Obama's student loan debt-relief plan: Too good to be true? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Washington – President Obama on Wednesday is launching a new plan to lower the cost of paying back student loans for millions of borrowers – the latest installment in his bid to move a jobs agenda that bypasses a gridlocked Congress.

At nearly $1 trillion, federal and private student loans now exceed US credit-card debt, posing a formidable repayment burden for many borrowers at a time of near-double digit unemployment.

The plan, to be implemented by executive authority alone, allows some 1.6 million students to cap their loan payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income starting in 2012. It also forgives the balance of student loans after 20 years of payments. Current law allows students to limit loan payments to 15 percent of income, forgiving debt after 25 years of payments, though few students are aware of this option

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In a related move, the US Department of Education, which now administers all federal education loans, is giving borrowers the option of consolidating federal and private loans at reduced rates.

“College graduates are entering one of the toughest job markets in recent memory, and we have a way to help them save money by consolidating their debt and capping their loan payments,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. “And we can do it at no cost to the taxpayer.”

Even before the official rollout of the program at a rally in Denver, House Republicans challenged how the president could move forward without congressional approval.

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"The president is about to announce a major change in the program that we have not yet acted on in the Congress,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx (R) of North Carolina, who chaired an oversight hearing on Tuesday. “What authority does the department have?”

“I can’t answer that question,” said witness James Runcie, the Education Department’s federal student aid chief operating officer. “Whatever we’re told to do in terms of implementation and execution, we’ll optimize and do what’s in the best interest of borrowers and students.”

Part of the answer appears to be a move made by the Democrat-controlled Congress in March 2010. It ended taxpayer subsidies to private banks for student loans, meaning that the Education Department alone was responsible for handing out government money for such loans. That means the $60 billion set to go to private banks for student loans during the next 10 years is now tabbed for the Education Department.

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Congress directed the Education Department to use that savings to expand Pell grants for low-and moderate income students to attend college. But many House Republicans who still oppose the move they say it has made the Department of Education one of the largest banks in the nation, largely unaccountable to Congress.

“This is another example of the Obama administration making changes to federal education policy behind closed doors,” said GOP committee spokeswoman Alexandra Sollberger in an e-mail. “We are disappointed that the Department of Education chose not to engage committee members prior to announcing this plan to the press.”

Republican critics also note that the Education Department charges 6.8 percent for loans that cost much less, “creating a pretty big slush fund for the government,” said Rep. John Kline (R) of Minnesota, who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, at Tuesday’s hearing.

He tabbed federal borrowing for the program “at less than 1 percent” – yielding a large profit.

Education Department officials dispute that view. “Right now Direct Loans reduce the deficit,” says Education Department spokeswoman Jane Glickman. “I wouldn’t call it slush.”

The 10-year interest rate is dictated to the department by the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), added Ms. Glickman in an e-mail. “In yesterday’s market, the 10-year rate was between 2 and 2.5. In the OMB projections, it is more like 3 for 2011.

The burden of some $1 trillion in outstanding student loans – up from $500 billion just five years ago – is a hot issue in the Occupy Wall Street protests. Students struggling with loans they can’t afford to repay blame the federal government for stripping away consumer protections

“Every fundamental consumer protection has been specifically removed by our Congress for student loans,” says Alan Collinge at the Zuccotti Park protest site in New York on Sunday.

“It’s led to horrible outcomes for the borrowers,” he adds. “The political will to crack down doesn’t exist.”

President Obama said in a statement on Tuesday: “Steps like these won’t take the place of the bold action we need from Congress to boost our economy and create jobs, but they will make a difference."

Unlike mortgage or credit-card debt, student loans can’t be eliminated through bankruptcy proceedings. With a sputtering economy, the investment in college doesn’t always pay off for students. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press" on Sunday, GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul called federal student loans a “failed program,” because it enabled colleges and universities to inflate costs.

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Obama's foreign successes may help little in 2012 (AP)

WASHINGTON – By declaring the Iraq war over, President Barack Obama scored what his allies see as a fourth big foreign policy success in six months, starting with Osama bin Laden's killing.

But in his re-election bid, these events might play a discouragingly small role even if they burnish his eventual place in history.

