March 2009 - Posts
From NBC’s Chuck Todd (ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE) and Domenico Montanaro Robert Gibbs started with a readout from Secretary of State Clinton 's day at The Hague, the news being that U.S. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and an Iranian foreign minister. The administration believes the presence of Iran at this conference is a positive sign.
The president also spoke from Air Force One with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for yet another G-20 consult phone call. He also spoke by phone with Canadian PM Stephen Harper in last 48 hours to talk both autos and G-20
Questions to Gibbs were on Russia, China, G-20 and NATO meeting expectations. He gave a few concrete measuring sticks. Gibbs said it was news when he claimed that the collective G-20 stimulus for the economy will represent 1.8% of the collective GDP of the G-20.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Albany Times-Union has a funny story ahead of today's special election in NY-20 about voters in the Upstate town of Schenectedy, N.Y., who have been trying to vote but aren't allowed to.
The NY-20 cuts through part of the town, and voters have been pulling up to traditional polling places by the carload hoping to vote. They've been leaving confused after they're told they're not allowed to because they don't live in the district.
Who can blame some of them -- what with the $2 million worth of ads both candidates and parties have run that have blanketed the region? And they are used to Republican Jim Tedisco 's name being on the ballot, as he's represented them in the state assembly for three decades.
Ironically, one person who'd be part of the turned-away voters would be Tedisco himself.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro The polls in the 2008 presidential campaign were largely spot on -- with one glaring problem: the New Hampshire Democratic primary. A panel of polling specialists released a report yesterday that tried to figure out just what went wrong.As Boston.com reports , it “didn't come to any definitive conclusions, but said that the polling probably ended too early to take into account late movement among voters. Also, Clinton supporters were harder to reach and some pollsters did not try more than twice, skewing the sample toward pro-Obama voters, said the committee organized by the American Association for Public Opinion Research. The panel discounted other possible explanations, such as the so-called ‘Bradley effect,’ in which some white voters say they will support a black candidate, but don't vote that way in the privacy of the polling booth.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Air Force One has just landed on British soil.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
House and Senate Republicans will join in a grand show of budget unity tomorrow morning, when they meet in a rare joint confab in the House chamber.
It will happen before the House is open for business, and the chamber will be dark (no pictures or sound). But the idea is for Republican members from both bodies to muster in historic Statuary Hall at 8:45 am ET, where we, your humble narrators, will be afforded the opportunity to see them on camera, then chronicle the moment as they march en masse past those same cameras and into the House chamber.
After the session, they plan to emerge and hold a rally on the east front steps of the House. Time TBA, but probably around 10:00 am ET.
The purpose is to talk about budget. At that point, Rep. Paul Ryan will have his House GOP alternative ready to go, and the presumption is that they will talk about that as well as what Republicans in the Senate have in mind in terms of a strategy to fight back against the Obama administration/Democratic plan.
Meanwhile, the formal public unveiling of the House GOP budget likely happens at 10:30 am ET in the House studio, with Ryan presiding as the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The president will have a lot on his plate during the trip, but it will provide a measure of his influence, particularly in reference to the world economy, Afghanistan, and the Muslim world.
CONTINUE READING FOR FULL STORY.
From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
BRUSSELS -- We reported that Moscow sent a message to Washington yesterday that Russia President
Medvedev is interested in a broad agreement with the
Obama administration on the major disputed issues between Russia and the U.S. -- including missile defense and Iran.
Because of this signal from Moscow, the White House has rushed a diplomat here on no notice to try to hammer out some basic principles for further discussion that would be announced in London.
*** UPDATE ***
From NBC's Pete Williams
Ending a marathon legal battle with a fizzle, the U.S. Supreme Court today tossed out a challenge from cigarette-maker Philip Morris to an Oregon jury's $80 million verdict in a lawsuit filed by a smoker's window.
Today's action sets no legal precedent. The court, after hearing the case in early December, decided there was no issue for the justices to resolve. This kind of disposition of a case happens a few times every term -- after agreeing to hear a case and delving into its specifics, the court decides it shouldn't have taken it after all. In the wonderfully passive language of the Supreme Court, the case is "dismissed as improvidently granted."
The case involved an Oregon man, Jesse Williams, who died of lung cancer after smoking two packs of Marlboros a day his entire adult life. His wife sued Philip Morris, claiming the company lied about the dangers of smoking. Her lawyers urged the jury to hit the company hard -- not just for him but on behalf of other smokers, too. Result: a verdict of over $800,000 in actual damages and another amount -- 100 times higher -- to punish the company.
The court today also ruled unanimously that when Congress in 1993 issued a resolution apologizing for the US government's overthrow of the king of Hawaii in 1893, it did not create any legal right to native lands.
We'll get decisions again on Wednesday.
From NBC’s Ken Strickland Ted Kennedy is presiding over a hearing for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ' nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services .
Kennedy is the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee. (This is not an actual "confirmation hearing." It's more of a courtesy hearing because the Finance Committee has official jurisdiction over HHS.)
According to Kennedy's remarks, as prepared for delivery he said, "Few debates in Congress touch our lives as profoundly and personally as health care. Over the past 10 months, I've seen our health care system up close. I've benefited from the best of medicine. But we have too many uninsured Americans. We have sickness care and not health care. We have too much paperwork and bureaucracy. Costs are out of control. But today we have an opportunity like never before to reform health care."
Kennedy is recovering from a brain tumor and has spent much of the past several weeks recuperating and resting in Florida.
He returned to Washington last week and is expected to remain in D.C. for an unspecified length of time to work on several health care related issues, including Sebelius' hearing today.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
***
New York state of mind: Ready or not, the campaign season -- for 2009, 2010, and 2012 -- essentially begins today with the first competitive race of Obama’s presidency:
the special congressional election in upstate New York (NY-20) between Democrat Scott Murphy and Republican Jim Tedisco. As we’ve said before, this contest has it all. It has become a battle over the economic stimulus (Murphy supports it, while Tedisco opposes it); in some form or fashion, it has featured national figures (Obama, Michael Steele, Sarah Palin, even Pat Boone); it will be an early test of the GOP’s health in the post-Bush era (if Republicans can’t win this slightly GOP-leaning district, where else can they win?); and it will be an early test of Obama’s coattails (if the Democrats lose, Republicans will see it as a sign of the end of the president’s honeymoon). Oh, and one other thing: The race is about as close as it can get it. Analysts say it’s a toss-up, with a recent
Siena Research Institute poll showing Murphy ahead by four points (47%-43%), after trailing Tedisco by four points in early March (45%-41%) and 12 points in February (46%-34%). Polling places open at 6:00 am ET and close at 9:00 pm ET.
*** A little caution for pundits : Our gut tells us that a dead heat probably slightly favors the Dems, only because their turnout operation is probably better than the GOP’s. Then again, a super low turnout favors the GOP because the most reliable voters in this district skew Republican. But for all of us who will no doubt over-interpret tonight’s results, political analyst Charlie Cook gives some important advice in his CongressDaily column today: “Assuming that the margin in this upstate contest to fill the seat of newly-appointed Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is three or four points or less, my advice is to respond ‘that’s nice,’ then yawn, and walk away… What is more important is if there is a uniform direction to several odd-year elections. If, for example, Republicans were to win tonight and knock off Gov. Jon Corzine in New Jersey in November, and pick up the open governor seat in Virginia, then it is fair to say that they will have exorcised the demons of 2006 and 2008.” More Cook: “If Democrats hold NY-20 as well as New Jersey and Virginia, they can enter 2010 knowing that even if the wind isn’t at their backs, there also isn’t a headwind.”
*** A significant day : No doubt we’re all getting a bit numb to bailouts, emergency government action, and major announcements from this new president. But don't let this numbness obscure the fact that yesterday might be one of the five- or ten-most significant moments when the history of the Obama presidency is written in either 2013 or 2017. He didn't just fire any CEO; he fired the head of an American industrial icon. And let's not forget the decision to make the White House the center of auto policy for this country. Some on the left are hitting Obama for not firing more CEOs, while the right is hitting him for looking like a nationalist or a government interventionist. But it is also worth noting the critiques on this auto plan were somewhat muted. The reason: It was a very well-executed rollout. In fact, it's in stark contrast of all the other bailout announcements that have taken place so far. Here’s perhaps why: Every detail of this auto plan seemed to be communicated so well. There's an auto task force (is there one for AIG?); there's an auto czar (is there one for the banks?); there were more strings attached to GM and Chrysler (are there strings for the banks?); and there was the appointment of a disaster recovery czar (have we seen anything like that regarding, say, folks who have seen their 401ks disappear?).
