Political Eye

Obama to announce major Afghanistan troop drawdown

Eager to end a war he didn't begin, President Obama announced in January plans to speed up the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In Tuesday's State of the Union address, the president will announce a milestone in the timetable on that drawdown, a senior administration official said.

"President Obama will announce that 34,000 U.S. troops will return home from Afghanistan by this time next year, decreasing by half the number of U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan," the official told CBS News. "Further reductions will continue through the end of 2014 as Afghans take full responsibility for their security."

Many questions remain about the ability of Afghans to maintain their own security against repeated attacks from al Qaeda, as well as numerous insurgent groups in both their own country and from Pakistan. The White House insists, however, that their timetable will work.

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Obama: "No reason" we cannot avoid sequestration

At a ceremony honoring departing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today, President Obama said there is "no reason" we cannot avoid the automatic defense cuts contained in the so-called sequester, cuts that he said will have a "severe impact on our military preparedness."

"Since we are just weeks away from deep automatic cuts to federal spending, including defense, let me say this: there is no reason - no reason - for that to happen."

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Obama to honor slain Newtown teachers with medal

President Obama will honor the memory of six teachers killed in the massacre in Newtown by presenting them posthumously with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation's second-highest civilian honor, the White House announced today.

The teachers - Dawn Hochsprung, Rachel Davino, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, and Victoria Soto - were gunned down while protecting the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School from a massacre on December 14, 2012.

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Bill Clinton warns Dems, "Nothing is permanent"

Former President Bill Clinton told an enthusiastic audience of House Democrats on Friday that they "have a real chance to do some phenomenally creative and effective things" after the results of the 2012 election. But he cautioned them against becoming cocksure, warning, "You have to understand about politics, nothing is permanent. It is an ongoing enterprise."

"We should not rely on demography alone," Clinton warned, casting doubt on hopes, expressed by some Democrats, that America's increasing diversity would permanently tilt the electorate in their direction.

Instead, Clinton advised Democrats to continue reaching out: "We should not give up on our ability...to begin a conversation with people who are not as extreme as a lot of the candidates they voted for in the Republican Party."

"It's important not to give up on anybody, to talk to them," he said.

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Energy Secretary embraces Onion satire

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the subject of a satirical article that suggested he was involved in a drunken romp with a solar panel, chose to play along with the joke.

The Onion article described a "hungover" Chu who "awoke on Thursday morning to find himself sleeping next to a giant solar panel he had met the previous evening."

"'Oh, Christ, what the hell did I do last night?'," Chu asked himself, according to The Onion. "'This is bad. I really need to stop doing this. I've got to get this thing out of here before my wife gets home."

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Obama pleads for unity at National Prayer Breakfast

Continuing a tradition started by Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, President Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. today, delivering a plea for unity and humility and rebuking the often-fractious tone of American politics.

Mr. Obama recalled placing his hand on Abraham Lincoln's bible during his second inauguration two weeks ago and noted, "Today, the divisions in this country are thankfully not as deep and destructive as when Lincoln led - but they are real."

Praising Lincoln's capacity to "see God in those who vehemently opposed him," the president counseled his audience to follow Lincoln's example. "In a democracy as big and as diverse as ours, we will encounter every opinion. And our task as citizens, whether we are leaders in government or business or spreading the word, is to spend our days with open hearts and open minds, to seek out the truth that exists in an opposing view, to find the common ground that allows for us as a nation and as a people to take real and meaningful action."

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Rubio to deliver State of the Union response

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has been selected to deliver the Republican Party's response to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, congressional GOP leaders announced today.

The selection marks another milestone in Rubio's rapid rise among national Republicans. The Cuban-American senator, who first arrived on Capitol Hill after the GOP landslide of 2010, is a favorite among the tea party who commonly tops conservatives' 2016 presidential candidate wish lists.

In announcing the selection, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, praised Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, as "one of our party's most dynamic and inspiring leaders" whose family story "is a testament to the promise and greatness of America."

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Two House Dems on recreational pot: Legalize it

When voters in Colorado and Washington state voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use last November, some wondered how the new statewide statutes would square with federal law, which still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

But Rep. Jared Polis, D-Col., believes that a legal confrontation can be avoided: on Tuesday, along with Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., he introduced a bill legalizing marijuana and regulating it under the renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana, and Firearms.

