not just about some abstract legal theory" but about the reality of people's lives. Obama said he's going to consult with leaders in both parties about...

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First lady reverses early negative perceptions

Somewhere between being called unpatriotic by detractors and planting an organic garden on the South Lawn, Michelle Obama has become the nation’s sweetheart. “I don’t know how she’s done it, but she turned it around,” said Cindy Clifford, a Democratic consultant. A USA Today/Gallup poll found 79 percent of respondents approved of the way Michelle Obama is handling her job. Even among Republicans, her approval is at 64 percent, according to the poll. “I think it’s a lot of fun, the job that I have,” the first lady told a group of visiting children at the White House last week. “You know, it feels just like probably being a mom, being...

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In his first 99 days, Obama governs as he campaigned

On a routine Thursday earlier this month, President Barack Obama proposed a major new high-speed rail initiative, published a story on the economy in 31 newspapers, flew to Mexico, released the torture memos and attended an evening reception. The frenetic, campaignlike pace is no accident. In his first 99 days, the president is doing his job the same way he won it: by relentlessly campaigning and maintaining a high profile with appearances at public events. Ultimately, of course, Obama will be judged on the success of his policies, and right now he’s a picture of confidence. “I know there’s some who believe we can only handle one challenge at a time,” Obama said...

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Obama hits the links

Who's your caddy? (ap photo) President Obama headed to the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday for some recreation. It was about a thousand degrees kelvin in D.C., but the first family spent the weekend at the White House and the president gets notoriously restless hanging around at home. Rounding out the foursome were Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk and Marvin Nicholson, a former Obama campaign aide who famously parlayed a gig caddying for John Kerry into a job on the 2004 campaign. A Golf.com story last year did a fairly extensive photo analysis of Obama golfing in Hawaii and surmised the POTUS is a bit of a duffer but "fun to play...

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Interrogation controversy casts long shadow on agenda

The White House tried in vain Thursday to maneuver past the controversy over declassified memos about CIA interrogation methods, but both Republicans and Democrats appeared determined to continue the debate. President Barack Obama, who has repeatedly said he wants to look forward and not back on issues related to the wartime conduct of the prior administration, focused on other matters and said nothing publicly about torture. But intensifying political conflict over the memos and how — or whether — to proceed with a legal probe of the Bush administration threatens to eclipse the president’s agenda on the economy, health care and climate change. “The president...

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Obama calls for $100 million in spending cuts amid trillions in new spending

White House officials pushed back Monday against criticism that a new round of proposed budget cuts is largely meaningless in the face of spiraling deficits. President Barack Obama convened his first-ever Cabinet meeting, tasking agency heads with cutting $100 million worth of programs that aren’t working. “None of these savings by themselves are going to solve our long-term fiscal problems, but taken together they can make a difference, and they send a signal that we are serious about changing the way government operates,” Obama said. But Republican critics in Congress, back at work after a two-week recess, scoffed at Obama’s $100 million in...

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Concessions bring warming to U.S.-Latin American relations

A warming trend on Cuba is forecast as President Obama this weekend wraps up his first diplomatic venture into the tangled relationships between Latin America and the United States. His decision to lift restrictions on family travel to Cuba and to allow U.S. firms to bid on telecommunications licenses there set in motion the first perceptible thaw between Washington and Havana in decades. The shift dominated the build-up to Friday’s opening of the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. “My guidepost in U.S.-Cuba policy is going to be how can we encourage Cuba to be respectful of the rights of its people: political speech and political participation, freedom of...

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Flung teabags lock down West Wing

Hey! Quit throwing stuff. (afp photo) The West Wing is in lockdown after some of the spirited Tax Day tea party demonstrators in the park across the street hurled something -- believed to be tea bags -- over the northside fence of the White House. The TV standup position in the driveway known as Pebble Beach was cleared -- Ed Henry, now broadcasting from the briefing room! -- and officers were stationed outside, keeping reporters in place while a HazMat team detonated the thrown objects, or whatever. They never tell us much. The scourge of the northwest gate!...

