By Colin Campbell and Hunter Walker 2/12 10:55pm

Foreign Affairs

(photo: whitehouse.gov)

President Obama Promises an End to the War in Afghanistan and ‘Firm Action’ on North Korea and Iran

In his State of the Union speech tonight, President Barack Obama addressed many of the most pressing issues on the world stage including the tense diplomatic situations in Iran and North Korea and the War on Terror in Afghanistan.

On the campaign trail, President Obama vowed to pull all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. However, shortly after the election, the White House said they would not be able to commit to a specific withdrawal schedule in Afghanistan. Addressing the nation tonight, President Obama returned to his campaign promise and said the remaining U.S. troops in that country would be withdrawn in the next 22 months. Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/12 9:47pm

Cash Money

(Photo: Getty)

Obama Proposes $9.00 Minimum Wage

Step aside Governor Andrew Cuomo, President Barack Obama has one-upped your minimum wage proposal.

In his State of the Union speech tonight, Mr. Obama unveiled a number of initiatives, including a new national minimum wage rate of $9.00 an hour, raised from the previous minimum of $7.25.

“We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages,” Mr. Obama says in his prepared remarks. Read More

By David Freedlander 1/25/12 7:55am

suggested reading

Morning Read: SOTU Recaps; NYPD Backtracks; $50K For A Seat With Cuomo

During his State of the Union last night, President Barack Obama named AG Eric Schneiderman the head of a new special unit to investigate misconduct and illegalities that contributed to both the financial collapse and the mortgage crisis.

Here is the entire State of the Union last night, in text and video.

Obama’s most memorable line was “America is back;” but the takeaway from the speech was, “I’m Back,” says the Washington Post.

Uber-blogger Andrew Sullivan said “the sheer cramped, tedious, mediocre micro-policies he listed were uninspiring to say the least.”

The New York GOP is gearing up for a possibly contested presidential primary in April, assuming that Read More