Tag Archives: president obama

Sources: Weapons, subsidies, loopholes among budget cuts

After promising the American people his team has already found $2 trillion in budget savings by scouring the federal budget, President Obama is planning to lay out some of the potential spending cuts in great detail when he unveils his first blueprint on Thursday, according to senior administration officials familiar with the budget plans. “My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs,” Obama said Tuesday in a speech to a joint session of Congress.

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Obamas praise Stevie Wonder at White House

To hear Barack Obama tell it, he owes Stevie Wonder plenty. “I think it’s fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me. We might not have married,” Obama said Wednesday as he and the first lady hosted a concert and award ceremony for Wonder.

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Obama’s Address: A Road Map Without GPS

President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress may be one of the best political speeches of the last few decades. It will certainly be remembered for its cadence, passion, and a degree of astute articulation which has been missing from the national debate recently. What the speech did lay out is a road map for getting the economy back in shape and then keeping it expanding.

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State Department scolds China on human rights

The State Department issued a report Wednesday sharply critical of China’s human rights record, despite the Obama administration’s decision to take a different approach to the Asian country. “The government of China’s human rights record remained poor and worsened in some areas,” the report said in reviewing the last year, finding Chinese authorities “committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions of prisoners and used forced labor.” The “2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” the annual report of human rights around the world, also accused China of “severe cultural and religious repression” of minorities in Tibet and other regions and increasing harassment and detention of dissidents and activists who signed a petition calling for respect of human rights. China limits the rights of citizens to privacy and freedom of speech, assembly, movement and association, the report said.

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Jindal earns bad reviews in national debut

It was billed as a "coming out party" for one of the GOP’s most promising young stars. But after nearly universal criticism was heaped on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s high-profile response to President Obama’s address to Congress Tuesday night, the Louisiana Republican may be wishing he had stayed home.

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Banker in Obama speech recognized for his generosity

More than two dozen guests joined first lady Michelle Obama at the president’s speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. One person on the first lady’s guest list was Leonard Abess Jr., a Miami banker who received a $60 million bonus from the proceeds from the sale of shares of City National Bank in Florida and gave it out to his 399 workers and 72 former workers.

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Poll: Viewers feel positive about Obama speech

A national poll indicates that two-thirds of those who watched President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night had a very positive reaction to his speech. Sixty-eight percent of speech-watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey had a very positive reaction, with 24 percent indicating that they had a somewhat positive response and 8 percent indicating that they had a negative reaction.

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Obama outlines ambitious agenda for ‘lasting prosperity’

President Obama on Tuesday outlined an ambitious agenda that requires "significant resources," even as he aims to halve the deficit by the end of his first term. In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, Obama said it’s time to act boldly not just to revive the economy, but “to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.” “While the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater,” he said. The president struck an optimistic tone, asserting that “we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.” Obama focused on the three priorities of the budget he will present to Congress later this week: energy, health care and education

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