Hours after they called Obama's plan to shift the onus of providing contraception to insurance companies rather than religious-affiliated organizations a "first step in the right direction," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement dismissing the compromise. The takeaway: Barry can't just transubstantiate his way out of this one. more ›

President Obama held a press conference to discuss the compromise over the mandate to offer free birth control through religious organizations' insurance plans, which sparked the ire of Catholic leaders. Obama said, "After many genuine concerns were raised over the last few weeks — and the more cynical desire to make this into political football — it became clear that spending months hammering out a solution was not an option; we had to move this faster...I’ve been confident from the start we could work out a sensible approach here. Some folks in Washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it shouldn’t be. I never saw it that way. It’s people with goodwill on both sides of the debate sorting through a complicated issue to find a solution that works for everyone. Today’s announcement has done that." Also, he reminded everyone he's a "citizen and a Christian." more ›

Now that the economy is like totally fixed, it's back to the culture war! Yesterday, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he felt betrayed by President Obama's decision to require religious organizations to offer woman birth control without charging them through their insurance. Now the White House is prepared to announce some sort of "accommodation." more ›

In today's Presidential capitulation triangulation news bulletin, the Obama administration has signaled that it will rethink a law that would require insurance plans offered by Catholic universities and charities to provide women with birth control without charging them. “We’re going to look for a way to move forward that both provides women with the preventative care that they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions," David Axelrod told MSNBC yesterday. "To turn it into a kind of political football to take advantage—to try and capitalize that isn't going to make it easier to resolve that issue," Obama For America's football coach said without a hint of irony. more ›

Last night President Obama announced that he will join his Republican counterparts in suckling from the opaque, monied teat of super PACs. "Our campaign has to face the reality of the law as it currently stands," Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina wrote in an email to supporters. "We're not going to fight this fight with one hand tied behind our back," Messina added later. "Democrats can't be unilaterally disarmed." Mutually assured destruction has been achieved. more ›

In an interview with Diane Sawyer, President Obama discussed the dramatic rescue of two aid workers who had been held by Somali pirates since October. Obama said of his call with the father of American hostage Jessica Buchanan, "I cannot imagine what he went through - given Malia and Sasha - and for him to be able to stay strong and then for our incredible men and women in uniform to do what they do, it makes you proud about this country." more ›

A team of Navy Seals rescued two aid workers who had been held hostage by Somali pirates since October 25 last year. more ›

President Obama's third State of the Union address focused on economic fairness for Americans, with the president declaring, "It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts." more ›

What does Newt Gingrich's 12% win over Mitt Romney in South Carolina mean? Even if Gingrich doesn't have Romney's war chest and organization for Florida's primary on the 31st, his momentum is snowballing in the state's print media, and this morning Romney admitted he made a mistake in declining to release his tax returns, and said he will make them available on Tuesday. “We made a mistake in holding off as long as we did,” the candidate told FOX News, noting that he pays a "substantial" amount of taxes. Still Gingrich can point out that in terms of percentage, he pays double what a member of the 0.01% does. more ›

Beating out a forlorn Frutopia machine in an Idaho parking lot and an abandoned lemonade stand in Florida, an all-nude strip club in Sayreville, New Jersey that only sells non-alcoholic beverages is officially the World's Saddest Juice Vendor. Club 35, which doesn't sell booze so its dancers can remain completely nude, recently lost a NIMBY court decision that would shut it down. Their lawyer vows to appeal, and the Daily News gets the money quote on the spot's possible closing from "a man in a mechanic's uniform." "I work so many hours it's hard to meet people. Without this I would be lonely." more ›

Last night, President Obama held a big reelection fundraiser at the Apollo Theater. While there were protesters (more about that later), Obama charmed the crowd and hit a chord when he sang a little of the Rev. Al Green's "Let's Stay Together": more ›

While his first re-election TV commercials start airing in key states today, President Obama will be heading to New York City today to raise a little cash. Among the stops are Spike Lee's Upper East Side townhouse (someone is really excited!) and the Apollo Theater. Which means'll be wreaking traffic havoc on the Upper East Side (lots of street closures) and Harlem (as well as the Triborough Bridge and FDR Drive)—here's his agenda: more ›

Days after the Koch brothers'-funded PAC released an ad critical of President Obama and Solyndra, Obama's re-election campaign has released its first TV ad to fight back. more ›

In a blow to the forces who would keep you from illegally watching The Scorpion King 3 this frigid weekend, the Obama administration has signaled that they will not throw their weight behind the cheerfully abbreviated anti-piracy legislation known as SOPA. more ›

President Obama's chief of staff, Bill Daley, announced that he would resign his post at the end of the month. Sources in the White House tell the AP that Daley's letter of resignation, which he submitted last week, took president Obama by surprise. "I have been honored to be in your Muppet Movie a small part of your administration," Daley's letter read. In a brief press conference today, the president said, "There's no question I will deeply miss having Bill by my side at the White House, " and stated that OMB director Jack Lew will take the reins. more ›

