44 - Politics and Policy in Obama's Washington - June 7, 2009

Obama Offers More Health-Care Savings Through Limits on Payments

President Obama proposed today to rein in spending on federal health programs for the elderly and the poor, bringing his total proposed savings to nearly enough to cover the full cost of sweeping health reform, a top adviser said.

By Web Politics Editor | June 13, 2009; 6:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Health Care
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Obama Pledges $73 Million to Zimbabwe

President Obama announced today that the United States will provide $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe, saying the economically wracked nation has made progress since a power-sharing arrangement took effect.

By Web Politics Editor | June 12, 2009; 6:06 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (35)
Categories: Foggy Bottom
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Gibbs: Obama Struggles 'Every Day' Against Smoking

Does President Obama still smoke? White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs won't say, but he acknowledged that the president continues to struggle to control the habit.

By Web Politics Editor | June 12, 2009; 4:07 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: Barack Obama, Washington Life
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Disclosures: Obama and Reid Books Trumped McCain's

Barack Obama not only beat John McCain at the ballot box last year, he also crushed him in the bookstores.

By Web Politics Editor | June 12, 2009; 2:54 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: B_Blog, Barack Obama, John McCain
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Court Watch: Affirmative Action, Baby

Checking in with the blogosphere: Comments from SCOTUSblog, Human Events and Washington Examiner.

By Web Politics Editor | June 12, 2009; 2:43 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Supreme Court
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Obama Looking Forward to Signing Tobacco Bill

Congress sent legislation to the White House on Friday that gives the federal government vast new powers to regulate and restrict cigarettes.

By Web Politics Editor | June 12, 2009; 2:29 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Video Report
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Obama Hails Iranian Political Debate

President Obama said today he was heartened to see the "robust debate" that preceded today's Iranian presidential election, saying he hopes it will help U.S. efforts to engage the Islamic regime.

By Web Politics Editor | June 12, 2009; 1:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Foggy Bottom
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Problems Obama Inherited Now Becoming His Own

Checking in with the news of the day: Stories from the New York Times, Washington Post, Gallup, Politico and the Associated Press.

By Ben Pershing | June 12, 2009; 8:27 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: The Rundown
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POTUS Events: Obama and the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

President Barack Obama arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday,...

By washingtonpost.com | June 12, 2009; 7:21 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: The Daybook
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War Bill's Flu Provision Could Trip Up GOP

If GOP lawmakers follow through with their opposition by voting against the final bill next week, a "no" vote on flu prevention will appear on the books.

By Web Politics Editor | June 11, 2009; 8:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Health Care
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Democrats Reach Agreement on War Funding Bill

Congressional Democrats today reached agreement on a war-funding bill that had been stalled, as the Obama administration dropped its request for a provision that would bar the release of photos that show abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Web Politics Editor | June 11, 2009; 8:11 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: National Security
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Wright Walks Back Comment Blaming 'Them Jews' for Keeping Obama from Him

By Garance Franke-Ruta President Obama's former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Thursday again sought to...

By Web Politics Editor | June 11, 2009; 7:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (41)

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Obama Writes Fourth Grader a Memorable Absence Note

President Obama gave a fourth grader who ditched class with her dad to see him a hand-written note excusing her absence.

By Web Politics Editor | June 11, 2009; 2:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (59)
Categories: Health Care
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Obama Touts Public Plan at Health Care Town Hall

President Obama today reiterated his call for a government-run insurance option as part of his a plan to remake the nation's health care system.

By Web Politics Editor | June 11, 2009; 2:22 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (63)
Categories: B_Blog, Health Care
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Court Watch: Poster Child

By Garance Franke-Ruta • Sotomayor gets the Obama poster treatment, courtesy of Presente.org and artist...

By Web Politics Editor | June 11, 2009; 1:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Supreme Court
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Health Care Fight Divides Democrats

By Ben Pershing The traditional narrative for any big Washington policy fight is typically Democrats...

By Ben Pershing | June 11, 2009; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: The Rundown
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POTUS Events: Hello Wisconsin!

College student Bobby Georgia helps clean up the marquee at Green Bay Southwest High School...

