The Obama administration is expected to release a report soon estimating that the 10-year budget deficit for the United States will be roughly $9 trillion, up approximately $2 trillion from the previous projection of $7.108 trillion, Reuters reported on August 21.

A new study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University found that Democratic districts received twice as many economic stimulus dollars as Republican districts. The study also found “no statistical correlation” between income or unemployment and the stimulus funds a district received.

Computer experts have reportedly found 22 million White House e-mails from the years President George W. Bush was in office, while the Obama administration is still searching for more of the Bush administration’s “lost” e-mail.

President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, adopting a self-effacing attitude during his acceptance speech as he said, “I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility.”

President Barack Obama is set to accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 in Oslo, Norway. This will be less than two weeks after his announcement that he is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, not exactly what one would expect from a “peace prize” winner.

The federal government wasted almost $100 billion dollars of taxpayer money in 2009 according to the Office of Management and Budget. The figures were released on November 17 and show a $26-billion increase over the 2008 total.

Recent public opinion polls are exhibiting a trend that Democrats ought to find disturbing. For the first time since 2008, more voters would pick a Republican candidate in the 2010 elections than would pick a Democrat. More independents would favor the Republican candidate in their districts over the Democratic candidate. More voters would advise their representative to vote against a healthcare bill than to vote for it. And more voters strongly disapprove of President Barack Obama’s performance than strongly approve.

CNN Anchor Lou Dobbs announced on the air on November 11 that he was resigning from the network to pursue other unspecified opportunities. John King, currently anchoring the Sunday political news program State of the Union, will step in to replace Dobbs early next year. Various anchors will fill in for Dobbs until then.

President Barack Obama on November 5 met with Native American tribal leaders at what was dubbed the White House Tribal Nations Conference. The administration invited representatives from the 564 federally recognized tribes, and leaders from almost 400 tribes showed up.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider a bill on November 5 that the Electronic Frontier Foundation believes is this year’s “best chance” for significant reform of the USA Patriot Act.