Administration

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that President Obama's first trip to Russia has "gone well" and could lead to better relations between the two former Cold War adversaries.

Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised the agreement announced Monday between Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals by at least one quarter.

"I appreciated the reports that came yesterday and the way they have framed the issue," said Lugar, who worked with Obama when he was a senator on nuclear arms control.

"I'm hoping they will be able to finish the work in a timeframe so that a proper ratification of the treaty can occur both in Russia and in the United States," Lugar told The Hill.

The Republican said that the two countries have a sound relationship when it comes to curtailing the spread of nuclear weapons.

"Both countries see a win-win issue there," he said. "This is a foundation on which to have other conversations, such as missile defense."

He noted that the two countries have struck smaller deals on weapons, including agreements to destroy 34 tons of plutonium each and improve the fortification of nuclear agencies around the world to protect against arms proliferation.

"These were all areas where there can be a more cordial atmosphere to tackle other issues perhaps down the trail," he said.

Reacting to a report on Tuesday that he may be prepared to use the public option as a bargaining chip for healthcare reform, President Obama issued a statement reaffirming his support for a public insurance plan.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said it was more important that healthcare reform create increased competition among private insurers than implement a public plan to facilitate that competition.

In the statement, Obama reiterated his preference for a public option.

"I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest," Obama said. "I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals."

Here are the the grafs in the Wall Street Journal story that are likely bothering the White House.

One of the most contentious issues is whether to create a public health-insurance plan to compete with private companies.

Mr. Emanuel said one of several ways to meet President Barack Obama's goals is a mechanism under which a public plan is introduced only if the marketplace fails to provide sufficient competition on its own. He noted that congressional Republicans crafted a similar trigger mechanism when they created a prescription-drug benefit for Medicare in 2003. In that case, private competition has been judged sufficient and the public option has never gone into effect.

The timing of the statement could also be related to the fact that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is about to resume marking up its healthcare bill, which, for the first time, now officially includes a public option. It could also be related to the fact that a bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee members is continuing talks to develop a compromise package that probably won't include a public option. (The House bill has one.) Read more...

It looks like President Obama's speech in Moscow Tuesday morning didn't quite get the same play with

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev touted the results of the first day of their summit in Moscow at a press conference on Monday.

Both presidents complimented the others' "business-like" approach to the summit and both appeared pleased with the agreements that came out of the first day.

Obama said at the beginning at that shortly after taking office they "resolved to reset U.S.-Russian relations."

"Today, after less than six months," he went on, "we have done exactly that."

In particular, Obama touted the summit's agreements on nuclear proliferation Obama said he hopes to reduce the the U.S. and Russia's nuclear arsenal by about a third.

The press conference did not go off flawlessly, however. Obama stumbled slightly over the pronunciation of Medvedev's name at the beginning of the press conference, though he recovered quickly. The U.S. president also sidestepped a question about who is leading Russia, Medvedev or former president and current prime minister Vladmir Putin. Obama said he trusts Medvedev but said that Medvedev and Putin appear to be "working very well together."

Medvedev characterized the first day of talks as "very open and sincere." He also said that Russia and the U.S. has "many points of convergence and many points of mutual interest."

The Russian president also said that the two leaders discussed Afghanistan at length, as well as developments in the Middle East. Obama added later that they also had conversations about relations with North Korea and Iran.

"On the whole, characterizing the first day of work," Medvedev said, "I would like to say that I view them as the first and very important step in the process of improving full scale cooperation between our two countries."

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The U.S. has reached several agreements with Russia at the summit in Moscow on Monday, the White House announced in a flurry of emails.

Most notably, the U.S. and Russia has agreed to continue fighting the spread of nuclear weapons, a significant tenet of President Obama's foreign policy and anti-terrorism agenda.

In a statement from Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the leaders said they "confirm[ed] their commitment to strengthening their cooperation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and stop acts of nuclear terrorism."

The "Joint Understanding" that Obama and Medvedev signed on Monday commits the two countries to reduce strategic warheads to between 1,500 to 1,675. The two nations will also reduce strategic delivery vehicles to between 500 and 1,100.

The countries also signed an "Joint Understanding" to work to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which will expire on Dec. 5 of this year, according to the White House.

Obama and Medvedev also reached an agreement that will allow the U.S. to transport military personnel and equipment across Russia to support American and Coalition forces in Afghanistan, and the two leaders issued a joint statement concerning the war in Afghanistan. The agreement will allow the U.S. to fly through Russia airspace to deliver supplies to Afghanistan 4,500 times per year at no charge, saving the U.S. $133 million in transportation costs, according to the White House.

That agreement comes as U.S. and Russia military officials have signed a new strategic framework for military-to-military engagement between the two countries. The agreement resumes bilateral activities that have been suspended since August of 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If things weren't busy enough for the White House and congressional Democrats, economists are now calling for a second stimulus package to fight the rising unemployment rate, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Unemployment rose slightly to 9.5 percent in June, leading President Obama's critics to argue his $787 billion economic stimulus package is not doing enough for the economy.

Over the weekend, Vice President Joe Biden said the administration "misread" the economy, giving some credence to those critics.

Biden also refused to rule out a second stimulus package. That would put the White House in a tricky position, though. Only 10 percent of the original stimulus package has been spent so far, Biden said, so the remaining billions could still spur new jobs.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

After Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) told Runner's World magazine that she could beat President Obama in a race, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs asked, "How's her jump shot?"

Gibbs said he would ask the president if he has time this summer to run against Palin.

"I guess it depends on where they were going to run," Gibbs joked. "Maybe there's a terrain advantage in a place like Alaska."

- Sam Youngman

It is hard to tell based on Wednesday's statement from Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell on their meeting earlier this week.

In a joint statement, the two said they "met for several hours in New York" and "discussed the full range of issues."

But the statement lacks many details. Here is what it says:

"Specifically, their discussions covered a wide range of measures needed to create a climate conducive to peace. These included measures on security and incitement by the Palestinians; steps by Arab states toward normalization with Israel; and, from Israel, actions including on access and movement in the West Bank and on settlement activity. The discussions were constructive and will continue soon."

Taken one at a time, "security and incitement by the Palestinians" is pretty clear; Israel wants an assurance that there will be a crackdown on violence before they will enter into any deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing for "normalization" of relations between Israel and Arab state since his election. Basically, that means Israel would expect reciprocity when it makes concessions, I think.

Lastly, the discussion of settlements likely referenced the New York Times scoop late last week that Israel is now open to freezing the construction of settlements in the West Bank.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

President Obama's goals for healthcare reform may be gaining traction in public opinion but Americans are still very divided about his reform proposals, two new polls released Wednesday indicate.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll found that a slim majority - 51 percent - favor President Obama's plan to reform the healthcare system. A slightly fewer number - 45 percent - oppose Obama's plan and four percent have no opinion.

A slightly larger majority - 55 percent - said the healthcare system needs a "great deal" of reform while 40 percent said "only some."

CNN points out that these numbers are higher than those President Bill Clinton registered in July of 1994. According to CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls then, 40 percent favored Clinton's plan while 55 percent opposed it.

A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday also found that nearly seven in 10 support a public option in healthcare reform, even tough fewer than three in 10 would opt for it over their current insurance.

And in other good news for Obama, a slim majority - 51 percent - said they understand the president's proposals. Forty-six percent are confused by it.

The CNN poll also found some troubling news for Obama. Fifty-four percent said they believe Obama's plan would increase the amount they spend on healthcare. A quarter said it would remain the same and 17 percent said it would decrease. Read more...