Barack Obama News
Read news, analysis, and commentary on Barack Obama, his administration’s legacy, and his continuing impact on national debates.
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- Opinion
Thanks to Obama’s Poor Choices, ISIS Has Sophisticated Arms, Weapons
The Islamic State continues to wreak havoc in Iraq and Syria. The extremist Islamic group, unmatched in its atrocities, has slaughtered hundreds of innocent Christians, Yazidis, Alawites, Shiites, and their more moderate coreligionists. Now, hundreds of thousands of desperate Middle Easterners are fleeing the region, creating a worldwide refugee crisis and possibly spreading terrorists throughout…Jim DeMint -
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Obama’s ‘Weird Reversal’ on the Export-Import Bank
In a new video from Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, President Obama appears to be a bit confused as to why Republicans would oppose the controversial Export-Import Bank, which provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. products. But Obama shouldn’t be confused at all, because just…Daily Signal Staff -
- Opinion
Obama’s Foreign Policy Doctrine: The Worse, the Better
What a mess. President Obama says he wants to take in at least 10,000 refugees from the Middle East. Meanwhile, Russia’s Vladimir Putin is sending fighter aircraft and troops to prop up a Syrian leader who Obama has said over and over again must go. The 50 or so Syrian rebels that we spent roughly $1 million apiece…Kim Holmes -
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Obama, Xi to Cautiously Wade Through Talks of Improved Relations
Fresh off the heels of Pope Francis’ historic Washington, D.C., visit, President Barack Obama hosted President Xi Jinping of China Thursday evening for a private dinner intended to ease recent tensions between the two nations. The two-day summit meeting will allow Obama and Xi to underscore their willingness to improve U.S.-China relations, which have become increasingly…Natalie Johnson -
- Opinion
Obama’s Broadband Opportunity Report Undercuts FCC Regulation of the Internet
This week, the Obama administration released its long-awaited report on broadband adoption, produced by a presidential “Broadband Opportunity Council” representing 26 federal agencies. Among other things, the council was charged by President Obama with identifying regulatory barriers that impede broadband adoption. The final report recommends a number of largely inoffensive changes in federal policy. Among…James Gattuso -
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Obama’s Problematic College Scorecard
Last weekend, the U.S. Department of Education released its College Scorecard—a massive federal data set on America’s colleges and universities. The Obama administration hailed the scorecard as a more comprehensive way to analyze college quality, in contrast with ranking systems like U.S. News and World Report. Yet the federal government “scoring” colleges and universities presents us…Mary Clare Amselem -
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Obama Administration Sets Food Waste Reduction Goal
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced an initiative to reduce national food waste by 50 percent by 2030. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburg introduced the environmental initiative on Wednesday. The project will aim to improve “food security” as a whole while conserving natural resources. The efforts of the…Sara Jones -
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Obama’s Climate Policy Under Scrutiny Amid Pope Francis’ US Visit
Pope Francis arrived at the White House Wednesday morning to call for immediate action on climate change, praising President Barack Obama’s policy agenda. “Mr. President, I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution,” the pope said before a crowd of nearly 15,000. “Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me…Natalie Johnson -
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Government Report Is Compelling Indictment of Obama’s ISIS Strategy
Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports will never be mistaken for a Tom Clancy novel. The editorial style is intended to be subdued and analytical—lest the research staff be accused of cheerleading for one side or the other on any contentious issue. That said, the June 2015 report, uploaded on the Federation of American Scientists website (the Congressional…James Carafano -
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Obama’s Tasteless Welcome of Pope Francis
Maybe we shouldn’t expect anything much from a president who gave Queen Elizabeth an iPod filled with his own speeches, and who gave former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of American movies on DVDs that didn’t work in the U.K. But the way this White House is choosing to “welcome” Pope Francis is…Katrina Trinko -
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What the Obama Administration Isn’t Telling You About Its College Rankings
The White House just released a controversial scorecard system for the nation’s colleges, leveraging aggregated tax income data to rank colleges by how much graduates actually earn. After digging through public dataset, two things are immediately apparent. First, the household name colleges are not necessarily the best economic choices (smaller polytechnical schools often outrank the…Greg Ferenstein -
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Boehner Says It Is ‘Very Possible’ He Will Sue Obama Over Iran Deal
House Speaker John Boehner threatened to sue President Barack Obama last week over the Iran nuclear agreement. Boehner said the president did not disclose every piece of the accord to Congress as required by law and that a lawsuit over the deal is “an option that is very possible.” “If you read the provisions in…Natalie Johnson -
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Jim DeMint: GOP Lawmakers Have ‘Not Stood Up to President Obama’
Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint criticized Republican politicians in an interview Sunday, saying they hadn’t stood firm on conservative principles. “The things that were mainstay 10 years ago—balancing the budget and limited government and getting rid of cronyism—is now called radical, far right by Republican leadership in Washington,” DeMint, the former South Carolina senator, said…Daily Signal Staff -
- Opinion
The Fraud Factor of Obama’s New Climate Agenda
Recently, President Obama visited Alaska to scare up support for his climate agenda. But it’s becoming clear that this agenda is not, in fact, about climate. Instead, it’s the typical Washington story of power and money—other people’s money. Alaska provided the apparent novelty of ice that melts in the summer, which was used as a…David Kreutzer -
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Senate Democrats Block Vote to Reject Iran Nuclear Deal, Handing Obama Victory
Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked consideration of a Republican resolution to reject the Iran nuclear deal, effectively allowing the agreement to take effect without President Obama having to issue a veto. A procedural vote on what’s known as a resolution of disapproval failed 58-42. Such a vote requires 60 votes to advance. The only Democratic…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
Five Caveats to Obama’s ‘Free’ Community College Proposal
“[F]or every young person willing to work hard, I want two years of community college to be as free and universal as high school is today,” President Obama announced Wednesday in a speech at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich. The president’s remarks came as part of a renewed effort to garner support for his…Lindsey Burke -
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House Won’t Vote on Iran Pact Until Obama Reveals ‘Secret Side Deals’
In a last ditch strategy to show its authority, House conservatives have pushed party leaders to delay a vote on the Iran nuclear deal because they believe President Obama has deceived Congress on components of the agreement. Though Obama has secured enough support to veto an attempt by lawmakers to reject the accord, it was…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
The Consistent Weaknesses in Obama’s Deals
In his first term, President Obama paid lip service to the value of diplomacy but did little negotiating. Now he’s stepped up the pace, with the Iranian nuclear deal and a trade pact with the EU in the offing. He’d have done better to have done less. Like unhappy families, bad agreements are each bad…Ted Bromund -
- Opinion
Cartoon: Obama’s Mountain Size Denial
Katie Tubb wrote earlier this week on President Obama's trip to Alaska: President Obama gave a doom and gloom speech yesterday at the Global Leadership in the Arctic (GLACIER) conference in Alaska to build momentum for the U.N. climate deal in Paris this December. So far less than one third of countries have submitted plans…Glenn Foden -
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Obama Is Ignoring the Science on Climate Change
President Obama gave a doom and gloom speech yesterday at the Global Leadership in the Arctic (GLACIER) conference in Alaska to build momentum for the U.N. climate deal in Paris this December. So far less than one third of countries have submitted plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions by the Wall Street Journal’s count. According…Katie Tubb