Tag: Obama

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Obama Pushed ‘Fullest Extent’ of His Powers on Immigration Plan

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Obama Pushed ‘Fullest Extent’ of His Powers on Immigration Plan

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JULIA PRESTONNOV. 28, 2014

WASHINGTON — Months before President Obama took executive action last week to reshape the nation’s immigration system, Jeh C. Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, quietly convened a small group of advisers to explore the legal limits of the president’s powers.

Working in secrecy, Mr. Johnson’s team huddled for hours daily under orders to use “our legal authorities to the fullest extent” on a new deportations policy, a senior administration official said. In five White House meetings over the summer, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Obama, both lawyers, pored over proposed changes, eventually concluding that the president had the authority to enact changes that could affect millions of people and significantly alter the way immigration laws are enforced.

“I don’t think he wanted to be in the position of taking executive action,” Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy group, said of Mr. Obama. “It was not the way he wanted to fix the system.” Nonetheless, “at the end of the day, he felt this was the only option he had.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/us/white-house-tested-limits-of-powers-before-action-on-immigration.html?_r=0

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Is it any wonder no one wants Chuck Hagel’s job?

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Is it any wonder no one wants Chuck Hagel’s job?

https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/is-it-any-wonder-no-one-wants-chuck-hagels-job

Does anyone want Chuck Hagel’s old job? (AP Photo above /Mark Wilson, Pool)

First, Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed said ‘no’. He’s enjoying serving his constituents too much to consider leaving the Senate.

Then, former undersecretary of defence Michèle Flournoy announced she wasn’t interested either. She is committed to spending more time with her family.

Nobody, it would seem, wants to succeed the dismissed Chuck Hagel as Barack Obama’s defence secretary.

But who would want the job?

Given what Mr Hagel had to deal with, and what happened to him as a consequence, the downside of any such appointment is glaringly obvious.

Since the financial meltdown of 2008, it’s almost universally agreed that significant budget cuts are essential to restore the American economy. Cuts in military spending are an indispensable component of this because the overall share of the Armed Forces’ funding is at least 17 per cent, which is a significant part of annual government spending. Many believe that 17 per cent is a gross underestimate.

It is often said that the Pentagon is effectively the largest corporation in the United States. It is also one of America’s biggest employers, of both uniformed and civilian personnel. In such circumstances, one of the key tasks of any defence secretary is to preside over some pretty ruthless downsizing.

The pain is even greater because in this case the expenditures are public rather than private. Jobs are lost every time a base closes, a contract cancelled, or a deployment scrapped. Mr Hagel was initially brought in partly to oversee another phase in this politically damaging process.

His successor will be the fourth defence secretary to preside over the giant rollback.

As the process moves on, it becomes more difficult, and the cuts more controversial. Indeed, Mr Hagel was reportedly upset that Mr Obama did not fight harder in Congress to secure the Pentagon’s budget.

https://ibishblog.com/2014/11/29/is-it-any-wonder-no-one-wants-chuck-hagels-job/

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Obama removing Hagel as Pentagon chief

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Obama removing Hagel as Pentagon chief

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned Monday, becoming the first casualty of the Obama administration since Democrats suffered significant losses in this month’s midterm elections.

Hagel, the only Republican in Obama’s cabinet, was brought to the Pentagon to reduce budgets and wind down the war in Afghanistan.

His departure comes as the White House faces criticism over its handling of a new terrorist threat — the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and questions had been raised about whether Hagel was the right man for that job.

Obama announced Hagel’s departure in a White House ceremony were he was flanked by Hagel and Vice President Biden. He hailed Hagel as an “exemplary defense secretary” who had put the military “on a firmer footing.”

“I’ve known him admired him and trusted him for nearly a decade,” said Obama, who then added that Hagel had decided “it was an appropriate time for him to conclude his service.”

A senior administration official said the two had been discussing the possible transition since October. The president plans to nominate a successor shortly, but Hagel said he would remain in the post until that person is confirmed by the Senate.

Hagel, clearly emotional, said the “greatest privilege” of his career was leading the men and women of the Pentagon.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/225162-obama-removing-hagel-from-pentagon

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Zuckerman: Exec Amnesty ‘Fundamental Disruption’ In Way Gov’t Works

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Zuckerman: Exec Amnesty ‘Fundamental Disruption’ In Way Gov’t Works

US News and World Report Chairman and Editor-in-Chief and publisher of The New York Daily News, Mort Zuckerman, argued that President Obama’s executive action on immigration was “very negative” and “a fundamental disruption in the way our government was supposed to work” on Friday’s “McLaughlin Group.”

“I think the residue of this [the president’s executive action on immigration] is very negative for this country. I really do. I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to address a lot of issues in this country as a result of the breakdown in whatever constructive relationship would have exist[ed] between the president and the Congress. “that is not what the president ought to be doing.”

Zuckerman later added, “I think it is a fundamental disruption in the way our government was supposed to work.”

https://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/11/22/Zuckerman-Exec-Amnesty-Fundamental-Disruption-In-Way-Govt-Works

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Dems press Obama to wait on immigration

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Dems press Obama to wait on immigration

President Obama has a tough decision to make on the timing of an executive order to freeze deportations of illegal immigrants.

