Obama's Activities is Different from Bush

Obama reverses Bush abortion-funds policy

By MATTHEW LEE and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee And Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writers –
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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information — an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.

Obama's move, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious Bush policies, was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.

The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since GOP President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.

"For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate." Watch Photo

He said the ban was unnecessarily broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.

"In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world," the president said.

Obama issued the presidential memorandum rescinding the Bush policy without coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon. The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people, and the quiet signing was in contrast to the televised coverage of Obama's announcement Wednesday on ethics rules and Thursday's signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror suspects.

His action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion.

The Bush policy had banned U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion as a family planning method.

Critics have long held that the rule unfairly discriminates against the world's poor by denying U.S. aid to groups that may be involved in abortion but also work on other aspects of reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS, leading to the closure of free and low-cost rural clinics.

Supporters of the ban say that the United States still provides millions of dollars in family planning assistance around the world and that the rule prevents anti-abortion taxpayers from backing something they believe is morally wrong.

The ban has been known as the "Mexico City policy" for the city a U.S. delegation first announced it at a U.N. International Conference on Population.

Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule during the presidential campaign.

Clinton said Friday evening that for seven years Bush's policy made it more difficult for women around the world to gain access to essential information and health care services. "Rather than limiting women's ability to receive reproductive health services, we should be supporting programs that help women and their partners make decisions to ensure their health and the health of their families," Clinton said.

In a related move, Obama also said he would restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Both he and Clinton had pledged to reverse a Bush administration determination that assistance to the organization violated U.S. law known as the Kemp-Kasten amendment.

Obama, in his statement, said he looked forward to working with Congress to fulfill that promise: "By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, said: "The president's actions send a strong message about his leadership and his desire to support causes that will promote peace and dignity, equality for women and girls and economic development in the poorest regions of the world."

"We are confident that under the new president's direction, the U.S. will resume its leadership in promoting and protecting women's reproductive health and rights worldwide," Obaid said in a statement issued at U.N. headquarters in New York.

The Bush administration had barred U.S. money from the fund, contending that its work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. UNFPA has vehemently denied that it does.

Congress had appropriated $40 million to the UNFPA in the past budget year, but the administration had withheld the money as it had done every year since 2002.

Organizations and lawmakers that had pressed Obama to rescind the Mexico City policy were jubilant.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the move "will help save lives and empower the poorest women and families to improve their quality of life and their future."

"Today's announcement is a very powerful signal to our neighbors around the world that the United States is once again back in the business of good public policy and ideology no longer blunts our ability to save lives around the globe," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Population Action International, an advocacy group, said that the policy had "severely impacted" women's health and that the step "will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning."

Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers condemned Obama's decision.

"I have long supported the Mexico City Policy and believe this administration's decision to be counter to our nation's interests," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

"Coming just one day after the 36th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade decision, this presidential directive forces taxpayers to subsidize abortions overseas — something no American should be required by government to do," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., called it "morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans to promote abortion around the world."

"President Obama not long ago told the American people that he would support policies to reduce abortions, but today he is effectively guaranteeing more abortions by funding groups that promote abortion as a method of population control," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee.

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AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven contributed to this report.

Crowds pack frigid Mall for Obama's inauguration

Crowds pack frigid Mall for Obama's inauguration

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WASHINGTON – Braving frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of hundreds of thousands packed the National Mall on Tuesday to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as America's first black president. He grasps the reins of power in a high-noon ceremony amid grave economic worries and high expectations.

It was the first change of administrations since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Crowds filled the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol for a glimpse of the proceedings and, in the words of many, simply "to be here."

Two years after beginning his improbable quest as a little-known, first-term Illinois senator with a foreign-sounding name, Obama moves into the Oval Office as the nation's fourth youngest president, at 47, and the first African-American, a barrier-breaking achievement believed impossible by generations of minorities.

Around the world, Obama's election electrified millions with the hope that America will be more embracing, more open to change.

