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  • A frustrated caucus keeps complaints quiet
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Michael LeahyA year ago, members of the Congressional Black Caucus openly wept at Barack Obama's inauguration. Many caucus members say they feel largely ignored by key White House advisers. But several members said they have few African American contacts with substantial sway in the White House.
  • Aftershocks a reality check for Chilean President SebastiÃ?¡n PiÃ?±era
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    The billionaire businessman had vowed to generate 6 percent economic growth a year and hundreds of thousands of jobs. The timber industry has been hobbled by the loss of ports and factories, he said.
  • AP: Obama wants Janet Yellen as Fed vice chairman
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Yellen is more concerned about high unemployment than rising inflation. The Fed vacancies have stirred debate over the future direction of interest-rate policy at the Fed. Yellen served as a top economic adviser to President Bill Clinton.
  • Democrats pare differences on health bill
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    But the White House seems to have back off that as Democratic leaders scurried to round up votes. The health care bill appeared on the cusp of passage in early January, but was derailed when Senate Republicans gained the strength needed to sustain a filibuster and prevent final approval. We're getting toward the end," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told reporters as he left the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
  • Dems look to health vote without abortion foes
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Abortion opponents say the provision falls short in restricting taxpayer dollars for abortion coverage. White House officials and congressional Democratic leaders met Wednesday evening in Pelosi's office. The House bill would have prohibited health plans receiving subsidies from covering abortions.
  • Education funding priorities shift
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Thursday that the measure he seeks to enact would channel more than $50 billion into Pell grants. That's up from the House-passed bill's total of $40 billion. In addition, Harkin indicated that growth in the maximum Pell grant award would be less than the House envisioned.
  • Five days in May
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    John Tanner (D), Democrats quickly rallied around state Sen. Virginia's 5th district (D): Much of Rep. John Carney (D) is a solid favorite to win the open seat race created by Rep.
  • Frustrated caucus keeps quiet
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Michael LeahyA year ago, members of the Congressional Black Caucus openly wept at Barack Obama's inauguration. Many caucus members say they feel largely ignored by key White House advisers. But several members said they have few African American contacts with substantial sway in the White House.
  • Irish PM Brian Cowen to meet with Obama
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    In recent months, however, Cowen has been laboring to put debt-saddled Ireland back into the black. But Cowen's government has paid a hefty price, sporting one of the lowest approval ratings in recent Irish history. Cowen is set to pitch the Emerald Isle in Chicago and California before heading to Washington.
  • Is Obama having trouble connecting with Main Street?
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Ezra KleinThe latest issue of The New Yorker features a typically engrossing, and even convincing, George Packer article limning Barack Obama's failure to connect to Main Street. It tracks the approval ratings of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. Bush, Obama and Reagan are all in lockstep until Bush gets his 9/11 bump.
  • Justices and politicians should boycott the State of the Union
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    But the third president, Thomas Jefferson, put his thoughts in writing and dispatched them to Congress. Wilson's watery Caesarism preached that presidents should spur that dangerous stallion. For that matter, the 535 legislators should boycott these undignified events.
  • Letters: Obama is a pragmatist, not idealist
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    He is trying to provide basic health care to those who have none and take the exorbitant profits out of the pharmaceutical and health insurance companies. Too many of us are looking for - or worse, demanding - President Obama to be Don Quixote, the ultimate idealist. The real Don Quixotes are, at best, inspirational losers.
  • New president Pinera projects $30B in Chile quake damage
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Pinera repeatedly urged Chileans to display courage in his first appearances as president. There were no reports of more deaths, but violent waves hit the coastal towns of Pichilemu and Bucalemu, Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said. Treasury minister Felipe Larrain's initial projection of the damage is $30 billion.
  • Obama aide: Janet Yellen is "leading contender" for Fed Reserve slot
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Economist Janet Yellen is the "leading contender" to be President Obama's pick for vice chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Board. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that Yellen, president of the Fed's bank in San Francisco, is now Obama's top choice to replace Donald Kohn, who is retiring in June. Yellen is a former chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, serving President Bill Clinton.
  • Obama and health care: Not next week, but reconciliation beckons
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    McConnell's office responded in part by touting a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian that could complicate the reconciliation process even further. It says House Democrats must adopt the Senate's health care bill and have Obama sign it into law before making any of the reconciliation changes that Obama and key congressional Democrats want. You know, there's a reason that legislating gets compared to sausage making.
  • Obama at a Caps game? Barack the Red dreams on.
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    A transcript of his exchange with White House press secretary Robert Gibbs follows:Q One more question while you have the U.S.A. sweater on there. Unemployment is in double digits. ... Audacity? I will check on whether he's been to a game before.
  • Obama delays Asia trip to focus on on health care
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    He postponed his trip to China in November because of the Fort Hood shootings and health-care votes. People are eager to move on this," Van Hollen said late Thursday. "Do people have concerns they want addressed? Obama spent several years living in Indonesia as a youth, and his mother worked in the country for much of her life.
  • Obama delays Asia trip to focus on push
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    He postponed his trip to China in November because of the Fort Hood shootings and health-care votes. People are eager to move on this," Van Hollen said late Thursday. "Do people have concerns they want addressed? Obama spent several years living in Indonesia as a youth, and his mother worked in the country for much of her life.
