More on Barack Obama
Obama spearheads campaign against Sanders’ nomination as Democratic presidential candidate
By Patrick Martin, 2 December 2019
The Democratic Party establishment wants to ensure that issues of social inequality are not a focal point in the elections, even in the toothless form represented by Sanders and Warren.
Obama joins effort to push Democratic primary campaign to the right
By Patrick Martin, 18 November 2019
Obama declared his opposition to anything “revolutionary” or “crazy” being put forward by presidential candidates whom he did not name, although he was clearly referring to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Video of Obama-appointed lawyer defending the denial of child detainees soap, toothpaste sparks outrage
By Joe Williams, 29 June 2019
Justice Department attorney Sarah Fabian argued that it is legal to deny immigrant children in detention soap, toothpaste, blankets, and a place to sleep for days or weeks on end.
Obama paid $600,000 for a single speech
By Trévon Austin, 20 June 2019
The former president’s post-White House career as a friend of the corporate elite epitomizes the revolving door relationship between the US government and the private sector.
Obama stumps for Democrats in Michigan: A legacy of social devastation
By Niles Niemuth, 26 October 2018
Obama is visiting Cass Tech High School in Detroit in an effort to convince workers once again that the Democratic Party, a right-wing, pro-capitalist and pro-war party, represents their interests.
In South Africa speech deploring “exploding inequality”
Obama boasts: “I’m surprised how much money I got”
By Barry Grey, 19 July 2018
Obama may be surprised at his recent entry into the American financial oligarchy, but it’s not for lack of effort on his part to “join the club.”
Change that he can believe in: Obama cashes in on Wall Street
By Niles Niemuth, 20 September 2017
Less than a year after leaving office, former President Obama has comfortably entrenched himself within the upper echelons of the top 1 percent.
Obama presidential center in Chicago could cost $1.5 billion
By George Marlowe, 19 May 2017
The Obamas are building their shrine to themselves in a highly impoverished area of the city of Chicago as part of their post-presidential mythmaking efforts.
Hypocrisy and lies: Barack Obama accepts “Profile in Courage” award in Boston
By Kate Randall, 9 May 2017
Although Obama did not mention the ACA or “Trumpcare” in his remarks accepting the award, it is clear that the passage of Obamacare was one of the main reasons he was chosen.
The New York Times worries about the high political cost of Obama’s $400,000 speeches
By David Walsh, 3 May 2017
The Times editorial is brief and unconvincing, bringing forward arguments and issuing an appeal to Obama that the editors themselves hardly seem to believe in.
Obama’s $400,000 speeches: Unabashed. Shameless. Provocative.
By David Walsh, 29 April 2017
The two speaking fees alone put the former candidate of “change” into the top one percent of income earners in the US—in fact, one of them would almost have done the trick.
Wall Street to cut Obama his first six-figure check
By Niles Niemuth, 26 April 2017
Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald will reportedly pay the former president $400,000 to speak at a health care conference in September.
After vacation with billionaires
Obama returns to Chicago to promote “civic engagement”
By Kristina Betinis, 25 April 2017
The former president attended two small events focused on youth in politics, and exposed the unbridgeable divide between the Democratic Party and the vast majority of the population.
Obama lives it up in the lap of luxury
By Niles Niemuth, 18 April 2017
Former president Barack Obama has spent much of the three months since he left office on vacation with his multi-millionaire and billionaire friends.
The Obamas sign reported $65 million book deal
By David Walsh, 2 March 2017
The Financial Times revealed that Penguin Random House had won a record-breaking auction between publishing houses and will buy the two books for more than $65 million.
The Obamas prepare to cash in
By David Walsh, 3 February 2017
The great question a recent study addresses is whether the Obamas will outdo the Clintons in amassing wealth after leaving the White House.
Only days before Trump’s inauguration
Obama expands NSA spying
By George Gallanis, 14 January 2017
Under new rules imposed by the Obama administration, the NSA can now share the personal communications data of millions of people with 16 other US intelligence agencies, such as the FBI.
Obama’s farewell address: One last round of clichés and lies
By Niles Niemuth, 11 January 2017
In a speech as banal as dishonest, Obama boasted of the supposed progress achieved during his eight years as president while warning that the social inequality he has helped foster poses a threat to democracy.
Obama's legacy of war, repression and inequality
By Joseph Kishore, 10 January 2017
For Obama and the privileged social layers that surround the Democratic Party, a legacy can be crafted with honeyed phrases and clever marketing. Millions of people, however, will judge the administration by its actions.
