tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71821949390952490442012-01-14T05:20:43.009-08:00RKLnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9001100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-9027635705287725822010-02-18T03:45:00.001-08:002010-02-18T03:45:19.933-08:00

The Dalai Lama's meeting with President Barack Obama will be more about style than substance. What the Dalai Lama and Obama say to each other will matter less than how the White House portrays the meeting Thursday, as Obama welcomes the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet's Buddhists in a visit that has infuriated China. Chinese officials will be watching closely to see how great a stage Obama

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-14277593192714632482010-02-17T03:42:00.001-08:002010-02-17T03:42:51.312-08:00

A Finnish government commission has proposed a ban on semiautomatic handguns after a deadly school shooting in 2008 left 11 people dead. The commission says that "all handguns which enable firing many shots in a short period of time" should be confiscated and new permits should not be granted. The proposal was presented on Wednesday in a report on the September 2008 incident when a 22-year-old

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-19409295679986659992010-02-17T03:41:00.001-08:002010-02-17T03:41:45.690-08:00

A Ukrainian court says it has suspended the results of this month's presidential election, pending review of an appeal filed by the declared loser. Ukraine's Administrative Court said Wednesday's in a statement that it has suspended the Central Election Commission's ruling announcing that Viktor Yanukovych won the Feb. 7 election. The results showed Yanukovych winning by just 3.5 percentage

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-67946729010362679892010-02-16T07:03:00.001-08:002010-02-16T07:03:46.383-08:00

Pope Benedict XVI urges Irish clergy to be courageous in confronting the pedophile priest scandal that has rocked the church, but took no action on victims' demands that he force top bishops to resign, the Vatican said Tuesday. The Vatican statement came as the pope and Irish bishops ended an extraordinary meeting on the crisis meant to restore the trust of Irish Catholics shaken by revelations

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-3787808341749483512010-02-16T07:02:00.001-08:002010-02-16T07:02:41.038-08:00

The Census Bureau wasted millions of dollars in preparation for its 2010 population count, including thousands of temporary employees who picked up $300 checks without performing work and others who overbilled for travel costs. Federal investigators caution the excessive charges could multiply once the $15 billion headcount begins in earnest next month unless the agency imposes tighter spending

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-56419897666172446952010-02-16T03:36:00.000-08:002010-02-16T03:36:08.003-08:00

Two-term Sen. Evan Bayh says ever-shriller partisanship and the frustrations of gridlock made it time for him to leave Congress. Republicans aren't buying it, saying he and fellow Democrats sense that voters will be after their heads this fall. The Indiana Democrat, a moderate who twice came close to being added to his party's national ticket, said Monday he will not seek re-election this

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-80732838440311269582010-02-16T03:35:00.001-08:002010-02-16T03:35:12.349-08:00

President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia next month will give new momentum to already positive relations between Washington and Jakarta, the foreign minister said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia welcomed Washington's more consultative approach with the Southeast Asian region since Obama took office a year ago. "The trajectory was already positive" under former

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-72951891620288811692010-02-15T11:28:00.000-08:002010-02-15T11:28:22.383-08:00

Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana confirmed on Monday he will not seek re-election this fall, injecting fresh uncertainty into a mid-term election cycle that could further complicate President Barack Obama's effort to push initiatives through Congress. Bayh, a two-term centrist, is the fourth sitting Democratic senator not to seek re-election -- leaving seats up for grabs in Indiana,

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-25062056799566098182010-02-15T03:08:00.001-08:002010-02-15T03:08:37.554-08:00

Britain and France led a call Monday for an international probe into the violence that followed last year's disputed presidential elections in Iran. The demand came during the U.N. Human Rights Council's first review of Iran's rights record since the body was founded in 2006. Iran should invite U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to"investigate the postelection violence and independently assess

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-10427492656186222772010-02-12T04:50:00.001-08:002010-02-12T04:50:39.770-08:00

The Obama administration is awarding $975 million in grants to help states and health care providers adopt health information technology. The grant money being announced Friday comes from the economic stimulus legislation passed by Congress last year and is part of the administration's push to get doctors, hospitals and others to move from paper to computerized record-keeping. Administration

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-59677840858942610272010-02-11T11:00:00.001-08:002010-02-11T11:00:33.254-08:00

President Barack Obama will meet with the Dalai Lama at the White House next week. The long-anticipated meeting set for Feb. 18 is likely to enflame tensions between China and the United States. China accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing for Tibetan independence and believes that shunning the exiled Tibetan monk should be a basic principle of international relations. Obama has been under intense

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-11395136009554604262010-02-11T05:39:00.001-08:002010-02-11T05:39:26.322-08:00

President Barack Obama's top economic advisers offered a cautious forecast on Thursday that U.S. job gains for 2010 will average 95,000 a month, with analysts expecting hiring to expand by spring. In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Christina Romer , the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers , said that the administration's projection is below the consensus of

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-27953952031432013742010-02-11T05:38:00.001-08:002010-02-11T05:38:43.728-08:00

