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NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge has approved Bank of America's $2.43 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders over the company's acquisition of former competitor Merrill Lynch. A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Manhattan approved the settlement Friday. The bank proposed the settlement in late September. The agreement resolves allegations that Bank of America did not disclose the state of its finances or those of Merrill Lynch when it agreed to buy Merrill in September 2008. Judge Kevin Castel said the settlement was "hard fought," but called the...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says in a new interview that she can’t stand “whining” by women who are unhappy with the work and family choices they’ve made in life and complain that they have no options. Clinton, in the interview with Marie Claire, was discussing Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning at the State Department who left in 2011. This summer, Slaughter wrote a much-discussed cover story in the Atlantic - “Why Women Still Can’t Have It all” - about leaving her job because of the difficulty of balancing her work at State with the needs of...

Bill Clinton just sent Obama supporters and email saying that he has joined President Obama as first prize in the latest campaign fundraising raffle.

Hillary Clinton can’t be bothered by chatter about her physical appearance, the secretary of state told CNN’s Jill Dougherty in an interview on Tuesday. Asked about a photo of her wearing very little make-up that was tauntingly posted on yesterday’s Drudge Report, Clinton replied, “I feel so relieved to be at the stage I'm at in my life right now, Jill, because if I want to wear my glasses, I'm wearing my glasses.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she wanted to see a female US president during her lifetime -- but insisted she was ready to "get off the high wire" of top-level politics. "I hope so. I really want to see that in my lifetime," Clinton said during a town hall meeting at a girls school in India's Kolkata, when asked about the prospects of a woman taking America's top job for the first time. Clinton praised India's "great display of women empowerment" due to the prominent role played by female politicians over the years but said that in the...

The denials follow comments made by journalist Bob Woodward during a CNN interview Tuesday night in which Woodward suggested that the White House is seriously discussing dumping Vice President Joe Biden in favor of the Secretary of State. "It's on the table," Woodward said yesterday on John King, USA. "Some of Hillary Clinton's advisers see it as a real possibility in 2012."

For pundits looking for signs that Hillary Clinton is thinking—just thinking—of perhaps challenging President Obama in 2012, there are suddenly plenty of tea leaves to be read. Former aides to Bill Clinton are popping up in news stories criticizing the President's performance and making dour predictions about the Democratic Party. Why else are Clinton loyalists joining the fray other than to soften up Obama for a Hillary left-cross come, say, the summer of 2011, when she cites high unemployment and a country in malaise in deciding to run for President again? The biggest jolt from the Clinton camp came compliments...

Chelsea Clinton Wedding Guest List Revealed Posted by Devon Thomas NEW YORK (CBS) It's wedding season and Hillary and Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea has her guest list all sorted out. The First Daughter, 30, who is getting married on July 31 to Marc Mezvinsky, is throwing a wedding bash that will reportedly have up to 500 guests, including some of the biggest names in politics and entertainment. Just who made the cut? According to the Hudson Valley News, guests include President Obama, singer Barbra Streisand, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw, and media moguls Oprah Winfrey and Ted...

Clinton says Byrd joined KKK to help him get elected By Eric Zimmermann - 07/02/10 02:58 PM ET Former President Bill Clinton explained the late Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-W.V.) membership in the Ku Klux Klan Friday by claiming Byrd was simply trying to get elected. Speaking at Byrd's funeral in Charleston today, Clinton seemed to criticize newspaper eulogies that dwelled on Byrd's association with the Klan. "They mention that he once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, and what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means," Clinton said. "He was a country boy from the...

"...Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a rare foray into domestic politics today, offering her view that — given America's high unemployment — wealthy Americans don't pay enough taxes..."

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is finding her voice in the world of foreign affairs -- and it’s the sound of hawk-speak, filled with threats and warnings. She has warned that Iran is becoming a military dictatorship. She is trying -- with some success -- to persuade U.S. allies to support stronger sanctions against Teheran. There’s no sign that the U.S. is about to invade Iran but there’s tons of speculation that the Pentagon has been tasked to figure out what bunker-buster bombs would do to Iran’s underground nuclear industry and whether such an attack would help or...

