tagged w/ President Barack Obama
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(CNN) -- During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt reassured anxious Americans through his famous fireside chats over the radio. Now, in the 21st century, President Obama has found his own fireside equivalent, launching an online town hall meeting Thursday where he will answer citizens' questions about the troubled economy and his efforts to fix it.
"We're going to try something a little different. We are going to take advantage of the Internet to bring all of you to the White House to talk about the economy," he says in an introductory video on the site.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, more than 30,000 people had submitted more than 32,000 questions on the official administration Web site, WhiteHouse.gov.
Americans may submit questions, and vote on others' queries, until 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday. Obama has promised to answer the most popular questions through a live video stream on WhiteHouse.gov. beginning Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Observers say Obama, who revolutionized the use of technology as a political tool during his campaign, will be the first president to address questions from the public live on the Internet. By allowing people to submit any question they want and answering them live on the Web for the entire world to see, the administration hopes to create a more transparent style of governing that will help win public support.(CNN) -- During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt reassured anxious... more
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"Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said President Barack Obama’s video message yesterday didn’t show that the U.S. has modified its “hostile” attitude toward his nation.
The U.S. has shown no sign of “genuine” change in its “hostile” policy the Islamic Republic, Khamenei, 69, said in a speech to mark the Iranian New Year, according to state-run Press TV.
Obama yesterday urged Iran to opt for peace over “terror or arms” and to develop diplomatic ties with the world, in what his administration billed as an unconventional attempt to get the attention of Iranians and their leaders.
The U.S. and Iran are entangled in a dispute over the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear program, which the U.S. contends is a cover for developing weapons. Iran denies that the program has military aims, saying it’s trying to produce electricity.
The U.S. has “insulted” Iran numerous times and threatened the country with military strikes that won’t “intimidate” the Islamic nation, Khamenei said, according to Press TV’s Web site.
“Iran must be engaged as a constructive part of the solution, not as part of the problem,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said today at a German Marshall Fund conference in Brussels. Obama’s message “is an example how people should be self-critical, including people at the very top,” he said. ""Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said President Barack... more
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The Obama administration is abandoning one of President George W. Bush's key phrases in the war on terrorism: enemy combatant
In court filings Friday, the Justice Department said it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Obama still asserts the military's authority to hold detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. But his Justice Department says that authority comes from Congress and the international laws of war, not from the president's own wartime power as Bush had argued.
The Obama administration's position came in response to a deadline by U.S. District Judge John Bates, who is overseeing lawsuits of detainees challenging their detention. Bates asked the administration to give its definition of whom the United States may hold as an "enemy combatant."
The filing backs Bush's stance on the authority to hold detainees, even if they were not captured on the battlefield in the course of hostilities. In their lawsuits, detainees have argued that only those who directly participated in hostilities should be held...The Obama administration is abandoning one of President George W. Bush's key... more
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"President Obama's task force on the middle class formally began its work Friday, focusing its first meeting on green jobs and how they might strengthen the economy and the middle class.
Vice President Joe Biden and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis appear at the meeting of the First Middle Class Task Force.
"Our energy and climate challenges offer us an opportunity to invest in new infrastructure, new buildings, new business models and new skills for American workers. I call this the energy opportunity," John Podesta of the Center for American Progress said in the meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"The country is facing a challenge of historic proportions. It is a challenge to retrofit and repower a nation, something that has never been done. It is a technological challenge, it is a legislative challenge, it's a business challenge. But it's also a moral challenge," he said.""President Obama's task force on the middle class formally began its work... more
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will meet in Washington next month to work out details for talks between the presidents of their two countries in April.
Clinton met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday in Beijing, the last stop on her tour of four Asian countries.
The meeting followed talks with Yang which focused on working more closely on climate change, security and addressing the global financial crisis.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will... more
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Kepano
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added this
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3 years ago
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President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession.