Voters tend to focus heavily on domestic issues, especially in times of high unemployment. That will limit Obama's campaign options.

His supporters are seeking ways to make the most of his foreign policy accomplishments. One approach is to contrast them with Congress' partisan-driven gridlock on taxes, the deficit and other domestic issues.

"Look at the progress the president can make when he doesn't have Republicans obstructing him," said Karen Finney, a former Democratic spokeswoman who often defends the party on TV and radio.

Democratic strategist Rebecca Kirszner Katz distributed a similar remark on Twitter this past week: "Terrorists and dictators, lacking the filibuster, have no effective defense against Barack Obama." It referred to the stalling tactic that Senate Republicans frequently use to kill Democratic bills even though they hold only 47 of the chamber's 100 seats.

These Democrats hope people will see a bold and capable president who keeps his promises when Republicans don't create roadblocks. They note that he approved the raid to kill bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1 and policies that led to last month's drone-missile killing of American-born al-Qaida figure Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen; backed allied actions that led to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's ouster and death; and ended U.S. involvement in Iraq on schedule.

"It is very important for any incumbent to be able to talk about promises made and promises kept," Finney said. The list of achievements, contrasted with President George W. Bush's erroneous claims about Iraq's weaponry in the first place, should help Democrats shake their image of being the weaker party on national security, she said.

"That baggage is finally lifted," Finney said.

Translating that claim into votes for Obama 13 months from now may be difficult, however. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll confirmed that Americans place far greater emphasis on domestic issues, especially the economy, than on foreign matters, including the fight against terrorism.

The poll found Obama's overall approval rating at a new low, 46 percent, for the second straight month, even though 64 percent of adults approved of his handling of terrorism. Only 40 percent approved of his handling of the economy.

Ninety-three percent of those questioned said the economy was an extremely or very important issue. By comparison, 73 percent put the same emphasis on terrorism.

Democratic officials believe Obama's foreign policy record will look even better when the Republican presidential candidates hold a debate on that topic Nov. 15. Leading contenders Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are current or former governors, and businessman Herman Cain has never held public office. None has extensive foreign policy experience.

But voters routinely accept that. In recent presidential elections they have chosen governors from Georgia, California, Arkansas and Texas, plus a first-term senator, Obama.

On Friday, Romney and Perry criticized Obama's handling of Iraq. Some Democrats found Romney's remarks exceptionally harsh.

"President Obama's astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women," Romney said. "The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government."

Obama's defenders fired back. "Is there anything more hollow than Mitt Romney decrying `political considerations' in decision-making?" said former White House spokesman Bill Burton.

Perry said in a statement: "I'm deeply concerned that President Obama is putting political expediency ahead of sound military and security judgment by announcing an end to troop level negotiations and a withdrawal from Iraq by year's end." He said Obama "was slow to engage the Iraqis and there's little evidence today's decision is based on advice from military commanders."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was more generous. "American forces not only freed Iraq from a vicious tyrant, but — under the strategy developed and implemented by our generals, and the leadership of both President Bush and President Obama — ended a violent terrorist insurgency," he said.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Obama "kept his pledge to the nation to end the war in Iraq in a responsible way, he has promoted our security in Afghanistan, and eliminated key al-Qaida leaders." He said Romney "didn't lay out a plan to end the war in Iraq."

Republican strategist Rich Galen said the economy clearly will dominate the 2012 election, and it might undo Obama. As for Obama's foreign record, however, Galen said, "they're doing exactly the right thing" by highlighting every success they can.

Galen said Obama clearly deserves credit for the raid on bin Laden's compound.

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Obama's one big advantage going into 2012 election: fundraising (The Christian Science Monitor)

Washington – President Obama faces an uphill battle for reelection, with unemployment projected to remain high at about 9 percent through 2012 and job approval ratings in the tank.

But as an incumbent president facing no primary challenger, Mr. Obama enjoys one big advantage: fundraising. So far, he has raised $155 million for both his campaign and for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which will help his reelection effort. That’s way more than all the Republican candidates have raised, combined.

All that money allows the Obama campaign to start organizing now in the key battleground states, renew contacts with the 2008 voters, and recruit volunteers. The Republicans, meanwhile, are still figuring out who their nominee will be.

