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Articles written by ben feller, ap white house correspondent


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  • Obama: Every American should get a fair shot

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama called Tuesday night for a flurry of help for a hurting middle class and higher taxes on millionaires, delivering a State of the Union address filled with re-election themes. Restoring a fair shot for all, Obama said, is "the defining issue of our time." Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the country than the one pressed by the Republicans challenging him in Congress and fighting to take his job. He pleaded for an active govern... Full story

  • Obama: Every American should get a fair shot

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama called Tuesday night for a flurry of help for a hurting middle class and higher taxes on millionaires, delivering a State of the Union address filled with re-election themes. Restoring a fair shot for all, Obama said, is "the defining issue of our time." Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the country than the one pressed by the Republicans challenging him in Congress and fighting to take his job. He pleaded for an active govern... Full story

  • Under fire, Obama adjusts his birth control policy

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Under fierce election-year fire, President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly abandoned his stand that religious organizations must pay for free birth control for workers, scrambling to end a furor raging from the Catholic Church to Congress to his re-election foes. He demanded that insurance companies step in to provide the coverage instead. AP Photo/Susan Walsh President Barack Obama, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, announces the revamp of his contraception policy requiri...

  • Obama announces resignation of chief of staff

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON (AP) — In an abrupt jolt to the White House, President Barack Obama announced Monday that chief of staff William Daley was quitting and heading home to Chicago, capping a short and rocky tenure that had been expected to last until Election Day in November. Obama budget chief Jack Lew will take over the job. Daley's run as Obama's chief manager and gatekeeper lasted for all of one consequential year — filled with notable moments like the killing of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, but also internal gru... Full story

  • Obama announces resignation of chief of staff

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON (AP) — In an abrupt jolt to the White House, President Barack Obama announced Monday that chief of staff William Daley was quitting and heading home to Chicago, capping a short and rocky tenure that had been expected to last until Election Day in November. Obama budget chief Jack Lew will take over the job. Daley's run as Obama's chief manager and gatekeeper lasted for all of one consequential year — filled with notable moments like the killing of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, but also internal gru...

  • Obama's re-election road: Hope and a hard climb

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON — People remember the hope and the history. For him or against him, they picture candidate Barack Obama as the one who stood on stage in a football stadium in Denver and accepted the Democratic presidential nomination by declaring "It's time for us to change America." Forgotten, it seems, is what Obama said when he actually won. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak First Lady Michelle Obama appears at the podium Monday for a camera test as head stage manager David Cove instructs on the stage at the Democratic National Convent...

  • Obama in Afghanistan to sign security pact

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    KABUL, Afghanistan — President Barack Obama slipped into Afghanistan Tuesday night on an unannounced visit on the anniversary of the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Obama is signing an agreement cementing a U.S. commitment to the nation after the long and unpopular war comes to an end. The partnership spells out the US relationship with Afghanistan beyond 2014, covering security, economics and governance. The deal is limited in scope and essentially gives both sides political cover: Afghanistan gets its s... Full story

  • Obama in Afghanistan, sees 'light of a new day''

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — On a swift, secretive trip to the war zone, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday night that after years of sacrifice the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan is winding down just as it has already ended in Iraq. "We can see the light of a new day on the horizon," he said on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak President Barack Obama addresses troops at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Wednesday. "Our goal is to destroy al-Qaida, and we are on a path to do exactly t...

  • Obama to lay out his case on Libya to nation

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    Obama to lay out his case on Libya to nation BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is striving to explain why the U.S. is at war again — on a third front — as he resolutely defends the military campaign in Libya. His message in a speech to the nation at 5:30 p.m. MDT Mondayt: U.S. involvement this time is shrinking and isn't a precedent for further action as violence flows across the Middle East. Obama's address was unlikely to specify how long the conflict might last or what the cost...

  • Obama strongly defends US military action in Libya

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    President Barack Obama speaks about Libya at the National Defense University in Washington, Monday, AP Photo/Charles Dharapak Obama strongly defends US military action in Libya BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Defending the first war launched on his watch, President Barack Obama declared Monday night the United States intervened in Libya to prevent a slaughter of civilians that would have stained the world's conscience and "been a betrayal of who we are." Yet he ruled out targeting Libyan leader M...

  • Gadhafi death another victory for Obama doctrine

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON — The death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi expands the growing string of security victories on President Barack Obama's watch and reinforces his own style of dealing with enemies without immersing the United States in war. Even skeptics offered congratulations. For Obama, the outcome allowed him to stand victorious in the Rose Garden on Thursday, taking note also of the death this year of prominent al-Qaida leaders at the hands of the United States. AP Photo/Susan Walsh Pesident Barack Obama speaks in the Rose G...

  • Face to face, Netanyahu rejects Obama on borders

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blunt display of differences, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of using his country's 1967 boundaries as the basis for a neighboring Palestinian state on Friday, declaring his objections face-to-face to President Barack Obama who had raised the idea just 24 hours earlier in an effort to revive stalled Mideast peace talks. Though the two leaders, meeting in the Oval Office, found cordial and predictable agreement on the other central element that Obama outlined in his M... Full story

  • Obama tours Rio, lifts Brazil as a model for peace

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    Obama tours Rio, lifts Brazil as a model for peace BEN FELLER AP White House Correspondent RIO DE JANEIRO — Immersing himself in Brazil's poverty and pride, President Barack Obama on Sunday held up the South American nation as a model of democratic change in a time of uprisings and crackdowns across the Arab world and yet another war front for the United States. From Rio's glamorous beaches to a notorious slum to an elegant theater, Obama glimpsed the city's cultural extremes and offered the kind of personal engagement t... Full story

  • Obama tells Israel: Go back to 1967 borders

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON — Forcefully stepping into an explosive Middle East debate, President Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed a key Palestinian demand for the borders of its future state and prodded Israel to accept that it can never have a truly peaceful nation based on "permanent occupation." Obama's urging that a Palestinian state be based on 1967 borders — before the Six Day War in which Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza — was a significant shift in the U.S. approach and seemed certain to anger Israel. AP Photo... Full story

  • Obama to lay out new jobs plan in Sept. speech

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON — Seeking to jolt the economy, President Barack Obama will propose new ideas to create jobs and help the struggling poor and middle class in a major speech after Labor Day. And then he will try to seize political advantage by spending the fall pressuring Congress to act on his plan. Obama's plan is likely to contain a mix of tax cuts, jobs-boosting construction projects and steps to help the long-term unemployed, a senior administration official told The Associated Press. The official emphasized that Obama's p...

  • Obama asks deeper payroll tax cut to spur economy

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON — Confronting an economy in peril, President Barack Obama on Thursday night unveiled a $450 billion plan to boost jobs and put cash in the pockets of dispirited Americans, challenging Republican skeptics to embrace an approach heavy on the tax cuts they traditionally love. With millions of voters watching and ever skeptical of Washington, Obama told Congress, "Let's meet the moment." AP Photo/Charles Dharapak President Barack Obama delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, T...

  • Obama asks $450B to lift economy, mostly tax cuts

    BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

    WASHINGTON — Confronting an economy in peril, President Barack Obama unveiled a larger-than-expected $450 billion plan Thursday night to boost jobs and put cash in the pockets of dispirited Americans, urging Republican skeptics to embrace an approach heavy on the tax cuts they traditionally love. With millions of voters watching and skeptical of Washington, Obama repeatedly challenged Congress to act swiftly. The newest and boldest element of Obama's plan would slash the Social Security payroll tax both for tens of m...