Ellen DeGeneres Tapped For HIV/AIDS Awareness Post

By Mike Hothi

Comedian and daytime television host Ellen DeGeneres is the new face for the Obama Administration’s effort to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement today at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. She announced that DeGeneres has been named as a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness.

“Ellen is going to bring not only her sharp wit and her big heart, but her impressive TV audience and more than eight million followers on Twitter, to raise awareness and support for this effort,” Clinton said. “I know we can look forward to many contributions from Ellen and her loyal fans across the globe.”

DeGeneres said she was honored by the offer.

“The fight against AIDS is something that has always been close to my heart. And I’m happy that I can use my platform to educate people and spread hope.”

Obama Losing His Top Economic Adviser

By Phillip Bunnell

The White House announced on Monday that Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, will step down at the end of the summer.

Goolsbee has been on the job for less than a year after replacing former CEA Chief Chrstina Romer. Like Romer, Goolsbee will be returning to academia, as a professor at the University of Chicago. Goolsbee will begin at the start of the next school year in late August.

Goolsbee’s departure represents a trend among Obama’s economic team. Romer, former National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and former OMD Director Peter Orszag have all stepped down in the past year.

White House Denies New York Times Report

A story published late Sunday night on the New York Times’ website about the Obama administration’s plans to unleash an ad assault on the GOP this fall is “100% inaccurate,” according to a White House official.

“The Times is just flat-out, 100 percent wrong,” the official said. “The first time Obama’s advisers heard about a national ad campaign is when the story showed up on the Times’ website last night.”

White House May Soon Announce Altered Cuba Policy

The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is working on unveiling a series of steps that would make it easier for Americans to travel and send money to citizens of Cuba. The paper reports that the proposed changes would reflect policies that were in place during the early years of the Clinton administration…