Video: NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd discusses the political significance of President Obama’s aggressive auto plan. ***
London calling : The big White House news today, of course, is President Obama’s trip to London for the G-20. The president and first lady already departed from Andrews Air Force Base earlier this morning, and they will arrive in London later this this afternoon (ET). And with his departure comes a brand-new
Washington Post/ABC poll showing the president with a 66% approval rating, and a 60% approval rating on the economy. Also before Obama lands in Europe, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports that Moscow sent a message to Washington yesterday that President Medvedev is interested in a broad agreement with the Obama administration on the major disputed issues between Russia and the U.S. -- including missile defense and Iran. Medvedev has a
Washington Post op-ed making the same point.
Video: The global economy tops President Obama’s agenda as he heads to the G20 Summit in London, his first trip to Europe as president. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports. ***
With friends like these…: Turning to the current budget battle, President Obama met behind closed doors with House Democrats yesterday, and Obama’s visit went pretty well, according to NBC’s Mike Viqueira and other news accounts. But writing in the
New Republic , Jon Chait raises this interesting question: Why have recent Democratic presidents (Carter, Clinton, and now Obama) received less deference from congressional Democrats than GOP presidents have received from congressional Republicans? “George W. Bush came to office having lost the popular vote, with only 50 Republicans in the Senate… [Still,] Bush managed to enact several rounds of tax cuts that substantially exceeded those in his campaign platform, along with two war resolutions, a Medicare prescription drug benefit designed to maximize profits for the health care industry, energy legislation, education reform, and sundry other items.” Meanwhile, “Obama has come into office having won the popular vote by seven percentage points, along with a 79-seat edge in the House, a 17-seat edge in the Senate, and massive public demand for change. But it's already clear he is receiving less, not more, deference from his own party.”
*** Just what the doctor ordered? Besides the work on the budget, the other big news on Capitol Hill today will be HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius’ appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee (which is a courtesy hearing because it doesn't approve her nomination; the Senate Finance Committee does). In her opening statement, Sebelius will say that health-care reform must occur this year. “Inaction is not an option. The status quo is unacceptable, and unsustainable.”
*** That’s “special”: Turning back to NY-20… With tonight’s Murphy-Tedisco contest being the first competitive House race of Obama’s presidency, our friends at the Cook Political Report and Rothenberg Political Report take us on a trip down memory lane. The first special congressional election in Bush 41's term was to fill Dan Coat's (R) seat in Indiana, after Dan Quayle became VP and Coats filled his Senate seat. Jill Long (D) won that contest, so the seat flipped. The first special congressional election in Clinton's term was for Mike Espy's seat, but the first competitive one was in Wisconsin, where Peter Barca (D) barely beat Mark Neumann (R) to replace Les Aspin (D) in Congress; Neumann beat Barca in the '94 general. And the first special in Bush 43's term was when Bill Shuster (R) took his dad's seat in Pennsylvania in a surprisingly close race against Scott Conklin (D). The Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman makes this other point about recent special elections: What made Herseth/Diedrich ('04), Schmidt/Hackett ('06), Foster/Oberweis ('08), Childers/Davis ('08) so notable is that these districts were so heavily D or R, and the seat flipped or the race was surprisingly close. By contrast, NY-20 is pretty competitive (registered Republicans outnumber Democrats, but Obama won 51% there in November), and probably won't tell us much about the national climate -- at least not yet.
*** Show me the money : And just to give you an idea how much activity has taken in this special election for the NY-20 congressional seat, ad-tracker Evan Tracey notes that nearly $2 million have been spent on TV ads. Interestingly, Democrats have slightly outspent the Republicans -- $1,053,141 for the Dems ($716,731 by Murphy, $336,410 by DCCC, DNC, SEIU) vs. $924,112 for the Republicans ($485,697 by Tedisco and $567,444 by other GOP entities and groups). It’s striking that the GOP outside groups have outspent Tedisco’s campaign. Also worth pointing out, the DCCC says it has spent nearly $600,000 versus $817,000 for the NRCC, and the DNC has spent some $20,000 versus $280,000 for the RNC.
Countdown to Obama’s 100th day: 29 days
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The Washington Post on the latest WashPo/ABC poll, which has Obama’s approval rating at 66%: “The number of Americans who believe that the nation is headed in the right direction has roughly tripled since Barack Obama's election, and the public overwhelmingly blames the excesses of the financial industry, rather than the new president, for turmoil in the economy… Two-thirds of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the country's top job, and six in 10 give him good marks on issue No. 1, the flagging economy. Those figures are little changed from last month. But he receives lower marks for dealing with the federal budget deficit after submitting a plan that would see continued huge deficits over the next decade. Fifty-two percent back Obama on his approach to the deficit, with the public split about evenly over whether belt-tightening or big increases in spending should be used to try to improve the economy.”
Here’s the Boston Globe’s lead on Obama’s auto remarks yesterday: “President Obama roiled stocks and provoked free-market critics yesterday by rebuffing carmakers' turnaround plans and imposing strict new conditions for rescuing General Motors and Chrysler.” New York Times’ analysis : “As an assertion of government control over a huge swath of the industrial landscape, President Obama’s decision to reshape the automobile industry has few precedents. In essentially taking command of General Motors and telling Chrysler to merge with a foreign competitor or cease to exist, Mr. Obama was saying that economic conditions were sufficiently dire to justify a new level of government involvement in the management of corporate America.”
“His message amounted to an inversion of the relationship that had helped define the rise of American manufacturing might in the 20th century; now, Mr. Obama seemed to be saying, what is good for America will have to be good enough for General Motors.”
CONTINUED >>
Reuters looks at the “hefty agenda” the president is bringing with him to Europe. “Analysts said enthusiasm for Obama among the public in Europe will make for a positive tone in his meetings with allies such as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the warm personal reception Obama will receive might not ease the way for his aims of prodding European allies to spend more to rescue the global economy and offer more troops and resources for the Afghanistan war.” AP also looks at his “busy agenda.” It calls him “wildly popular around the globe but relatively inexperienced in foreign affairs… When Obama went to Europe last summer -- he was a senator seeking the presidency -- he was received like a rock star. His welcome this time is expected to be no less enthusiastic.” Washington Post op-ed . “It is hard to dispute the pessimistic assessments of the Russian-American relationship that prevailed at the end of last year. Unfortunately, relations soured because of the previous U.S. administration's plans -- specifically, deployment of the U.S. global missile defense system in Eastern Europe, efforts to push NATO's borders eastward and refusal to ratify the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. All of these positions undermined Russia's interests and, if implemented, would inevitably require a response on our part.”
“I believe that removing such obstacles to good relations would be beneficial to our countries -- essentially removing ‘toxic assets’ to make good a negative balance sheet -- and beneficial to the world.”
NBC’s Mike Viqueira reports that President Obama spoke for 14 minutes to House Democrats during his closed-door meeting with them on Capitol Hill yesterday. More than 150 members attended, and they were very enthusiastic. Obama, as expected, focused on the budget. "Only way to get out of the economic mess we are in is to grow our way out of it. If we do not have growth, we will not succeed," he said, according to staffers inside the meeting.
The president closed by saying that he and Dems are in this together. Said budget was a blueprint for economic growth. "I need your vote in passing the budget. If we do that, we will create a sense of momentum that will allow us to do health care reform and education" and other major initiatives. "If we don't pas the budget, it will empower those critics who don't want to see anything getting done."
The New York Times adds this about Obama’s trip to Capitol Hill yesterday: “Lawmakers and aides said Mr. Obama also impressed them with his detailed level of political knowledge, reminding one questioner that the lawmaker had voted against his economic stimulus legislation. ‘Don’t think we’re not keeping score, brother,’ Mr. Obama said.”
The Washington Post is the latest to note how GOP Sen. Judd Gregg has gone from Obama’s Commerce secretary-designate to one of his biggest critics. “Now, after turning his back on the post and the administration, the always confident and occasionally sarcastic Gregg has rediscovered his voice as the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee and de facto leader of the opposition to Obama's $3.5 trillion budget.”
CONTINUED >>
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is up with a Web video arguing that Republicans are to blame for the economy’s current troubles.