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Obama’s advantage comes not just in the quantity of money he has raised, but in the opportunity for efficiency. Thus, an early emphasis on high-dollar fundraisers, because each one is a three-fer: In one fell swoop, Obama is pulling in cash for his opponent-free primary season, the general election, and the DNC. If a donor maxes out on all three, that’s $35,800.

“When you’re president, you don’t have time to do two fundraisers a day,” says Anthony Corrado, an expert on campaign finance at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. “[The big fundraisers] allow them to be very efficient with the principals’ time – not just the president, but also the first lady and vice president.”

Another reason to hit the high rollers early: The $30,800 donation limit to the DNC is annual. The Democrats want their big donors to give this year, so they can ask for another $30,800 next year.

For other reasons, small donors are also critical. We don’t see a lot of press releases about the high-dollar events, but plenty of hoopla about how many folks have gone online and sent in even a few bucks.

The Obama campaign home page has a big ticker at the top counting the number of donors. On Monday, the campaign was so excited about reaching its one-millionth donor that press secretary Ben Label sent out a screen shot of the ticker close to 1,000,000 and then another one when it was at exactly 1,000,000.

Last Thursday, in an e-mail to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina highlighted the number of people who donated in the third quarter of this year a€“ a record 606,027 a€“ before getting to the grand total of money raised, $70 million to the campaign and DNC. Those who donated made 766,000 donations, with 98 percent of them at $250 or less. The average donation was $56.

“That support translates directly to what we can do on the ground,” Mr. Messina writes. “In the past three months we’ve grown our organizing staff by 50 percent, and opened up three new field offices every week. Thousands of volunteers and organizers made 3 million phone calls and in-person visits to voters.”

Donations from the financial services sector present a mixed picture for Obama and the Democrats. The president has raised $15.6 million from employees of that industry, according to an analysis by the Washington Post of data from the Center for Responsive Politics. But some $12 million went to the DNC.

In a head-to-head matchup against leading Republican candidate Mitt Romney, a founder of the private-equity firm Bain Capital, Obama doesn’t fare too well in financial-sector donations. The president has raised just $3.9 million, versus $7.5 million for Romney, the Post reports.

Still, Obama and the DNC have had some success in raising money on Wall Street. One-third of the president’s top 40 fundraisers come from the world of finance, including former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine of MF Global, hedge-fund manager Orin Kramer, and UBS executive Robert Wolf, according to the Post.

But the president isn’t exactly advertising the Wall Street support he does have, as he strikes a populist tone in speeches and tells reporters he understands the frustration expressed by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

In the end, Obama’s healthy fundraising numbers – so far, $89 million for his campaign and $66 million for the DNC – don’t tell us much about how he will do on Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012.

“What it shows you is that he retains a loyal base of support,” says Mr. Corrado. “He’s going to amass the sums needed to be financially competitive with whoever the GOP nominee is. But the real question is going to be whether the investment he’s making now in organizing and campaigning is going to be enough to overcome general perceptions about the state of the economy.”

RECOMMENDED: Six liabilities for Obama in 2012

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Poll woes don't slow Obama's campaign money train (Reuters)

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is raising millions of dollars for his re-election campaign, keeping the support of big and small donors despite the sputtering economy and slumping opinion poll numbers.

Amid high unemployment and fears of a second recession, Obama has faced withering criticism from within his own party for seeming to give in too easily to Republicans in Congress and not taking a firmer stand on issues such as protecting the environment.

His approval ratings have been hovering at about 43 percent and polls show he would face a tough fight to defeat Texas Governor Rick Perry or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the two top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination to oppose Obama in November 2012.

His campaign has indicated that fund-raising slipped in the June-September quarter. And there has been discontent among some 2008 donors, with some Wall Street cash shifting to Romney, co-founder of buyout firm Bain Capital, a sign of business unease with Obama's tenure.

But if Obama lacks the rock-star status he had four years ago, his events are still selling out and his fund-raising machine is outstripping 2008. Donors said the Obama camp is worried about the country's finances, not the campaign's.

"I haven't heard anyone outwardly worried. It seems like they are on track to hit their goals," said a top fund-raiser close to the campaign, requesting anonymity to speak freely.

