Bush: $770M Needed For Food Aid

Climate change, biofuels partially to blame

(NEWSER) - The cost of food staples is set to more than double over the next two decades, Oxfam says, as we enter a “permanent food crisis." World hunger had steadily decreased for decades, the Guardian reports, but with demand exceeding production, the numbers of hungry people are once again on the rise. Climate change, loss of natural resources, the burgeoning global population, and biofuels are to blame as agricultural yields’ average growth rate will likely drop to less than 1% in the next 10 years. More»

Making 2010 a referendum on prez won't work for Dems

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove is flattered that President Obama appears to be borrowing the strategy he devised for President Bush in the 2002 midterm elections, but he warns it won't work for the Democrats next year. Making the midterms a referendum on the White House worked in 2002 because national security was the most important issue for voters, and because Bush had a solid record of bipartisan achievement and sound leadership behind him, Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal. More»

Pragmatic president must reassure his supporters tonight, Tomasky writes

(NEWSER) - "The summer has been a bummer for American liberals," writes Guardian America editor Michael Tomasky; after the heady optimism of President Obama's first 100 days, "reality has set in, and with force." Not only is conservative opposition "as Leninist as ever," but liberals have descended into a funk, unable to believe that their man is floundering. That's why Obama needs to go big during tonight's address—not only to save health reform, but to save his own supporters. More»

Broadcasters say 'overexposed' prez wastes valuable time

(NEWSER) - Networks are not happy about the primetime hour that President Obama's July 22 news conference took up, reports Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post. Rahm Emanuel called the top brass at all three networks to ensure they carried the event. The networks both resent the pressure and complain that they’re not getting their money’s worth. “There was nothing” newsworthy, says one CBS VP. “There hardly ever is these days.” More»

(NEWSER) - The CIA debacle engulfing Nancy Pelosi stems from two key mistakes on the part of the House speaker, Jay Newton-Small writes in Time. Pelosi’s dangerous belief that media training is “a waste of her time” was demonstrated when she walked away from her own press conference on the subject of interrogation briefings. Her other mistake—or character flaw—is reacting rashly in unanticipated situations. More»