Crisis Cripples Obama Vows on Taxes, Trade

NAFTA issues likely to loom large over visit

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama makes his first foreign trip as president today to Canada, and his talks there are likely to touch on some thorny trade issues, the New York Times reports. Obama spoke forcefully in favor of reopening NAFTA while a candidate, but intends to focus on strengthening the US-Canada trade relationship in his discussions with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to advisers. More»

Dems don't want to pony up for Obama's plan

(NEWSER) - Getting Congress to fund Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy might be as arduous a process as the strategic review that devised it. Democrats, cold to the idea of sending more troops, don’t want to foot the bill; some are proposing a war tax to cover it. “If the president intends to go in over our objections,” explains Rep. Mike Honda, “he should have to bear the burden of asking for a tax to pay for it.” More»

American protectionism worries our northern neighbor

(NEWSER) - Canada’s biggest problem now also happens to be its best friend: America. PM Stephen Harper once worried that Canada’s “special relationship” with the US had been lost under George W. Bush—and it hasn’t improved a bit under Obama, writes Luiza Ch. Savage in Macleans. Not only has Obama kept Bush’s tighter border-security measures, he’s sent spy drones to watch the border, giving it “something in common with the tribal lands between Afghanistan and Pakistan.” More»

(NEWSER) - Republicans think they’ve found one chink in President Obama’s armor: public fear over rising national debt. Some 51% of Americans disapprove of Obama’s efforts to control federal spending, according to a recent poll. In every other area, Obama enjoys positive ratings. “The president is still popular, but his policies are catching up with him,” Sen. Lamar Alexander told Politico. “When that happens, it helps us make our points.” More»

To pay for new system, he must tax old 'crazy' one: Reich

(NEWSER) - During the campaign, Barack Obama was scathing about John McCain’s plan to tax employer-provided health benefits. But Obama’s going to have to bite the bullet and tax them himself if he wants to pay for his own health care initiative, writes Robert Reich in Salon. Now that Congress has killed Obama’s original plan to raise funds by cutting tax deductions for the rich, it’s the only way to generate enough revenue. More»