The Administration

President Obama delivered the following remarks Sunday at Xavier Univeristy in New Orleans to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

When I came here four years ago, one thing I found striking was all the greenery that had begun to come back.  And I was reminded of a passage from the book of Job.  “There is hope for a tree if it be cut down that it will sprout again, and that its tender branch will not cease.”  The work ahead will not be easy, and there will be setbacks.  There will be challenges along the way.  But thanks to you, thanks to the great people of this great city, New Orleans is blossoming again.

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today. ...

Today's question:

What is your reaction to President Barack Obama's oval office address?

While the current housing crisis has underscored the broad impact housing has on people's lives, it has also taught us that we need to "reset" our national housing policy - to focus not only on homeownership, but to invest in quality rental housing as well. As such, I believe the single most important thing HUD does is provide rental assistance to four-and-a-half million of America's most vulnerable families - and the Obama Administration is proposing bold steps to meet their needs.

A report issued by HUD just this week drove home how few housing choices our poorest families have. It found that in 2007, nearly 13 million low-income individuals paid more than half their monthly income for rent, lived in severely substandard housing, or both. The report, issued to Congress on Tuesday, found that these "worst case housing needs" grew significantly during the previous administration, between 2001 and 2007 -- not coincidentally during a time when promoting homeownership was the singular focus of national housing policy.

Already, the absence of a national strategy to preserve affordable housing has resulted in the loss of 150,000 affordable homes through demolition or sale in the last 15 years. Our Public Housing program alone has a backlog of unmet capital needs estimated at $20 to $30 billion.

Indeed, if we fail to act now, we will lose these irreplaceable resources forever.

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer their insight into the biggest news of the day. ...

Is the criticism of President Barack Obama over the Gulf Coast oil spill response fair?

Background reading here.

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Today's question:

Did the Obama administration respond quickly and appropriately to the Gulf Coast oil spill?

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Today's question:

Should the Obama administration reconsider its offshore drilling plans because of the Gulf Coast oil spill? Read more...

When President Obama said that his administration would be the most transparent in history, we wanted to believe him.  After all, he went so far as to issue a Presidential Executive order calling for greater transparency and open Government.  Despite the executive order, it soon became clear this was a façade.  Instead, this Administration has demonstrated a consistent pattern of hidden agendas and ulterior motives.

In February, I received a leaked copy of an internal Department of Interior (DOI) memo that identified as many as 13 million acres throughout the West as possible sites for national monument designations.  Such a designation would immediately place the lands under a restrictive lockdown, blocking access for public land users.  To those unfamiliar with the West, this could seem rather harmless.  After all, the Washington Monument and Statue of Liberty are two well known monuments that are visited by millions each year.  However, in the West, national monument designations sweep up large swaths of land and place them under lock and key.  This not only destroys Western communities that rely upon access to land, for such things as ranching, mining, grazing, farming and recreation, but it dries up a major source of tax revenue for local communities.
 

Buried under the headlines of an historic vote on healthcare, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently returned from a two-day trip to Russia. Her time in Moscow underscores the strides the Obama-Clinton team has made in US-Russian relations since coming to office one year ago.

Talks between the United States and Russia have yielded results. On Iran, Russia has come on board to ensure, short of full sanctions, the non-infringement of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. On Afghanistan, Russia is gradually increasing its support for logistics corridors. The arms control treaty appears to be nearly complete.

It has not been easy getting to this point. The view from Moscow during the Bush administration was that the US had rolled out a menacing missile defense system on Russia’s borders, waged a needless war in Iraq, expanded NATO despite Russia’s objections, violated Serbia’s territorial integrity by recognizing Kosovo, and downplayed the aspiration of the Abkhaz and Ossetians in Georgia.

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer their insight into the biggest news story burning up the blogosphere today.




Today's question:

Chief Justice John Roberts fired back at the White House this week. Will the battle between the high court and the White House continue to escalate in 2010?

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Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer their insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today .




Today's question:

Should President Barack Obama appoint stalled nominees during the Presidents' Day recess?

(Read today's answers after the jump.)

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