The Democrats' reversal "is like a big body blow," said Mr. Jennings. "You either stammer and fall down, or you stammer and regain your balance. What Americans respect are those people who can take a punch and come back."

Game over: The Clintons stand alone By: Ben Smith January 11, 2010 06:05 PM EST A new book is out with a highly critical but unsourced portrait of Hillary Clinton. This familiar occurrence — it’s happened too many times to count over the years — has usually been greeted with an equally familiar response: A fast and furious counterattack from the Clinton inner circle. What’s notable about the highly publicized release of “Game Change,” however, is the virtual silence from the Clinton camp. The lack of public outrage seems to mark the sputtering end of what was once known as...

According to POLITICO, Obama’s fans in the Beltway are shocked, shocked that he and his White House minions scapegoat White House General Counsel Greg Craig for Obama’s failed promise to close Guantanamo in one year. The closing of Guantanamo – as Obama’s critics have long predicted – ain’t gonna happen, because there’s no place else to put the hardcore terrorists currently housed there. When Obama announced his dubious executive order closing Guantanamo by January 2010, the Kool-Aid drinkers were ecstatic. “See?” they said, “This is why we elected him. We were so right.” No, they were so wrong. It was...

Robert Reich has finally responded to the audio of him telling "brutal truths" to an audience at Berkeley which your humble correspondent chronicled here in NewsBusters on Tuesday. Here are the gems delivered up by Reich as to what he claims an honest candidate for president would say about health care if he didn't worry about getting elected: "We're going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It's...

Obama Advisor Robert Reich Blasted for Promoting Death Panels Washington, DC -- Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin got pilloried for suggesting that the government-run health care system set up under the bills in Congress would lead to "death panels." But, now, a video has surfaced showing Obama economics advisor Robert Reich essentially admitting Palin was right. http://www.LifeNews.com/bio2982.html

Unemployment will almost certainly in double-digits next year — and may remain there for some time. And for every person who shows up as unemployed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey, you can bet there’s another either too discouraged to look for work or working part time who’d rather have a full-time job or else taking home less pay than before (I’m in the last category, now that the University of California has instituted pay cuts). And there’s yet another person who’s more fearful that he or she will be next to lose a job. In other words,...

Ex-Clinton aide pleads not guilty in prison case(AP) – 8 hours ago LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A former top aide to Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas has pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to smuggle contraband into a prison. Betsey Wright is accused of trying to smuggle tattoo needles, a box cutter, a knife and tweezers into the Varner Supermax Unit while visiting a death row inmate in May. The 66-year-old Wright entered the plea Wednesday in a court filing in Lincoln County Circuit Court. The filing by defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig also waives her arraignment,...

WASHINGTON -- It isn't easy to put words in the mouth of the president of the United States, but the White House stable of speechwriters does that almost every day. The frustrations of such a prestigious post are painfully recalled by Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, in his new book "Speech-Less." The subtitle of the book by the conservative speechwriter is "Tales of a White House Survivor." Latimer's book divulges rich insights into the Bush White House. The rivalries, the egos, the fears and the trepidations of having written a prime time speech only to...

RUSH: David Axelrod there saying that Obama doesn't listen to polls, doesn't read polls, doesn't care what NBC says, and the first obligation of the president is to keep the American people safe. No, the first obligation of this president is to make sure our enemies are not offended. Now, yesterday -- and I got a lot of grief on this, caught a lot of grief in the e-mail. Yesterday, I kind of lost it toward the end of the program, all the sound bites and Afghanistan was a big subject yesterday and, you know, the general says we need...

I just watched Bill O'Rielly talk with George Stephanopolis and I was struck with a sense of deja-vu. I have seen this BS before and steffi was on the inside that time. I find it impossible to believe that this excuse for a journalist has more than 20 viewers outside of the beltway and New York. The boy is about as objective about politics as my 18 year old cat is about home life. I mean, as long as she has a clean box, food and water, she is happy, but this nitwit is happy with nothing more than re-processed...

