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In Case You Missed It: Obama's Speech to Congress
President Obama addressed both chambers of Congress in a highly anticipated policy speech on health care Wednesday. In it, he laid out the framework for his plan to reform the health insurance and delivery system in America, in a way that would cut costs and provide coverage for any American who wants it—with a price…
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Putting Our Faith in Health Care
After an August recess filled with hair-pulling, chart-waving and town hall recriminations, the national debate on health care reform has come back to Washington. President Barack Obama’s joint address to Congress this evening has three audiences: lawmakers, pundits and a skittish public worried about what the contentious legislation means to them. But as plan A…
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Obama's Back to School Speech Focuses on "You"
About 50 million students around the country returned to school this morning. President Barack Obama addressed a few hundred of them, from kindergarten through 12th grade, at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. The address, paired with a roundtable with students and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, was designed to kick off the school year with…
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Majora Carter Speaks
The Root: You have been a partner and ally with Van Jones for years. Is his resignation a huge loss for the green movement? Majora Carter: I have every confidence that the movement will be stronger because of this. We knew we were vulnerable to attack because we were out there pushing toward an ideal that…
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The Van Jones Affair
Shortly after the news that President Barack Obama’s “green jobs adviser” Van Jones had resigned over the weekend, Republicans were rejoicing and claiming the “scalp” of the man that Fox News host Glenn Beck had branded a “socialist” and an “ex-con.” For weeks, Beck had launched an extensive on-air campaign against Jones. And on Sunday,…
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Was Van Jones a 9/11 Truther?
White House green jobs advocate and special adviser Van Jones has taken months of fire from conservatives for his political past, organizing for income equality, prisoners’ rights, and most famously, environmental justice. Now his flirtation with the 9/11 “truther” movement may lead the Obama administration to throw him under the bus. After a steep rise…
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Obama to Congress: "Just Give Me the Ball"
It’s clearly crunch time on health care debate: The White House has announced that president Barack Obama will address a special joint session of Congress next Wednesday evening on the issue of health insurance reform. The State of the Union notwithstanding, there is no real precedent for this kind of single-issue major speech (Lyndon Johnson…
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VIDEO: Michelle Obama's Healthy Hoedown
Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden has raised the hopes of local food activists since ground was broken way back in March 2009. THE ROOT has been in the dirt ever since, examining the frayed ties between black folks and the earth, and noting the first lady’s subtle push for health care reform over a lunch of…
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Meet Brazil's Black Female (Green) Presidential Candidate
In good news for both women and environmentalists, the NEW YORK TIMES flags a heartening story from the heart of the Amazon, one with fantastic implications for politics in Brazil and all of South America. Marina Silva has announced that she will be the first black woman to stand for the office of the presidency.…
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President Obama's Weekly Webcast Hits New Orleans
On the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Barack Obama didn’t pay the Gulf Coast a visit in person, but spoke to the whole country about the need to continue focusing federal rebuilding efforts in the city that sank. His words: Over this week of remembrance, THE ROOT has celebrated New Orleans history and shaken…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