EU President Herman Van Rompuy says European leaders have reached a deal on helping Greece with a debt crisis that threatens to spread to other eurozone nations. Van Rompuy said "we have an agreement," after meeting in Brussels with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, He gave no details, saying they would be released

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-52961365576683825632010-02-11T05:37:00.001-08:002010-02-11T05:37:53.323-08:00

The United States is likely to average 95,000 more jobs each month this year, while personal savings will remain high as credit remains tight, according to a White House report released Thursday. The Council of Economic Advisers also trumpeted the $787 billion economic stimulus package, which it said has saved or created about 2 million jobs. In a message to Congress, President Barack Obama

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-64143428808622259582010-02-10T07:51:00.001-08:002010-02-10T07:51:19.492-08:00

Rep. Vernon Ehlers, a moderate Republican from Michigan who sought protections for the Great Lakes and funding for math and science education, said Wednesday he won't seek re-election to Congress. Ehlers, 76, who faced a challenge in the Republican primary, was announcing his retirement at a news conference later Wednesday at the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building in Grand Rapids, Mich. Most of his

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-31075912007200405182010-02-10T07:50:00.001-08:002010-02-10T07:50:41.036-08:00

A can't miss rung on the ladder to celebrity status in Washington: Newly seated Sen. Scott Brown will write a book about his life leading up to his upset election to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. Brown spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said Wednesday the Massachusetts Republican hopes to provide "insight and encouragement" to others and to ensure the record is "complete and accurate." She said

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-92132561491535289332010-02-10T03:45:00.000-08:002010-02-10T03:45:17.544-08:00

The jokes about Barack Obama's close relationship with his teleprompter have been constant since he became president. Rush Limbaugh's poked fun at it on the radio. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi bantered about it during an international summit. Obama himself skewered his affinity for the speaking crutch in an appearance before reporters. But now, a year into Obama's administration, the

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-17570749954312164432010-02-09T08:06:00.000-08:002010-02-09T08:06:07.080-08:00

Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko plans to legally challenge the results of the presidential runoff that opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych appears to have won, her campaign said Tuesday. Tymoshenko has canceled two planned appearances since the polls closed Sunday night. Her allies say she will not concede until appeals have run their course and recounts have taken place at a number of

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-12295433795796803202010-02-09T07:48:00.001-08:002010-02-09T07:48:32.179-08:00

Senate Democrats are unable to muscle through President Barack Obama's choice of a union attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, because one of their own has joined the Republicans to block the nomination. The task for Democratic leaders turned more difficult when Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Nebraska Democrat, said Monday night he would join Republicans in opposing the lawyer, Craig

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-43784312520399579542010-02-09T07:47:00.001-08:002010-02-09T07:47:09.123-08:00

First lady Michelle Obama launched a nationwide campaign Tuesday to fight childhood obesity, part of her effort to teach America's children about better nutrition and exercise. Mrs. Obama said the Let's Move campaign will encourage more physical activity for children, healthier food in schools and more accurate food labeling. Some of her initiatives, such as tax breaks for grocery stores to move

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-88253121728627325582010-02-08T03:57:00.000-08:002010-02-08T03:57:14.924-08:00

Shock and awe. That's what survivors of the Clinton-era health care collapse are feeling as President Barack Obama's overhaul legislation wobbles in Congress. Aides who shaped Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's 1990s plan to cover all Americans, then labored in vain to pass it into law, are adamant that the Democrats can't afford another health care disaster. But they're divided on whether

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-56261905908442382222010-02-08T03:56:00.000-08:002010-02-08T03:56:23.653-08:00

President Barack Obama says it's time for Republicans who have attacked his health care proposals from the sidelines to step before the cameras and present their own ideas. In the first major move to revive his health care agenda after his party's loss of a filibuster-proof Senate majority, Obama on Sunday invited GOP and Democratic leaders to discuss possible compromises in a televised

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-29962223857861139582010-02-05T06:03:00.003-08:002010-02-05T06:03:55.637-08:00

That historically all-white club known as the U.S. Senate is likely to lose what little diversity it has after November's elections. Two white men will be competing for President Barack Obama's former seat in Illinois, now held by Roland Burris, the chamber's lone African-American. Appointed by the scandal-tainted former governor, Burris won't be seeking a full term. In contests in Florida,

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-5717638299156813002010-02-05T06:03:00.001-08:002010-02-05T06:03:25.875-08:00

In an effort to create more jobs, President Barack Obama will ask Congress to temporarily expand two lending programs for the owners of small businesses, an administration official said Friday. Speaking on the condition of anonymity because the president hadn't yet announced the proposal, a White House official said the plan would temporarily increase the cap on Small Business Administration

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-90530801540872256782010-02-05T06:02:00.001-08:002010-02-05T06:02:51.170-08:00

Scott Brown says he's a different kind of Republican, a centrist willing to work with Senate Democrats to fix health care and the ailing economy. But his independent bent is likely to be sorely tested in a bitterly divided Senate where party loyalty is often at a premium. As it is, Brown was sworn in Thursday a week earlier than he had planned. He spent his earliest minutes as a senator facing

