Stephen Dinan

Obama to build on Bush school plan

Taking on the teachers unions and building on his predecessor's No Child Left Behind Act, President Obama on Tuesday told states to stop limiting charter schools, to get rid of bad teachers and to improve rather than scrap standards and testing that were at the heart of President Bush's education agenda.

March 11, 2009

Obama wants teacher ‘accountability’

The president on Tuesday put the nation's teachers on notice that their performance will be tracked and good teachers will be rewarded, while bad teachers will be tossed out of the classroom.

March 10, 2009

Obama to demand ‘rigorous’ school standards

President Obama on Tuesday will call for education improvements that build on rather than replace President Bush's No Child Left Behind education bill, pushing for better pay for good teachers and calling on states to develop more "rigorous" real-world standards and tests.

March 10, 2009

Funding of embryo experiments OK’d

Declaring that the stem cell issue had moved past the former president's life-or-death morality, President Obama said he is instead bowing to a different morality that respects majority opinion.

March 10, 2009

Obama signs order reversing stem-cell funding

President Obama on Monday signed an executive order allowing the federal government to fund the full array of embryonic stem cell research, overturning one of the most contentious decisions of the Bush administration.

March 9, 2009

Obama tries to boost nation

After a week of rough economic news, President Obama on Saturday gave a pep talk to America, using his weekly radio address to tell them he understands their hardships and to tick off the steps he's prodded government to take.

March 7, 2009

‘Bridge to nowhere’ OK’d for Everglades

A provision buried inside Congress' giant spending bill would overturn a federal court order, discard part of environmental law and reject an Indian tribe's plea, forcing the government to build a bridge in Everglades National Park that a federal judge has declared "a complete waste of taxpayer dollars."

March 3, 2009

S.C. to reject U.S. funds, sees strings

Days after President Obama singled out a run-down school in South Carolina as a reason the federal government needs to get involved, Gov. Mark Sanford says the government's monopoly over public schools is the real problem.

March 1, 2009

Illegal-immigrant population dips

The federal government last week said that after years of increases, the illegal-immigrant population in the U.S. dropped for the first time, between 2007 and 2008 - about the time that both a recession and tougher immigration enforcement began.

March 1, 2009

Charity tax limits upset many

Democrats and Republicans poured cold water on President Obama's budget plan to cut down on wealthy taxpayers' charitable giving tax deductions, the second of his ambitious cost-savings plans to earn lawmakers' scorn, and underscoring the legislative minefield he is entering.

February 27, 2009

‘Hard choices’ budget sees $1.75 trillion deficit

UPDATED: In broad strokes, President Obama's first budget takes him well beyond his goal of immediate economic recovery to put his stamp on the entire operation of the federal government.

February 26, 2009

Illegals raid dismays Obama backers

Immigrant rights groups blasted President Obama on Wednesday for breaking a "personal commitment" to change Bush-era immigration raids after U.S. authorities raided an engine machine shop in Washington state.

February 26, 2009

Obama vows, ‘We will rebuild’

President Obama sought to assure Americans "we will rebuild, we will recover" and that he will move on his campaign promises of comprehensive health care reform, troop withdrawal from Iraq and tackling colossal deficits.

February 25, 2009

Obama: U.S. ‘will emerge stronger’ from crisis

UPDATED: Seeking to steady a nervous nation, President Obama on Tuesday used a sweeping address to Congress to assure Americans "we will rebuild, we will recover" and erased all doubt that he will try to make good on his campaign promises of comprehensive health-care reform, troop withdrawal from Iraq and control of colossal deficits.

February 25, 2009

Obama gets automobile origin wrong

President Obama misspoke Tuesday night when he credited the U.S. with the invention of the automobile as part of his call for investing in the industry.

February 25, 2009

Lawmakers’ taste for pork returns to Capitol Hill

Pork is back on the menu and the appetite is growing on Capitol Hill, where the number of lawmakers voluntarily swearing off earmarks for pet projects has fallen by nearly half compared with last year.

February 23, 2009

White House rips reporter for ‘rant’

A day after Obama's housing foreclosure plan was battered by a cable network reporter, the White House on Friday launched a bullish retaliatory attack, saying a CNBC reporter's "rant" was uninformed and dangerous.

February 21, 2009

White House blasts reporter’s ‘rant’

The White House on Friday launched a bullish retaliatory attack on cable television reporter Rick Santelli, saying his "rant" against President Obama's housing foreclosure plan is uninformed and dangerous.

February 20, 2009

Obama to mayors: Don’t waste money

President Obama told the nation's mayors Friday they've been given a big opportunity to spend the $787 billion economic recovery spending bill, but warned them if they waste a dollar of the money he will "call them out on it."

February 20, 2009

Obama unveils mortgage relief plan

President Obama announced a broad plan Wednesday to spend $75 billion to help homeowners pay mortgages and that could inject up to $200 billion more to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stabilize the housing markets.

February 19, 2009