Campaigning for the White House last year, Barack Obama promised his wife, Michelle, he would take her to a Broadway show when he won. Four months after becoming president, Obama did just that on Saturday. 

The Obamas flew to New York for dinner in Greenwich Village and a Broadway play. 

“I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished,” Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

The Obamas did not travel to New York in the Boeing 747 Jumbo jet used as Air Force One. They flew in a smaller Gulfstream 500 plane to JFK airport, before hopping into Manhattan on the Marine One helicopter.

A casual Obama wore a dark business suit with no tie, Michelle a black cocktail dress dress, her famous arms bared, and black high-heel shoes.

They dined at the Blue Hill restaurant in Washington Square and later saw the play “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” by August Wilson at the Belasco Theater.

Their motorcade’s path to the theater was lined with people waving, shouting greetings and taking photographs.

Photo by REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (The Obamas board a small jet at Andrews Air Force Base)

Though North Korea and the the looming bankruptcy of General Motors are at the top of many minds in Washington, today President Barack Obama turns his public focus to cybersecurity and hurricane preparedness.

At 11 a.m. Obama speaks at an event at the White House about the country’s cyber infrastructure. He may give some explanation of how powerful his new “cyberczar” may be - a question that has concerned the tech industry, which wants to top cybersecurity person to be based in the White House to assure access to the president.

The cybersecurity program is aimed at organizing federal agencies to better share information and ensure better security of government computers and networks. Holes in U.S. cybersecurity defenses have allowed major incidents of identity and intellectual property theft. Sensitive military information has also reportedly been stolen by cyber-spies.

From cyberspace Obama will move back to earth and review preparations for this year’s hurricane season, which is just getting underway.

He will go to FEMA headquarters for a hurricane preparedness meeting and will make a few comments to reporters. Obama is likely mindful that in his first hurricane season as president he needs to avoid a repeat of the mistakes the Bush administration made responding to the deadly Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

And for those watching for news of Susan Boyle on “Britain’s Got Talent” — the final is on Saturday.

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Photo credits:REUTERS/Richard Carson (Houses damaged by Hurrican Katrina in New Orleans in 2005); REUTERS/David Moir (Boyle gestures to onlookers in West Lothian, Scotland last month)

Washington is always full of conspiracy theories –  one of the latest surrounds the decision to close hundreds of Chrysler dealerships following the automaker’s slide into bankruptcy.

Conservatives want to know whether dealerships with Republican ties were targeted by the Obama administration.

Some are seizing on a Reuters article. In it, a lawyer who represents some of the terminated dealers said after a deposition with Chrysler President Jim Press that the automaker did not make the decision.

“It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers,” said lawyer Leonard Bellavia. “It really wasn’t Chrysler’s decision. They are under enormous pressure from the president’s automotive task force.”

But there’s more.
Conservative blogger Doug Ross said he discovered that most of the dealerships to be shuttered had given campaign funds almost exclusively to Republicans and very little to Democrats.

However, as with all conspiracy theories, there is the denial, both from Chrysler and the Obama administration.

Chrysler said in the Reuters article that it made the decisions based on location, customer satisfaction and sales potential. The company also noted that almost half of the targeted dealerships sell other brands of cars and most rely on used vehicle sales for their business.

The White House denied suggestions that the Autos Task Force was involved in deciding which dealerships would be closed and expanded that denial to include production plants.

“The president’s task force on autos did not pick individual dealerships,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said during Thursday’s daily briefing in Washington. “It isn’t involved in picking what plants may or may not be closed.”

Asked if there was any concern about the possibility of politics tainting the decisions, Gibbs issued a broad denial.

“Let me reiterate that we don’t make those decisions,” he said. “Chrysler makes those decisions. So I’m sure you can send Chrysler the address of the blog that you refer to.”

For more Reuters political news, click here.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (A Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership in suburban Washington, D.C.)

With Congress gone this week and President Barack Obama out of town for most of today, Washington turns to its two traditional inside-the-Beltway sporting events: handicapping a Supreme Court nominee’s chances of confirmation, and watching the nerve-wracking finals of the National Spelling Bee.

Sonia Sotomayor, picked by Obama on Tuesday, is already being praised in an ad by liberal groups and vilified as a racist by conservatives, including radio talk jock Rush Limbaugh, whom the White House has tried to style as the de facto head of the Republican Party. Obama himself stumped for his choice on a Western swing yesterday to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The president returns to Washington for a late afternoon meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Vice President Joe Biden was also out West yesterday too, giving a commencement speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy. When wind blew down the teleprompter, Biden told the crowd: “What am I going to tell the president when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?”

U.S. initial jobless claims fell for the second week in a row, but the total number of people who get unemployment insurance benefits hit a new record.

A few blocks from the White House, school children are gathered with their families and fans in a hotel basement for the final rounds of the National Spelling Bee. Formerly a curiosity followed mostly by the students’ parents and friends, this event is now a big media deal. Semifinals are shown on ESPN, with the finals broadcast on ABC this evening. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will be there.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Students from Missouri participate in the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC, May 27, 2009)

With General Motors expected to file for bankruptcy next week, former Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday that he wanted the company to take that step months ago when George W. Bush was still president.

