the obama administration said. and the obama administration was correct, these were not in the final deal. but nor were they in obama's letter to the brazilians and too the turks three weeks earlier. this created a significant problem between the united states and turkey and brazil. but what it also showed is that at the end of the day diplomacy between the united states and the west and iran actually hadn't failed. it had been abandoned. the success actually came, but it came six months too late. but by that time the political space of the administration, according to one obama official that i interviewed, had essentially run out. congress was coming at the administration like a steam roller, and there was a very legitimate fear in the obama administration. if they did not agree to rejecting the turkish/brazilian deal and by that forgoing the u.n. security council sanctions, then congress would pass its own sanctions, and that would have created a significant conflict between the states permanent five at the u.n. s

well fast forward to now and critics are claiming that the obama administration is the worst in the years when it comes to fulfilling freedom of information act request as some of the same groups the author of the obama administration's commitment to transparency in a meeting that was closed to the public and the press want to talk about irony they're no longer feeling the open government. it seems like the obama administration is a little less for transparency and a little more for selective filtering shocker now so many complaints from open government advocates in reference to the obama administration's transparency include administration lawyers aggressively fighting requests it ministrations war on whistleblowers the justice department going after reporters over respect for sources and more fees for those seeking the release of information in the last months groups like the a.c.l.u. ammi epitaph of all filed lawsuits about new or exorbitant fees and the obama administration likes to point out any transparency successes that they might have so of course there's the release of white hou

out there if you don't request it he won't receive it so request away and if the obama in the spirit of fifty obama administration sees fit you just might get a response. now there's a lot of focus these days on the ever increasing amounts that are spent on political campaigns the millions that are poured into television ads by candidates or super super pacs a lot he adds reach anyone in the area that might be sitting at home watching on their couch there is an entire world of micro-targeting to specific voters campaigns are going to send out e-mail blasts and all you when your husband or wife or sister or brother whoever may each get an e-mail you might be asking for your money in different ways i got an e-mail from the obama administration pointing out the g.o.p. is war on women's health targeting planned parenthood and the like but how do you know that i care about topics like that television program where my opinions on a daily basis aside the email address that wouldn't give it away so let's talk about this fairly new and increasingly integrated world of voter targeting both democrats and republicans are try

the obama administration failed 2010. >> for obama's to become president? one thing i want to mention at the same time he gives for the iranian people for the new year at the same time you slap the people to say how many years they are saying shin? turkey and 20% in richmond, and also of fate except they go for the sanctions in the united nations. in my opinion i don't see at this point* anti-war stations but the sanctions a to the people not the government. you have to realize that. it is to get the people of iran. >> day-care. a couple of points to raise raise, one quick correction iranians were enriching at 20% with a renegotiating. starting february 2010. they said they would rather buy the fuel and make it themselves. with the indication they have no intent to go up that 20%. i ain't one could make the argument the obama administration should have done something beyond changing the tone. that is a iranians were successful to change their town but it is back to the hostile discourse as it was before the expectation u.s. sore iran gives a significant conc

the obama administration is the first administration to use congressionally mandated sanctions on iran in a robust way. and you deserve considerable praise for that. i know that the president and you and numerous officials at state, treasury, defense have put in literally thousands of hours trying to persuade foreign officials and foreign businessmen to respect our sanctions and to help isolate iran. in that regard, i think it would be helpful to put to rest concerns of some observers that the administration has resigned to iran's becoming a nuclear tl threshold state. three months ago the israeli deputy minister issued a joint statement that spoke of preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability, end of quote. and a pentagon publication last month also said that u.s. seeks to "prevent iran's development of a nuclear weapons capability." so when senator graham yesterday asked whether the administration seeks to deny iran the ability to become a nuclear threshold state, you responded by saying that it is the position of the administration to prevent them, meaning the iran

the obama administration is the first administration to use congre congressionally mandated, and you deserve considerable praise for that. i know that the and you and numerous officials president at state, at treasury have put in thousands of hours trying to persuade foreign officials and foreign businessmen to respect our sanctions and to isolate iran. all for the purpose of implementing a policy intended to lead iran to abandon their weapons program. i think it would be helpful to put to rest concerns administration is resigned to iran becoming a nuclear threshold state. i think it's very important to reassure us on that point. based on my understanding of the administration's policy, i think you should be able to do that. three months ago, on december 1, secretary of state burns and israeli deputy foreign minister issued a statement and i quote preventing iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. and a pentagon publication last month says that iran seeks to, quote, prevent iran's if you can leer weapons capability, closed quote. so when senator graham yesterday asked wheth

