Record $1.4T Deficit Imperils Recovery

Top adviser joins exodus of economic team

(AP) - President Obama's top economic adviser plans to leave the administration at the end of the year, the White House said today. Lawrence Summers will leave his post as director of the National Economic Council to return to Harvard University, where he once served as president before being forced out in the aftermath of a remark about women's abilities in math and science. The departure comes amid a sluggish economic recovery that has seen unemployment hover near 10%. More»

The eldest, Zeke, goes from bioethicist to administration guru

(NEWSER) - Zeke Emanuel may not get the press brothers Rahm and Ari do, but he’s a figure to watch as the health-care reform debate heats up, the New Republic reports. As head of the National Institute of Health’s bioethics division, Emanuel became one of the most influential bioethicists in the US. Now he’s working for the Office of Management and Budget in a nebulous “special adviser” position. More»

Budget director makes White House's case for cutting expenses

(NEWSER) - With the future of Medicare and Social Security in the headlines, the Obama administration is jumping at the chance to push its health care reform agenda. Up today: budget director Peter Orszag. "Slower growth rate in overall health-care spending would help to promote and sustain a slowdown in Medicare and Medicaid spending, too," Orszag writes in the Wall Street Journal. More»

(NEWSER) - If President Obama were a quarterback, he’d be a master of the fake, Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard. Using “misdirection,” he markets “his product—the liberal agenda, plus a few add-ons—in a manner that disguises what he's really up to.” While trumpeting the free market, Obama has effectively nationalized GM, co-opting management and imposing an environmentalist agenda, all while making it “sound like the corporate equivalent of car repair.” More»

(NEWSER) - The federal budget deficit will surpass $1.8 trillion during the current fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said today. The figure far outstrips the previous estimate of $1.2 trillion and spells trouble for President Obama's proposed budget, the Wall Street Journal reports, but the White House budget director said the projection won't derail the administration's plans. More»