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Note: The following text is a quote: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Vera Institute of Justice’s Third Annual Justice Address Thursday, July 9, 2009 Laurie, thank you for that wonderful introduction. When I asked Laurie to come back to the Justice Department to lead our Office of Justice Programs, I was keenly aware of how much she would have to give up to join us. Not only did she take leave from the University of Pennsylvania, but she also had to give up her Chair of Vera’s Board of Trustees. I know that...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG THE BLOG TUESDAY, JUNE 23RD, 2009 AT 11:00 AM Chains in Command Posted by Jared Bernstein Ed. Note: The Middle Class Task Force is meeting today on the future of American manufacturing in Perrysburg, Ohio. When we think about manufacturing in America, most of us probably picture a big factory churning out cars or refrigerators. But there’s another side to manufacturing in America: the supply chains that provide these end-users with the inputs they need to make the final product. In fact, there are more workers at...

Note: Video included. # Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 1:12 pm Health Care Reform: “Urgency and Determination” download .mp4 (92.6 MB) | read the transcript This morning the President, Speaker Pelosi, and Leadership from the House of Representatives emerged from a meeting together with a new target on moving forward with health reform: pass legislation through the House by July 31st. The President spoke to the press after the Speaker in the South Drive at the Oval Office, telling them that "this is a gorgeous day and...

President Barack Obama will aim on Monday to build support for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system by highlighting a drive for greater efficiency he predicts could save trillions of dollars. Obama has invited several large trade groups, such as the American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans and the American Hospital Association, to an event to discuss ways to wring cost savings from the health system. At a 12:30 p.m. EDT event, the trade groups will present Obama a letter pledging to reduce the growth of health spending by 1.5 percentage points annually through more efficient practices,...

The people who do TV news -- the big-time, ostensibly serious, 24/7 stuff -- know what the audience likes. One of the things they've found out about us is there's nothing we find more entertaining than a crisis. We love that hint of danger -- vicarious, of course, but not so far removed that we can't put ourselves in the shoes of the real people who are going through something kind of scary. Governments love crises, too. Crises offer the chance to sound concerned look busy and tell us what good care they're taking of us. And made-up crises are...

Rahm Emmanuel, Pres. Obama's chief of staff, is known as a strategist, manager, and organizer of considerable ability. For the blindly partisan, this will make them see red. For those who try to fairly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent, it will be a point that makes them pause. As he was preparing to take his place in the Obama Administration, Emmanuel is quoted as saying that politicians can have tremendous success manipulating a crisis, even if it is a manufactured crisis. "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that...

The swine flu scare is all set to surpass the dramatic turnaround in air travel caused by the Sars epidemic. The news of swine flu broke out in India on Monday and in just two days, the rate of cancellation has jumped for international travel. While airlines said it’s too early to comment, Amadeus — one of the biggest technology providers for ticketing — said 2-4% increase in cancellations has already happened and this could rise further in coming days. “Because of flu, we have seen a jump in cancellations for international travel transactions made in India in past two...

U.S. officials said yesterday that they are renaming the swine flu crisis the "2009 H1N1 virus outbreak" and warned other countries not to "ban or prevent" imports of U.S. pork or other products. "This really isn't swine flu. It's H1N1 virus," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "We want to say to consumers here and abroad that there is no risk to you. There is no scientific evidence whatsoever that there is any link between consuming pork, prepared pork products and the H1N1 virus," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk added. Prices of U.S. pork, corn and soybeans dived Monday after Russia,...

A ragtag band of pirates has put President Barack Obama in a bind: He commands overwhelming firepower in the form of a growing flotilla of U.S. warships, but he doesn't want to use it......

America's mayors are alarmed by the string of mass shootings that have occurred in recent weeks in cities across the nation. This epidemic serves as a stark reminder that the easy availability of guns often turns domestic and personal disputes into acts of murder. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, their neighbors, and their communities in: -- Samson, AL, where 10 people were killed on March 10; -- Oakland, CA, where four police officers were killed on March 21; -- Carthage, NC - eight nursing home residents were killed on March 29; -- Santa Clara,...

WASHINGTON -- On Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008, Rahm Emanuel, now the White House chief of staff, famously described the future Obama administration's philosophy for governing: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before." "O-Team" sycophants in the so-called mainstream media chuckled. Conservatives were alarmed. We now know we had reason to be. At the time Emanuel made his comment -- five days after the election -- we thought he was referring to the ongoing economic crisis to...

A Charming visit with Jay Leno won’t fix it. A 90 percent tax on bankers’ bonuses won’t fix it. Firing Timothy Geithner won’t fix it. Unless and until Barack Obama addresses the full depth of Americans’ anger with his full arsenal of policy smarts and political gifts, his presidency and, worse, our economy will be paralyzed. It would be foolish to dismiss as hyperbole the stark warning delivered by Paulette Altmaier of Cupertino, Calif., in a letter to the editor published by The Times last week: “President Obama may not realize it yet, but his Katrina moment has arrived.” [Snip]...

U.S. law-making is riddled with slapdash, incompetence and gamesmanship Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve is dropping trillions of fresh paper dollars on the world economy, the President of the United States is cracking jokes on late night comedy shows, his energy minister is threatening a trade war over carbon emissions, his treasury secretary is dithering over a banking reform program amid rising concerns over his competence and a monumentally dysfunctional U.S. Congress is launching another public jihad against corporations and bankers. As an aghast world — from China to Chicago and Chihuahua — watches, the circus-like U.S. political system seems...

"Crisis! Crisis! Crisis!" So is it always with petty politicians seeking to enhance their power. Swallow it whole, swallow it now is the word. But just what are we swallowing so fast that we don't even have time to think? Are we really to believe that all we must do is touch the hem of President Obama's garment, and the pains of capitalist dislocation will wash away? Hidden deep in the stimulus bill is a Trojan horse like no other. I am not speaking of pork. A scheme more dastardly would have been hard to concoct. With the passage of...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/WEEKLY-ADDRESS-President-Obama-Presses-the-Case-for-Bold-Action-to-Address-the-Economic-Crisis/ THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________________ SATURDAY, March 7, 2009 WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Presses the Case for Bold Action to Address the Economic Crisis WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used his weekly address to detail his plans to fix our ailing economy, noting that reforming healthcare is necessary to ensure our long term fiscal health. While ending this crisis will not be quick or easy, the President’s plans will take the swift, bold, and responsible actions needed for the United States to emerge stronger and...

Clinton Warns of Possible North Korean Succession Crisis By VOA News 20 February 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says there is a "pressing need" to decide how to talk with North Korea, as Pyongyang increasingly threatens South Korea. Clinton also said North Korea's potential leadership crisis could be prompting recent provocative statements from Pyongyang. She warned that a power struggle in the North could raise already heightened tensions between the communist country and its neighbors. The country's longtime leader, Kim Jong Il, is widely believed to have suffered a stroke in August. It is not clear who would...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/17/On-the-Road-Secretary-Clinton/ THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 11:05 am On the Road: Secretary Clinton "I have become fond of saying that America is as much a transpacific power as it is a transatlantic one," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote yesterday in her first blog post on Dipnote, the State Department blog, as she kicked off her first major overseas trip. Secretary Clinton is in Tokyo today, the first stop on her weeklong tour of Asia, which also includes stops in Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and China....