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

    Obama Encourages Senate Democrats to Eliminate Filibuster

    Democrats are looking again at eliminating the filibuster so that they can pass legislation in the Senate without difficulty if they retake the majority, and they gained an ally this week in former President Barack Obama.  Obama said during a politically charged eulogy Thursday at the Atlanta funeral service for Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., that…
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  • opinion

    Taking a Look at the Obama Record on Closing Guantanamo

    Guantanamo Bay is back in the news, and it may become an issue in the presidential race. A few days ago, former Vice President Joe Biden told a reporter that if he was elected, he would close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The New York Times said Guantanamo would have been closed…
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  • opinion

    Obamacare 2.0 Bill Would Be a Windfall, but Pyrrhic Victory, for Insurance Lobby

    In December 2013, 11.8 million Americans had individual health insurance coverage. The federal government provided no subsidies for that coverage. Six years later, in December 2019, enrollment in individual health insurance coverage stood at 12.4 million. According to Congressional Budget Office data, the federal government sent $248 billion in premium and related subsidies to health…
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  • opinion

    A Decade After Obamacare Became Law, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers Is Working to Fix Issues It Created

    The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was supposed to cut insurance premiums, reduce the uninsured population, and provide the option to keep your plan and your doctor, but it has fallen short in all these areas.  “We have 30 million Americans today that will tell you that they cannot afford their health insurance,” says Rep….
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  • opinion

    Obamagate Isn’t a Conspiracy Theory

    Those sharing #Obamagate on Twitter would do best to avoid the hysterics we saw from Russian-collusion believers, but they have no reason to ignore the mounting evidence that suggests the Obama administration engaged in serious corruption. Democrats and their allies, who like to pretend that President Barack Obama’s only scandalous act was wearing a tan…
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  • opinion

    How the Obama Administration Shattered the Rule of Law

    This week, former President Barack Obama reemerged from hibernation to lecture Americans about the threat to rule of law posed by the Trump administration. After Attorney General William Barr announced that the Department of Justice would be dropping its case against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pled guilty to…
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  • news

    Supreme Court Won’t Rush Obamacare Case, Dealing Setback to Democrats

    The Supreme Court will not fast-track two petitions that ask the high court to again review the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for individuals to buy health insurance. The order Tuesday morning means the high court will defer a decision on the future of the Affordable Care Act until the fall, if the…
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  • opinion

    How Obamacare Made Things Worse for Patients With Preexisting Conditions

    One of the strange features of the national health care conversation is how it has evolved. What is often referred to as Obamacare began as an attempt to insure the uninsured. In fact, the initial Congressional Budget Office estimates predicted the Affordable Care Act would be largely successful in doing just that. Yet it was…
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  • news

    Democrats Press Supreme Court for Quick Decision to Save Obamacare

    A coalition of blue states and congressional Democrats has asked the Supreme Court to salvage the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, after a federal appeals court declared it unconstitutional. The petitions filed Friday also urged the justices to hear the appeal on an expedited basis and ensure the Obamacare dispute is resolved by the end…
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  • opinion

    An Appeals Court Rules Against Obamacare. Here’s What Lawmakers Should Do Next.

    A divided panel of judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Wednesday declared part of Obamacare unconstitutional—but the case is far from over. The court sent the case back to a federal district court in Texas to decide whether that means the rest of the law should be thrown out…
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  • opinion

    Spending Deal Would Make Obamacare More Fiscally Irresponsible

    In selling Obamacare before Congress a decade ago, President Barack Obama promised that he “would not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future.” From her perch behind the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leaped out of her seat applauding at this line. So did Vice President…
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  • news

    Trump’s EPA Rolling Back Obama-Era Anti-Coal Regulation

    The Environmental Protection Agency will propose easing rules on disposal of coal ash, the residue from burning coal, to make it less likely the federal government would shutter a coal-fired utility plant, in an announcement set for Monday. The move is part of what has been a larger deregulation push by the Trump administration to…
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  • opinion

    Obamacare Caused Premiums to Spike. Here’s How States Are Lowering Them Again.

    Throughout much of last year, critics of the White House darkly warned that “Trump sabotage” of Obamacare would result in steep increases in premiums for Obamacare plans. They predicted that Congress’ repeal of the tax penalty on the uninsured, coupled with an administration rule lifting federal restrictions on short-term policies, would lead to double-digit premium…
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  • opinion

    How the Obama Administration Made the Military More Politically Correct

    During the Obama administration, political appointees, not military members, drove the agenda. James Hasson, who served in the military during President Barack Obama’s presidency, talked to generals and other military leaders to get the inside scoop on what really happened in the military in the Obama era. Read the interview, posted below, or listen on…
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  • opinion

    It’s Lights Out for Obama-Era Bulb Ban That Would Have Curbed Consumer Choice

    The Department of Energy announced this week that it’s withdrawing the Obama administration’s energy-rationing mandate for certain lightbulbs. Opponents criticized the rule change, arguing that the move would be bad for consumers and the climate. The reality, however, is that families and businesses will be better off, and the change will have a negligible impact on…
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  • opinion

    Civil Rights Panel Wants to Bring Back Obama’s Race-Based School Discipline Policies. Bad Idea.

    Washington late last year reversed a policy that was micromanaging the way teachers and principals kept order in classrooms. Now, a federal commission wants to limit local educators’ control again. Teachers should be feeling whiplash. In December, the U.S. Department of Education and the Justice Department rescinded federal directives that said Washington would investigate schools…
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  • opinion

    New Spending Deal Worse Than Obama’s Deals

    Congress is staring at a massive spending deal reached by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—one that’s left fiscal conservatives deeply concerned. Today, we unpack the details and discuss how the bill matches up with spending levels under President Barack Obama. We’re joined by Heritage Foundation budget expert Justin Bogie. Plus: Rep. Rashida…
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  • opinion

    EPA Administrator Explains What’s Changed at the Agency Since the Obama Years

    For Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, it’s important to make sure states—not the federal government—are making the calls on environmental issues when possible. He joins The Daily Signal for an exclusive interview to explain his views on federalism, regulation, and more. Read the interview, posted below, or listen on the podcast: We also cover…
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  • news

    Michelle Obama: Trump’s Inauguration Crowd ‘Not Reflective of the Country’

    Former first lady Michelle Obama spoke out about President Donald Trump’s inauguration, saying she was one of a “handful of people of color” in attendance. The former first lady spoke to Gayle King of “CBS This Morning” about her feelings when Trump took office, making note of the lack of diversity in the crowd. “That…
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  • opinion

    Why Obama and Clinton Tweeted About ‘Easter Worshippers,’ Not Christians

    Sometimes, a few sentences tell you more about a person—and, more importantly, an ideology—than a learned thesis. That is the case with tweets from Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama two days ago in response to the mass murder of more than 300 Christians and others in Sri Lanka. Their tweets are worth serious…
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