Obama takes the campaign up a notch
(CBS News) -- President Obama last year launched a line of attack against Republicans in Congress called "we can't wait." He used the line repeatedly to blast Republicans for blocking his ideas to revive the still sputtering U.S. economy, setting up a narrative reminiscent of President Harry Truman's famous 1948 campaign against the so-called "Do Nothing Congress."
It now appears he can't wait for the Republicans to finish up their nominating process either. While front-runner Mitt Romney is increasingly likely to become the party's nominee, he is still fighting former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum for the Republican nomination.
But the Obama campaign sees Romney as the eventual nominee and they are already attacking him as an aloof "rich guy" who does not understand the troubles of middle class Americans and would implement policies that would exacerbate the growing gap between rich and poor in the United States.
Vice President Joe Biden launched the line of attack in Ohio a few weeks ago, calling out Romney by name. And on Sunday's "Face the Nation," the vice president called the former Massachusetts governor "a little out of touch."
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Obama: Not working on plan B for health care law
Updated 4 p.m. ET
(CBS News) -- President Obama on Tuesday reiterated his prediction from a day earlier that the Supreme Court would uphold the constitutionality of the landmark health care law and said his administration is not working on a backup plan in case the nation's highest court throws out the signature legislative achievement of his presidency.
"I have enormous confidence that in looking at this law, not only is it constitutional, but that the court is going to exercise its jurisprudence carefully because of the profound power that our Supreme Court has," Mr. Obama told editors at the annual gathering of the Associated Press. (watch some of Mr. Obama's remarks above at left)
Obama hammers GOP over "radical vision"
President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks at The Associated Press luncheon during the ASNE Convention, Tuesday, April 3, 2012, in Washington.
/ AP Photo/Pablo Martinez MonsivaisUpdated: 3:02 p.m. ET
(CBS News) -- Launching a broad argument for his re-election, President Obama on Tuesday painted a stark contrast between his vision for America's future and what he cast as the "radical" vision of the GOP, arguing that America is experiencing a "make-or-break moment," and that the choice between the two parties has never before been so "unambiguously clear."
Mr. Obama, in remarks before top editors at the Associated Press' annual luncheon, criticized Republicans for pursuing the same "trickle down" economic policies that he argued "nearly destroyed" America's financial system.
Echoing the populist theme of his State of the Union speech in January, Mr. Obama said that all Americans, regardless of class, should get a "fair shot" at success, and that everyone should be playing "by the same rules."
On the same day that voters in Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. will head to the polls to vote in their respective Republican presidential primaries, Mr. Obama lambasted his GOP rivals for touting economic policies he dismissed as "laughable," and which he argued have proven disastrous in light of the 2008 financial crisis.
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Obama: "Unprecedented" if health law thrown out
Carolyn Kaster
(CBS News) -- President Obama expressed confidence Monday the Supreme Court will not overturn his signature health care law when it issues a ruling later this year on the constitutionality of the landmark legislation, arguing it would be "unprecedented" for the court to make such a dramatic power play over Congress.
"I am confident that this will be upheld because it should be upheld," Mr. Obama told reporters at the White House when asked about the case at press availability after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Mr. Obama said a decision by the nation's top court to throw out the law would be unprecedented and precisely the kind of action that many conservatives for years have criticized as overreaching "judicial activism."
"Ultimately I am confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress," Mr. Obama said in the Rose Garden appearance.
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Obama: Congress should end oil subsidies
President Obama urges Congress to eliminate tax breaks for oil and gas companies
/ Charles DharapakUPDATED 12:29 p.m. ET
(CBS News) -- President Obama on Thursday urged Congress to drop billions of dollars in tax breaks that amount to subsidies for the largest oil firms operating in the United States, which he noted were showing record profits as millions of Americans watch rising gas prices strain their household budgets.
"I think it is time they got by without more help from taxpayers," Mr. Obama said in remarks in the White House Rose Garden, "the oil industry is doing just fine."
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Obama kicks off two-day energy tour
AP
President Obama on Wednesday kicks off a politically-charged two-day energy tour to three battleground states - Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio, with an additional stop in Cushing, Oklahoma, the site where a key portion of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline would begin.
The president will tout his administration's energy policies and highlight his efforts to reduce dependency on foreign oil. But the tour, and his message, comes amid deep political concern in the White House - that high gas prices may hurt the presidents re-election chances.
In advance of this trip, Republicans have already gone on offense, pinning gas prices to his policies.
"The president wants the American people to think his policies have nothing to do with rising gas prices, but his policies are making gas prices worse," said a statement released by House Speaker John Boehner's office.
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Obama vows to keep Afghan withdrawal timetable
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and President Obama
/ Pablo Martinez MonsivaisUPDATED 2:23 p.m. ET
(CBS News) -- President Obama on Wednesday said the United States is continuing to make progress in Afghanistan and would keep its existing plan for that nation to control its own security less than three years from now.
"I am confident we can put Afghans in a position where they can deal with their own security," Mr. Obama told reporters at the White House after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
International forces are scheduled to take on a supporting role in 2013 and the Afghan forces are expected to be responsible for their own security by the end of 2014.
"I don't anticipate at this stage that we are going to be making any sudden additional changes to the plan that we currently have," he said in a joint press conference with Cameron at his side.
