Bush Recollection Puts Spotlight on Miscarriage

But the scene, described by former President George W. Bush in his interview with Matt Lauer of NBC News on Monday night, has started a national conversation — both about his mother, Barbara Bush, and about the complex psychological fallout from miscarriage.

Mr. Bush called his mother’s action “straightforward,” and added that it illustrated “how my mom and I developed a relationship.” Some opponents of abortion reacted approvingly. Other commentators called Mrs. Bush’s behavior the action of a depressed and angry person.

But experts say the incident is hard to interpret half a century after the fact. Indeed, it was extraordinary in at least one respect, they add: Mrs. Bush made a point of directly confronting the loss at a time when the subject was largely taboo.

When a middle-class woman miscarried in postwar America, doctors often whisked the fetus away as if there were no loss of life at all, only embarrassment; women whispered about it between themselves but hardly ever discussed it openly.

“It wasn’t thought of as losing a life; it was more like a medical mishap,” said Dr. Randi Hutter Epstein, a physician and the author of “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth” (Norton, 2010). “And although women felt it privately, they didn’t feel it was worthy of going to see someone, or seeking help.”

President Obama celebrates birthday in Chicago

CHICAGO – It wasn’t much of a party, just President Barack Obama catching up with some close friends and Oprah Winfrey over dinner in his adopted hometown. His wife and kids were away, but they called to wish him a “Happy Birthday.” His dog, Bo, made the trip, along with an aide to take him for walks. He played cards on the flight from Washington. He got to sleep in his own home.

And that’s how the president celebrated turning 49 on Wednesday, with a relatively low-key overnight stay in Chicago.

That might seem a bit ordinary for the commander in chief, but Obama has only been back to visit Chicago a handful of times since moving to Washington 20 months ago. And while he may have spent the night there without his family, he had plenty of company throughout his big day.

Obama got “Happy Birthday” wishes from AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka when he spoke to the labor group’s executive council Wednesday morning. The audience in the East Room ceremony for 2010 recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal serenaded him. A little girl in his Chicago neighborhood held a sign that was almost as big as her just to say, "Happy 49th Birthday President Barack Obama.”

McCain Coburn Spotlight Failing Stimulus Projects

Republican Sens. John released a report today profiling 100 stimulus projeMcCain (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) cts they say represent the failings of the stimulus package.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "passed with assurances that it would stem the loss of American jobs and keep the economy from floundering," reads the introduction of the report, Summer Time Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues during the Summer of Recovery." "As most can see, it hasn't."

The projects spotlighted represent just a tiny percentage of the more than 70,000 stimulus projects underway. Coburn said at a press conference, however, that the point of the report is to show that the stimulus is not getting Americans the "best bang for our buck." The program, he said, has raised the national debt while funding inappropriate projects.

"There is no question that this stimulus bill has had a positive effect on the economy to a certain degree, and what our criticism is, it could have had far greater effect," Coburn said.

The report highlights projects funded by the stimulus such as a water park in New York, research into whether yoga can reduce hot flashes, and a sidewalk in Boynton, Oklahoma that leads into a ditch.

US combat mission in Iraq to end

Barack Obama said the US strategy in Iraq will shift "from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats" by the end of this month, in the first of a series of speeches trumpeting the success of his administration's policy.

After a seven-year conflict costing US taxpayers some $700bn and the lives of more than 4,000 American troops, Obama proclaimed that the withdrawal of US forces was happening "as promised, on schedule," fulfilling his pledge as a presidential candidate to bring the conflict in Iraq to a "responsible end".

"As we mark the end of America's combat mission in Iraq, a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there," Obama told the Disabled Veterans of America conference in Atlanta today, using a phrase that recalls George Bush's ill-fated claim on 1 May 2003 that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

In an attempt to avoid the premature triumphalism that damaged Bush's presidency, Obama also warned: "The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq."

Today's speech comes after a year in which Obama's administration has been concentrating on the conflict in Afghanistan and on US domestic policy, as the economy has remained the public's top concern and Democrats have wrestled with passing landmark healthcare and financial regulation reform

The withdrawal of American troops and the shift to a "civilian effort" will, however, likely include a build-up in contractors working for the US State Department, driving armored vehicles, flying aircraft and disposing of explosive devices, according to a report by McClatchy Newspapers.

Economy erodes election hope for Democrats

President Obama makes remarks on the Senate campaign finance reform vote in the Rose Garden at the White House.

Americans by a large majority believe President Barack Obama has not focused enough on job creation, as economic fears threaten Democrats ahead of November 2 congressional elections, a Reuters-Ipsos poll found on Tuesday.

In a sign of trouble ahead for the Democrats, the poll found evidence of a sizable enthusiasm gap with Republicans more energized about voting in the elections.

