Susan Crabtree

White House mum on support of gay marriage in Democratic party platform

The White House failed again Tuesday to embrace the likely 2012 Democratic Party platform favoring gay marriage, even as a new national poll showed the stance is overwhelmingly popular with its party.

July 31, 2012

GOP: White House pressuring defense industry not to warn of layoffs

Republicans on Tuesday accused the White House of trying to "intimidate" defense companies into keeping silent about major job losses if automatic military spending cuts take effect early next year, after the administration said Monday that it would be "inappropriate" for employers to warn workers of layoffs.

July 31, 2012

New U.S. sanctions target Iran’s oil sales, financial transactions

President Obama announced new Iran sanctions Tuesday, targeting Iran's oil sales and financial transactions and warning Tehran that it will face "growing consequences" for refusing to open its nuclear program to outside scrutiny.

July 31, 2012

Democratic platform to endorse gay marriage

Democrats said Monday their party's platform will support extending marriage rights to gay couples, marking the first time one of the two major parties has endorsed it.

July 30, 2012

Obama ratchets up heat on House to OK Senate tax bill

President Obama is using all the weapons in the White House arsenal to pressure Republicans on taxes this week, giving his Cabinet marching orders to amplify his tax-fairness message in the coming days, while House GOP said it would allow a full vote on the Senate-passed tax plan.

July 26, 2012

Biden goes on the attack over anonymous ‘Anglo-Saxon’ comment

Just a day after he pledged to avoid direct criticisms of U.S. foreign policy on his tour of three foreign capitals, GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney found himself embroiled in a controversy even before his plane landed in London.

July 25, 2012

New Obama ad aims to stanch entrepreneurship remark fallout

After two weeks of political fallout over his comments that self-made entrepreneurs aren't entirely responsible for their own success, President Obama is amplifying previous attempts to clarify the remarks with a new ad accusing Republicans of taking his quotes out of context.

July 24, 2012

Feinstein hedges on White House leak charge

Shortly after GOP challenger Mitt Romney cited her as a source for his charge of politically motivated defense leaks from the Obama White House, a top Democratic senator tried to walk back her comments Tuesday.

July 24, 2012

Port plan brings rare moment of unity for Obama, GOP

President Obama's latest jobs initiative — a pledge to accelerate expansion plans for five ports along the Eastern seaboard — is getting rave reviews from an unexpected corner: a handful of Republicans usually sharply critical of the president but who have also fought hard in recent years for federal dollars to help ready their ports for the flood of shipping and commerce expected by the Panama Canal's expansion.

July 24, 2012

Gibbs: Romney’s overseas trip appears ‘built around fundraising’

President Obama's campaign is criticizing Mitt Romney's upcoming six-day overseas trip as a weaker imitation of the foreign campaign swing Mr. Obama took in 2008 and suggested that it will be light on substance and heavy on fundraising.

July 23, 2012

Health care cash probed in lobbying

A $1 billion fund created by President Obama's health care law, which Republicans have derided as a slush fund, is under investigation for suspicions of lobbying rule violations.

July 22, 2012

Obama aide Cutter ready to rumble with no apologies

Blond, telegenic and tough as nails, Stephanie Cutter, President Obama's ubiquitous deputy campaign manager, isn't afraid of a little made-for-TV mudslinging.

July 19, 2012

White House misses another budget deadline

Another annual budget deadline has come and gone without a report from the Obama administration.

July 18, 2012

Obama repackages help for small businesses

President Obama offered a series of modest steps aimed at helping small businesses Wednesday after Republican criticism that his push for raising taxes on the high earners would hurt small business caught in the IRS dragnet.

July 11, 2012

Rich must pay more taxes, Obama tells voters

A day after demanding Washington lawmakers extend middle-class tax cuts while raising taxes on the wealthy, President Obama took his case directly to voters Tuesday, traveling to Iowa to argue that the rich should pay higher taxes in order to cut the deficit and fund his spending priorities.

July 10, 2012

Obama strives to regain edge in Iowa

President Obama took his middle-class tax-cut message on Tuesday to Iowa, a state where some of the same voters who helped hand him a landslide primary victory and inspired the nation to embrace his come-from-behind candidacy in 2008 are experiencing a case of buyer's remorse.

July 10, 2012

Obama avoids conflicts by dispatching stand-ins

When the politics or the visuals seem a little dicey, President Obama is showing no hesitation in dispatching Vice President Joseph R. Biden or Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to speak to groups he would rather not address himself.

July 9, 2012

Obama seeks tax-cut extension for middle class

In an attempt to change the subject from the dismal jobs market and cast GOP rival Mitt Romney as a champion of the rich, President Obama on Monday issued a new call for Congress to extend the Bush tax cuts for the middle class and allow rates to rise on wealthier income earners.

July 9, 2012