Barack Obama News

The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the outsized liberal senator from New York, is credited with saying “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” The press and public may want to keep that adage in mind as President Obama threatens to veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) over, among…

The president now plans to continue a U.S. ground force presence in Afghanistan to help hold off the Taliban until he leaves office. This is an uncommon turnaround for a president who hasn’t changed his mind on foreign policy since drawing his (much-ballyhooed and promptly ignored) “red line” in Syria. So what does this rare…

When serious military historians ponder Barack Obama’s record as commander-in-chief, there’s little likelihood of heated debate. Let’s just say they’re not likely to award him a spot in the pantheon of military masterminds. In assessing the president’s legacy, historians will have plenty of legitimate topics to tussle over: his power as a politician, his practice…

President Barack Obama’s decision to extend U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan is welcome news. It would have been preferable for him to drop all arbitrary deadlines for withdrawal and commit to keeping the 9,800 U.S. troops in place until a reassessment of the ground situation is taken next year. But this is certainly a step…

President Obama is determined to make a legacy for himself—so much so that he’s willing to go around America’s elected officials on climate change. Not once, but twice. First, Obama bypassed Congress with unelected bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency to put domestic carbon dioxide cuts in place that will drive up energy costs with…

On this day in 1775, the U.S. Navy was created by a resolution of the Continental Congress. Throughout its illustrious history, the U.S. Navy has helped protect American citizens and interests around the world by protecting freedom of navigation, maintaining air superiority, and projecting American power abroad. Navy personnel have admirably served in conflicts since…

A politician being cynical is not exactly a “man bites dog” story, as seven years of President Barack Obama has taught us. But when the president goes in front of a Hispanic audience and praises the Bush immigration law he personally helped scuttle, cynicism reaches new heights. Obama was much more honest, though, about his…

If there was one strong signal in President Obama’s speech to the United Nations this week, it was this: Don’t expect the American ship of state to tack in a different direction anytime soon. This address is more evidence that there are no big changes coming in the president’s defense and foreign policy. That could…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…