Petraeus Sworn In As New Head Of CIA

Decorated Gen. David Petraeus was sworn in Tuesday as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In a morning ceremony, Vice President Joe Biden did the honors, telling the former ISAF Commander in Afghanistan that the words “duty, honor and country…come to mind when I think of you.”

Petraeus succeeds Leon Panetta, who recently replaced Robert Gates at the helm of the Pentagon.

According to a White House pool report, after taking the oath, Petraeus thanked President Obama for having “confidence in an old soldier,” and joked that his retirement from the military had been enjoyable.

“It’s been a terrific week,” he said.

Obama's Ratings Slip In New Polls

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 53% of voters surveyed disapprove on some degree of the  job President Obama is doing as President.

According to the poll, 38% strongly disapprove of Obama’s job performance, compared to just 21% who strongly approve.

The same poll taken four months ago revealed that just 38% disapproved of the President’s performance.

In a separate poll performed by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, Obama fares little better, with only 44 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval, the highest since he assumed office.

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White House Abandoning New Ozone Standards

President Barack Obama announced Friday morning that the White House will be dropping attempts to enhance air quality by tightening ozone standards.

The President attributed the decision to “the importance of reducing regulatory burdens” during a period of economic uncertainty.

The new regulations, entitled the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, were the targets of criticism from both business leaders and GOP lawmakers.

Although the move will likely be interpreted by environmentalists as the President kow-towing to Congressional Republicans, the President stressed that his administration will “vigorously oppose” the broader effort to limit the EPA’s authority to establish environmental regulations.

Obama Reveals Jobs Plan Details

President Obama revealed several key details about his administration’s upcoming jobs plan in a fundraising memo sent out by his re-election campaign Thursday morning.

As Obama outlined in the memo, the jobs plan will be a bipartisan proposal that will “strengthen small businesses,” provide “needed breaks to middle-class families” and ultimately reduce the deficit.

“It’s been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on,” Obama wrote. “I’m asking lawmakers to look past short-term politics and take action on that [jobs] plan.”

The president is also expected to call for a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut on employees.

To date there are around 14 million US workers unemployed and millions more are working part-time jobs that are beneath their skill levels.

Obama will formally unveil the plan before a joint-session of Congress on September 8th.

Obama Congratulates New Japanese Prime Minister

President Barack Obama congratulated Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister, Tuesday.

“The relationship between the United States and Japan is based on common interests and common values, and I look forward to working with Prime Minister Noda to tackle the broad range of economic and security issues that require our attention,” Obama said in a statement.

Noda, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan, assumes his leadership role shortly after Naoto Kan resigned in the face of mounting popularity.