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-89812776579199587322010-02-03T01:56:00.002-08:002010-02-03T01:56:39.641-08:00

President Barack Obama is set to speak to Senate Democrats to discuss strategy ahead of crucial mid-term elections, five days after a heated exchange with Republican representatives. The televised address at Washington's Newseum comes a day after Obama highlighted his new top domestic priority of curbing unemployment, detailing a 30-billion-dollar loan program to help small businesses. The

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-53114867710632592032010-02-03T01:56:00.000-08:002010-02-03T01:56:04.739-08:00

It's time to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and allow gay troops to serve openly for the first time in history, the nation's top defense officials declared Tuesday, with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff proclaiming that service members should not be forced to "lie about who they are." However, both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-55536441105261985112010-02-02T09:34:00.002-08:002010-02-02T09:34:23.210-08:00

Lawmakers dismayed by a Supreme Court ruling freeing corporations and unions to spend more on elections say they will move quickly to try to stem a flood of such campaign expenditures. Possible short-term measures include requiring more openness about where money is coming from and giving shareholders a greater voice over political spending. Massachusetts Democrat Sen. John Kerry, a former

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-46247687881312003662010-02-02T09:34:00.000-08:002010-02-02T09:34:00.790-08:00

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday the next 12 to 18 months will be critical to reversing momentum gained by insurgents in Afghanistan, with nothing short of the wartorn nation's security at stake. Not only that, Adm. Mike Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee: "Our future security is greatly imperiled if we do not win the wars we are in." Further, he added, "The

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-6764642213495484902010-02-02T03:50:00.001-08:002010-02-02T03:50:35.796-08:00

Republican and Democratic hopefuls will duke it out in a primary election Tuesday for the chance to win a potent symbolic prize: President Barack Obama's former US Senate seat. Obama's home state of Illinois is holding this year's first primary, where the party faithful make their picks for November's mid-term elections. The Senate contest is expected to be shaped by forces -- a sour economy,

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-82973581176870847332010-02-02T03:42:00.001-08:002010-02-02T03:42:20.703-08:00

President Barack Obama's proposed budget, stuffed with initiatives to spark jobs and the economy, is getting an early test with lawmakers weary of record deficits, wary of his tax ideas and nervous about winning re-election in November. Obama's proposed $5,000-per-job tax credit for companies that hire more workers could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as the end of the week — if

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-44549295853143901022010-01-29T03:54:00.000-08:002010-01-29T03:54:31.624-08:00

Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili says he has proposed to the United States that his country become a logistics hub for the expanding U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. The Obama administration may not be eager to accept the offer as it seeks to improve relations with Russia. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Saakashvili outlined a Georgian proposal to develop a corridor for

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-35786709302801408322010-01-29T03:53:00.000-08:002010-01-29T03:53:12.303-08:00

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew to Paris on Friday for talks with French officials and to give a speech on European security in which she will underscore the Obama administration's commitment to the continent's security. She was meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy and his national security adviser, Jean-David Levitte, before delivering an address at France's military

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-48259778647705232132010-01-28T08:29:00.000-08:002010-01-28T08:29:52.112-08:00

Prosecutors say charges have been filed against a Muslim imam accused of threatening a woman in northeastern Spain who refused to wear an Islamic headscarf. The prosecutors are seeking a five-year jail sentence for Mohamed Benbrahim on charges of calumny, coercion and menacing behavior against Fatima Ghailan in Cunit, a town in Catalonia, a region with a sizable Muslim population. The court

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-65274467642756865122010-01-28T08:02:00.000-08:002010-01-28T08:02:07.377-08:00

Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday assailed last week's Supreme Court's decision removing limits on corporate campaign spending, calling it "dead wrong." And he defended President Barack Obama's criticism of the decision in his State of the Union address Wednesday night with robe-clad Supreme Court justices seated in on the floor of the House before him. Justice Samuel Alito, who voted with

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-77019400103059249212010-01-28T08:01:00.001-08:002010-01-28T08:01:16.073-08:00

Democratic lawmakers must soon decide whether President Barack Obama is leading them toward statesmanlike courage or political folly with his take-no-prisoners reassertion of an ambitious social agenda. Obama used his first State of the Union speech Wednesday to push nervous Democrats to forge ahead on health care, despite voters' worries and opposition from newly strengthened Republicans.

