News and Articles

The House of Representatives controlled by Democrats on Wednesday approved an historic plan for economic stimulus 819,000 million dollars, which gave the presidency of Barack Obama an early legislative victory.

On a day when attention devoted to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama has worked hard economic issues that have dominated the early days of his administration, which inherited an economic crisis unparalleled since the Great Depression of the 1930s .


The 244-188 vote in the House sent the proposal to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin this week with a parallel bill that has already been taking shape. The Democratic leaders have promised to have legislation ready for Obama to enact the mid-February.

With unemployment at its highest levels in the last 25 years, banking bamboleándose despite the infusion of staggering amounts of money from a financial rescue plan and states struggling to fund their budgets, the Democrats say the legislation is necessary while Republicans criticize because they believe falls short in tax and public spending is too.



Before the vote in the House, in his first briefing at the Pentagon as president, Obama heard the views of the four military chiefs of the Joint Staff in the next step to fulfill its promise to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months.


Among these are general military leaders have openly declared that his apprehension about the impact of prolonged and repeated assignments to which the troops had been put in Iraq and Afghanistan. The chairman and deputy chairman of the Joint Staff, the military advisers of the president and Defense Secretary Robert Gates attended the meeting.

Leaving the meeting, Obama said his government faced "difficult decisions" on Iraq and Afghanistan. But the new commander in chief of the armed forces did not provide more details about its plans.


"Our efforts continue to pursue the extremist organizations that can cause damage to our homeland is a priority in our minds," Obama said to reporters after spending two hours at the Department of Defense. Not answered questions about the withdrawal in Iraq.

Earlier, the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama is thoughtful process as it aims to change the mission in Iraq. Questioned about when the president is ready to talk about their decisions in that war, Gibbs said: "I think it will be relatively soon. I do not want to put an exact date."


Obama promised during the election campaign to withdraw troops from Iraq by May of 2010, but clarified that prior consultation with the military, and adjust the schedule in order not to endanger the lives of soldiers to stay in the Arab country to train Iraqis and fight al-Qaida. He also sought not risk the stability of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Obama increased a bit to complete his cabinet with the backing of the committees of the Senate nomination of Eric Holder as Attorney General and retired Admiral Dennis Blair as the new director of national intelligence. The full Senate could confirm later.


Blair is the most important intelligence adviser to Obama, with a budget of 50,000 million U.S. dollars which includes 16 agencies.

Holder, who became the first African American to be Secretary of Justice, testified during the hearings that "waterboarding", an interrogation technique simulates drowning, is torture and promised to prosecute in U.S. courts to detainees at Guantanamo prison thus breaking the government's anti-terrorist policies of George W. Bush.


The Press Secretary of the White House also confirmed that the February 19 will be the first international trip of Obama as president, on a visit to Canada.

Gibbs gave no further information about the trip. A source who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the itinerary is still under analysis, said that at least there will be a visit to Ottawa, the Canadian capital.