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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news
It’s Decision Day on Obama’s Trade Agenda: What You Need to Know
Today, the House will either advance—or imperil—President Obama’s trade agenda when it votes on legislation to give him more power to ink deals with other nations. For Obama to win the power he craves, he will have to lean heavily on Republicans—and hope just enough Democrats side with him—showcasing the odd alliances that have defined… -
news
Obama: King v. Burwell ‘Easy Case’ That Supreme Court Probably ‘Shouldn’t’ Have Taken Up
President Obama suggested Monday that the Supreme Court should never have taken up King v. Burwell, the latest challenge to his health care law. “This should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldn’t even have been taken up,” Obama said to reporters following the G-7 summit. The Supreme Court will decide whether the Internal… -
opinion
The Real Trouble With Obama’s Rhetoric
Since 2009, everyone has been waiting for a clear articulation of President Obama’s grand strategy. Indeed, careers have been made analyzing what this mysterious thinking might be. The administration has of course released documents like the 2015 National Security Strategy. But regrettably neither the military community nor the defense civilian establishment takes seriously such generic… -
opinion
Obama’s Economy Is Unusually Slow. Here’s How to Fix It.
The U.S. economy shrank by 0.7 percent last quarter, according to a revised estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The contraction may be a temporary aberration, as it was last year. Or, it might signal the onset of a more troubling slowdown. But one thing is for sure: The Obama recovery is unusually lethargic. Since… -
opinion
Congressional Responses Show Overwhelming Rejection of Obama’s New Cuba Policy
If there was any confusion as to where Congress stood on Cuba, this week definitely put that to rest. From spending bills to legislation, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is pushing back against the Obama Administration. On Wednesday, the House passed the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) spending bill which included a provision prohibiting either… -
news
Why Won’t the Obama Administration Appoint Inspectors General?
It has been 2,292 days since the Department of Interior has had a permanent inspector general in place to serve as a watchdog over the agency. But the Interior Department is not alone; the inspector general position is vacant in seven other agencies as well. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security… -
news
Americans Fault Obama, Bush Equally for Iraq’s Problems
Six years ago, President Obama ran on a promise to end the war in Iraq. Gearing up for the 2012 election, his campaign ran an ad titled, “Ending the War in Iraq: A Promise Kept.” Two years later, against the context of a fragmented, volatile Iraq, Obama launched a new campaign promising “to degrade and… -
opinion
A Revealing Look at Obama’s Propaganda Machinery
The Obama White House has embraced digital communication like none before it. According to The Washington Post, the White House Office of Public Engagement has no less than 14 employees whose job it is to push the President’s message out on new media and social Web sites. After all, this is a president who was… -
news
Obama’s Latest Environmental Action: A New Water Rule
In a controversial use of executive power, the Obama administration has finalized a set of environmental regulations expanding its authority over the nation’s waterways. On Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced the Clean Water Rule, intended to protect the nation’s streams and wetlands from “pollution and degradation.” In… -
opinion
A Conversation With David Axelrod: What Happened to Bipartisanship Under Obama?
CHICAGO—While serving as a fellow for the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics this month, I had an opportunity to sit down with former White House senior adviser David Axelrod to discuss the current state of American politics. I begin by asking him what he believes is the biggest misconception conservatives have about both President… -
opinion
I Had a Transgender Parent. Unlike Obama, I Don’t Think Transgender Parents Should Be Able to Adopt.
Should transgender parents be able to adopt? In April, President Obama made it clear he thinks they should. In a presidential proclamation for National Foster Care Month, Obama wrote, “With so many children waiting for loving homes, it is important to ensure all qualified caregivers have the opportunity to serve as foster or adoptive parents,… -
opinion
Obama Needs to Step Up the Fight Against ISIS
Developments over this last weekend have left many Americans (and many of our allies) wondering about the progress (or lack thereof) of our fight against ISIS. First came news that U.S. Special Operations Forces had conducted a daring raid into Syria, killing a major ISIS leader. Then came word that ISIS had captured the city of Ramadi in… -
opinion
He Was a GOP Congressman for 14 Years, Then Went to Work for Obama. Ray LaHood’s Take on Politics.
While doing a fellowship at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, I sat down for a chat with Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman who represented Illinois’ 18th congressional district for 14 years before becoming President Obama’s secretary of transportation in 2009. We begin our conversation with LaHood’s take on why the increasing polarization between the… -
news
At President’s Synagogue Speech, American Jews Defend Obama’s Support to Israel
In a step to reassure American Jews that he supports Israel, President Obama today became the fourth president to speak before an audience at a U.S. synagogue. Wearing a white kippah, Obama stood on the bimah of Washington’s Adas Israel—a prominent synagogue of conservative Judaism—and declared that he, and the United States, indeed has Israel’s… -
opinion
Obama Releases Agenda for More Regulations, Just Before Holiday Weekend
It’s the day before the Memorial Day holiday, and that can only mean one thing: It is time for President Obama to unveil his agenda for new rules he wants to impose on the American people. Required by law to release plans for new regulations twice a year, the administration has consistently chosen to do… -
opinion
Obama Meets With President of Tunisia, Rare Country Where Approval of US Is Rapidly Growing
Today, President Obama will meet with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, who is marking his first trip to the United States since his democratic election to a five-year term in December 2014. Tunisia, which America has had unique diplomatic relations with over 200 years since the first agreement of friendship and trade between the two… -
news
Leery of Obama, Conservatives Face ‘Odd’ Debate Over Giving Him Trade Authority
A push by President Obama to earn fast-track authority to negotiate trade deals has conservatives using words like “odd” and “awkward” as they weigh their usual support for free markets with giving power to a president they distrust. “It's difficult to support trade freedom when you have a president who is not a champion of… -
opinion
Fall of Ramadi Raises Questions About Obama’s Strategy to Defeat ISIS in Iraq
The seizure of the city of Ramadi by the Islamic State (or ISIS) on Sunday was a major setback for the Iraqi government and for the Obama administration. Although U.S. officials downplayed the significance of the defeat, saying that Ramadi was not “strategic” in a military sense, Ramadi is a very important political symbol because… -
opinion
Unraveling the Poverty Myths Obama Is Promoting
Our class warrior in chief was at it again last week complaining about our “ideological divides that have prevented us from making progress” in solving problems like poverty. Just when you thought you’d heard it all. Our most ideological president perhaps ever is arguing that there is too much ideology in Washington. Wow. Apparently an… -
opinion
Obama Administration’s Regulations Cost Americans $80 Billion a Year
What do restaurant menus, refrigerators, community banks and escalators have in common? All were subjected to yet more federal regulation last year. No fewer than 184 “major” new rules have been imposed since the start of the Obama administration, costing Americans about $80 billion per year in additional regulatory costs. And many more regulations are…