President Obama

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

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Okay, GOP, Now the Bad News...
 Okay, GOP, Now the Bad News... 
analysis
Jan 22, 2010 10:07 AM CST

Okay, GOP, Now the Bad News...

Voters still don't like you, and you're broke

(Newser) - Put away the champagne, conservatives. Scott Brown’s win was certainly positive, but party insiders still see many obstacles between the GOP and a congressional takeover. One biggie: money. In the House, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has $15 million in the bank, four times the war chest of its...

It's Time for Obama to Embrace 'Weak and Feckless'

Obama and Democrats can't be arrogant and ignore public rage

(Newser) - President Obama and Democrats are getting all kinds of advice on what their next move should be, and David Brooks thinks it's clearly time to adopt a "Weak and Feckless Approach." The title is facetious, but Brooks says the sentiment behind it is sound: Heed the public, scale...

Obama Can't Ignore This Public Anger
Obama Can't Ignore
This Public Anger
OPINION
Jan 22, 2010 9:00 AM CST

Obama Can't Ignore This Public Anger

If he gets aggressive on health care reform, it's at his own peril

(Newser) - Post-Massachusetts, the Democrats should be more worried about "health-reform fundamentalists" than the GOP, writes Michael Gerson. The legislation has been gathering "criticism and opposition like dirty slush on a snowball" and any Democrat with a smidgen of political smarts should now be backing away from it instead of...

Europe Applauds Bank Crackdown; Markets Swoon

Bank shares hit hard by pledge to curb risk-taking

(Newser) - European leaders today lauded President Obama's plan to limit the size and risk-taking of the nation's banks, but stock markets worldwide were rattled. Asian markets fell sharply today and European markets opened down, following a 213 point drop in the Dow yesterday, its biggest 2-day loss since March. Europeans said...

'Anarchic' Conan Perfect for Treasury Secretary

Obama could use O'Brien-like bile to hammer big banks

(Newser) - The idiot circus that is NBC’s late-night merry-go-round resembles nothing so much as the US financial crisis, so what better next stop for Conan O’Brien than the Treasury? That’s what Leslie Savan would like to see, given that Secretary Tim Geithner completely lacks the O’Brien-like “...

Just Call These New Rules 'The Lloyd Blankfein Act'

Part of Obama's proposed regulations are aimed at Goldman and its CEO

(Newser) - One part of the new financial regulations proposed by President Obama today could be called the "Lloyd Blankfein Act" because it's aimed squarely at Goldman Sachs and its "unrepentant CEO," writes Daniel Gross. The proposal would prevent banks from taking FDIC-insured deposits and then doing "funky...

At Least Michelle's Still Popular
 At Least Michelle's 
 Still Popular 
Poll Numbers
Jan 21, 2010 1:13 PM CST

At Least Michelle's Still Popular

First lady's approval rating soars over her husband's

(Newser) - President Obama’s approval ratings are sinking, but Michelle Obama’s remain sky-high, with 71% of the country holding a favorable opinion of her. Only 16% of respondents in a new Pew Research survey held a negative view of the first lady. That puts her well above Hillary Clinton and...

Big Mistakes of Obama's First Year
 Big Mistakes 
 of Obama's 
 First Year 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2010 12:20 PM CST

Big Mistakes of Obama's First Year

President's miscalculations include scale, momentum

(Newser) - Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts is the final nail in the coffin of the Obama administration’s first-year political strategy, John F. Harris and Carol E. Lee write for Politico . The miscalculations cover “three major counts":
  • Believing 2008 was a game-changer: The Obama team thought the "
...

Chinese: Google Flap Is a US Conspiracy

But government tries to tamp down drama

(Newser) - Google is a puppet of US foreign policy, Chinese state-owned media are reporting, calling the company's threat to pull out of China unless censorship is dropped a conspiracy by the US government to interfere in Chinese politics. One paper quotes a political scientist saying, "the Google incident is not...

Obama to Propose Knocking Banks Down to Size

President plans new limits on bank size, risk-taking

(Newser) - President Obama, going on the offensive against Wall Street banks "too big to fail," plans to propose measures to limit the size of banks and their ability to take risks, according to administration sources. Adopting an approach championed by former Fed chief Paul Volcker, he wants to bar...