now, the obama administration wants to present their side of the story. they've decided they're going to do a new documentary and they've released the trailer for it. it is put together by the guy who did the truth documentary for al gore, which was an excellent movie, i hear. no, we loved it. so tom hanks is the voice-over here. it's very mellow dramatic, called "the road we've traveled." let's watch. >> how do we understand this president and his time in office? do we look at the day's headlines or do we remember what we as a country have been through? >> president elect is here in chicago and he's named members of the economic team and they all fly in for the first big briefing on the economy. >> what was described in that meeting was an economic crisis beyond anything anybody had imagined. >> our time of standing pat and protecting interests and putting off unpleasant decisions that time has surely passed. >> his advises would ask where to begin which urgent need to put first. >> which is one which is two which is three which is four, which is five. w

the campaign is heating up and there's a new obama documentary. >> >> he's all alone. this is his decision. nobody is standing there with him. >> you know who put that together? the obama administration. well, we're going to give you a real break down here, the good, the bad of the obama administration, should web celebrating it. >> plus, there's this clown. what a ridiculous how many being. that one is easier, all bad. we'll explain. and then, doubling down on their attack. >> their offering the vote on the girl scout cookie model of selling. you buy them not because of the cookies, but to help the girl scouts. >> more ridiculous from fox news on that. they'll fight back against us. we've got the guy who made the movie who killed the electric car. we're going to fight back! it's go time. >> so we've heard a lot from the republicans throughout all these primary months. now, the obama administration wants to present their side of the story. they've decided they're going to do a new documentary and they've released the trailer for it. it is put together by the guy who did the truth documentary for al gore, which was an excellent movie, i hear. no, we loved it. so tom hanks is the voice

given what we've seen during the last few years during the obama administration and what's occurring in cuba in terms of the wave of repression against human rights activists and dissidents. given the deaths of several hunger strikers, given the recent persecution against the ladies in white, peaceful activists in cuba that have been calling for democratic reform, given the stern rebuff that former secretary richardson received in cuba to his recent overtures or negotiations, can you tell us just in the last few years of the obama administration that the helms burton law has been suspended, how has that expedited a transition to democracy in cuba. >> congressman, we take a backseat of no one in our condemnation of the denial of human rights that is a continuing feature of the castro regime. the particular instances that you mentioned are ones of great concern to us. we do think increasing people to people contact, supporting civil society in cuba, enhancing the free flow of information, promoting the capacity for more independence economically and politically from the cuban authoritie

thanks to the obama administration life might not be that bad. ion center in texas. sprawling 32 million dollars facility has the best of the discriminating illegal alien taste. the cafeteria, soccer fields and media center and march madness might like the basketball court and nice full court outside and great for fun in the sun and in texas heat gets too much. bring the round ball indoors where they have an amazing climate controlled gymnasium and for you legal eagle detainees, check out the fully stocked legal library and only the best medical care for you in the medical center, fully equipped and attentions to the bumps of bruising of immigrating and when the sun sets there are plenty of private computer stations to catch up with e-mail and act immediately because it's brought to you by the obama administrations and funded by the american taxpayer. >> i have a-- can i get a massage and spa? >> and they actually have-- looks like, jump on. >> and it's a 100 million dollar facility. and-- >> no, i mean it's a ridiculous argument. a, we don't know

i think this is -- it would be a disaster for the obama administration if this is struck down. but, the question of how you carve out the individual mandate is a very difficult one. in fact, it's so difficult that the supreme court asked a third lawyer to argue tomorrow because the obama administration argues that the individual mandate plus something else should be struck down if you strike something down, the opposing lawyers say only the -- the individual mandate would be struck down, and the court appointed a third lawyer to argue that the whole thing should be struck down. >> so many more questions and so little time. >> the other way around. it's the -- it's the opponents who are arguing that the whole thing should be struck down and they appointed a lawyer to argue that just the individual mandate should be struck down. thank you. >> i want to ask you all about the possibility of the return of the public option and health care exchanges but that's another segment. you can think that through. i want to let our viewers know that we have -- just to tax you more than you have

every day it's sunshine week so politicos josh gerstein is going to join us to break down the obama administration's record on transparency and the internet has proven to be a tool that can be used for good and for evil so we're going to speak to an author that looks at the power dynamics between governments corporations and the public to figure out how we can keep the internet free so we have all that market and i include in it as of happy hour but first take a look at the mainstream media has decided to me it's. no surprise here the day after more primaries and the mainstream media is just beside itself with how much there is to discuss about the results. rick santorum it's a double win in the deep south the alabama and mississippi primaries a true for true space we've deep in the american south rick santorum celebrating twin victories at mississippi and alabama so why did she informs the top he over performed he did really well with conservative voters and there are a lot of them and in mississippi alabama white evangelical voters very christian voters flocking to him instead of newt gingrich kid

