Mountain Sage

Banks May Need More, Biden Says
By Michael D. Shear
Monday, January 26, 2009; Page A02

Banks and other financial institutions may need more than the $700 billion in public money that has already been approved to repair the nation’s feeble credit system, Vice President Biden and congressional Democrats said yesterday.
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Obama Moves to Let States Set Own Rules on Emissions
By STEPHEN POWER and LAURA MECKLER
President Barack Obama plans to call on the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to consider allowing states including California to regulate automobile greenhouse-gas emissions, said people familiar with the administration’s thinking.

The move will signal a major policy break from his predecessor on an issue that has divided key Democratic Party constituencies. Mr. Obama’s announcement is almost certain to spark a war between two key Democratic constituencies: environmentalists and state officials who want power to set greenhouse-gas rules, and auto makers and unions who say such rules would exacerbate the industry’s woes following the worst year of U.S. vehicle sales in more than a decade.
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Auto execs praise Obama’s approach
By MIKE ALLEN | 1/26/09 12:38 PM EST

Auto-industry officials were surprisingly receptive to President Obama’s announcement about tightening emission standards, saying the steps he announced were the best they could hope for.

“It seems the president has set out a reasonable process,” said a top industry official who refused to be named. “He can say with credibility that there’s a new sheriff in town. Now, maybe there’s room to discuss this with stakeholders.”
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Sec. Gates Prepared Statement on Defense Challenges
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Submitted Statement

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2009, 9:30 A.M.

Mr. Chairman, Senator McCain, members of the committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide an overview of challenges facing the Department of Defense and some of my priorities for the coming year. In doing so, I am mindful
that the new administration has only been in place for a few days and new or changing policies will likely arise in coming months. Later this spring, I will present President Obama’s defense budget, and, at that time, will be better equipped to discuss the details of his vision for the Department.
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Boehner to GOP: Vote against stimulus
By PATRICK O’CONNOR & JONATHAN MARTIN | 1/27/09 10:08 AM EST

It was the love affair that could never be, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans.

The two sides came together en masse Tuesday for the first time since Obama took the oath of office. Despite the niceties, both sides walked away spurned.
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Senators Hear FBI Tapes of Governor
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 28, 2009; Page A02

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Jan. 27 — When Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s voice emerged from secretly recorded FBI tapes for the first time Tuesday, the alleged topic of discussion was a $100,000 bribe from a racetrack operator.
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After Obama Overture, Iran’s Leader Seeks U.S. Apology

By NAZILA FATHI and ALAN COWELL
Published: January 28, 2009

TEHRAN — A day after President Obama struck a conciliatory tone toward Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged America on Wednesday to apologize for its actions toward his country over the past 60 years and said it was unclear whether the new administration was merely shifting tactics or wanted real change.
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A Bitter End for Blagojevich
Illinois Senators Vote 59-0 to Oust ‘Devious’ and ‘Unfit’ Governor
By Kari Lydersen and Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 30, 2009;

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Jan. 29 — The state senators stood up one by one in a hushed chamber on Thursday to call Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) a liar and a hypocrite who put his ego and his pocketbook ahead of the interests of Illinois.
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Americans receiving jobless benefits hits record
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, Thu Jan 29, 3:26 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached the highest level on records that go back more than 40 years, the government said Thursday, and more layoffs are spreading throughout the economy.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest since records started in 1967. That’s an increase of 159,000 from the previous week and worse than economists’ expectations of 4.65 million.
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Obama signs first bill into law, making it easier for workers to sue for pay discrimination

Jan 29, 2:40 PM EST

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press Write
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring that ending pay disparity is not just a women’s issue, President Barack Obama signed legislation Thursday that gives workers more time to take their pay discrimination cases to court.

Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama woman whose story was the impetus behind the new law, stood alongside Obama as he signed the first bill of his presidency. Also in the East Room of the White House were labor, women’s, civil rights advocates and members of Congress for whom the bill was a priority.

“Equal pay is by no means just a women’s issue, it’s a family issue,” Obama said. “And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month’s paycheck to simple and plain discrimination.”
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US puts up $20 million for Gaza relief
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 30, 10:32 am ET

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Friday made an emergency contribution of more than $20 million for urgent relief efforts in the Gaza Strip, a day after the United Nations launched a flash appeal for $613 million to help Palestinians recover from Israel’s three-week military operation there.

The State Department said President Barack Obama had authorized the use of $20.3 million from the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for humanitarian assistance to the 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza.
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Remarks by Obama and Biden on Middle Class Working Families Task Force

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 30, 2009

East Room
11:58 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for joining us today. It is a privilege to be among this diverse group representing labor unions and not for profit organizations, advocates for our business community. And I am pleased to be here with our outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden. (Applause.) I see some of my colleagues — got some senators here, we got a governor, at least one of them I see over here, members of Congress and a lot of good friends and Cabinet members. So this is an outstanding gathering.

Today we learned that our economy shrank in the last three months of 2008 by 3.8 percent. That’s the worst contraction in close to three decades. This isn’t just an economic concept, this is a continuing disaster for America’s working families. As worrying as these numbers are, it’s what they mean for the American people that really matters and that’s so alarming: families making fewer purchases, businesses making fewer investments, employers sustaining fewer jobs.
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Obama’s half-brother held on drugs charge
President’s relative is arrested in Kenya after alleged marijuana seizure
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 8:38 a.m. ET, Sat., Jan. 31, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya – The half-brother of President Barack Obama has been arrested for alleged possession of marijuana, Kenyan police said Saturday.

Area police chief Joshua Omokulongolo said George Obama was picked up Saturday and was being held at the Huruma police post in the capital.
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Steele Is RNC’s First Black Chairman
By Perry Bacon Jr.
Saturday, January 31, 2009; Page A01

Republicans yesterday elected former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael S. Steele to lead their party, selecting the GOP’s first black national chairman. The outcome also signaled a clear break from the leadership of President George W. Bush, whose hand-picked party chief was among those Steele defeated for the post.
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FDA Investigating Peanut Company Behind Recall
The federal government has begun a criminal investigation of the peanut company responsible for an outbreak of salmonella illness that has sickened hundreds of people, killed at least eight and prompted one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.
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