Senate Democrats want him to wait to give them time to pass an omnibus spending bill and other legislative priorities in the lame-duck session that is just now ramping up.

But delaying the action, even for a few weeks, could make Obama look weak and inflame immigration advocates who are already furious with him for holding back until after the midterm elections.

“You have growing anxiety amongst the immigrant community that’s losing faith that the president is going to do as he said he would do,” said Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “I really think he’ll lose support from the Latino community if he continues to wait.”

Complicating the situation further, Obama is being asked to do a favor for Democratic lawmakers at a time when they are casting blame on him for the party’s disastrous showing at the ballot box.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/224473-dems-press-obama-to-wait-on-immigration

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Under Obama, U.S. personal freedom ranking slips below France

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Under Obama, U.S. personal freedom ranking slips below France

BY JASON RUSSELL | NOVEMBER 18, 2014 | 12:48 PM

Americans’ assessments of their personal freedom have significantly declined under President Obama, according to a new study from the Legatum Institute in London, and the United States now ranks below 20 other countries on this measure.

The research shows that citizens of countries including France, Uruguay, and Costa Rica now feel that they enjoy more personal freedom than Americans.

As the Washington Examiner reported this morning, representatives of the Legatum Institute are in the U.S. this week to promote the sixth edition of their Prosperity Index. The index aims to measure aspects of prosperity that typical gross domestic product measurements don’t include, such as entrepreneurship and opportunity, education, and social capital.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/under-obama-u.s.-personal-freedom-ranking-slips-below-france/article/2556322

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Obama praised ‘bright ideas’ of health-care architect who called voters stupid

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Obama praised ‘bright ideas’ of health-care architect who called voters stupid

By Marisa Schultz

November 18, 2014 | 2:26am

WASHINGTON — The videos Democrats never wanted to see keep coming.

A day after President Obama tried to distance himself from a top health-care architect who said voter “stupidity” led to ObamaCare’s passage, a video surfaced of Obama praising the offensive professor for his bright ideas.

The Washington Free Beacon uncovered a video from 2006 of Obama telling a Brookings Institution panel he had “stolen ideas liberally” from MIT professor Jonathan Gruber.

Then-Sen. Obama praised Gruber and other academic and policy experts as the “brightest minds.”

https://nypost.com/2014/11/18/more-stupidity-in-latest-obamacare-video/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFl

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Obama veers left after red wave

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Obama , Moaist fashion statement

Obama veers left after red wave

By Justin Sink – 11/13/14 06:00 AM EST

President Obama has taken significant steps to the left since his party’s devastating losses in the midterm elections.

In a surprise, he announced a major deal on climate change with China during a trip to Beijing Tuesday. That followed another unanticipated move — a Monday statement pressuring the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new net neutrality rules for the Internet.

The moves are helping to rally a dispirited Democratic base while re-establishing Obama’s political leadership after he was sidelined during the midterms.

“He’s at his best when his back is against the wall,” said Democratic strategist Bob Shrum. “Jeremiah Wright in 2008, Scott Brown’s election in 2009, after the first debate in 2012 — he comes back and tends to fight pretty hard.”

“He’s a fourth-quarter player, and he’s in the fourth quarter of his presidency,” Shrum added.

The moves are also prompting questions about whether Obama is shifting to the left in his final two years in office, or if the moves are meant to cushion the blow when he moves to the center to negotiate with a Republican-controlled Congress.

The question is weighing heavily on members of both parties, particularly ahead of Obama’s decision on whether to take expansive executive actions on immigration.

https://thehill.com/news/administration/223977-obama-veers-left-after-red-wave

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Obama calls on FCC to keep Internet ‘free and open’

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Obama calls on FCC to keep Internet ‘free and open’

The president says that all Internet service providers should “protect Net neutrality” and agree to not block or throttle Internet traffic.

by Don Reisinger
@donreisinger
November 10, 2014 6:56 AM PST

President Barack Obama has issued his strongest message yet that the Internet should be kept “free and open.”

In a statement released Monday, Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to maintain Net neutrality and ensure that Internet service providers (ISPs) are not allowed “to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.”

“That is why today, I am asking the Federal Communications Commission to answer the call of almost 4 million public comments, and implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality,” President Obama said in the statement.

The FCC is working on a new set of rules for Internet oversight in the US. Those rules were expected to be made available later this year, though reports now claim they may be delayed until early 2015.

The agency earlier this year saw a vigorous response from the public to its call for comments on its Open Internet proposals, with the FCC’s servers sometimes stumbling and crashing under the overwhelming input. The comment window closed in September.

