May 19th, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- A top government watchdog says the military command overseeing $15 billion in U.S. programs to develop Afghanistan's security forces cannot be sure the money is being managed effectively.

In its first audit report since being formed a year ago, the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said Tuesday the Combined Security Transition Command "lacks effective contract oversight capabilities."

It is the command's responsibility to make sure U.S. tax dollars are spent properly, the audit says. That means command staff must visit locations where contractors are working to verify that contractors are following the terms of their deals with the government.

That, said the audit, is not happening.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the office that has records about millions of possibly missing e-mails from the Bush White House does not have to make them public.

The appeals court in Washington ruled that the White House Office of Administration is not an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act, allowing the White House to keep secret documents about an e-mail system that has been plagued with problems.

During its first term, the Bush White House failed to install electronic record-keeping for e-mail when it switched to a new system, resulting in millions of messages that could not be found. The Bush White House discovered the problem in 2005 and rejected a proposed solution.

A group known as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued to get documents about the office's electronic record-keeping, including reports analyzing system problems, plans to find the missing e-mails and create an improved system and records of any retained messages.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WHITE_HOUSE_E_MAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The case was argued before the judges in November, before President Barack Obama took office. But the Obama administration is siding with the previous administration in trying to kill another lawsuit that seeks to recover any missing e-mails.

The Bush White House eventually said that it located 14 million e-mails that were misplaced and that the White House had restored hundreds of thousands of other e-mails from computer backup tapes. But two groups - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive - filed a lawsuit against the Executive Office of the President in February arguing that large amounts of e-mail may still be missing, and that the government must undertake an extensive recovery effort.

The groups expressed disappointment that Obama's Justice Department asked the suit be dismissed after Obama promised greater transparency in government.

Anne Weismann, CREW's chief counsel, said the group is disappointed in the ruling but it is negotiating with Obama's White House to get access to the Office of Administration's documents anyway.

"Every president except for George W. Bush has treated OA as an agency subject to the FOIA and we are counting on President Obama to do the same," she said in a statement.

take that !!!

WASHINGTON — In an abrupt shift, Senate Democratic leaders said they would not provide the $80 million that President Obama requested to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The move escalates pressure on the president, who on Thursday is scheduled to outline his plans for the 240 terrorism suspects still held there.

Reminds me of the Family Guy episode when congress was about to vote against Bush's war until Peter said anyone who doesn't vote for this is gay, so of course it passed.

When are they going to finally announce the merger of the democratic and republican parties?

Put down the kool aid Gary.

and thanks to Obama the religious fanatics have taken over the democratic party as well.

I advise sitting in your basement with the doors locked, your gun on your lap and all the bottled water you can buy.

You'll feel better.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge says the United States can continue to hold some prisoners at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely without any charges.

U.S. District Judge John Bates' opinion issued Tuesday night limited the Obama administration's definition of who can be held. But he said Congress in the days after Sept. 11, 2001 gave the president the authority to hold anyone involved in planning, aiding or carrying out the terrorist attacks.

Bates' opinion comes amid increasing debate over whether President Barack Obama is going to release anyone from Guantanamo. Obama has promised to close the prison by January, but Senate Democrats say they will block the move until he comes up with a plan for the detainees.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GUANTANAMO_DETAINEES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

the more they stay the same.

the war can go on indefinitely.

than his words.

"As usual, Obama effectively defended various civil liberties ideals while advocating policies that contradict them."

than an actual Democrat.

Reminds me of the DNC choosing Obama instead of an actual Democrat.

so did the democrats by rubber stamping everything Bush/Cheney did for 8 years !!

do as we say, not as we do.

or maybe Obama's commitment to restricting our constitutional rights?

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to overrule long-standing law that stops police from initiating questions unless a defendant's lawyer is present, another stark example of the White House seeking to limit rather than expand rights.

The administration's action — and several others — have disappointed civil rights and civil liberties groups that expected President Barack Obama to reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, after the Democrat's call for change during the 2008 campaign.

Since taking office, Obama has drawn criticism for backing the continued imprisonment of enemy combatants in Afghanistan without trial, invoking the "state secrets" privilege to avoid releasing information in lawsuits and limiting the rights of prisoners to test genetic evidence used to convict them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_go_su_co/us_obama_defendants__rights

Welcome to reality Joan.