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Obama: Green energy not ‘socialist plot’ By Ben Geman - 10/08/12 09:59 AM ET President Obama quipped Sunday night that energy efficiency initiatives are not a “socialist plot” in remarks that contrasted his energy policies with rival Mitt Romney’s. The president, fundraising in Los Angeles, addressed energy during a $25,000-per-plate dinner with backers that included actor George Clooney. “On energy, I’m big on oil and gas, and developing clean coal technology, but I also believe that if we’re ever going to have control of our energy future, then we’ve got to invest in solar and wind and biofuels, and that...

Former presidential candidate on handling of Mideast crisis

The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday assured congressional lawmakers that agents would play no role in enforcing the controversial requirement that Americans buy insurance under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. "IRS revenue agents will not be involved. There will not be audits," IRS Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller told a subcommittee of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The White House is denying that they refused to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of a U.N. conference later this month. "The President arrives in New York for the U.N. on Monday, September 24th and departs on Tuesday, September 25th," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said. "The Prime Minister doesn't arrive in New York until later in the week. They're simply not in the city at the same time. But the President and PM are in frequent contact and the PM will meet with other senior officials, including Secretary Clinton, during his visit," Vietor...

Just as they did during the Republican National Convention, independent fact checkers spent the first day of the Democratic National Convention listening for claims that don't add up — and found them. — FactCheck.org says it heard "a number of dubious or misleading claims" from the Democrats who spoke on stage Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. Among the problems it found: — "The keynote speaker and others claimed the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, would raise taxes on the 'middle class.' He has promised he won't. Democrats base their claim on a study that doesn't necessarily lead to that conclusion."— "The keynote...

The Israeli ambassador to America, Michael Oren, has released a statement rebuking the chair of the Democratic National Party. Earlier today, Phil Klein reported: Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed on Monday that Israel’s ambassador to the United States has accused Republicans of being “dangerous” to Israel by criticizing President Obama’s record. The Florida congresswoman made the charge at a training session for Jewish Democrats held by the Obama campaign here at the Democratic National Convention, aimed at teaching Jewish Democrats how to convince their fellow Jews to vote for Obama. Much of the session, which featured a...

“On all these issues, I think the most important thing we can do, and a big project of mine, is just making the federal government more customer friendly,” SNIP "I think the best role the federal government can play is oftentimes listening and trying to come to consensus at the local level and making sure the federal government is not getting in the way of that consensus once it's built up

The other thing we’ve done is to say, what are the critical needs of small business? A lot of time, one of the biggest challenges is to make sure that you, as a sole proprietor, that you can get health insurance for you and your family. So when you hear about the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — and I don’t mind the name because I really do care. That’s why we passed it. You should know that once we have fully implemented, you’re going to be able to buy insurance through a pool so that you can get the...

On Monday, Barack Obama claimed that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) blocked a bill giving aid to farmers and ranchers hurt by the severe drought, ABC News reported. “I am told that Governor Romney’s new running mate, Paul Ryan, might be around Iowa the next few days,” he said while in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “He is one of the leaders of Congress standing in the way. So if you happen to see Congressman Ryan, tell him how important this farm bill is to Iowa and our rural communities.” There's only one problem with Obama's statement - the House passed a stopgap...

“It really annoyed Caroline when comparisons were made by the media between Michelle and Jackie. Caroline had a word for such comparisons; she called them ‘odious.’ She really got annoyed. And when she began to fall out of love with the Obamas, love was replaced by outright scorn. Now she says things about Obama like, ‘I can’t stand to hear his voice any more. He’s a liar and worse’” Ethel Kennedy, “the matriarch of the family,” similarly felt scorned, according to Klein. He tells a story of her invitation — extended to the First Family — being ignored by the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House says President Barack Obama is not pushing for new gun control legislation even though he still supports a ban on assault weapons. Spokesman Jay Carney says Obama intends to focus on other ways to combat violence. Carney's comments Thursday are the latest sign that Obama won't engage lawmakers in a drive for new laws, bowing to congressional opposition to additional gun restrictions.

"I think the issue of executive power and executive privilege is one that is subject to abuse and in an Obama presidency what you will see will be a sufficient respect for law and the co-equal branches of government that I hope we don't find ourselves in a situation in which we would have aides being subpoenaed for what I think everything acknowledges is some troublesome information out there," then-Senator Barack Obama told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a 2007 interview.

A new biography of Barack Obama has established that his grandfather was not, as is related in the President’s own memoir, detained by the British in Kenya and found that claims that he was tortured were a fabrication. 'Barack Obama: The Story' by David Maraniss catalogues dozens of instances in which Obama deviated significantly from the truth in his book 'Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance'. The 641-page book punctures the carefully-crafted narrative of Obama’s life. One of the enduring myths of Obama’s ancestry is that his paternal grandfather Hussein Onyango Obama, who served as a...

I have never responded to the columnist down the river. But I was fascinated by Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass’ take on the recent mob attacks in and around the Streeterville neighborhood. In his interview with the unidentified doctor who was injured in the attack, Kass asked if the attack was “racial.” “I don’t think it was racially motivated,” the doctor said. “They were black, I’m Asian, but I think it was something else. I think it was about having fun because they could.” Still, whether white people are comfortable saying it out loud or choose to keep a lid...

He was correct. Prescient even. But one politician's invective directed at President Obama early in his administration seems to have been forgotten. On Sept. 9, 2009, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., received widespread attention when he interrupted a speech by the president to a joint session of Congress by shouting, "You lie!" The incident resulted in a formal rebuke, essentially along party lines, by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. Wilson may have been indecorous, but he was right. And the president has continued to deceive. As the economy has failed to rebound, the president has been desperately blaming everyone but himself...

Question: What about the Republicans saying that you're blaming the Europeans for the failures of your own policies? President Obama: The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is doing fine. Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. Oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, Governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don't have the same...

Obama: “Since I’ve Been President, Federal Spending Has Risen at Lowest Pace in Nearly 60 Years’ By Terence P. Jeffrey May 24, 2012 (CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday staked his claim to being the most effective fiscal conservative to serve in the White House in more than half a century. “Since I’ve been President, federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years,” Obama said at a campaign event in Denver, Colorado. “Yes, we're going to streamline government,” Obama said. “There's more waste to be cut.” Inaugurated in Jan. 20, 2009, Obama has now presided...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - At a fundraiser for his re-election campaign in Denver tonight, President Obama set out to upend conventional Republican wisdom that his administration has been defined by excessive government spending. "I'm running to pay down our debt in a way that's balanced and responsible. After inheriting a $1 trillion deficit, I signed $2 trillion of spending cuts into law," he told a crowd of donors at the Hyatt Regency. "My opponent won't admit it, but it's starting to appear in places, like real liberal outlets, like the Wall Street Journal: Since I've been president, federal spending has...

Vice President Joe Biden admitted to a group of supporters in New Hampshire this afternoon that the President would have been able help the economy "much, more" if the Tea Party hadn't taken the House. Biden showed the audience the Obama campaigns chart of job growth during the President's first term in office and accused the Tea Party for stalling the recovery, because of the debt limit fight. "Imagine where we'd be if the Tea Party hadn't taken control of the House of Representatives," Biden said adding that they were "a group set on obstructionism."

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