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AP Political NewsBrief at 3:24 p.m. EDT
(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Obama: Afghan troops decision can waitWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama says he hasn't asked his top commander in Afghanistan to sit on an expected request for U.S. reinforcements in a backsliding war, but he gave no deadline for making a decision about whether to send more Americans into harm's way. Obama said in a series of television interviews broadcast Sunday that he will not allow politics to govern his decision. He left little doubt he is re-evaluating whether the renewed focus on hunting al-Qaida that he announced just months ago has become blurred and whether more forces will do any good.
Obama: Health insurance mandate no tax increaseWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama says requiring people to get health insurance and fining them if they don't would not amount to a backhanded tax increase. "I absolutely reject that notion," the president said. Blanketing most of the Sunday TV news shows, Obama defended his proposed health care overhaul, including a key point of the various health care bills on Capitol Hill: mandating that people get health insurance to share the cost burden fairly among all. Those who failed to get coverage would face financial penalties.
Obama: First family to follow rules on flu vaccineWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama says the first family will follow the rules like every one else on the swine flu vaccine. Obama says he's probably "fairly far down" the pecking order for being vaccinated.
Obama: Missile defense decision not about RussiaWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama sharply dismisses criticism that Russian opposition influenced his decision to scrap a European missile defense system, calling it merely a bonus if the leaders of Russia end up "a little less paranoid" about the U.S. "My task here was not to negotiate with the Russians," Obama told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview for broadcast Sunday. "The Russians don't make determinations about what our defense posture is."
Rep. Rangel: Popular lawmaker with ethics issuesWASHINGTON (AP) _ Rep. Charlie Rangel, the latest congressional titan with ethics problems, is described by a longtime House colleague as the guy who would make sure everyone put on oxygen masks during a flight emergency, but would have to be told to put on his own. If Rep. Gary Ackerman's characterization fits the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, then Rangel's inattention to his ethical conduct has reached epic proportions.
Obama favors investigation into ACORN's activitiesWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama says there should be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp. The two ACORN workers are seen apparently advising the couple to lie about her profession and launder her earnings to get housing aid. The video is only the latest problem for the group, which had nearly $1 million embezzled by its founder's brother and has been accused of voter registration fraud. The House and Senate voted last week to deny federal funds to ACORN.
Obama not yet prepared to declare recession overWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama isn't ready to close the book on the recession. Only last week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the worst recession since the 1930s was probably over.
Obama: Justice OK to conduct interrogation reviewWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama says he has no plans to ask the Justice Department to end its criminal investigation into the harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. Seven former CIA directors have asked the president to do just that. In a letter to Obama on Friday, they warned that the probe could discourage CIA officers from doing the kind of aggressive intelligence work needed to fight terrorism.
Obama says NKorean leader seems `pretty healthy'WASHINGTON (AP) _ The leader of reclusive North Korea is "pretty healthy and in control" of the impoverished communist country. That's the assessment President Barack Obama says he got from Bill Clinton after the former president returned to the U.S. in August with two American journalists who had been detained by the North.
Obama embraces promise to move on immigrationWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama says undocumented workers should not be included in the health care overhaul plan he's trying to push through Congress. He tells Univision's "Al Punto" show that if undocumented immigrants want to buy insurance, that's a matter to be settled with insurance companies. But he does not think they should be able to participate in insurance exchanges set up under the new health care plan.
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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