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With N. Korea threat, Afghan plan, Obama turns to security matters

Before he could head to France to urge NATO allies to increase their commitment to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama first had to handle the looming threat of a North Korean missile launch. With the regime in Pyongyang threatening a “thunderbolt of revenge” on any country that shoots down its missile, Obama on Thursday reiterated his commitment to disarm the country’s nuclear weapons program. Friday, Obama will be in Strasbourg, France, for a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He is expected to make his case for much greater commitments from the defense pact for his expanding mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But before he could deal with his...

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The President in Europe » NOTEBOOK

LONDON – Having dispensed with global economics, nuclear proliferation and international politics, there were still a few things British reporters wanted to ask President Barack Obama on Wednesday. What advice would you give Prime Minister Gordon Brown? What do you make of England’s chances in the World Cup? And what do you like best about the U.K.? Obama laughed. It was the final barrage of inquiries in a pretty issues-heavy joint news conference with Brown after the two met privately at 10 Downing Street. “I have had enough trouble back home picking my brackets for the college basketball tournament that’s taking place there — called March Madness....

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Big expectations for Obama’s first foreign trip

President Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to restore America’s standing abroad, and this week, with his first overseas trip as president, will be a crucial test of those leadership skills. Despite strong personal popularity abroad, Obama faces a great deal of skepticism from world leaders about his economic programs and war plans for Afghanistan. Obama’s trip includes the Group of 20 economic summit in London, a NATO meeting in France, a European Union conference in Prague and meetings and events with leaders in Turkey. Two of Obama’s biggest challenges will be among the first he tackles, as he meets separately Wednesday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and...

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Obama girds for struggle with Congress

President Barack Obama on Tuesday called on Americans to unify behind his embattled $3.6 trillion spending plan, acknowledging a tough sell on the direction he wants to take the country. But he signaled a strong intent to dig in and resist compromise on his three top issues: health care, energy and education. “I’m a big believer in persistence,” Obama said. “The best way to bring our deficit down in the long run is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led us to a narrow prosperity and massive debt.” He added, “It’s with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow-and-spend to one...

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Obama raises stakes with another prime-time talk

Facing a battle over his budget priorities, President Barack Obama tonight holds his second prime-time news conference hoping making a connection — but not with the people in the room. The White House is banking on the high-drama potential of a formal evening news conference to draw a big audience for what is expected to be a major pitch from the president for his $3.6 trillion budget plan. “The president believes that a continued dialogue with the American people, about where we are and where we’re going, is necessary, certainly in times like this,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. In his previous news conference Feb. 9, Obama focused on his $787...

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As support for agenda falters, Obama turns on charm

Amid two wars, a global financial crisis and growing public doubt of his economic policies, President Obama went on ESPN to talk about his college basketball brackets. “Here’s what I like about Carolina: experience and balance,” Obama told sports anchorman Andy Katz in the White House Map Room. He wasn’t just dodging the big issues, and Obama’s not out of touch. Like others before him, the president is using his personal appeal to build up support for a tricky political agenda. “It worked for him during the campaign,” said Garth Jowett, an expert on political propaganda at the University of Houston. “Obama realizes he has immense personal...

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Obama administration continues ducking questions on failures in oversight of AIG

The White House on Tuesday struggled to explain how it was caught short on the AIG bonus scandal, after promising unprecedented transparency and accountability in the new administration. “I don’t have a particular tick-tock in front of me,” spokesman Robert Gibbs said, in an hourlong briefing dominated by questions about AIG. Instead, Gibbs tried to shift focus to looking forward at how the administration would prevent similar embarrassments in the future. “I am confident the oversight process is working,” he said. By their own admission, the White House was not aware of the AIG bonus programs until last week, and Gibbs could not say when President Barack...

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Obama backs off “catastrophe,” talks up “fundamentally sound” economy

After warning about economic “crisis” and “catastrophe,” President Obama abruptly changed course and on Friday declared himself “very confident” about long term growth. “If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we're going to get through this,” Obama said at the White House. “And I'm very confident about that.” The reason for the change, according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, are “glimmers of hope” in areas such as retail sales. “The president is a very optimistic...

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3 Minute Interview-Findlay

Christie Findlay is a resident of Arlington and the editor in chief of Politics magazine. She has also worked at DC Style magazine (now Capitol File) and, years ago, at the startup Washington Examiner. Findlay has 590 Facebook friends and counting. So, any good political trends you are noticing? Do these bad economic times mean we’ll start electing former CEOs again, or is that all finished? Is there such a thing as a good political trend? Forget Obama’s promises on bipartisanship, Democrats are only doing what they need to do to retain power. Meanwhile, the GOP is like a wolf caught by a steel animal trap, eating its own limbs to survive. So the only political trend...

