For President Obama, the era of big Government is not over. "It is true, we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or generate long-term growth," he proclaimed in his first budget to Congress. But "at this particular moment, government must lead the way." A partial Obama to-do list, only some of it done, includes a remake of the health care and energy sectors; a $787 billion stimulus bill aimed, so far, mostly at public employment; takeovers of ...

Just hours before the start of the second presidential debate, a new national survey suggests that Sen. Barack Obama is making gains among Americans as a compassionate candidate. That could be important in the debate in Nashville, which is a town hall-style meeting with the candidates fielding questions from undecided voters in the audience. In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Tuesday afternoon, 55 percent of registered voters questioned say that Obama "cares more about people like you" ...

Even a popular president who still seems to enjoy the general goodwill of the American public can have a bad week. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Even a popular president who still seems to enjoy the general goodwill of the American public can have a bad week. In no particular order, the administration has taken fire on these fronts: the deficit, health care reform, the effectiveness of the stimulus package, the message on Iran and, of course, the economy. Sure, ...

Now comes the hard part. Handed a sweeping mandate for change, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) begins the formidable task of delivering on a laundry list of promises intended to lift the country after its worst recession since World War II. Voters -- skeptical, pessimistic and impatient -- are unlikely to give the party, which has never held office, much time to make good. Japan is witnessing historic highs in unemployment and experiencing ramifications like homelessness for the first ...

Voters in Japan will turn out for parliamentary elections Sunday in what poll after poll shows will be a historic shift in political power to oust the ruling party. The Liberal Democratic Party has been in nearly continuous control of Japan's parliament for more than five decades. But the country's worst economic crisis since World War II has led a normally sedate electorate to the polls, disgruntled with how slowly the country is emerging from the downturn. Polls ...

After a losing presidential campaign, it became clear to Edward "Ted" Kennedy that his true calling was to help shape the country's political future from the U.S. Senate. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After a losing presidential campaign, it became clear to Edward "Ted" Kennedy that his true calling was to help shape the country's political future from the U.S. Senate. The turning point came in 1980 when Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged President Carter in the Democratic primaries. But Kennedy's loss was not ...

Election workers labored in tents by the light of battery-powered lanterns, counting ballots after a day of brisk voting Thursday. "Karzai, Karzai, Karzai," repeated one worker as he stacked ballots into a growing pile. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's incumbent president, was running for re-election after seven years in office against 40 other candidates. "Ramazan Bashardost," another worker announced, naming the populist opposition candidate who ran a quirky campaign from inside a tent outside parliament, tossing charges of corruption at Karzai's government. ...

Deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya arrived Wednesday in Costa Rica a day ahead of planned discussions with the man who ousted him and the host country's president. and He vowed he has no plans to negotiate. "I want to clarify that our presence here does not represent any negotiation," he told reporters at the airport in San Jose. "It's simply listening through a mediator ... to the approach of those who have established this regimen of fact, those who ...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it would be expanding the number of films in its Best Picture category from five to 10. In immediate response, a Hollywood spokesperson said the movie industry had promised to make twice as many good pictures. Not really. The doubling of finalists for the most prized Oscar will have no impact on the quality of films. But it should allow a wider variety of movies in a category ...

Some Iranian-Americans, watching the post-election unrest in Iran, say the tug-of-war between the people and their hardline government has come to a head after three decades. "I am absolutely convinced that what we are witnessing is a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic," said Dr. Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City. "Even if the Islamic Republic survives this crisis, it will no longer be as it ...