White House still lacks solid intel on bin Laden
WASHINGTON (AP) — Osama bin Laden may be slipping back and forth from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Or the U.S. might not have a clue, more than eight years after the al-Qaida leader masterminded the terrorist attacks on America. Given a chance Sunday to clear away some of the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the world's most wanted terrorist, Obama administration officials seemed to add to it with what appeared to be conflicting assessments.
Obama urges Dems to pass health care overhaul
WASHINGTON (AP) — Casting health care overhaul as a legacy for the American people and failure as politically unthinkable, President Barack Obama on Sunday rallied Senate Democrats to deliver on their party's half-century quest to expand the social safety net by providing access for all. At the Capitol during a rare Sunday session of the Senate, Obama delivered a closed-door pep talk to the fractious Democratic caucus that lasted about 45 minutes. Deep divisions remain over abortion coverage, but there was hope for compromise on whether the government should directly offer health insurance in competition with private companies.
Reid: Obama wants to help any way on health care
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has pledged to work with Senate Democrats "in any meaningful way he can" to help pass a health care overhaul. That's what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the president told Democratic senators in their closed-door meeting Sunday at the Capitol.
Obama tells Dems to keep up the health care fight
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama has told Democratic senators to keep up the fight on health care legislation. Obama meet with Democrats on Sunday afternoon as the Senate worked through the weekend on the president's top domestic priority.
PROMISES, PROMISES: A closed meeting on openness
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's hardly the image of transparency the Obama administration wants to project: A workshop on government openness is closed to the public. The event Monday for federal employees is a fitting symbol of President Barack Obama's uneven record so far on the Freedom of Information Act, a big part of keeping his campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever. As Obama's first year in office ends, the government's actions when the public and press seek information are not yet matching up with the president's words.
Republicans hit Democrats for partisan health bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Republicans say President Barack Obama's drive for a health care overhaul has become a closed-door, partisan effort that is aiding drug companies and other medical providers. As Obama met privately with Senate Democrats at the Capitol, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the exclusion of Republicans from the meeting underlined how partisan the health care effort has been.
Must-pass bills pile up as days wind down
WASHINGTON (AP) — Time is running out for Congress this year on must-pass legislation to pay for federal programs, allow the government to borrow more money, keep highway projects going and prevent the jobless from losing unemployment and health insurance benefits. It's become a tradition for lawmakers to reach the final weeks of a session without yet renewing programs that expired with the start of the budget year on Oct. 1 or will end on Dec. 31. But with the Senate devoting all the next two weeks to a health care bill, the year-end pileup has reached new dimensions.
How health care bills compare to lawmakers' plan
WASHINGTON (AP) — You should get the same health insurance deal that members of Congress get. That was the gist of President Barack Obama's message as he tried to drum up enthusiasm for his health care overhaul at a Minneapolis town hall meeting a few months ago. But the legislation taking shape now in Congress is no carbon copy of what lawmakers get through the federal employee plan, even if Democrats cite it as their inspiration.
US applauds Iraq plans for parliamentary elections
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is applauding Iraqi lawmakers' vote Sunday to hold parliament elections early next year, a step that the U.S. hopes will ease the eventual withdrawal of American troops. In a statement issued Sunday evening, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the agreement "a decisive moment for Iraq's democracy."
Obama security adviser: Picture not good on Iran
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's national security adviser says the door remains open for Iran to work with other countries on its nuclear program. But James Jones also says the "picture is not a good one." Jones says the clock is ticking toward the end of the year. That's when Obama has said it would be clear whether Iran was ready to work with the United States, other U.N. Security Council members and Germany to assure the world it was not trying to build a nuclear weapon.
