WASHINGTON (AP) — Confronting misgivings in his own party, President Barack Obama mounted a stout defense of his blueprint to overhaul the national economy yesterday, arguing that delay on health care, energy and education would make "recovery more fragile and our future less secure."

The president's wide-ranging proposals in the midst of economic crisis faced skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans, as senators questioned his long-term budget outlook and the deficits it envisions in the middle of the next decade.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the chairman of the Budget Committee called the track of future deficits "unsustainable" and singled out Obama's proposal for spending $634 billion on health care over the next 10 years.

Yesterday, the World Bank announced — to my absolute shock — that the global economy will shrink in 2009.

I’m writing to take a stand that the time-honored tradition of gifts from one foreign leader to another continue despite this forecast.

I mean, where would our country’s relations with Saudi Arabia be if Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz had not lavished $130,000 of jewelry on Bush and cronies in 2003? Or … our relations with Argentina if President Néstor Kirchner hadn’t provided the First Family with 300 pounds of raw lamb?

From climate change to contraceptives, evolution to sex education in public schools, the Bush Administration had a stranglehold on science. But yesterday, President Obama began to loosen the government’s grip, lifting Bush’s imposed limits on federal funding for new stem cell research.

Bush’s 2001 bans on research funding transformed what should have been an intellectual academic debate into a bipartisan political battle, overstepping his bounds as he drew on moral and religious sentiments supporting his cause. Today, Obama is seeking a return to “sound science,” pledging to weed out all of the political meddling.

Eight years after the Bush administration’s ban on federal funding for new stem cell research, stem cell laboratories may finally be getting the lifeline they have been waiting for.

Throughout his campaign, President Barack Obama promised to change this federal stem cell policy. On February 5, Obama issued a guarantee to reporters that he would “sign an executive order for stem cells” to restore federal funding. A week and a half later, on February 15, Obama advisor David Axelrod confirmed this promise on Fox News.

Stem cells have the unique ability to develop into any type of cell in the body — a property that makes them attractive for a variety of medical applications — but where this ability comes from remains unclear.

To the Editor:

Re: “Obama’s Campaign Manager Set to Speak at Convocation,” News, Feb. 27

Three years ago, as a graduating senior, I had no choice but to walk out of my own Convocation ceremony. The speaker was Martin Luther King III, who, instead of reminding us of his father’s wonderful message of color-blindness (presumably the reason this otherwise unremarkable speaker was selected), used the joyous occasion as an opportunity to promote his narrow, left-wing political agenda. I had not spent four grueling years at Cornell to be rewarded with a speaker who assaulted my core beliefs and those of countless other seniors.

Remember back in 2004 when that relatively unknown Senator from Illinois gave that magnificent Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention and totally stole the show?

Even though he was not running for the nomination that year and the possibility of an African American president still seemed hard to imagine, it felt as though the Democratic Party had just found its answer to George W. Bush Reality-Lite politics.

It was clear we were witnessing a man who would change history — a new breed of politician equal parts Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. with a message of hope and the promise to challenge the status quo.

Steve Hildebrand, deputy national campaign director of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, spilled the juicy secrets yesterday at Cornell that led to the biggest non-incumbent victory in American history.

Approximately 70 students gathered in McGraw Hall to hear Hildebrand speak about everything from his personal background to his team’s intricate campaign strategies and inside stories of political bigwigs.

Strategy session: President Obama’s Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand speaks with students yesterday.

On Nov. 4, Cornell’s campus was buzzing with energetic students pledging support for President Barack Obama’s message of change and transparency in government. Now, after only a month in office, many of these students are noticing some cracks in those maxims as controversies develop around nominees for cabinet and regulatory positions in his administration.

Since his victory in November, four of Obama’s appointees withdrew their names from consideration. One ap­pointee dealt with in­tense controversy prior to his nomination and countless more are being held up in the confirmation process mainly by Republicans — a serious blow to the bipartisan theme of his campaign.