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Obama lifts ban on embryonic stem cell research

President Barack Obama on Monday lifted a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, while promising to block its use for human cloning. “Our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values,” Obama said at an East Room ceremony. “I believe the two are not inconsistent.” Obama at the same time announced a federal governmentwide policy review “to ensure that in this new administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science.” Both moves represent a sharp and deliberate departure from the Bush administration. In the same room where Obama made his announcement, President George W....

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Obama treads carefully on possible Bush probe

As lawmakers Wednesday debated creation of a “truth commission” to probe the Bush administration, President Barack Obama continued sending murky signals about whether he supports the plan. “The president, obviously, is concerned about — as he said on many occasions, about detainee policy and interrogation tactics, and that he’s taken the steps, the beginning steps, to address Guantanamo Bay and to put the country firmly on record against torture,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “But I also think the president is focused less on looking back and more on looking forward.” The administration this week gave momentum to the...

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White House continues fanning Limbaugh flames

The White House on Tuesday continued to nudge along the Republican Party’s meltdown, calling radio host Rush Limbaugh “the head of the Republican Party.” “I was a little surprised at the speed in which Mr. Steele, the head of the RNC, apologized to the head of the Republican Party,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Gibbs was referring to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s rapid about-face after criticizing Limbaugh on television, only to capitulate later with an apology. For the Republicans, the Limbaugh-Steele incident was just the latest in a series of embarrassments that are exposing deep rifts in the party as it...

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Where is the budget money coming from?

President Barack Obama has proposed a $3.541 trillion budget that ups the ante on a series of massive spending plans he said are necessary to revive the economy, but that critics charge are mortgaging the country’s future. The federal spending plan arrives on the heels of a $2 trillion financial services bailout, Obama’s $788 billion stimulus package, the $13.4 billion preliminary bailout for automakers, a $410 billion spending plan to cover the rest of the current fiscal year, and a proposed $275 billion foreclosure rescue plan. And it includes a $634 billion fund for health care. “We need to be honest with ourselves about what costs are being racked up, because...

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Obama to outline deficit-cutting measures in address to Congress

In an address to a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama will offer an antidote to the growing federal deficit — including cuts to military spending and allowing the Bush administration’s tax cuts to expire. Obama on Monday previewed the themes during a “Fiscal Responsibility Summit” at the White House. The event, more public relations than progress, was part of a multi-event, money-themed week at the White House. “This administration has inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit, the largest in our nation’s history, and our investments to rescue that economy will add to the deficit in the short term,” Obama said at the White House....

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In key week, Obama looks to restore confidence

A quick succession of high-profile events this week gives President Barack Obama a critical opportunity to reboot his administration’s handling of the nation’s financial crisis. Scattered vitriol in the past two weeks following the rollout of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s circumspect bank bailout plan and criticism of the president’s foreclosure relief proposal all threw the White House off stride. Now the Obama team is hoping a nationally televised joint address to Congress, a summit on fiscal responsibility at the White House and release of the massive federal budget will help restore confidence in the Obama administration’s economic...

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Feds have high hopes for automakers’ reorganization plans

The White House on Tuesday remained hopeful that reorganization plans from two Detroit automakers would help save the industry — but declined to rule out bankruptcy if they don’t. “I wouldn’t close the door” on bankruptcy, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Chrysler and General Motors late last year received a combined $13.4 billion in federal loans to stay in business, on the condition they return by Tuesday with plans to repay the money and remain in operation. The plan submitted by GM calls for eliminating almost 50,000 additional jobs and seeking another $30 billion in loans in coming years. Chrysler, meanwhile, seeks $2 billion more in loans and...

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Chicago reporter latest journalist to join Obama

Chicago Tribune Washington correspondent Jill Zuckman is the latest of several high-profile journalists and the second Tribune reporter to join the Obama administration. Zuckman, also a familiar face on cable news, is leaving the paper to work as director of public affairs for Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, an Illinois Republican. Her departure highlights the tough financial times newspapers are experiencing — the Tribune’s Washington bureau recently cut several staffers in layoffs. But it also underscores the sometimes uncomfortably close relationship between the press and the government. “It seems like [the Obama administration] is the cool place to work these...

