W.H. counters Cheney with Biden

Vice President Joe Biden's appearances on two Sunday morning talk shows this week are part of a White House strategy to both pre-empt and potentially respond to former Vice President Dick Cheney's interview on ABC's "This Week," where administration officials expect he'll continue to advance his sharp critique of President Obama's record on national security. Cheney has been one of the strongest critics of Obama's...

Obama: US Economy Won't Turn Around Quickly

By: Reuters President Barack Obama said Tuesday he saw little hope of near-term improvement in the U.S. economy after a staggering drop in gross domestic product in the final three months of last year."The economy's performance in the last quarter of 2008 was the worst in over 25 years. And frankly the first quarter of this year holds out little promise for better returns," he said in a speech at the Department of Transportation.Obama said one of the main challenges facing his government was to unlock frozen credit markets and...

Obama's Transition To President May Be "Easiest" Part

As President-elect Barack Obama rushes from secret job interviews with ex-primary rivals, to briefings on the global financial crisis, to discussions of saving the U.S. auto industry, the post-election period may feel frenetic. But soon he and his transition team may look back fondly on this fleeting chance for "deliberate haste," as Obama has characterized pace of his Cabinet selection.This fall running mate Joe Biden warned the incoming president would be tested within six months by an international crisis. But history shows...

The Ayatollah and Ahmadinejad

Conducted by Chris Chen Mehrzad Boroujerdi is Associate Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where he also serves as the Founding Director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program and Co-Director of the Religion, Media and International Relations Project. He is the author of Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism and numerous articles in journals and edited books.Iranian discontent with President Ahmadinejad’s strong rhetoric, hard-line...

Entering Uncharted Waters

Politic Staff Reporter Fifteen women and girls in headscarves and dark-colored manteaus—knee-length, long-sleeved overcoats mandated by Iranian law—sat in plastic chairs in a government-run health clinic, their eyes looking expectantly at me behind thick layers of eyeliner and mascara. It was my first time speaking to them alone and my Farsi skills and nerves were not up to the task. I held up a condom and tried to remember the word for “lubricant.” Passing out condoms to sex workers and sterile needles to drug users was not...

Health Care Without Risks

Conducted by June Torbati Jacob Hacker earned his Ph.D. in political science from Yale in 2000. He published his first book on the Clinton administration’s failed proposal for universal healthcare as a graduate student in 1997. His “Healthcare for America” plan is the basis for Senator Barack Obama’s health care proposal, and Hacker has written on healthcare issues for the opinion pages of almost every major American newspaper and magazine.What are your thoughts on McCain’s healthcare plan? Would the $2500 per-person or $5000...

A Winning Strategy in Iran

By Sam Yellen General Paul E. Vallely retired in 1991 from the US Army as Deputy Commanding General, US Army, Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. General Vallely graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in the Army in 1961 serving a distinguishing career of 32 years in the Army. General Vallely has co-authored Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror and War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World. Do you see Iran in its current state as a problem...