Hail to the Chief—wealthy celebrities bid farewell to Obama
By Hiram Lee, 10 January 2017
The Obama administration hosted an all-star farewell party at the White House this weekend, and celebrities from throughout the film and music industries came to pay their respects.
The Obama administration and the legitimization of torture
By Tom Carter, 7 January 2017
Virtually no one has been allowed to read the 6,700-page Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, and a concerted effort is underway to make sure that nobody is able to read it in the future.
210 Torture report ruling and Obama's legacy
6 January 2017
Obama extends global reach of US Special Operations death squads
By Patrick Martin, 29 November 2016
The global mandate of the new formation means US death squads could be sent virtually anywhere, from European cities to South American jungles, including in the United States itself.
Federal judge blocks new Obama administration overtime rules
By Shannon Jones, 28 November 2016
The court ruling upset 70 years of prior precedent that gave the Labor Department the authority to set rules regulating overtime pay.
Trump to build on Obama’s antidemocratic legacy
By Tom Carter, 24 November 2016
The assault on democratic rights under cover of the “war on terror” has provided the incoming Trump administration with a pseudo-legal framework to impose authoritarian methods of rule.
2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony
Obama awards those who “have helped make me who I am”
By David Walsh, 24 November 2016
Tuesday’s ceremony, during which Barack Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 21 individuals, was a bizarre and unreal event.
Obama rejects pardon for Snowden
By Jerry White, 21 November 2016
In an interview with German media outlets, Obama rejected a presidential pardon for NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Obama seeks to placate concerns over Trump in final tour of Europe
By Peter Schwarz, 18 November 2016
Obama’s promotion of his successor is so obvious that the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung described him as Donald Trump’s “press spokesman.”
Greek protests greet Obama’s last overseas tour as US president
By Alex Lantier, 16 November 2016
Obama aimed to reassure the European ruling classes that Donald Trump's election would not undermine their relations with the United States.
005 Obama press conference
15 November 2016
Another apologia for Obamacare from the New York Times’ Paul Krugman
By Kate Randall, 31 October 2016
The columnist downplays the impact of skyrocketing premiums, deductibles and co-pays to tout the pro-corporate health care “reform” as a brilliant success.
Philippine President Duterte tells Obama to “go to hell”
By Joseph Santolan, 6 October 2016
The statement was the latest in a string of outbursts by Duterte, who has responded angrily to Western criticisms of his murderous anti-drug crusade.
Obama and the US secret war in Laos
By Peter Symonds, 6 September 2016
Obama is the first US president since the Vietnam War to visit Laos, the scene of one of US imperialism’s bloodiest crimes, even as his administration is preparing new wars on a far greater scale.
Rising global tensions surface at G20 summit
By Nick Beams, 5 September 2016
It is a sure sign of the deepening malaise of the global capitalist economy, afflicted by lower growth and falling trade, that “overcapacity” in steel was at the very centre of the G20 economic agenda.
War clouds overhang Obama’s Asian trip
By Peter Symonds, 1 September 2016
Obama will attend international summits in China and Laos amid escalating geo-political rivalries, particularly between Washington and Beijing.
Democratic convention: Obama piles on more lies
By Barry Grey, 28 July 2016
Showing his contempt for the intelligence of the American people, the president concluded by repeating the slogans of his 2008 election campaign, as though America in 2016 was the realization of the empty promises he made back then.
Obama in Dallas: Platitudes and lies on police killings
By Bill Van Auken, 13 July 2016
To deliver an honest speech, Obama would have had to admit that the epidemic of police killings as well as the shootings in Dallas are either the direct product of or blowback from his administration’s policies.
Obama campaigns with Hillary Clinton at North Carolina rally
By Tom Hall, 6 July 2016
The speeches by Clinton and the current president continued to press the shopworn portrayal of the Democratic Party as a defender of the “middle class.”
US Senate gives last-minute approval to Puerto Rico debt package
By Rafael Azul, 1 July 2016
The US Senate approved on June 29 a debt measure for Puerto Rico, less than 48 hours before the island was to default on a $2.1 billion debt.
North American summit dominated by Brexit fallout and geopolitical rivalries
By Roger Jordan and Keith Jones, 30 June 2016
Obama took a direct swipe at China, warning that if the three North American countries did not act together, other countries in Asia would write the rules of global trade.
