Josh Lederman Posts

Vice President Joe Biden is slated to be the key speaker at the upcoming Netroots Nation Convention in Chicago next week. The group is a collection of liberal activists and young go-getters, and the speech is widely viewed as Biden dipping his feet into the presidential waters.

President Obama has directed the Labor Department to ensure the Family Medical and Leave Act explicitly applies to same-sex couples, as well as everyone else. Now spouses in same-sex marriages can take unpaid medical leave to take care of their loved ones, without fear of reprisal, even in red states.

President Barack Obama is looking to create the largest marine preserve in the world by protecting a massive stretch of the Pacific Ocean from drilling, fishing and other actions that could threaten wildlife, the White House said. Aiming to protect marine wildlife, Obama will also direct the government to create a program to deter illegal fishing. The executive steps come as Obama is searching for ways to leave his second-term mark on the environment despite opposition from many Republicans in Congress.

President Obama plans to unveil new carbon pollution limits on existing power plants. These will be the first-ever rules to attack carbon specifically, long blamed for trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and accelerating climate change.

President Obama is set to update and strengthen emissions rules on his own – at least those that he can affect without Congress' help. And help does not look forthcoming. Intense partisanship and right wing refusal to believe in the dangers of climate change makes new legislation near impossible.

Issuing an outright warning to Moscow, Vice President Joe Biden declared Wednesday the United States will respond to any aggression against its NATO allies, as Russia's neighbors looked warily to the escalating crisis in nearby Ukraine. Standing side by side with a pair of Baltic leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania, Biden said the U.S. was "absolutely committed" to defending its allies, adding that President Barack Obama plans to seek concrete commitments from NATO members to ensure the alliance can safeguard its collective security.

President Barack Obama can only do so much to help his party in this year's midterm elections. Six years in office have taken a toll on his popularity, and aside from raising money, his value on the campaign trail is limited — especially in the states that worry Democrats the most. But the president can set the tone. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama will frame an economic argument his party hopes will help carry them to victory in November.

For the first month in nearly two decades, the U.S. in October extracted more oil from the ground than it imported from abroad, marking an important milestone for a nation seeking to wean itself off foreign oil.

Obama says he doesn't want to "jump the gun" and speculate about what he would do in that scenario while he and top advisers are busy working to get as much support as possible out of Congress.

Being the leader of the free world is an expensive proposition. And the costs don't stop once you leave the White House.

The government spent nearly $3.7 million on former presidents in 2012, according to an analysis just released by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. That covers a pension, compensation and benefits for office staff, and other costs like travel, office space, and postage.

The costliest former president? George W. Bush, who clocked in last year at just over $1.3 million.

Running through a list of high-profile positions filled by women during his first term — such as Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius — Obama said women comprised 50 percent of his White House staff during his first four years, not to mention the two women he nominated to fill Supreme Court vacancies.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was released from a New York hospital on Wednesday, three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head. Earlier Wednesday, the State Department said Clinton had been speaking by telephone with staff in Washington and reviewing paperwork while in the hospital.