The dawn of the new Democratic era — with Obama allies in charge of both houses of Congress — ends eight years of Republican control of the White House by George W. Bush. He leaves Washington as one of the nation's most unpopular and divisive presidents, the architect of two unfinished wars and the man in charge at a time of economic calamity that swept away many Americans' jobs, savings and homes.

Bush — following tradition — left a note for Obama in the top drawer of his desk in the Oval Office.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the theme of the message — which Bush wrote on Monday — was similar to what he has said since election night: that Obama is about to begin a "fabulous new chapter" in the United States, and that he wishes him well.

The unfinished business of the Bush administration thrusts an enormous burden onto the new administration, though polls show Americans are confident Obama is on track to succeed. He has cautioned that improvements will take time and that things will get worse before they get better.

Culminating four days of celebration, the nation's 56th inauguration day began for Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden with a traditional morning worship service at St. John's Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Park from the White House. Bells pealed from the historic church's tower as Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived five minutes behind schedule.

The festivities won't end until well after midnight, with dancing and partying at 10 inaugural balls.

By custom, Obama and his wife were invited to the White House for coffee with Bush and his wife, Laura, followed by a shared ride in a sleek, heavily armored Cadillac limousine to the U.S. Capitol for the transfer of power, an event flashed around the world in television and radio broadcasts, podcasts and Internet streaming. On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back, leaving him in a wheelchair for the inauguration.

Just before noon, Obama steps forward on the West Front of the Capitol to lay his left hand on the same Bible that President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration in 1861. The 35-word oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been uttered by every president since George Washington. Obama was one of 22 Democratic senators to vote against Roberts' confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2005.

The son of a Kansas-born mother and Kenya-born father, Obama decided to use his full name in the swearing-in ceremony.

The Constitution says the clock — not the pomp, ceremony and oaths — signals the transfer of the office from the old president to the new one.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution specifies that the terms of office of the president and vice president "shall end at noon on the 20th day of January ... and the terms of their successors shall then begin."

To the dismay of liberals, Obama invited conservative evangelical pastor Rick Warren — an opponent of gay rights — to give the inaugural invocation.

About a dozen members of Obama's Cabinet and top appointees — including Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton — were ready for Senate confirmation Tuesday, provided no objections were raised.

More than 10,000 people from all 50 states — including bands and military units — were assembled to follow Obama and Biden from the Capitol on the 1.5-mile inaugural parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, concluding at a bulletproof reviewing stand in front of the White House. Security was unprecedented. Most bridges into Washington and about 3.5 square miles of downtown were closed.

Obama's inauguration represents a time of renewal and optimism for a nation gripped by fear and anxiety. Stark numbers tell the story of an economic debacle unrivaled since the 1930s:

_Eleven million people have lost their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, a 16-year high.

_One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in arrears.

_The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931, and stocks lost $10 trillion in value between October 2007 and November 2008.

Obama and congressional Democrats are working on an $825 billion economic recovery bill that would provide an enormous infusion of public spending and tax cuts. Obama also will have at his disposal the remaining $350 billion in the federal financial bailout fund. His goal is to save or create 3 million jobs and put banks back in the job of lending to customers.

In an appeal for bipartisanship, Obama honored defeated Republican presidential rival John McCain at a dinner Monday night. "There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain," Obama said.

Young and untested, Obama is a man of enormous confidence and electrifying oratorical skills. Hopes for Obama are extremely high, suggesting that Americans are willing to give him a long honeymoon to strengthen the economy and lift the financial gloom.

On Wednesday, his first working day in office, Obama is expected to redeem his campaign promise to begin the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq under a 16-month timetable. Aides said he would summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Oval Office and order that the pullout commence.

Obama seeks remaining $350 billion in bailout funds

U.S. President-elect Obama seeks remaining $350 billion in bailout funds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday sought the remaining $350 billion of federal financial bailout funds from Congress, pledging a major overhaul that would distribute the money more widely and impose tougher restrictions on recipient companies.

Obama said he asked President George W. Bush to make the request on his behalf so he could take office next week with the funds at the ready to deal with a "still fragile" financial system.

"I felt that it would be irresponsible for me, with the first $350 billion already spent, to enter into the administration without any potential ammunition should there be some sort of emergency or a weakening of the financial system," Obama told reporters.