. >> the obama administration is defending the provision and says the mandate is essential. fighting back against the 26 states against the lawsuit, the white house is promising the law will be upheld. >> by the end of this decade, we will be glad the republicans challenged obamacare. >> both sides are aware of the election-year effect this supreme court decision could have. >>no cameras are allowed inside the courtroom. audio recordings will be made available each day after 2:00. arguments are set to begin first thing tomorrow morning and her expected to go until wednesday. no decision is expected until later in the summer. >> to talk more about this ongoing health-care debate, abbie phillips joins us. this is an historic moment. this case is unprecedented in so many ways. >> this is an historic health care law. you will hear that a lot from the obama administration. many of the challenges are unprecedented. they're going to the supreme court whether to ask if it is constitutional for the federal government to do things that this law mandates. the supreme court recognizing

it's a hard business and one of the challenges for the obama administration is for those regimes that have not had revolutions, the monarchies which as elliott spoke out, have legitimacy and are trying in their own way to reform. one of the challenges for the obama administration is to help those regimes actually do a democratic transition before there is a revolution not after. but i offer the vignette about mubarak, it's very hard. and final post script, in the last meeting that president bush had with king abdullah of saudi, and where he talked again, once again about reform and applauded king abdullah's reform, on the way out to the van when abdullah left, he said mr. president i understand what you're saying but i'm afraid. i'm afraid. man in his 80s, maybe 90s, trying to reform but such a long way to go. so it's very hard but one of the things i think the obama administration has an opportunity to do is to try to get these regimes that have some legitimacy to lead their people to a democratic future without having to go through the disruption of revolutionary change. >> can i --

this is all part of what the obama administration is trying to do. te the freedom of americans. the president even called ms. fluke before a tv appearance. >> you were in our green room getting ready to come on and the white house tells us we can reveal that you just got off the phone with president obama. >> yes, i did. >> the stakes have been raised pretty high but what did he say to you? >>, you know, he encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of american women. >> bill: but what about the concerns of americans in general? now, forced to buy health insurance who don't want to pay extra for sandra fluke's social decisions. ms. fluke is unconcerned. >> i think this is about women's health. that's what it's always been about for me and that's what it's about for the many many americans who are emailing me constantly telling me how important it is. >> bill: no matter what i say sandra fluke and those who spater her are not going to listen. sex is a potential health crisis. what goes on in everybody's bedroom. i

has passed and he needed a quick victory he didn't get it and as a result four weeks later the obama administration essentially abandoned diplomacy and entered the sanction track so you're saying he caved to external pressures that someone very important factor of course there's other people inside the obama white house who were probably very loyal to the president but i don't think it is fair to wonder how committed they were to his vision of diplomacy since there's no track record of them prior to that having supported but and he hired some some of those individuals and put him in a very high places and i think when push comes to shove it becomes important what the viewpoints of these advisers are as world particularly when it comes to the question how much more patients are we willing to her on the those circumstances if there are a lot of people who may not hundred percent shared vision the first thing that suffers the first thing that is sacrifice is patience and patience is a critical component to any successful negotiation all of the negotiations at the united states has pursued successfully

>> reporter: cnn's tubin has somewhat softened his line that the obama administration's argument was a train wreck and senate majority leader harry reid says you can read too much into the justices' questions, but clearly the obama administration and supporters of the patient protection and affordable care act have got to be concerned about how the court will rule in june. >> a lot of people watching this. according to the georgetown university health policy institute center on health insurance reform, every state in the nation has already started taking some kind of action to implement ated forrable care act except arizona -- implement the affordable care act except arizona. 12 states issued new rules that address 10 points of the law. today i sat down with montgomery county's chief health officer who is watching the supreme court and holding her breath. >> i think there's a great deal at stake. the united states has been for so many years having so many people who are uninsured who are not getting healthcare. that's been putting the burden on our hospitals and our emergency departme