CONNECTICUT : More Dodd trouble… Politico writes that many Democratic officials, strategists and activists “describe a palpable fury among the party rank and file -- anger that’s led some to wonder if the party would be better served with a different Democratic nominee in 2010 -- though they note that, at the moment, Dodd still retains the loyalty of Democratic activists and the political class.”
NEW YORK : Preview from the Albany Times Union : “Voters in the 20th Congressional District will head to the polls from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today to choose a replacement for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was chosen by Gov. David Paterson to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when Clinton was confirmed as secretary of state.”
On the eve of today’s special election in NY-20, Politico reports that President Obama emailed his supporters once again to support the Democrat in the race, Scott Murphy. “The high-level get-out-the-vote reminder is paid for by Organizing for America, the successor to the president’s grassroots organization, now a project of the Democratic National Committee. The return address is at barackobama.com.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones, Ken Strickland, and Mark Murray President Obama's speech on the U.S. automakers received a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid commended Obama for what he called "firm resolve" when it comes to dealing with automakers.
"The Administration's decision to send GM and Chrysler back to the drawing board was driven by three critical and commendable goals: protecting taxpayers' investment, moving America more quickly toward energy independence, and ensuring these two companies and the American auto industry as a whole can survive and as many workers as possible can keep their jobs," he said in a statement. "As we have maintained since the earliest days of this crisis, if these companies do not develop strong plans to remain viable in the long term, they will lose our support."
On the Republican side, Rep. Darrell Issa , a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, praised Obama's announcement saying he had "struck the right chord in seeking balance between supporting the American auto industry and calling for a much-needed restructuring of GM and Chrysler."
But the response was not all positive. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement arguing that Republicans had long been pushing for reform in the auto industry.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones
A failure of leadership from Washington and Detroit is to blame for the crisis facing American automakers,
President Obama said today when he announced that neither GM nor Chrysler had shown they could remain viable without government help.
The White House is giving both companies more time to restructure before the administration agrees to commit more taxpayer money to helping them. "We cannot and must not and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish," Obama said, calling the industry a source of deep pride.
Video: Obama delivers a tough message to Detroit. But he also insisted that the government cannot continue to excuse poor decisions. "These companies -- and this industry -- must ultimately stand on their own, not as wards of the state."
GM, whose Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner is stepping down at the administration's request, will get 60 days of working capital to develop an aggressive restructuring plan. Wagoner will be replaced by Fritz Henderson, the current president, while Kent Kresa will serve as interim Chairman.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray John McCain said Senate Republicans were working on a detailed budget alternative -- contradicting what we had heard previously from Senate GOPers.
MR. GREGORY: Do you think that Republicans should provide a detailed budget alternative?
Video: McCain discusses Obama's plan to help the economy on "Meet the Press." But Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell , tells First Read that instead of working on a budget alternative, Senate Republicans are working on amendments.
Yet Stewart adds, "As Sen.
Gregg said last week, if they accept our amendments, we’ll have one helluva substitute." Still, that's not a detailed budget alternative...
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Obama takes the wheel: Before he turns his attention to international affairs and the global economy later this week, President Obama today addresses the subject that has dominated his first 70 days in office: domestic affairs. At 11:00 am ET this morning, he delivers a speech from the White House on the U.S. auto industry. This speech, in which he’ll announce additional aid for the industry, comes just after the White House ousted Rick Wagoner as CEO of GM. The reason: It was not happy with the restructing plans that GM and Chrysler submitted last month. In his remarks today, Obama will attach a number of strings to this new bailout money. GM and its new management team (led by GM veteran Fritz Henderson) get two more months to come up with a new restructuring plan, which Treasury officials believe needs to include the elimination of more GM brands. Chrysler, meanwhile, gets one more month to seal a deal that it’s already been working on with Fiat. If it succeeds, the new company will get $6 billion from the government; if it fails, the government is likely to walk away.
Video: The Obama administration said neither GM nor Chrysler submitted acceptable plans to receive more bailout money. ***
The Executioner-in-Chief? It turns out that Wagoner is the fourth CEO the Obama administration has replaced. The others have been the heads of AIG, Fannie, Freddie, and (some claim) Citi. But Wagoner’s dismissal -- which came as a surprise to industry insiders -- has left some liberal critics wondering why the Obama administration is demanding the head of GM’s CEO, but not Bank of America’s or Goldman’s, etc. After the president’s remarks on the auto industry this morning, he meets with Defense Secretary Gates (closed press), signs the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act into law (open press), and then heads over to Capitol Hill to meet with the House Democratic caucus (closed press).
*** Euro trip 2: With President Obama tomorrow embarking on a trip to Europe and beyond -- which will take him to England, France, Germany the Czech Republic, and Turkey -- forgive us if we’re experiencing a case of déjà vu. After all, more than eight months ago, during the summer of the general election, Obama took off on a similar and equally publicized trip. While the McCain campaign and GOP critics seized on a few of that trip’s controversies (Landstuhl, the Berlin speech), it was an overall success. Why? Because the Obama campaign was able to sell the trip -- and the greeting it would receive -- as 1) an example of the type of change Obama would bring and 2) as evidence that the one-term senator could be seen by a majority of American voters as up to the task of president. Now, with European countries resisting calls for their own kind of economic stimulus and with them unwilling to provide additional troops to Afghanistan, the task for Obama is now take his popularity in Europe and turn that into actual results. There are concrete ways to measure the president's global influence, and they are coming very early in his term.
Video: Obama received a warm welcome in Europe as presidential candidate, but the global economic crisis may have an effect on his reception this time. ***
Obama’s European itinerary: On Tuesday, the president travels to London for the G-20 conference. He’ll remain there Wednesday and Thursday, holding bilaterals with the leaders of Britain, China, and Russia. (By the way, is there a more important meeting he's having than with China's Hu?) On Friday and Saturday, he’ll be in France and Germany (where he will meet with Sarkozy and Merkel, give a speech, and attend a NATO conference). On Saturday and Sunday, he’ll be in the Czech Republic (where he will hold a summit with the European Union and give a major speech on proliferation). And on Monday, he’ll be in Turkey. Some additional questions: Will the worldwide positive reaction to him help his poll numbers here in the U.S.? Will he see a slight bump? Also, don't be surprised if Michelle Obama gets a Jackie O-like reception, and gets coverage equivalent of that.
Video: Obama prepares for his first trip overseas as president. ***
Geithner meets the press: The Treasury secretary, after a rough P.R. start to his tenure, did very well yesterday on the Sunday shows. He's clearly bought himself a lot of time -- he never had a "deer in the headlights.” But we do have one question for him and the administration. A standard line of spin from the entire economic team has been this: History has shown that government's mistake in previous economic downturns was not doing enough. Fair enough, but what's an example of government doing enough? Has there ever been an example? Right now, the administration's straw-man argument is Japan in the '90s and the Great Depression -- instances of when government didn't do enough. Could it be that there isn't an example to point to? Then again, Republicans don't exactly have their own examples to point to when government doing too little -- or cutting spending -- actually worked during an severe economic downturn...
Video: Geithner discusses the administration's plan to aid the ailing economy. ***
Turning to Afghanistan: In Obama’s remarks about Afghanistan in his Sunday interview on CBS, we noticed a lack of a singular focus on Osama bin Laden the individual (something that wasn't lacking by Dems during the '04 and '08 campaigns). But the president certainly upped the ante on his rhetoric against al Qaeda in general. By the way, it’s striking to us how well received Obama’s policy was on the right, while the anti-war left has been VERY silent. Moreover, NBC News sources indicate that when the president briefed senior congressional leaders, he was very mindful that the most skeptical person in the room was Speaker Pelosi. She's publicly on board and she's also kept the elected anti-war members of the Dem caucus from criticizing publicly -- an impressive feat.
Video: MSNBC panelists debate whether Obama's plan in Afghanistan will make America safer. ***
That NY-20 race: We’ll have a lot more tomorrow on Tuesday’s special congressional election in New York, but here are a few quick thoughts: The race will be one of those over-read Washington-political stories -- no matter who wins... Obama cut a TV ad... Michael Steele has staked his early reputation on it as well... A Dem loss and there will be lots of Republicans crowing about them on the comeback… A Dem win and there will be a lot of second-guessing among Republicans about their ability to win; if they can't win this one, how are they going to start being a competitive national party again?
*** Joe Biden as Shane Battier or Danny Green? After we discovered the influential role Vice President Biden played in the administration’s Afghanistan/Pakistan, the New York Times yesterday front-paged a look at Biden’s role in the administration. “Mr. Biden has settled into a role of what Mr. Obama compares to a basketball player ‘who does a bunch of things that don’t show up in the stat sheet,’ the president said in an interview Friday. ‘He gets that extra rebound, takes the charge, makes that extra pass.” Speaking of basketball, President Obama wasn’t the only one who seems to have fared poorly with his Final Four picks. Your NBC Political Unit wasn’t so hot, either. (Who would have thought Villanova and Michigan State would make it?)
Countdown to NY-20 special: 1 day
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The Wall Street Journal writes, “The Obama administration used the threat of withholding more bailout money to force out General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, marking one of the most dramatic government interventions in private industry since the economic crisis began last year.”
The Washington Post : “The White House's insistence that Wagoner step down is an extraordinary intervention of the federal government into the management of a private company. A senior administration official said Wagoner's resignation was required because the company needs a ‘clean sheet.’ ‘We felt that having a change of leadership would be consistent with the clean-sheet approach,’ said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.”
“Before the federal government extends more financial aid to the U.S. automakers, the industry must offer a plan that makes it ‘much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is,’ Obama said yesterday on CBS's ‘Face the Nation.’”
CONTINUED >>
The Sunday New York Times curtain-raised Obama’s upcoming trip to Europe. “Despite his immense popularity around the world, Mr. Obama will confront resentment over American-style capitalism and resistance to his economic prescriptions when he lands in London on Tuesday for the Group of 20 summit meeting of industrial and emerging market nations plus the European Union. The president will not even try to overcome NATO’s unwillingness to provide more troops in Afghanistan when he goes on later in the week to meet with the military alliance.”
USA Today calls the trip “one of the most anticipated presidential trips since John Kennedy went to Berlin in 1963… Still new on the world stage at 47, Obama will meet privately with at least six presidents, prime ministers and a king in London, then five more as he travels on to France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Turkey. He'll attend three summits, deliver two major addresses and hold a roundtable with students in Istanbul. He'll take time out to see Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and sightsee from Strasbourg to Istanbul.”
President Obama gave an interview to the Financial Times over the weekend, in which he voiced “optimism that this week's crucial G20 summit will set the framework for recovery, saying that world leaders know they must ‘deliver a strong message of unity’ for the sake of the global economy.”
CONTINUED >>
"Democrats in both the House and the Senate this week hope to win passage for budget resolutions that will serve as the first step in enacting the ambitious agenda of President Obama," The Hill writes. Roll Call adds, "By the time President Barack Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget proposal comes up for a vote in the Senate later this week, the high-pitched opposition from Democratic moderates is expected to give way to a chorus of support."introduced legislation that "would protect middle-income taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax and the marriage penalty, would lock in 2009 estate tax rates, and would make permanent the 10, 25, and 28 percent individual income tax rates set in major tax cut legislation passed in 2001. The measure also would continue current income eligibility thresholds for the child tax credit, which gives families up to $1,000 for every child under age 17."
CONTINUED >>
GOP WATCH: More RNC staff cuts
"The Republican National Committee is shedding more staff under newly elected Chairman Michael Steele’s tenure," Roll Call writes. "Jay Banning, the RNC’s chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, is leaving the committee after 33 years, according to an e-mail message obtained by Roll Call."
HAWAII: "Former Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) wants to come back to Capitol Hill. The former two-term Member entered the race Saturday for retiring Rep. Neil Abercrombie’s (D) seat."
NEW YORK: The Albany Times Union on NY-20: Gillibrand and fellow New York Sen. Charles Schumer made appearances at Murphy's stops in Clifton Park and Brunswick Sunday, while Tedisco flew solo in Malta and visited Glens Falls with Freda Solomon, the wife of late area Congressman Gerald Solomon… The race is being viewed as a political gauge that may indicate if Republicans can regain strength or if Democrats are still riding the momentum of President Barack Obama's election.”
Meanwhile, a DCCC internal poll shows Murphy leading Tedisco 43%-41%, as of Friday, according to The Hill.
From NBC's Mark Murray Anchorage Daily News op-ed this weekend, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin outlines her criticisms of the Obama stimulus -- and why she's raising objections to some of the funds. (Hat tip: Ben Smith .)
Under federal law, I must certify that every stimulus dollar will create new jobs and stimulate the economy. I take that charge seriously. Accordingly, I've requested $514.4 million for capital projects that legitimately create new private sector jobs. Shovel-ready projects are certifiable because they put people to work and grow Alaska's private-sector economy.
Unfortunately, a disproportionate percentage of the federal package available to Alaska would increase government operations. It's a stretch to certify that more spending on more bureaucracy actually grows an economy.
When stimulus money runs out in two years, who will pay for the expanded government programs, when Alaska currently has a budget shortfall of over a billion dollars? My administration will not willingly and knowingly dig a hole for Alaskans to fill under this enormous, debt-ridden, Washington spending plan. That's why public discussion on budget increases must happen through open, transparent legislative hearings so everyone is aware of the cost.
From NBC's Mark Murray GOP's weekly radio address , Republican New Hampshire Sen. -- and one-time Obama Commerce secretary-designee -- Judd Gregg blasted President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget proposal.
He continues, "We believe you create prosperity by having an affordable government that pursues its responsibilities without excessive costs, taxes or debt. That it is the individual American who creates prosperity and good jobs, not the government. We believe that you create energy independence not by sticking Americans with a brand new national sales tax on everyone’s electric bill, but by expanding the production of American energy."
Meanwhile, in a new TV ad , the liberal group Americans United for Change ridicules House Republicans, who this week announced a budget alternative that had no hard numbers in it; House Republicans say that the hard numbers will come out next week.
"For weeks the Republicans just said NO to the president’s plan and refused to propose one of their own," the ad goes. "They finally presented their alternative. How many numbers were in their alternative 'budget'? That’s right – none. A budget with no numbers? Tell the Republicans that Americans won’t take NO for an answer. Tell them we want our President -- and America -- to succeed."
Video: The G-20 summit, if it's Tuesday... NY-20, Geithner on Meet the Press, and BIG Bill Clinton news.
From NBC's Ken Strickland
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will have two confirmation hearings next week to become HHS secretary. On Tuesday, she'll appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pension Committee (which is a courtesy hearing because it doesn't approve the nomination). And on Thursday, Sebelius has her official hearing before the Finance Committee.
There are a couple of financial oversight, follow-the-money-type hearings that could generate some fireworks since fiscal accountability became all the rage. On Tuesday, the Finance Committee will get a six-month update on TARP spending from a panel that includes the TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky.
And the Homeland Security/Governmental Affairs Committee will hear the administration's plan on how it will keep track of the billions being spent in the stimulus bill. OMB deputy Rob Nabors and Inspector General Earl Devaney will be the witnesses in this Thursday hearing.
The Senate's version of the budget resolution moves to the floor Monday, and is expected to consume the week's legislative activity before Congress begins a two-week recess on April 6.
From NBC's Mark Murray in a new poll -- the National Republican Congressional Committee has unveiled a provocative new Web ad that hits Democratic candidate for opposing the death penalty, even for terrorists.
From NBC's Chuck Todd
In the midst of the congressional outrage over bonuses and bailouts, many of the very firms who benefitted from TARP funds are still making political donations. And the politicians are still taking them.
According to the latest F.E.C. data for February, several members of Congress who have been critical of the federal government’s bailout of U.S. companies have received campaign contributions just in the last six weeks – from the firms they bailed out.
Campaign-finance-reform advocate Fred Wertheimer says the government's been bailing out banks and other major "too-big-to-fail" firms -- as these same companies continue to use their PACs to make contributions. "It all adds up to kind of a magic circle involving the government, TARP recipients, members of Congress, and campaign contributions." The reality, of course, is that these contributions, individually, aren't a lot of money. But many members of Congress (including Speaker Pelosi and Financial Services Chair Barney Frank) have decided against taking any of the money. The optics of this for both the banks and for the members of Congress is bad, and only feeds the credibility problems both entities have with the American public.
Video: NBC’s Chuck Todd reports on the political contributions some politicians are getting from businesses and other organizations receiving bailout money.
So who is getting money and giving it right back to the politicians? Here’s a list of companies who received at least $1 billion in TARP funds and in February alone also gave money to members of Congress or national parties:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones
The future of Afghanistan is "inextricably linked" to the future of Pakistan,
President Obama argued today as he announced a sweeping new policy toward Afghanistan that will include more troops for the country and more aid for its increasingly unstable neighbor.