Obama and his economic team agreed to new restrictions and changes to the program to address concerns by fellow Democrats, who control both houses in Congress and have been critical of the Bush administration's handling of the funds so far.

The $700 billion rescue program was approved last October to bolster the financial industry as it reeled under the stress of bad mortgage debts and several major institutions were threatened with collapse.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson initially sold the program as necessary to buy up troubled assets to free banks to resume lending. But he quickly shifted focus and the first $350 billion was used primarily to make direct investments in financial institutions to buttress their capital.

Many lawmakers have complained that some recipients of the funds continue to pay big executive bonuses and shareholder dividends while loans are still difficult to get.

"Many of us have been disappointed with the absence of clarity, the lack of transparency, the failure to track how the money's been spent and the failure to take bold action with respect to areas like housing," Obama said.

"My commitment is that we are going to fundamentally change some of the practices in using this next phase of the program. We're going to focus on housing foreclosures, we're going to focus on small businesses, we're going to focus on what's required to make sure that credit is flowing to consumers and businesses," the president-elect added.

Bush submitted the request to Congress Monday evening, which under the law for the bailout starts a 15-day clock for lawmakers to decide whether to block access to the remaining $350 billion.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate could vote on the issue as early as Thursday. Democrats have not said when the House of Representatives would vote.

The 18-page request to Congress said the remaining funds would be used partly to help homeowners facing mortgage foreclosures as well as expand existing programs. But it did not offer specific details about how.

Top Senate and House Republicans quickly raised questions about the program.

"I would be hard-pressed to support additional funding for the TARP without sufficient assurances this money will not be wasted, misspent or simply used for more industry-specific bailouts," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said.

The Treasury has allocated in excess of the first $350 billion in funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, but it said on Monday it has disbursed only $265.3 billion so far.

Obama seeks bailout funds amid corporate gloom

Latest News of USA: Obama seeks bailout funds amid corporate gloom

WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama sought the remaining half of $700 billion in financial bailout funds from Congress, as sinking corporate earnings underlined the depth of the gathering recession.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. kicked off the Wall Street earnings season with a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and a source said Sony Corp was expected to post its first operating loss in 14 years this business year.

As politicians worldwide try to alleviate sharply slowing growth and mounting job losses, Obama said he had asked President George W. Bush to formally request the remaining bailout funds so they could be ready when he takes office on January 20.

"I felt that it would be irresponsible for me, with the first $350 billion already spent, to enter into the administration without any potential ammunition should there be some sort of emergency or a weakening of the financial system," Obama said.

The $700 billion rescue program was approved last October to bolster the financial industry plagued by bad mortgage debts that pushed several major institutions to the brink of collapse.

CORPORATE LOSSES

Sony shares fell 8 percent on media reports of its likely loss. A source close to the matter told Reuters the maker of Bravia flat TVs and Playstation 3 video game consoles may post an operating loss of about $1.1 billion for the year to end-March.

The news came as Alcoa, which is slashing 15,000 jobs, posted a net loss of $1.19 billion for the fourth quarter on lower demand and declining metal prices.

"The aluminum industry was caught up in a perfect storm ... prices have never fallen so fast," President and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld told analysts.

In South Korea, the country's No. 5 automaker Ssangyong Motor Co said it had suspended production at all of its factories as some suppliers stopped delivering parts worried whether they will get paid by the company, which fights to avoid bankruptcy.

Earlier Citigroup shares had fallen 17 percent after a Wall Street Journal report the bank might post a quarterly operating loss of at least $10 billion.

The corporate gloom took its toll on equity markets, with Asian indexes following U.S. stocks lower. Tokyo's Nikkei, which had been closed for a holiday on Monday, fell more than 4 percent.

A record rise in Japanese bank lending in December only added to the gloom. Hardly a sign of any business upturn, the data was a sign that companies struggled to raise cash in the commercial paper and bond markets as they used to and were forced to borrow directly from banks.

BLEAK OUTLOOK

Most of the world's developed economies are already officially in recession and the outlook for 2009 is bleak.