actually passed on this case for going to tell you why and the obama administration pledged to be the most transparent ever hard athletico josh gerstein going for them . the official g.o.p. cation giuliani for one called touch from the. video. on she's smiling old come. on omissions for you now in the palm of your. question on the call. last november we first told you about twenty seven year old jose pimentel a dominican native who was arrested by the n.y.p.d. on charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree and the mainstream media who loves a good terrorism gone wrong story jumped all over it as soon as it hit the news room the man accused of making pipe bombs in his new york city apartment is in custody this morning on several terrorism related charges authorities in new york believe based off an alleged terrorist before perhaps hours before he could execute his plans twenty seven year old jose pimentel allegedly wanted to bomb the police and u.s. troops returning from the war we want to show you a video of the resulting damage you can see him until he had been abl

so we probably have just recently seen the obama administration suspend the helms-burton law as it has been done twice a year every year since 1996. the reason for suspension of the law is two fold. it serves u.s. interest and it speeds up a democracy in cuba. given what we have seen over the last few years at what that has been occurring in cuba, given the deaths of several hunger striker s, given the recent persecution against the ladies in white, peaceful activists in cuba that have been calling for democratic reform, given the stern rebuff that former secretary richardson received in cuba to his recent overtures or negotiations, can you at the us just in the last few years of the obama administration that the law has been suspended, how has that sped up a transition to democracy in cuba? >> we take a back seat to known in our condemning the denial of human rights that is a continuing feature of the castro regime and the particular instances that you mentioned are ones of great concern to us. we do think that increasing people to people contact, supporting civil is society in cuba a

he claims the obama administration is limbing the freedom guaranteed to citizens by the u.s. constitution. >> we can't give it away because we go to the heart of whether -- >> reporter: last month president obama announced a federal policy that requires employer health insurance plans to offer free coverage of contraceptive services for women. >> when it comes to women preventive care should include coverage of contraceptive services such as birth control. that free preventive karin clouds access to free contraceptive care. >> reporter: if and when the administration's policy comes into effect in august 2013, all women will have access to contraceptive services free of charge. clinics specializing in women's health such as planned parenthood welcome his move. they say it will benefit all women and especially those who couldn't otherwise afford to pay. >> we think that's a major step forward for women. president obama and his administration has been very, very supportive of women's health care and access to affordable health care services. >> reporter: the announcement drew ang

it will certainly be a very important day for the obama administration and their desire to keep this entire law intact. as we found out yesterday, this could all come down to one justice's decision. in the high court yesterday, all eyes were on justice anthony kennedy, who is seen as holding the key vote. justice kennedy seemed skeptical of the obama administration oppose the case. >> are locked in the law of torts has been if you don'tyou don't have the duty to arrest someone did that person is in danger. >> strong protests carried on outside. if the supreme court upholds the man dopemandate, this paves the way for the government to be a will tell you to do everything. >> i am a woman with a pre- existing condition, so this means a lot to me personally. >> lawyers for the obama administration argued that the mandate is the only way to finance something everyone needs at some point in their life. but attorneys for the 26 states that filed the suit argued congress cannot force anyone to buy something. this will be the last day that the justices hear arguments by miticide. they are expe

. >> rick santorum weighed in on the question saying the obama administration has made a critical error in its approach to the war. >> the position of this administration does something you simply can't do if you want to win a war particularly against a gorilla insurgent force, that's give them hope they can survive. that's what the president has done when he came into office and put a time line for us to leave afghanistan. if this is the game plan, if the game plan is we're leaving irrespective of whether we're going to succeed or not, then why are we still there? let's either commit to winning or let's get out. >> mitt romney was also critical of the president but stopped short of offering his own plan for afghanistan. >> before a take a stand on a particular course of action i want to get the input from the people there. i think it's plain to see that the conditions there are not going very well. and the -- i lay part of the blame for that on the lack of leadership on the part of our president. >> the pace and timing of the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan will be a central topic whe

