Barack Obama: Latest News on the Former President - Page 170

Dec 15, 2008 12:00 PM CST

Obama Will Train It to Inaugural

Train journey from Philadelphia to capital via Baltimore echoes Lincoln's historic ride

(Newser) - Barack Obama will follow in Abraham Lincoln's tracks by taking a train to Washington for his inauguration, the New York Daily News reports. The president-elect plans to set off from Philadelphia on January 17, stopping in Wilmington—where Joe Biden will hop aboard—and Baltimore before entering the capital by...

Spouses Put Obama's
Lobbying Rules to Test

Dec 15, 2008 10:40 AM CST

Spouses Put Obama's Lobbying Rules to Test

President-elect struggles with ethical promises

(Newser) - The spouses of some of Barack Obama’s top appointees are lobbyists, the New York Times reports, presenting a test to strict ethics policies the Democrat pushed on the campaign trail. Health Secretary-designate Tom Daschle’s wife, Linda, is one of Washington’s top aviation lobbyists, and reported energy-czar pick...

Special Election Gains Ground With Blago

Dec 15, 2008 9:55 AM CST

Special Election Gains Ground With Blago

Guv unlikely to quit, but would give up naming Obama successor

(Newser) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, under indictment for trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat, would likely now approve a bill authorizing a special election to fill the post, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times. Blagojevich—who insiders now say has decided not to resign—wants the measure to apply to...

Brown Hints
He'd Nix Obama
Plea for Troops

Dec 15, 2008 2:44 AM CST

Brown Hints He'd Nix Obama Plea for Troops

Time for other nations to step up in Afghanistan, warns prime minister

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has hinted that Britain would defy a request by Barack Obama to send 2,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the Times of London reports. After hearing of bleak progress there against the resurging Taliban, Brown warned that other nations will have to shoulder further deployments....

GOP Video Spotlights Obama-Blago Ties

Dec 14, 2008 8:01 PM CST

GOP Video Spotlights Obama-Blago Ties

(Newser) - Republicans posted a video today that questions Barack Obama’s old links to Rod Blagojevich, Politico reports. Titled "Questions Remain," it urges Obama to reveal contacts between his team and the scandal-plagued governor. The video shows that Obama advised Blago in his 2002 campaign, and endorsed Blago's...

Illinois AG: Let Voters Pick
New Senator

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Dec 14, 2008 11:21 AM CST

Illinois AG: Let Voters Pick New Senator

McCain scolds GOP for Blago flap; Granholm, Romney clash on autos

(Newser) - Blago and bailouts were the talk of today's talk shows. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told Meet the Press that voters should elect Barack Obama’s Senate replacement in a special election, while the state’s lieutenant governor said legislation would allow him to appoint a caretaker until a special...

Plouffe: This Was About Obama

Glossies

Dec 14, 2008 11:02 AM CST

Plouffe: This Was About Obama

Still ostentation averse, Plouffe credits teamwork and focus

(Newser) - Stepping out from behind the curtain where he directed Barack Obama's earth-shaking campaign, David Plouffe quietly professes pride in the historic achievement to Lloyd Grove in Portfolio, and talks about a race where stability and consistency won the day and "Clinton might have won the nomination if she had...

Obama Team's Stimulus
'Jolt' Nears $1T

Dec 13, 2008 3:26 PM CST

Obama Team's Stimulus 'Jolt' Nears $1T

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s economic advisers are devising a new stimulus package that could top $1 trillion over 2 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Insiders say the $500 billion plan considered last month is too cautious given America’s mounting economic woes. "Every day there's a new bad number"...

Dog Poop DNA, Sean Avery Rule 2008 Ideas

Dec 13, 2008 2:42 PM CST

Dog Poop DNA, Sean Avery Rule 2008 Ideas

NYT assembles hodgepodge of year's memorable concepts

(Newser) - For the eighth straight year, the New York Times Magazine has compiled the best—and worst—ideas that influenced the past 12 months:

Can’t get enough of popping bubble wrap? A Japanese, battery-operated key chain now simulates your favorite mindless activity.
Sean Avery not only made his name as

...

Emanuel Talked Senate Seat
With Blago Aide

Dec 13, 2008 10:20 AM CST

Emanuel Talked Senate Seat With Blago Aide

No sign Chief of Staff pick tried to wheel and/or deal

(Newser) - Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s pick for White House chief of staff, had multiple conversations with Rod Blagojevich's chief of staff about Obama’s Senate seat, the Chicago Tribune is reporting. There’s no evidence that Emanuel engaged in any dealmaking for the seat, or that he knew of Blagojevich’...

