All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

After meeting with leaders from India, China and elsewhere, President Obama has decided to change the timing of his appearance at the United Nations climate conference to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark later this month.

The president was scheduled to appear at the climate change summit on Dec. 9, ahead of his trip to Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. The summit takes place from Dec. 7 through Dec. 18. Mr. Obama will now attend the end of the conference.

"Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued U.S. leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th," the White House said in a statement. "There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the President's commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome."

The United States will have representation in Copenhagen throughout the negotiating process by State Department negotiators and Cabinet officials, the White House said. The officials will highlight ways the U.S. has moved toward a clean energy economy. The House of Representatives passed a climate bill in the summer, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate.

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Updated at 3:45 p.m. ET.

When President Obama told attendees at his economic town hall today that he only had time to take three questions, he probably did not expect the first question to be about legalizing drugs and prostitution.

He ultimately responded to four questions from the crowd at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, Penn. but took his time to steer the initial inquiry from a discussion about drugs to the future of the U.S. economy, emphasizing that manufacturing will play a less significant role in the nation. The town hall was part of Mr. Obama's tour of cities around the country in which he will discuss the economy.

"I appreciate the boldness of your question," Mr. Obama said to laughter after a young man asked him if he would consider legalizing drugs, prostitution, gambling or nonviolent crimes. "That will not be my job strategy."

"First of all, part of what you're supposed to do in college is question conventional wisdom," the president continued. "You're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing."

CBSNews.com Special Report: Marijuana Nation

The rest of the nation, Mr. Obama went on to say, will have to rethink the shape of the nation's economy.

"Manufacturing will never be as high of a percentage [of the economy] as it was in the 1950s," he said, but the capacity for states to cash in on new sectors is "enormous."

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Former GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin said on a conservative talk radio show yesterday that the question of whether President Obama was actually born in the United States is "fair game." But following up on her Facebook page, Palin points out that she has never herself questioned where Mr. Obama was born.

Since Barack Obama emerged as a candidate for president, he has been plagued by rumors that he was not born in the United States and therefore is not eligible to serve as president. The rumor has persisted among people referred to as the "birthers," even though documents clearly show there is no disputing that Mr. Obama was born in the state of Hawaii.

On her Facebook page early Friday morning, Palin said that "at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States."

However, she maintained that "voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose."

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Michaele and Tareq Salahi's intrusion into the White House state dinner was more than an affront to White House protocol, according to CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer -- it was an affront to the American people, for which they must be punished.

"I think the government ought to prosecute these people," Schieffer said today on the CBS Early Show. "If that means sending them to jail, so be it."

The Salahis managed to attend portions of the White House's first state dinner last month, even though they had not been invited. The Northern Virginia couple's entry into the party was the subject of scrutiny at a congressional hearing yesterday. They were asked to testify before Congress but refused. The Secret Service took full responsibility for the security breach and has placed three officers in leave in wake of the incident.

"This is not only a security issue," Schieffer said. "People being able to get into the White House and get up close to the president -- and who knows where that kind of thing goes, but this is also sort of an insult to the American people."

The Salahis were filmed by the television network Bravo in their preparations for the White House dinner, apparently for the upcoming television show "The Real Housewives of D.C." A state dinner, however, is more serious than a fancy party for socialites, Schieffer said on the Early Show.

"State dinners are part of the symbols of our democracy, like the White House itself, like the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem," he said. "And when people are making fun of those things, when they're doing what these people did, that's an insult to all of us. And if these people go to jail, that will be just fine with me."

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The Secret Service has admitted making a mistake in letting Tareq and Michaele Salahi into last month's White House state dinner without an invitation, but President Obama is still 100 percent confident in his security.

"I could not have more confidence in the Secret Service," Mr. Obama told USA Today and the Detroit Free Press in a joint interview. "They do an outstanding job. They have been with me since I was a candidate. I trust them 100 percent, not just with me but with my wife and my children."

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told Congress today that the Secret Service took responsibility for the security breach and that three officers involved in the incident are currently suspended. He also said, however, that recent claims about higher threat levels against the president have been inaccurate and Mr. Obama was not at risk the night of the state dinner.

Mr. Obama acknowledged in the interview that "the system didn't work the way it was supposed to."

The White House has resisted sending White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to testify before Congress about the incident, citing the separation of powers.

The director of the Secret Service today disputed widely-reported claims that President Obama is receiving more death threats than previous presidents.

At a congressional hearing into the White House security breach that took place last week, when Tareq and Michaele Salahi "crashed" the White House state dinner, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said the current threat level against the president is normal.