Americans expressed deep unhappiness with the direction of the economy, which in the poll they identified overwhelmingly as the country's top problem.

The U.S. unemployment rate is at a stubbornly high 9.5 percent and Obama has spent much of the year on issues like Wall Street reform and healthcare in addition to jobs.

People were more negative about Obama's performance on the economy than on any other question surveyed. Satisfaction was dropping more sharply on the issue than on any other question.

Only 34 percent approved of Obama's handling of the economy and jobs compared to 46 percent who deemed it unsatisfactory. This is a sharp decline from early 2009, shortly after he took office, when more than half of those surveyed approved of Obama's handling of the worst financial crisis in decades.

President Obama to defend education plan

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will deliver major speeches this week on their $4.35 billion Race to the Top school reform program, pushing back against complaints that it promotes unproven methods and ignores long-standing inequities in public education.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Duncan is expected to name a list of state finalists for the controversial grant program’s second round of funding and to explain why Race to the Top — the crown jewel of the administration’s education agenda — must continue. And on Thursday, Obama will talk about education at the annual gathering of the National Urban League, one of seven civil rights organizations that blasted Race to the Top in a report made public Monday.

The highly competitive initiatives “distribute resources by competition in the midst of a severe recession,” effectively reducing standard, formula-based federal education funding, according to the report. “Such an approach reinstates the antiquated and highly politicized frame for distributing federal support to states that civil rights organizations fought to remove in 1965.”

Obama holds up a document of Republican solutions

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama who rocketed to the White House promising "change you can believe in," is now telling voters they shouldn't change a thing.

His message for the fall elections, which are looking ominous for his Democrats, is that Republicans caused the nation's economic troubles, but he and the Democrats are starting to fix them. So stick with the Democrats and don't go back to the GOP.

"This is a choice between the policies that led us into the mess or the policies that are leading out of the mess," Obama said recently in Las Vegas.

Trouble is, it's a tough sell to voters who've seen little progress.

Unemployment is stuck near double digits and polls show many voters have decided Obama's policies are to blame, not his predecessor's.

Obama often frames the argument by saying that Republicans had their chance to drive, then drove the car into a ditch and shouldn't get the keys back. But voters may be concluding that Democrats, who control the White House and both chambers of Congress, have had their chance at the wheel, too, and haven't gotten very far.

Rep. Charles Rangel vows to stay put and beat ethics rap

Washington - When a reporter asked embattled Rep. Charles Rangel if his trial on ethics charges would hurt other Democrats, he shrugged and said, "Pain is pain."

But when a House ethics panel lays out the charges against him Thursday, the pain won't be just Rangel's.

Some of the most powerful people in America will wince with him - and hope he beats the rap.

Among them are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and a throng of fans at the White House.

"Charlie has friends up and down Pennsylvania Ave.," a White House source said.

And while at least one Democrat has called on Rangel to step down for the sake of the party - Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) - he stood firm yesterday.

"Well, it wouldn't be the American thing to do [to step aside]. I think I owe it to the process to find out first what the investigative committee finds out," Rangel told reporters after speaking at Harlem Hospital.

Most Democrats, and many Republicans, see the 80-year-old Harlem Democrat and Korean War vet as likeable and extremely effective.

"When he walks into a room, you know he's the guy, he's just the guy, and that's what Charlie is to our delegation," said 11-term Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx).

"Charlie is the man around whom we all gathered," added Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx).

From his 40 years in the House, Rangel also is unsurpassed in knowing how to work the system.

Quantcast Bowing to political reality, Senate Democrats drop broad energy bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, flanked by Sen. John F. Kerry and White House energy czar Carol Browner, blamed the GOP for the impasse.

Washington —Senate Democratic leaders shelved plans for major energy and climate legislation on Thursday, bowing to political reality and probably ending hopes for action this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost alternative energy production and wean the nation from carbon fuels.

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada — who had promised to bring a sweeping energy bill with an emissions cap to the Senate floor by the August recess — said he would instead offer a scaled-back bill focused largely on responding to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama We made enormous progress this week

President Obama did a victory lap of sorts today, trumpeting three new laws approved this week that will help "repair the damage to our economy from this recession:" New financial firm regulations, an anti-government waste initiative, and an extension of unemployment benefits.

"We made enormous progress this week on Wall Street reform, on making sure that we're eliminating waste and abuse in government, and in providing immediate assistance to people who are out there looking for work," Obama said during brief remarks at the White House.

The president went on to urge Congress to pass a new loan program for small business owners so they can hire more people. "Our goal is to make sure that people who are looking for a job can find a job," said Obama, who is currently coping with an unemployment rate of 9.5%.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, had a different interpretation of Obama's domestic program, saying it has actually slowed economic recovery.

