Assaults on Our Freedom Come From Left and Right

Bush policies account for $7T: Washington Post

(NEWSER) - The United States started 2001 with a cozy nest egg of more than $2 trillion, and now the country owes about $10 trillion—but who's to blame? Put simply, Obama-era policies account for $1.7 trillion of the debt, and Bush policies for over $7 trillion, the Washington Post reports in an economic breakdown of the past 10 years. As the Post has it, America's biggest challenge entering the 21st century was figuring out how to spend its Clinton-era surplus—and Bush decided to throw most of it at tax cuts. More»

A rocky stretch this early won't define Obama's presidency

(NEWSER) - Stop worrying. “Sure, President Obama had a lousy week. A week is not a presidency.” In fact, writes Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post, despite Tom Daschle's withdrawal and the bumpy rollout of the stimulus, Obama is outperforming any reasonable standard. He’s signed major laws on pay equity and children’s health care, and his stimulus—finally passed—only barely differs from his original proposal. More»

Obama officials condemn disorder; ex-Bushies cry blame game

(NEWSER) - The case files of many Gitmo detainees are incomplete, disorganized, or strewn around the executive branch, complicating President Barack Obama’s plan to close down the detention center, reports the Washington Post. Incoming officials discovered the chaos when given access after the inauguration. One former official says he sometimes had to threaten to release prisoners to force the CIA to "cough up a sentence or two." More»

US increasing spending on HIV treatment by $50 million

(NEWSER) - President Obama marked World AIDS Day with a promise of more money and increased attention both in the US and abroad, reports AP :

• The US will increase spending on HIV treatment within its own borders by $50 million.
• He promised to help 6 million people in hard-hit countries get access to proper medicine by 2014, raising the original goal by 2 million.
• The US also aims to help get drugs to 1.5 million pregnant women who are HIV-positive, to distribute 1 billion condoms in the developing world over the next two years, and to pay for 4.7 million male circumcisions in Africa.

President tacks on jobless benefits, 1-year Social Security tax reduction

(AP) - Brushing past Democratic opposition, President Obama tonight announced agreement with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts for all Americans, renew jobless benefits, and grant a one-year reduction in Social Security taxes for millions. The agreement also includes tax breaks for businesses that the president said would contribute to the economy's recovery. "Make no mistake, allowing taxes to go up on all Americans would have raised taxes by $3,000 for a typical American family and that could cost our economy well over a million jobs," Obama said. More»