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-54568844447096475092010-01-27T06:11:00.001-08:002010-01-27T06:11:32.060-08:00

The Senate on Tuesday moved to clear the way to confirm Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, setting a procedural vote for Thursday in a sign that the needed votes were now secured. President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats scrambled to drum up backing for Bernanke after a Republican won a stunning upset in a Massachusetts Senate race last week, largely because of voter

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-42429420719374875972010-01-27T06:10:00.001-08:002010-01-27T06:10:31.063-08:00

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is using meetings in London this week to press ahead with imposing tough new international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that Clinton would raise the prospect of new U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran in discussions with the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, Germany, France,

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-59347148449944176952010-01-27T06:09:00.001-08:002010-01-27T06:09:43.146-08:00

Facing a divided Congress and a dissatisfied nation, President Barack Obama will unveil a jobs-heavy agenda in his State of the Union address Wednesday, retooling his message more than his mission. His goal: Get the economy, the confidence of voters and his own presidency on surer footing. Obama will offer fresh details about how he wants to salvage an overhaul of health care, rein in the

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-34830674018702990572010-01-26T05:38:00.000-08:002010-01-26T05:38:40.542-08:00

The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland held a second day of talks Tuesday with political parties in Northern Ireland as they struggled to keep the fractious Catholic-Protestant government there from collapsing. Negotiators from the opposite sides of Northern Ireland's unraveling government — the British Protestants of the Democratic Unionists and the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein — denounced

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-28542281138584270032010-01-26T05:37:00.001-08:002010-01-26T05:37:17.891-08:00

The Senate is likely to reject a White House-backed plan to establish a bipartisan task force to recommend steps to curb the deficit, even as lawmakers digest the news that President Barack Obama wants a three-year freeze in the domestic budgets they control. Fresh numbers arriving Tuesday morning from the Congressional Budget Office are expected to bring continued bad news on the deficit,

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-72449147696884378782010-01-25T12:01:00.001-08:002010-01-25T12:01:35.632-08:00

Beau Biden announced Monday that he will not seek election to the U.S. Senate seat long held by his father, Vice President Joe Biden, putting another Democratic-held Senate seat in jeopardy and dealing another blow to President Barack Obama's flailing party. The Delaware attorney general told supporters in an e-mail that he will run for re-election to his state post instead of running against

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-11601447715875443412010-01-25T05:42:00.000-08:002010-01-25T05:42:12.184-08:00

Previewing key elements of his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama is announcing on Monday a series of initiatives aimed at calming some of the economic fears of struggling middle class families. The proposals to be unveiled by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House, and which the president will push in his Wednesday night speech, include a doubling of the child

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-688640962997986972010-01-21T04:54:00.001-08:002010-01-21T04:54:39.629-08:00

Jobs, jobs, jobs. If there's any path out of the mess President Barack Obama found himself in on the first day of his second year in office, more aggressive promotion of the administration's economy-boosting efforts — coupled with criticism of the Republican approach — is the one he has settled on. The White House in the new year already had begun focusing greater attention on the nation's

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-1075858371797205182010-01-21T04:52:00.002-08:002010-01-21T04:52:53.110-08:00

Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown, whose surprise win in the race to fill the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat created the sonic boom heard all the way to Washington, was visiting the nation's capital Thursday to pay a round of courtesy calls on his new colleagues. Two days after his win cost President Barack Obama his filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate, Brown was making his

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-25016750359761876542010-01-21T04:52:00.000-08:002010-01-21T04:52:08.516-08:00

President Barack Obama, eager to harness and redirect voter anger over bank bailouts, is ramping up his war on Wall Street. Building on his own proposals and the work of the House, the president wants new federal government powers to limit the size and complexity of large financial institutions and to limit their ability to engage in high-risk trades. Obama will make the announcement Thursday,

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-33403529786602176132010-01-20T05:45:00.001-08:002010-01-20T05:45:30.849-08:00

The Obama administration's choice to lead the Transportation Security Administration withdrew his name Wednesday. In a statement, Erroll Southers said he was pulling out because his nomination had become a lightning rod for those with a political agenda. President Barack Obama tapped Southers, a former FBI agent, to lead the TSA in September but his confirmation has been blocked by Republican

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-20114032747616414272010-01-20T02:41:00.001-08:002010-01-20T02:41:25.804-08:00

The U.S. military is sending additional ships to help with earthquake recovery in Haiti, including one that could remove debris blocking the main port, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday. The defense chief signed orders Wednesday to send a port-clearing ship with cranes aboard to the devastated Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. The ship would remove debris that is preventing

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-19078647928186181362010-01-20T02:40:00.000-08:002010-01-20T02:40:05.451-08:00

A year to the day after his inauguration, Barack Obama and his Democratic allies are suddenly scrambling to save his signature health care overhaul and somehow rediscover their political magic after an epic loss in the Massachusetts Senate race. Republican Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to beat Democrat Martha Coakley. The loss was a stunning embarrassment for the White House. It also

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-21660821897473921372010-01-19T11:31:00.000-08:002010-01-19T11:31:10.252-08:00

A top adviser to President Barack Obama says Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown ran a "very clever campaign" in Massachusetts. But in a talk with reporters with voting under way Tuesday, David Axelrod also said he doesn't believe the Republican Party is the right option for people frustrated with the economy and a host of other issues, including the Washington power culture. Axelrod agreed

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-75188182241171491542010-01-19T05:21:00.000-08:002010-01-19T05:21:00.951-08:00

