French President Nicolas Sarkozy was overheard last week telling President Obama that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “a liar,” according to reports from Reuters, The Associated Press and other news outlets. Sarkozy also said of Netanyahu that “I cant stand him,” the stories say. Obama, the AP says, was heard saying in…
Category: The White House
The White House Wants Your Advice
We know that some of the best ideas will come from outside Washington, and that’s why we want to hear from you. If you have an idea for something President Obama can do or know of a program in your community that needs to go nationwide, use this form to let us know. Over the…
As Obama Vents, His Poll Numbers Get A Bump
That rise coincides with the presidents monthlong nationwide campaign pressing Congress to pass his stalled jobs bill. His latest stop in that effort was in Washington on Wednesday, and it came on the eve of a vote in which Senate Republicans are expected to block a key part of his jobs bill. As…
President Obama: “There doesn’t seem to be much listening going on in Washington these days.”
Railing against Republicans, President Barack Obama on Monday pushed for a jobs package that Congress is splintering into pieces, with Senate Democrats planning to start with a plan to help states hire teachers, police and firefighters. In campaign mode on the road, Obama accused Republicans senators of saying no to helping Americans. via…
Obama Sends U.S. Troops To Central Africa To Aid Campaign Against Rebel Group
President Obama is sending about 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to help local forces battle the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group that the administration says has waged a campaign of murder, rape and kidnapping for more than two decades. Obama said Friday the troops will act as advisers in efforts to hunt down…
RIP, American Jobs Act
President Obama’s jobs bill, as written, died a predictable death in the Senate last night. Democrats were able to muster fifty-one votes for passage, but that’s well short of the sixty needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. The New York Times called the vote both a “major” and “significant” setback for Obama in this morning’s…
Obama’s Failing E-mails: Where Did the President’s Mojo Go?
Here’s the thing I’m starting to think Obama never understood: yes, for most of us the 2008 campaign was partly about him, but it was more about the campaign itself—about the sudden feeling of power that gripped a web-enabled populace, who felt themselves able to really, truly hope. Hope that maybe they’d found a candidate…
Millionaire tax would pay for Obama jobs bill, CBO says – Oct. 7, 2011
The Democrats’ proposed tax on millionaires would raise an estimated $453 billion, more than enough to pay for President Obama’s jobs bill. That’s the latest from the Congressional Budget Office, which on Friday released its cost and revenue estimates for the American Jobs Act of 2011. The bill calls for $447 billion in new and…
President Obama’s Press Conference – October 6, 2011
This is not a game; this is not the time for the usual political gridlock. The problems Europe is having today could have a very real effect on our economy at a time when it’s already fragile. But this jobs bill can help guard against another downturn if the situation in Europe gets any worse….
Stearns: Oops, The White House Did Deliver Those E-Mails To Us After All
The chairman of the House subcommittee investigating a federal loan guarantee to the bankrupt solar panel company Solyndra admitted on Wednesday that the White House had delivered documents to committee Republicans in a timely fashion. On Tuesday Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) had accused the White House of providing the documents the panel was…
Obama Jobs Bill: President Challenges Republicans On $447 Billion Plan
On the Texas leg of his “pass this bill” tour, Obama chided Eric Cantor, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, for saying he would not allow a vote on the measure. The White House said the plan could save or create about 400,000 education jobs, including 39,500 in Texas. “I’d like Mr….
ESPN Pulls Hank Williams Jr. Song From ‘MNF’ Over Hitler Remark
ESPN says it won’t use Hank Williams Jr. in tonight’s Monday Night Football program, after the singer compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler. Williams made the remark Monday on Fox News while talking about Obama playing golf with House Speaker John Boehner. Appearing on Fox & Friends, Williams brought up the round of golf after…
Obama Administration Presses Ahead With Renewable Energy Grants
The Obama administration this week announced millions of dollars in new grants for dozens of projects related to advanced solar technology and other new clean energy technologies. On Thursday, the Department of Energy said that it had awarded $156 million to fund 60 different cutting edge technology projects in five categories: low cost biofuels, substitutes…
Latest Attack On Michelle Obama: She Went To Target
Right-wing media have attacked Michelle Obama for going shopping at Target, claiming she went ” ‘incognito,’ Lady Gaga-style” and asking, “Who does she think she’s fooling?” Right-wing media have previously attacked the first lady for everything from promoting health initiaitves to wearing a red dress at a state dinner. via Latest Attack On…
The President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction
I am sending to the Congress this detailed plan to pay for this jobs bill and realize more than $3 trillion in net deficit reduction over the next 10 years. Combined with the approximately $1 trillion in savings from the first part of the Budget Control Act, this would generate more than $4 trillion in deficit…
Obama: I’ll Veto A ‘One-Sided Deal,’ It’s Time ‘To Do What’s Right’
Saying that “Washington has to live within its means” and that lawmakers must “cut what we can’t afford to pay for what really matters,” President Obama just introduced what he says is a plan to cut an additional $3 trillion from budget deficits over the next decade. And he vowed to veto any…
Obama lets states opt out of No Child Left Behind
President Obama unveiled the most significant changes to U.S. education policy in a decade, using his executive authority to give states more flexibility to opt out of some provisions of the controversial No Child Left Behind program that was a signature initiative of President George W. Bush.”We cant let another generation of young people fall…
Wonkbook: Can the new Obama get anything done?
The smart money is still on nothing big getting done this year or next. In Washington, the smart money is almost always on nothing big getting done this year or next. But it’s not at all clear that the chances of something big getting done are lower under the White House’s confrontational strategy…
GOP mayors like Obama’s jobs plan. GOP governors don’t.
Republicans in Washington have little love for President Obama’s jobs plan and his proposal to pay for it. But the president may find a warmer reception from Republicans governing on the local level. The U.S. Conference of Mayors–a bipartisan national group for mayors of major cities–has openly embraced the American Jobs Act, with key Republican…
Obama jobs bill still waits for action in the Senate
Senate Democratic leaders have said for days they could not take up the president’s proposal until they resolved ongoing legislative battles with Republicans over funding for highway construction, the FAA, FEMA and a bill to keep the government operating into the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. However, they also admitted they…