In stern, forceful language, the president sought to make the case to the American people -- and to the world -- that the security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan was a shared responsibility that would require a sustained international effort to go after Al Qaeda and to help with economic development in the region.
"For the American people, this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world," he said. "I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future."
Obama has already ordered 17,000 additional troops be sent to Afghanistan this year and today he announced that an additional roughly 4,000 troops would be sent to help train Afghan security forces. He also called on Congress to pass two bills -- one that would provide $1.5 billion a year for five years to build schools, roads and hospitals in Pakistan; and another that would create "opportunity zones" in border regions to develop the economy.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Siena Research Institute poll shows Scott Murphy (D) leading Jim Tedisco (R), 47%-43%, in that special election taking place in upstate New York on Tuesday. (Hat tip: Taegan Goddard .)
As we've written , it would be a P.R. disaster for Republicans if they lose this GOP-leaning congressional district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats and which the GOP held for 28 years until Kirsten Gillibrand (D) won it in 2006. (That said, Obama did capture 51% of the vote in this district last November.)
“If Republicans lose this race, it is likely to have more significant aftershocks than if Democrats lose,” Amy Walter of the Hotline told First Read.
“I think Republicans will have to do some introspection if they lose this race,” added David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report. “If there is any district in New York they should be able to get back, it is this one.”
Meanwhile, Tedisco released this statement about the new Siena poll: “Heading into Election Day, our campaign’s internal polling shows us continuing to lead, just as we have for this entire race. Today's Siena poll is simply another in a line of polls that show this race within the margin of error. In the end this race is coming down to voter intensity and turnout, and our internal polls show us with strong leads in both areas."
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro The Afghan-Pak strategy : At 9:25 am ET, President Obama will announce that he’s sending an additional 4,000 military trainers and advisers to Afghanistan, on top of the 17,000 he’s already deployed there. As NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reported last night, the president's new strategy will focus on accelerating the training and doubling the size of Afghan security forces to take over the fighting. But this isn’t just about Afghanistan; today’s policies will also be about neighboring Pakistan. As Bloomberg News notes, “Obama also would support legislation to triple economic aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year in exchange for that country cracking down on Taliban and terrorists hiding out along border… The goal is to weaken and ultimately destroy al-Qaeda’s havens and sanctuaries in Pakistan and prevent the terrorist group from returning across the border to Afghanistan, the officials said.” Some might see today’s announcement as a ramping of activity in Afghanistan, but is sending 4,000 trainers/advisers an acknowledgement of the opposite? Everything about this announcement today, in fact, has the feel of trying to minimize the military aspect of the conflict. To put it another way, this is a dramatic shift away from the philosophy some in the Bush administration pushed -- which was democracy for Afghanistan.
Video: NBC's David Gregory joins Morning Joe to discuss the usuage of bailout funds and the Republican Party's alternative budget proposal. *** Dude, where’s my budget? Let’s be honest: Yesterday’s House Republican budget rollout was a P.R. disaster for the GOP. “Here it is, Mr. President” was the title of the GOP Leader blog touting that they had answered Obama’s dare to produce a budget. The problem -- their budget rollout didn’t contain any hard budget numbers or deficit projections. They say those hard numbers will come out next week. But now we learn that Reps. Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan objected to unveiling yesterday’s “blueprint,” but were overruled by Reps. John Boehner and Mike Pence. But bigger than any internal disagreements or any criticism about a lack of details is the fact that yesterday’s GOP non-announcement moved the attention away from the Obama-vs.-congressional Democrat storyline to the GOP’s lack of a budget. In fact, after yesterday, the White House and congressional Democrats can agree on one thing: The GOP -- at least until next week -- is the “Party of No.” What's more, it puts more pressure on Ryan to truly put out a comprehensive budget alternative; Also, this episode could end up creating a rift in the GOP over how to combat the Obama White House. After all, Senate Republicans wanted nothing to do with an alternative, and now Mitch McConnell, et al are either laughing at their House GOP colleagues, furious at them, or both. And where’s the money? We’ve suggested that the economic downturn could affect political fundraising, and today’s Washington Post has numbers to back up that assumption. “In January and February 2005, the six national party committees collected a total of almost $49 million in individual contributions, according to an analysis of FEC records,” the Post writes. “In the first two months of this year, those same committees collected $30.7 million, a drop of nearly 40 percent.”
*** The magic circle : Speaking of political contributions, one of us on TODAY followed up on the recent reporting that several members of Congress who have been critical of the federal government’s bailout of U.S. companies have received campaign contributions from these very firms just in the last six weeks, in the midst of the congressional venom directed toward the bailouts. Campaign-finance-reform advocate Fred Wertheimer says the government's been bailing out banks and other major "too-big-to-fail" firms -- as these same companies continue to use their PACs to make contributions. “It all adds up to kind of a magic circle involving the government, TARP recipients, members of Congress, and campaign contributions.” The reality, of course, is that these contributions, individually, aren't a lot of money. But many members of Congress (including Speaker Pelosi and Financial Services Chair Barney Frank) have decided against taking any of the money. The optics of this for both the banks and for the members of Congress is bad, and only feeds the credibility problems both entities have with the American public.
***
More tough news for Gillibrand? New York liberals have criticized Sen. Kristen Gillibrand over her past views on guns and immigration. And now they might have another beef -- her past attorney work for Phillip Morris, according to the
New York Times . “Now in the Senate seat formerly held by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ms. Gillibrand plays down her work as a lawyer representing Philip Morris, saying she was a junior associate with little control over the cases she was handed and limited involvement in defending the tobacco maker. But a review of thousands of documents and interviews with dozens of lawyers and industry experts indicate that Ms. Gillibrand was involved in some of the most sensitive matters related to the defense of the tobacco giant as it confronted pivotal legal battles beginning in the mid-1990s.”
*** Obama makes an appearance in NY-20 -- sort of : Turning to Gillibrand’s old congressional seat, the DNC has announced that it’s airing a new TV ad that notes President Obama’s endorsement of Scott Murphy (D) in the NY-20 special election. “In the worst recession in a generation,” the ad goes, “upstate New Yorkers deserve someone with the right skills to represent them in Washington… In Congress, he'll work with President Obama to spur investment and create jobs right here at home.” As Roll Call puts it, the DNC’s ad is the “strongest attempt yet to link Obama with Murphy.”
*** Man of Steele? As we’ve previously noted, Tuesday’s special election in NY-20 contains plenty of good storylines. The race has turned into a battle over Obama’s stimulus (Murphy supports it, while GOPer Jim Tedisco opposes it). It has become a barometer of the Republican Party’s health in the post-Bush era (a loss would be devastating for the Republicans in this GOP-leaning district). And here’s a third storyline: The contest has become a test for embattled RNC Chairman Michael Steele, given that he has made it a personal crusade of sorts. The RNC says it has transferred $200,000 to help Tedisco, and Steele has campaigned for him. What’s more, Steele had said that a win in the race “will send a powerful signal to the rest of the country and especially those folks in the elite media who think they know so much more than the rest of the us.” But what happens if Republicans lose this toss-up contest? As one GOP strategist told First Read, “Part of being an effective party leader is winning races we can win or should win. And this is a race we very much should win.” (Click here for more .)
*** If it’s Sunday… : Be sure to watch “Meet the Press” this Sunday, which will have Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in his first live Sunday morning interview, as well as John McCain.
Countdown to NY-20 special: 4 days
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The AP : "Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday. Obama's war strategy, which he will unveil today, includes no time line for withdrawal of troops. The war began more than seven years ago. The sources said Obama's goal is to stabilize Afghanistan and eliminate the terrorist havens that have taken root in Pakistan. They said the plan is built around benchmarks that will allow the President and Congress to check whether it is working."
The Washington Post says that the strategy isn’t only about Afghanistan; it’s also about Pakistan. “In outlining his plan after a two-month review that began the week of his inauguration, Obama will describe it as a sharp break with what officials called a directionless and under-resourced conflict inherited from the Bush administration. Far from al-Qaeda being vanquished and the threat to the United States diminished, the official said, ‘seven and a half years after 9/11, al-Qaeda's core leadership has moved from Kandahar, in Afghanistan, to a location unknown in Pakistan . . . where we know they're plotting new attacks" against this country and its allies.’”