"For more than a year and a half, the President and his Democrat allies on Capitol Hill have pushed an anti-business, anti-jobs agenda on the American people in the form of one massive government intrusion after another," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Senate Democrats abandon comprehensive energy bill

Senate Democrats on Thursday abandoned plans to pass an energy bill that caps emissions of carbon dioxide, saying Republicans refuse to support the measure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said no Republican was willing to back a comprehensive energy bill, a development he called "terribly disappointing."

Democrats have been trying for more than a year to pass a plan that charges utilities and other major polluters for their heat-trapping carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. They're also abandoning a compromise plan to limit emissions only from utilities that also failed to attract the 60 votes needed to advance it in the 100-member Senate.

Reid and other Democrats said they would focus on a narrower bill that responds to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and improves energy efficiency.

"We've always known from day one that to pass comprehensive energy reform, you've got to have 60 votes," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the bill's lead sponsor. "As we stand here today we don't have one Republican vote."

Obama urges action on unemployment

Barack Obama urged Republican lawmakers to support a bill that would extend emergency benefits to millions of unemployed Americans on Monday. In a press conference at the White House Rose Garden he blasted Republican critics for their "lack of faith in the American people."

"These are honest, decent, hard-working folks who have fallen on hard times through no fault of their own," Obama said. "The same people who didn't have any problems spending money on tax breaks for the richest Americans are saying we shouldn't offer benefits to middle-class Americans."

Unemployment in the United States is at 9.5 per cent, and benefits for millions of Americans have dried up in recent months. The issue of temporarily extending emergency unemployment benefits has come up three times in recent weeks, but Republican senators have blocked it each time.

Obama has described the bill as crucial to rebuilding the economy, but Republican critics say they won't support it unless it is paid for through the budget and not through deficit spending.

"It's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics," Obama urged.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee nears confirmation

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan won approval by the Senate judiciary committee on Tuesday, moving her one step closer to final confirmation by the full Senate.

The committee voted 13 to 6 in favour of her nomination. She is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate as early as next week to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring.

Though just one Republican, Senator Lindsay Graham, voted in Kagan's favour, President Barack Obama praised the vote as "a bipartisan affirmation of Kagan's strong performance during her confirmation hearings" in June.

Before the vote, each of the 19 committee members voiced support or concerns about Kagan, currently the Obama administration's Solicitor General and a former dean of the Harvard Law School.

If confirmed by the full Senate, Kagan, 50, would become the third female justice on the nine-member court — joining Ruth Bader-Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor — and only the fourth in U.S. history.

For that, "her confirmation will be a milestone that we can all be proud of," said Senator Herb Kohl, of Wisconsin. "She will provide exemplary public service to our nation."

Kagan appeared to receive universal praise for her keen intellect and command of the law

Sarah Palin's war chest points to 2012 presidential bid

Sarah Palin's efforts to raise her profile and broaden her support suggest she is preparing for a tilt at the White House in 2012.

Newly published election spending figures show Sarah Palin ended the last quarter with a war chest of more than $1m, suggesting gathering momentum for a run at the White House in 2012.

Her political action committee, a body for raising and distributing election cash, raised $866,000 in the three months from April 1, the most since it was formed in January 2009. She spent about $742,000 over the quarter, most of it on building up her political profile and base support.

Palin, who enjoys the support of the Tea Party and other grassroots activists but is distrusted by the Republican party establishment, has not yet said whether she will stand as a candidate. She and other potential rivals for the Republican nomination would normally begin to make their intentions clear early next year, in the wake of November's Congressional mid-term elections.

But a breakdown of money raised and spent by Palin suggests she is putting in place the political framework for a bid. She spent almost twice as much as in any previous quarter, much of it on speechwriters, private jets for public appearances, and hiring consultants to advise her on domestic and foreign policy, which were embarrassing weaknesses during her vice-presidential run in 2008.

She is also taking on more staff, including for the first time someone to keep control of her schedule. Until now, her organisation has tended to be chaotic.

Minor quake in DC doesn't shake up Obama

WASHINGTON -- A minor earthquake in the nation's capital didn't shake the president. After talking to reporters on the Gulf oil spill, President Barack Obama was asked whether he felt the 3.6-magnitude quake that hit near Washington early Friday morning.

A smiling Obama said he didn't feel it. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was the strongest quake to hit within 30 miles of D.C. since the agency began keeping records in 1974. No injuries were reported. Many in the area slept through it while others were jolted awake.

On the federal agency's website, by midmorning more than 11,000 people had reported feeling the quake, some from as far away as Pennsylvania and West Virginia. But at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, at least one person wasn't rattled.

Barack Obama's crackdown bill on Wall Street wins Senate backing

Barack Obama has received a much-needed boost after the US Senate backed the biggest reform of Wall Street since the Great Depression.

