Free Republic

President Biden on Thursday sought to reassure Americans that benefits for veterans and Social Security recipients would not be impacted by the looming threat of a default as negotiators struggle to come to a budget deal and raise the debt ceiling. “I’ve made clear time and again defaulting on our national debt is not an option,” Biden said in remarks from the Rose Garden where he was set to nominate the new Joint Chiefs of Staff. “The American people deserve to know that their Social Security payments will be there, that Veterans’ hospitals remain open and that economic progress will...

Washington - In addressing the contours of a future peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, US President Barack Obama assured Jewish leaders in a recent meeting that Jewish areas would stay in Israel’s hands, according to many participants. Several of those at the meeting, held Tuesday at the White House, said they understood the president to be referring to Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, a final-status issue that he described as “difficult.”

President Obama assured Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday that the lame-duck session will be used to ratify the START nuclear-arms treaty. According to the White House pool report, Obama gave his commitment to his Russian counterpart as the two met, both lauding their friendship and relationship built up over the past two years. "I reiterated my commitment to getting the START treaty done during the lame-duck session," Obama said at a photo op, calling passage of the treaty a "top priority" of his administration.

SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama assured Israel and its U.S. Jewish supporters on Wednesday he was a friend who would not press for peace concessions that would compromise its security. Hailing Israel as a "miracle," he vowed staunch support and held only a low-profile meeting with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank. Obama, seeking to allay wariness among some U.S. Jewish voters about his policy towards Israel, flew to Sderot, a town hit by rockets fired from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, saying he hoped to bring peace but would not dictate the terms of...

BEIJING (AP) -- Despite food safety problems, China says athletes, coaches and officials at the 2008 Beijing Olympics can be assured of healthy meals. "All the procedures involving Olympic food, including production, processing, packaging, storing and transporting will be closely monitored," Sun Wenxu, an official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said Tuesday. China has come under international pressure to boost food safety and monitoring mechanisms following repeated scandals over contaminated Chinese food exports. That has underscored chronic problems with adulterated ingredients and fake products in the domestic food supply, raising questions of how well China can guarantee...

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee John Roberts gave assurances he wouldn't be an activist if confirmed, a key Democrat who already was leaning toward supporting him said Thursday. "I don't see anything that's going to be disturbing" in his record, Sen. Ben Nelson told reporters after a 30-minute meeting with President Bush's choice to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor on the high court. Democrats have been pushing to review as many of Roberts' writings as possible, hoping to gain a better understanding of his personal views and the extent to which he might seek to inject them into his judicial rulings....