“Obama plans to announce a "simple, clear, concise goal -- to disrupt, dismantle and eventually destroy al-Qaeda in Pakistan," said the official, one of three authorized to anonymously discuss the strategy. The president will describe his plan in a White House speech to a group of selected military, diplomatic and development officials and nongovernmental aid groups.”
Bloomberg : “Obama also would support legislation to triple economic aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year in exchange for that country cracking down on Taliban and terrorists hiding out along border… The goal is to weaken and ultimately destroy al-Qaeda’s havens and sanctuaries in Pakistan and prevent the terrorist group from returning across the border to Afghanistan, the officials said.”
CONTINUED >>
"President Obama is expected to provide additional money to General Motors and Chrysler, but will tie that aid to strict conditions on their restructuring," The Hill writes. "Two industry sources predicted that additional aid to GM and Chrysler would come with conditions the administration would try to portray as 'tough love.'"
"In his continuing non-traditional media blitz, President Obama used a popular Spanish-language music awards show tonight to reach out to Hispanics," the Boston Globe reports. "'Buenas noches. I want to thank the millions of you who voted for tonight’s winners, and I also want to thank all of you who voted in that other election back in November -- even if it wasn’t for me,' he said in a pre-recorded message that aired during Univision’s live coverage of the 'Premio Lo Nuestro' Latin music awards from Miami’s BankUnited Center."
The Senate Budget Committee yesterday passed a budget resolution along party lines, 13-10. The Hill : "Compared to the president's proposal, Conrad's (D-N.D.) includes less non-defense discretionary spending and fewer details over how to overhaul the healthcare system and curb global warming. But it does tackle Obama's top priorities of healthcare, energy, education and deficit reduction."
Regarding that GOP “budget” yesterday … Republicans' "19-page proposal included few details. Instead, it promised Republican themes of curbing spending, creating jobs, cutting taxes and controlling debt.""ridiculed the GOP proposal for being brief and containing a 'picture of a windmill' instead of numbers. He also used a string of one-liners at yesterday's briefing to knock it down: "It took me several minutes to read it" and "I think the 'Party of No' has become the party of no new ideas."
CONTINUED >>
MINNESOTA : Per the Star Tribune , “The former finance chief of a Texas company controlled by Nasser Kazeminy, a close friend of former Sen. Norm Coleman, said in a deposition last week that Kazeminy ordered $100,000 in fees be paid to a Minneapolis insurance agency where Coleman's wife was employed. B.J. Thomas, who was chief financial officer of Deep Marine Technology Inc., said that $75,000 of that sum was paid to Hays Companies even though he saw no evidence of Deep Marine receiving any consulting services from Hays.”
The article also notes this: “In the deposition, Thomas recounted a March 2007 telephone conversation in which Kazeminy purportedly lamented the amount of money Coleman was paid as a senator. According to the transcript, Thomas was asked, ‘In that conversation that you had with Mr. Kazeminy, did he tell you, quote, United States senators don't make sh&%, close quote? Or words to that effect?’ Thomas answered: ‘Yes, sir.'’”
The DSCC says it's going to donate that $100,000 in Madoff contributions, after it resisted doing so earlier. CONNECTICUT : Chris Dodd leads Rob Simmons in a potential 2010 Senate match-up 45%-40%, per a new Siena poll. In a Quinnipiac poll earlier this month, Dodd had trailed Simmons by a point. The poll also reveals voters are largely split on Dodd's favorability (47% positive, 40% negative). Simmons is largely unknown, but most that did have an opinion expressed a positive one. (By the way, the poll also reveals that 54% view Sen. Joe Lieberman negatively, while only 40% viewed him favorably.) *** CORRECTION *** That Connecticut poll mentioned above is a Research 2000 poll, not a Siena survey. NEW YORK : Murphy and Tedisco faced off in their final debate yesterday. “‘I think he is better for the dodge ball team, he's a pretty dodger on particular issue,’ said Jim Tedisco. ‘I guess that how they do things in Albany, what I want to do is solve the problem,’ said Scott Murphy.”
“It didn't take long. It the last time Republican Jim Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy meet face to face and the last time to trade barbs. ‘Either he knew what was in the that bill, he knew those AIG bonuses were in there. There's nobody else to blame,’ said Tedisco. ‘You can't have it both ways. You can't say that it is pork and then say it is important money we need to get here, and you are fighting to get those dollars here. If it is all pork, you should be against it,’ said Murphy.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones President Obama today discussed the economy, health-care reform, education, clean energy, help for small businesses, and other issues all in an effort to sell his $3.6 trillion budget to the American people.
The event -- much of which cable stations carried live, and which the White House says drew more than 67,000 viewers online -- consisted of the president answering the most popular questions submitted in written and video form and several from a live audience assembled in the East Room. Some 92,933 people submitted 104,082 questions online, and cast 3.6 million votes to select which ones should be answered, according to www.whitehouse.gov .
Obama's responses yielded no news, and the town hall felt at times like a university lecture. But there were two interesting moments. At one point, the president acknowledged a popular question about marijuana that he felt he needed to address.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
In fact, we received this email from a House GOP spokeswoman, "Given the President’s comments [Tuesday] night that, 'we haven’t seen a budget out of [Republicans],' we wanted to make sure to make you all aware that we are introducing our Republican Budget Alternative tomorrow."
And then what happens today? House Republicans release a 19-page document that contains no hard spending numbers or deficit projections. Per the AP , "One of the few hard bits of information is a promise to simplify the tax code and cut income tax rates to 10 percent for people making $100,000 or less down. They also promise to cut domestic spending below current levels but don't say whether they are exempting Social Security. It's impossible to determine the projected deficit based on their offering."Paul Ryan is currently drafting."
Not surprisingly, the Democratic National Committee pounced on the GOP's budget -- or lack thereof. "After 27 days, the best House Republicans could come up with is a 19-page pamphlet that does not include a single real budget proposal or estimate," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan. "While there had been talk that House Republicans were overriding their Senate counterparts to offer a budget alternative, it's clear after this announcement that neither of them have anything to offer but criticism."
From NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
When it comes to political races, 2008 will certainly go down as a year to remember.
It featured more than 50 individual Democratic presidential primary contests; it produced dozens of competitive Senate and House races (one of which is still undecided); and it concluded with a general election between Barack Obama and John McCain that captivated America.
Now, just four months later, the first truly competitive contest of 2009 is already upon us. On Tuesday, in upstate New York, Democrat Scott Murphy faces off against Republican Jim Tedisco in the special election to fill the seat in the 20th Congressional District vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand , D-N.Y., who was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate.
While political analysts usually caution not to read too much into special elections, this race seems to take up where 2008 left off. It has turned into a battle over President Obama’s economic stimulus. It also has become the first real test for embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele .
And, looking forward to next year’s midterms, Republicans have touted it as an early barometer of their political health in the post-Bush era — especially since it takes place in a region, the Northeast, where the GOP has found little recent success.
Click here for the rest of the story.
From NBC's Mark Murray Obama's Organizing for America is the latest group to air a TV ad touting the president's budget. The ad is running on national and DC cable (read: a relatively small buy).
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Budget battle wages on: Despite their differences over the budget (middle-class tax cuts, health-care spending, additional money for Wall Street’s rescue), Obama’s meeting yesterday with Senate Democrats was a big love fest. And here's what happened: They punted all the tough decisions for down the road -- which is what White House wants. Team Obama wants the tough debates getting less attention. Meanwhile, it looks like House Republicans have accepted the president’s dare. “There's an interesting reason why some of these [GOP critics] haven't put out their own budget,” the president said at Tuesday’s press conference. “I mean, we haven't seen an alternative budget out of them.”
Video: President Barack Obama tried to rally Democrats on his massive $3.6 trillion budget on Capitol Hill Wednesday. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.
*** We pruned the hedge (funds) of many small villages: After what most consider a rough start in his first two months on the job, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has been taking on a more and more visible role this week. On Monday, he unveiled the administration’s toxic-assets plan (to a favorable reception on Wall Street).
On Tuesday, he and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Capitol Hill on AIG oversight. And today, Geithner's back on the Hill -- this time unveiling the Obama administration’s plan to subject hedge funds and other exotic financial instruments (like derivatives) to more government oversight. Per CNBC’s Mary Thompson, senior administration officials say the plan addresses systemic risk; regulatory gaps and holes within the system; consumer and investor protection; and international cooperation among regulators. The focus of today’s testimony, however, will be on systemic risk, with details about the three other parts of the plan to be unveiled over the next two to three weeks.
