Administration

First Lady Michelle Obama honored Lilly Ledbetter with a reception at the White House today after President Obama signed the equal pay bill that bears Ledbetter's name.

Ledbetter is "an inspiration to women and men all across the country," Mrs. Obama said in her remarks at the reception, according to a pool report.

"She knew unfairness when she saw it and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do, plain and simple," Mrs. Obama said.

Ledbetter discovered, on the verge of her retirement from a Goodyear plant, that she had been paid 40 percent less than her male peers. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which President Obama signed today, makes it easier for workers to file claims of pay discrimination by effectively extending the filing deadline, using the last discriminatory paycheck (rather than the first) to start the clock on the 180-day filing period.

"I know my daughters and granddaughters and your daughters and your granddaughters will have a better deal,'' Ledbetter said in her remarks at the reception. "That's what makes this fight worth fighting, that's what makes this fight one we had to win."

Obama and Ledbetter hugged after Ledbetter delivered her remarks, according to the pool report.

After meeting with business leaders at the White House this morning, President Obama offered some criticism of corporate America along with promises to help spur economic growth.

"As we discussed in our meeting a few minutes ago, corporate America will have to accept its own responsibilities to its workers and to the American public," Obama said during his post-meeting remarks. "But these executives also understand that without wise leadership in Washington, even the best-run businesses cannot do as well as they might."

Obama met with 13 business leaders to discuss his economic stimulus plan. In attendance were the CEOs of Google, IBM, Xerox, Kodak, Motorola, BET Holdings, Honeywell, Jet Blue, and others, as well as the retired CEO of Edison International.

"The businesses that are shedding jobs to stay afloat -- they cannot afford inaction or delay," Obama said, adding that "the vast majority of these jobs [to be created by Obama's stimulus] will be created in the private sector -- because, as these CEOs well know, business, not government, is the engine of growth in this country."

Obama renewed his pledge to invest in infrastructure, clean energy technology, healthcare, and education, saying those investments would "lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity."

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Rocker Ted Nugent accused Attorney General nominee Eric Holder on Tuesday of having a "long, ugly record of attacking freedom."

The Motor City Madman, who in recent years has been very public with his conservative views particularly on gun rights, shared his not-so-admiring thoughts about Holder and President Obama at the conservative blog Human Events:

Both President Obama and Mr. Holder are avowed gun-control zealots--typical of the loony, anti-freedom wing of the Democratic Party. Do not believe President Obama's or Mr. Holder's thinly veiled statements about supporting an individual's right to own guns, but rather review their previous career long, freedom-restricting, gun-grabbing statements.

Mr. Holder has a long, ugly record of attacking freedom. He has consistently supported gun bans, raising the age that someone can purchase a weapon, supporting registration and licensing, waiting periods, and his all-time favorite-the felon's dream of gun-free zone sheeple.

Fact: Mr. Holder has never met a socialist gun control measure he did not like.

Nugent has appeared on TV talk shows to cook food that he has killed, and he once fired a rifle at an electric keyboard during the opening an of an instructional guitar video.

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) today reissued his subpoena demanding that former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove appear before the committee to testify about the politicization of the Bush Justice Department.

Rove has denied the subpoena, citing executive privilege supported by President Bush. The subpoena expired at the end of the 110th Congress and had to be reissued at the start of the 111th.

Rove also faces an ongoing lawsuit, brought by the committee, which seeks to compel him to appear.

"I have said many times that I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress or in court, and today Read more...

According to a new poll from Rasmussen, 44 percent of Democrats surveyed said President Bush and his administration were guilty of "war crimes"; 28 percent of Democrats disagreed.

Obama has faced calls from liberals to investigate Bush administration actions for potential criminal activity: one of the most popular reader questions posted to Obama's transition website asked whether Obama would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's use of torture and warrantless wiretapping. (Though he suggested in April 2008 that he would consider an investigation, Obama said this month that he would not likely look into potential Bush administration crimes.) Read more...

President Obama won glowing praise this morning from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) for directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider its 2007 decision not to let California set higher vehicle emissions standards for its state.

The California Republican said the decision shows that California and environmental law "now have a strong ally in the White House."

"With this announcement from President Obama less than a week into his administration, it is clear that California and the environment now have a strong ally in the White House. Allowing California and other states to aggressively reduce their own harmful vehicle tailpipe emissions would be a historic win for clean air and for millions of Americans who want more fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly cars," Schwarzenegger said in a statement issued by his office.

"My administration has been fighting for this waiver since 2005 and we will not give up until it is granted because we owe it to our children and to our grandchildren to do more than just protect our natural resources, we must also work to improve them so that we leave behind an environment for future generations that is better than it is today," the governor continued. Read more...

President Obama today rescinded the policy, begun by President Reagan and resurrected by the last President Bush, that bans U.S. foreign aid from going to organizations that counsel foreign citizens on abortion or lobby foreign governments to make abortion legal.

Reagan had instituted the rule in 1984 as an extension of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits organizations from using U.S. foreign aid to finance the performance of abortions, or the motivation or coercion of any woman to have one. President Clinton rescinded the "Mexico City Rule" in 1993; President George W. Bush reinstated it in 2001.

"It is clear that the provisions of the Mexico City Policy are unnecessarily broad and unwarranted under current law, and for the past eight years, they have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "For these reasons, it is right for us to rescind this policy and restore critical efforts to protect and empower women and promote global economic development."<!--more-->

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has announced a 6 p.m. Monday vote on Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner.

Geithner won approval from the Finance Committee Thursday, but still faces skepticism from Republicans over his tax delinquency that became public last week.

Thursday's committee vote was 18-5, with Republicans Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Jim Bunning (Ky.), Pat Roberts (Kan.) and Michael Enzi (Wyo.) voting against confirmation.

-J. Taylor Rushing

On the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, President Obama praised the decision and reaffirmed his commitment to abortion rights.

The president also hit a note that he had repeated during the presidential campaign: that opponents and supporters of abortion rights can find common ground in working to reduce the number of abortions and unwanted preganancies.

Obama also used the anniversary as an occasion to call for equal opportunities for women in schools and workplaces.

See his full statement below:

On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women

President Obama signed executive orders this morning reversing Bush administration detainee interrogation practices and requiring the prison at Guantanamo Bay to be closed one year from now.

As expected, Obama ordered a review process for Guantanamo detainees, with the goal of releasing, transferring to other nations, or prosecuting the 245 detainees currently held at the facility. Obama largely left the question of how to prosecute detainees unanswered, though recommended that federal courts or regular military courts would be preferable. Military tribunals with revised authority could also be used. Read more...