Author: Darlene Superville
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‘Go for it,’ Obama tells GOP on health repeal
IOWA CITY, Iowa — President Barack Obama mocked Republicans’ campaign to repeal his new health care law, saying they should “Go for it” and see how well they fare with voters. “Be my guest,” Obama said Thursday in the first of many appearances around the country to sell the overhaul to voters before the fall…
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Obama signs historic $938 billion overhaul
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law a landmark health care reform bill, presiding over the biggest shift in U.S. domestic policy since the 1960s and capping a divisive, yearlong debate that could define the November congressional elections. The law will bring near-universal coverage to a wealthy country in which tens of…
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Obama to discuss plans to thwart terrorist attacks
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama prepared Tuesday to update the public about steps the government is taking to keep it safe after an alleged terrorist’s failed attempt to destroy a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on Christmas Day. Obama met Tuesday afternoon with high-ranking government officials charged with carrying out two reviews he ordered after the botched…
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Obama: 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan by summer
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is dispatching 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, accelerating a risky and expensive war buildup, even as he assures Americans that U.S. forces will begin coming home in July 2011. The first new Marines will join the fight by Christmas. Obama was to unveil his plans in a long-anticipated, high-profile speech…
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White House expects thousands for fall garden tours
WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of people are expected to stream through the White House gates this weekend for a rare opportunity to see the fragrant roses, blue salvias and towering, decades-old trees that beautify the president’s back yard.Held twice a year, the fall White House Gardens and Grounds tours are set for today and…
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Govt to announce billions for green jobs, training
WASHINGTON – Some of the $4 billion from President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan that was budgeted to renovate public housing will be spent to create so-called “green jobs” by making the dwellings more energy efficient. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan was making the announcement Tuesday in Denver at a meeting of Obama’s Middle…
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Obama picks potential GOP rival for China post
WASHINGTON – With a reach across the political divide for Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman as ambassador to China, President Barack Obama may have sidelined for now a potentially formidable Republican moderate and possible White House challenger in 2012. Yet Huntsman, who has upset the GOP’s conservative base by supporting gay civil unions, may gain, too.…
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First lady does groundwork for White House garden
WASHINGTON • The White House is getting a new garden. Twenty-six elementary schoolchildren wielded shovels, rakes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows to help first lady Michelle Obama break ground today on a produce and herb garden on the White House grounds. Among the crops to be planted in the coming weeks are spinach, broccoli, various lettuces, kale…
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Obama kicks up White House entertaining
WASHINGTON – The White House is the place to be on Wednesdays. Since the presidency changed hands less than six weeks ago, a burst of entertaining has taken hold of the iconic, white-columned home of America’s head of state. Much of it comes on Wednesdays. The stately East Room, where portraits of George and Martha…
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Kennedy to appear, may speak at convention
DENVER – A cancer-fighting Sen. Edward M. Kennedy prepared to attend, and possibly speak, at the opening day of the Democratic National Convention today as presidential nominee-to-be Barack Obama unleashed a hard-hitting television commercial linking GOP rival John McCain to President Bush.The ad signaled that the Democrats’ gathering would be just as much about skewering…