Bush administration

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Bush Push for Musharraf Angers Pakistan

Media turns on US as Washington supports beleaguered president

(Newser) - His political future might be in doubt, but Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is still receiving forceful backing from the Bush administration after his party's drubbing in parliamentary elections—and it's angering Pakistanis, reports the New York Times. "I’ve never seen such an irrational, impractical move on the part...

Gun Lobby Holds Up Bush ATF Nominee
Gun Lobby Holds Up Bush ATF Nominee
Feb 25, 2008 2:15 PM CST

Gun Lobby Holds Up Bush ATF Nominee

Republicans hold fellow Republican's nomination hostage

(Newser) - Michael Sullivan has spent a long time waiting to become head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but his appointment has run into a roadblock in the Senate. Not with Democrats—with his fellow Republicans. Gun-rights supporters have blocked the appointment of Sullivan, also a US Attorney...

Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders
Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders
OPINION
Feb 14, 2008 12:12 PM CST

Spitzer Slams Bush for Abetting Bad Lenders

Says feds barred states from halting predators

(Newser) - The Bush administration was a “willing accomplice” to predatory lending practices that cost thousands of Americans their homes and endangered our economy, Eliot Spitzer writes in the Washington Post. When state attorneys general (including Spitzer at the time) tried to act against a spike in deceptive and even illegal...

Rove Grilled by Preppies
Rove Grilled
by Preppies
Feb 12, 2008 2:55 AM CST

Rove Grilled by Preppies

Ex-Bush adviser zings Clintons in talk to future leaders at elite school

(Newser) - Karl Rove advised students to chuck those poly sci books for Shakespeare in a wide-ranging talk yesterday at Massachusetts' elite boarding school Choate, the Hartford Courant reports. Stiff opposition scuttled the school's plan to have Rove speak at commencement, but "I didn't want anybody to say you ran me...

Bush Demands Europe Step Up Flight Security

EU leaders accuse US of 'blackmail,' call requests 'absurd'

(Newser) - In a move some EU officials call blackmail, the Bush administration is demanding that EU members implement a wide range of new air security measures. The US wants American air marshals on all inbound flights, an online screening permit process for all US-bound passengers, and personal information on anyone flying...

Court Upbraids EPA for Mercury Cap-and-Trade

Greenies hail ruling, which will force agency to rewrite controls

(Newser) - A court ruled today that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act by instituting a “cap-and-trade” program for the emission of mercury and other toxic chemicals. Reuters reports that the federal court's ruling means coal-fired plants will all have to invest in mercury-reduction equipment in order to...

US Backs Sham Democracies, Watchdog Says

Western powers allow autocrats to pay lip service to ideals

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch says Western powers accept too many sham democracies out of political convenience, the BBC reports. The group's annual report slams the tendency of the US and EU governments to allow autocrats to claim “the mantle of democracy" without granting authentic political freedom. It also said the...

Greenies Aim to Stop Bush's Alaska Plan

Logging and development would overturn Clinton-era 'roadless rule'

(Newser) - Greenies are hoping to stop President Bush from opening Alaskan woodland to logging and road construction, the Washington Post reports. Bush unveiled plans yesterday to let developers tackle 2.4 million acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest national woodland. But angry environmentalists and the Alaska Forest Association...

Wolfowitz Appointment Draws Fire
Wolfowitz Appointment Draws Fire
Jan 25, 2008 11:45 AM CST

Wolfowitz Appointment Draws Fire

Rice taps Iraq mastermind to chair influential panel

(Newser) - Paul Wolfowitz is returning to the Bush administration as a security adviser, and even before it was official, the appointment was drawing boos, the New York Times reports. The controversial figure will take Fred Thompson’s seat as chairman of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board, an...

Bush Legacy: US Awash in Ugly Red Ink

President came in with budget surplus, will leave massive debt

(Newser) - Washington’s sea of red ink is getting deeper as President Bush plans tax cuts and spending bumps to stimulate a foundering economy. Bush's policies have created a fiscal morass that puts his successor, Democrat or Republican, in a deep fiscal hole, and makes delivering on campaign promises difficult, Bloomberg...