The tax cuts are part of a $787 billion (549 billion pound) economic recovery plan passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress over Republican opposition. The aim is to put more money in the pockets of Americans and stimulate the economy by increasing consumer spending.President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for... more
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Kepano
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added this
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3 years ago
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It was quite a moment at the end of President Obama's town hall meeting in Fort Myers, Fla., yesterday. As The News-Press writes, 19-year-old Julio Osegueda "rocketed from a Cape Coral teenager who flips burgers for $7.85 an hour at a McDonald's to an instant celebrity of sorts."
And he got a temporary job.
For those who didn't see what happened at the town hall when Osegueda asked the president about when he and other low-wage workers might be able to get job benefits, here's the video:It was quite a moment at the end of President Obama's town hall meeting in Fort... more
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President Obama held his first-ever prime time press conference Monday evening to outline the state of the economy and why it is crucial to pass his Economic Recovery plan.
Share your story about the economic crisis and the need for immediate action on the economy:
http://my.barackobama.com/recoveryconferencePresident Obama held his first-ever prime time press conference Monday evening to... more
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President Barack Obama on Monday ordered an immediate 60-day review of federal cyber security efforts and named Melissa Hathaway, a top U.S. intelligence official, to oversee the effort, according to a White House statement.
Hathaway, who served as a top cyber security adviser to Mitch McConnell, the former director of national intelligence, will conduct the review for the White House National Security and Homeland Security Councils.
The review, which will examine what the federal government already is doing to protect vital U.S. computer networks, underscores mounting concerns about the risks of cyber attacks, and points to a growing market for U.S. contractors.
Northrop Grumman Corp, Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, the Pentagon's biggest contractors, already are working on a variety of cyber security projects for the U.S. government, many of which are classified.
Industry executives say the sector will be one of their fastest-growing markets in coming years, and analysts say it could generate over $10 billion in contracts by 2013.President Barack Obama on Monday ordered an immediate 60-day review of federal cyber... more
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New constitution in Bolivia and the new U.S. government. Part 3
In September’s UNASUR meeting, Latin American leaders discussed and agreed to support Evo Morales in Bolivia. This international integration, Thomson says, “really shifted the balance of forces.” It “was decisive in shifting the political momentum in Bolivia and opened up the possibility of negotiations between the [Morales] government and the right wing.” This support allowed for the political environment that set the stage for the recently passed referendum. UNASUR’s formation is a change from the previous largely U.S. controlled political setting in Latin America. These governments are coming together, Thomson says, “against the hegemony of the neo-liberal model,” and “to assert their states in managing their economies and increasing national sovereignty.” The region’s relationship with the United States may also soon change as many expect Obama’s administration will have a different foreign policy than the historic involvement U.S. exercised in the 20th century.
Sinclair Thomson is an Associate Professor at New York University’s Department of History. He is the author of We Alone Will Rule: Native Andean Politics in the Age of Insurgency (2003) and co-author of Revolutionary Horizons: Past and Present in Bolivian Politics (2007).
See Part 1 at:
http://current.com/items/89796978/historic_referendum_passes_in_bolivia.htm
See Part 2 at:
http://current.com/items/89796993/bolivia_s_constitution_and_land_reform.htm
See Part 4 at:
http://current.com/items/89797009/bolivia_and_the_united_states.htm
.New constitution in Bolivia and the new U.S. government. Part 3
In... more
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Not only are women mind-sexing Obama, reports Warner, they are also daydreaming about his actual sex life: "Barack and Michelle Obama look like they have sex. They look like they like having sex," a woman from Los Angeles writes to Warner. "Often. With each other." I get it. It's in the way they look at, touch and talk about each other. His words about his wife on election night -- "my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family, the love of my life" -- made me, 22 years his junior, swoon. After watching them dance at the inaugural balls, my Mom, 15 years his senior, enthused that "they make marriage look hot" and made a prediction: "People are going to start realizing that marriage can be sexy."Not only are women mind-sexing Obama, reports Warner, they are also daydreaming about... more
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"An open homosexual has been chosen to head Chicago's public school system.
But Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality has some concerns.
"It's sad to see that Chicago public students will have an open homosexual activist as a role model. Because when you're open and proud about homosexuality, which is a sin, you are by definition a poor role model," he contends. "And the CPS is already pro-homosexual. I think it's only going to get worse under this guy's direction."
