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    February 23, 2012

Obama to Promote US Energy Policy

   VOA News
   President Barack Obama walks to board Air Force One en route to Miami,
   at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, February 23, 2012. Photo: AP
   President Barack Obama walks to board Air Force One en route to Miami,
   at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, February 23, 2012.

   With U.S. gas prices at their highest levels for any February,
   President Barack Obama is to speak about energy policy in Miami,
   Florida.
   Obama has been criticized by Republican presidential candidates for
   blocking construction of a long-distance oil pipeline in the western
   United States.
   The Obama administration has countered that the president's efforts to
   increase domestic oil production are working, and says the high cost of
   gasoline is due to tensions in the Middle East, not mistakes at home.
   The president is due to tour the Industrial Assessment Center at the
   University of Miami, where students train to be energy-efficiency
   experts.
   The president is also to attend fundraising events in Miami and Orlando
   before returning to Washington early Friday.
   On Wednesday, President Obama signed a measure that extends a payroll
   tax cut for 160 million American workers through the rest of the year.
   The bill continues a 2 percent reduction in the tax on wages and
   salaries that fund the Social Security retirement program. The White
   House says the tax cut will save the average worker $1,000 a year.
   The measure also extends long-term unemployment benefits through the
   end of 2012, and delays automatic cuts to doctors treating patients on
   Medicare, the federal government's health insurance program for elderly
   Americans.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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