Sarkozy Calls Crisis Meeting as Senate Vote Puts His Job in Danger
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency was in crisis on Monday as the French Right's historic Senate defeat threatened to torpedo his hopes for re-election.

The French leader was huddling with top allies after the Left defeated his fellow conservatives in historic Senate elections - a rebuff less than seven months before France's presidential election that could put his job in serious danger.

Even Mr Sarkozy's allies were calling from [sic] a new tack from him after the weekend electoral drubbing in which the opposition Socialists gained a thin majority in parliament's upper house.

The presidential palace said Mr Sarkozy conferred at his office Monday with Prime Minister Francois [sic] Fillon and Jean-Francois Cope [sic], the head of the conservative UMP party. Neither man spoke on the way out of the meeting.

Agriculture Minister and UMP platform chief Bruno Le Maire, on Radio Classique, called the election a "serious warning" to governing conservatives.

Mr Sarkozy's supporters were shell-shocked by Sunday's vote, which gave the left a majority the upper house for the first time in French history, and the week promised more revelations in an ongoing party-funding scandal.

"The moment of truth will come next spring. The battle begins tonight," Mr Fillon said in a statement late Sunday after the results became known. » | Monday, September 26, 2011

États-Unis : Obama perd sa «super majorité» au Sénat
lePARISIEN.fr: Un an jour pour jour après son élection à la Maison Blanche, Barack Obama avait sans doute rêvé meilleur anniversaire. Pour la première fois depuis des décennies, dans l'Etat traditionnellement démocrate du Massachusetts (nord-est), un candidat républicain, Scott Brown, a en effet remporté un siège de sénateur.

Conséquence, les démocrates ont perdu la majorité qualifiée de 60 voix qu'ils détenaient au Sénat grâce à l'apport de deux indépendants.

Cette forme de « super majorité » (60 voix sur 100) permettait aux démocrates et à Barack Obama de passer outre une obstruction républicaine à la chambre haute du Congrès américain. Cette défaite dans le Massachusetts hypothèque ainsi l'avenir des réformes. >>> Leparisien.fr avec l‘AFP | Mercredi 20 Janvier 2010

US on the Brink of Embracing Socialized Medicine! Barack Obama's Health Reform Set to Pass Senate after Abortion Deal
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama's goal of health care reform received a key boost when Senate Democrat leaders said they had secured the key 60th vote needed to pass legislation.

The Senate bill is now expected to be put to a vote before Christmas, despite Republican delaying tactics.

Democrats from the Senate and the House of Representatives will then still have to hammer out major differences between their two versions of health reform before a final bill can be delivered to Mr Obama.

The president has made health reform his domestic policy priority and White House aides welcomed reports that there were now 60 supporters for a compromise deal in the Senate.

Mr Obama devoted his weekend radio and Internet address to the issue he campaigned on in 2008.

"Now - for the first time - there is a clear majority in the Senate that's willing to stand up to the insurance lobby and embrace lasting health insurance reforms that have eluded us for generations," he said.

The breakthrough came when Sen Ben Nelson, a socially conservative Democrat, told his party colleagues that he was willing to accept new wording that restricted federal funding for abortion.

It also emerged that he had secured extra federal funding for health programmes in his home state of Nebraska after days of negotiations.

His support appeared to give Senate leader Harry Reid the 60 votes required in the 100-seat chamber to overcome the threat of a Republican filibuster. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, December 19, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama’s Top Ten Foreign Policy Follies: This has hardly been a stellar year for the projection of American global power. Weakness, rather than strength, has been the hallmark of US foreign policy under Barack Obama, from the Iranian nuclear crisis to dithering over the war in Afghanistan. Instead of strong American leadership, the White House has all too often offered humiliating apologies for America’s past and embarrassing gaffes.

Here is a list of the ten biggest foreign policy follies of Barack Obama’s first year in office. I’ve tried to make the list inclusive of all corners of the world, ranging from Tehran to Tokyo to Khartoum, and frankly could easily have expanded it to a top 20 or even top 30 list. There are plenty to choose from, including some of the most cringe worthy moments in modern American history. >>> Nile Gardiner | Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Senate Snubs Barack Obama over Guantánamo Bay Closure
TIMESONLINE: President Obama’s high-profile pledge to shut Guantánamo Bay was stalled by his own party last night when Senate Democrats said they would not pay for the closure until they knew where the detainees were going to be sent.

The blow is the latest set-back for the Obama Administration, which has already disappointed some supporters by announcing that the controversial military tribunals for detainees, set up by President Bush but halted by Mr Obama on taking office, will be re-started.

Senators said they would deny the request for $80 million to move the 240 detainees from the US military base in Cuba. They also promised to prevent the Administration from transferring any of the facility’s prisoners to the US, although an outright ban could be relaxed in subsequent legislation.

Harry Reid, the Democrat Majority Leader, insisted that none of Guantánamo’s detainees should be sent to the US to stand trial or serve prison sentences.

“We don’t want them around,” he said. “I can’t make it any more clear. . . We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States.”

The Senate block, echoing a similar move by the House of Representatives, threatens to paralyse the Obama Administration’s key pledge to shut down the military camp by January. Congress's attitude may force the detention facility to remain in operation indefinitely. >>> Nico Hines | Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Obama Secures Senate Super-majority after Republican Arlen Specter Defects
Arlen Specter, who said the Republican party was now too right wing. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Democrats today were set to secure a 60-seat super-majority in the US Senate for the first time in a generation after the dramatic defection from Republican ranks of Arlen Specter.

The five-term Pennsylvania Senator announced at lunchtime after a brief conversation with President Obama that he will run for re-election next year as a Democrat because "the Republican Party has moved far to the right".

His decision means that Democrats should now have the votes needed to overcome delaying tactics known as filibusters in the Senate if, as expected, Al Franken overcomes final legal challenges preventing him from taking his seat after a razor-thin election victory in Minnesota.

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," said 79-year-old Mr Specter, in a statement. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election."

He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans." >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington | Tuesday, April 28, 2009