First thoughts: Becoming John McCain
Posted: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:19 AM by Mark Murray
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First Thoughts
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Becoming John McCain: When it comes to the topic du jour -- legislative earmarks -- it’s fascinating how the political world turned President Obama into … John McCain. That’s right, for those of us who followed the two-year-long presidential campaign, it was McCain who crusaded against earmarks, not Obama (who instead said he would work to reform the process and make it more transparent). In fact, had earmarks been the public’s top concern in November, the Arizona senator probably would have won the election. But, as we all know, it wasn’t. “As president of the United States, I want to assure you, I've got a pen … and I'm going to veto every single spending bill that comes across my desk. I will make them famous. You will know their names,” McCain said at the first debate. Obama countered, “[L]et's be clear: Earmarks account for $18 billion in last year's budget. Senator McCain is proposing … $300 billion in tax cuts to some of the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country, $300 billion.”
*** Obama’s reform: Yet at 11:20 am ET today, President Obama will make an announcement on earmark reform, which comes after the Senate last night passed its $410 billion omnibus spending bill that contains $7.7 billion (or less than 2%) in earmarks. Of course, Obama deserves some of the blame (or credit) for all the focus on earmarks. He celebrated the fact that his stimulus didn’t contain earmarks. Also, given the humongous price tag of the stimulus, the bailouts, and the home-foreclosure plan, it was inevitable that every bit in extra spending -- i.e., $7.7 billion in earmarks -- would receive extra scrutiny. And during the campaign, in response to McCain’s rhetoric, Obama promised to reform the earmark process. “When I'm president,” he said, “I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” What has gone largely ignored, however, is the philosophical debate over earmarks. Indeed, one person’s wasteful spending and pork is another person’s important project and constituent service. After all, unless your name is John McCain, chances are that your constituents back home expect you to bring home the bacon. As the Washington Post points out, only five senators didn’t add pet projects to the omnibus: McCain, DeMint (R), Coburn (R), Feingold (D), and McCaskill (D).
*** CYA time: But let’s also make no mistake: Today’s announcement on earmark reform is intended to give Obama cover for signing the omnibus legislation, which he’s expected to do today. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday, per the Washington Times: "Although it's not perfect, the president will sign the legislation, but demonstrate for all involved rules moving forward that he thinks can make this process work a little bit better.” But does Obama sign the bill publicly? It is important to note that the president set himself up a bit for today's criticism, since he decided to jump on the anti-earmark bandwagon and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was one of the more aggressive anti-earmark members when he was in Congress. Emanuel, in fact, was among the first to go public with his requests and push the disclosure angle. In many ways, Obama wants to take a victory lap today, noting that his push for disclosure is among the reasons we know who ordered up what earmark. Still, congressional Dems did him no favors with allowing this leftover bill to be on THIS president's desk rather than Bush. The Dems got a bit greedy.
*** Desperately seeking another spokesman: As voices from the left -- especially Nancy Pelosi’s -- keep alive the chatter about a second stimulus, the White House is looking for another spokesman to talk about the economy. White House aides admit it's difficult to find a strong voice, other than the president's, that can inspire the same level of confidence in dealing with the economic crisis. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn't have the same perceived Yoda-like hold over Wall Street that his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, had in the '90s, although Bernanke’s comments yesterday did provide some comfort to investors. Treasury Secretary Geithner was hailed as a potential savior when Obama appointed him, but stumbled early. But last night, Geithner was on “Charlie Rose.” And now the White House is pushing out chief economic adviser Larry Summers and Christina Romer -- who appeared on TODAY this morning -- to play more public roles. They need one or more of these four key folks to catch fire among the muckety-mucks on Wall Street.
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Video: Christina Romer talks about how Obama is handling the troubled economy.
***
Strings Attached: Isn't it good news for the government bailout plan that some banks want to give the money back because they don't like the strings? The
New York Times: "Some bankers say the conditions have become so onerous that they want to return the bailout money. The list includes small banks like the TCF Financial Corporation of Wayzata, Minn., and Iberia Bank of Lafayette, La., as well as giants like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. They say they plan to return the money as quickly as possible or as soon as regulators set up a process to accept the refunds.” Also, the
Wall Street Journal is reporting that some investors now don't like the papers they have to sign to participate in the TALF investment plan to buy up toxic assets. Isn’t this what Congress wants to hear?
*** The never-ending recount: As we’ve said before, the Minnesota Senate race -- which has now extended 127 days since Election Day -- will someday, somehow come to end. And today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, we’re reaching another milestone as Al Franken’s (D) team calls its final witnesses in the trial over the recount. This means that the trial will soon be over (but that also means that we might be headed next to the state Supreme Court and then the U.S. Supreme Court). Appearing on Capitol Hill yesterday, Franken said, "I believe that we're going to win the election contest, and after that Sen. Coleman (R) can choose to do what he wants." Then Franken predicted that Coleman would appeal the contest to the state Supreme Court, if the Republican loses the election trial. and
*** Michelle Obama watch: The first lady, celebrating International Women’s Day, heads today to the State Department, where she will join Secretary Clinton in presenting the Secretary of State’s Award for International Women of Courage. Tomorrow, she travels to Fort Bragg, NC to visit with military families.
Video: Rachel Maddows reports on Michelle Obama's visit to Fort Bragg.
***
Remember him? And remember John Edwards? He spoke in public last night, and the
lead to the story was about the topic he did NOT address. “Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards took another tentative step into the public spotlight tonight, speaking at Brown University about extreme poverty around the world and urging Americans to get involved in what he called a ‘fundamental moral issue.’ Edwards, a two-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has struggled to get his message heard since a scandal about an affair he had with a former campaign staffer enveloped his personal life.”
Countdown to NY-20 special: 20 days
Countdown to Obama’s 100th day: 49 days
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 83 days
Countdown to VA Dem primary: 90 days
Countdown to Election Day 2009: 237 days
Countdown to Election Day 2010: 601 days
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