Voters in Massachusetts headed to the polls Tuesday to decide on a new US senator, and possibly the fate of President Barack Obama's health care reform and other ambitious domestic plans. The special election to fill the senate seat of the late Democratic icon Edward Kennedy could see Republican Scott Brown score a stunning upset against Democrat Martha Coakley, in a race she had been expected

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-37891245688197067722010-01-19T05:20:00.001-08:002010-01-19T05:20:16.715-08:00

President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Tuesday for $1.35 billion to extend an education grant program for states, senior administration officials said. Obama was outlining the budget proposal at a Fairfax County, Va., elementary school, after joining Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a discussion with sixth-grade students. The $787 billion economic stimulus program Obama signed into law

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-82103140141149301602010-01-19T05:19:00.001-08:002010-01-19T05:19:41.991-08:00

Voters thronged to the polls in Massachusetts today in a special election Republicans hope will be a national game-changer, thwarting President Barack Obama's agenda and loosening the Democratic grip on the U.S. Senate. As dawn broke in the frosty Northeast, the GOP publicly relished the possibility that a previously obscure state senator, Scott Brown, could wrest the election from Democrat

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-66601759348207296372010-01-18T09:11:00.001-08:002010-01-18T09:11:29.416-08:00

Israel's Cabinet convened Monday for the first time in Berlin, the former heart of the Nazi regime, for a special joint session with the German government highlighting the two nations' strong bond six decades after the Holocaust. Germany's efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions figured high on the agenda, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would back tougher new sanctions against

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-77714036306394790612010-01-18T09:10:00.000-08:002010-01-18T09:10:53.959-08:00

Highlights of Barack Obama's first year, by the numbers: ___ 7,949.09 — Dow Jones Industrial Average close on Jan. 20, 2009. 10,609.65 — Dow Jones Industrial Average close on Jan. 15, 2010. 13 million — Number of people 16 and older unemployed as of January 2009. 14.7 million — Number of people 16 and older unemployed as of December 2009. 7.7 percent — Unemployment rate January 2009 10.0

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-34506502057396013822010-01-18T09:08:00.001-08:002010-01-18T09:08:50.455-08:00

A Spanish Foreign Ministry official says the country will take in two inmates from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. The official says one of them is from Yemen. He would not disclose the nationality of the other. Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos announced last week that Spain was finalizing arrangements with the United States to take in two prisoners and that neither was Yemeni. The

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-79218581382733557122010-01-18T01:24:00.001-08:002010-01-18T01:24:32.947-08:00

Results from the Ukrainian election commission Monday showed gruff opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and glamorous Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on course to face off in next month's final round of presidential elections. With about 82.5 percent of ballots from Sunday's vote counted, Yanukovych had some 35.7 percent while Tymoshenko was second with 24.8 percent. The 16 other candidates

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-87659172222780628372010-01-18T01:23:00.003-08:002010-01-18T01:23:41.893-08:00

Democrats and Republicans ramped up election eve get-out-the-vote efforts in their close battle for a Massachusetts Senate seat that could decide the fate of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and the rest of his agenda at the opening of the 2010 midterm campaign season. Obama needs newly embattled Martha Coakley to win Tuesday's special election for the late Edward Kennedy's Senate

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-54736419743754954322010-01-18T01:23:00.001-08:002010-01-18T01:23:17.969-08:00

Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman says it's too soon to jump back into politics after his bruising loss to former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken. Coleman put rumors to rest late Sunday in announcing he would not run for governor. The Republican says on his Facebook page that a campaign would come too late to run properly and too early after his Senate loss. The 60-year-old Coleman

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-45378209605112402492010-01-12T06:47:00.001-08:002010-01-12T06:47:42.590-08:00

The U.S. has announced plans to invest $20 million to improve the Afghan government's ability to promote agriculture reforms that the Obama administration considers the main non-security element in stabilizing the country. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday that efforts to steer Afghan farmers away from the opium poppy trade are key to the war effort. He says the $20 million

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-5411456164166977502010-01-12T06:46:00.002-08:002010-01-12T06:46:54.096-08:00

Targeting an industry whose political deafness has vexed his administration, President Barack Obama is weighing a levy aimed at recovering tax dollars from government-rescued financial institutions. The proposed levy could put Obama on the popular side of public opinion that is decidedly against Wall Street and angry over shortfalls in a $700 billion bank bailout fund. A senior administration

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-82259663471755345552010-01-12T06:46:00.000-08:002010-01-12T06:46:09.268-08:00

Sen. John McCain says he's content with his life in the Senate and happy he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate last year. McCain steafastly refused to discuss a new book that says the vetting of the Alaska governor was "hasty and haphazard." Asked about this on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday, the Arizona Republican said, "I wouldn't know. The fact is, I'm proud of Sarah Palin and I'm proud of

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-92145661999181595872010-01-11T07:13:00.001-08:002010-01-11T07:13:12.520-08:00

A man who may have been a third uninvited guest at White House state dinner for India's prime minister asserted Monday that he did receive an invitation. But when pressed in a nationally broadcast interview, Washington businessman Carlos Allen said only that he had gotten a White House invitation for the day. But he couldn't display anything with his name on it. Allen said he didn't know