♪ n a war with the obama administration. cuse the koch brothers of jacking up prices at the pump. and on friday the koch brothers sent a letter to campaign manager jim mussina and this is what it said, quote: important matters like maintaining oil subsidies and busting unions for example. yesterday, jim mussina responded with some fighting words of his own, and he wrote: now, for more on the spat between the white house and the coach brothers we turn to washington post reporter aaron blake who has been covering this back and forth. aaron welcome back to "the war room." >> good to be here. >> all right. so the obama administration must have known that sending out an email like that was going to engender a response. what were they thinking? were they thinking that picking a fight with the koch brothers would be a win? >> the interesting thing here is this has been going on for a long time. i think that the koch brothers put something out today that said the obama campaign and president obama has mentioned them something like a

then ron kirk talks about the obama administration's efforts to increase exports. and later a house hearing on the 2013 budget request for the securities and exchange commission. >> now the senate foreign relations committee looks at the president's 2013 budget request for the u.s. agency for international development. it falls under the state department's $51.6 billion budget request and would have an increase of 1.6%. this is an hour and a half. i had the opportunity to serve with donald payne in the house of representatives, and he was always a champion for our involvement in the continent of africa and around the globe for the right reasons. he will be sorely missed in the congress of the united states. i want to compliment usaid for naming a fellowship under his name. i think it is a fitting tribute to work he has done throughout his career. we offer our deepest condolences to his family. today's hearing we have the usaid administrator to provide with us to provide testimony on the fiscal year 2013 budget request. i believe our international developmen

so the obama administration must have known that sending out an email like that was going to engenderere they thinking? were they thinking that picking a fight with the koch brothers would be a win? >> the interesting thing here is this has been going on for a long time. i think that the koch brothers put something out today that said the obama campaign and president obama has mentioned them something like a dozen times in 2010 alone. what is different here i think is that the two sides have chose to engage. you know it's a series of letters being thrown back and forth, but it is a kind of engagement arguing over the merits of their various arguments. and that has upped the anti-as far as this battle goes. >> in politics it's always good to have an enemy, right? so if you pick the right enemy it is always good for a fight. and people like the ability of a candidate to have a backbone. and the koch brothers respond, and i'm reading now, the obama administration always seeks a villain to explain away the disastrous failure of their economic policies. i'm not sure they are the victim but

prior to that during the bush administration, no of terrorist acts against iran. then later on during obama administration statements issued but never secretary of state going to the podium and doing so in person. i think that was deliberate because the administration is in a phase in which it wants to deescalate, wanted to ratchet things up to get maximum leverage for a negotiation but it did not want things to spill over into an open conflict. there again the tactical differences between israel and united states are playing quite a decisive role in this. one last point on this, to give you an impression of how tense these tabt cal differences have become. two weeks ago nbc reports three american u.s. administration officials confirmed or gave their assessment israel is behind assassinations and doing so in collaboration with iranian terrorist organization on the u.s. terrorist list. this was quite explosive. it's pointing a finger at an ally. then you have trips by dempsey back and forth and saw comments yesterday from israel saying this open conversation about these differences is ultima

obviously the obama administration reversed course. got a lot of republicans especially in the house that are pressing for reversal of that decision. it's in the courts right now. so we'll see that sorts out. >> yucca mountain is outside the jurisdiction of the nnsa. >> yeah, it is. nnsa is not into the disposal of commercial nuclear waste or anything like that. it's really -- the agency i cover is really about how do we maintain the stockpile that we have? there's eight sites around the country that are tasked with that. and then it's kind of the other mission of, you know, securing nuclear material around the world, making sure that it's safe, you know. that's been a big agenda of the obama administration as well. a lot of funding goes overseas to make sure things are safe overseas. >> you mentioned a lot of this is classified so you're report on a topic that's challenging for a reporter to delve into. have you gone out to the sites, have you seen the teams in action? >> yeah, i have been to five of the eight sites so far. i have been

now that he's given it what do you think about you but you happy with the reasoning that the obama administration put out for it just doesn't go far enough that's the problem we welcome the fact that the obama administration is out there trying to provide some justification for a targeted killing told the but really the american people don't know who is being killed in their name and i think that's the big problem what does it really means to be a and we can that and militants are someone that the united states government believes it can target for lethal force and i think it's especially concerning that a lot of these targeted killings are happening away from the so called hot battlefield in afghanistan and yemen or even then somalia which i think further calls into question what the government believes is its legal reasoning and i think that that's a concern that gets heightened in the case of constitutional considerations when you're talking about an american citizen in the murky war on terror that's every every place could potentially turn into a battlefield unfortunately h.r. three forty sev

to get them to agree to the deal that is built on the benchmark of the previous deal that the obama administration had put in front of the iranians, that the iranians had rejected six months earlier, but they managed to get a yes from the iranians. what they didn't know, though, that two days before the turkish and brazilian president went to iran, russia and china had already agreed to new sanctions. so by the time the turks and brazilians, ecstatic, going to the u.s. and saying look, we managed to get the iranians to put a yes and their signatures on the deal, the administration had to choose between a diplomatic breakthrough on the nuclear issue or for sanctions in the security council. and they chose the sanctions. and here we are. it doesn't. >> jon: that doesn't sound like us. are you sure that's what we did? was it fully explained to us. well, back it up, so the deal is this, and it was 2008 or 2009. we offered to take from iran their leu which is the lower enriched uranium. they need uranium for radiation treatment force cancer patients. we offer to take that fuel and get them fuel pads th