Obamas Can't Check in Early to White House Guest Pad

Dec 13, 2008 6:31 AM CST

Obamas Can't Check in Early to White House Guest Pad

President-elect told he can't move into official guest house early

(Newser) - Washington's hotels are booked solid for January and the Obamas have joined those struggling to find a place to stay, the New York Times reports. The president-elect and his wife had hoped to move into Blair House, the official White House guest house, in time for the girls to start...

Cool Off, Lefties:
Obama Won't
Abandon You

opinion

Dec 12, 2008 8:22 PM CST

Cool Off, Lefties: Obama Won't Abandon You

(Newser) - Barack Obama's cabinet picks may have elicited howls from the left, but he won't sell out his progressive supporters, E.J. Dionne, Jr. writes in The New Republic. For starters, Obama never was a true economic lefty—that was John Edwards' role. Like John F. Kennedy 45 years ago, Obama...

Death Threats,
Blago Rumors
Plague Emanuel

Dec 12, 2008 4:57 PM CST

Death Threats, Blago Rumors Plague Emanuel

(Newser) - Fuming over rumors he was the Obama adviser who spoke with Rod Blagojevich about the president-elect’s Senate seat, Rahm Emanuel told ABC News today he's received death threats and the media have "intruded too much." Emanuel is not a target of prosecutors, sources told the AP late...

Collapsing Nations Threaten to Be Obama's First Crisis

OPINION

Dec 12, 2008 3:10 PM CST

Collapsing Nations Threaten to Be Obama's First Crisis

Imploding world economies would demand tough foreign policy choices

(Newser) - Barack Obama's first major foreign policy crisis threatens to be no less that the complete collapse of a large and unstable nation, Marc Ambinder writes in the Atlantic. The transition team has so far been silent—in public, anyway—on the prospect, but there are indications they are convinced the...

Forget
Blago:
Rangel
Plagues Obama

analysis

Dec 12, 2008 11:12 AM CST

Forget Blago: Rangel Plagues Obama

Key congressman's probe could hurt Obama's agenda

(Newser) - The Blagojevich mess may appear more damaging, but the bigger concern for Barack Obama is the scandal surrounding Charles Rangel, who is under scrutiny for a number of questionable dealings, writes Gerald Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Blago may soon be out of Obama’s hair, but Rangel's status...

Jackson's Senate Chances Now Slim to None

Dec 12, 2008 11:03 AM CST

Jackson's Senate Chances Now Slim to None

But if cleared, he could still have a shot

(Newser) - Former frontrunner Jesse Jackson Jr. is unlikely to get Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat because of his ties to Rod Blagojevich’s pay-to-play scandal, the Hill notes. The so-called "Candidate No. 5" has denied wrongdoing, but that may not matter. "Like anybody who's ever been named in...

Obama Steered Clear
of Blago for Years

ANALYSIS

Dec 12, 2008 8:03 AM CST

Obama Steered Clear of Blago for Years

President-elect kept his hands clean; guv was classic machine pol

(Newser) - Rising through Illinois politics, Barack Obama learned to recognize a crook when he saw one, so he kept a healthy distance from Rod Blagojevich, writes Eli Saslow in the Washington Post. At the convention, Obama disappointed Blagojevich by giving nearly every other Illinois official a speaking slot. Says a mentor,...

Maybe Cigarettes
Make Him Better:
Let Obama Smoke

opinion

Dec 11, 2008 5:42 PM CST

Maybe Cigarettes Make Him Better: Let Obama Smoke

Obama's trouble with cigs proves he's fallible, after all

(Newser) - Snooty media-types are giving Barack Obama a hard time for his dodges and weaves about trying to quit smoking. But we should all leave the poor addict alone, writes Ron Rosenbaum in Slate. Do we really want a nervous, edgy president dying for a cigarette while he's got his finger...

Daschle to Head Health Services, New Reform Office

Dec 11, 2008 2:46 PM CST

Daschle to Head Health Services, New Reform Office

Move seen to signal Obama's focus on issue

(Newser) - As expected, President-elect Barack Obama today nominated Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services, CQ Politics reports. Daschle will also head the new White House Office of Health Reform, geared toward providing near-universal health care to Americans. Daschle “will be responsible not just for implementing our health...

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