“Some of us at the time wanted GM to go bankrupt, go to Chapter 11,” Cheney said in an interview with CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report”. But Cheney apparently was in the minority with that view at the time.

“The decision was made that, in the final analysis, since our administration was almost over and a brand-new team was about to take over that the president wanted, in effect, not to take a step that wasn’t necessarily going to be followed by his successor, but rather to set up a situation which the new guys could address that issue and make a decision about what the long-term policy was going to be,” he said.

Cheney, who has been in a very public fight with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden over national security policies, took on the Obama administration’s economic policies in the interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow.

Asked whether he agreed with criticism that Obama was pursuing some kind of socialist agenda, Cheney  said he would not use that label but did not like what he was seeing.

“I agree with the criticism without using the labels. I don’t want to get into trying to label President Obama. He’s our president. At this point, he’s the only one we’ve got. He won the election, and he obviously is entitled to pursue those policies that he wants to pursue,” Cheney said.

“What we’ve been seeing, though, and what’s been advocated by the president and what looks to be in store if he’s successful is that we’re seeing a vast expansion, not only the power of the federal government over the private sector but also in terms of spending,” he said.

The former vice president also tried to take back a rebuke of retired General Colin Powell.  Cheney previously said that the former secretary of state in the Bush administration had left the Republican party.

“Well, we’re happy to have General Powell in the Republican Party,” Cheney said.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

- Photo credit: Josh Roberts (Cheney before giving a speech on national security on May 21.)

President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail.

But this time he’s not trying to win himself a job …he is trying to win over support for his Supreme Court nominee,  Sonia Sotomayor.

Even though regular Americans — or the elite Democrats attending fundraisers — don’t get to vote for Supreme Court nominee, they can pressure their senators.

Sounding like he did while stumping for more than a year on the campaign trail, Obama spoke passionately about his choice of Sotomayor — the first Hispanic woman ever nominated to the high court — to Democrats at a fundraiser for Democratice Majority Leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas.

 He also sent around a video message about Sotomayor to supporters, campaign-style.

“This decision affects us all — and so it must involve it all. I’ve recorded a special message to personally introduce Judge Sotomayor and explain why I’m so confident she will make an excellent Justice … The discussions that follow will be among the most important we have as a nation. You can begin the conversation today by watching this special message and then passing it on.”

Obama is using the network that proved so effective for him during the campaign to try to get Senate approval for his first nominee to the court, to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

The president is in Las Vegas for the day before flying to Los Angeles for a fundraiser in the evening. During the day he will talk about the economic stimulus package and highlight areas of progress made in the economy over the past 100 days.

While the Supreme Court nominee got top billing in the newspapers and morning TV shows, investors are still thinking about the future of General Motors.  The largest U.S. automaker is moving closer and closer to a bankruptcy filing that is expected in the next week or so.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jason Reed (Obama speaks at fundraiser in Los Vegas); REUTERS/Christinne Muschi (GM dealership in Montreal)

Declaring “it’s good to be back in Vegas,” President Barack Obama used his political star power on Tuesday to help Senate majority leader Harry Reid fill his campaign war chest against Republican efforts to unseat the veteran lawmaker next year.  
 
“Make sure that Harry Reid continues to be our majority leader. As long as I’m president I want him to be my majority leader,” Obama told a Las Vegas crowd who paid $2,400 per person to attend a reception at Caesars Palace with the president and Reid. 
 
Although Reid’s control over the Senate makes him one of the most powerful men in Washington, a recent poll shows he is not that popular in his home state. 
 
Forty-five percent of Nevada voters said in a survey last week they’d vote to kick Reid out of office and another 17 percent said they could support another candidate.
 
Hours after nominating Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, Obama said he needed Reid’s help with an ambitious agenda that includes reforming the health care system and approving energy legislation to wean the United States off foreign oil.
 
Obama also spoke at a second event for Reid, where singers Sheryl Crow and Bette Midler entertained for ticket-holders who paid between $50 and $250 a seat.
 
Reid aides said they expected the evening to bring in close to $2 million, which the senator and the Nevada Democratic Party will split. Reid hopes to raise $25 million for his race, an amount which could keep many Republican challengers at bay.
 
Obama annoyed local leaders earlier this year when he criticized financial companies for holding lavish retreats in Las Vegas after accepting taxpayer bailout funds. But he glossed over that controversy on Tuesday night.
 
“It’s good to be back in Vegas. I thought I had good room, but now that I’m president they upgraded me,” he said to laughter. “They’ve been stashing away a really nice room. It’s like one of those high roller rooms. And now I have it because I’m president.”

-Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama and Reid hug in Las Vegas)

President Barack Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for the Supreme Court this morning.

Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic named to the court and would increase the number of women currently sitting on the court to two.

A reading of the tea leaves — via the presidential and vice presidential schedules — had increased chatter this morning that President Barack Obama could announce his nominee for the Supreme Court as soon as today.