Net neutrality, which is the principle that ISPs and governments treat all Web traffic the same, has long been a debate around the US with no clear victory for either side. Consumers and many Internet companies argue that the Internet should remain open and that all traffic should be treated equally. Opponents have argued for a toll road of sorts that would provide better service to companies that pay to support their high traffic volumes. That has created widespread concern that ISPs could throttle service in some instance, intentionally slowing down some content streams and speeding up others.

https://www.cnet.com/news/president-obama-calls-on-fcc-to-keep-internet-free-and-open/

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Obama Wrote Secret Letter to Iran’s Khamenei About Fighting Islamic State

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Obama Wrote Secret Letter to Iran’s Khamenei About Fighting Islamic State

Presidential Correspondence With Ayatollah Stresses Shared U.S.-Iranian Interests in Combating Insurgents, Urges Progress on Nuclear Talks

By
JAY SOLOMON And
 
CAROL E. LEE
Updated Nov. 6, 2014 4:56 p.m. ET
354 COMMENTS

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama secretly wrote to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the middle of last month and described a shared interest in fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, according to people briefed on the correspondence.

The letter appeared aimed both at buttressing the campaign against Islamic State and nudging Iran’s religious leader closer to a nuclear deal.

Mr. Obama stressed to Mr. Khamenei that any cooperation on Islamic State was largely contingent on Iran reaching a comprehensive agreement with global powers on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program by a Nov. 24 diplomatic deadline, the same people say.

The October letter marked at least the fourth time Mr. Obama has written Iran’s most powerful political and religious leader since taking office in 2009 and pledging to engage with Tehran’s Islamist government.

https://online.wsj.com/articles/obama-wrote-secret-letter-to-irans-khamenei-about-fighting-islamic-state-1415295291

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Obama Slams Stay-At-Home Moms

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Obama Slams Stay-At-Home Moms
By Robert Gehl, November 2, 2014.

President Obama is determined that women should not stay at home to raise their children.

Speaking at a Rhode Island campaign rally, Obama was talking about daycare and preschool when he said women should not make the choice to “stay home with the kids.”

“Sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to make,” he said.

https://downtrend.com/robertgehl/video-obama-slams-stay-at-home-moms/?utm_source=fnot3&utm_medium=facebook

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On eve of election, Obama’s image matches all time low

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even Dom Nizza said he is voting for Bernie Walsh …probably.  

On eve of election, Obama’s image matches all time low

Voters will not see “Barack Obama” on the ballot on Tuesday, and the president might count himself lucky. A record low 44 percent of Americans report a favorable impression of him in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

President Obama’s image is considerably weaker than during the past two election cycles, along of course with his job approval ratings. Half the public now see Obama unfavorably, two points shy of his record high from last November amid the botched Healthcare.gov rollout. Today’s six-point unfavorable-favorable margin matches the worst since Obama rose to the national stage.

Tuesday’s electorate is likely to be even less fond of the president: 53 percent of likely voters see Obama unfavorably, while 43 percent give him favorable marks. The poll finds those with strongly held views of Obama are most likely to turn out to vote. Strongly unfavorable ratings for Obama outnumber strongly favorable by 36 percent to 24 percent. Roughly three-quarters of those who have strong impressions of the president — positive or negative — say they are certain to vote, compared with half of those who have “somewhat” favorable or unfavorable views of the president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/02/on-eve-of-2014-election-obamas-image-matches-all-time-low/?hpid=z2

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Christie, Obama trade jabs as details of N.J. Ebola quarantine plan emerge

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Christie, Obama trade jabs as details of N.J. Ebola quarantine plan emerge

As Governor Christie and President Obama sparred Wednesday over mandatory quarantines for travelers exposed to Ebola patients, a draft of the state’s strategy to deal with the virus outlined how it would enforce those quarantines, transport people to hospitals and treat children of parents who may have to be isolated. (Jackson/The Bergen Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-obama-trade-jabs-as-details-of-n-j-ebola-quarantine-plan-emerge-1.1121398

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Black disappointment with Obama threatens Democrats

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Black disappointment with Obama threatens Democrats

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

McClatchy Washington BureauOctober 23, 2014


MIAMI — Black voters’ disappointment with President Barack Obama, who they so eagerly embraced for so many years, could be costly on Election Day to Democrats, who badly need a big African-American turnout to win Senate and gubernatorial races in key states.

Instead, many African-Americans see an unemployment rate well above the national average, continuing problems with crime in many neighborhoods, and a president more interested in trying to help other voting blocs that didn’t give him such unwavering support.

Related: Rep. John Lewis says he’d ‘vote against’ Obama judicial nominee

He talks about same-sex marriage in a nod to the gay and lesbian community. He discusses immigration and its benefits, an issue particularly important to the Latino community. He fights for equal pay, a vital issue to the women Democrats so avidly court.

Read more here: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/10/23/244420_black-disappointment-with-obama.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

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Democrat Political Hack Named Ebola Czar

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Democrat Political Hack Named Ebola Czar

GOP blasts Obama Ebola czar pick

New Czar has no background or infectious disease experience?

No he is not a Doctor

By David McCabe – 10/17/14 12:24 PM EDT

No sooner had the White House announced that it had selected Ron Klain to coordinate the administration’s response to concerns about the Ebola virus than several congressional Republicans were expressing anger about the pick.

Most highlighted Klain’s past as a political operative. He is a former chief of staff to Vice President Biden and a longtime aide to Democratic campaigns. Those criticizing Klain included Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), who chaired Thursday’s hearing on the response to the virus.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/221086-republicans-blast-obamas-pick-for-ebola-czar