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‘what you need to know’ Category

Obama to Order Cabinet to Quickly Cut $100 Million From Department Budgets
President Obama convened his Cabinet for the first time today and instructed department heads to trim their budgets by a combined $100 million over the next 90 days, cuts he said would help overcome a “confidence gap” among the American people about the use of their tax dollars.

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At Summit of the Americas, the Issue Is Cuba
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, no fan of the United States, once referred to former President George W. Bush as the devil. Now, with President Obama set to arrive here Friday for a weekend meeting with Western Hemisphere leaders, the big question is: Will Mr. Chavez and Mr. Obama clash over Cuba?

Mr. Obama, who spent Thursday in Mexico City, comes to this island nation with the aim of reaching out to leaders in the Americas who have long felt ignored by the United States. But the possible theatrics of his encounters — planned or unplanned — with Mr. Chavez, especially on Cuba, threaten to overshadow substantive discussions on the economy, energy and public safety.

New embryonic stem cell rules limit funding
When President Barack Obama eased limits on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away.

Draft guidelines released by the National Institutes of Health reflect rules with broad congressional support, excluding more controversial sources such as cells derived from embryos created just for experiments.

EPA Proposes Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal today finding greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public’s health and welfare, a determination that could trigger a series of sweeping regulations affecting everything from vehicles to coal-fired power plants.

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Administration Won’t Charge CIA Officers for Approved Interrogations
The Justice Department will not prosecute CIA officers who used harsh interrogation techniques against terrorism suspects with the blessing of lawyers, Obama administration officials said this afternoon, as they released four Bush-era legal memos detailing practices that critics have likened to torture.

In the fullest account to date of the questioning of al-Qaeda suspects, government officials issued long-sought documents that catalogue a list of tactics — from sleep- and food-deprivation to beatings — that Bush lawyers said comported with the law. The memos, which date to 2002, contain few redactions, despite a fierce battle within the Obama administration about the benefits of releasing the information.

Obama to Push to Ratify Treaty on Gun Trafficking
President Obama, seeking to send a strong signal that he is committed to stopping the rising tide of cross-border drug violence, will announce on Thursday that he is pressing the Senate to ratify a decade-old arms treaty intended to curb the flow of guns and ammunition to drug cartels, a senior administration official said.Mr. Obama, on his first trip to Latin America as president, landed in Mexico City on Thursday afternoon. His agenda will include the economy, immigration and a trade-related dispute between the two countries over whether Mexican trucks can travel American roads, but the dominating issue is drug violence.

Obama calls for high-speed rail development
President Barack Obama called Thursday for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air and save on energy.

Appearing with Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Obama said the country cannot afford not to invest in a major upgrade to rail travel. He said he understands it necessarily will be “a long-term project” but said the time to start is now.

The president allocated $8 billion in the enormous $787 billion economic stimulus spending package for a start on establishing high-speed rail corridors nationwide.

N.Y. governor introduces gay marriage bill
Gov. David Paterson introduced a bill Thursday to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, comparing the effort to the fight for the abolition of slavery. 

Paterson, whose job approval rating has plunged below 30 percent, is making a political gamble that he can ride the momentum of other states that have recently allowed the practice, and it’s unclear how the legislation will play in New York. 

The proposal is the same bill the Democratic-controlled state Assembly passed in 2007 before it died in the Senate, where the Republican majority kept it from going to a vote. Democrats now control the Senate, but opponents are vowing to make sure this one fails, as well.

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Obama Highlights Tax Breaks
President Obama marked Tax Day 2009 with a White House event aimed at highlighting the tax breaks included in the stimulus bill and countering conservatives who launched nationwide tea parties to complain about taxes and rising government spending.

While a few hundred protestors dumped tea bags in Lafayette Square outside the White House, Obama presented nine taxpayers he said were better off financially because of his efforts.

“We have passed a broad and sweeping tax cut for 95 percent of American workers,” Obama told reporters in the Old Executive Office building. “This tax cut was a core focus of my campaign, it was a core component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and it is the most progressive tax cut in American history. And starting April 1st, Americans saw this tax cut in the extra money that they took home with each paycheck.”