Both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are in town — at least for the morning — today before heading west on separate trips. Obama leaves the White House at 4 pm for Las Vegas where he will attend a fundraiser for Senate majority leader Harry Reid before going to California until Thursday. Biden is around for a bit before heading to Denver to host the Middle Class Task Force and talk about green economy jobs.

Obama had been considering a short list of mostly women for a seat on the nine-member, male-dominated high court. The pick is unlikely to change the ideological makeup of the court since Obama is expected to pick a liberal like Justice David Souter, who announced his resignation on May 1.

Other candidates believed to be considered included Judge Diane Wood of the appeals court in Chicago, Solicitor General Elena Kagan and  Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has also been mentioned as a possible candidate.

Asked about his Supreme Court choice, Obama said in an interview on C-SPAN over the weekend that he wanted “somebody who has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works.”

Also on the radar screen this week is the looming bankruptcy of General Motors. United Auto Workers’ officials will gather on Tuesday to hear how many more U.S. factory jobs GM will cut as the auto maker enters what could be its last week outside bankrupty.

GM has been struggling to cut costs and reduce debts in order to continue receiving government aid.

For more Reuters political news, click here

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Obama talks in Rose Garden)

President Barack Obama sent a wreath Monday to a memorial for soldiers who fought on the side of slavery during the Civil War, continuing a 90-year-old Memorial Day tradition despite being urged by historians to “break this chain of racism.”
 
The first black U.S. president also started a new tradition by sending a wreath to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington honoring the 200,000 black soldiers who fought for Union forces in America’s bloodiest conflict.
 
“We ask you to break this chain of racism stretching back to Woodrow Wilson and not send a wreath or other token of esteem to the Arlington Confederate Monument,” a group of historians urged Obama earlier this month.
 
“This monument should not be elevated in prestige above other monuments by a presidential wreath,” the scholars said. 

Obama did not mention the controversy in remarks at Arlington National Cemetary after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, which holds the remains of unidentified soldiers from World Wars I and II and the Korean War.
 
The cemetary is built on the former estate of General Robert E. Lee, who led the Condederate forces and is revered in American history despite fighting on behalf of states who wanted slavery to continue and spread.
 
Lee’s home still stands at the top of the hill overlooking nearly a quarter of a million graves and across the Potomac River from the memorial to slain President Abraham Lincoln, who led the Union to victory in the conflict from 1861 to 1865 and was assassinated just after the war was won.
 
Obama paid tribute to the soldiers who have fought in all America’s wars and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

“To walk these grounds then is to walk through that history. Not far from here, appropriately just across a bridge connecting Lincoln to Lee, Union and Confederate soldiers share the same land in perpetuity,” Obama said.
 
Section 60 at the bottom of the hill is the resting spot for many soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afganistan wars.

“The wounds of war are fresh in Section 60. The steady stream of visitors leaves reminders of life, photos, teddy bears, favorite magazines. Friends place small stones as a sign they stopped by. Combat units leave bottles of beer or stamp cigarettes into the ground as a salute to those they rode in battle with,” Obama said.
 
Those that feel the “tug” of duty and are willing to put their lives on the line for their country “are the best of America, and that is what separates them from those who’ve not served in uniform,” Obama said, acknowledging that he belonged in the second group.
 
“My grandfather served in Patton’s Army in World War II, but I cannot know what it is like to walk into battle. I’m the father of two young girls, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child. These are things I cannot know,” Obama said.
 
Obama began the day by having breakfast with families of U.S. soldiers killed in war. In the afternoon, he played golf at the Fort Belvoir Golf Club outside Washington.
 
Obama also sent wreaths to memorials for those who died in the explosion of the USS Maine and in the Spanish American war.
 
For more Reuters political news, please click here.

Photo credit: Jonathan Ernst (Obama places wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns; veterans listen to Obama speak at Arlington National Cemetery)

What's in U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's wallet? Not much.

While testifying in front of a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill Thursday Geithner was shown a $50 Billion Zimbabwean bank note (rendered worthless by Zimbabwe's hyperinflation) by U.S. Representative John Culberson (R- TX) and asked if he had ever seen one himself. Geithner immediately pulled a piece of Zimbabwean currency out of his own pocket and showed it off to the committee. At the next break in the hearing I approached Geithner and asked how he happened to have a piece of foreign currency in his pocket. His response was "I often have some foreign currency in my wallet. Want to see?" He pulled a very thin and mostly empty wallet from his pocket.

Amongst many empty slots in the thin weathered leather wallet there could be seen three credit or debit cards with Visa and Mastercard logos (all inserted into the wallet upside down so that the card issuers could not be seen) and an old and yellowed looking identification card of indeterminate origin.

From inside the wallet Geithner extracted a small pile of receipts and paper including a New York City MTA farecard, pointing out that there were European Euros tucked amongst the paper.

Notably not seen in the U.S. Treasury Secretary's wallet? Any U.S. dollars.

- Photo Credits:  Jim Bourg/Reuters  (U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner puts a piece of foreign currency back after showing off the contents of his wallet to a photographer during a break in his congressional testimony in Washington, May 21, 2009.)