The bill allows Obama to claim another major piece of legislation to put alongside the economic stimulus bill passed last year, which stands comparison with Roosevelt's New Deal, and the healthcare bill earlier this year, which achieved a goal that had eluded previous presidents.

It helps him counter accusations that his presidency is in danger of becoming an empty one, comparable to that of Jimmy Carter, who had little to show for his four years in office.

The bill, which could be on Obama's desk for signing on Friday or early next week, is intended to deal with many of the issues that led to recession in the US: dodgy mortgages, easy credit cards, and limited regulation of banking and Wall Street.

It posed a dilemma for the Republicans, caught between their traditional close ties with the financial industry and public anger against Wall Street, but in the end most voted against it. Lobbying groups on behalf of the financial industry mounted one of the most expensive campaigns in US election history against the bill.

Although some Democrats complain the bill does not go nearly far enough in regulating Wall Street, the Obama administration hopes it will help address some of the widespread public anger at bankers and financiers.

Barack Obama forced to quell rebellion from 'nuclear mad' Democrats

Mr Obama held a clear-the-air meeting at the White House with party leaders, whose frustration with the administration had been simmering for months.

He promised to provide his full support from now until the midterm elections in November, when the entire 435-seat lower chamber will be contested.

Anger among Democrats had boiled over after Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said on national television last weekend that the party's 75-seat majority could be overturned at the polls.

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, was said to be "nuclear mad" about Mr Gibbs's comments.

An aide said she referred to the remarks as "friendly fire," and called them "very damaging".

Louise Slaughter, a member of Democratic leadership, said: "It was an absolutely ridiculous thing for him to say. We didn't appreciate it."

The row came as the president's popularity continued to slide, with voters expressing declining confidence in his handling of the economy.

Obama's job approval rating down three points to a new low of 44 per cent. Those who approved of his handling of the economy dropped five percentage points in a month to 40 per cent.

Mr Obama on Thursday travelled to Holland in Michigan, where $472 million from last year's $800 billion stimulus has been spent, principally on new electric vehicle battery factories.

Obama picks adviser to cut deficit

WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday tapped veteran adviser Jacob “Jack’’ Lew, former staffer to Bay State lawmakers, to head the Office of Management and Budget.

Lew, who worked for Representative Joseph Moakley and former House speaker Thomas P. “Tip’’ O’Neill in the 1970s and ’80s, has a long record of public service, serving as both deputy director and director of OMB during the Clinton administration.

The 54-year-old Lew is currently a top aide to another Clinton — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — and would replace outgoing OMB director Peter Orszag.

“I was actually worried that Hillary would not let him go,’’ Obama said in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House yesterday, introducing Lew. “I had to trade a number of No. 1 draft picks to get Jack back at OMB.’’

When he worked for Bill Clinton, Lew presided over a substantial budget surplus.

If he goes back to his old job, Lew will have to wrangle with the biggest budget deficit in history, forcing him to look for more cuts and revenues to reach the president’s ultimate goal of a reduced deficit.

“Jack’s challenge over the next few years is to use his extraordinary skill and experience to cut down that deficit and put our nation back on a fiscally responsible path. And I have the utmost faith in his ability to achieve this goal as a central member of our economic team,’’ Obama said.

Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, called Lew “a superb choice’’ and a person of “the highest integrity.’’

“He knows how to make the tough choices. And he knows how to reach across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions,’’ Conrad said.

Palin Comes to Tea Party's Defense After NAACP Passes Racism Resolution

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came to the defense of the Tea Party on Tuesday night, saying that the NAACP was wrong to pass a resolution condemning what it says are racist elements of the conservative movement.

"I am saddened by the NAACP's claim that patriotic Americans who stand up for the United States of America's Constitutional rights are somehow 'racists,'" Palin wrote in a Facebook note. "The charge that Tea Party Americans judge people by the color of their skin is false, appalling, and is a regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject at hand."

Delegates at the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Kansas City yesterday passed the resolution calling on the Tea Party to expel its racist elements, but the group will reportedly not release the final version of the resolution until its board passes it in October.

Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee who is now seen as a leader of the Tea Party movement, quoted conservative icon Ronald Reagan, who called America's past racism "a legacy of evil." She said that with the election of the first black president, the United States has become "a new 'post-racial' society."

Vote on Kagan delayed on Republican request

A committee vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan will be put off at least another week to give Republican lawmakers more time to review her record.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, requested that the committee's vote on the nomination, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, be delayed for one week.

Mr. Sessions said he had "serious questions" about Ms. Kagan, particularly relating to her views on the military, partial-birth abortion and gun rights.

"Fundamentally, the nominee lacks the experience and the intellectual vigor you develop from full-time practice of the law and serving as a judge," Mr. Sessions said.