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-65283219288860116092010-01-11T03:16:00.001-08:002010-01-11T03:16:26.548-08:00

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is kicking off her 2010 diplomacy agenda as she did a year ago, with a trip meant to strengthen U.S. relations with key partner nations in the western Pacific. This time terrorism and the Obama administration's push to improve international cooperation to thwart the threat in Asia and the Pacific, as well as the greater Middle East, will play a prominent

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-49205615009249653402010-01-11T03:15:00.003-08:002010-01-11T03:15:51.073-08:00

A double standard, charge Republicans vainly seeking Sen. Harry Reid's immediate resignation as majority leader. A different context than other racial gaffes, counter Democrats who want Reid to stay on in spite of his embarrassing remarks about Barack Obama. Reid apologized to Obama and a handful of black political leaders after a new book reported that he was favorably impressed by Obama during

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-27073532623166911862010-01-11T03:15:00.001-08:002010-01-11T03:15:26.122-08:00

The Obama administration will announce on Monday funding for nine projects designed to significantly increase fuel efficiency in heavy trucks and passenger vehicles, with more than half the money coming from the $787 billion stimulus package. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu will detail the projects during a ceremony in Columbus, Ind., home of Cummins Inc., which is to receive nearly $40 million to

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-28344364841787741652010-01-05T14:58:00.003-08:002010-01-05T14:58:44.117-08:00

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi voiced confidence on Tuesday that Democratic congressional negotiators will agree on a final healthcare bill that President Barack Obama can sign into law. Talking with reporters after a Capitol Hill meeting with fellow Democratic leaders, Pelosi said measures passed by the House and Senate would be unified into a historic measure to

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-70287290156842918342010-01-05T14:58:00.001-08:002010-01-05T14:58:11.864-08:00

No more detainees at Guantanamo Bay will be sent to Yemen for the time being, the White House announced Tuesday as officials continue to reshape the nation's security posture following a failed Christmas terror plot to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner. The attempted terror attack on a jet arriving in Detroit has heightened concerns about Yemen, because the suspected would-be bomber, a 23-year-old

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-89191426640697107452010-01-05T07:43:00.000-08:002010-01-05T07:43:04.630-08:00

Greece said on Tuesday it would cut its double-digit budget deficit under the EU's 3 percent of GDP limit by 2012, a year earlier than previously planned, bowing to pressure from markets and euro zone peers. A day before EU and ECB officials arrive for an inspection visit to Athens, the new socialist government set a more ambitious fiscal health target, pleasing bond markets but drawing

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-20042217968275682982010-01-05T07:42:00.001-08:002010-01-05T07:42:44.797-08:00

The U.N. food agency is stopping aid distribution to about 1 million people in southern Somalia because of attacks against staff and demands by armed groups that aid organizations remove women from their teams, the agency said Tuesday. The World Food Program is moving staff and supplies to northern and central Somalia from six areas in the south that are largely controlled by the al-Shabab

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-39557793673360788942010-01-05T07:41:00.001-08:002010-01-05T07:41:14.221-08:00

The U.S. spent an average of $7,681 per person on health care in 2008, for an eye-popping total of $2.3 trillion — even though spending actually slowed dramatically that year because of the recession, a new federal study says. Health spending didn't slow down as much as the nation's overall economic output, the study said, in keeping with a decades-old trend that has now pushed health care costs

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-64995929135921212492010-01-04T09:09:00.001-08:002010-01-04T09:09:32.043-08:00

President Barack Obama returned Monday to the White House he never really escaped. Obama and his family took an overnight flight from Hawaii to Washington, capping an 11-day holiday vacation sure to be remembered more for the botched attempt to blow up a Christmas Day flight than the hours spent on golf courses or at luaus. The failed terror attack refocused the president's trip from R&R on the

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-42418007017999067222010-01-04T09:07:00.001-08:002010-01-04T09:07:44.389-08:00

Threats to federal judges and prosecutors have jumped dramatically, according to a new government report issued Monday that found such threats more than doubled in the past six years. Three years after the husband and mother of a federal judge in Chicago were killed by a man angry over a court ruling, the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine concludes there are still major

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-53064176846423893432009-12-30T09:49:00.001-08:002009-12-30T09:49:27.425-08:00

The path toward rolling out wider use of whole-body security scanners in U.S. airports runs through the White House. The failed Christmas Day attack aboard a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner has created congressional calls for greater use of body scanners that advocates say would have detected non-metallic items such as the explosives an Islamic militant from Nigeria is accused of smuggling on board.

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-92166263293680337492009-12-30T09:48:00.000-08:002009-12-30T09:48:29.919-08:00

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America, barely edging out former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, according to a Gallup poll out Wednesday. When Gallup asked 1,025 adults nationwide to name the woman they admire most, 16 percent picked Clinton. Palin was the only other woman to be mentioned by at least 10 percent, being selected by 15 percent of those surveyed. Daytime

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-49930533672021634372009-12-29T11:17:00.000-08:002009-12-29T11:17:21.143-08:00

Americans would most like to live next door to the Obama family. But a reality star like California's "Octomom", or Jon and Kate Gosselin and their brood of eight would be a big turn off, according to a poll released on Tuesday. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha, came top of a poll that asked Americans who would be their most desirable celebrity neighbor.