Group Counts 932 Falsehoods in Runup to War

False statements by Bush, top officials were 'orchestrated campaign'

(Newser) - President Bush and top administration officials made hundreds of false statements—932, to be exact—about the national security threat from Iraq following 9/11, report two nonprofit journalism organizations. In the two years after the attacks, Bush and top officials stated at least 532 times that Iraq had weapons of...

Top US Diplomat on Iran Resigns
Top US Diplomat on Iran Resigns
Jan 18, 2008 3:05 PM CST

Top US Diplomat on Iran Resigns

Ambassador to Russia succeeds Burns, who will keep a hand in India nuke talks

(Newser) - The Bush administration’s leading diplomat on Iran, a top adviser to Condoleezza Rice, is resigning, the Washington Post reports. Under secretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns will leave in March but retain a limited role as a special envoy for negotiations on nuclear matters with India. William...

Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks
Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks
Jan 16, 2008 11:33 AM CST

Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks

DOJ runs up against immunity deal, possible gaps in US law

(Newser) - The Justice Department warned Congress last month that major legal obstacles stand in the way of any prosecution of private security firm Blackwater for a September shooting in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Immunity granted by the State Department to Blackwater employees represents a possible roadblock; Justice also has...

Judge Refuses to Step Into CIA Tape Case

Justice Department's investigation sufficient for now, justice rules

(Newser) - A federal judge today denied a request by a lawyer representing terrorism suspects that he open hearings into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. Judge Henry H. Kennedy said that he had no evidence that the Bush administration had defied court orders and that the Justice Department's...

Paulson Calls for More Housing Relief

Treasury secretary suggests aid for prime-rate borrowers

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson advised the mortgage industry today to give help to millions of financially stressed homeowners whose mortgages are set to rise. His comments signal that the Bush administration is starting to push lenders to expand relief beyond subprime borrowers to homeowners with other adjustable-rate loans, reports the...

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers
2007's Biggest White House Whoppers
OPINION
Jan 1, 2008 4:10 PM CST

2007's Biggest White House Whoppers

Slate runs down the Bush team's most dubious legal claims

(Newser) - In her second annual roundup of the Bush administration's most egregious legal arguments, Dahlia Lithwick of Slate offers her top 10 doozies:
  1. The United States does not torture
  2. State-secrets privilege used to shield almost anything.
  3. Almost anything Alberto Gonzales said.
  4. The nine US attorneys were fired for cause.
  5. Anyone who
...

US Ignored Warnings on Security Firms

Stream of Iraqi reports went unheeded over two years

(Newser) - The Bush administration ignored repeated warnings about using private security contractors such as Blackwater in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. Despite the warnings from legal experts and military officials over the past two years, the US did not acknowledge the need for oversight—and, in fact, expanded the presence of...

Gates Predicts Steady Iraq Withdrawals

If security gains hold, defense chief predicts 100K troops by Jan '09

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today the US is on track to have 100,000 troops, or 10 brigades, in Iraq by the end of the Bush administration, the Chicago Tribune reports. Recent security gains in Iraq have allowed Gen. David Petraeus to begin to enact his plan of removing...

House Votes to Keep Alternative Tax at Bay

Bush likely to sign one-year stay, which could benefit 21M

(Newser) - The House voted today to enact a one-year stay of the alternative minimum tax, a measure originally designed to ensure that rich Americans paid their share but has increasingly placed a burden on the middle class, the New York Times reports. President Bush has said he'll sign the legislation, which...

White House Slams NYT for 'Misleading' CIA Story

Disputes its officials were in on destruction

(Newser) - The Bush administration refuted a New York Times story today that White House lawyers discussed with the CIA whether or not to destroy detainee interrogation videotapes, CNN reports. "The New York Times' inference that there is an effort to mislead in this matter is pernicious and troubling," a...

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