Barack Obama

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

Stories 1941 - 1960 | << Prev   Next >>

US Secretly Speeds Pakistan Military Aid

Washington funnels helicopters, arms, technology for Taliban fight

(Newser) - The Pakistani government keeps insisting that the US has little to no role in its offensive in Taliban-controlled border regions—but out of sight, Washington has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars worth of arms and equipment to the country's forces this year. President Obama himself intervened at one point...

Obama Honors Senate Trailblazer Brooke

Republican senator wins Congress' highest honor

(Newser) - Hundreds of people packed into the Capitol Rotunda yesterday to honor Edward Brooke, the Massachusetts politician who in 1967 became the first black senator since Reconstruction. Now 90, Brooke was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the legislature's highest honor. Sitting to his right was another trailblazer—President Obama, who had...

Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma
Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma
David Leonhardt
Oct 28, 2009 8:35 AM CDT

Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma

To cut deficit, we have to cut benefits to seniors

(Newser) - Economists are none too impressed with Barack Obama's proposal to send each senior a cool $250, and David Leonhardt can see why. The over-65 set has weathered the recession better than anyone—many of them purchased real estate well before the housing bubble burst, and few work in the most-battered...

Obama Emerges From White (Frat) House
 Obama Emerges 
 From White (Frat) House 
MAUREEN DOWD
Oct 28, 2009 7:44 AM CDT

Obama Emerges From White (Frat) House

Now Dowd wants to play him at Scrabble

(Newser) - Turns out Tom Friedman played golf with President Obama last month—and fellow New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd isn't ashamed to admit she felt "a twinge of envy." Dowd's happy that Obama finally invited a woman to join him on the links this weekend, after catching heat...

Libs to Obama: Fight for the Public Option

Reid wants the president to lean on 3 hold-out Dems

(Newser) - As Harry Reid labors to push through a health reform bill with a public option, albeit an opt-out one, liberals are getting more and more antsy for President Obama to step up and lead this effort. They complain that he’s being too passive in the debate, annoyed that as...

Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges
Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges
Doug Kendall
Oct 26, 2009 2:13 PM CDT

Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges

Procedural maneuvers help Senate GOP stall confirmation process

(Newser) - Despite the 95 yawning vacancies on the federal bench, Senate Republicans are blocking virtually all of President Obama’s nominees. Only three of Obama’s 22 nominees have been confirmed, as Republicans take the “partisan war over the courts into uncharted territory,” writes Doug Kendall for Slate. Both...

Fundraising Looms Large on Obama's Schedule

President spends more time chasing donations thanks to McCain-Feingold

(Newser) - In between massive federal bailouts and health reform, President Obama has spent a lot of time rustling up cash for Democrats this year, with tonight marking his 26th fundraiser. George W. Bush, by contrast, headlined only six fundraisers in his first year. But that was before McCain-Feingold capped how much...

Pentagon Holds Secret Afghan War Games

Mullen leads exercise to assess effects of troop surge

(Newser) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, led a secret war game earlier this month to assess the Obama administration's options in Afghanistan, including a 44,000-troop surge. A team of military leaders used Gen. Stanley McChrystal's analysis to examine how Taliban insurgents and the Afghan...

Obama Leans to Modified McChrystal Plan

Not buying Biden strategy as sufficient, without some troops

(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal looks less and less likely to walk away empty handed, the Wall Street Journal predicts, as President Obama moves towards a "hybrid" strategy in Afghanistan that would combine troop increases with the special ops approach supported by the vice president. One scenario would see 10,000...

Obama to MIT: Win the Green Race

President pushes climate change legislation

(Newser) - President Obama urged MIT to get cracking on green energy research today, saying America’s future depends on it. “The nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy,” he said. “I want America to be that nation. It’s that simple....

'Nixonian' Applies to Fox, Not Obama
'Nixonian' Applies to Fox, Not Obama
Joe Conason
Oct 23, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

'Nixonian' Applies to Fox, Not Obama

For starters, Tricky Dick henchman Roger Ailes runs the network

(Newser) - Pundits have been decrying the Obama administration’s “Nixonian” attack on Fox News—and that’s ridiculous, writes Joe Conason of Salon. The president’s within his rights to avoid or criticize an organization that won’t treat him fairly, and that definitely describes Fox. The network is run...