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-7326591941057731192009-12-29T11:15:00.001-08:002009-12-29T11:15:40.426-08:00

A New York Senate committee has met to decide whether a state senator convicted of assaulting his girlfriend should remain in office. The special committee adjourned into an executive session Tuesday without announcing its decision on the fate of Sen. Hiram Monserrate. The Democrat from Queens was sentenced earlier this month to probation for injuring his girlfriend by dragging her through his

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-39840576530663518322009-12-28T11:57:00.000-08:002009-12-28T11:57:41.090-08:00

Ann Nixon Cooper was remembered Monday as a charismatic woman who, after toiling through the civil rights era, lived to see herself hailed in an election night speech by the nation's first black president. Some 550 people attended the funeral Monday in Atlanta for Cooper, who died Dec. 21 at age 107. Cooper, a dentist's wife who raised four children, first grabbed the nation's attention last

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-65951711851747375592009-12-28T11:56:00.000-08:002009-12-28T11:56:12.123-08:00

The White House says President Barack Obama is preparing to make his first public statement on the Christmas Day terrorist attack and describe U.S. efforts to protect the nation's skies. Obama is scheduled to speak soon after 3 p.m. EST about the government's steps to protect the nation's travelers and the reviews he has already ordered. Deputy press secretary Bill Burton said Monday the

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-36298622654749646862009-12-28T07:48:00.001-08:002009-12-28T07:48:40.743-08:00

President Barack Obama ordered a review of US no-fly lists and passengers faced sweeping new restrictions on Monday after a failed bid to blow up a transatlantic airliner. As the family of the young Nigerian accused of trying to cause carnage over Detroit promised their full cooperation to security agencies, US prosecutors hoped to secure a DNA sample from the suspect. And while Obama demanded

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-17960743379026113122009-12-28T07:47:00.001-08:002009-12-28T07:47:28.314-08:00

House Democrats aren't optimistic that a government insurance plan, a central element of health care legislation passed in their chamber, will survive negotiations with the Senate. While insisting "it's not dead," Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Sunday he recognizes realities in the Senate, where Democrats had to scrape up every vote from their side to pass a bill — even one without a

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-27618040448411042632009-12-24T14:53:00.000-08:002009-12-24T14:53:04.016-08:00

In an epic struggle settled at dawn, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed health care legislation Thursday, a triumph for President Barack Obama that clears the way for compromise talks with the House on a bill to reduce the ranks of the uninsured and rein in the insurance industry. The vote was 60-39, strictly along party lines, one day after Democrats succeeded in crushing a filibuster by

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-56064900204718659012009-12-24T14:52:00.000-08:002009-12-24T14:52:01.551-08:00

A woman jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass on Thursday. The 82-year-old pope quickly got up and was unhurt, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini. Footage aired on Italy's RAI state TV showed a woman dressed in a red jumper vaulting over the wooden barriers and rushing the pope

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-66042255104728654462009-12-24T14:51:00.001-08:002009-12-24T14:51:39.163-08:00

The United Nations unveiled a website on Thursday aimed at improving transparency about sexual misconduct allegations and other charges leveled against members of its missions. The website (http://cdu.unlb.org/) tracks the number of alleged offenses by U.N. personnel over the last three years, collected from political and peacekeeping missions across the globe. It also provides a record of how

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-20808798453954799792009-12-24T00:36:00.000-08:002009-12-24T00:36:05.461-08:00

Senate Democrats are poised to pass a landmark health care bill that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history. Ahead lie complex talks with the House to reach final legislation in the new year. "We stand on the doorstep of history," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "We recognize that, but

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-58982521454617080782009-12-18T10:21:00.001-08:002009-12-18T10:21:46.700-08:00

President Barack Obama raced from one impromptu meeting to another and made an animated plea for compromise Friday, making plain his frustration over the difficulty of pushing world leaders to settle on a plan to combat global warming. "We are running short on time," Obama told the 193-nation summit as the clock was running out on its final day. "There has to be movement on all sides." Working

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-91558451008897566042009-12-16T09:47:00.001-08:002009-12-16T09:47:20.769-08:00

Britain's Royal Academy of Arts says the prince of Liechtenstein has canceled a major London exhibit planned for next year. The show had been due to include Renaissance, Baroque and more contemporary pieces from Prince Hans-Adam II's 500-year-old collection. The academy says that the prince canceled the exhibit due to an unrelated criminal investigation in Britain into a group of paintings he

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-4640825177909450322009-12-16T09:46:00.000-08:002009-12-16T09:46:30.653-08:00

