President Obama's First Address to a Joint Session of Congres

On February 24th, 2009, President Obama spoke to a Joint Session of Congress for the first time. He called for a new era of responsibility and vital investments in energy, health care, and education.

Gov. Bobby Jindal's Response to President Obama's Address

Where are they now?

While many Americans are finding themselves looking for new jobs, maybe even new careers, there are some high-profile folks who are having to adjust to unemployment in the public eye. As Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton start to settle in to their gigs, what's going on with the people they replaced?

George W. Bush
"I'm looking for a job," George W. Bush told surprised employees and staff at Dallas' Elliott's Hardware. In a brilliant PR move, the store wrote an open letter to Bush that appeared in local papers, jokingly informing the former leader of the free world that they had an opening as a store greeter. Bush, known for his sense of humor, responded happily with patronage (and, of course, the entourage and press that comes with it).

Flashlights and batteries were on the shopping list that day, the former president told one employee, as he and wife Laura were just moving into their 8,500-square-foot Preston Hollow home — with neighbors like Mark Cuban and T. Boone Pickens. The former president was "nicer than any person you'd ever want to know," one employee told a local TV station.

But Bush certainly has more on his mind than duct tape and paint chips. Don Evans, who served as his commerce secretary, told the Dallas Morning News:

"They're adjusting quickly to this new life, to being out of the White House, and out of the proverbial bubble. ... He's got two or three really important priorities on his mind. One, he has to earn a living ... so he'll be on the speaking tour. He's into writing his book. Thirdly is the importance of building the presidential center, particularly the [policy] institute" at SMU.

Condoleezza Rice
The former secretary of state has certainly done her fair share to stay in the spotlight since leaving her post. She quickly signed on with the William Morris talent agency and made her rounds in a number of exit interviews. A loyal aide to the end, Rice vehemently defended President Bush and the administration. While on "The View," the media-savvy Rice went straight from a question about her love for TIVO'ing "American Idol" to regretting how the Iraq war was based on never-found weapons of mass destruction. She has truly been covering all the bases.

But Rice apparently has more — much more — to say. She just inked a three-book deal with Crown Publishers, which is reported to be worth at least $2.5 million. The first book will be a memoir about her years working in the Bush Administration, the second will be a memoir about her family, and the third will be a young-adult version of the family memoir. While the memoir about her time as secretary of state might sound like the meatier of the two, her own history is far from dull. As AP reports:

She is also seen as having an interesting personal story, rising from a segregated community in Birmingham, Ala., to become provost of Stanford University and eventually the first black woman to be secretary of state.

Dick Cheney
Post-White House life has been anything but quiet for the notoriously tight-lipped former vice president. Dick Cheney wasted no time in knocking the actions of the new White House residents. Blasting the Obama administration's intention to close Guantanamo, Cheney recently told Politico there was a "high probability" that terrorists would attempt a major attack in coming years.

Protecting the country's security is "a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business," he said. "These are evil people. And we're not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek."

David Axelrod, a senior advisor to President Obama, responded just as quickly to Cheney's statements, telling "Meet the Press":

"President Bush could not have been more generous in the transition.... When he left he said, 'I'm rooting for you guys. I hope you do well.' I believe that. Apparently the memo didn't go down the line."

But just as reports of a fly-fishing controversy and battle with former boss Bush over the pardoning (or lack-thereof) of "Scooter" Libby surfaced, Cheney also said he was looking on the bright side for the Grand Old Party. He explained, "I'm not nearly as pessimistic about the party as some of my friends," and said the Republican Party had plenty of up-and-coming leaders to look forward to:

So the pendulum will swing back. It's part of a normal cycle that's probably basically healthy for the country, long term. ... In adversity, there is opportunity.

Karl Rove
Karl Rove may have left the Bush administration in 2007, but "the architect" has found more than a few ways to stay relevant and in the public eye. At the news conference announcing his departure, Rove said, "Mr. President, I'm grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve our nation. I'm grateful to have been a witness to history." But he's made his own fair share of history since then. During last year's marathon presidential election, Rove was an oft-quoted political analyst for Fox News and election writer for Newsweek. And his Wall Street Journal editorials never failed to ruffle a few feathers.

He's even embracing the Internet age — so much so that Politico named him one of Washington D.C.'s 10 most influential Twitterers. He entertains his thousands of followers with personal musings and political persuasions:

This more transparent, funny side of Rove has taken many Bush bashers by surprise, prompting Daily Beast contributor Rachel Sklar to ask: “Can one of the most divisive men in America actually change his image — 140 characters at a time?" Commenters scoffed. But as the GOP settles into life as an opposition party, Rove’s quick and dirty dispatches could prove useful to Republicans looking for a way back.



**Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.

Obama to address Congress, nation on economy

WASHINGTON – Barreling ahead on a mammoth agenda, Barack Obama is ready to offer a detailed sketch of the first year of his presidency, casting the nation's bleeding economy as a tangle of tough, neglected problems.

In a prime-time speech to Congress and millions watching at home, Obama will make his case Tuesday that much more has to be done to turn around the economy — a message he knows he must explain.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama will provide more details about his financial stability plan and measures to help the economy while delivering "a sober assessment about where we are and the challenges we face."

"He'll say we're on the right path to meeting these challenges, and there are better days ahead," Gibbs said.

Obama approaches this moment riding a strong, upbeat sentiment among the public. Overall, 68 percent of people approve of his job performance, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. A New York Times/CBS News polls finds that more than three-quarters of those surveyed were optimistic about the next four years with Obama in charge, and similar majorities said they were confident in his ability to make the right decisions about the economy.

Still, the president faces steep challenges. The nation is nearly dizzy keeping up with what's emerged from Washington during Obama's first weeks as president, from a staggering $787 billion stimulus plan to a revamped bailout for the financial sector to a rescue plan for struggling homeowners.

And investors are dour. Wall Street took another pounding Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling to its lowest close since 1997.

Although Obama is too new in office to be delivering a State of the Union address, his speech will have all the same trappings. It comes two days before he delivers a budget blueprint to Congress. Unlike that detail-driven document, his address will be broad, spelling out what he wants and how he will do it.

The economy, in its worst tailspin in decades, will dominate. Obama will touch on foreign policy, but that will largely be left for other upcoming speeches. This will not be a rollout of one policy initiative after another.

Obama will make clear that the trillion-dollar-plus deficit is one he "inherited." In other words, he wants to remind people that President George W. Bush and the previous Congress left him a big hole, forcing him to pursue the costly stimulus package.

The president will push for movement on ensuring health coverage for all Americans. He will seek to expand educational opportunities, and diversify the country's energy sources, and contain sacred entitlements like Social Security, and halve the soaring budget deficit in four years.

His rhetorical mission is to show not only how all those pieces connect to the health of the economy, but why they must be pursued simultaneously.

Gunning for so much at once is complicated, both in terms of the issues themselves and the politics. Senior presidential adviser David Axelrod acknowledged Monday there is a risk in taking on too much.

"I think the bigger concern," he said, "is to not be aggressive at a time when a tepid approach could really consign us to a long-term economic catastrophe. We believe the times demand vigor and aggressive action, and so we're having to do a lot of things at once."

Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Obama's speech amounts to a coming-out party.

"You never know what a salesman's going to sell you until he shows up at your door," Issa said of his expectations. "If he gives us a narrow set of priorities that can be executed, and they don't just involve more spending, then I think it will be refreshing. If he gives us a long laundry list, which most presidents do, then although it will set the agenda ... it won't be as meaningful."

In many ways, though, Obama will be speaking directly to the American people. Daily followers of Obama's rhetoric are not likely to be surprised by Obama's words, some of which will be repeats. He is trying to reach millions of people who don't get to hear him every day.

So Obama will say that the crises facing the nation are so large they can only be solved in bipartisan ways. He will be blunt about the country's woes but try to balance that talk with optimism. He will talk about his travels as president so he can focus on the stories of communities outside Washington.

Asked in an MSNBC interview how the president plans to make good on his pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, Gibbs said, "The biggest thing we're going to do is cut the amount of money we spend each year in Iraq."

He said Obama also planned to talk about necessary investments and about taxes.

"I think the president believes very clearly that we have to be honest about where we are," Gibbs said. "Tonight, he will tell the country that we've faced greater challenges than we face now and we've always met those challenges."

There is sure to be ceremony as Obama arrives in the well of the House. His speech is tentatively at 45 minutes, accounting for applause time.

NY Post apologizes for chimpanzee cartoon

Corp. headquarters in New York February 19, 2009. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

* New York Post cartoon stirs controversy Slideshow:New York Post cartoon stirs controversy
* Bottom Line on Obama Address Play Video Barack Obama Video:Bottom Line on Obama Address ABC News
* Governors Plan For Stimulus Money Play Video Barack Obama Video:Governors Plan For Stimulus Money CBS4 Miami

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Post apologized on Thursday to those offended by an editorial cartoon that critics said was racist because it likened President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee.

The newspaper acknowledged that the cartoon published on Wednesday had drawn controversy because African-Americans and others saw it as a depiction of Obama.

"This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize," the paper said in an editorial on its website headlined "That Cartoon."

"It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill. Period," the paper said.

