Barack Obama

Read the latest post-presidency news about President Barack Obama on Newser.com

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US Reforms Bring Partying Expats Back to Cuba

(Newser) - Taking advantage of loosened US rules, Cuban-Americans are flocking back to Havana and sparking a mini economic boom, the Guardian reports. Expatriates are bringing everything from Victoria's Secret bras to M&Ms to toothbrushes—and, of course, American dollars—for their Cuban families. "Capitalism à la carte," said...

Obamas Dine Out, Do Broadway in NYC

(Newser) - President Barack Obama made good on a campaign promise to his most important supporter tonight—his wife, Michelle. The president and first lady jetted for a date in New York late this afternoon, aides and media in tow. "I am taking my wife to New York City because I...

You Broke Promises, Obama: Now Quit

(Newser) - That jarring thud you just heard was Obamania crashing back to earth. For reneging on promises and making "Bill Clinton look like a paragon of integrity," President Obama must quit his post, Ted Rall writes in the Springfield Journal-Register. “Obama is useless. Worse than that, he’...

Obama Makes Second Burger Outing, Spends $80

Brian Williams joins take-out trip for cheeseburger, fries

(Newser) - Yes, President Obama would like fries with that. The commander-in-chief made another cheeseburger run today, shelling out almost $80 on lunch for an entourage that included NBC’s Brian Williams, the Chicago Tribune reports. The president took aides and the Nightly News anchor, who’s trailing him for a “...

Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs
Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs
OPINION
May 29, 2009 2:11 PM CDT

Ambassadors: Rich People in Useless Jobs

If posts are just plums for political donors, why have them?

(Newser) - Barack Obama opted for politics as usual in his ambassador appointments yesterday, writes David Rothkopf for ForeignPolicy. Like recent predecessors, Obama turned to deep-pocketed campaign donors; hence Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, will deal with a tech lawyer whose sole qualification seems to have been his ability to raise...

Obama Lays Out Plans for 'Cyber Czar'

(Newser) - The US has for too long failed to protect the security of its computer networks, President Obama said today, announcing he will name a new cyber czar to take on the job. This is a "transformational moment" for the country, Obama said, with computer networks probed and attacked millions...

Abu Ghraib Photos Don't Show Rape: Pentagon

(Newser) - The Pentagon denies a report that classified photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib depict rape and sexual abuse, Reuters reports. Britain’s Daily Telegraph “completely mischaracterized the images,” a spokesman said today. “None of the photos in question depict the images that are described.” The...

'Quiet Radical' Bernanke Reinvents Fed
'Quiet Radical' Bernanke Reinvents Fed
OPINION
May 28, 2009 8:22 AM CDT

'Quiet Radical' Bernanke Reinvents Fed

Low-key chair deserves chance to stay on, clean up: Ignatius

(Newser) - Barack Obama has a huge decision coming up this summer: whether to reappoint Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Fed or turn to obvious challenger Lawrence Summers. If he’s smart, he’ll stick with the soft-spoken incumbent, writes David Ignatius of the Washington Post. “He has been a...

Abortion Rights Groups Uneasy With Sotomayor

Nominee has no track record of upholding right to choose

(Newser) - Advocates of abortion rights are getting jittery about Sonia Sotomayor, who, despite a decades-long paper trail, has never issued a ruling on the right to choose. Barack Obama's nominee to replace David Souter—himself famous for surprising his pro-life supporters by upholding Roe v. Wade—was raised Catholic and is...

Abu Ghraib Photos Reveal Rape: US Officer

Guards raped male and female detainees, used wire for sex torture, according to probe

(Newser) - Unreleased photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib depict apparent rape and sexual abuse, according to a retired American officer who conducted an inquiry at the infamous Iraqi prison. Two photos depict the rape of a male and a female prisoner, while others show sexual assaults using a truncheon, wire,...

Obama Headlines Reid's $2M Vegas Fundraiser

(Newser) - President Obama jetted to Las Vegas yesterday for a glitzy fundraiser for Harry Reid, the Washington Post reports. Aides estimate the shindig, which cost revelers between $50 and $2,400, pulled in $2 million for Reid’s contentious reelection battle. Though Obama and Reid haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, Obama...

Queen Livid at French Snub for Obama D-Day Fete

Sarkozy wants to focus on 'main event' of US prez visit

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth is furious at not being invited by the French for D-Day ceremonies next week that will include President Obama, reports the Daily Mail. The French never had any intention of inviting members of the British royal family to the 65th anniversary commemoration in Normandy in order to allow...

Obama Demands Suu Kyi Freedom

(Newser) - President Obama issued a sharply worded statement yesterday demanding the "immediate and unconditional" release of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, reports the BBC. Her "detention, isolation, and show trial based on spurious charges cast serious doubt on the Burmese regime's willingness to be a responsible member...

City-Friendly Trail Talk Hasn't Translated
City-Friendly Trail Talk Hasn't Translated
ANALYSIS
May 26, 2009 3:37 PM CDT

City-Friendly Trail Talk Hasn't Translated

Obama has right ideas, urban activists say, needs more action

(Newser) - Unlike his immediate predecessors, President Obama is a pretty citified guy, and has ignited hope among urban-policy experts. Obama has made promising appointments, tweaked policy in city-friendly ways, created a new White House Office of Urban Affairs. But, advocates tell Salon, how federal government deals with cities is a tough...

Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance
Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance
OPINION
May 26, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance

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...

5 Judges Obama Never Considered
 5 Judges Obama 
 Never Considered 
OPINION
May 26, 2009 11:53 AM CDT

5 Judges Obama Never Considered

We guarantee Obama never considered any of these schmucks

(Newser) - Barack Obama probably never sat down to consider the worst possible contenders for David Souter’s Supreme Court vacancy. But the guys at The Stimulist did. Here are the top (bottom?) five judges who never had a shot:
  • Myron Steele: Used his government email address to send a lewd video
...

Obama Wrecked Brainy-Black-Guy Cred
 Obama Wrecked 
 Brainy-Black-Guy Cred 
OPINION
May 26, 2009 10:33 AM CDT

Obama Wrecked Brainy-Black-Guy Cred

Nation's first hip president renders formerly-hip a bit square

(Newser) - Sure, in his first 100 days President Obama made much-publicized strides forward. But he also ruined the game of “black male intellectuals” everywhere, writes G’Ra Asim for Salon: “This dude is destroying our street cred.” Whereas Asim, once “the only African-American male in Advanced Placement...

Colleagues See Sotomayor as 'Even-Handed,' 'Brilliant'

Daughter of immigrants rose from Bronx project

(Newser) - The daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants whose father died when she was 9, Sonia Sotomayor will bring more than a stellar legal resume to her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the Washington Post reports. She worked her way out of projects in the Bronx to graduate from Princeton and Yale Law,...

Obama Picks Sotomayor for Court
 Obama Picks 
 Sotomayor for Court 
UPDATED
May 26, 2009 7:48 AM CDT

Obama Picks Sotomayor for Court

(Newser) - Barack Obama named Sonia Sotomayor his Supreme Court pick this morning, the AP reports, setting the 54-year-old appeals court judge up to be the high court’s first Hispanic justice. Obama noted that she'd "worked at almost every level of our judicial system," saying she had more experience...

North Korea's Real Aim May Be to Peddle Nukes to Others

Sale of weapons, info is true threat from secretive regime

(Newser) - North Korea's nuclear test yesterday makes it no likelier that the rogue state will actually launch a weapon of mass destruction, argues AP analyst Robert Burns. What it does suggest is something perhaps even scarier: that the regime may facilitate the nuclear ambitions of other state actors or even...

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