Barack Obama

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Inaugural Parade a 'Staggering' Challenge

'Nobody has ever worried about where to put 10,000 buses before,' says Obama planner

(Newser) - The inauguration of Barack Obama will be a historic occasion, but some involved have other things on their minds, USA Today reports. “Nobody has ever worried about where to put 10,000 buses before,” said Peter Gage, an aide charged with planning the Jan. 20 Inaugural Parade. Some...

Reid Backs Off, Leaves Burris to Court

Has 'no problem with him personally'

(Newser) - A far cry from the political shunning of just days ago, Majority Leader Harry Reid ushered would-be senator Roland Burris into his office this afternoon, and emerged saying that an Illinois court decision could go a long way toward seating the Blagojevich appointee. “We don't have a problem with...

US 2009 Deficit at Least $1.2T
 US 2009 Deficit at Least $1.2T 
Jan 7, 2009 11:19 AM CST

US 2009 Deficit at Least $1.2T

(Newser) - This fiscal year, which started in October, will see the US running a budget deficit of at least $1.2 trillion, the largest ever, the Washington Post reports. That number could swell to $1.6 trillion if Barack Obama’s massive $800 billion stimulus plan is approved by Congress. The...

Stimulus Widens Unemployment Coverage

Part-timers would be eligible; plan expands health-care options

(Newser) - The Obama stimulus plan will include a $7 billion provision intended to force states to extend unemployment insurance to part-time workers, reports the Wall Street Journal. A separate plan subsidizes COBRA payments and allows uninsured workers who get laid off to buy into Medicaid, and all three measures are riling...

Panetta Pick Raises Intel Hackles

Obama defends CIA choice from critics who call him inexperienced

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s choice of former Clinton White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to run the CIA is catching some flak from intelligence professionals, the Washington Post reports. Panetta has no direct experience with intelligence-gathering; says an anonymous official who worked with Bill Clinton’s national-security team while Panetta...

Obama Names New 'Chief Performance Officer'

Picks a consultant to be budget watchdog

(Newser) - Warning that the nation faces “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come” even if the economy begins to recover soon, Barack Obama said today he will create a “chief performance officer” position to ensure "efficiency, transparency, and accountability" in the budget process, and he named Nancy Killefer to...

Networks Prep for Mega Inaugural

Exhuastive coverage of historic inauguration planned

(Newser) - TV networks are gearing up to cover what could be the most-watched presidential inauguration in history, the New York Times reports. The major networks are planning exhaustive coverage. Channels not known for political coverage like MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon plan to send reporters, and even the Home Shopping Network is...

VIP Guest House Occupant Who Kicked Obamas to a Hotel Is...

... Uh, Australia's ex-PM John Howard

(Newser) - The VIP who blocked Barack Obama from moving into the White House guest house turns out to be George Bush pal and former Australian prime minister John Howard, the Washington Post reports. The Obamas, now staying in a posh Washington hotel, asked to move into Blair House early but were...

Biden: Handling of Panetta a 'Mistake'

(Newser) - Joe Biden defended the pick of Leon Panetta to head the CIA but offered an apology of sorts for the way it was handled, Politico reports. “I think it was just a mistake,” Biden said of not informing top Democrats of the choice, which led to a chiding...

Gaza Attack a 'Catastrophe': Boutros-Ghali
Gaza Attack a 'Catastrophe': Boutros-Ghali
OPINION
Jan 6, 2009 2:43 PM CST

Gaza Attack a 'Catastrophe': Boutros-Ghali

Assault will strengthen religious extremists, former UN Sec-Gen says

(Newser) - The assault on Gaza is a terrible mistake for Israel, Boutros Boutros-Ghali tells Der Spiegel in an interview in which he is deeply pessimistic about the prospects for peace. “The war in Gaza strengthens the position of radical Islamists in the entire Arab world,” the former UN secretary-general...

4 Justice Dept. Picks Mark Break From Bush Era

Obama taps Harvard dean, Clinton vets

(Newser) - Barack Obama announced his nominees for four top positions in the Justice Department yesterday, all of whom suggest a sharp turn away from Bush-era legal policies. Among them is Elena Kagan, the dean of Harvard Law School and a Clinton adviser, who is the first woman named solicitor general. In...

Obama Plugs Stimulus Plan on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - Barack Obama plunged into rare pre-inaugural crisis talks with congressional leaders today, declaring the national economy was "bad and getting worse" and embracing tax cuts expected to reach $300 billion, the AP reports. He predicted lawmakers would approve a mammoth revitalization package within 2 weeks of his taking office....

Panetta Tapped to Helm CIA
 Panetta Tapped to Helm CIA 
Jan 5, 2009 2:31 PM CST

Panetta Tapped to Helm CIA

Former Clinton adviser has little intelligence experience

(Newser) - Barack Obama will name Leon Panetta, a former congressman and chief of staff to Bill Clinton, director of the CIA, the New York Times reports. Observers were split on the choice of Panetta, who is well-respected for his Beltway savvy but has no specific intelligence experience. Panetta will report to...

Senate Clerk Rejects Burris Paperwork

But former AG says he's confident his appointment is legal

(Newser) - The secretary of the Senate blocked the appointment of Roland Burris to Barack Obama's former seat today on the grounds that Burris’ certificate of appointment lacked the signature of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, CNN reports. White has refused to sign the certificate because of the controversy over Burris’...

Obama Daughters Start School

Barack gets teary as new life begins

(Newser) - Like millions of other children, the Obama girls returned to school today. Unlike the rest of the nations’ kids, they were accompanied by a cadre of police, Secret Service agents, and media, the Washington Post reports. The Obama family’s new life in Washington is off to its official start,...

Pelosi Happy to Let Obama Carry Dems' Flag

A Democratic president will offer speaker support, raise challenges

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi is thrilled to work with “a president whose vision I respect and whose agenda I will help stamp” after 2 years of butting heads with Republicans, she tells the New York Times. The speaker of the House doesn’t mind ceding her role as the face of...

Obama Must Spend Boldly— or It's Great Depression II

Only government can save us now: Krugman

(Newser) - For decades economists believed that a second Great Depression was impossible; all the Fed had to do, they said, is print more money. But as Paul Krugman writes, monetary policy has failed; despite "supplying liquidity like an engine crew trying to put out a five-alarm fire," credit remains...

Richardson Camp Mum to Vetters on Pay-to-Play

Gov. tight-lipped about investigation

(Newser) - Bill Richardson’s sudden exit from the prospective Obama Cabinet is causing some Democrats to question the transition team’s vetting process. Sources tell Politico that Richardson evaded the team’s questions about the “pay-to-play” investigation he cited as his reason for backing out. The investigation has been public...

Obama Arrives in Washington
 Obama Arrives
 in Washington 
Jan 4, 2009 7:33 PM CST

Obama Arrives in Washington

(Newser) - President-elect Barack Obama landed in the Washington area tonight, setting up the final march toward his Jan. 20 inauguration. Obama landed hours after his pick for commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, took his name out of the running amid a federal grand jury investigation. The president-elect faces a...

Do Deciders Age Prematurely?
 Do Deciders Age Prematurely? 
Jan 4, 2009 5:22 PM CST

Do Deciders Age Prematurely?

Stress causes grays and wrinkles, but nobody agrees whether presidents die early

(Newser) - Four to eight years as leader of the free world gave George W. plenty of wrinkles and gray hairs—but just what are the presidency’s long-term aging effects? One doctor found that presidents generally have shorter-than-average lifespans, the Boston Globe reports, while another pegs two years for every one...

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