The "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act" would charge the renamed bureau with regulating marijuana as it does alcohol and tobacco. States would still be allowed to ban marijuana production and it would remain illegal to transport marijuana to a state where such a ban exists.

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Harkin, Iowa State University caught in feud

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has cut ties with an institute bearing his name at Iowa State University amid questions about the institute's fundraising and a dispute over the scope of the institute's research.

Harkin, a near 40-year veteran of Capitol Hill who will retire when his current term elapses in 2015, announced on Tuesday evening that he would not donate papers documenting his congressional career to the Harkin Institute of Public Policy at Iowa State, his alma mater. Harkin, who had previously agreed to donate his papers to the institute, argued that doubts about the institute's academic freedom had caused him to change his mind.

"I regret that this did not work out as we had all hoped at the beginning," Harkin said.

The problems began when Harkin, who has played a key role in agricultural policymaking during his long career in Congress, discovered a memorandum barring the institute from studying agriculture last summer.

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Hillary Clinton preps for her next move?

Now that she's no longer secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has said she's "looking forward to stepping off the fast track." That doesn't mean, though, that she'll completely leave the public sphere -- that much is clear from her new website, HillaryClintonOffice.com.

As noted by Politico, the site was registered on Jan. 31, one day before Clinton's final day at the State Department. So far, the site features simply a stately looking picture of Clinton, along with a contact form by which to reach her. Clinton's 2008 campaign website, HillaryClinton.com, now features a link redirecting visitors to HillaryClintonOffice.com

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Christie, Letterman trade fat jokes

Updated: 12:21 p.m. ET

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie doesn't put up with much guff from reporters, but the famously brash Republican governor showed his laid back side last night in an interview with CBS' "The Late Show," laughing off host David Letterman's repeated questions about his weight, and answering them with fat jokes of his own.

"I love you, Dave," Christie told Letterman, shortly before taking out and snacking on what appeared to be a jelly donut. "A deep and abiding love."

Christie, who has brushed off past suggestions that his weight might impact his abilities as a politician - either in his current station as governor or, potentially, a higher office - told Letterman his health is "startlingly good" and that he has normal blood sugar and cholesterol both.

"I'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen in your life," he said.

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Menendez blasts "absolutely false" prostitution "smears"

menendez

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., right.

/ AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Allegations that Sen. Robert Menendez engaged with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic while visiting a donor are "smears" being pushed by "right-wing blogs," and are "totally unsubstantiated," the embattled New Jersey Democrat told reporters today.

"It's amazing to me that anonymous, nameless, faceless, individuals on a website can drive that type of story into the mainstream, but that's what they have done successfully," Menendez, who is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee, said. "Now, nobody can find them, no one ever met them, no one ever talked to them, but that's where we are at. So, the bottom line is all of those smears are absolutely false, and that's the bottom line."

Days before the November election, conservative news site The Daily Caller published an article alleging that Menendez had flown to the Dominican Republic and slept with prostitutes at a resort where Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor who has made large donations to Menendez, had a home.

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Tagg Romney not running for Senate

Tagg Romney, son of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney

/ Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

No, there will not be a Senator Romney anytime soon.

Looking to quiet chatter that he's considering running in the special election to fill newly-minted Secretary of State John Kerry's Massachusetts Senate seat, Mitt Romney's eldest son Tagg issued a statement today breaking the news to supporters: "The timing is not right."

"I have been humbled by the outreach I received this weekend encouraging me to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate," he said. "I love my home state and admit it would be an honor to represent the citizens of our great Commonwealth. However, I am currently committed to my business and to spending as much time as I can with my wife and children.

"The timing is not right for me," the statement continued, "but I am hopeful that the people of Massachusetts will select someone of integrity, vision, and compassion as our next U.S. Senator."

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Biden hails France's "decisive action" in Mali

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Biden hails France's "decisive action" in Mali

As he continues his three-nation European tour, Vice President Joe Biden today praised France's military intervention in Mali to combat Islamic extremists who had largely taken control of the African nation.

During a press conference with French President Francois Hollande, Biden, speaking "on behalf of the president" and "the people of the United States," lauded France's "decisiveness - and, I might add, the incredible competence and capability of your French military forces.

"...Your decisive action is not only in the interest of France, but quite frankly the United States, and everyone," he continued.

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Political Eye is CBS News' political news wire, featuring coverage of the day's events from the White House, Congress, and other political briefs from around D.C. and around the country.

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