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Obama targets foreclosures before Canada trip

With a stimulus bill in hand, President Obama this week rolls out his next big program, limiting home foreclosures, before heading to Canada for his first trip abroad as president. Other pressing issues for the administration include the unresolved automakers bailout, a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan, and key vacancies including secretaries of commerce and health. Obama today signs his stimulus bill at an event in Denver. “This historic step won’t be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning,” Obama said of the bill. “The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal...

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Review of Afghanistan, Pakistan challenges new administration

President Obama’s strategic review of Afghanistan and Pakistan is among the first foreign policy challenges for the new administration, and an early test of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s concept of “smart power.” “My bottom line is that we cannot allow al Qaeda to operate,” Obama said last week. “We cannot have those safe havens in the region. And we’re going to have to work both smartly and effectively, but with consistency, in order to make sure that those safe havens don’t exist.” Obama during the campaign promised to shift military resources from Iraq to Afghanistan, and to significantly increase the use of diplomacy...

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Review of Afghanistan, Pakistan challenges new administration, Clinton’s ‘smart power’

President Obama’s strategic review of Afghanistan and Pakistan is among the first foreign policy challenges for the new administration, and an early test of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s concept of “smart power.” “My bottom line is that we cannot allow al Qaeda to operate,” Obama said last week. “We cannot have those safe havens in the region. And we’re going to have to work both smartly and effectively, but with consistency, in order to make sure that those safe havens don’t exist.” Obama during the campaign promised to shift military resources from Iraq to Afghanistan, and to significantly increase the use of diplomacy...

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Judd Gregg withdraws commerce secretary bid

Citing disagreements with the administration over control of the census and the direction of the economic stimulus package, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire abruptly withdrew as President Obama’s nominee to head the Commerce Department. “We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy,” Gregg said in a statement citing “irresolvable conflicts.” At issue for Gregg was a plan announced by the White House last week to strip the 2010 census from the commerce secretary’s control and have the U.S. Census Bureau report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs...

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Obama finds time to escape White House often, so far

Already tiring of the constraints of Washington life, President Obama is making a jailbreak of sorts — getting away from the White House as often possible and returning to campaign-style audiences. After a pair of town hall meetings in Indiana and Florida visibly lifted the president’s energy level, another quick trip was added to his schedule on Wednesday, for a stop in suburban Virginia. Obama today is off to Springfield, Ill., for an event marking the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. He and his family will spend the weekend, including Valentine’s Day, at home in Chicago. That’s a solid week with at least a daily trip away from Washington. Asked...

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Economists assail vagaries of bank bailout

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s broad-strokes proposal for the second phase of federal bailout funding for banks on Tuesday was assailed by economists and sent the markets plunging. The plan, which would commit more than $1 trillion in federal funds and private investment, is aimed at easing credit markets, recapitalizing banks and clearing toxic assets from bank ledgers. Geithner’s pitch came at a bad time for President Obama, who is still trying to close the deal with Congress on his $838 billion economic stimulus package. Some feared that making the cases for two complex, expensive economic programs might be too much. Behind-the-scenes details of the bailout plan...

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Obama hits back at critics on stimulus

With a key vote set for today in the Senate, President Obama said critics of his stimulus bill lack credibility because they “presided over a doubling of the national debt.” In his first formal press conference since taking office three weeks ago, Obama stepped up his rhetoric against opponents of his spending plan in Congress, defining theirs as an “ideological bloc.” “It’s a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they presided over a doubling of the national debt,” Obama said. “I’m not sure they have a lot of credibility when it comes to fiscal policy.” In an hourlong East Room...

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Obama steps up fear tactics on stimulus package rhetoric

As its own deadline nears for finalizing the stimulus bill, the White House is increasingly using fear tactics to move the process along. “The time for talk is over,” Obama told Energy Department employees Thursday. “The time for action is now, because we know that if we do not act, a bad situation will become dramatically worse.” Drumming up fear to win support is a familiar tactic in the presidency. President Bush used post-9/11 anxieties to pass the Patriot Act and other measures, warning that Americans would be in danger without action. At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs echoed Obama’s warning, saying that without the stimulus, the nation...