Obama transition chief and head of the leftist Center for American Progress, John Podesta, laid in to Glenn Beck tonight with a spirited but after the fact defense of former Obama administration official Van Jones that was posted tonight at Think Progress:Van Jones is an exceptional and inspired leader who has fought to bring economic and environmental justice to communities across our country. He has chosen to resign because he believed he was serving as a distraction to the president’s agenda. I respect that decision. Van was working to build a common ground agenda for all Americans, and I am...

BURBANK, Calif. - Spider-Man and Iron Man have a new boss: The Walt Disney Co. Disney announced this morning that it is buying Marvel Entertainment -- and the more than 5,000 Marvel characters. They include X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor. "This is a great fit for us," Disney boss Bob Iger told CNBC this morning. He said the acquisition was a way to attract more boys. Disney said the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share -- or about $4 billion. Iger said the acquisition will grow both Disney and Marvel.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Kenneth Bacon, a former reporter and Pentagon spokesman who later served as a top advocate of displaced people all over the world, died Saturday, according to Refugees International. He was 64. Kenneth Bacon was "one of the great voices in humanitarian advocacy," says Joel Charny of Refugees International. Kenneth Bacon was "one of the great voices in humanitarian advocacy," says Joel Charny of Refugees International. Bacon had served as the president of Washington-based Refugees International since 2001, the group said in a statement Saturday. The former Wall Street Journal reporter died Saturday morning from an aggressive melanoma...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The chief of staff of former President Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas was charged on Wednesday with smuggling tattoo needles into the death row unit of the state prison. Betsey Wright, a death penalty opponent, reportedly plans to surrender to authorities next week. According to a police report posted online by the Arkansas Times, Wright tried to bring in contraband into the maximum security unit during a May 22 visit. The items were an ink pen with tweezers and a needle, a knife, a boxcutter and 48 tattoo needles hidden in a Nachos...

Bill Clinton's chief of staff when he was governor of Arkansas is expected to turn herself in after authorities issued a bench warrant for her arrest for allegedly smuggling contraband into a state prison, her attorney told CNN Wednesday. Betsey Wright served Clinton as chief of staff for 7 years in Arkansas and ran 3 successful campaigns for governor. Betsey Wright allegedly smuggled a red Doritos bag containing 48 tattoo needles, a pen with tweezers and a needle inside, a Swiss Army knife and a box cutter into the Varner Unit, a high-security state prison in Grady, Arkansas, according to...

Ex-Clinton aide named in prison case Staffer for then-governor faces charges of smuggling items onto death row LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A former chief of staff for Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas faces felony charges accusing her of trying to smuggle a knife and 48 tattoo needles onto the state's death row. The charges against Betsey Wright come as The Associated Press obtained documents showing death-row inmate allegedly passed love letters and contraband to a guard with whom he committed a sex act. Combined, the events represent just the latest in a series of high-profile incidents at...

<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- A former chief of staff for Bill Clinton when he was Arkansas' governor has been charged with attempting to smuggle contraband goods into the state's death row.</p> <p>Betsey Wright, of Rogers, faces 51 felony charges stemming from her arrest May 22 at the state's Varner Unit. An Arkansas State Police report claims she attempted to smuggle in a box cutter, a pocket knife, tweezers and tattoo needles.</p>

<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A former chief of staff for Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas faces felony charges accusing her of smuggling a knife and 48 tattoo needles onto the state's death row.</p> <p>The charging of Betsey Wright, 66, of Rogers, Ark., comes as The Associated Press obtained documents showing death-row inmate passed love letters and contraband to a guard he committed a sex act with. Combined, they represent just the latest in a series of high-profile incidents at the state prison system, ranging from two convicted murderers escaping in guard uniforms to a man being shot to death at a contraband checkpoint.</p>

The Oxford English Dictionary added several new words to their lexicon today. The complete list can be accessed online here: http://www.oed.com/help/updates/latestadditions.html#oos Highlights include: + amateur night, n. and adj. + bailout, n.2 + bupkis, n. + buttload, n. + Clintonista, n. + commitment-phobe, n. + dwarf planet, n. + grilled cheese, n. + searchability, n. + turducken, n. + Many others Source: Oxford English Dictionary

On April 4, 1996, the subject of my radio show in Kansas City was Commerce Secretary, Ron Brown. He and 34 others had died the day before when their Air Force plane crashed into a Croatian mountainside. Not one to shy from exploitation of a tragedy, President Clinton was busily profaning the memory of Martin Luther King – who had been killed on April 4, 1968 – by comparing King's mission to Brown's. What Clinton did not say was that Brown had gone to Croatia to broker a sweetheart deal between the neo-fascist strongman who ran Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, and...

