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Philip Rucker
For Philip Rucker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 2, 2013
Obama meets Iraq's al-Maliki, remains mum on arms sales
President Barack Obama assured visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday that the United States wants to be a strong partner in bringing about a stable and inclusive Iraq amid a rapid spike in sectarian violence that threatens security across the country.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 2, 2013
Democrats find rare unity in budget fight
Shortly before the government shut down, House Republicans crafted their final spending offer, including two health care provisions designed to scare red-state Senate Democrats facing re-election battles: one to delay the Affordable Care Act's unpopular individual mandate and another removing subsidies for lawmakers and their staffs.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 18, 2013
Was rodeo mask act more than just a case of clowning around?
As some people at the Missouri State Fair see it, the rodeo incident earlier this month in which a ringleader taunted a clown wearing a mask of President Barack Obama and played with his lips as a bull charged after him was neither racist nor disrespectful.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 7, 2013
Giffords tries gentler touch on guns
It was day two of Gabrielle Giffords' whirlwind nationwide tour to revive the push for tougher gun laws. The former congresswoman's husband, Mark Kelly, woke up early, placed his black case of firearms into the car trunk and raced across a vast stretch of Alaskan highway to practice target shooting.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2013
Clinton super PAC attracts donors — as well as worries
The campaign has a flashy website and official logo T-shirts and signs. Prominent Democrats have endorsed it and written $25,000 checks. Its paid operatives and volunteers have set up shop in a suburban strip mall office that last housed the regional campaign headquarters for Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2013
Obama keeps fluid grip on levels of power
President Barack Obama's professed ignorance of the targeting of conservatives by one government agency and his support of tracking journalists' sources by another highlight one of the great paradoxes of his presidency: Sometimes he uses his office as aggressively as anyone who's held it; other times he seems unacquainted with the work of his own administration.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2013
Obama pins legacy hopes on 2014 House victory
President Barack Obama takes the most specific steps of his administration in an attempt to ensure the election of a Democratic-controlled Congress in two years.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 19, 2013
Democrats no longer gun-shy on restrictions
For the first time in more than a decade, Democratic presidential aspirants see a political advantage in championing far-reaching restrictions on guns.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2012
Aimless Romney tends wounds in seclusion
The man who planned to be president wakes up each morning now without a plan.

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