Thursday AM Obama Roundup (excerpts)

"Obama, Hill Democrats Diverge on Stimulus" (WaPo-Political Browser blog)

For all the talk of how one party controls all the levers of power in Washington, yesterday's stimulus vote provided a useful reminder that President Obama and his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill have different constituencies, different promises to keep and different elections to worry about.

"Obama's bold first week" (LA Times-Rosa Brooks)

Barack Obama ended four wars during his first week as president. With just a few words and strokes of his pen, the president ended the war on terror, the war on Islam, the war on science and the war on women.

"Tech Industry CEOs Back Obama's Rescue Package" (Wall Street Journal)

President Barack Obama won a well-timed plug for his economic-rescue plan from the U.S. high-tech industry, a group he nurtured heavily during the campaign.

Mr. Obama's gathering with 13 chief executives at the White House Wednesday -- the first corporate sit-down of his presidency -- showed how much the two sides now need one another's support. Ten of the 13 executives run companies that would broadly be considered from the technology industry.

"Holder’s Hole Card" (Newsweek-Web Only)

Republican opposition to Eric Holder faded away Wednesday after the attorney general designate gave private assurances that he did not "intend" to target CIA officers who acted in "good faith" when conducting harsh interrogations of terror suspects.

But Holder's assurances, offered to GOP Sen. Christopher Bond, were carefully qualified—and left the door open for him to approve expanded Justice Department inquiries into agency interrogations once he takes office, according to White House and congressional aides who asked not to be identified talking about private meetings.

Barack Obama