What You Need to Know: 02.18.09

Obama unveils $75B mortgage relief plan
"Seeking to tackle “a crisis unlike any we’ve ever known,” President Barack Obama unveiled an ambitious $75 billion plan Wednesday to keep as many as 9 million Americans from losing their homes to foreclosure.

Announcing the plan in Arizona — a state especially hard hit by the housing crunch — Obama said that turning around the battered economy requires stemming the continuing tide of foreclosures. The housing crisis that began last year set many other factors in motion and helped lead to the current, widening recession."

Obama’s War on Terror May Resemble Bush’s in Some Areas
"Even as it pulls back from harsh interrogations and other sharply debated aspects of George W. Bush’s “war on terrorism,” the Obama administration is quietly signaling continued support for other major elements of its predecessor’s approach to fighting Al Qaeda.

In little-noticed confirmation testimony recently, Obama nominees endorsed continuing the C.I.A.’s program of transferring prisoners to other countries without legal rights, and indefinitely detaining terrorism suspects without trials even if they were arrested far from a war zone."

Burris ‘welcomes’ Blagojevich contacts probe
"An increasingly embattled Sen. Roland Burris said he "welcomes" the opportunity to answer renewed questions from authorities and elected officials about how he landed a coveted Senate appointment from ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

It appears he'll have his chance.

Burris' admission that he had more contact with Blagojevich advisers about the Senate seat than he described under oath to a state House impeachment panel has prompted furious lawmakers to seek a criminal investigation into whether the Democrat committed perjury."

Holder: U.S. 'a nation of cowards' on race
"Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday described the United States as a nation of cowards on matters of race, saying most Americans avoid discussing unresolved racial issues.

In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives."