Agenda: Release the TARP
Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009 9:11 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Congress, Economy
The New York Times: “Even as they continued to hash out the details of a nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan, aides to President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday began lobbying a reluctant Congress to release the second half of the Treasury’s $700 billion financial system bailout fund. Senate Democrats said that they expected a formal request for the $350 billion to be made by President Bush this week. Both the outgoing and incoming presidents are then expected to take the unusual step of pressing jointly for approval.”
More: “Securing the remaining $350 billion now would put the money in place for use by the new administration shortly after Mr. Obama is inaugurated, and it would spare him a potentially messy political fight that could interfere with his agenda.”
The Washington Post breaks down how Congress could pass -- or hold up -- the TARP funds. “Bush administration officials, who have been talking with Obama's aides about the funds, could ask for the $350 billion as early as today. But under the law, Congress can pass a provision stopping the president from spending the $350 billion within 15 days of him requesting such authority. If the president vetoes the legislation, Congress could still block the money if a two-thirds majority in both chambers vote against it.”
The New York Times looks at the campaign strategy behind the stimulus bill. We're learning early the decision by Team Obama to use YouTube etc. to go over the heads of the media. "Obama has sought to strike a balance: emphasizing the depth of the problem, to create a sense of political urgency for Congress to act quickly, while not being so pessimistic that he could further destabilize the jittery financial markets or deplete the sense of energy and hope accompanying his election. Yet even as the president-elect looks to the past — he said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he had been reading Lincoln in preparation for his inaugural address — he and his team are mobilizing to use the most up- to-date techniques to communicate with the public and rally support.”
“His aides said they would begin sending to supporters and posting on YouTube videotapes of economic experts in the administration — like Lawrence H. Summers, who will be director of the National Economic Council — talking in detail about Mr. Obama’s economic proposals. That is following on a technique they used the first time to explain a complicated economic report this weekend. (His advisers said they had found in the campaign that using experts, even those not widely known, rather than employing familiar political faces in these types of videos was far more effective in engaging grass-roots supporters.) At the same time, the incoming administration is preparing to release more reports that will set out in specific numbers the goals for the huge spending Mr. Obama is proposing. The details include things like how many classrooms will be modernized, one aide said."
Since Obama said he was open to all ideas on the stimulus, Paul Krugman offers his two cents: “First, Mr. Obama should scrap his proposal for $150 billion in business tax cuts, which would do little to help the economy. Ideally he’d scrap the proposed $150 billion payroll tax cut as well, though I’m aware that it was a campaign promise.”
More: “So how can Mr. Obama do more? By including a lot more public investment in his plan — which will be possible if he takes a longer view… As far as I can tell, Mr. Obama’s planners have focused on investment projects that will deliver their main jobs boost over the next two years. But since unemployment is likely to remain high well beyond that two-year window, the plan should also include longer-term investment projects.”
Bloomberg's Al Hunt writes that Obama, not Dem Congress, will keep control of the agenda. Those who disagree, Hunt notes, "The argument also misjudges the composition of this Congress. On key issues, authentic big-government, anti- business, turn-swords-into-plowshares liberals are a minority. The Democrats came to dominate Congress -- they have 257 House members and probably 59 Senate seats -- by capturing swing districts, even some Republican-dominated areas. "
“60 Minutes” reported last night that Obama only met for the first time two weeks ago with Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen, who is 62, has been to Pakistan seven times since February (and he maxes out on bench press at 245). He was deferential about Obama, and he told troops that with Obama, there will be a stronger focus on Afghanistan, a war he believes the U.S. has been losing. He also thinks withdrawal from Iraq in 2009 is possible if done carefully.
Vice President-elect Biden was in Afghanistan over the weekend and vowed long-term U.S. support.
