Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas). Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.
Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.
As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old.
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today's papers Barack The Knife Posted Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009, at 6:03 AM ET The New York Times and Los Angeles Times lead with Barack Obama's first budget and his plan to cut the deficit in half by the end of his term. All of the papers note that the reduction will come primarily from higher taxes on the wealthy and lower spending in Iraq. While the Washington Post fronts the Obama plan, it chooses to lead with the more sensational news of a possible arrest in the eight-year-old murder case of Chandra Levy. The Post has long been infatuated with the Levy case, describing it as "one of the most famous unsolved homicide cases in Washington history." The WP and LAT call the president's first budget "ambitious." Obama hopes to use the plan to make progress on health-care reform and move toward a cap-and-trade system for energy use. But the effort to "cut" (LAT), "slash" (NYT) or merely "trim" (WP) the deficit grabs the headlines. To do this, Obama will let most of George Bush's tax cuts expire in 2011 for those making over $250,000. The Post alone adds a touch of skepticism, noting that some "question the wisdom of announcing a plan to raise taxes in the midst of a recession." On Iraq, Obama had previously expected to save $90 billion a year by withdrawing combat troops. But the NYT says "it is not clear how much any savings would be offset by increased spending in Afghanistan." The full details of the budget won't be released until April. To continue reading, click here. Roger McShane writes for the Economist online.Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate How the Recession Is Crushing American Marriages Is It Obama's Fault the Dow Is Tanking? Fashion Designers Battle Recession With Shoulder Pads | Advertisement  |
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