Jul 5, 7:11 AM (ET) rogress on their Plan to Make the World’s Best Vehicles.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration “misread how bad the economy was” but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up.

Biden, in an interview airing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” said the nation’s 9.5 percent unemployment rate is “much too high.”

“The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there,” Biden said.

“We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package,” Biden added. More jobs will be created in coming months, he said.

Apr 16, 7:34 PM (ET) By EILEEN SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON (AP) – Civil liberties officials at the Homeland Security Department did not agree with some of the language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway.

The intelligence assessment issued to law enforcement last week said some military veterans could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or commit lone acts of violence. That prompted angry reactions from some lawmakers and veterans’ groups.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the report was issued before officials resolved problems raised by the agency’s civil rights division. Kudwa would not specify what language raised the concerns.

Mar 17, 3:18 PM (ET) By LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional Democrats vowed Tuesday to all but strip AIG executives of their $165 million in bonuses as expressions of outrage swelled in Congress over eye-catching extra income for employees of a firm that has received billions in taxpayer bailout funds.

“Recipients of these bonuses will not be able to keep all of their money,” declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an unusually strong threat delivered on the Senate floor.

“If you don’t return it on your own, we will do it for you,” said Chuck Schumer of New York.

The bonuses were paid under legal contracts, part of a program that had been disclosed in advance filings that American International Group Inc. (AIG) made with the government.

Mar 3, 9:23 PM (ET) By DAVID ESPO

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate voted overwhelmingly to preserve thousands of earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill on Tuesday, brushing aside Sen. John McCain’s claim that President Barack Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship.

McCain’s attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator’s proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and kept spending at last year’s levels in several federal agencies.

Last year’s Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama pledged during the campaign to “stop business as usual in Washington,” and he quoted the president as having said he would go line by line to make sure money was spent wisely.

Mar 2, 9:53 PM (ET) By DEVLIN BARRETT and MATT APUZZO

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration threw open the curtain on years of Bush-era secrets Monday, revealing anti-terror memos that claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers and divulging that the CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects.

The Justice Department released nine legal opinions showing that, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply during the coming fight. Within two weeks, government lawyers were already discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants.

The Bush administration eventually abandoned many of the legal conclusions, but the documents themselves had been closely held. By releasing them, President Barack Obama continued a house-cleaning of the previous administration’s most contentious policies.

Feb 1, By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican and Democratic senators on Sunday questioned how former Sen. Tom Daschle could make a $128,203 mistake on his taxes but said they were not prepared to oppose his nomination as health secretary.

“You have to be troubled by it,” said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

“We’ll have to question former Sen. Daschle and understand his explanation, and then have a conversation about it and see where it goes,” Kyl said on “Fox News Sunday.” As to how much trouble the tax issue could present for the nomination, he said, “I think it’s too early to tell.”

Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2009/01/21

Barack Obama is begining his first full day as US president, in the midst of an economic crisis and two wars.

Within hours of his inauguration, he requested a halt to military trials at the Guantanamo detention camp. One judge has already suspended a case.

Despite celebrating his inauguration through the night, Mr Obama plans to meet economic and military advisers.

He is expected to discuss plans for an $825bn rescue economic package – as well as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Mr Obama became America’s 44th president – and its first black leader – at noon on 20 January, and attended numerous events to mark the historic occasion as millions of supporters also enjoyed a party atmosphere.

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Writer – 8 mins ago

Illinois U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris talks with the media after arriving at Baltimore/Washington …

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama’s appointed successor declared Tuesday he’s qualified to take a seat in the Senate and said he’ll go to Capitol Hill to do just that.

“I’m presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal,” Roland Burris said in a nationally broadcast interview just hours before the Senate convenes with the start of the 111th Congress.