blogging the beltway

It sometimes rubs people the wrong way. But President Obama has a tendency to talk about parental responsibility, especially as it pertains to absentee dads, when addressing African-American audiences. “Michelle and I happen to be black parents, so I may add a little ‘umph’ to it when I’m talking to black parents,” he joked to…

It was a given that the seven presidential candidates in Monday night’s Republican debate would bandy about plenty of “Obama is doing it wrong” arguments. Whether the issue was stabilizing the economy, the auto-industry bailout, health care reform, being tough enough on terrorists or deporting enough undocumented immigrants, everyone thoroughly condemned the president for his…

As federal regulators work out how to implement financial reform, they’ve been charged with defining which mortgages are “safe” enough to qualify as a government-approved Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM), with favorable rates. This week a coalition of regulators — the Federal Reserve, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the FDIC, among others —…

On Monday the Obama administration teamed up with Rutgers Business School in Newark, N.J., for the first ever Urban Entrepreneurship Summit. The all-day brainstorming event united entrepreneurs, government officials, and private capital resources to find new ways to support job growth in America’s cities. Expanding on President Obama’s oft-repeated claim that the nation’s economic problems…

Despite all the hand-wringing over raising the federal debt limit, and the prickly debate between Democrats and Republicans, there’s some confusion about what it actually means. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 48 percent of Americans believe raising the limit would lead to more government spending and higher debt. It’s a figure that,…

When President Obama traveled to Joplin, Mo., on Sunday after a devastating earthquake swept through the town earlier this month, he pledged the government’s support. “The cameras may leave. The spotlight may shift. But we will be with you every step of the way until Joplin is restored and this community is back on its…

Last year a report by the Defense Manpower Data Center highlighted a decline in African-American representation among the U.S. military’s top jobs. Despite remarkable progress made over previous decades, in recent years those advances have flatlined. While blacks make up 17 percent of the nation’s active duty forces (skewing higher than their representation of 11…

In 1974 the U.S. Congress mandated the creation of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Made up of representatives from 12 federal agencies (including the departments of Education, Housing and Development, and Health and Human Services), the council’s purpose is to synchronize government efforts around improving juvenile detainment facilities and delinquency prevention,…

Two years ago in his famous Cairo speech, President Obama heralded a “new beginning” between the United States and Middle East — to end a cycle of mistrust and usher in a new era of democracy and human rights. Aspirational and lofty as the speech was, it lacked concrete policies to support these ideals. In…

During the Congressional Black Caucus’ meeting with President Obama last week, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) handed the president a letter. The message, signed by more than 50 members of Congress, requested more time for displaced Haitians to legally stay in the United States. On Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would both…