A Scandal-Free White House: Is Obama Ethical or Lucky?

White House Cyber Czar: ‘There Is No Cyberwar’
His stance contradicts Michael McConnell, the former director of national intelligence who made headlines last week when he testified to Congress that the country was already in the midst of a cyberwar — and was losing it. Schmidt’s official title is Cyber-security coordinator at the White House, a job he took over just before Christmas. Schmidt has no budgetary authority, but he said that doesn’t make him powerless, because his office is in the White House. He’s been...

White House offers assurance census data is private
With the 2010 population count looming, the government provided new assurances Thursday that information Americans fill out on their Census forms will be kept confidential and not be used for Law Enforcement. In a legal opinion submitted to Congress, the Obama Administration makes clear that Census data cannot be disclosed under the Patriot Act, the nation's main Counterterrorism Law. The government has previously given legal assurances the information will not be used for Immigration...

White House to Congress: Don't offend Turkey
Source: MSNBC.com Washington - The Obama Administration is urging a House panel not to offend Turkey by declaring that the Ottoman-era killing of Armenians was Genocide. But the committee chairman pressed ahead Thursday. The Administration stepped in despite a campaign promise by President Barack Obama to brand as Genocide the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks. The United States relies on Turkey as a key supply route for U.S. troops in Iraq and Turkey's troops...

Democratic Factions Invited to White House for Health Care Talks
President Obama on Thursday continued to press Congress to bring a Health Care overhaul to a vote, inviting a large group of House Democrats to the White House, including representatives of Democrats' liberal and minority caucuses and the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderates.

You know what America needs now? A brutal political battle over amnesty
Ever vigilant, the boss emeritus urges us to prepare for Grahamnesty . These stories about the White House’s big new Immigration push pop up every few months , and invariably they’re forgotten a few days later as The One returns to his all-consuming Health-care obsession. But maybe this time is different. Obama took up the issue privately with his staff Monday in a bid to advance a bill through Congress before lawmakers become too distracted by approaching Midterm...

Obama's Health Care Push: The Race is On
(AP) After months of pleading with President Obama to be more hands on in the Health Care debate, congressional Democrats are finally getting their wish. First, the president put out his own proposal. Second, he held the Blair House summit (which the White House saw as a way to show once and for all that efforts at bipartisanship are fruitless). Those two steps raised the question: would he now go for step three - a political hat trick - by taking the lead in twisting arms in Congress. Some...

Now Obama's Trying to Ram Through Immigration Bill Before Mid Term Election
Obama knows the Democrats’ days are numbered. He has a limited window of opportunity to ram through his radical agenda. Los Angeles Times : Despite steep odds, the White House has discussed prospects for reviving a major overhaul of the nation’s Immigration laws, a commitment that President Obama has postponed once already. Obama took up the issue privately with his staff Monday in a bid to advance a bill through Congress before lawmakers become too distracted by approaching Midterm...

Afton Branche: Immigration Reform in 2010: A Limited Time Offer
On Monday, President Obama met with members of his Domestic Policy Council to discuss how to move forward with a comprehensive reform of our federal Immigration system. The LA Times reports that the White House may recruit Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to craft a "blueprint" that could be used for legislation. Ultimately, Obama will leave it up to Congress to overhaul our Immigration laws. It's unlikely that the House will pass reform first. Last December, a group...

President Obama to appear on 'America's Most Wanted': Talks crime-fighting on show's 1000th episode
The 1,000th episode of " America's Most Wanted " will welcome a very special guest - President Barack Obama . The show's host, John Walsh , sat down for an interview at the White House with the President that will air Saturday at 9 p.m. on Fox. Walsh's six-year-old son Adam was abducted and murdered in 1981. In their sit-down, the President assures Walsh that he'll work closely with Congress to ensure funding for the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act , Fox reports. The law...

Obama sets deadline for health care reform, Democrats come up with a strategy
As the Democrats rush to get Republican votes in the Senate and make a comprehensive bill with a little bit of everything in it, the President announced a deadline to end the tiring debate on Health Care. Wednesday, President Obama challenged Congress to vote in “the next few weeks,” even if it involves going around the Republican minority. From the East Room of the White House, Obama said he believes the “United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on Health...

Haiti's president to come to the US, meet at White House
Rene Preval will travel to the U.S. next week ahead of a major donor conference aimed at helping the earthquake ravaged country. He'll meet at the White House with President Obama on Wednesday. From the White House: "On Wednesday, March 10, President Obama will welcome Haitian President Rene Préval to the White House.  They will discuss relief, recovery, and reconstruction efforts in Haiti, including the important contributions made by the United States and the...

Christina Romer to Remain at White House, Not Joining Fed
By Luca Di Leo Christina Romer , one of U.S. President Barack Obama’s top economic advisers, Friday said she won’t be taking up a job at the Federal Reserve and will be staying on at the White House. “I love my current job and I’m not going anywhere,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Romer said during a visit at the Wall Street Journal offices Friday. After Vice Chairman Donald Kohn this week said he would step down from the Fed board in June,...

Obama's White Coat Ceremony
President Obama appeared in the White House Wednesday talking to a group of White-coated people -- nurses and other healthcare professionals, some of whom were doctors. It is reasonable to assume that these individuals wore their White coats not by accident. The White House apparently wanted to use White coats to emphasize that medical professionals were on the White House side of the healthcare debate. (Concerns about the potential Health hazards of all those White coats not withstanding.)...

Haiti's leader coming to White House next week
By Michael A. Fletcher Haitian President Rene Préval, whose country is still reeling from the January earthquake that devastated it, is scheduled to meet with President Obama at the White House on Wednesday. The two leaders will discuss how the international community can best support Haiti's rebuilding efforts, according to a statement released Friday evening by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "The president looks forward to welcoming President Préval to the White House to...