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Obama raises level of rhetoric on passing stimulus

With support slipping in the Senate for his economic stimulus plan, President Obama on Wednesday ratcheted up his rhetoric and warned Republicans that failure to pass it “will turn crisis into a catastrophe.” “I’ve heard criticisms of this plan that echo the very same failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis,” Obama said. “The notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.” Despite the tough talk, the president is in a defensive posture on the $900 billion package, which...

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Daschle’s lapses divert Obama from stimulus

In the midst of pushing an increasingly embattled stimulus package, President Obama had to break stride because of ethics lapses by Tom Daschle that culminated in the former Senate majority leader withdrawing as nominee to head Health and Human Services. Obama, visibly angry and disappointed in interviews Tuesday night, had planned to spend much of the day promoting the stimulus package, but found the economy eclipsed by a multifront controversy over his nominees and their tax problems. Shortly before Daschle withdrew from consideration, Nancy Killefer, Obama’s choice for chief performance officer, notified the president by letter that she was stepping aside. Obama, who campaigned...

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Departure of Daschle leaves key spot vacant in inner circle

Tom Daschle’s hasty departure from President Obama’s team creates a vacancy in a key policy area and removes a trusted adviser from the new president’s inner circle. Obama said Tuesday that Daschle, who stepped down amid a growing controversy over his unpaid taxes, was the best person to lead Health and Human Services. “I regret that he is not going to serve,” Obama told ABC News, adding that he takes “full responsibility” for the series of tax reporting errors that nudged Daschle out. Obama raised a high bar for finding a replacement nominee, telling CBS News that “I am absolutely convinced he would have been the best person to shepherd...

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Tom Daschle withdraws name from HHS nomination

Former Senate leader Tom Daschle on Tuesday withdrew his name from nomination to serve as President Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services amid controversy over tax problems. Obama, who had tapped Daschle to be the architect of a dramatic makeover of the nation's health care system, accepted the withdrawal "with sadness and regret." "Tom made a mistake which he has openly acknowledged," Obama said. "He has not excused it, nor do I." Daschle is the second Obama Cabinet nominee forced to step down. Previously, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew from consideration to be Commerce secretary, citing an ongoing federal probe of campaign contributions...

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Obama: Governors need ‘swift action’ on stimulus

Stepping up pressure on the Senate to pass his economic stimulus plan, President Obama on Monday warned that cash-strapped governors nationwide are looking for “swift action.” “We met early on during the transition period with all of the governors from across the country, and with very few exceptions, I heard from Republicans and Democrats the need for action, and swift action,” Obama said after an Oval Office meeting with the Republican governor of Vermont. “What we can’t do is let very modest differences get in the way of the overall package moving forward swiftly.” Rhetoric intensified over the weekend between the White House and Senate...

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Obama: Governors need ‘swift action’ on stimulus

Stepping up pressure on the Senate to pass his economic stimulus plan, President Obama on Monday warned that cash-strapped governors nationwide are looking for “swift action.” “We met early on during the transition period with all of the governors from across the country, and with very few exceptions, I heard from Republicans and Democrats the need for action, and swift action,” Obama said after an Oval Office meeting with the Republican governor of Vermont. “What we can’t do is let very modest differences get in the way of the overall package moving forward swiftly.” Rhetoric intensified over the weekend between the White House and Senate...

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Bait and switch on the stimulus

Economic bill could still be tweaked before passage to satisfy Congress, America With the Senate poised to consider his $825 billion economic program, President Obama on Wednesday acknowledged skepticism about the plan and promised greater government accountability on how the money is spent. “Instead of just throwing money at our problems, we’ll try something new in Washington — we’ll invest in what works,” Obama said at the White House. “Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public and informed by independent experts whenever possible.” In the week since he took office,...

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Democrats may pose bigger threat to bipartisanship for Obama

After running on a pledge to work with Republicans, President Obama is finding some of the biggest challenges to his ambitious agenda coming from his own party. The leaders of the GOP, spoiling for a fight after heavy losses in the last election, are of limited menace to Obama with their diminished numbers and a lack of public support for their policies. But Democrats, suffused with the power of majority, are already causing problems for the new administration. And Obama’s ability to get his party under control could determine the fate of his agenda. Urging Washington’s famously nettlesome Democrats into a new spirit of bipartisanship is no small job. After Republicans...