. >> officials in the obama administration say they'll continue to press israel to seek a diplomatic tion. they say a strike by israel would have dangerous consequences across the middle east. obama and netanyahu have left little doubt about where they stand. they differ on several points, still they agree they need to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons. nhk world's kohei tsuji has more from washington. >> reporter: israel has been fighting with arab neighbors since the country was founded. the israeli people have a strong resolve. they want to defend their homeland without relying on others. in the past, israel has attacked nuclear facilities in iraq and syria. israeli leaders wanted to prevent their neighbors from developing nuclear weapons. president obama has been frustrated in his efforts to press iranian leaders into abandoning their nuclear ambitions. prime minister netanyahu is getting impatient. obama is trying to dissuade him not to rush for the military option. officials in the obama administration are concerned military tensions between israel and iran will spread t

diplomat and fox news contributor john bolton is accusing the obama administration of betraying a your israel military secret. bolton says the new report that israel has been granted access to airbases in iran's northern border was leak by the obama administration. bolton says this was to thwart a possible directly airstrike on iran. >> this leak, today, is part of the administration's campaign against an israeli attack. so, the obama administration has brought it up and they will reveal very sensitive and important information to defeat an attack. >> the obama administration has not responded to bowl continue's assessment. >> more trouble in the skies in alaska during an emergency landing because two children refused to stay strapped in. the long bone, california, to canada flight landed in oregon. the children and the parents got on a later flight. those are the top five at five. >> republicans are accusing president obama of laying politics at the pump, they say the plan to end tax breaks for oil companies will do nothing to cut gas prices. and now, like in washington bureau with th

john bolton is accusing the obama administration. is that far fair to say? gn policy dot-com, a magazine site, interviewing several administration sources that israel has a deal with the country of azerbaijan, on iran's northern border to use an air field to attack the iranian nuclear weapons program. i do think that's part of a concerted effort by the obama administration to try to pressure israel, publicly, not to attack. it began when defense secretary panetta said 2 months ago that the likely thyme frame was april through june. i think that the balm recognizes the private efforts to pressure israel have probably failed and this is a way of doing it publicly. >> greta: there were lots of reports two months ago about how this is an impossible project for the israelis to get their f-15s all the way to the sites and get back. now we have read that they have bases in azerbaijan, they valid places to refuel and the distance is much shorter, so a much more appealing military effort and now this is effort. >> i hadn't been one to talk about the possibilities here

fair shake and that's one of the many reasons why is really interested on the line with the obama administration interests on the iran issue. there and they've got a very good job of trying to take actions that would lessen the possibility of diplomacy being successful but the obama administration understands better than anyone right now what's at stake and. he should be commended that over the last forty eight seventy two hours he's taken multiple steps publicly and privately to push back and i'm hoping that we're going to see more of that continue because if it doesn't they're going to continue to try to bully him and in the event that the talks fail could it speed up the process of military intervention i mean it certainly could i mean defining failure is going to be something that i think all parties at the negotiating table and the israelis who won't be at the table are going to try to do if the talks don't produce even a modicum of success in the interim but that being said because the parties realize what's at stake right now. defining failure is going to be a lofty task for people that a

things were bad, data indicate just how close we were to falling off the edge of a cliff when the obama administration took office in january 2009. the economic crisis that struck in the months before president obama took office caused more americans to lose their jobs than at any time since the great depression. initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to over 600,000 a week and the job opening and tu indicated a plunge in hiring. there were many causes that began in the end of 2007. i taught a course in the period while i was back at princeton called "the great recession, causes, consequences and remedies. in the first session i showed a slide that listed 20 factors that economists have identified as causes of the financial crisis. these included stagnation inmil in equality, which caused them to borrow to maintain consumption, regulatory gaps, an uneven regulation of the financial system that allowed risks to build up in the shadow banking system, easy credit and weak underwriting standards that led to an unsustainable bubble in housing and other markets, lack of transparency and the list wen