The cartoon of a policeman shooting an ape played on the real shooting of a pet chimpanzee in Connecticut this week. A police officer in the cartoon says, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

The cartoon ran a day after Obama signed into law the $787 billion economic stimulus that he had strongly promoted. Critics interpreted the cartoon's dead chimp as a reference to Obama, who became the first black president of the United States on January 20.

Demonstrators led by civil rights activist Al Sharpton chanted "End racism now!" outside the skyscraper headquarters of the newspaper's parent company in midtown Manhattan on Thursday. They called for the jailing of Rupert Murdoch, whose international media conglomerate News Corp owns the Post.

The newspaper initially defended the cartoon as a parody of Washington politics, but Sharpton said it exploited a potent image in the history of racism toward blacks.

"I guess they thought we were chimpanzees," Sharpton said. "They will find out we are lions."

Sharpton said in a statement on Thursday night that groups protesting the cartoon would go ahead with a previously scheduled rally outside the Post on Friday afternoon and decide on a response to the Post editorial.

He added that "though we think it is the right thing for them to apologize to those they offended, they seem to want to blame the offense on those of whom raised the issue, rather than take responsibility for what they did."

The Post said it was not apologizing to all of its critics.

"There are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past -- and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback. To them, no apology is due," the editorial said.

"Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon -- even as the opportunists seek to make it something else," it said.

Critics said the racist message was clear.

"You would have to be in a time warp or in a whole other world not to know what that means," said demonstrator Charles Ashley, 25, a model who did not believe the cartoon was an innocent political joke.

Others said it made light of assassinating Obama, a possibility they said that worries many Americans.

"Just the fact that they put a monkey with gunshot wounds in his chest, it gives the idea of an assassination," said Peter Aviles, 48, a building superintendent.

Police in Stamford, Connecticut, shot and killed a 200-pound (90-kg) chimpanzee on Monday after the pet nearly killed its owner's friend and attacked a police car. The chimp, named Travis, had once starred in television commercials and was taking medication for Lyme disease.

(Additional reporting by JoAnne Allen in Washington; Editing by Anthony Boadle)

Republican governors split over Obama stimulus

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Republicans governors were split on Sunday over whether to accept all of the money their states stand to receive from a $787 billion economic stimulus plan which President Barack Obama signed last week.

Three governors of southern states have come out against taking part of the money designated to extend unemployment benefits and perhaps for other programs. A handful of others are considering follow suit.

With the global economy in crisis and unemployment at record levels, Obama made a top priority for his first month in office the package of tax cuts and spending for infrastructure projects and social services including unemployment aid. Only three Republicans in Congress backed its passage, charging Obama and his Democratic party had loaded it up with unnecessary spending and failed to cut taxes enough.

"There is some (stimulus money) we will not take in Mississippi. If we were to take the unemployment insurance reform package that they have, it would cause us to raise taxes on employment when the money runs out, and the money will run out in a couple of years," said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on CNN's "State of the Union."

"Then we'll have to raise the unemployment insurance tax, which is literally a tax on employment. I mean, we want more jobs. You don't get more jobs by putting an extra tax on creating jobs," Barbour said.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, who has often been mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, have also said they would reject the unemployment funds, which make up a small proportion of the overall package.

Sanford, on "Fox News Sunday" said some of the stimulus money came with strings attached.

"What we would be required to do would be, for the first time, increase the level of benefit for part-time workers. Right now, it's full-time workers -- increase it to part-time workers," he said.

"We can't pay for the benefits already in the program, but to get the stimulus money, we've got to increase the program's size and scale."

Later, speaking to reporters at a National Governors' Association meeting in Washington, Sanford listed some other monies he did not want, possibly including $42 million for retrofitting state buildings to be more energy efficient.

"We're looking at other things from a scale standpoint that are frankly irrelevant," he said.

CALIFORNIA HAPPY FOR MONEY

But California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also a Republican, said on ABC's "This Week" he would gladly take all the money.

"Governor Sanford says that he does not want to take the federal stimulus package money. And I want to say to him: I'll take it. I'm more than happy to take his money or any other governor in this country that doesn't want to take this money, I take it, because we in California need it," he said.

Republican Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, seen as a prominent conservative voice and possible future presidential candidate, said he would take the money even though he did not agree with the philosophy behind the package.

"We are a major net subsidizer of the federal government ... For every dollar we send in, we only get 72 cents back. So we're paying the bill either way. We're going to take our share of the money," he said on Fox.

Pawlenty said Minnesota already covered part-time workers who lose their jobs so taking the money would not entail changing the program.

The economic recovery bill provides increases in federal backing for states' social services, infrastructure and education funding.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, editing by Jackie Frank)