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Obama will face steep challenges from Day One

With the nation’s economic crisis his top priority, President Barack Obama today tackles a list of pressing challenges that includes ending the war in Iraq and confronting the simmering Middle East crisis. His first full day in the White House is expected to be busy. Among other tasks, Obama is scheduled to meet in private sessions with top economic advisers and military officials. “I think he understands the moment that the country’s in and the mood the country’s in, and I think he’s excited and anxious to get to work,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told MSNBC. Immediately after the inaugural ceremony Tuesday, more than a dozen of Obama’s...

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Speech signals passing of the torch

President-elect Barack Obama today delivers an inaugural address freighted with the multiple burdens of rising to the historic moment, delivering on the expectations of millions, and recognizing a wealth of sobering precedent. “Every time you read that second inaugural, you start getting intimidated, especially because it’s really short,” Obama said recently of Lincoln’s “malice toward none” 1865 inaugural speech at the end of the Civil War. Always a careful student of history, Obama has an abundance of source material to draw from. The 43 American presidents before him have waxed eloquent, humble, cautionary and inspirational in the traditional address....

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Tracking Obama’s rise with famous sound bites

Few other modern politicians are as noted for their rhetorical talents as President-elect Barack Obama. His political career can be tracked through his major speeches. His flair for oratory has carried him forward with supporters, and provoked the ire of opponents. Hillary Clinton in their 2008 primary race famously bristled over credit Obama took for opposing the Iraq war in a speech as a state senator. “I’m well aware that his entire campaign is premised on a speech he gave in 2002,” Clinton said at the time. Clinton was partially right — Obama’s campaign has been highlighted by a series of speeches that he has given dating back to that Oct. 2, 2002,...

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Obama’s team imbalanced, experts say

Domestic lineup showing fewer weaknesses than foreign policy picks With most of his new government team assembled and awaiting confirmation, President-elect Obama is fielding a strong lineup on the domestic front, but may be showing a weaker flank on foreign policy. The potential imbalance underscores the new administration’s top priorities for solving the nation’s economic woes and tackling domestic issues like health care. For those jobs, Obama tapped experts with deep experience in their fields — notably Timothy Geithner for Treasury secretary and Tom Daschle to head Health and Human Services. But high-profile nominees such as Hillary Clinton at State and Leon...

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Rahm the Enforcer

In Washington, where big personalities create even bigger legends, Democrat Rahm Emanuel has achieved mythic status. He throws cells phones. He once sent a dead fish to a pollster who displeased him. At a dinner to celebrate Bill Clinton’s 1992 election, Emanuel repeatedly stabbed the table with a steak knife, shouting the names of his political enemies. Journalists have trouble quoting him, because his routine utterances are replete with profanity. “Rahm is a little intense,” Barack Obama once said. As even Emanuel concedes, “I wake up some mornings hating me, too.” Emanuel’s political intensity has a darker side. His numerous contacts with disgraced...

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If you can make it in the Emanuel family, you can make it anywhere

Rahm Emanuel is the middle of three sons born to a Jerusalem-born pediatrician father and an X-ray technician mother. Both parents were political activists, and their home by all accounts was lively. Three articulate, ambitious boys — Ezekiel, Rahm and Ari — along with adopted little sister Shoshana, learned from their parents to glean as much from failure as success. The boys all grew into exceptionally successful adults. But not right away. “If you had looked at us in grade school and high school, you would not have predicted our success,” Ezekiel, or “Zeke,” Emanuel said when all three brothers appeared recently on a roundtable with broadcaster...

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Carrie Allan

Carrie Allan is a Washington-area resident and the editor of Animal Sheltering magazine (animalsheltering.org), an award-winning publication for the sheltering, rescue and animal care community published by the Humane Society of the United States. What is your publication about? Animal Sheltering magazine serves the community of people who work for humane societies, animal control agencies and rescue groups. Basically, the magazine’s for anyone actively involved with helping homeless and abused animals in their community. You were active helping rescue animals after Hurricane Katrina — did most of them find homes, or were they eventually reunited with their owners? How did...

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