Peter LaBarberaIn 2008, Chicago officials discussed a proposed homosexual school, which met resistance from both pro-family groups and homosexual activists. The proposal was shelved to be revisited at a later date, but LaBarbera says it will be interesting to see if Huberman supports the idea.
"I don't know what he's going to do," he points out. "I think the bigger concern for all the students is this comprehensive sex-ed -- the liberal pro-homosexual policies within the schools that they are trying to get in every school."
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Are you worried about the "homosexual agenda" in schools? Should children be taught that homosexuality is natural and OK?"An open homosexual has been chosen to head Chicago's public school system.... more
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"Barack Obama put the teeth back in America's environmental protection regime today, revisiting two widely criticised decisions from the George Bush era on car exhaust and mercury emissions.
The EPA also announced that it would revisit its Bush-era refusal to allow California and more than a dozen other states regulate car exhaust.
Obama directed the EPA to reconsider its decision in his first week in the White House.
Jackson said the agency had launched a review, including a public hearing, of its refusal to allow California to impose more stringent controls on car exhaust. "It is imperative that we get this decision right, and base it on the best available science and a thorough understanding of the law.""Barack Obama put the teeth back in America's environmental protection... more
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President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is on track to pass the Senate after a handful of moderate Republicans and Democrats forced more than $100 billion in cuts in programs that wouldn't create many jobs right away.President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is on track to pass the Senate... more
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"President Barack Obama unveiled new restrictions on pay for executives at financial institutions receiving federal bailout money today, slamming corporate leaders for "narrow self-interest" in enriching their paychecks with taxpayer money.
"For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis isn't just bad taste -- it's a bad strategy -- and I will not tolerate it as president," Obama said during a White House appearance with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. "We're going to be demanding some restraint in exchange for federal aid -- so that when firms seek new federal dollars, we won't find them up to the same old tricks."
Under new rules, companies that receive "exceptional financial recovery assistance" -- large bailouts like those given to Citigroup and American International Group -- would not be allowed to pay senior executives more than $500,000 in total annual compensation.""President Barack Obama unveiled new restrictions on pay for executives at... more
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US President Barack Obama has congratulated Iraqis for holding a largely peaceful vote for provincial councils across the country.
He called the elections "an important step forward" for Iraqi self-determination. PM Nouri Maliki hailed them as "a victory for all the Iraqis".
There was a strong turn-out in Sunni areas, which boycotted the last polls.
The first nationwide vote in four years is seen as a test of stability before a general election due later this year.
"I congratulate the people of Iraq on holding significant provincial elections today," Mr Obama said in a statement.
"This important step forward should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future."US President Barack Obama has congratulated Iraqis for holding a largely peaceful vote... more
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Yektafar: Obama says Iran should unclench its fist, but who is avoiding negotiations?
To understand what President Obama’s foreign policy in Iran will shape up to be, Paul Jay speaks to Babak Yektafar, Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Prism. Yektafar says this administration ought to arrive at a working relationship with Iran, as it is at least partly responsible for Iran’s rise in regional power by invading Iraq and removing Saddam Hussein. Yektafar explains it is in the best interests of the United States to have a relationship with Iran because of its geopolitical significance, because of mutual interests, and because of the energy resources there. In the past five administrations of U.S. presidency, Yektafar says nothing has improved. “Israel is no safer than it was, and the Middle East is no more stable than it was thirty years ago.” He says that “it’s a big mistake to make issues such as human rights, the nuclear issue, or Israel’s safety, a means to an end,” as the threat of the U.S. validates violations of the Iranian government against its people.
Babak Yektafar, Editor-in-Chief of Washington Prism is a graduate of Farleigh Dickinson University with a B.A. in Communications. From 1999 to 2005, Babak was a producer with C-SPAN network’s national live morning program, Washington Journal.
See Part 1 at:
http://current.com/items/89774602/iran_s_view_of_obama_part_1.htm
See Part 2 at:
http://current.com/items/89774607/iran_s_view_of_obama_part_2.htm
.Yektafar: Obama says Iran should unclench its fist, but who is avoiding negotiations?... more
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