Barack Obama

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No More Mr. &#39;Friendly Guy&#39; Obama
 No More Mr. 'Friendly Guy' Obama 
OPINION
Jan 15, 2013 12:23 PM CST

No More Mr. 'Friendly Guy' Obama

Gloves have come off, write Dana Milbank and John Podhoretz

(Newser) - Yesterday, President Obama described himself as "a pretty friendly guy," capable of getting along with Republicans. Which, Dana Milbank at the Washington Post muses, "might have been a touch more plausible if he hadn't spent the bulk of the previous hour demonstrating just how adversarial he...

Gingrich to House GOP: Quit Threatening to Default

Instead, he suggests, focus on sequester, continuing resolution

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich has a message for House Republicans: Stop making empty threats. Congressional Republicans are saying they'll gladly default if President Obama doesn't agree to budget cuts as part of a debt ceiling deal, but that's "a fight they can't sustain," Gingrich said today...

Hamid Karzai: US Is Giving Us a Drone Fleet

But division remains over Afghanistan troop withdrawal

(Newser) - In his first public comments since his visit to Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced yesterday that the US is giving Afghanistan a fleet of unarmed aerial spy drones, the New York Times reports. A pleased Karzai said his meetings with President Obama gave him most of what he wanted;...

Obama: No 'Magic Tricks' for Debt Ceiling

President rules out executive debt ceiling fix

(Newser) - Looks like President Obama really doesn't have a trillion-dollar coin up his sleeve—or any other crafty debt ceiling fix. At what he billed as the last press conference of his first term today, Obama was asked if he'd consider executive action—possibly invoking the 14th amendment—to...

White House: Piers Morgan Gets to Stay

Except Jay Carney didn't use words 'Piers' or 'Morgan' in statement

(Newser) - Let's say you're the White House. You're obligated to reply to any petition that gets enough signatures on the "We the People" site—even the one to deport Piers Morgan over his gun-control stance. What do you do? Well, you could issue a statement that never...

Maybe Obama Needs a Binder Full of Women
Maybe Obama Needs
a Binder Full of Women
OPINION
Jan 9, 2013 1:59 PM CST

Maybe Obama Needs a Binder Full of Women

Margaret Carlson notes the lack of diversity in Obama's prospective Cabinet

(Newser) - Barack Obama's new Cabinet is coming into focus, and at this rate, it's going to look "more like the Augusta National Golf Club than America," quips Margaret Carlson in a Bloomberg column derisively titled "Obama to Romney: Send Me Your Binders Full of Women."...

New Conservative Attack Ad Hits ... Mitch McConnell

Because he worked with Joe Biden on fiscal cliff deal

(Newser) - Let the payback begin. Conservative group ForAmerica has turned its sights on one of its own with a new web ad that calls out Mitch McConnell for his willingness to work with Democrats on the fiscal cliff deal, reports Politico . "Whose side are you on?" the ad asks above...

Obama Will Pick Jack Lew to Replace Geithner: Source

He'll announce the pick tomorrow

(Newser) - President Obama will tomorrow name current Chief of Staff Jack Lew as his nominee for Treasury secretary, a source tells Bloomberg News . Obama has already offered the position to Lew, the source says. The move doesn't exactly come as a surprise; Lew, a former director of the Office of...

On Deck at Inaugural: Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson

James Taylor will also sing at Jan. 21 event

(Newser) - Not much of a shocker, but huge Obama fan Beyonce will perform at the president's second inauguration, People reports. She'll perform the National Anthem at the Jan. 21 event, while Kelly Clarkson will sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and James Taylor will perform "America...

On Karzai's Agenda for US Visit: Complaints

Afghan president has list of demands

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai will be in DC this week, and the visit sounds like it will be a less-than-pleasant one for President Obama. The Washington Post details the list of complaints Karzai will want to discuss, chief among them Karzai's belief that the US is violating his country's sovereignty...