Ms. Kagan, who spent most of her career in academia as dean of Harvard Law School and previously worked in the Clinton White House, had testified two weeks ago before the committee. Republicans criticized her for dodging questions during her three days of testimony.

But the committee's chairman, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, said Ms. Kagan answered the 500 questions she faced more thoroughly than recent nominees, and he praised her intellect and wit.

Mr. Leahy agreed to grant the request for a one-week delay, which any member of the committee has a right to request, though he did say he suspects all members of the committee have already decided how they will vote on Ms. Kagan's nomination.

President Obama nominated Ms. Kagan to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring after more than three decades on the bench. If Ms. Kagan is confirmed, it will mark the first time that three women will sit on the high court at the same time.

Even with the delay, Ms. Kagan's nomination is not expected to face serious opposition and her confirmation is likely to take place before the court's next session begins in October.

On Economy, White House Message Not Sticking

Now, 40 percent of Americans polled approve of President Obama's handling of the economy; 54 percent disapprove. That's down from 45 percent approval last month.

Seventy-one percent of those polled say that their local job market is bad and 70 percent say it's going to stay the same or get worse. Only 28 percent of respondents think the job market will improve.

The White House has consistently said that the economic mess was inherited, that the Recovery Act/stimulus package has worked, and that it's going to take time for the country to get back on track. Republicans and some business allies have countered that the health care law and other legislative priorities, like the proposed energy legislation, have cost the business community and make job creation difficult.

The poll numbers show that the White House's message of success, not so much in curing the economy, but success in doing what's right, doesn't seem to be sticking.

Last week at fundraiser in Missouri, the president acknowledged the difficulty he's had in convincing Americans that his administration has the right prescription to fix the economy. "You wouldn't know it from listening to folks, but we cut taxes for working families and for small business owners all across American to help them weather the storm," he said.

With a few months to go to November's midterm elections, the White House has big hill to climb to turn the economic numbers around. So they've begun to change the message.

NAACP Proposing Resolution Condemning “Racism of the Tea Party

(Kansas City Star) — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will propose a resolution this week condemning racism within the tea party movement.

The resolution, scheduled for a vote as early as Tuesday by delegates attending the annual NAACP convention in Kansas City, calls upon “all people of good will to repudiate the racism of the Tea Parties, and to stand in opposition to its drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era.”
NAACP leaders said the resolution was necessary to make people aware of what they believe is a racist element within the tea party movement.

Tea party leaders deny that the movement is racist and said the resolution is unfair.

“I just don’t see racism in the tea party movement,” said Brendan Steinhauser, director of campaigns for FreedomWorks, which organizes tea party groups. “Racism is something we’re absolutely opposed to.”

“The NAACP has more of a political agenda now, but I would hope that they would appreciate the fact that the tea party movement has a lot in common with the civil rights movement. I’m personally inspired by what the civil rights movement did, and I want them to know that.”

Among the charges lodged against the tea party in the resolution:

• Tea party supporters have engaged in “explicitly racist behavior” and “displayed signs and posters intended to degrade people of color generally and President Barack Obama specifically.”
• * Tea party activists have used racial epithets, have verbally and physically abused black members of Congress and others, and have been charged with threatening public officials.

President Barack Obama is scheduling to appoint the head of Medicare and Medicaid without Senate hearings. Obama intends to use a so-called recess appointment to put Berwick in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Republicans have raised concerns about Berwick's views on rationing of care and other matters and said it was wrong for Obama to go around the normal Senate authentication process. That view was echoed by a key Democratic committee chairman, although the recess appointment is a tool used by presidents of both parties.

Berwick has wide support in the medical community but some Democrats feared the GOP would use his verification hearings as an occasion to reopen last year's troublesome health care debate. Obama protected the decision to appoint Berwick and two other officials, one to a pension board and the other to a White House science post.

The American Hospital Association and AARP were among the groups that weighed in to support Berwick Wednesday

Obama boost up U.S. export

President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday that he would renew his efforts to renegotiate long-stalled free trade agreement with Panama and Colombia and convince Congress to adopt them.

Obama said that” Ninety-five percent of the world's customers and fastest-growing markets are beyond our borders, So if we want to find new growth streams ... we've got to compete for those new customers” .Obama includes the coordination of trade missions in 24 countries to boost loans to help American exporters; breaking down trade barriers; enforcing trade rules, and promoting international economic cooperation.

Obama highlighted an agreement reached in March to revive the Chinese market to American pork products and to revive Russia to U.S. poultry. Combined, the two steps are worth more than $1 billion to American businesses Obama said the U.S. government is reforming its own restrictions on exports "consistent with our national security interests.