"Put it this way: it is not money that they are worried about. They would trade all the money for better economic data," he said.

The Democratic president still attracts the army of low-dollar givers who helped push him to the White House in 2008, and the loyalty of enough big contributors that analysts anticipate he will amass a $1 billion campaign warchest.

"Some of these people may still be disappointed, but they're not going to be ready to write Barack Obama off," said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst in Washington.

Obama, the first black U.S. president, is a historic figure whose personal popularity outstrips his approval ratings. Known as a strong campaigner, he offers as president constant media attention and an access to power that appeals to big donors, many of whom are concerned that the Republican field is tacking too far toward the right.

'CLASS WARFARE'

"We've heard a lot of concern about the right wing Republican agenda, what many people refer to as 'taking the country backwards' or 'in the wrong direction,'" said Andrew Spahn, a Los Angeles based consultant who is advising DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg as he raises money for Obama's re-election campaign.

Katzenberg, who hosted two sold out, big-dollar fundraisers in the spring, has committed to pumping $500,000 for the Obama campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Obama appealed to his base strongly on Monday by laying out a $3.6 trillion plan to cut U.S. budget deficits partly by raising taxes on the rich, which Republicans rejected as "class warfare" and a political stunt.

Some major Democratic supporters, including big labor unions, have responded positively to the plan. Opinion polls also show voter misgivings about Washington's handling of the economy extend to Republicans in Congress, as well as Obama.

"In the end, every American is frustrated with the economy and the way governance works, but that all doesn't fall on the president's shoulders," said Howard Bragman, a Hollywood publicist and longtime Democratic activist.

"His base hasn't left him and they're the ones who are the organizational spine of this campaign," he said.

Obama raised up to $2.8 million at fundraisers in Washington on Thursday and millions more on Monday in New York, where he warned donors of a "very perilous path" if his debt reduction plan is not passed. More fundraisers are on tap in New York and California in the coming days.

Member of his team stress that Obama's campaign had more than 520,000 individual donors in the second quarter of 2011, more than it had for all of 2007, and of those 260,000 had never given before.

Obama's fundraising far outstripped any of his Republican rivals in the second quarter of 2011, as he and the Democratic National Committee raked in $86 million. Romney, who led all Republicans, raised $18 million.

Campaigns do not have to release their third-quarter fundraising totals until October 15, but Obama's set a goal on September 9 of raising $55 million between June and September, to benefit the re-election efforts and the Democratic National Committee.

Presidential fundraising typically wanes in the summer the year before the election, and it was hit more this year because Obama canceled a series of events in July during protracted debt negotiations with Republicans in Congress.

(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon, writing by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Alistair Bell)

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Obamas place wreath at Flight 93 memorial (AP)

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. – President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, placed a wreath at the Flight 93 National Memorial on Sunday, arriving at the site to pay respects to the 40 passengers and crew who died a decade ago Sunday.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, visited the Wall of Names. Each of the 40 marble slabs is inscribed with the name of someone killed in the crash of United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.

Some 3,000 people, including thousands of regular citizens, were gathered at the Flight 93 memorial as Obama walked to a security barricade to shake hands. Others took his photo and sections of the crowd chanted "USA! USA!"

One man called out: "Thanks for getting bin Laden!" a reference to the death of Osama bin Laden, killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan earlier this year.

Jaleel Dyson, 18, came to the memorial to honor the victims but was excited to shake the president's hand and get a picture of him on his smartphone.

Dyson, who is from Washington, D.C., but attends college in the area, said he also attended the president's inauguration in January 2009. He said the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks was more important.

"I think it's just important that the president shows his support for the families that lost loved ones," he said.

The visit comes as the families of the 40 passengers and crew were praised for helping to inspire a new generation of Americans while keeping the memories of their loved ones' dedication and courage burning brightly.

At a ceremony marking a decade since the Sept. 11 attacks, nearly 5,000 people listened as the names of the passengers and crew who were killed were read aloud while bells tolled. Afterward, a choir sang as those in the crowd — including family members, first responders, politicians and nearly 1,000 others who came to participate — listened intently.

