after bush

ACLU Tests Obama With Request for Secret Bush-Era Memos

WASHINGTON — Dozens of secret documents justifying the Bush administration's spying and interrogation programs could see the light of day because of a new presidential directive.

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Obama administration on Wednesday to release Justice Department memos that provided the legal underpinning for harsh interrogations, eavesdropping and secret prisons.

Posted in after bush, Government Oversight, torture

On Roe v. Wade Anniversary, GOP Lawmakers Press Obama

WASHINGTON - Republican lawmakers on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to reconsider his support of legal abortions as anti-abortion activists arrived in Washington for a protest on the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling.

As many as 200,000 people were expected to join the "March for Life" to the Supreme Court building on Thursday on the 36th anniversary of the 1973 decision legalizing abortion.

Posted in after bush, reproductive rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2009
1:15 PM

CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity
Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495

Obama Administration Freezes Finalization of Midnight Regulations: Worst of Bush Administration Regulations Already In Effect

PORTLAND, Ore. - January 21 - The Obama administration announced yesterday a freeze on publication of all proposed and final rules in the Federal Register until they are reviewed by an agency or department head appointed by the new administration. Many of the midnight regulations, such as changes to the rules implementing the Endangered Species Act and relaxation of rules restricting mountain top removal, have already gone into effect and will need to be undone by other means.

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At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature - to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law, and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters, and climate that species need to survive.

Center for Biological Diversity Links:

Posted in after bush, biodiversity, Environment, mountain top removal

Last-Minute Bush Regulations Are on Hold Pending Study

WASHINGTON - One of President Barack Obama's first acts Tuesday was to put the brakes on all pending regulations that the Bush administration tried to push through in its waning days.

The order went out shortly after Obama was inaugurated president, in a memorandum signed by new White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Former President George W. Bush's administration moved into overdrive in the last year or so on a host of new regulatory proposals. Now the Obama administration will review everything that is still pending.

Posted in after bush, Environment, gun control

Obama Is Sworn In as the 44th President

WASHINGON - Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th president of the United States Tuesday, and called on Americans to join him in confronting what he described as an economic crisis caused by greed but also "our collective failure to make hard choices."

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real," Mr. Obama said in his inaugural address minutes after he took the oath of office on the same bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inaugural in 1861. "They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time.

Posted in after bush, inauguration

Historical Mystery of Bush's Presidency

After little more than two years of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon resigned and his successor, Gerald Ford, famously declared, "our long national nightmare is over." But the painful end game of Nixon's presidency was nothing compared to the eight excruciating years of George W. Bush.

Even on Inauguration Day 2009, as most Americans rejoice that Bush's disastrous presidency is finally heading into the history books, there should be reflection on how this catastrophe could have befallen the United States - and on who else was responsible.

Posted in after bush

'Bush's Last Day' Heads for the End

MANCHESTER — Elliott Nachwalter now knows how George Orwell would have felt in 1985 — probably a bit dated, perhaps even a little irrelevant.

Like Orwell, the author of "1984," Nachwalter's run has finally come to an end. Look no further than his countdown clocks, which should be striking zero, in unison, at noon today.

Nachwalter, a 58-year-old Arlington resident, has been counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to President George W. Bush's departure from office for the past three-and-a-half years.

Posted in after bush

Bush, Our Ex-Boyfriend

Bush is the ex-boyfriend we've finally gotten out of our life only to discover he left an unpleasant souvenir, like an STD. A particularly nasty strain too, in the form of new HHS regulations.

Posted in after bush, women's rights

Good Riddance, Vile Prince

He had political pedigree and little else. He was a child of privilege and entitlement.

His name, not his merit, brought him to Yale and Harvard where the affirmative action of legacy provided him slots denied to the more accomplished lack ing his royal family's wealth and heritage.

For him, life was like an elite box of chocolates where he always knew what he would get. Just ask daddy and it's done. Do what you like, fail and never face the consequences.

Posted in after bush

Lula Urges Obama to Change US View of Latin America

CORUMBA, Brazil - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to drop outdated U.S. views of Latin America as a region of communists, terrorists and drug traffickers.

Lula said Washington needs to see Latin American countries as democratic partners rather than problems, and offer better trade ties with the region.

Posted in after bush, foreign policy, obama, Latin America