Anti-tax ‘tea parties’ being held across U.S.
Protesters began gathering at state Capitols and in neighborhoods and town squares across the country Wednesday to kick off a series of tax-day protests designed to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party.

Hundreds of rallies against government spending were being held across the nation, more than 235 years after the original Boston Tea Party tax revolt.

Organizers say they’re steamed at increased government spending since President Barack Obama’s administration took over.

Iran Says It Plans New Nuclear Offer
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said Wednesday that he was preparing a new proposal to resolve disputes with the West over Iran’s nuclear program, opening the door to talks with the United States, the official I.R.N.A. news agency reported.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said during a speech in the southeastern city of Kerman that Iran was still in the process of preparing the new package and it would be presented when it was ready, I.R.N.A. reported. He also said that Iran was willing to hold talks with the United States as long they were based on respect. “They have said they want to resolve issues through diplomatic channels and we say that this is excellent,” he was quoted as saying. “Our people favor logic, dialogue and constructive cooperation based on respect, justice and rights of nations.”

White House seeks health plan compromise
President Barack Obama’s top health care adviser said Wednesday a compromise is within reach on a government health plan for the middle class that wouldn’t drive private insurers out of business.

Offering the option of government coverage to workers and their families has become one of the most contentious issues in the debate about overhauling health care to cover the uninsured and curb costs. Obama has proposed a public plan, and liberals insist it be part of any final deal. But conservatives and businesses fear that could open the door for a government takeover of the system.

Obama administration names border czar
A former Justice Department official, Alan Bersin, is America’s new “border czar.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano introduced Bersin Wednesday during a news conference at a bridge that links El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The former federal prosecutor will oversee Homeland Security’s efforts to end drug cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and reduce the flow of illegal immigrants sneaking across the border from Mexico into the United States.

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Obama cautiously applauds economic successes
Aiming to assert control over the nation’s economic debate, President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned Americans eager for good news that “by no means are we out of the woods” and argued his broad domestic agenda is the path to recovery.

In a speech at Georgetown University, Obama aimed to juggle his recent glass-half-full takes on the economy with a determination to not be stamped as naive or overly rosy in the face of stubborn problems that linger. He wrapped a summary of actions his administration has taken to steady the limping economy around a fresh overview of his domestic goals. 

North Korea Vows to Restart Plant and Boycott Talks
North Korea, angered by a United Nations rebuke over its recent missile launch, declared Tuesday it would pull out of nuclear disarmament talks for good and reactivate its nuclear program.

The decision, which came several hours after the Security Council chastised North Korea for violating United Nations resolutions, poses an early first foreign-policy test for the Obama administration.

Obama Lifts Broad Set Of Sanctions Against Cuba
President Obama yesterday announced a series of steps aimed at easing the U.S. relationship with Cuba, breaking from policies first imposed by the Kennedy administration and stepping into an emotional debate over the best way to bring democratic change to one of the last remaining communist regimes.

White House officials said the decision to lift travel and spending restrictions on Americans with family on the island will provide new support for the opponents of Raúl and Fidel Castro’s government. And they said lifting the ban on U.S. telecommunications companies reaching out to the island will flood Cuba with information while providing new opportunities for businesses.

Minn. court says Franken had most votes
A Minnesota court confirmed Monday that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman, who had already announced plans to appeal the decision.

Coleman has 10 days to appeal to the state Supreme Court. Once the petition is filed, it could further delay the seating of Minnesota’s second senator for weeks.

After a statewide recount and seven-week trial, Franken stands 312 votes ahead. He gained more votes from the election challenge than Coleman, the candidate who brought the legal action.

U.S. May Drop Key Condition for Talks With Iran
The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

The proposals, exchanged in confidential strategy sessions with European allies, would press Tehran to open up its nuclear program gradually to wide-ranging inspection. But the proposals would also allow Iran to continue enriching uranium for some period during the talks. That would be a sharp break from the approach taken by the Bush administration, which had demanded that Iran halt its enrichment activities, at least briefly to initiate negotiations.

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