Obama

President Barack Obama is clearly liked overseas -- adored, in many quarters. But is he respected? Americans bathed in glowing press coverage of his trip evidently think so, judging by results in the latest CBS-New York Times poll. By 67 percent to 18 percent -- including 45 percent...

There he was, our president, on TV as usual, urging millions of Americans to refinance their homes by clicking on MakingHomeAffordable.gov. But wait! The first two hits on Google are for commercial sites and have nothing to do with his plan.

Breaking news -- "Michelle Obama steps off plane wearing J.Crew." "Next on NBC, first lady expected to wear yellow at gala." "Stay tuned to find out who looks better, Mrs. Obama or France's Carla Bruni-Sarkozy at the economic summit." "These stories and more, when we return from this...

Americans with mental retardation have been in the news recently. First, President Obama committed a regrettable indiscretion on the Jay Leno Show by comparing his own bowling ineptitude with the level of skill on display -- so the joke goes -- at the Special Olympics. But honest...

The Congressional Budget Office, the economic forecasting arm of the Congress, now reports that the Social Security trust fund is almost in the red. They project that the fund's surplus next year will be a scant $3 billion. For perspective, CBO just 12 months ago projected that this...

A former Dickinson resident could soon hold a position in the Obama administration. Martha "Nace" Johnson, daughter of Ted and Lovina Nace, is up for nomination for administrator of the General Services Administration. Johnson attended high school in Dickinson from 1966 to 1968...

Before President Barack Obama and Congress overhaul the U.S. health care system at great expense -- and, as things look now, without a cost-control mechanism -- they ought to consider an alternative conceptual framework. It comes from Tom Cigarran, founder of Healthways Inc., the...

Americans make lousy aristocrats. Lacking a sense of hereditary entitlement, our homegrown elites scarcely acknowledge quaint concepts like duty and honor, much less shame. As if the entire presidency of George W. Bush weren't proof enough, consider the feckless amorality of Wall...

Unless you wandered off the beaten path in the business pages you probably missed this dispatch out of Detroit that President Obama's auto task force participating in meetings that "have focused on educating the Treasury on the world of auto manufacturing." This is ominous news indeed,...

If you're rich and think nobody loves you anymore, meet Rep. John Boehner. He's the House minority leader from Ohio who is anchoring the opposition to President Barack Obama's proposed tax hikes on households making more than $250,000 a year. Although my family falls into that category,...

A month ago, reflecting on George W. Bush's near doubling of the national debt, budget hawk David Walker told me that Bush was "the most fiscally irresponsible president in American history." This week, reflecting on the possibility that Barack Obama could nearly redouble the debt,...

President Obama, your inexperience is showing once again -- as is that of one of your most visible employees. One of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced politicians is inappropriate use of humor. Take, for example, joking about the depressed economy. If you're a two-term...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said on Friday that Eric Holder has learned from history and will let neither fear nor ideology cloud his judgment as attorney general. "These are mistakes he will not repeat.

If everything you knew about President Barack Obama's role in the AIG bonus fiasco was his recent "60 Minutes" appearance, you'd feel reassured. On television, Obama gave a masterful performance, all calm confidence and disarming smile. Was he surprised by public outrage over $165...

No sooner had President Obama ruefully acknowledged that his administration hadn't immediately eliminated the influence of lobbyists in Washington than the National Football League went out and hired one, perhaps spurred to act by the prospect of Obama eliminating them all. The AIG...