Cable company filmed uninvited White House couple
WASHINGTON (AP) — The couple who crashed a White House state dinner were being filmed that day by a camera crew connected with a reality television program, although none of the filming took place on White House grounds, a spokeswoman for the program's network said Thursday. The couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, gained access to the dinner President Barack Obama hosted for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, although they had not been invited, prompting a security review by the Secret Service, which acknowledged that procedures were not followed properly.
Obama telephones thanks to 10 US service members
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama enjoyed a quiet first Thanksgiving at the White House, telephoning U.S. servicemen and women stationed around the world and spending time in the company of his family and friends. Obama placed calls from the Oval Office to 10 U.S. servicemen and women — two each in the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard — stationed in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in the Persian Gulf.
INSIDE WASHINGTON: Stream of WH health care visits
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained by The Associated Press. The records, obtained Wednesday, disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.
Lawyers: government misconduct in Blackwater case
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense lawyers are alleging misconduct by Justice Department prosecutors in the case against one of five Blackwater security guards accused in the killings of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad. Recent pretrial proceedings that took place behind closed doors led the Justice Department to seek dismissal of charges against Nicholas Slatten of Sparta, Tenn., one of the five guards accused in the shootings in busy Nisoor Square in September 2007.
Car insurance scofflaws raise health mandate doubt
DENVER (AP) — Thousands of drivers on the nation's roads don't carry auto insurance, despite laws in all but two states requiring it. Critics of President Barack Obama's health overhaul plan ask: What are the chances scofflaws will treat a requirement to carry health insurance any differently? Nearly 40 years of car insurance mandates — which the insurance industry says have failed to make roads safer or lower auto insurance costs — raise questions about how well such mandates work.
New climate targets may not change daily life much
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' day-to-day lives won't change noticeably if President Barack Obama achieves his newly announced goal of slashing carbon dioxide pollution by one-sixth in the next decade, experts say. Except for rising energy bills. And how much they'll go up depends on who's doing the calculating.
Obama and GOP differ over recipe for jobs, economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and a top House Republican acknowledged in holiday messages Thursday the economic struggles facing Americans this Thanksgiving but offered starkly different recipes for relief. Obama and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., singled out U.S. service members at home and abroad for special thanks before saying what they think should be done to fix the economy.
Immigration reform activists diversifying ranks
WASHINGTON (AP) — Beyond the noisy town hall meetings, Tea Party protests and sky-is-falling speeches characterizing much of the health care debate is a less visible, but no less intense push to broaden the face of the immigration reform movement. With the 2010 election year looming, Democrat Barack Obama in the White House and increasing numbers of Asian-American and Pacific Islanders in Congress, many groups, including the NAACP, are working harder in the traditionally Latino-led movement, sensing a fresh opportunity to overhaul laws affecting millions of immigrants, both legal and illegal.
Obama to plead US case at global warming summit
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will commit the United States to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade — despite resistance in Congress over higher costs — when he travels to a major climate conference in Copenhagen next month. Obama will attend the start of the conference Dec. 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. He will "put on the table" a U.S. commitment to cut emissions by 17 percent over the next decade, on the way to reducing heat-trapping pollution by 80 percent by mid-century, the White House said.
Kirk's low-key approach in Senate drawing notice
WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Kirk never figured to upstage the legend whose death opened up a Senate seat. Even so, the stylish Massachusetts lawyer and former Democratic Party chairman has taken on such a low profile as Edward M. Kennedy's successor that some are questioning how great an impact he can have. "He's pretty milquetoast," said Thomas Whalen, an associate professor of social science at Boston University and author of "A Higher Purpose: Profiles in Presidential Courage."