Obama Taps Hagel, Brennan for Pentagon, CIA

He praises both men at White House event

(Newser) - President Obama officially announced his nominations of Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense and John Brennan as CIA director today, praising both men for their records of service at a press event in the East Room of the White House. Hagel, Obama said, "knows that war is not an...

Boehner: Why I Threw F-Bomb at Harry Reid

More WSJ goodies: 'I need this job like I need a hole in head'

(Newser) - John Boehner didn't seem to hold much back during his hour-long interview with Stephen Moore for the Wall Street Journal , which took place just after Boehner was re-elected House speaker . "I need this job like I need a hole in the head," the chain-smoking congressman says at...

Cliff Deal Could Be &#39;Pyrrhic Victory&#39; for Left
Cliff Deal Could Be
'Pyrrhic Victory' for Left
Paul Krugman
Jan 4, 2013 1:31 PM CST

Cliff Deal Could Be 'Pyrrhic Victory' for Left

Krugman: Obama can't back down in the battles ahead

(Newser) - Democrats arguably won a "tactical victory" with the zero-hour fiscal cliff tax compromise, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times . The deal, after all, reduced income inequality, extended unemployment and some other progressive policies, and, best of all, didn't cut entitlements, which "was by no means...

This Was &#39;Worst Day&#39; of Obama&#39;s Presidency
 This Was 'Worst Day' 
 of Obama's Presidency 
2012 in images
Jan 4, 2013 12:11 PM CST

This Was 'Worst Day' of Obama's Presidency

Photo is of Sandy Hook briefing; White House releases images from 2012

(Newser) - White House photographer Pete Souza has released a collection of images from 2012, and they can be viewed on the official Flickr stream here . We picked out a few, including one getting a lot of attention today: President Obama's reaction as he gets briefed on the Sandy Hook shooting....

Post-2014 Afghanistan: US Has 3 Options

Gen. Allen presents scenarios to Pentagon

(Newser) - Gen. John Allen has submitted three options to the Pentagon for how to maintain a presence in Afghanistan after the 2014 military withdrawal, defense officials tell the New York Times :
  • 6,000 troops, highest risk of failure: At this level, the US mission would focus on counterterrorism. Special Ops commandos
...

Next Up: Debt Ceiling Showdown

But can you have a showdown if Obama refuses to show up?

(Newser) - President Obama signed the fiscal cliff tax deal last night, and you know what that means: Time for the debt ceiling fight! Technically, the government has already reached its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit, and is relying on "extraordinary measures" to get by. By the end of next month,...

Inside the Cliff Deal: Mistrust, Proposals on Fire, F-Bombs

Negotiations were even more prickly behind the scenes

(Newser) - If you thought fiscal cliff negotiations were testy when Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to accuse John Boehner of running a dictatorship , well, the reality was closer to a hybrid of rioting kindergartners and the showdown at the OK Corral. The lowlight came last Friday, reports Politico in...

EPA Boss Quit Over Keystone XL

Lisa Jackson left post because Obama is changing his position: insider

(Newser) - Here's the latest on the eco-drama going on in DC: Lisa Jackson, who last week left her post as the head of the EPA, apparently stepped down because President Obama is now planning to change course and throw his support behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, reports the New ...

Obama: Cliff Deal Is &#39;in Sight&#39;
 Obama: Cliff Deal Is 'in Sight' 
Dec 31, 2012 1:22 PM CST

Obama: Cliff Deal Is 'in Sight'

Urges public to keep pressure on, says Congress will go down to wire

(Newser) - President Obama gave a strange, freewheeling speech/press conference today to update the nation on the state of fiscal cliff talks. "Today, it appears that an agreement to prevent this New Year's tax hike is within sight," Obama said. "But it's not done." He said...

Harkin Calls on Democrats to Block Cliff Deal

Hoyer also balks as GOP starts calling it 'inconsequential'

(Newser) - Rank-and-file Republicans aren't the only ones who could deep-six a fiscal cliff compromise. Tom Harkin today called on Democrats to reject the deal, furious over President Obama's apparent willingness to up his tax threshold to $450,000. "They think Republicans may object? We may object," the...

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