After Orlando massacre
Democrats take the lead in attack on democratic rights
By Patrick Martin, 17 June 2016
The plan to use the FBI “watch list” to ban gun purchases is only the initial step towards a more systematic attack on democratic rights.
As Obama endorses Clinton, Sanders signals readiness to back campaign
By Patrick Martin, 10 June 2016
The Vermont senator met with President Obama and other top party leaders in Washington, making clear he will not challenge the nomination of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Obama in Hiroshima
By Bill Van Auken, 28 May 2016
The visit to Hiroshima displayed in full the hypocrisy for which the Nobel Prize-winning president is so well known, but in this case magnified through the lens of one of history’s greatest war crimes.
Obama to American youth: Stop complaining, things have never been better!
By Niles Niemuth—SEP candidate for US vice president, 17 May 2016
While media attention has focused on Obama’s swipes at Donald Trump, more significant was his chastisement of young people for supporting the campaign of self-declared socialist Bernie Sanders.
Obama and the bombing of Hiroshima
By Andre Damon, 13 May 2016
The American president will travel to Hiroshima not to apologize for past crimes, but to prepare new ones.
Obama to Flint: Shut up and drink the water
By Shannon Jones, 5 May 2016
Obama perpetuated the cover-up of the criminal responsibility of government officials at all levels for the disaster, while downplaying the health consequences of lead poisoning.
White House correspondents dinner: A degrading spectacle of conformism
By Patrick Martin, 2 May 2016
The political, media and entertainment elite stage this annual celebration of wealth and influence.
US President Obama warns against Britain leaving the European Union
By Robert Stevens, 23 April 2016
Such is the concern of significant sections of the US ruling elite of the economic, political and military implications of a UK break from the EU, that President Obama felt compelled to intervene.
US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in case affecting millions of immigrants
By Eric London, 22 April 2016
Key justices expressed unexpected support for a 26-state challenge to executive orders granting temporary deferral from deportation to a limited category of migrants.
Obama flies to Saudi Arabia amid rising tensions
By Bill Van Auken, 20 April 2016
While friction has arisen over Washington’s dealings with Iran and fallout from 9/11, the monarchical dictatorship remains a linchpin of US policy in the Middle East.
Obama administration to cut off Flint emergency aid
By James Brewer, 29 March 2016
The Obama administration, along with state and local government officials of both parties, played a critical role in creating and covering up the disaster in Flint.
Obama high court pick Merrick Garland: A record of support for police powers
By Tom Carter, 28 March 2016
Garland’s judicial career parallels the rightward trajectory of the American judiciary over the past two decades, and especially since the launch of the “war on terror.”
Obama hails Macri’s attacks on Argentine workers
By Rafael Azul, 24 March 2016
Obama’s trip is aimed at cementing closer military and economic relations with the right-wing Macri government.
Obama in Cuba
By Bill Van Auken, 22 March 2016
Obama’s “human rights” masquerade is aided and abetted not only by the slavish US media, but also by the Castro government itself.
Castro government welcomes Obama, US corporate heads to Cuba
By Alexander Fangmann, 21 March 2016
Leading a delegation of over 1,000 US politicians and business executives, Obama’s visit represents a substantial move to bring Cuba under the direct sway of US imperialism.
Obama’s choice to replace Scalia on Supreme Court had won Republican praise
By John Andrews, 17 March 2016
President Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, a federal judge and former US prosecutor, to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the death of arch-reactionary Antonin Scalia.
Obama backs attack on encrypted communication
By Evan Blake, 14 March 2016
Speaking at the South by Southwest festival, Obama sought to minimize the far-reaching scope of the FBI’s demands that Apple create anti-encryption software.
Trudeau pledges strengthened Canada-US partnership in White House visit
By Roger Jordan, 12 March 2016
A key, although little reported, theme of the Trudeau-Obama summit was strengthening Canada-US military-security cooperation in the Arctic, Middle East and around the world.
Obama lectures Russia on Syrian “quagmire”
By Bill Van Auken, 18 February 2016
If there is a “quagmire” in the Middle East, it is of Washington’s creation, the product of unending wars for regime change aimed at imposing US hegemony over the region and its vast energy resources.
Obama lectures Russia on Syrian “quagmire”
By Bill Van Auken, 18 February 2016
If there is a “quagmire” in the Middle East, it is of Washington’s creation, the product of unending wars for regime change aimed at imposing US hegemony over the region and its vast energy resources.