*** Now that would be some meeting: The Geithner reforms, in fact, might be the most important long-term issue the administration is dealing with today. It was the deregulation decisions of the 1980s-90s that played a role in today's crisis. Some day, the key economic players of the ‘80s and ‘90s will get in one room and start hashing out their decisions. Can't we get Phil Gramm, Jim Johnson, Alan Greenspan, Bob Rubin, Larry Summers, Chris Cox, Hank Greenberg, Tom Bliley, etc.? We're leaving a number of people out, but you get the point. How do we know where were going if we don't know how we got here? One thing we've learned: There wasn't one reason; there were a slew of them. Of course, to get all of these folks in one room, someone would need to have subpoena authority and hold hearings. Hmmm, maybe a special committee or commission?
*** Town Hall 2.0: President Obama has hit the road to sell his economic agenda. He’s appeared on Leno and “60 Minutes.” And now the president hits … the Internet. At 11:30 am ET, he answers questions in an online town hall . So far, per the White House, 76,000 people have submitted almost 84,000 questions for the president.
*** Hillary dips her toes back into politics? Yesterday, Planned Parenthood announced that it would be honoring Secretary of State Clinton at a gala on Friday in Houston. While it’s hardly surprising that she supports Planned Parenthood and abortion rights, this seems to be a bit more political than your usual State Department event, no? And speaking of politics, check out Hillary’s comments about the assault weapons ban. She basically, well, endorsed it. "I think these assault weapons, these military style weapons don't belong on anyone's street," she told NBC's Andrea Mitchell. That isn’t something that rural Democrats want to hear... And we're guessing something the president would not be caught saying in public, or would he? What say you, Mr. LaPierre?
*** You are a radio star…: Sticking with politics, Politico’s Martin reports that Vice President Biden has cut a radio ad for Scott Murphy (D) in the NY-20 special congressional race that takes place on Tuesday. This ad comes after President Obama released an email to supporters in Upstate New York asking them to back the Democratic candidate. “While Obama is unlikely to appear in New York on Murphy’s behalf," Politico writes, "Democrats familiar with strategy considerations say the national committee is mulling over spending significantly more money on the race. Biden's radio ad is a major first step, though it’s uncertain whether he’ll trek up to the district, and first lady Michelle Obama may play a role.”
***
Steele in the news: And just when we thought we hadn’t heard from Michael Steele in a while, the RNC chairman
gave an interview yesterday to CNN , in which he said he might be open to running for president someday -- if that’s "where God wants me to be." Steele: "God has a way of revealing stuff to you, and making it real for you, through others. And if that's part of the plan, it'll be the plan… [If I run] it'll be because that's where God wants me to be at that time." Per the
Huffington Post , Steele also told CNN that his dust-up with (and later apology to) Rush Limbaugh was planned and “strategic.” Said Steele: “So if I do something, there's a reason for it... It may look like a mistake, a gaffe. There is a rationale, there is a logic behind it.” More: "It helps me understand my position on the chess board. It helps me understand, where, you know, the enemy camp is and where those who are inside the tent are… It's all strategic." OK…
Countdown to NY-20 special: 5 days
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Per the New York Times , Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner today will detail a “wide-ranging plan to overhaul financial regulation by subjecting hedge funds and traders of exotic financial instruments, now among the biggest and most freewheeling players on Wall Street, to potentially strict new government supervision… The plan, which would require Congressional approval, would give the government vast new powers over ‘systemically important’ banks and other financial institutions that are so big that their collapse would jeopardize the economy as a whole.”
More: “The government would have the power to peer into the inner workings of companies that currently escape most federal supervision -- insurance companies like the American International Group, multibillion-dollar hedge funds like the Citadel Group and private equity firms like the Carlyle Group or Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts.”
The Wall Street Journal : “The move represents an early salvo in what will likely be a long debate about how to overhaul the rules governing markets, an effort officials say is designed to help restore confidence in the U.S. financial system. It comes just days before Mr. Geithner and President Barack Obama travel to London” for the G-20.
CONTINUED >>
Obama went to Capitol Hill yesterday to meet with Senate Democrats, and he got this headline from the AP : "Democrats unify around Obama budget." But: "Even so, both the House and Senate versions lack specifics for any of the administration's signature proposals. And Democrats decided to cut spending -- and exploding deficits -- below levels envisioned in the plan Obama presented less than a month ago."
The New York Times : “Just before midnight, the House Budget Committee voted, 24 to 15 along party lines, to approve its spending plan, sending it to the full House for consideration next week. While both the House and Senate plans protect the president’s top priorities, neither would extend a middle-class tax cut championed by Mr. Obama beyond 2010 unless a source of revenue to pay for it is identified. And though Mr. Obama laid out specific plans to raise $634 billion over 10 years for a down payment on national health care reform, lawmakers provided only a framework for the White House and Congress to move forward, provided that the health initiative does not raise the debt.”
The Wall Street Journal looks at more budget differences between the Obama administration and Democratic Congress. “Democratic leaders in both chambers are pushing packages that call for narrower deficits and less spending than proposed by the White House… Significantly, both the House and Senate decided to abandon a White House request for additional money for the Wall Street rescue. The two chambers also don't intend to invoke special legislative powers -- known as ‘reconciliation’ -- that would allow climate-change legislation to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.”
CONTINUED >>
MINNESOTA: “Minnesota's U.S. Senate race set a record Wednesday for delay. No election for statewide office in Minnesota has dragged on so long after the autumn vote without a winner being seated,” the
Star Tribune writes. “The old record was set by the 1962 governor's election between DFLer Karl Rolvaag and incumbent Republican Elmer L. Andersen. When that contest ended the following spring, Andersen, who thought he had been reelected, lost by 91 votes. Rolvaag took the oath of office on March 25, 1963.”
KENTUCKY: Republicans trying to force Jim Bunning out may be a dose of his own medicine, The Hill points out. Bunning lobbied for Anne Northup over Ernie Fletcher in 2007 for governor, because he wanted "to make sure that we nominate someone who can win in November." MICHIGAN: "Domino’s Pizza Chairman and CEO David Brandon has been on national television for two weeks touting the 'Big Taste Bailout' in advertisements that are running during top-watched shows like 'American Idol' and the NCAA basketball tournament. The spot, which features both the Capitol and a faux-Wall Street executive, would be great public relations for any company that hasn’t received TARP or bailout funding, but they’re even better for Brandon. Reports say he’s considering joining the already-crowded Republican field running for governor of Michigan." NEW YORK: Vice President Biden has cut a radio ad for Scott Murphy (D) in the special congressional election to replace Kirsten Gillibrand. “While Obama is unlikely to appear in New York on Murphy’s behalf, Democrats familiar with strategy considerations say the national committee is mulling over spending significantly more money on the race. Biden's radio ad is a major first step, though it’s uncertain whether he’ll trek up to the district, and first lady Michelle Obama may play a role.”
The DNC sent $10,000 for the homestretch, but the Republican National Committee has poured $200,000 into the race." A Democratic official tells First Read, "There are other bolts to come, yet to be fired. Stay tuned."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Pete Williams
President
Obama has nominated one of the nation's prominent liberal academics to be the top lawyer at the State Department, another sign that the administration plans a big break with
Bush administration policies in the war on terror.
Formally announced late yesterday but getting little attention today, the White House nominated Harold Koh , dean of the Yale Law School, to be the State Department's legal advisor.
Koh has been one of the most outspoken opponents of Bush interrogation and detention policies. He told a 2005 Senate hearing that a Justice Department memo authorizing harsh interrogation methods was, "a stain on our law, a stain on our national reputation."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland Peter Orszag said, "The resolutions may not be identical twins to what the president submitted, but they are certainly brothers that look an awful lot alike."
In fact, it's more like they have different fathers.
Here's why: While the Senate version is supportive of most of the president's programs, it stops well short endorsing the administration's tactics for enacting them into law. For example, the Senate budget supports the broad idea of a health-care reserve fund, but it doesn't make "assumptions" about how it will be paid for or even how much it should be.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Libby Leist
En route to Mexico City today, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton was forceful in sending the message to the Mexican government and people that the U.S. takes a "shared responsibility" for the drug violence and drug trafficking plaguing Mexico, and that past U.S. efforts have not worked.
Clinton said she was asked yesterday in an interview with a Mexican reporter to respond to criticism in Mexico that the U.S. is responsible for much of the Mexican crisis. She said she responded to the reporter, "I agree -- we are!"