The comments come just days after a shooting in Afghanistan, where a U.S. solider has been accused of killing 16 civilians, many of whom were asleep. The alleged shooter was flown out of Afghanistan to a detention facility in another, undisclosed, nation. Afghan President Hamid Karzai knew about, and approved of, the decision to move the alleged gunman, a U.S. official told CBS News Pentagon correspondent David Martin.
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Obama: No "rush for the exits" in Afghanistan
(CBS News) -- President Obama said Monday the United States should not stay in Afghanistan any longer than is absolutely necessary -- but added that he does not want to "rush for the exits" in the wake of a shooting rampage by a U.S. soldier who allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children.
"I think it's important for us just to make sure that we are not ... in Afghanistan longer than we need to be," Mr. Obama said in an interview with Denver CBS stationKCNC television.
In a separate interview with Pittsburgh CBS stationKDKA, Mr Obama said, "it's important for us to make sure that we get out in responsible way, so that we don't end up having to go back in...but what we don't want to do is to do it in a way that is just a rush for the exits."
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Obama on GOP gas plan: "It's a bumper sticker"
President Obama used his weekly address to acknowledge the rising cost of gasoline - and to criticize the Republican presidential candidates for their campaign-trail message on gas prices.
"We hear the same thing every year," Mr. Obama said about the Republicans. "Step one is drill, step two is drill, and step three is keep drilling."
He took a direct hit at presidential candidate Newt Gingrich who has re-focused his campaign message on energy costs on which he offered tough critiques of the president. Gingrich promised if elected that gas prices would go down to $2.00-$2.50 per gallon.
"Since it's an election year, they're already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas," Mr. Obama said.
"Well, the American people aren't stupid," the president said. "It's a bumper sticker. It's not a strategy to solve our energy challenge. It's a strategy to get politicians through an election."
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Obama unleashes on Republican energy policy
CORAL GABLES, Florida - With rising gasoline prices posing a threat to his bid for re-election, President Obama wants Americans to understand "there is no silver bullet" to quickly produce more gasoline and make it less costly at the pump - no matter what Republicans say.
"It's the easiest thing in the world make phony election-year promises about lower gas prices," said the president in a swipe at Republicans, including those seeking to unseat him in November.
Addressing a predominantly student audience at the University of Miami campus here, Mr. Obama cited a recent news report from Politico that portrayed Republicans as gleeful that gasoline prices are soaring 8 months before the presidential election.
"Gasoline prices are on the rise and Republicans are licking their chops. That's a quote," he said, quoting from the Politico story.
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Obama: Strong relationship with China is "vital"
President Obama meets with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, in the Oval Office on Feb., 14, 2012.
/ AP Photo/Susan Walsh"It is absolutely vital that we have a strong relationship with China," President Obama told Vice President Xi Jinping, in line to succeed Hu Jintao as China's leader when he steps down in 2013.
Mr. Obama said the U.S. welcomes "China's peaceful rise" in the world which he said can promote international stability and prosperity.
But at the same time, the president gently raised U.S. concerns about some of China's trade and economic policies as well its breaches of human rights.
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Obama to announce revamp of birth control policy
President Barack Obama
/ AP Photo/Charlie NeibergallUPDATED 11:41 a.m. ET
President Obama is scheduled to announce Friday afternoon a revamp of his contraception policy requiring religious institutions to fully pay for birth control, changing the onus on who pays for contraception from employers to insurance companies.
Sources tell CBS News the White House will not back off the administration goal to provide increased access to birth control for women, but it will provide religious institutions additional details on how to comply with the law.
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Obama sees negative campaign ahead
AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Obama predicted in an interview airing Monday morning that the upcoming general election campaign could get nasty.
"One of the worries we have obviously in the next campaign is that there are so many of these so-called super PACs, these independent expenditures that are going to be out there. There is going to be just a lot of money floating around. And I guarantee you a bunch off that is going be negative," Mr. Obama told NBC News.
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Obama unveils mortgage refinancing plan
President Barack Obama holds up a proposed mortgage application form as he speaks at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.
/ AP Photo/Cliff OwenPresident Obama on Wednesday unveiled a proposal aimed at making it easier for Americans to refinance their mortgages, urging Congress to act on what he called a "make-or-break moment for the middle class."
Speaking to a crowd in Falls Church, Virginia, the president laid out a plan, originally outlined in last week's State of the Union address, he said would "give every responsible homeowner in America the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at historically low rates."
"What this plan will do is help millions of responsible homeowners who make their payments on time but find themselves trapped under falling home values or wrapped in red tape," he said. "If you're ineligible for refinancing just because you're underwater on your mortgage, through no fault of your own, this plan changes that. You'll be able to refinance at a lower rate, you'll be able to save hundreds of dollars a month you can put back in your pocket. Or you can choose those savings to rebuild equity in your homes - which will help most underwater homeowners come back up for air more quickly."
He also outlined what he called a "Homeowners Bill of Rights," or, "one straightforward set of commonsense rules of the road that every family knows they can count on when they're shopping for a mortgage."
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Obama: Curb hikes in college tuition
In a speech at the University of Michigan Friday, President Obama called on Congress, universities and states to take action to curb the never-ending rise of higher education costs.
The speech marked the launch of Mr. Obama's "Race to the Top" campaign for college affordability, which offers states additional federal support if they successfully lessen the debt load for college graduates.
"An economy built to last demands that we keep doing everything we can to bring down the cost of college," Mr. Obama said. "There is no greater predictor of individual success than a good education."
Mr. Obama challenged Congress to stop increases in student loan interest rates, extend tuition tax credits and double the number of available work study jobs in the next five years.
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