"Over the past 10 years we have heard this place compared to many other places" including the Alamo and Gettysburg, Gov. Tom Corbett said at the newly dedicated national park that marks the site where Flight 93 crashed. "But the truth is that this place is like no other because the deeds aboard Flight 93 were like no other."

Corbett said the victims "charted a new course, set a new standard for American bravery."

Sunday's memorial service at the Flight 93 Memorial, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, was being held in concert with ceremonies in New York City and Washington, D.C., where other hijacked jets crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Former Gov. Tom Ridge, the nation's first head of homeland security, thanked those who came to the memorial for Sunday's service.

"I think your presence today means almost as much to the families, perhaps as much as the memorial itself," Ridge said. "Your very presence is a powerful message of comfort and understanding and love."

The families then turned and gave the visitors a standing ovation.

Ridge went on to pay tribute to the victims, saying their actions prove "Americans don't live in fear, we live in freedom"

Gordon Felt, brother of passenger Edward and president of the Families of Flight 93, directed some of his comments to the relatives of the other victims.

"I only wish I could have gotten to know each and every one of you under different circumstances," he said. "We lost too much."

Visitors to the Flight 93 service observed moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. — the times when two other airliners were crashed into New York's twin towers. They did the same at 9:37 a.m., when a third airliner hit the Pentagon.

There was no moment of silence at 10:03 a.m. at the memorial, but the emotion there was evident.

Susan Stine, 52, of Tamaqua, Pa., said she has come to the Flight 93 crash site to mark the anniversary each year.

"Everybody was going to New York for the first anniversary and we came here. I can't imagine not being here on 9/11," Stine said.

"The first time, I wanted to come here to see how it was, and it was amazing. I feel differently when I leave here every year," she said. "I feel better in my heart."

U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, D-Pa, choked up as he spoke about the Wall of Names, a series of 40 marble slabs inscribed with the names of the victims.

Told that the pattern of the wall delineates the flight path of the jet before it crashed, Critz said, "Ten years of emotion came rushing in."

The passengers aboard Flight 93 were hijacked after taking off from New Jersey.

Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew, some alerted by cell phone calls from loved ones about the New York attacks, decided to try to wrest control of their plane from four hijackers.

The plane crashed during the struggle, and investigators later determined the hijackers intended to crash it into the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where the House and Senate were in session that morning.

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Online:

Flight 93 National Memorial: http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

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Obama's signature: Is it real or is it autopenned? (AP)

WASHINGTON – It's the open secret that nobody in government wants to talk about: That cherished presidential signature that's tucked away in a scrapbook or framed for all to see might never have passed under the president's hand.

For decades, presidents of both parties have let an autopen do some of the heavy lifting when it comes to scrawling their signatures. The machine was recently put to use signing a bill into law, apparently a first.

Overseas and out of reach when lawmakers passed an extension of certain provisions of the Patriot Act, President Barack Obama employed the autopen to sign it, a step the White House has been mum about ever since.

"I always heard the autopen was the second most guarded thing in the White House after the president," says Jack Shock, who had permission to wield former President Bill Clinton's autopen as his director of presidential letters and messages.

Jim Cicconi, who oversaw the use of autopens for President George H.W. Bush, recalls that the plastic signature templates for the machines — yes, there was more than one autopen — would wear out from repeated use.

Ronald Reagan had 22 different signature templates, including "Ron," "Dutch" and other iterations, to boost the aura of authenticity surrounding his fake signatures, says Stephen Koschal, an autograph authenticator who two years ago published a guide to presidential autopen signatures.

It's not just ordinary Americans who get the autopen treatment.

Koschal says he once visited Vice President Dan Quayle's office in the Capitol and spotted a signed photograph from the first President Bush that he said had clearly been autopenned.

Obama took the presidential autopen out of the closet and into a new realm.

While traveling in Europe last month, Obama directed his staff in Washington to use an autopen to sign into law an extension of certain Patriot Act powers to fight terrorism. The legislation had been approved by Congress at the last minute, and there was no time to fly it to France for Obama's signature before the anti-terrorism powers expired.

It was believed to be the first time a president has used an autopen to sign legislation, and that didn't sit well with a number of Republicans. Twenty-one GOP House members sent Obama a letter on June 17 asking him to re-sign the legislation with his actual signature because use of the autopen "appears contrary to the Constitution."