  • Obama delays foreign trip to work on health care
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    D. ShearBy Rachel Weiner and Michael D. ShearPresident Obama will leave for Indonesia three days later than planned, departing March 21 rather than March 18, in an effort to move stalled health-care legislation through Congress, the White House said."The President will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia - will now leave Sunday - the First Lady and the girls will not be on the trip," tweeted Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Friday morning.The White House...
  • Obama heads to Ohio to pitch health care bill
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    President Obama will hit the road again to drum up public support for his health care plan, this time visiting an Ohio town near Cleveland on Monday. The White House just announced that Obama will be in Strongsville, Ohio, on March 15 to discuss health insurance. He'll appear at the Walter F. Ehrnfelt Recreation and Senior Center.
  • Obama's ambitious export plan may rekindle free-trade battle
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Restrictions on the overseas sale of some high-end technology goods may also be eased.If successful, the president said, the program would create 2 million jobs. China, by contrast, accumulated large trade surpluses that Obama said should now be used to expand domestic consumption -- and increase the products it imports from countries such as the United States.
  • Obama's day: National security as well as health care
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    An epidemic of potholes is not only annoying drivers, but driving up spending city cities, writes USA TODAY's Marisol Bello. Prospects for an immigration bill this year seem bleak. USA TODAY's Bill Keveney writes about the program here.
  • Obama's deficit panel gets six GOP members
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    President Obama's deficit commission got an overdue slate of Republican appointments today as GOP congressional leaders named six conservatives to the panel. The new GOP members are solid conservatives: Sens. Judd Gregg, Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo, and Reps.
  • Opinionline: Iraq vote: Time for relief or worry?
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    The 90,000 American troops are due to drop by half later this year with full pullout at the end of (2011). ... Iraq's voters ... want to turn the page. Perhaps that awful butcher's bill explains the fervor with which Iraqis have embraced democratic self-governance. There are other issues as well, such as ensuring adequate defense of Iraqi air space. ... Treating the Iraqis as allies capable of assessing changing conditions would be truly smart diplomacy.
  • Pat Tillman's legacy: more help for military veterans in college
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Veterans felt isolated by the classroom experience and by sharing an environment with students who could seldom relate to what it was like to have served in the military. Surrounded by students who could share their experiences — and often their anxieties — Schupp thought veterans would improve in performance and retention. The last time Salay had a prosthetic problem, he says "I worked with Dr.
  • Reform's fate a question of trust
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    I can't remember when Barack Obama said that. Rogers, the White House social secretary, and Mr. The Hill writes: "Seeking to trump Democrats, House Republicans on Thursday approved a moratorium on all earmarks for the rest of the year.
  • Religious adviser to Obama responds to CBC's criticism
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Otis Moss Jr., a member of the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships. "There are various kinds of criticism, constructive and destructive.
  • Report: Obama to tap Yellen for Fed vice chair
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Obama administration officials confirmed Yellen is a leading candidate but said the selection was not yet finalized. Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn's decision to step down at the end of June opened a third seat on the board, giving Obama a chance to put a bigger imprint on the central bank. Yellen is considered to be in that camp.
  • Republicans name their slate of members for Obama deficit panel
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Paul Ryan (D-Wis.), to serve on the panel, along with the ranking GOP member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the former head of the conservative Republican Study Committee. Obama has named six members, including the co-chairmen, former Republican senator Alan Simpson and former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles.
  • The danger of the status quo
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    If health-care reform fails, the status quo is a certainty, while the perfect bill is but a dream. But that approach looks impractical, politically and economically. In interviews, Emory University's Kenneth Thorpe and Stanford University's Alan Garber, two other leading health economists, guardedly echoed his conclusion.
  • The health-care bill's spending in context
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Ezra KleinI've been a bit annoyed by the convention of referring to the health-care bill's 10-year cost rather than its annual cost. Ready for it?What you're seeing is health-care reform clocks in around $100 billion. Which is pretty small compared to the $600 billion going to defense, or the $700 billion going to Medicare, or the $900 billion going to Social Security.
  • The polling memo everyone is reading
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Ezra KleinOr at least most House and Senate Democrats.
  • With student loan bill on verge of vote, new priorities in education funding
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Thursday that the measure he seeks to enact would channel more than $50 billion into Pell grants. In addition, Harkin indicated that growth in the maximum Pell grant award would be less than the House envisioned. But it appears that funding is in peril for at least some provisions Obama has sought.
  • "Barack the Red" campaign is a go
    Mar 11, 2010 — Washington Post
    He's been given a public and open invitation from Ted Leonsis. He seems to love every sport except hockey. He figured he needed to solicit Obama-themed hockey artwork.
  • Alexandria DASH fares to rise July 1
    Mar 11, 2010 — Washington Post
    The plans follow the city's policies for a more transit-oriented community, but there is no funding to begin the services.Arlington County has similar policies to promote transit-oriented communities. Also, ART took over two former Metro routes to the Pentagon, one starting in Ballston, the other in Shirlington. If the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority adopts a fare increase for the start of fiscal 2011, July 1, ART will reexamine its $1.35 base fare.
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