First lady Michelle Obama is appealing for donations of toys for older children for the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program. The program helps make sure needy children have something to unwrap on Christmas morning. Mrs. Obama traveled to a Toys for Tots warehouse near the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va., on Wednesday to deliver some of the more than 500 toys collected during a White

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-3264839604822585942009-12-16T09:45:00.002-08:002009-12-16T09:45:22.580-08:00

Credit Suisse Group has agreed to pay $536 million to settle a Justice Department probe and admit to violating U.S. economic sanctions by hiding the booming business it was doing for Iranian banks. The settlement papers were filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. The bank has been under criminal investigation for years over business it did with countries subject to U.S. economic

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-54044746207547422742009-12-16T09:45:00.000-08:002009-12-16T09:45:01.713-08:00

The estimated time when whites will no longer make up the majority of Americans has been pushed back eight years — to 2050 — because the recession and stricter immigration policies have slowed the flow of foreigners into the U.S. Census Bureau projections released Wednesday update last year's prediction that white children would become a minority in 2023 and the overall white population would

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-52640574405459748862009-12-15T11:53:00.002-08:002009-12-15T11:53:47.385-08:00

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that home insulation "is sexy," his newest appeal for Congress to pass incentives for homeowners who make their homes more energy efficient. "Here's what's sexy about it. It saves money," the president said at a Northern Virginia Home Depot store. He was joined at the outlet by members of Congress representing Virginia and labor and business leaders involved

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-10080104939064625572009-12-15T11:53:00.000-08:002009-12-15T11:53:07.382-08:00

Federal workers owed the government more than $3 billion in back income taxes in 2008, just as federal tax revenues started to suffer from the recession. More than 276,000 federal employees and retirees owed back income taxes as of Sept. 30, 2008, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service. The $3.04 billion owed was up from $2.7 billion owed by federal employees and retirees in 2007.

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-65486758583540787132009-12-15T11:52:00.003-08:002009-12-15T11:52:35.418-08:00

The House has voted to level off the abrupt spikes in volume felt by television viewers during commercial breaks. The bill — approved by a voice vote — is aimed at stopping TV ads from playing noticeably louder than programs. Supporters say the measure would alleviate a common irritation that leads consumers to scramble for the mute button as they watch their favorite shows. The legislation

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-76462145250556938002009-12-15T11:52:00.001-08:002009-12-15T11:52:13.087-08:00

Funding the military, ensuring the jobless don't run out of benefits and maintaining the government's authority to borrow are just a few of the outstanding items as Congress rushes to finish its work in the dwindling days of this year. With the Senate focused solely on health care legislation and no time left to consider bills separately, several of the most important unfinished issues will be

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-86062279520425474482009-12-10T11:07:00.000-08:002009-12-10T11:07:01.701-08:00

A federal judge on Thursday ruled the Defense Department in contempt of court for failing to videotape the testimony of a Guantanamo Bay detainee so that the public and the news media could see it. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler is demanding a detailed explanation of why the Pentagon failed to follow her directions and tape the testimony of Mohammed Al-Adahi of Yemen. He testified June 23 in

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-61632517976097370022009-12-10T11:06:00.001-08:002009-12-10T11:06:23.733-08:00

Despite a massive budget deficit, House Democrats pressed ahead Thursday with a huge spending measure combining major spending boosts for domestic agencies and foreign aid with more than 5,000 back-home projects sought by lawmakers. The 1,088-page, $1.1 trillion measure would provide $447 billion in operating budgets for 10 Cabinet departments, with increases averaging almost 10 percent. There

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-13657949253992310632009-12-10T11:05:00.002-08:002009-12-10T11:05:59.430-08:00

Five young American Muslims arrested in Pakistan met with representatives of an al-Qaida linked group and asked for training but were turned down because they lacked references from trusted militants, a Pakistani law enforcement official said Thursday. U.S. officials in Pakistan have now visited the men in custody, after their disappearance late last month prompted a frantic search by friends

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-75674956340691178902009-12-10T11:05:00.000-08:002009-12-10T11:05:06.125-08:00

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday defended his extension of the government's unpopular financial bailout as necessary to safely wind down the program. "It would be irresponsible to do otherwise," Geithner told a skeptical watchdog panel. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was due to go out of business at the end of this month, but Geithner said Wednesday it would run through

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-27221077545626335912009-12-07T10:12:00.001-08:002009-12-07T10:12:15.631-08:00

An internal Secret Service document used for training purposes indicates 91 security breaches since 1980. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan says the agency used the 2003 report to evaluate security procedures and help agents improve their response to breaches. Donovan says that since 2001, there have been 10 security breaches, including an incident last month where a couple was allowed to

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7182194939095249044.post-42921386686640171292009-12-07T10:11:00.001-08:002009-12-07T10:11:35.120-08:00

An internal investigation of the community-organizing group ACORN concluded there was no criminal conduct by employees caught on videos offering advice on how to hide assets and falsify lending documents. The report, which ACORN's CEO described as "part vindication, part constructive criticism and complete roadmap for the future," was unlikely to stem continuing political criticisms of the group

RKLnoreply@blogger.com0