By Washington Post editors | June 11, 2009; 7:52 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: The Daybook
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Republicans Say Sotomayor Questionnaire Incomplete, Request More Information

By Jerry Markon Senate Republicans are requesting more documents and copies of speeches from Supreme...

By Web Politics Editor | June 10, 2009; 6:01 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Republican Party
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Obama 'Shocked and Saddened' by News of Shooting at Holocaust Museum

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Obama was "concerned" and "saddened by what -- what has happened" at the Holocaust Memorial Museum today, where a man opened fire, killing a guard.

By Web Politics Editor | June 10, 2009; 3:54 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (33)
Categories: National Security
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In Va. Primary, Message and Momentum Trumped Money

By Ben Pershing Well that wasn't close at all, was it? After a grueling but...

By Ben Pershing | June 10, 2009; 8:27 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: The Rundown
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POTUS Events

President Obama on the phone in the Oval Office, June 8, 2009. (Pete Souza/AFP/Getty Images)...

By Washington Post editors | June 10, 2009; 7:31 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: The Daybook
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White House Locked Down After Woman Jumps Fence

A woman jumped a fence onto White House property Tuesday and was immediately taken into custody, the Secret Service said.

By Web Politics Editor | June 9, 2009; 6:48 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: Washington Life
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At White House Event, Law Enforcement Groups Back Sotomayor

Eight national law enforcement groups today endorsed the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, saying the former prosecutor is tough but compassionate judge who has performed ably on the front lines of the nation's criminal justice system.

By Web Politics Editor | June 9, 2009; 5:31 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Supreme Court
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Obama Announces Push for PAYGO

President Obama today announced legislation to make "pay as you go" budgeting rules -- known as PAYGO -- law.

By Web Politics Editor | June 9, 2009; 2:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Primary Source
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GOP Fundraiser Offered Dinner and a Circus

It's a measure of the Republican Party's problems that its members managed to turn their biggest fundraising event this year into a circus highlighting their own differences.

By Marcia Davis | June 9, 2009; 1:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (303)
Categories: Dan Balz's Take
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Senate Sets Sotomayor Hearing Date

The Senate Judiciary Committee has set a date for the start of hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be associate justice of the Supreme Court: July 13.

By Web Politics Editor | June 9, 2009; 12:32 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (41)
Categories: B_Blog, Supreme Court
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Republicans Decry Guantanamo Detainee Transfer to US

Congressional Republicans today sharply attacked the Obama administration's decision to bring a detainee from Guantanomo Bay to the United States.

By Web Politics Editor | June 9, 2009; 12:08 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: National Security
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Obama's Recovery Plans Hit Hurdles

By Ben Pershing Two key tenets of President Obama's economic recovery plan have hit obstacles...

By Ben Pershing | June 9, 2009; 8:23 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: The Rundown
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POTUS Events: Pay As You Go

President Obama with Vice President Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder, HUD secretary Shaun Donovan during...

By washingtonpost.com editors | June 9, 2009; 8:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: The Daybook
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Zimbabwe's Prime Minister to Meet with Obama

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is scheduled to meet with President Obama at the White House on Friday, the Obama administration announced today.

By Web Politics Editor | June 8, 2009; 6:33 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Foggy Bottom
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Court Watch: Accident-Prone Justices

By Garance Franke-Ruta Now that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has broken her ankle, the "Sotomayor Stumbles"...

By Web Politics Editor | June 8, 2009; 4:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Supreme Court
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Senate Republicans Send Obama Letter Opposing Public Health Plan

All but one of the ten Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee signed a letter to President Obama today outlining their opposition to a so-called public option in a health care overhaul, illustrating what has become the sharpest divide between the two parties on this issue.

By Web Politics Editor | June 8, 2009; 3:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (43)
Categories: Health Care
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New Recovery Roadmap Has Much in Common with Old

President Obama and Vice President Biden today announced a new "roadmap to recovery" intended to speed up stimulus spending and rebut the perception that the $787 billion stimulus package is not yet having much of a job-creating impact, given the 9.4 percent unemployment rate.

By Web Politics Editor | June 8, 2009; 2:55 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: analysis
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44: June 7, 2009 - June 13, 2009