In Retreat, Obama Weighs Scaled-Back Health Options

Modest coverage, cost reforms now on horizon

(Newser) - President Obama, chastened by the voter revolt that cost the Democrats their 60th vote in the Senate, is ready to seriously pare down health care reform in an effort to salvage at least some of it. "I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those...

Prez Contradictions Caught Up With Dems
 Prez Contradictions 
 Caught Up With Dems 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2010 1:22 AM CST

Prez Contradictions Caught Up With Dems

Obama can't do big things while avoiding fights

(Newser) - The contradictions inherent in what President Obama promised to do have caught up with the Democrats big time with their loss in Massachusetts, writes E.J. Dionne Jr. The president couldn't accomplish big things while also changing the tone of Washington, or deliver sweeping change while also steering clear of...

Mormon Church Aimed to Cover Tracks on Marriage Ban
Mormon Church Aimed to Cover Tracks on Marriage Ban
PROP 8 TRIAL
Jan 20, 2010 9:45 PM CST

Mormon Church Aimed to Cover Tracks on Marriage Ban

Directed funds to outside organization

(Newser) - The Mormon church wanted its members to support the 2008 effort to ban same-sex marriage in California, but urged they do it through an outside organization to give the leadership “plausible deniability,” according to documents released today in the Proposition 8 trial in San Francisco. The Catholic church...

Time to Fight Back, Obama


 Time to Fight 
 Back, Obama 
pundit roundup
Jan 20, 2010 1:41 PM CST

Time to Fight Back, Obama

Massachusetts disaster means the president must go populist

(Newser) - It's still not clear exactly how President Obama will adjust to the Massachusetts defeat, but one camp has clear advice: No more Mr. Nice Guy, please. A sampling:
  • Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation: "Going populist is now smart politics and good policy. The Obama White House needs to show,
...

Coakley Loss: 6 Ways Dems Will Have to Change
 Coakley Loss: 6 Ways Dems Will Have to Change
OPINION
Jan 20, 2010 11:11 AM CST

Coakley Loss: 6 Ways Dems Will Have to Change

Supermajority is gone, sure, but so is entire Democratic strategy

(Newser) - “While the sun will still come out on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill” now that Republican Scott Brown has won Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, Ron Elving writes on NPR , “the political globe will have a new tilt.” Here, six things that have changed:
  • The supermajority: That's
...

Brown Wins Mass. Senate Seat
 Brown Wins Mass. Senate Seat 
UPDATED
Jan 19, 2010 8:39 PM CST

Brown Wins Mass. Senate Seat

Republican upset puts Dems' national agenda at risk

(Newser) - Scott Brown scored an enormous Republican upset today, winning the Massachusetts US Senate seat long held by the late Ted Kennedy by a 52%-47% margin over Democrat Martha Coakley. The loss sunders the Democrats’ filibuster-proof, 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, and throws into doubt the future of health-care reform—along...

Obama Will Urge House to Send Him Health Bill

Ramped up State of the Union indicates Senate-skipping strategy

(Newser) - The White House has essentially accepted the reality of a Scott Brown win in Massachusetts and is orchestrating some health care reform “ping-pong,” Nate Silver writes, urging the House to vote on the Senate bill as it stands so it can go straight to President Obama’s desk...

State of the Union Set for Jan. 27

President Obama schedules speech with health reform still up in the air

(Newser) - President Obama has scheduled his first State of the Union address for Wednesday, Jan. 27. The White House had hoped health care reform would be passed before the speech, but the tight timeline makes that unlikely, CBS News reports. The date confirms White House spokesman Robert Gibbs' assurances that the...

Obama's First Year in Numbers

 Obama's 
 First Year 
 in Numbers 
DOW'S UP, AT LEAST
Jan 18, 2010 12:10 PM CST

Obama's First Year in Numbers

The Dow is up more than 2,600 points, at least

(Newser) - President Obama is about to celebrate—maybe that's not the right term—one year in office, and the AP takes a look at some numbers that have defined his inaugural turn around the sun.
  • The Dow: Perhaps the only clear victory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen from 7,
...

'In Times of Tragedy, the US Steps Forward'

In Newsweek, president makes case for Haiti earthquake relief

(Newser) - The United States is pouring money and personnel into earthquake-devastated Haiti not just to help its own citizens or bolster an ally, but because "that is who we are," President Obama writes in explaining why the relief effort is vital. In times of crisis, "when we are...

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