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Susan Crabtree

scrabtree@washingtontimes.com

Susan Crabtree was a reporter for The Washington Times.

Articles by Susan Crabtree

** File ** President Obama looks to Sen. John F. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, after announcing Mr. Kerry's nomination as the next secretary of state in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Dec. 21, 2012, in Washington. (Associated Press)

Obama nominates Kerry for secretary of state

President Obama on Friday nominated Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to be secretary of state, succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton and filling the first key post of the president's second-term national security team.

December 21, 2012
President Barack Obama speaks at the Diplomatic Corps Holiday Reception at the State Department, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama praises Clinton at State Department holiday reception

President Obama visited the State Department to share some holiday cheer and thank the diplomatic corps for their service to the country Wednesday night — the same day four State Department officials resigned their posts in the wake of a critical report over the diplomatic agency's handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.

December 20, 2012
Vice President Joseph R. Biden listens as President Obama announces his assignment to head a task force to look into the causes of gun violence. Mr. Biden is to consult Cabinet officials and outside groups and submit proposals to the president by the end of January. (Associated Press)

Biden to head task force on gun violence causes

President Obama has tasked Vice President Joseph R. Biden with several difficult jobs during their first term, famously dubbing him "Sheriff Joe" in 2009 and charging him with watching over the distribution of $831 billion in economic stimulus money.

December 19, 2012
President Obama passes Vice President Joseph R. Biden after speaking on the economy and the deficit on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Associated Press)

Gun task force draws cool GOP reception

As families of victims of Friday's Connecticut elementary school shooting grieved during another day of funerals, President Obama promised action on new gun-control proposals and tapped Vice President Joseph R. Biden to head up the White House's efforts.

December 19, 2012
** FILE ** House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. (Associated Press)

Obama, Boehner grapple near ‘fiscal cliff’

Racing to find common ground in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner are backing off what were once ironclad positions on taxes and spending — though not enough to reach an agreement just yet, as both men continue to demand additional concessions before signing off on a year-end deal.

December 18, 2012
President Barack Obama pauses during a speech at an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Obama has little to show for anti-gun pledges

At several critical moments over his first term, President Obama pledged to use the power of his office to curb shooting rampages in this country, as well as gun-related cross-border violence, but exerted little to no muscle to follow through on his promises.

December 18, 2012
FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama acknowledges House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio while speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, as he hosted a meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

White House makes concessions in latest ‘fiscal cliff’ offer

President Obama has agreed to lower his demand for higher taxes on wealthy Americans to those making $400,000 and above as part of negotiations with House Speaker John A. Boehner to avoid the "fiscal cliff," sources familiar with the discussions told The Washington Times on Monday night.

December 17, 2012
South Koreans at Seoul Station in the nation's capital watch a TV news report on the launch of an Unha rocket from Tongchang-ri, North Korea, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. The launch by North Korea of the long-range rocket came only days before South Korean presidential elections. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

White House condemns North Korean rocket launch

The White House on Wednesday condemned North Korea's successful launch of a long-range rocket, deeming it a "highly provocative act" that threatens security in Asia and directly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.

December 12, 2012
FILE - This Jan. 20, 2009 file photo shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama waving as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue on their way to the White House in Washington, after taking the presidential oath. In a reversal from four years ago, President Barack Obama will accept unlimited sums of money from corporations and individuals to pay for events surrounding his Inauguration, a spokeswoman said Friday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Reversing course, Obama inauguration will take corporate money

After winning the 2008 election, then President-elect Obama promised the "most open and accessible Inauguration in history" by banning corporate contributions and placing a $50,000 limit on donations from individuals. Fast-forward four years and things are a lot different.

December 7, 2012
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (right) of Nevada, seen here Thursday with fellow Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, ridiculed his Republican counterpart for flip-flopping on a measure to give the president more debt-ceiling authority. (Associated Press)

White House won’t sidestep Hill on debt ceiling

Even with year-end budget talks at a standstill, the White House said Thursday it will not do an end-run around Congress and claim constitutional powers to raise the debt ceiling on its own.

December 6, 2012
President Obama speaks about the "fiscal cliff" before the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers, in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama to GOP: Don’t replay debt ceiling standoff

President Obama warned Republicans not use the debt ceiling to gain leverage for more entitlement cuts in budget negotiations, saying it would remind voters of last year's failed deficit-reduction talks and devastate the economy.

December 5, 2012
President Obama, speaking at the Business Roundtable in Washington on Wednesday, said congressional Republicans should not create another fight over the nation's debt ceiling. It's "not a game that I will play," he warned. (Associated Press)

Obama changes tune on tax rate

While he now demands that higher tax rates for the wealthy must be part of a "fiscal cliff" deal, President Obama took a very different line just over a year ago in the last major clash with Congress over a long-term budget deal.

December 5, 2012
President Obama walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington on Friday, Nov. 30, 2012, before boarding the Marine One helicopter en route to Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland and then on to Hatfield, Pa., to speak at the Rodon Group manufacturing facility. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama: GOP budget offer doesn’t go far enough

President Obama flatly rejected Republicans' offer on avoiding the fiscal cliff Tuesday, saying that it doesn't go far enough in raising taxes to reduce the budget deficit significantly over the next decade.

December 4, 2012
White House spokesman Jay Carney speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington on Dec. 3, 2012. (Associated Press)

White House calls on GOP to make a counteroffer in debt talks

Firmly sticking to its goal of raising taxes on high-earners, the White House on Monday used some of its strongest language to date in the ongoing "fiscal cliff" debate with Republicans, who contend President Obama is not negotiating in good faith.

December 3, 2012
**FILE** With fellow Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota (left) and others looking on, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky outlines Republicans' stance on negotiations with the president and Hill Democrats on the "fiscal cliff" on Nov. 27, 2012. (Associated Press)

Obama’s ‘fiscal cliff’ gambit called more of same

President Obama's opening bid in negotiations to rein in the national debt and avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" last week largely mirrored his previous budget proposals, angering Republicans who said the White House is not offering any new ideas or even the smallest concessions.

December 2, 2012
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks about the Thanksgiving holiday in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The White House said Tuesday, Nov. 27, that the president plans to make a public case this week for his strategy for dealing with the looming fiscal cliff, traveling to the Philadelphia suburbs Friday as he pressures Republicans to allow tax increases on the wealthy while extending tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or less. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Obama plans campaign-style trip to push higher taxes

President Obama is hitting the hustings in a campaign-style push for tax increases, and his first stop is Pennsylvania — a battleground state with the kinds of Republicans who he thinks could be amenable to being swayed by grass-roots pressure.

November 29, 2012