"The threats right now ... is the same level as it has been for the previous two presidents at this point in their administrations," Sullivan said.

Sullivan was the only requested witness who agreed to testify today before the House Homeland Security Committee, and he said the Secret Service takes responsibility for allowing the Salahis to enter the state dinner uninvited. Three Secret Service officers are currently under suspension because of the incident, he said.

Since news of the security breach broke, members of Congress have commented that the incident was particularly troubling in light of the number of threats against the first African-American president.

"It is well known, it's been in the press over and over again, that this president has received far more death threats than any president in the history of the United States," Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the congressional delegate for the District of Columbia, said at today's hearing.

The Boston Globe reported in October that "unprecedented" threats against the president, among other things, have put a strain on the Secret Service's resources.

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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has granted the media limited access to her public appearances since stepping down from public office, but that does not seem to be muting the attention she is paid.

Palin on Wednesday drew thousands of supporters to a Borders bookstore in Springfield, Missouri, where she shook hands with people who waited outside for her in the bitter cold. She took no questions from reporters at the book signing, reports the Associated Press, which was relegated to a roped-off area inside the store.

The politician also reportedly tried to keep her fans from making any attempts at citizen journalism: Despite shaking hands with people, Palin did not talk about politics with them, the AP reports. Attendees were banned from carrying cell phones or cameras and were not granted personalized signatures for their books.

The media was barred from Palin's speaking engagement at the College of the Ozarks that followed the book signing, but reporters from the Springfield News-Leader and other local media outlets managed to snag a few of the 4,000 free tickets allotted to the event before they quickly disappeared.

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Democrats are insisting that the alleged "White House crashers," Tareq and Michaele Salahi, testify before a congressional panel this morning, but one Republican on the panel says the White House social secretary should have to answer questions about the security breach as well.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson said he could subpoena the Salahis if they are not interested in voluntarily attending today's hearing regarding their ability to gain entry into the White House state dinner without any sort of invitation.

"The Salahis' testimony is important to explain how a couple circumvented layers of security at the White House on the evening of a State Dinner without causing alarm," Thompson said in a statement.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan agreed to testify this morning, but along with the Salahis, White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers declined to appear. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday that White House staff does not testify before Congress, based on the separation of powers.

An aide for Thompson said this morning that no decisions have been made on whether to subpoena Rogers, reports CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson.

Ranking Republican Peter King said Rogers' testimony is more important than the Salahis'.

"The White House should not be allowed to stonewall by refusing the Committee's request that Ms. Rogers testify," he said in a statement. "What is the White House trying to hide?"

If the committee does decide to subpoena Rogers or the Salahis, there could be another hearing on the matter.

Senate Republicans are boasting about their health care opposition strategy, and frustrated Democrats are responding in kind. If the GOP keeps up its stall tactics, Democrats said today, they are prepared to stay on the Senate floor to debate health care through Christmas.

After three days of debate, the Senate has yet to actually vote on any amendments to the health care bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced. Democrats are placing the blame on Republicans for the delay, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer John Nolen reports. Reid held a special meeting with his party today to discuss how to proceed in the face of a united Republican front.

"At some point, we are going to have to say enough is enough on the stall and start voting," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said.

Democratic members appeared committed to stay and complete health care legislation no matter how long it takes, Nolen reports.

"The general consensus in the room was that we're here, we ought to stay here," said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who led much of the health care debate in a Senate committee over the summer. "As one member said, if those young men and women -- most of whom are under 25 -- are sitting in some outpost in Afghanistan or Iraq on Christmas eve, we can be here on Christmas eve to deal with health care."

Republicans are not shying away from the fact they are trying to slowly kill Reid's bill.

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Pressure on Democrats to abandon abortion restrictions added to the House health care legislation continues to grow, just as the debate over the divisive issue heads to the Senate.

More than 500 people from 30 states gathered at the Capitol today in opposition to an amendment to the health care overhaul that would restrict health insurance coverage for abortion. The so-called Stupak amendment, introduced by Reps. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Joe Pitts (R-Penn.), made it into the House bill last month.

The group of abortion rights supporters in Washington today were organized by a coalition made up of dozens of groups that advocate for issues like abortion rights, women's rights, and civil rights. The "Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak" held the event with some of its strongest backers in Congress, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). Citizens in attendance also directly lobbied their own representatives.

Today's lobbying activities were part of a week of events the coalition is organizing to raise awareness of the Stupak amendment, including at more than 120 college campus events and online. The lobbying has largely focused on Democrats. Sixty-four Democrats joined 176 Republicans to pass the Stupak amendment.

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