Author: Jennifer Loven
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Obama announces agreement with drug companies
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed the pharmaceutical industry’s agreement to help close a gap in Medicare’s drug coverage, calling the pact a step forward in the push for overhaul of the nation’s health care system. Obama said that drug companies have pledged to spend $80 billion over the next decade to help…
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Obama hardens U.S. stance on North Korean defiance
CAEN, France – His patience tested, President Barack Obama on Saturday promised a new and stronger response to defiant North Korea, saying that while he prefers diplomacy he is now taking a “very hard look” at tougher measures. A Pentagon official said no military moves were planned.Obama’s blunt language seemed to point toward nonmilitary penalties…
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Obama seeks common cause with Muslim world
CAIRO – Invoking the Quran and his rarely used middle name, Barack Hussein Obama declared Thursday that America has a common cause with Islam and never will be at war with the faith.The overture was intently watched by the Muslim world and welcomed in unlikely quarters; an Iranian cleric quickly called the president’s speech “an…
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Obama visits Saudi king on eve of key speech
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Opening a mission to write a new chapter on Islam and the West, President Barack Obama consulted Wednesday with the Saudi king “in the place where Islam began,” prelude to a high-stakes speech in Egypt meant to ease long-held Muslim grievances against the United States.The son of a Kenyan Muslim who…
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Obama hopes to replace Justice Souter by October
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Friday he will replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter with someone who shares the president’s respect for “constitutional values” and hopes to have “him or her” seated on the highest U.S. court by the start of its next term in October.The departure of Souter, part of the court’s…
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Obama says waterboarding was torture
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture, and the information gained from terror suspects through its use could have been obtained by other means. “In some cases it may be harder,” he conceded at a White House news conference marking a whirlwind first…
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Obama claims gains in revival from economic chaos
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama claimed early progress Tuesday night in his aggressive campaign to lead the nation out of economic chaos and declared that despite obstacles ahead, “we’re moving in the right direction.” At the second prime-time news conference of his presidency, Obama also toned down his criticism of bonuses to executives at bailed-out…
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Obama says stimulus vital to avoid ‘catastrophe’
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama pressed Congress Monday night to urgently approve a massive economic recovery bill, using the first prime-time news conference of his presidency to warn that a failure to act “could turn a crisis into a catastrophe.”With the nation falling deeper into a long and painful recession, Obama defended his program against…
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Obama arrives in Washington
WASHINGTON — Invoking hope and history, President-elect Barack Obama rolled into the capital city Saturday night pledging to help bring the nation “a new Declaration of Independence” and promising to rise to the stern challenges of the times. He kicked off a four-day inaugural celebration with a daylong rail trip, retracing the path Abraham Lincoln…
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Bush defends presidency in final news conference
WASHINGTON – In a nostalgic final news conference, President George W. Bush defended his record vigorously and at times sentimentally today – and admitted mistakes, too, including his optimistic Iraq speech before a giant “Mission Accomplished” banner in 2003.After starting what he called “the ultimate exit interview” with a lengthy and personalized thank-you to the…