PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans have grown increasingly less likely to view President Obama as a strong and decisive leader since he took office. Roughly half now believe this aptly describes, him compared with 60% a year ago and 73% in April 2009. Obama's ratings on being a strong and decisive leader are down a total of 21 percentage points since taking office, compared with a 15-point decline on understanding Americans' daily problems and a 9-point decline in sharing their values. Obama's overall job approval rating declined 16 points over the same time period. The March 25-27 poll also asked Americans...

Pittsburgh Post'Gazette, by Michael A. Fuoco Posted By: JoniTx- Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:13:44 GMT Retired Secret Service Special Agent Joe Trainor Sr. of Wilkins will pause today, the 30th anniversary of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, to reflect on the events of that historic day.As he has every March 30 since John Hinckley Jr. opened fire outside the Washington Hilton, Mr. Trainor, 61, who was a member of Mr. Reagan's protective detail, will thank God that neither the president nor any of the three others wounded by gunfire died that day. And inevitably he'll contemplate how something as random as a coin toss quite possibly saved his life.

President Barack Obama will set an ambitious goal on Wednesday to cut U.S. oil imports by a third over 10 years, focusing on energy security amid high gasoline prices that could stall the country's economic recovery. Obama will outline his strategy in a speech after spending days explaining U.S.-led military action in Libya, where fighting, accompanied by popular unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, has helped push gasoline prices toward $4 a gallon. Discussing the speech, the Democratic president said the country must increase its energy independence.

Govt buyout of TEPCO pitched / Public-funded takeover could help utility survive huge damages bill The Yomiuri Shimbun The government might place Tokyo Electric Power Co. under effective state control to help the utility survive if it has to pay massive amounts of compensation to businesses and individuals affected by its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to government sources. A plan proposed by some members of the government would involve the government and other state entities acquiring a majority stake in TEPCO to help the beleaguered firm pay the damages, the sources said. One government source said...

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote today on a bill that would reauthorize a popular school-choice program in Washington, DC. In 2009, the Democratic-controlled Congress allowed the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) to lapse by ending acceptance of new students into the program. Often referred to as the "DC voucher program," the DC OSP provides tuition vouchers to low-income families in the nation's capital, allowing parents to send their children to the private schools of their choice. The new measure before Congress would revive and expand the program. Virginia Walden Ford, executive director of DC Parents for...

The Justice Department’s Office of Personnel Responsibility (OPR) has concluded an investigation finding that politics played no role in the handling of the New Black Panther Party case, which sparked a racially charged political fight. After reviewing thousands of pages of internal e-mails and notes and conducting 44 interviews with department staff members, the OPR reported that “department attorneys did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment” and that the voter-intimidation case against the Panthers was dismissed on “a good faith assessment of the law” and “not influenced by the race of the defendants.” The OPR’s findings were released...

The Norwegian government will neither send arms to the opponents of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi nor contribute to any moves to send ground troops into the country. Defense Minister Grete Faremo was visiting Norwegian military forces involved in the Libyan operation on Wednesday, and said she won’t support delivering weapons to those trying to topple Gadhafi. Faremo, who arrived during the night at the military base on Crete where Norwegian forces are now stationed, followed up on remarks made by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday. He told the Norwegian Parliament that the UN-backed operation in which Norway is participating...