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Scandals risk tainting Obama's second term

Agence France-PresseMay 19, 2013 15:31

With time ticking down to get things done in his final term, President Barack Obama risks suffering long-term consequences from a series of scandals that have hit the White House in recent days. After wavering initially, the US leader launched an all-out offensive to contain fallout from the trio of controversies. Senior Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer, doing the rounds of weekly television talk shows Sunday, went into damage control mode on the scandals, including one related to alleged abuses by the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service as it targeted conservative groups.

Obama rides high in US poll, despite scandals

Agence France-PresseMay 19, 2013 11:00

President Barack Obama was riding high in a new opinion poll released Sunday showing that 53 percent of Americans approve of the way he's doing his job, despite a flurry of recent scandals. The survey of 923 adults by CNN and the ORC International polling organization found that 45 percent of respondents disapprove of Obama's job performance.

Congressional budget analysts say Obama budget pares deficits by $1.1 trillion over decade

The Canadian PressMay 17, 2013 16:47

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's budget would trim projected federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the coming decade, using nearly $6 in higher revenues for every $1 in reduced spending to achieve it, Congress' nonpartisan budget analyst said Friday. After four straight years of annual shortfalls exceeding $1 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office report said Obama's budget would push this year's deficit down to $669 billion. Annual shortfalls would shrink slowly to $399 billion in 2017 before rising again, the report said.

His political problems boiling in capital, Obama takes a road trip to promote a jobs agenda

The Canadian PressMay 17, 2013 04:45

BALTIMORE - President Barack Obama tried on Friday to leave behind the political battles that have overshadowed his second-term agenda, saying lawmakers should work on creating more middle-class jobs in the slowly growing economy. "Our work is not done, and our focus cannot drift," Obama said.

Obama says had no prior knowledge of tax abuses

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 18:45

US President Barack Obama said Thursday he had not known about abuses by tax officials who targeted conservative groups until a report into the affair was leaked to the press last week. "I promise you this. The minute I found out about it, then my focus has been about making sure we get the thing fixed," Obama told reporters. The president spoke just a day after sacking acting Internal Revenue Service chief Steven Miller over reports that some agents had singled out groups affiliated with the ultra-conservative Tea Party and other right-wing causes.

Second appeals court finds Obama recess appointment is unconstitutional

The Canadian PressMay 16, 2013 16:45

WASHINGTON - A second federal appeals court has found that President Barack Obama exceeded his power when he bypassed the Senate to install a member to the National Labor Relations Board. The ruling by the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia came on the same day that a Senate panel considered a slate of five nominees for full terms on the labour board. Senate Republicans said Thursday they would oppose two of the nominees — Sharon Block and Richard Griffin — because they currently sit on the board as recess appointments.

Obama, Erdogan vow to up pressure on Assad

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 14:15

US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to crank up pressure on Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Thursday, but offered no concrete new measures to do so. Obama warned there was no "magic formula" to force Assad to leave power, as both the United States and Turkey want, but said he hoped a conference that Washington is organizing with Russia next month would be successful. He gave no sign that he was ready to satisfy Turkish calls for Washington to overcome its reservations about directly arming rebels fighting Assad's regime.

Obama says had no prior knowledge of tax abuses

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 13:46

Obama, under pressure, tries to regain control amid trio of controversies

The Canadian PressMay 16, 2013 04:01

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is trying to halt a perception spreading among both White House opponents and allies that he has been passive and disengaged as a trio of unexpected controversies consume his second term. On Wednesday Obama released a trove of documents related to the Benghazi attack and forced out the top official at the federal tax collection agency following revelations that the it targeted conservative political groups.

Obama to meet with Treasury officials over IRS targeting of conservative groups

The Canadian PressMay 15, 2013 20:00

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will discuss the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew Wednesday afternoon. White House press secretary Jay Carney says Obama expects people to be held accountable. The meeting comes in the aftermath of an investigation by a Treasury inspector general that found that the IRS, in examining applications for tax exempt status, improperly selected conservative groups for further review.