Obama urges Illinois legislature to adopt bipartisan plan for austerity
By Alexander Fangmann, 15 February 2016
With Republican Governor Rauner and state Democrats at an impasse over how to impose deep budget cuts, Obama visited Springfield to encourage a bipartisan agreement.
Obama budget proposes increases in military, security spending
By Patrick Martin, 10 February 2016
The budget’s proposed increases in domestic spending are empty election-year posturing, but the increases in military and security spending will almost certainly be enacted.
Escalating Michigan crisis overwhelms Obama’s visit to Detroit
By Andre Damon, 21 January 2016
Amid growing evidence of the Michigan government’s complicity in poisoning thousands of children in Flint, Obama boasted that “all kinds of good things are happening.”
Supreme Court to rule on Obama immigration program
By Bill Van Auken, 20 January 2016
The court’s announcement came amid rising anger and fear over the roundup and deportation of Central American refugees.
Obama White House declares state of emergency over Flint water crisis
By Thomas Gaist, 18 January 2016
In the face of an immense public health catastrophe, the American federal government has mustered the meager sum of some five million in federal funds.
Obama’s final State of the Union: Lies, evasions and threats
By Patrick Martin, 13 January 2016
Neither the US president nor his bipartisan congressional audience were capable of dealing honestly or seriously with the social crisis in America.
Obama seeks Silicon Valley aid to spy on social media
By Thomas Gaist, 9 January 2016
A delegation of top Obama administration officials met with tech industry leaders Friday as part of efforts to step up government spying on social media and other online communications.
Crocodile tears from the commander-in-chief
By Patrick Martin, 7 January 2016
Obama professes to mourn for children killed by gun violence while presiding over a never-ending escalation of military violence around the world.
Obama announces executive measures for gun control
By Tom Eley, 6 January 2016
Not even Obama claims that his proposals, which amount to a further expansion of the already vast police-intelligence apparatus, will resolve the scourge of gun violence in the US.
Obama responds to terror scare over San Bernardino attack
By Patrick Martin, 19 December 2015
The propaganda campaign over San Bernardino aims to shift US politics even further to the right and overcome popular opposition to expanded military operations in the Middle East.
Obama’s “60 Minutes” interview and the crisis of US policy in Syria
By Barry Grey, 13 October 2015
Under aggressive questioning from moderator Steve Kroft, Obama was unable to present a coherent explanation of either the purpose of the war in Syria or the reasons for the fiasco to date of Washington’s drive to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
A tense visit by Chinese president to the White House
By Peter Symonds, 26 September 2015
Obama and Xi both paid lip service to the need for greater cooperation, but the lack of agreement on key issues highlights the danger of confrontation and conflict.
Obama’s hypocrisy over Ahmed Mohamed, the boy who brought a clock to school
By David Walsh, 21 September 2015
The handcuffing and arrest of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed for bringing a digital clock to school in Irving, Texas, a Dallas suburb, was a repugnant act that smelled of racism and xenophobia.
New York Times paints Obama as “champion” of working people
By Andre Damon, 1 September 2015
The Times’ claim that President Obama has spent his administration “working to empower the economically marginal” is a political fabrication of the first order.
Obama hails Ethiopian regime as US proxy in “war on terror”
By Bill Van Auken, 28 July 2015
The US president is seeking to escalate the conflict in the Horn of Africa as a means of securing US hegemony.
Obama promotes militarism and murder
By Patrick Martin, 23 July 2015
In a speech Tuesday to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the US president boasted of the success of US drone missile and assassination programs, listing a series of victims.
US labor force participation rate hits lowest level in nearly four decades
By Andre Damon, 3 July 2015
The latest US jobs report, despite being greeted by the political establishment as another sign of a "recovery," points to continued economic stagnation.
Obama proposes rules to expand overtime pay for salaried workers
By Andre Damon, 1 July 2015
Despite being touted as a major new policy initiative by the White House, the proposed change to overtime rules would affect just 3.5 percent of US workers.
Obama’s eulogy in Charleston, South Carolina
By Andre Damon, 29 June 2015
President Obama’s eulogy for the victims of this month’s shooting in Charleston was remarkable for its religious obscurantism and inability to seriously address any of the issues that led to the horrendous mass murder.
The social roots of racism in America
By Andre Damon, 23 June 2015
The political establishment has seized upon the tragedy in Charleston to promote the conception that race is the fundamental category in American society.