Barack Obama to put Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure over West Bank

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli premier, will come under fierce pressure from President Barack Obama to extend a 10-month freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

During their White House meeting, Mr Obama is expected to register his dismay at Israeli actions over the commando raid on an aid convoy to Gaza in which nine Turks died.

Israel has strongly resisted demands to apologise and Mr Netanyahu is likely to rebuff attempts to extend the settlement freeze, which expires at the end of September.

The meeting comes at a time of intense strain in the American-Israel relationship, a foreign policy foundation for both countries.

Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, was recently reported as saying in a private briefing that there was a "tectonic rift" between Jerusalem and Washington, a comment that he strenuously denied after it was publicised.

Mr Netanyahu will seek to emphasis his willingness to enter direct talks with the Palestinians as a means of deflecting the Gaza and settlement issues.

"I have been willing to meet Abu Mazen from the first day of this government," he said at a Cabinet meeting before setting off for the United States. "The time has come for him to be prepared to meet with us, because there is no other way to advance peace. I hope this will be one of the results of the visit to Washington."

Obama urges immigration reform

US president Barack Obama speaking about immigration reform at the American University School of International Service in Washington today.

President Barack Obama said his administration will push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, saying the system is “fundamentally broken”.

"What we have made clear is that this administration will not just kick the can down the road," president Obama said in a speech at the American University School of International Service in Washington today. “Immigration reform is no exception.”

Mr Obama said passing comprehensive reform would be impossible without Republican support. The president needs at least 60 votes in the Senate to overcome Republican opposition and ensure a floor vote on legislation and the Democrats control 58 seats.

Other major hurdles facing any overhaul effort this year are the midterm elections in November and a congressional agenda crowded with priorities such as confirming Elena Kagan as a Supreme Court justice, passing budget and spending bills, and final action on financial regulation overhaul.

The president has regularly pledged to tighten border security and revamp the nation's immigration laws to deal with the millions of immigrants in the country illegally.

He repeated that pledge in May during a state visit by Mexican president Felipe Calderon and earlier this week in a meeting with immigration groups.

Arizona Law Calderon lobbied Mr Obama for an immigration overhaul after Arizona passed a law cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Dems use Kagan to get voters

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party put Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan front and center Thursday on an e-mail appeal to raise funds and sign up supporters for President Barack Obama's agenda.

"Kagan for Justice," reads a bumper sticker-style headline on a website where supporters are asked to sign their names and give their e-mail addresses, then taken to a site where they are asked to donate money to the Democratic National Committee.

Also topping the site is a picture of a smiling Kagan, who just concluded three days of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee at which she pledged repeatedly to cast aside any political allegiances if confirmed, and decide cases solely on the basis of the Constitution and the law.

The appeal comes from Donna Brazile, one of Democrats' top voter registration officials.

"The Democratic Party is pushing back to ensure that this incredible woman gets a fair hearing, but we must also show that public support for Kagan is overwhelming," Brazile writes.

The message comes as the Judiciary panel is wrapping up a week's worth of hearings on Kagan, who's on track for confirmation after a smooth performance before senators.

Obama endorses plan to boost wireless broadband

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to participants of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month event in the East Room at the White House in Washington

U.S. President Barack Obama endorsed on Monday plans by regulators to nearly double the spectrum now available for wireless devices.

The White House announced a plan modeled after proposals by the Federal Communications Commission to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next 10 years to meet the demand for laptop computers and smartphones such as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) popular iPhone.

Some estimates suggest the next five years will see an increase in wireless data of between 20 to 45 times 2009 levels, reflecting the burgeoning use of wireless devices.

The Federal Communications Commission, which manages commercial spectrum licenses, and the Department of Commerce, which oversees government spectrum, have been working together to locate unused spectrum.

Officials said they hope they can identify some spectrum by Oct. 1 that can be made available within five years.

Paul Gallant, a telecommunications analyst with Concept Capital, said Obama's announcement is a plosive development for wireless infrastructure companies such as Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALUA.PA), American Tower Corp (AMT.N), Ciena Corp (CIEN.O), and Tellabs Inc, among others.

The "White House's endorsement bolsters the outlook for spectrum goals" laid out by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in the recent National Broadband Plan, Gallant said.

Freeing up airwaves to meet the growing demands of the wireless industry is a major component of the FCC's National Broadband Plan to increase Internet subscribers and provide affordable access to rural and low-income families.

House passes campaign bill backed by Democrats

WASHINGTON -- Four months before midterm elections, the Democratic-controlled House approved new limitations on the political activity of outside interest groups Thursday after carving out exemptions that benefit the National Rifle Association as well as labor unions and numerous federal contractors.

The vote was 219-206 on the legislation that Democrats trumpeted as a move to bring fuller disclosure to shadowy campaign ads and Republicans attacked as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

In a statement, President Barack Obama praised the bill, although he said, "I would have preferred that it include no exemptions." He urged quick action in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid has pledged to seek a vote but strong Republican opposition make its prospects uncertain.

