Obama to meet with UK #39;s Prince William at White House
Obama to meet with UK #39;s Prince William at White House http://www.sanalio.com .WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Britain #39;s Prince William will meet with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office...
By: Anmke Pahgas
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Obama to meet with UK's Prince William at White House - Video
President Barack Obama praised Jordans King Abdullah II as a rock-solid partner and pledged more aid to help the critical U.S. ally deal with refugees from nearby wars.
The two leaders met at the White House today under the shadow of a Middle East that has become even more unstable since the Jordanian leader last met with Obama in the U.S. early this year.
Atop the agenda was countering Islamic State extremists and reaching a political solution for Jordans neighbor Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad was a target of the West even before the emergence of Islamic State.
Obama said he will boost annual aid to Jordan to $1 billion for the next three years from $660 million. The increase is subject to congressional approval. The two leaders also discussed aid for refugees from Iraq and Syria and steps to decrease tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
In the aftermath of Gaza and some of the challenges in Jerusalem, the environment has not been conducive to a long-term peace agreement, Obama said. Both the U.S. and Jordan favor an independent Palestinian state.
I believe the process is moving in the right direction, Abdullah said.
Obama, speaking to reporters after their meeting, said he updated the king on the delayed talks for an agreement to curb Irans nuclear capabilities.
We would prefer no deal to a bad deal, Obama said, saying the U.S. still hopes for an agreement despite the missed Nov. 24 deadline for one. We will keep on trying over the next several months.
Abdullah, who flew to Washington on Dec. 1, has been in the U.S. capital all week meeting with lawmakers and now Obama to plead his case for more military and development assistance for his country, which has been dealing with an influx of more than half a million Syrian refugees.
Todays meeting continues the frequent face-to-face and telephone conversations between Obama and Abdullah, who has been king of Jordan since 1999.
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Obama Meets Abdullah as Answers to Mideast Turmoil Stay Elusive
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
But how does that compare to other presidents?
Critics of the Obama administration say the economic recovery has taken too long and that the unemployment rate still hasn't fallen back to pre-recession levels. They argue the true unemployment rate is even higher than 5.8% because so many workers hadn't dropped out of the labor force altogether in the last six years.
Obama's supporters see it differently. They point out the president took office during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and has managed to turn things around and get growth back on track.
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President Ronald Reagan was no stranger to recessions, either. The economy was just emerging from one when Reagan took office, and it quickly fell into a second recession early in his tenure.
Double-digit inflation was the major problem at that time, something the Federal Reserve beat back by having interest rates in the teens. Once inflation was defeated and interest rates returned to normal, the economy took off. That rate of growth hasn't been matched since.
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There are many reasons the economy is different now -- everything from technological change to greater global competition, and it could be awhile before the U.S. hits that Reagan level of growth again, if ever.
The recent president with the best economic record was Bill Clinton, who oversaw the addition of nearly 23 million jobs during his eight years in office. His reforms of tax and spending policies, which eliminated annual budget deficits, deserve some of the credit. But so do huge improvement in productivity that came from the widespread adoption of personal computers and the Internet during that time.
President Obama officially announced Ash Carter to be his nominee for Secretary of Defense Friday.
Carter served in the number two job at the Pentagon as deputy defense secretary between 2011 and 2013. He had been a top official at DOD during the first five years of Obama's presidency.
"I relied on his expertise and I relied on his judgement," Obama said at the announcement at the White House.
Carter was unanimously confirmed by the Senate then and has broad support among top defense-minded Republicans on Capitol Hill. If the Senate approves him for the job, Carter will be the fourth official to run the Pentagon during the Obama administration.
Obama made it clear that one of the most critical issues Carter will tackle will be managing the defense budget.
"We are going to have to squeeze everything we have out of the resources we have in order to be as effective as possible," Obama said.
In his new role, Carter will not only have to deal with geopolitical threats and a tight defense budget, he will have to repair damaged political relationships between top leaders at the Pentagon and the White House, as well as corrall congressional leaders on Capitol Hill.
Carter said he took the job because of the "seriousness of the strategic threats" the U.S. faces, but also because of the "of the deep respect and abiding love" he had for the men and women in uniform.
While the White House has been criticized for micromanaging the Pentagon, Carter said he had no intention of holding back his opinions on the job.
"If confirmed in this job I pledge to you, my most candid, strategic advice," Carter said.
The nomination of policy wonk Ashton Carter to lead the Defense Department marks the most significant change to President Barack Obama's beleaguered national security team in nearly two years. But there is little indication the shake-up portends a broader shift in administration policy ? nor is it clear that Carter can break into the president's tight inner circle.
Obama announced Carter's nomination at the White House Friday, praising the Pentagon veteran as an innovator and reformer who can quickly step back into an administration grappling with security challenges in the Mideast, Eastern Europe and elsewhere.
"When we talked about this job, we talked about how we're going to have to make smart choices precisely because there are so many challenges out there," Obama said.
The nomination of Carter, a physicist who has served two Democratic presidents at the Pentagon, was welcomed by some Republicans as well as Democrats, and he is expected to be easily confirmed by the new GOP-controlled Senate. Still, Republicans are eager to use his hearings as a new chance to challenge Obama.
"Ashton Carter has the knowledge and capability to serve as secretary of defense during these difficult times," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "I expect he will face tough questions at his confirmation hearing about President Obama's failing national security policy, but I expect he will be confirmed."
Carter would replace Chuck Hagel, who resigned last week under pressure from Obama. Hagel had been scheduled to attend Carter's nomination ceremony, but abruptly backed out Friday morning. The Pentagon said the two men did speak by phone.
Administration officials say Obama decided to make a change at the Pentagon after determining that Hagel, the Republican former Nebraska senator, wasn't up to the job of managing a burgeoning military campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The military is also increasing its presence in Eastern Europe, aimed at deterring Russian aggression, all while grappling with deep budget cuts.
Carter, who has held numerous high-level jobs at the Pentagon under Obama and in the Clinton administration, ended his most recent tenure at the department in late 2013, before the Islamic State became a top U.S. priority and before Russian President Vladimir Putin began maneuvering in Ukraine. Carter offered no insight Friday into how he viewed the current U.S. response to those efforts.
"The world has changed since he departed," said Julianne Smith, a former White House national security official who worked closely with Carter during Obama's first term. She said he appears to share Obama's preference for taking military action alongside international partners, as in the current campaign against the Islamic State.
"He is not someone I get the sense who would want to see the U.S. pursue something unilateral unless direct U.S. interests were at stake," added Smith, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
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Obama Shakes up Pentagon Leadership, Not Policy