Obama, Republicans join forces to salvage trade bill
By Patrick Martin, 17 June 2015
The campaign of the White House and congressional Republicans in support of the TPP shatters the conventional picture of official Washington, supposedly divided into intransigent partisan camps.
G7 summit convenes amid US threats against Russia
By Patrick Martin, 8 June 2015
In the lead-up to the meeting in Bavaria, US officials called for extended economic sanctions and stepped-up military pressure against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.
Seymour Hersh exposes official lies about Bin Laden killing
By Niles Williamson, 12 May 2015
An article by the Pulitzer Prize winner, published Sunday in the London Review of Books, exposes the entire official narrative of the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden as a concoction of lies.
White House Correspondent’s Dinner: Wealth, influence, hypocrisy
By Kate Randall, 27 April 2015
Obama's remarks, well received by the media, exemplified the hypocrisy of official Washington.
Obama’s drone warfare: Assassination made routine
By Patrick Martin, 25 April 2015
President Obama’s admission that CIA drone missiles killed two hostages held by Al Qaeda has evoked no significant questioning of the program of targeted killings.
The fraud of Obama’s “Student Aid Bill of Rights”
By Nancy Hanover, 23 March 2015
Obama’s proposal for student loan aid is both a publicity stunt to appease popular concern over ever-rising student loan debt and a plan to tighten enforcement on repayment.
Selma and the legacy of the US civil rights movement
By Fred Mazelis and Joseph Kishore, 9 March 2015
Obama’s commemoration of “Bloody Sunday” was a political farce aimed at sanctifying a corrupt apparatus with the blood of those who made great sacrifices as part of the civil rights movement.
US Supreme Court hears challenge to Obamacare subsidies
By Kate Randall, 6 March 2015
A ruling for the plaintiffs could invalidate subsidies for up to 7.5 million people purchasing coverage on the federal Obamacare exchange.
Obama budget cuts target high school counselors
By Nancy Hanover, 21 February 2015
The Obama administration is promoting a low-paid untrained corps of “near-peers” while continuing to propose cuts in federal funding.
National Security Strategy document affirms US drive for world domination
By Patrick Martin, 7 February 2015
The document elaborates the American ruling class’ view that the US is “the world’s leading global power with interests in every part of an increasingly interconnected world.”
The coming fight over wages in the US
By Jerry White, 19 January 2015
Several leading newspapers and think tanks have pointed to the long-term stagnation of wages as the catalyst for a potentially explosive movement over wages by the working class.
At Michigan auto factory, Obama says more “sacrifice” needed for economic turnaround
By Jerry White, 8 January 2015
President Obama pointed to the auto industry—where labor costs have been slashed by nearly a third over the last decade—as the model for building America’s “middle class.”
Obama backs beleaguered Mexican president
By Bill Van Auken, 7 January 2015
Facing mounting calls for his resignation over the massacre of Mexican students, Peña Nieto discussed security, economic integration and immigration in a trip to Washington yesterday.
US Department of Education reveals new criteria for financial aid to colleges
By Evan Blake, 29 December 2014
The new college ratings system represents the extension of Obama’s Race to the Top into the sphere of higher education.
Obama’s paramilitary police: The “war on terror” comes home
By Andre Damon, 3 December 2014
The ongoing militarization of local police forces is a major component of the assault on democratic rights in the United States.
UN report documents torture, police violence in US
By Patrick Martin, 29 November 2014
As documented by the UN Committee Against Torture, the US, which claims the right to attack any country in the world in the name of “human rights” and “democracy,” is guilty of the most heinous crimes.
Obama announces right-wing immigration “reform” in national address
By Patrick Martin, 21 November 2014
In a contemptible speech, the chief representative of the corporate and financial aristocracy carried forth on the need for immigrants to “play by the rules” and be held “accountable.”
Obama at APEC: US steps up economic offensive against China
By Nick Beams, 14 November 2014
US trade policy is based on a drive to secure domination of the world economy, using both military and economic means.
Obama-Xi talks underscore US war threat in Asia
By Patrick Kelly, 13 November 2014
New military “confidence-building mechanisms” resolve none of the issues underlying Washington’s confrontation of China.
ASEAN summit opens in Myanmar
By Joseph Santolan, 13 November 2014
The summit’s first day was marked by an avoidance of the question of the South China Sea.
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