At the juncture of the First Amendment and partisan politics, the measure produced an unlikely alignment among the very groups it was intended to regulate.

Organizations as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union and Sierra Club on the left to the Chamber of Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee on the right opposed it. The NRA was officially neutral - and drew a jab from House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio because of that.

Judge Blocks Deep-Water Drilling Moratorium

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday blocked a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling projects that the Obama administration had imposed in response to the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The White House swiftly said the administration would appeal the decision.

In a 22-page ruling, Judge Martin L. C. Feldman of Federal District Court issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a May 28 order halting all floating offshore drilling projects in more than 500 feet of water and preventing the government from issuing new permits for such projects.

Citing the economic harm to businesses and workers in the gulf caused by the moratorium, Judge Feldman — a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan — wrote that the Obama administration had failed to justify the need for the sweeping suspension, which he characterized as “generic, indeed punitive.”

He wrote that “the blanket moratorium, with no parameters, seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.”

President invites discussions for energy legislation

US President Barack Obama has asked key Republican and Democratic senators to meet him at the White House on June 23rd to discuss his currently stalled energy bill.

The meeting, which will take ideas from both sides of politics, will involve conversations on the oil tragedy in the Gulf, oil and gas drilling oversights, pollution at coal-burning factories and incentives for the expansion of nuclear energy for power.

The president will be looking to find votes for comprehensive energy legislation at the meeting, to which he has invited Republican Lindsey Graham, who was one of three original authors of the bill in the Senate. Senator Graham later dropped his support for the bill.

It is believed the president will ask the assembled lawmakers to consider a bill to change US dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, while also requiring US industries and utilities to cut their output of carbon dioxide pollution.

Obama heading back to Gulf Coast

President Barack Obama will make another visit to the Gulf Coast next week to review efforts to contain and clean up the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the White House announced Tuesday.

Obama's Monday and Tuesday itineraries will include stops in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, three of the four states affected by the 50-day-old disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the White House announced. It will be his fourth trip to the region since the spill erupted in late April.

On Friday, Obama was in Grand Isle, Louisiana, where he met with local business leaders directly affected by the undersea gusher and huddled with regional officials involved in the response effort.

Tuesday's announcement followed Obama's blunt defense of his administration's handling of the disaster in an interview on NBC's "Today" show. Asked about complaints that his public appearances have been too cerebral and reserved, Obama said, "This is not theater."

"I don't sit around talking to experts because this is a college seminar," he said. "We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."

Obama said that his administration's response is the largest mobilization against an environmental catastrophe in the history of the federal government and that officials understood "from day one" that the spill would be a major disaster. He said it is "tough" to see images of oil-smeared birds or meet fishermen "who are on the verge of tears," but "we just got to keep on moving."

Obama to keep drilling moratorium for 6 months-aide

President Barack Obama will announce a six month extension on a deepwater oil drilling moratorium on Thursday while a special commission studies the reasons for the Gulf of Mexico spill, a White House aide said.

"(Obama) will announce standards to strengthen oversight of the industry and enhance safety, a first step in a process that the independent Presidential Commission will continue," the aide said on Thursday.

"While the commission performs its work to determine how to prevent this from ever happening again, the moratorium on permits to drill new deepwater wells will continue for a period of six months."

The extended moratorium represents a further setback for offshore drilling expansion, a key plank of Obama's proposed energy policy overhaul, which is currently languishing in the U.S. Senate.

Democrats hoped increased drilling would attract Republican support for the bill, which also ramps up domestic production of renewable fuel sources and sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar briefed Obama and his advisers about the contents of a report about the spill and the deadly blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, which was leased by BP, on Wednesday night, the aide said.

The president is expected to discuss details of the report and his administration's response to the spill at a 12:45 p.m. EDT (1645 GMT) White House news conference.

Obama will announce delays or cancellations of planned exploration in certain areas around the country, the aide said.

Planned exploration off the coast of Alaska in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas will be put off pending the presidential commission's review, he said, while an August lease sale in the western Gulf will be canceled.

"The lease sale off the coast of Virginia will also be canceled due to environmental concerns and concerns raised by the Defense Department," he said.

Obama has come under increasing pressure to stop the spill and halt its environmental and economic consequences for Gulf states. BP, which has been publicly scolded by the president, was working on Thursday to plug the leaking well in a procedure known as "top kill."

Obama's bipartisan presidential commission is modeled after previous panels that looked into the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979.

Obama tours Fremont's Solyndra

President Obama looks at a solar panel as he is given a tour of Solyndra by Executive Vice President Ben Bierman, left, and Chief Executive Officer Chris Gronet, Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at Solyndra Inc. in Fremont, Calif. Solyndra is a solar panel manufacturing facility.

