Franklin Roosevelt once said that people working for the US president should have a “passion for anonymity”. Someone forgot to tell the team working for Barack Obama. In the past few weeks, senior White House officials and their allies have been finessing profiles in various outlets exonerating one or other of the big figures surrounding [...]

The US Chamber of Commerce and the insurance industry are to mount a final offensive in their fight against healthcare reform with a multi-million dollar advertising campaign arguing that reform would cut Medicare benefits and cost taxpayers billions of ­dollars.
President Barack Obama, in a final push to seek passage of his top domestic agenda item, [...]

Movie and TV productions with gay characters could be ineligible for a tax credit being considered in the state House.
Current state law grants tax credits on productions considered “family friendly” – with no smoking, sex, nudity or profane language.
The proposal by Republican Rep. Stephen Precourt of Orlando would increase the credit and [...]

For a guy who professes to have no interest in running for president, Gen. David Petraeus can come off as surprisingly eager to talk about it – sometimes without even being asked.
In a recent appearance at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia he turned a question about his retirement plans into an opportunity [...]

Among the 1.5 million condolence letters sent to President John F. Kennedy’s widow after his assassination in 1963 were more than two dozen from Jane Dryden, a dogged and dramatic 11-year-old who churned out a letter a week for six months straight.
“I know that you hate the whole state of Texas. I do [...]

White House aides are increasingly convinced that accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will never face trial in a civilian court and are trying to cut a deal that would still transfer Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects to the U.S., where many would faces charges, a senior administration official said Monday.
President Barack Obama is [...]

For more than a year, Sarah Palin has been one of the most famous political and cultural figures in America. Even by that standard, though, last week was an extraordinary one.
On Thursday came word that the former Alaska governor was working on a TV series about her home state, currently being pitched by [...]

Many years ago a US trade delegate “negotiating” with his Australian counterpart allegedly leant across the table and said: “We eat countries like you for breakfast.” More and more, however, US trade partners are standing up to the bullying. On Monday, Brazil announced it would increase tariffs on more than 100 US-made imports, from cars [...]

Barack Obama took to the road on Monday in a frenetic itinerary to drum up a last-minute surge in support for healthcare reform.
The outcome of the vote, which Mr Obama wants passed by the middle of next week before he takes off for Indonesia and Australia, could determine the future of his presidency.
“How much [...]

Brazil takes another step towards a final showdown with the US in its long-running battle over cotton subsidies when it releases on Monday a list of about 50 American products it will punish with higher tariffs.
Last year, Brazil won an eight-year long battle at the World Trade Organisation against the US after arguing that its [...]