Holder says he approved Clinton-era renditionsCannot be posted, due to FR rules.

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2009 – The director of the White House Military Office has submitted his resignation in the wake of an April 27 aerial photo shoot with a presidential aircraft over New York City. Louis Caldera, who served as secretary of the Army during the Clinton administration, resigned his office effective May 22. “I have concluded that the controversy surrounding the Presidential Airlift Group’s aerial photo shoot over New York City has made it impossible to effectively lead the White House Military Office,” Caldera wrote in his letter of resignation. President Barack Obama has accepted the resignation, White House...

The Atlanta-based firm Kilpatrick Stockton LLP says attorney Mark Levy, who served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice between 1993 and 1995, died Thursday. An attorney who served in the Clinton administration was found dead Thursday in an apparent suicide at his Washington law office. The death comes after the chief financial officer of mortgage giant Freddie Mac killed himself last week. David Kellermann was found dead April 22 in the basement of his northern Virginia home.

Washington - An attorney who served in the Clinton administration was found dead Thursday in an apparent suicide at his Washington law office. Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, an Atlanta-based firm, confirmed in a statement that attorney Mark Levy had died. "Mark Levy was well known and highly respected for his successful appearances before the Supreme Court of the United States," said Bill Dorris, the firm's co-managing partner. Levy was a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice between 1993 and 1995 and served five years in the Solicitor General's office.

An attorney who served in the Clinton administration was found dead Thursday in an apparent suicide at his Washington law office. Kilpatrick Stockton, an Atlanta firm, confirmed in a statement that attorney Mark Levy had died. "Mark Levy was well known and highly respected for his successful appearances before the Supreme Court of the United States," said Bill Dorris, the firm's co-managing partner. Levy was a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice between 1993 and 1995 and served five years in the Solicitor General's office. D.C. Police spokeswoman Helen Andrews said officers were called to an office...

Lanny Davis talks to Bill Clinton on release of the torture memos, and prosecution of Bush officials, from todays washingtontimes. No doubt Bill Clinton, deep down, would love to see Bush officials prosecuted, to level his image as President...

ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Hillary Clinton stepped directly into the middle of this week's political fray when she questioned former Vice President Dick Cheney's credibility on the torture memos recently released by the Obama administration. Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, R-Calif., took up Dick Cheney's cause today and pressed Secretary of State Clinton to urge the Obama administration to declassify and release documents he believes demonstrate the success of the enhanced interrogation techniques employed during the Bush administration. Rep. Rohrbacher referred to Mr. Cheney's recent comments where he claimed the memos released by the Obama administration last week tend to only...

Dana Perino, President George W. Bush's last White House press secretary, will join Clinton administration adviser Mark Penn at public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller, where she will be "chief issues counselor." Mr. Penn, the firm's CEO, said Ms. Perino's experiences in Mr. Bush's second term make her a valuable addition to the team of battle-tested public-relations veterans he is assembling. . . . Ms. Perino, 36 years old, likely will focus on communications strategies for clients in the looming Washington policy debates over issues such as energy, climate change and health care. She may also develop business among newer defense and technology...

A former college classmate, friend and financial account manager who handled money for former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to stealing $473,000 from Cisneros’ accounts over a three-year period. Cisneros’ former friend, Fred L. May III, appeared before Judge Orlando Garcia in U.S. District Court to plead guilty to a felony charge of fraud. The judge set May’s sentencing hearing for June 25. May was arrested on March 4, a day after the U.S. Attorney filed a federal lawsuit naming May as a financial account manager in San Antonio who had defrauded an unnamed...

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., has referred constituents raising concerns over President Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office to an online "fact" organization that relies for its answer partly on information from the Obama campaign. "Thank you for your recent e-mail. Senator Obama meets the constitutional requirements for presidential office. Rumors pertaining to his citizenship status have been circulating on the Internet, and this information has been debunked by Snopes.com, which investigates the truth behind Internet rumors."