Obama's a Fraud; Elect the TARP Queen
 Obama's a Fraud; 
 Elect the 
 TARP Queen 
Matt Taibbi
Oct 23, 2009 10:04 AM CDT

Obama's a Fraud; Elect the TARP Queen

Time to face it, Obama's not delivering

(Newser) - Almost a year into his presidency, Barack Obama appears to suck. He hasn’t closed Guantanamo Bay, health care reform is a debacle, and worst of all, he’s “completely whiffed” on fixing Wall Street, “siding with the financial status quo, who happen to be the bad guys,...

Leibovitz Shoots First Family
 Leibovitz Shoots First Family 
Oct 23, 2009 8:02 AM CDT

Leibovitz Shoots First Family

Sasha, Malia throw arms around parents in White House portrait

(Newser) - New screen saver, anyone? The White House released a new Obama family portrait taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. The First Family sat in the White House’s Green Room for the picture, at left.

Reid Goes for Broke With Public Option Bill

Senate majority leader banks on 60 votes, infuriates Baucus

(Newser) - Harry Reid is preparing to bring a health reform bill that includes a public option to the floor of the Senate, gambling that his 60-member caucus will support the plan if it contains opt-out measures for individual states. The majority leader and other senators met with Barack Obama yesterday to...

McCain Voters' Testosterone Dropped After Loss

For men, elections are dominance competitions

(Newser) - Male McCain voters were feeling a little less macho when the results of the 2008 election rolled in. Duke researchers tested testosterone levels in 183 voters across election night. Testosterone normally drops over the late evening—but male Obama voters’ levels remained stable, while McCain voters saw a bigger drop...

Obama Uses Troop Bump to Pressure Karzai
 Obama Uses 
 Troop Bump 
 to Pressure Karzai 




Afghanistan strategy
Oct 22, 2009 9:14 AM CDT

Obama Uses Troop Bump to Pressure Karzai

US wants clean election, and could support a coalition government

(Newser) - The US built pressure on Hamid Karzai yesterday, with both Barack Obama and John Kerry signaling that a troop increase could hinge on a successful runoff election, and that the Obama administration would be receptive to a power-sharing deal between Karzai and his chief rival. A coalition government could provide...

Obama Owns Up: Michelle Made More Sacrifices

Many men 'still a little obtuse' about imbalance in household dynamics

(Newser) - The men in many families need to be "knocked across the head every once in a while" to realize how much more work their partners are putting into child-raising, President Obama says, and the Obamas are no exception. "There's no doubt that our family, like a lot of...

Coal Harms the Planet &mdash;and Owns the Senate
 Coal Harms the Planet 
 —and Owns the Senate 
Jeffrey Sachs
Oct 21, 2009 8:32 AM CDT

Coal Harms the Planet —and Owns the Senate

Blame industry as well as ideology if US shirks Copenhagen

(Newser) - As the world turns to Copenhagen this December, the US, which never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, may once again fail to sign up to save the world from serious climate change. Ideology plays a part, Jeffrey Sachs notes, as many Republican senators are "intent on derailing any Obama initiative....

Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan
Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan
Poll Numbers
Oct 21, 2009 8:17 AM CDT

Public Thinks Obama's Clueless on Afghanistan

Deeply divided country leaves president between rock, hard place

(Newser) - When it comes to the Afghan war, Barack Obama is between a rock and a hard place politically. Only 45% of the public approves of his handling of it, down 10 percentage points from last month, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, and a whopping 63% don’t...

Karzai Took Major Arm-Twisting to OK Runoff

Round 2 of Afghan election no panacea, either

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai's concession yesterday that an election runoff was necessary may have brought Afghanistan back from political paralysis, but another ballot is no sure solution. The potential for fraud—more than a quarter of first round ballots were thrown out—has not abated, the New York Times notes. Today Abdullah...

Stories 1941 - 1960 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser