http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/ossociatedpress/ en-us Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:28:49 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2172698/posts I came across an Associated Press headline that left me racing to the toilet to hurl: Obama breaks from Bush, avoids divisive standsLet me play the first few bars of this article for you, so I can explain what is so profoundly wrong with it: WASHINGTON – Barack Obama opened his presidency by breaking sharply from George W. Bush's unpopular administration, but he mostly avoided divisive partisan and ideological stands. He focused instead on fixing the economy, repairing a battered world image and cleaning up government. "What an opportunity we have to change this country," the Democrat told his senior... Start Thinking Right http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2172698/posts#comment Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:28:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2164512/posts Four years ago, the Associated Press and others in the press suggested it was in poor taste for Republicans to spend $40 million on President Bush’s inauguration. AP writer Will Lester calculated the impact that kind of money would have on armoring Humvees in Iraq, helping victims of the tsunami, or paying down the deficit. Lester thought the party should be cancelled: “The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?” Fast forward to 2009. The nation is at war (two wars, in fact), and now also faces... Newsbusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2164512/posts#comment Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:04:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2162511/posts An aide to Sarah Palin is disclosing as gifts more than $13,000 in airfare and lodging from the John McCain campaign, logged while helping the Alaska governor with state business during her bid as the Republican vice presidential candidate. AND http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2162511/posts#comment Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:48:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2162639/posts When community groups and the Board of Education were caught in an acrimonious dispute over an arts program, education officials brought in a fixer: Caroline Kennedy. The daughter of a president and niece of two senators listened attentively, asked probing questions and proposed various scenarios to resolve the dispute. Under her prompting, a compromise was reached. "People were pushing themselves back from the table and folding their arms," recalled Stephanie Dua, chief executive officer of the Fund for Public Schools. "She was very good at defusing the situation. ... She has a very easy style about her but she's very... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2162639/posts#comment Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161513/posts <p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says CBS News anchor Katie Couric and comic actress Tina Fey have been "exploiting" her.</p> <p>Palin also is questioning whether Caroline Kennedy is getting better treatment from the news media in her quest for a Senate seat than Palin herself received as Republican John McCain's running mate.</p> Morning Call http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161513/posts#comment Fri, 9 Jan 2009 13:33:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160554/posts Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs — even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy. The steepness of the fiscal mountain he'll face beginning Jan. 20 was underscored by stunning new figures: an estimate that the federal budget deficit will reach $1.2 trillion this year, by far the biggest ever, even without the new stimulus spending.... AOL http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2160554/posts#comment Wed, 7 Jan 2009 23:20:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153794/posts Tina Fey is the entertainer of the year? You betcha. Fey was voted The Associated Press' Entertainer of the Year, an annual honor chosen by newspaper editors and broadcast producers across the country. Fey was selected by AP members as the performer who had the greatest impact on culture and entertainment in 2008. The 38-year-old comedian bested runner-up Robert Downey Jr., whose comeback was capped with the blockbuster smash "Iron Man," and the third-place vote-getter, Heath Ledger, who posthumously wowed audiences as the Joker in "The Dark Knight." But it was Fey who most impressed voters largely with her indelible... ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153794/posts#comment Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:38:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153681/posts WASHINGTON (Dec. 24) - President-elect Barack Obama has said all along that neither he nor his team was involved in any eye-popping dealmaking over filling his vacated Senate seat. Obama's hand-picked investigator agreed. "Everybody behaved appropriately," declared Greg Craig, Obama's incoming White House counsel and the person asked to conduct the internal inquiry into contacts between the transition team and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. AP via AOLNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153681/posts#comment Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:05:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153664/posts WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama has said all along that neither he nor his team were involved in any dealmaking with the governor of Illinois over filling his vacated Senate seat. On Tuesday, Obama's hand-picked investigator agreed. "Everybody behaved appropriately," declared Greg Craig, Obama's incoming White House counsel and the person asked to conduct the internal inquiry into contacts between the transition team and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Prosecutors have said Obama is not implicated in the case against Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. But the corruption scandal has drained precious energy from... Associated Press / International Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2153664/posts#comment Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:21:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2151013/posts ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska officials are investigating racist jokes about President-elect Barack Obama that have been circulating on state government e-mail accounts. One of the five e-mails obtained by the Associated Press asks what was the outcome of the Democrat’s victory after all the time and money spent, and concludes: “Another black family living in government housing!” State officials were unaware of the e-mails until asked about them by the AP. Three of the racist messages were confirmed by the state’s information technology division after an electronic search of the government’s e-mail system, Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer said Wednesday. “It’s... The Spokesman-Review/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2151013/posts#comment Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:48:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2149259/posts ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Supreme Court is getting involved in the state's unsettled U.S. Senate race. The court said Monday it will weigh whether to stop the sorting and counting of wrongly rejected absentee ballots until clear instructions are handed down. Republican Sen. Norm Coleman petitioned the court to step in after the state board overseeing the recount recommended those ballots be considered last week. Coleman maintains there aren't clear guidelines for the recommendation and could lead to disarray among the 87 counties. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2149259/posts#comment Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:07:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2148692/posts CHICAGO — When President-elect Barack Obama heads home for a break from the White House, he won’t go to a sprawling ranch or private seaside compound. Obama will come back to a crowded city neighborhood, creating different security challenges for the Secret Service and perhaps headaches for his neighbors. No other recent first family has lived in a city neighborhood like the Obamas. The $1.6 million mansion he and his wife, Michelle, share with their two young daughters sits just off a busy street — a stretch of which has been closed to traffic — and his closest neighbors are... The Times West Virginian / The Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2148692/posts#comment Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:56:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2148703/posts WASHINGTON – When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid. *Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.* *Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.* Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2148703/posts#comment Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:30:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2144526/posts WASHINGTON – When the Washington Nationals played their first-ever baseball game in the nation's capital in April 2005, two congressmen who oversaw mortgage giant Freddie Mac had choice seats — courtesy of the very company they were supposed to be keeping an eye on. Efforts to tighten government regulation were gaining support on Capitol Hill, and Freddie Mac was fighting back. The baseball tickets for home opener were means of influence. According to confidential company documents obtained by The Associated Press, Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., spent the evening in hard-to-obtain seats near the Nationals dugout with... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2144526/posts#comment Sun, 7 Dec 2008 19:36:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2144557/posts CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama announced support Sunday for a short-term government bailout of the nation's carmakers that is tied to industry restructuring. He also accused auto executives of a persistent "head-in-the sand approach" to long-festering problems. Obama said Congress was doing "the exact right thing" in drafting legislation that "holds the auto industry's feet to the fire" at the same time it tries to prevent its demise. In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" and later at a news conference, Obama at one point suggested some executives should lose their jobs. AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2144557/posts#comment Sun, 7 Dec 2008 20:45:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2142412/posts ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin has added to her financial disclosure forms two free trips that she took nearly two years ago but failed to report. Palin, who was Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, made the disclosures last month, but after Election Day when she and McCain lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The trips were first revealed in a story by The Associated Press in October. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2142412/posts#comment Wed, 3 Dec 2008 23:45:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141238/posts WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents. "Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories," California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the housing implosion cost her a job. Bowing to aggressive lobbying -- along with assurances from banks that the troubled mortgages were OK -- regulators delayed... CNNMoney.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141238/posts#comment Tue, 2 Dec 2008 03:55:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140723/posts WASHINGTON – The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents. "Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories," California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the housing implosion cost her a job. Bowing to aggressive lobbying — along with assurances from banks that the troubled mortgages were OK — regulators delayed action... Yahoo/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140723/posts#comment Mon, 1 Dec 2008 12:50:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140082/posts NEW YORK – Zenas Ackah has heard it all his life: What kind of name is that? You must not be from here. You must be foreign. Actually, no. Born in the United States, the 22-year-old college senior with the Greek first name and the Ghanian last name grew up in Philadelphia. But Ackah is hopeful that change is coming, that the idea of an "American" name will expand beyond monikers like Tom and Harry and Sally and Jane and Smith and Jones. He figures he's got a strong weapon on his side — for at least the next four... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140082/posts#comment Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:42:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2138721/posts CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to have an economic plan ready for action on the nation's financial crisis on his first day in office. "Help is on the way," he declared. He also said his Cabinet would "combine experience with fresh thinking" and pushed back against criticism that he was recycling former Clinton administration officials as he builds his new economic team. In his third news conference on the economy in as many days, Obama announced he had chosen former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head a new White House panel to help create jobs and... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2138721/posts#comment Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:14:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136744/posts Ya gotta hand it to them. The Associated Press knows how to cut out all the extraneous background noise and get right to the important issues of the day. Barack Obama will surely be in the center of the vortex of some of the most important decisions in the world during the next four years and even his preparations for taking office are vitally important as a marker to what he might do in office. There are wars and rumors of wars, disasters and relief efforts and historic decisions will soon be made. But no decision is so important, as... http://newsbusters.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2136744/posts#comment Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:42:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2129030/posts 401(k) early casualty of downturnRecession would jeopardize match made by employers DAVID PITT Associated Press Published: November 9, 2008 6:00 a.m. DES MOINES, Iowa – Retirement accounts already battered by a steep market decline might get hit again as several companies suspend or reduce their 401(k) match to save cash. **SNIP** Matching contributions average about 11 percent of a company’s profits, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 companies by the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America. **SNIP** “This is a recession-type of response. These employers are really up against it and they have to decide to cut somewhere... Journal Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2129030/posts#comment Sun, 9 Nov 2008 23:41:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2128754/posts OK. I'm not going to bother posting the article, since the next four years are going to be a constant Obama love-fest, and we're all going to get tired of 24/7/365 articles like this. Just an observation to Todd Lewan. Todd: Obama was elected because the stock market imploded just before the election, and the New Obama Government Media engineered pinning the blame on the Republicans. This was a lie. So, your entire article is a crock of bunny poo. Now, let's get to it, and start the list from this Ossociated Press piece. The Mighty Todd outs himself as... AP on Digg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2128754/posts#comment Sun, 9 Nov 2008 15:25:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2125427/posts "My image of America used to be a country run by the white people, but now it's changing," said 65-year-old taxidriver Kenji Doi, an Obama supporter, as he listened to a radio broadcast on the vote early Wednesday in Tokyo." Yahoo! News/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2125427/posts#comment Wed, 5 Nov 2008 04:49:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2122727/posts WASHINGTON – The government is investigating whether any laws were broken involving details about the disclosure that Barack Obama's aunt was living in the country illegally. The Associated Press learned late Friday learned that Obama's half aunt, who is from Kenya, was ordered to leave the United States years ago after an immigration judge denied her request for asylum. The woman, Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh), is living in public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked its inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility on Saturday to investigate whether... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2122727/posts#comment Sun, 2 Nov 2008 19:34:47 GMT