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
School Choice Could Erode Inequality. So Why Doesn’t Obama’s Budget Include D.C. School Choice Funding?
Barack Obama is a Washington, D.C., resident–and one with a high income. As he likes to openly admit, he’s one of the privileged one percent that he thinks can afford to pay more taxes. As one of the “privileged,” Barack Obama enjoys all sorts of choices unavailable to many middle class Americans and to nearly all… -
opinion
Is the GOP Really Serious About Stopping Obama’s Amnesty Plan?
Are Senate Republicans caving? House Republicans successfully passed a bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security, but ensures President Obama’s amnesty, engineered in an executive action in November, won’t be funded. Senate Republicans have tried three times to bring the bill up for consideration and yes, each time Senate Democrats have filibustered and not… -
opinion
President Obama’s Alternative Reality
President Barack Obama’s interview with VOX media, an Internet publication, this week is yet another example of his determination to deny reality and downplay the rise of international instability and violence on his watch. It comes on the heels of the 2015 National Security Strategy, which declared “strategic patience” to be its operative principle, an… -
opinion
Obama’s Proposal Would Make Effective Death Tax Rate as High as 68%
President Obama’s proposed changes to inheritance and capital gains taxes could raise the estate tax rate in the U.S. to the highest in the industrialized world. The plan, announced during the State of the Union address, would eliminate what is called “step-up basis at death” on capital gains taxation. And the top capital gains rate… -
news
Josh Earnest Opens Up About Fatherhood in Pitch for Obama’s Paid Leave Proposal
How does Josh Earnest balance being the White House press secretary and a father? This week at the Center for American Progress, President Obama’s spokesman shared his thoughts about balancing a high-profile career with the job of raising a small child in Washington, D.C. “Men feel pressure to have a genuine home life,” Earnest told… -
news
Sharyl Attkisson: Obama Administration Has Mastered ‘Propaganda and Spin’
Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson says the government is growing increasingly savvy at evading reporters through the use of social media and other avenues to push “their propaganda and spin.” Speaking at a Hillsdale College conference on American journalism, the Emmy Award-winning journalist and Daily Signal senior independent contributor called out the press for going soft… -
opinion
Congress Shines a Spotlight on President Obama’s Radical New Cuba Policy
On Tuesday, Congress began educating the American people on how President Barack Obama’s decision to normalize relations will impact human rights in Cuba. The short answer seems to be “adversely.” State Department Kept in the Dark The hearing “Impact of U.S. Policy Changes on Human Rights and Democracy in Cuba” before the Senate Subcommittee on… -
opinion
Obama’s ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ Not a Strategy Against Terrorism
In several recent interviews, President Obama has attempted to put the fight against radical Islamist terrorism in perspective. The president’s personal style is indeed often laconic, but in this case, it is out of place. In his pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC, Obama said the U.S. needs to be wary of handing terrorists “the victory… -
opinion
Just Like They Did With the Stimulus, the Obama Administration Is Again Assuming a Rosy Economic Future
It’s true, economic projections are just that—projections. But overly optimistic economic projections, such as those contained in the president’s recently released 2016 budget proposal, can do more harm than good. The fact that economic projections will inevitably miss the mark to some degree or another does not render them useless. Just because investors cannot perfectly… -
opinion
Obama’s Budget Hikes Taxes by $1.6 Trillion
President Obama has proposed a fiscal year 2016 budget that raises $3.5 trillion in fiscal year 2016 and $45 trillion over 10 years. In his budget, Obama also proposes that over the next 10 years, tax cuts of $349 billion be accompanied by tax increases of $1.9 trillion, for a net 10-year tax increase of $1.6 trillion. >>>… -
news
A Quick Guide to Obama’s New Budget
As soon as the White House released President Obama's 2016 budget, Heritage Foundation experts dove into the details. Here's a peek at some of the proposals they found: -
opinion
Will GOP Blink in Fight Over Obama’s Executive Amnesty?
How serious are Republicans about their promise to stop President Obama’s executive actions granting work permits and Social Security cards to millions of people in the country illegally? We’re about to find out. When the president issued his latest royal decree after the mid-term election, it wasn’t the first time he had bypassed Congress in… -
opinion
Obama Wants to Hike Corporate Taxes to Pay For Infrastructure. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea.
It is fitting that President Obama released his 2016 budget on Groundhog’s Day. Like Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors in the famous movie, Obama is stuck in an endless loop where he keeps pushing economically destructive tax hikes that have little chance of becoming law. This is the seventh budget he has released, and each… -
opinion
What Obama Got Right and Wrong in His 2016 Budget
President Obama released his budget for fiscal year 2016 on Monday. We'll be continuously updating this story with Heritage Foundation experts' takes on the budget. Click on the issues below for detailed analysis or see the infographic for a snapshot of what's included. Health Care Climate Change Immigration Taxes and Spending Education Energy Welfare and… -
opinion
Senate Approves Keystone: Up to Obama to Decide If America Is Open for Business
On January 29, the Senate passed S. 1, the first bill of the 114th Congress, approving the Keystone XL Pipeline by a 62–36 margin, including nine Democratic votes. The House passed its version of a Keystone XL bill earlier this month, leaving the chambers to sort out differences and send an agreed-upon version to President… -
opinion
Obama Drops the Pretense of Bipartisanship
Let’s be grateful to President Barack Obama. In his State of the Union address, he dropped the pretense of bipartisanship and, by siding with the progressives, gave the nation what it needs: a clear choice. That’s the true American way. One of the most tiresome things about the first six years of President Obama’s tenure… -
news
Sharyl Attkisson: Obama Administration Treats Journalists Like ‘Enemies of the State’
Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson accused the Obama administration of stifling press freedom by systematically cracking down on reporters—even treating them like enemies. “The job of getting at the truth has never been more difficult,” says @SharylAttkisson “If you cross this administration with perfectly accurate reporting they don’t like, you will be attacked and punished,” Attkisson… -
opinion
Cartoon: Obama’s Environmental Footprint
Heritage Foundation's Nick Loris, whose work focuses on energy policy, weighed in earlier this week: The Obama administration is calling on Congress to designate more than 12 million acres in Alaska as wilderness, including the coastal plain, barring economic activity and energy development. If Congress chose to act, it would be the largest wilderness designation… -
opinion
Obama Wants to Reverse Sequestration. What You Need to Know.
Four years into the Budget Control Act of 2011, President Obama is expected to once again ask Congress to break its commitment to reduce spending. Congress should stick to it. Obama's budget, expected on Monday, will reportedly propose to spend more than is allowed under the statutory, sequester-enforced Budget Control Act spending caps. If Congress… -
opinion
Obama’s Allowing More Drilling, But It’s Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be
One step forward, two steps back. That sums up the Obama administration’s proposed lease plan for oil and natural gas drilling. The proposal includes the mid- and south-Atlantic regions, which had been blocked from energy exploration. But any new areas of exploration are just making up for areas lost in 2010, and the president’s plan…