Obama's team relied on a 29-page legal analysis crafted during the administration of President George W. Bush to argue that the faux signature passed constitutional muster.

Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under the younger Bush, says the Bush White House had considered using the autopen to sign a minor piece of legislation as a test case, "but in the end Bush just kept signing the parchment himself." Bush used the autopen for routine correspondence and photos but not on matters of importance, Fleischer said.

While a number of White House aides from administrations past were willing to discuss the presidential autopen, that kind of talk is frowned upon while a president is in office.

"You want to preserve the president's semblance of reaching out and being connected," says Shock. "But the cold hard facts are that when you get 10,000 letters a day he can't possibly handle all that kind of correspondence himself."

It turns out there are varying levels of fakeness in presidential signatures.

There are preapproved form letters with digital signatures. There are preprinted cards for birthdays and other special events. Autopen signatures generally are reserved for more personalized correspondence that doesn't score a real signature, say officials from administrations past.

Obama's staff is loath to talk about his use of the autopen.

The president prefers to keep the focus on the sampling of 10 letters a day that he reads from among the tens of thousands that ordinary people send to the White House. In many cases, he writes back to these people, with his own signature.

But the president couldn't get around explaining how the Patriot Act got signed into law without briefly shining a spotlight on the autopen. Once that news was out, though, the White House clammed up. It declined to provide any further details about how many autopens the administration uses, what they look like, where they're kept, or who makes the machine.

And don't ask Bob Olding, whose company is the leading manufacturer of autopens, to discuss his clientele.

"I'm not going to help you," he said. "Our customers do not want anyone else knowing they have these machines."

Olding did reveal, though, that "when there's a major change in government, we get an uptick in business."

Olding is president of Rockville, Md.-based Damilic Corp., whose signature machines run from $2,000 up to $10,000. Hulking older versions look like a drafting table and are too big to fit through a doorway. Newer models, with microprocessors and digital controls, sit on a tabletop. But they still feature two mechanical arms that move a pen back and forth, up and down.

The machines sign letters at about the same pace as does the human hand. An autopen machine that automatically signs a stack of documents can spit out roughly 500 signatures an hour; those with manual document feeders, about 200 an hour.

As recently as the second Bush administration, the autopen in use was a large piece of furniture that looked like a drafting table, says Heidi Smith, who served as Bush's correspondence director for two years. She says those with clearance to use the autopen would head over to the executive clerk's office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, where the autopen wielded Bush's pen of choice — a Sharpie.

Autopens have been used by presidents since Dwight Eisenhower, says Koschal, and President John F. Kennedy put them to heavy use. Many presidents have had secretaries sign their names to correspondence and documents, he says.

More than 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson acquired a mechanical copying device called a polygraph that attached to his pen and made a second copy of what he was writing. Jefferson liked it so much he wrote that "I could not, now therefore, live without the Polygraph."

It's not just busy presidents who rely on autopens. They're used by thousands of organizations, companies and government officials.

Donald H. Rumsfeld got in hot water for using one as defense secretary to sign letters of condolence to the families of U.S. troops killed in action. When word leaked out in 2004, Rumsfeld said he'd done it to "ensure expeditious contact with grieving family members."

"I have directed that in the future I sign each letter," he said.

Other officials and candidates have fingered the autopen as an excuse to avoid taking responsibility for documents that appeared to bear their names. One was Enron executive Kenneth Lay, who was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks despite his lawyers' arguments that he shouldn't be held accountable for documents signed by autopen. His conviction was later vacated on other grounds.

So how to tell the difference between a real signature and an autopen version?

Koschal says the best way to detect a fake is to lay the signature in question over a known autopen version and hold the two documents up to a light. If they're exactly the same, chances are that the top one was created with an autopen. But presidents often create multiple autopen signatures to make it less obvious when they're letting a machine do the work.

As for Obama's autopen signature on the extension of Patriot Act powers, it may pass the constitutional test, but not Koschal's.

"I'd pay peanuts for it," the autograph authenticator said. "It's not a real signature."

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Benac can be followed at http://twitter.com/nbenac

___

Online:

Damilic Corp.: http://www.damilic.com/autopen

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