Obama courts youth vote in North Carolina
(Credit:
Carolyn Kaster)
UPDATED 2:55 p.m. ET
(CBS News) -- President Obama on Tuesday sought to reestablish his connections to the young people who helped him get elected four years ago, pushing for Congress to keep student loan rates low ahead of a planned rate hike in July.
In a speech to thousands of students at the University of North Carolina, Mr. Obama called on Congress to extend a 2007 law that now has student loan rates at 3.4 percent. If the subsidy were to expire as planned this summer, those rates would double to 6.8 percent.
Continue »More Secret Service resignations expected
(CBS News) United States Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has told members of Congress that he expects more resignations from agents involved in the Colombian prostitution scandal by the end of the week, according to a congressional staffer with knowledge of the investigation.
One day after Sullivan announced that three agents involved, including two supervisors, would be leaving the service, investigation of the remaining eight agents continues.
Polygraph tests have been conducted on the agents allegedly involved all week and will continue today and tomorrow. If they fail those tests, the agents would lose their security clearance which would bar them from the Secret Service completely. For the agents who do pass the tests, according to aides, Sullivan has said that the service is taking all the appropriate steps so they can make personnel decisions based on the law, but that ethics and standards are very important to the agency and the agents' actions reflect poorly on them all. According to Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the agents are all also undergoing drug testing.
Source: Ousted Secret Service agent plans to sueReport: Colombian escort talks of encounter with Secret Service Continue »
Obama boards Rosa Parks bus at Mich. fundraiser
Obama aboard the Rosa Parks bus in Dearborn's Henry Ford Museum, April 18, 2012.
(Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)(CBS News) At a campaign fundraiser Wednesday at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, President Obama took a moment to sit aboard the historic bus where Rosa Parks once took a stand in the name of civil rights.
In remarks at a subsequent fundraiser in suburban Detroit, the president said he used the opportunity to reflect on the "courage and tenacity" that he sees as a part of America's "very recent history."
"I actually had the chance to sit in Rosa Parks' bus -- I just sat there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history," he said.
Continue »After North Korean launch, WH has few options
North Korea's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, stands at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea on Sunday April 8, 2012.
(Credit: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)The launch, which was officially part of a celebration to mark the 100th birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, failed after only about 100 seconds of powered flight, drew international condemnation, and was seen as a major embarrassment to the country and its new founder, Kim Jong-un, who ascended to power after the death of Kim Jong-Il late last year.
The White House says it will pull millions of dollars worth of planned food aid to North Korea in response to its having proceeded with the launch, and the United Nations Security Council called an emergency meeting to condemn the failed launch.
White House: No food aid for North KoreaNorth Korea may follow up failed rocket launch with more provocative nuclear test, experts say
North Korea's embarrassing rocket launch failure sparks multi-nation search for debris Continue »
White House pushes Buffett rule on taxes
UPDATED 7:41 a.m ET
(CBS News) -- A new report today from the White House argues that making America's richest pay at least 30 percent tax rate, is more "a basic issue of tax fairness" than a way to generate lots of new revenue for a debt-ridden government.
On a campaign fund-raising trip today to Florida, President Obama will make the tax fairness argument as part of his latest pitch for the "Buffett Rule."
The proposal is due for a vote next week in the Senate, and Mr. Obama has made it a key element of his plan for deficit reduction.
Continue »Thousands turn out for annual WH Easter Egg Roll
(CBS News) -- President and Mrs. Obama welcomed thousands to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, marking the 134th time the First Family and the Easter Bunny teamed up for fun and games on the South Lawn.
"I think the president is going to try to beat a three year old," Mrs. Obama said from the South Portico balcony, "which I hope he does not."
This year's theme, "Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Move," is a part of First Lady Michelle Obama's ongoing fight against childhood obesity. In addition to the egg roll, events included an obstacle course, basketball, dancing, jump rope, yoga and cooking demonstrations - all of which were designed to teach families about healthy living habits.
Continue »Obama says still more work to do to create jobs
(CBS News) -- President Obama hailed the nation's drop in the unemployment rate Friday, but acknowledged there is much more work to be done as he prepares for what is expected to be a contentious fight with Mitt Romney over the next seven months that is likely to center around whose vision for restoring the U.S. economy to full strength is more in tune with American voters.
"Our economy's now created more than 4 million private sector jobs over the past 2 years. And more than 600,000 in the past 3 months alone," Mr. Obama said in remarks to a forum at the White House on women and the economy.
"But, it's clear to every American that there will still be ups and downs along the way and that we got a lot more work to do, and that includes addressing challenges that are unique to women's economic security," he said.
The Labor Department said earlier in the day that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent, the lowest level since the month Mr. Obama took office, though the economy added just 120,000 new jobs last month, a far slower pace than expected. Prior to the report's release, economists had predicted the economy had added about 200,000 jobs in March.
Continue »Obama: "JOBS Act" is a "game-changer"
"New businesses account for almost every new job created in America," the president said during a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursday. "That's why I pushed for this bill."
The "JOBS Act" (Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act) removes restrictions for small business and startups to receive broader access to capital and investors.
It's "for business owners who want to take their company to the next level," Mr. Obama said, adding that it's "a potential game-changer" for startups.
Continue »Obama takes the campaign up a notch
(CBS News) -- President Obama last year launched a line of attack against Republicans in Congress called "we can't wait." He used the line repeatedly to blast Republicans for blocking his ideas to revive the still sputtering U.S. economy, setting up a narrative reminiscent of President Harry Truman's famous 1948 campaign against the so-called "Do Nothing Congress."
It now appears he can't wait for the Republicans to finish up their nominating process either. While front-runner Mitt Romney is increasingly likely to become the party's nominee, he is still fighting former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum for the Republican nomination.
But the Obama campaign sees Romney as the eventual nominee and they are already attacking him as an aloof "rich guy" who does not understand the troubles of middle class Americans and would implement policies that would exacerbate the growing gap between rich and poor in the United States.
Vice President Joe Biden launched the line of attack in Ohio a few weeks ago, calling out Romney by name. And on Sunday's "Face the Nation," the vice president called the former Massachusetts governor "a little out of touch."
Continue »Obama: Not working on plan B for health care law
(CBS News) -- President Obama on Tuesday reiterated his prediction from a day earlier that the Supreme Court would uphold the constitutionality of the landmark health care law and said his administration is not working on a backup plan in case the nation's highest court throws out the signature legislative achievement of his presidency.
"I have enormous confidence that in looking at this law, not only is it constitutional, but that the court is going to exercise its jurisprudence carefully because of the profound power that our Supreme Court has," Mr. Obama told editors at the annual gathering of the Associated Press. (watch some of Mr. Obama's remarks above at left)
