Jay Carney - Top on the List To Be Named New White House Press Secretary

ust as there were changes made to Congress with the addition of several Republican Senators in the House, the President has also elected to clean his own house, starting off by naming Jay Carney the new White House Press Secretary. His tenure as Press Secretary should begin tomorrow, as he will be replacing outgoing Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. There were other names tossed into the hat for the position, namely Bill Burton, Stephanie Cutter, Josh Earnest, and Jen Psaki. But insider news seems to think that Jay Carney is the present frontrunner for the job. The announcement of the new appointment could be made public as soon as today.

Other changes will be for the President's senior advisor, David Axelrod and deputy chief of staff Jim Messina. They alread have new positions waiting them, as they both, headed by Messina will head to Chicago for roles in the 2012 re-election campaign. Others, to be confirmed by tommorw will be reported after their tenure in their new position starts. Jay Carney was a former Time magazine reporter and knows several people who are close to the President. Carney also handled the somewhat difficult job of being communications director for a Vice President who on occasion has isue with, well, communications. Further announcements will be known by tomorrow.

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Suprise visit to BAGHDAD, IRAQ after a Very Successful G-20 Summit

Today President Obama was supposed to return from his European trip, but instead took a detour to Iraq. President Obama made an unannounced visit to Baghdad.  One reason for the visit was to honor U.S. troops, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "Our men and women who are in harm's way, either in Iraq or Afghanistan, deserve our utmost respect and appreciation," Gibbs reportedly told reporters traveling on Air Force One. He landed in Baghdad at 4:42PM local time in Baghdad, which makes it approximately 9:42AM Washington D.C. time. Besides visiting the troops, his 2nd goal was to award 10 medals of valor to 10 servicemen that have earned them. A third goal was to meet with Iraqi Prim Minister

Nuri al-Maliki and the Iraqi President, Jalal Talibani. Obama was almost setting the the backyard of Baghdad when he visited Turkey, so it was definitely not out of the way, and to tell the truth, when First Lady Michelle decided to go back home before Barack, I had an indication that he might just do that. There was lots of speculation, but no proof. The White House kept the travel plans secret, mainly for security reasons. It is unknown if anyone in the military even knew that he was coming, but again, you can speculate that the Iraqi President and the U.S. commanders knew of his plans when leaving Turkey.
The last thing President Obama was scheduled to do was to jointly address the Turkish parliament and hold a  news conference with the Turkish President Abdullah Gul. You can listen to the address to the Turkish parliament in a prior article here on this Obama website.
It was an extremely busy week, as he successfully detoured all eyes and ears away form the U.S. economic crisis by traveling to Europe, as he first attended a series of summits within the G-20 summit in London. At that meeting he did discuss the global financial crisis facing all nations today.
His objectives to travel to Europe were multi-faceted. Besides the G-20 conference in Great Brittain, President Obama traveled to France and Germany, and did get the allies to pledge about 5,000 troops, in the form of police and security trainers, and not as combat troops.  In Prague, Czech Republic, Obama delivered a speech about nuclear nonproliferation while at least 20,000 people attended. During the speech, he brought back to life a now old slogan "YES WE CAN" as he answered critics  who think he can't follow through on ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
At least 79% of the people polled by CNN now believe that President Obama has a "more positive" effect on how people in other countries view the U.S. So in summation, it can be viewed that President Obama had a very successful trip to Europe and beyond. Critics, who previously thought that President Obama just didn't have the expertise in handling foreign affairs, has become a model for his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Both Barack and Hillary in tandem appear to have the global situation at hand.

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Stimulus Aims to Pump Life Into US Economy

Congress acts on the largest economic recovery plan since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s. Transcript of radio broadcast:
13 February 2009


This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.


American lawmakers agreed this week on an economic recovery plan. Negotiators got it below seven hundred ninety billion dollars. They cut tens of billions from versions in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The compromise measure needed final passage in Congress for President Barack Obama to get his wish to have it by Monday to sign into law.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a news conference Friday after the House passed the final version of the economic stimulus bill

About thirty-five percent of the rescue plan is tax cuts for individuals and businesses. Sixty-five percent is government spending. That includes more than fifty billion dollars in aid to states. And it includes money for roads and bridge projects as well as investments in health care, education and energy. The plan also calls for expanded aid for people without jobs or health insurance.
The economic recovery plan is the largest since President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression in the nineteen thirties.
Republicans continued to criticize Democrats for not including more tax cuts. They say the plan contains wasteful spending that will do little to create jobs and will leave mountains of debt for future generations.
The Senate passed its version this week with just three Republican votes. There was no Republican support in the House, even for the final bill approved Friday.
On Thursday, President Obama said his plan will save or create more than three and a half million jobs over the next two years. To what extent that goal will be met is not clear. But that is the number of jobs lost since the recession began in December of two thousand seven. Unemployment has reached seven and six-tenths percent, the highest rate since nineteen ninety-two.
The president spoke in Illinois to workers at Caterpillar. The maker of earth moving equipment recently announced twenty-two thousand job cuts.
The president told the workers that the head of the company said the stimulus plan could save some of those jobs. Chief executive Jim Owens later told reporters, however, that even more jobs may go.
President Obama returned to his home state of Illinois to celebrate the two hundredth birthday of President Abraham Lincoln. But while he was away from Washington, his nominee for secretary of commerce announced that he was withdrawing.
The president nominated Judd Gregg, a senator from New Hampshire, last week to be the third Republican in his cabinet. But Senator Gregg said he had differences with the Democratic administration on policy issues including the stimulus plan.
An earlier choice for commerce secretary, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, withdrew because of a legal investigation. Two other Obama nominees withdrew over tax issues.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said it became clear that Senator Gregg was not going to support some of the president's economic aims. He said the senator offered his name for the job and "We regret that he has had a change of heart."
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

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