President Obama shakes hands with workers as Solyndra Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chris Gronet, third from left in blue shirt, watches during a tour of Solyndra Inc. in Fremont, Calif., Wednesday, May 26, 2010. Solyndra is a solar panel manufacturing facility.

In a trip designed to highlight green jobs created by the Recovery Act and the need for renewable alternatives to oil, President Barack Obama toured solar manufacturer Solyndra on Wednesday morning before speaking to a crowd of about 200 in the Fremont company's new factory.

Obama arrived at Solyndra shortly before 9:30 a.m., making a point of shaking hands with workers in white lab coats and hard hats before a tour with Chris Gronet, Solyndra's CEO, and Ben Bierman, executive vice president of operations and engineering.

Their conversation during the tour was largely drowned out by the noise of the factory, but at one point the president could be heard saying, "This is impressive. It really is."

Obama to lunch with Republican senators, dine with Democratic donors

Good morning. A busy President Obama will start his long day on Eastern time and end it on Pacific time. On tap: a Rose Garden ceremony to honor small businessowners, lunch with GOP senators, a meeting with Giorgio Napolitano, the president of Italy, and a fundraiser for California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Late yesterday, the White House signed off on a deal to repeal -- albeit slowly -- the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. That sets up votes later this week in the House and in the Senate Armed Services Committee that would permit gays to serve openly in the armed services once a review has been completed. Currently gays are permitted to serve only if they conceal their sexual preference. You can read the White House letter agreeing to the deal here.

This morning the president will celebrate National Small Business Week by hosting a White House reception for award-winning business owners. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says it's to recognize "the important role small business plays in our economy" -- and not a moment too soon, as USA TODAY's own Dennis Cauchon points out today in an eye-popping story about the decline in private sector wages.

The president then heads up to Capitol Hill, where he will join Republican senators for their weekly luncheon.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's spokesman, Don Stewart, says the president requested the invitation, which his boss was happy to issue. "The Republican Conference welcomes his visit ,where they will have a wide-ranging discussion on the year ahead," Stewart said.

Later in the afternoon, the president will be heading to California in an effort to prevent McConnell from having to lay an extra plate at his luncheons next year. Obama is working overtime to keep California's Senate seat Democratic, headlining his second fundraiser for Boxer in a little more than one month. Tonight's event is in San Francisco; in April Obama joined the senator at a Los Angeles fundraiser.

Obama to raise cash in California for Boxer

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is helping raise money for Sen. Barbara Boxer's re-election campaign, his second trip to California in as many months to assist the imperiled incumbent.

Obama was to appear at two fundraisers Tuesday night in San Francisco with the liberal Boxer, who is seeking her fourth-term. Though she easily won her last election, the economic woes that have hit California particularly hard have left Boxer facing her strongest challenge since she joined Congress.

Complicating matters for Boxer is an anti-Washington electorate that's been dismissing long-serving politicians with ease in this midterm election year. Veteran Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who switched from the Republican to Democratic Party, was ousted in his primary contest last week. Utah's three-term Sen. Bob Bennett failed to make it out of his state's Republican nominating convention earlier this month.

During a trip to Los Angeles last month to headline three fundraisers for Boxer, Obama warned supporters that she could suffer the same fate.

"I don't want anyone here taking this for granted," he said at an April 19th event.

Boxer's opponent will be decided in a June 8 GOP primary that pits former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina against former Rep. Tom Campbell and California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has the backing of the tea party movement.

Proceeds from Tuesday's events will be split between Boxer's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Obama will spend Tuesday night in San Francisco, then head to nearby Fremont, Calif., on Wednesday to tour a solar facility and make remarks on the economy.

President to propose new scheme for cutting congressional spending

President Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag, will be holding a telephone press conference later this morning to discuss a new plan to trim federal spending.

According to a sneak preview issued by the White House, the president plans to send legislation to Congress that would essentially allow him to excise parts of spending bills he doesn't like before signing them. The lawmakers would then vote on whether to accept the president's cuts -- but it would be a take-it-or-leave-it deal; no amendments or changes allowed.

It's the latest chapter in an age-old power struggle between the executive and legislative branches. Members of Congress love to tack pet projects onto "must-pass" bills required to keep the federal budget running, essentially daring the chief executive to veto the measures in order to get rid of the pork. Guess what? It usually doesn't happen.

Presidents have been trying for years to get a so-called "line-item veto" which would allow them to zero in on objectionable provisions without killing an entire bill. But so far, they haven't been successful.

Leading the opposition has been the Senate's senior Democrat, Robert C. Byrd, who argues that it upsets the constitutional balance of powers.

We'll be bringing you more about what the administration has to say in favor of its proposal after this morning's call.