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NEWS ABOUT: Bush administration

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Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks

DOJ runs up against immunity deal, possible gaps in US law

(Newser) - The Justice Department warned Congress last month that major legal obstacles stand in the way of any prosecution of private security firm Blackwater for a September shooting in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Immunity granted by the State Department to Blackwater employees represents a possible roadblock; Justice also has... More »

Judge Refuses to Step Into CIA Tape Case

Justice Department's investigation sufficient for now, justice rules

(Newser) - A federal judge today denied a request by a lawyer representing terrorism suspects that he open hearings into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. Judge Henry H. Kennedy said that he had no evidence that the Bush administration had defied court orders and that the Justice Department's... More »

Paulson Calls for More Housing Relief

Treasury secretary suggests aid for prime-rate borrowers

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson advised the mortgage industry today to give help to millions of financially stressed homeowners whose mortgages are set to rise. His comments signal that the Bush administration is starting to push lenders to expand relief beyond subprime borrowers to homeowners with other adjustable-rate loans, reports the... More »

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers

Slate runs down the Bush team's most dubious legal claims

(Newser) - In her second annual roundup of the Bush administration's most egregious legal arguments, Dahlia Lithwick of Slate offers her top 10 doozies:
  1. The United States does not torture
  2. State-secrets privilege used to shield almost anything.
  3. Almost anything Alberto Gonzales said.
  4. The nine US attorneys were fired for cause.
  5. Anyone who
... More »

US Ignored Warnings on Security Firms

Stream of Iraqi reports went unheeded over two years

(Newser) - The Bush administration ignored repeated warnings about using private security contractors such as Blackwater in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. Despite the warnings from legal experts and military officials over the past two years, the US did not acknowledge the need for oversight—and, in fact, expanded the presence of... More »

Gates Predicts Steady Iraq Withdrawals

If security gains hold, defense chief predicts 100K troops by Jan '09

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today the US is on track to have 100,000 troops, or 10 brigades, in Iraq by the end of the Bush administration, the Chicago Tribune reports. Recent security gains in Iraq have allowed Gen. David Petraeus to begin to enact his plan of removing... More »

House Votes to Keep Alternative Tax at Bay

Bush likely to sign one-year stay, which could benefit 21M

(Newser) - The House voted today to enact a one-year stay of the alternative minimum tax, a measure originally designed to ensure that rich Americans paid their share but has increasingly placed a burden on the middle class, the New York Times reports. President Bush has said he'll sign the legislation, which... More »

White House Slams NYT for 'Misleading' CIA Story

Disputes its officials were in on destruction

(Newser) - The Bush administration refuted a New York Times story today that White House lawyers discussed with the CIA whether or not to destroy detainee interrogation videotapes, CNN reports. "The New York Times' inference that there is an effort to mislead in this matter is pernicious and troubling," a... More »

Bush Lawyers Talked to CIA About Tapes

Gonzales, Miers met intelligence officials before their destruction

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales and at least three other White House lawyers were involved in discussions with the CIA before the agency destroyed interrogation videotapes in 2005, the New York Times reports. Gonzales, Harriet Miers, David Addington, and John Bellinger all met with CIA officials, the Times says, based on interviews with... More »

White House to Shrink Nuke Program

600 buildings slated for shutdown, warheads to be decommissioned

(Newser) - The Bush administration is planning a substantial reduction in the size of the nuclear weapons program, with 600 buildings set for closure at facilities across the country, reports the Washington Post. The American nuclear program is an "outdated, Cold War complex," said the administrator of the National Nuclear... More »

WH Told to Reveal Visitor List

Court rules that Bush and Cheney's appointments are public knowledge

(Newser) - Who stops by the White House or Dick Cheney's place is a matter of public record, a district court judge ruled today, blocking the Bush administration's attempts to keep visitor logs sealed. Liberal watchdogs had argued the information is covered by the Freedom of Information Act, while President Bush had... More »

White House Urges Judge Not to Probe CIA Tapes

Says order to protect evidence didn't apply

(Newser) - The Bush administration has asked a federal judge—who issued a 2005 order demanding the safeguarding of evidence on detainees—not to investigate the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. White House lawyers, addressing the tapes issue for the first time in court, say that if Judge Henry... More »

Last-Minute US Compromise Saves Bali Talks

Officials agree to reach accord in 2009—after end of Bush term

(Newser) - The Bali climate summit averted failure at the eleventh hour today when the US capitulated under sharp criticism and agreed to further talks to forge a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol in 2009 that will include the US and developing nations. The deal came after the US dropped opposition... More »

Iran Prez: US Hurts World Peace

'Unilateralism' tarnishes American prestige, Ahmadinejad writes

(Newser) - Writing in Newsweek, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the US has forsaken its “proper role in eliminating tyranny and violence” in the international arena, instead acting unilaterally to disrupt a peaceful world. Ahmadinejad says Iran has every right to develop nuclear fuel “for peaceful purposes,” and the... More »

Committee Votes to Hold Rove, Bolten in Contempt

Act challenging executive privilege may stall before full Senate

(Newser) - The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to hold Karl Rove and Josh Bolten in contempt today, the AP reports, for ignoring subpoenas on the US attorneys scandal. The White House, however, says the citations will likely die on the Senate floor. “I vote knowing that it’s highly likely to... More »

Gore Points Finger at US in Bali

Nobel laureate says Bush and company stonewalling in Bali

(Newser) - Al Gore’s latest inconvenient truth: the US is stonewalling the UN climate conference. “My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here,” the Nobel laureate raged today in Bali. The US, along with Japan and several other nations, refuses to accept a specific... More »

White House Meddled With Climate Change Science: Report

House committee finds attempts to 'mislead'

(Newser) - A House committee says the Bush administration has attempted to mislead the public about global warming by editing written testimony, controlling media access to scientists, and trying to minimize the links between climate change and hurricanes, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The study, authored mainly by Democrats, accuses the White... More »

UK Wants to Talk to Taliban

Brown to announce major revision of Afghan strategy, rankling Washington

(Newser) - Just back from Kabul, Gordon Brown is poised to announce a major strategic revision in Afghanistan that will involve dialogue with the Taliban. Senior British officials believe that treating the loose-knit organization as a unified terrorist actor is counterproductive, the Independent reports, and they want to move from fighting militants... More »

Americans Split on Borrower Bailout

Lenders get no sympathy: 72% in poll oppose help

(Newser) - About half of Americans say borrowers snared in the subprime mortgage mess brought the trouble onto themselves, but they nevertheless deserve "special treatment," CNNMoney reports. In a poll of 1,002 adults, 51% also said they felt sorry for borrowers, with 46% blaming financial institutions' lending policies for... More »

US Opposes Bali Carbon Caps

Draft resolution runs into trouble as Americans balk

(Newser) - The American delegation to UN climate talks in Bali last night ruled out a draft resolution that would call on industrialized nations to cut carbon emissions by 25% to 40% in 12 years. The US called the proposal "totally unrealistic" and "unhelpful." But the US isn't the... More »

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