Exactly one year ago today, Jared Lee Loughner allegedly opened fire on a crowd meeting Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson Safeway, killing six people and wounding 14 others, including Rep. Giffords. To remember those who were lost, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has released a video of several survivors describing what happened that day, and why they support the stepped-up enforcement and reform of current gun laws. more ›

The last U.S. soldiers left Iraq ten days ago, as the nine-year, $800 billion-dollar war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives ended quietly. Days later, the country's fragile government threatened to collapse and bombs allegedly detonated by an al-Qaeda affiliated organization killed at least 65 people in Baghdad. Considering the elusiveness of "victory" in the war, the country's enduring turmoil, and the current war in Afghanistan, should there be a parade for the veterans of the Iraq War? more ›

[Aaaand the Republican faction caved. Update below.] President Obama and George Bush's mastermind Karl Rove are in agreement that the House Republicans are out of their freaking minds for blocking an extension to the payroll tax cuts enacted last year. Although 89 Senators voted in favor of the two-month extension, which affects about 160 million Americans, House Speaker John Boehner is going along with the hard-right fiscal Conservative monsters spawned by the Tea Party and refusing to call it to a vote. And thus, strange bedfellows have come together to try and shame the Republicans into passing the extension. more ›

Before he met up with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Mayor Bloomberg made it clear he did not agree with her decision to overrule the FDA and keep emergency contraceptive Plan B restricted to those over 17 years of age. He told reporters today, "It would be much better if these young girls didn’t get pregnant, but once that happens I think this should be available." more ›

After Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA's decision to make emergency contraceptive Plan B available to everyone (and lift the requirement for those under 17 to show a prescription) on Wednesday, President Obama had to defend the move. While insisting he didn't make Sebelius block it, he said, "The reason Kathleen made this decision is that she could not be confident that a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old going to a drugstore should be able — alongside bubble gum or batteries — be able to buy a medication that potentially, if not used properly, could have an adverse effect." more ›

In a "remember me, three years ago?" speech in Kansas yesterday, President Obama told the crowd, "This country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share and when everyone plays by the same rules." A new report [pdf] from the non-profit organization Public Campaign shows that 30 of the country's largest corporations—including GE, Wells Fargo, Verizon, and Fed Ex—paid more to lobby Congress from 2008 through 2010 than they did in federal income taxes. What country was the president referring to? more ›

Around 8 p.m. last night some 100 demonstrators marched from Bryant Park to the Sheraton Hotel in midtown, where President Obama was giving a speech at a $1,000-a-head fundraiser. The march, which contributed to an already congested traffic situation because of the presidential visit (and the Rockefeller Center tree lighting!), was peaceful, but after the protesters arrived near the hotel, they were suddenly penned in by police, told they were in a "frozen zone" and not permitted to leave until after the president departed. more ›

Because our commander-in-chief is a Godless heathen who hates Christmas almost as much as he hates the free market, President Obama coordinated tonight's three-stop campaign visit with the Rockefeller Center tree lighting to cause maximum anguish to New Yorkers. According to "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz, this means the "FDR Drive, West Midtown, UES, [East] Village all subject to freezes" between 5-11 p.m. this evening. This excludes the "freezing" of 6-year-old Samantha Jenkins' heart when the President will tell her "Santa isn't real," before slipping an illustrated copy of Das Kapital in her Dora the Explorer backpack. more ›

In case you stepped away from Fox News for a few moments over the Thanksgiving holiday, you may have missed the network's outraged condemnation of President Obama for not mentioning God in his YouTube Thanksgiving address. Ever ready to feed conservative America's insatiable hunger for vapid manufactured controversy, Fox derided the president's secular liberal godlessness with their special blend of sanctimony and contempt. And last night, the circle was completed at last when The Daily Show weighed in on this "Much Ado About Stuffing": more ›

President Obama's NYC visits mean traffic hell, as do Justin Bieber's. But what happens when the Commander in Chief and the super popular teen singer come to the Big Apple on the same day during the holiday season? It is making drivers freak out. more ›

Approximately 1,000 Occupy Wall Street protesters marched to Foley Square at around 3 p.m. this afternoon to protest the Obama administration's role in a settlement that would indemnify banks who were directly involved with creating the mortgage crisis. Though the NYPD could not confirm the number of arrests, a DCPI officer noted that "they would be in the family of 20 or so," more than the four that the movement claims were arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court building. Eyewitnesses wrote that the NYPD began arresting protesters after they blocked pedestrian traffic in front of the courthouse, and one claims that video will surface of a NYPD officer punching a protester in the face. more ›

Mayor of 9/11 Town Rudy Giuliani broke his legendary silence on Occupy Wall Street this week at the Defending the American Dream Summit. And he struck just the right Giuliani-esque tone: a mixture of condescension toward the protesters ("How about you occupy a job.") and damnation of President Obama, who he claims is responsible for the whole movement. Watch below: more ›