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- On the heels of naming pro-abortion Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his next Health Secretary, Obama has turned to another abortion advocate to head the White House Office of Health Care Reform. Nancy-Ann DeParle, a former Clinton administration official, was tapped for the post. DeParle oversaw budget issues related to the Clinton health care plan, which pro-life advocates panned for promoting abortion and rationing of lifesaving medical care. But DeParle is no stranger to controversy related to abortion and refused to allow a state to limit taxpayer funding of abortions under its own health plan. In...

The Chinagate/Buddhist temple cash skeletons in Gary Locke’s closet By Michelle Malkin  •  February 24, 2009 09:53 AM Is it possible for Barack Obama to pick a Commerce Secretary nominee who’ll actually make it past first base? Bill Richardson withdrew in the midst of a pay-for-play scandal. Judd Gregg withdrew in the midst of a humiliating power play over the Census and porkulus bill.Now, former Democrat Gov. Gary Locke — a lawyer for international firm Davis, Wright, and Tremaine who specializes in China — is rumored to be the next nominee for the post. The MSM is pulling for him. WaPo...

The economy is so dire that President Obma has created an economic advisory board. Austan Goolsbee as staff director and chief economist; William H. Donaldson, SEC Chair, 2003-05; Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO, TIAA-CREF; Robert Wolf, chairman and CEO, UBS; David F. Swensen, CIO, Yale University; Mark T. Gallogly, founder and managing partner, Centerbridge Partners L.P.; Penny Pritzker, chairwoman, Pritzker Realty Group; Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO, GE (parent company of NBC News); John Doerr, partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; Jim Owens, chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.; Monica C. Lozano, publisher & chief executive officer, La Opinion;...

Stars Turn Out for Clinton Swearing-In By ROBERT BURNS, AP Yes, that was Chevy Chase, the former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman, in the crowd at Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's ceremonial swearing-in Monday at the State Department. Chase brought a touch of Hollywood star power to a gathering of Washington's power elite, including Henry Kissinger and three other former secretaries of state, as Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath of office. In her remarks, Clinton thanked Biden and President Barack Obama for choosing her as the nation's top diplomat, saying she had assumed her new responsibilities "at a...

WASHINGTON — Republicans have long accused mainstream journalists of being on the payroll of President Obama and the Democratic Party, a common refrain of favoritism especially from those on the losing end of an election (see Bush vs. Gore, Clinton vs. Bush and Bush vs. Dukakis). But this year the accusation has a new twist: In some notable cases it has become true, with several prominent journalists now on the payrolls of Mr. Obama and the Democratic Congressional leadership. An unusual number of journalists from prominent, mainstream organizations started new government jobs in January, providing new kindling to the debate...

One of the most critical aspects of a journalist's credibility is his ability to at least appear to be objective. So what happens when one of the biggest names in network journalism George Stephanopoulos host of ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" is revealed to be in constant contact with other former Clinton Administration advisors using their collective knowledge and political acumen to aid President Obama's Chief of Staff in performing his job? The answer to that question will reveal just how dedicated the management of ABC is to the basic tenets of objective journalism; dedicated or contemptuous.

Leading backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton's failed presidential bid announced Wednesday the creation of a new online network for her supporters to stay connected and pursue policy goals she has championed. The organization, NoLimits.org, is headed by longtime senior Clinton aides Ann Lewis and Sarah Nolan. The group has solicited the members of HillaryClinton.com, Clinton's presidential campaign e-mail list, to be part of "a new community dedicated to speaking up, sharing ideas and solving problems in our communities, our cities, our states and our world." NoLimits.org has been incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and is not intended to be...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday will name Todd D. Stern, a trusted top aide in her husband’s White House, to serve as a special envoy for climate change, Democratic officials said. Climate was largely ignored by President George W. Bush’s State Department, but the officials said Stern’s appointment shows it will be a priority throughout President Barack Obama’s administration. Stern was staff secretary, a sensitive job that makes him the gatekeeper to every piece of paper the President sees and signs. Also for Clinton, he was senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires climate negotiations....