Clinton added today, "How could anybody conclude differently? Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade! Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers, civilians. So, yes, I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility. And part of what we're trying to do is not only acknowledge that but working with the Mexicans to create the very best possible responses."
CONTINUED >>
From MSNBC.com's Tom Curry
Democratic Sen.
Evan Bayh of Indiana is the target of a campaign by left-of-center Democratic groups like MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America’s Future, and USAction, which accuse him and other centrist Democrats of what Bob Borosage, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, calls “standing in the way of the president’s programs.”
As previously mentioned, a new MoveOn radio ad, which will start running in Indiana Thursday, will urge listeners to “Call Senator Bayh at (202) 224-3121 and tell him to vote for the Obama budget. We’ve tried it Wall Street’s way long enough. It’s time Washington listens to the rest of us.”
Video: Will Bayh's new caucus of eight moderate Democrats oppose White House policies? Bayh was one of seven Democratic senators to sign a letter opposing the idea of using the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority vote rather than 60 votes, to pass a climate change cap-and-trade bill.
Bayh is running for a third term next year in a state that Obama barely carried last November, though Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win it since 1964. Bayh has never lost in five statewide elections (as secretary of state, governor, and senator).
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Mike Viqueira
Process alert! But it's important... The House will include a provision in its version of the budget that would protect the president's health-care initiative from a filibuster, according to a very senior House Democrat.
Health care will be the only provision to enjoy such protection, termed, "reconciliation."
It’s important because the Senate, where the actual filibusters happen, is not expected to include the procedure in its budget, in part, owing to the fact that many senators, some Dems included, do not think it is appropriate use of the technique.
Republicans have spoken darkly of legislative mayhem as a means of retribution if Dems go down that path.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Claire Luke WASHINGTON -- Since Rush Limbaugh said he wants President Obama to fail, Republicans have been asked repeatedly if they share the sentiment. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal , unprompted, offered his answer .Bush fail. CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Pete Williams
FBI Director
Robert Mueller told Congress today that the bureau is struggling to keep up with an explosion of investigations into corruption by public officials and mortgage fraud.
He told a Senate committee today that the FBI has a surprising 2,500 public corruption investigations open now -- up nearly 60 percent since 2003. In just the past two years, FBI investigations have brought about more than 1,600 convictions of federal, state and local public officials.
Mueller said the FBI's mortgage fraud load has more than doubled in the past three years, to more than 2,000 cases from 700. The FBI has more than 566 open corporate fraud investigations, including some directly related to the current financial crisis, he said.
But Mueller said these cases are putting a strain on the FBI, which has been forced to shift resources from other criminal investigations. The number of agents investigating mortgage fraud has risen from 120 to 250 in the past two years. And it's clear that will have to grow more. Since last fall, nearly 29,000 reports of potential fraud have been filed, he said.
From NBC's Mark Murray Kent Conrad ), Nebraska (Ben Nelson ), Virginia (Mark Warner ), Indiana (Evan Bayh ), Arkansas (Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor ), Louisiana (Mary Landrieu ), Alaska (Mark Begich ), North Carolina (Kay Hagan ), and New Hampshire (Jeanne Shaheen ).
The ad also will run on cable and broadcast in DC.
Largely repeating President Obama's message from last night, the ad goes: "For eight years, the Bush a dministration turned our economy into a house of cards. Last fall that house came tumbling down. Now President Obama has drawn up a budget blue print that will rebuild our economy on a solid foundation."
Said Tom McMahon, the group's acting executive director: "This ad is designed to engage the American people in the process of bringing about the transformational change they voted for in November by contacting their elected representatives and asking for their help in putting our country on the road to prosperity."
The script: ANNCR: For eight years, the Bush Administration turned our economy into a house of cards.
From NBC's Mark Murray Barack Obama has endorsed a political candidate and is urging his supporters to vote for him.
In an email to supporters in Upstate New York, Obama has asked them to back Democrat Scott Murphy in his race on Tuesday against Republican Jim Tedisco . The two men are vying to fill the congressional seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand (D), who replaced Hillary Clinton in the Senate.
"I'm writing to you now because you have the opportunity to make a big impact on my efforts to bring about a lasting economic recovery," Obama writes. "Today I'm announcing my support for Scott Murphy... To restore our economy and build a foundation for lasting prosperity, I'll need Scott's help. This week, Scott needs yours."
Interestingly, Tedisco has embraced the president somewhat in this traditionally GOP-leaning congressional district that Obama narrowly won in November. “Like the president says: In these difficult times, we're not Republicans or Democrats. We're Americans,” Tedisco says in one of his ads .
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro The Obama ocean-liner : More than anything else, Obama’s news conference last night resembled a campaign TV ad -- one in which the serious candidate talks directly to the camera (although this one went on for nearly an hour, and it sometimes was interrupted by tough questions from the press). Indeed, how many times did we hear Obama mention his budget’s top priorities: education, energy, health care, reducing the deficit? Perhaps the most striking thing was the president linking his budget to the current economic crisis. (“The budget I submitted to Congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation, so that we do not face another crisis like this 10 or 20 years from now.”) He preached persistence and pleaded patience. (“We'll recover from this recession, but it will take time, it will take patience.”) Rahm Emanuel’s grin, in fact, might have said it all at the end of the news conference, when Obama turned a question on Middle East peace back into a defense of his first two months in the White House. “I think that you look back four years from now, I think hopefully people will judge that body of work and say, ‘This is a big ocean-liner. It’s not a speedboat. It doesn’t turn around immediately. But we’re in a better, better place because of the decisions that we made.’”
Video: Obama asks for patience on his plan to fix the economy at his new conference last night. ***
With friends like these… : Of course, Obama is going to need a lot of persistence and patience when he sits down with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill at 1:00 pm ET today (closed press). His budget is not going over well some of his own party's deficit hawks, who are already signaling that they want to cut major portions of his budget like his middle-class tax cut. Also today, Obama meets with the UN Secretary General at 10:45 am; he and Biden deliver remarks to commemorate Greek Independence Day at 5:05 pm; and then he hits two DNC fundraisers in the evening -- his first two fundraisers since becoming president.
*** Other quick thoughts about last night : Despite all the past week’s attention on the AIG bonuses, that subject barely came up at last night’s press conference… The only true foreign policy question came at the end (re: Middle East peace)… He took several questions from non-traditional media outlets (Univision, Ebony, Stars and Stripes) and bypassed some of the big newspapers (NYT, WashPo, LATimes, WSJ)… His answer on the race question was very interesting (“At the inauguration, I think that there was justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination in this country, but that lasted about a day”)… And his defense of paring charitable tax deductions for the well-off might have been the most fascinating exchange of the evening.
*** Card check’s death? Did the legislative battle over the Employee Free Choice Act (a.k.a. “card check”) end before it truly began? GOP Sen. Arlen Specter’s decision yesterday to oppose the bill, even though he voted for cloture on the measure in ’07, dealt a blow to organized labor, denying them the 60 votes they need to end debate -- even if Al Franken ends up joining the Senate. We can tell you this: The White House appears to be happy (but very quietly so) to have this debate out of the way. No doubt they were for it. But it was always more of a Biden cause than a Barack cause. At this point in time, with everything else on their plate, sticking a finger in business’ eye wasn’t something the White House was looking forward to. Would Obama have signed it? Yes. But he doesn’t have to worry about it now, at least maybe not until 2011.
*** Specter in trouble? Even though Arlen Specter supported the card-check legislation in ’07, there’s a reason why he isn’t now -- he likely has a tough GOP primary on his hands next year. And, according to a new Quinnipiac poll , that primary might be even tougher than we imagined. The poll shows conservative Pat Toomey topping the more moderate Specter by a whopping 14 points in a hypothetical Pennsylvania GOP primary, 41%-27%. Overall, Specter gets relatively high marks from Pennsylvania voters. His fav/unfav is 45%-31%, but among Republicans, it’s just 29%-47%; among Democrats, it’s 60%-16% (who would have thought that?). Per the poll, the reason why Republicans are upset with Specter: his support for Obama’s stimulus. Specter, of course, narrowly beat Toomey in a GOP primary in 2004. And while he has said he will remain a Republican, does Specter start second-guessing that decision after this poll? And with the prospect that Toomey might defeat Specter in a GOP primary, how many Pennsylvania Democrats will now start thinking about jumping into this Senate race?
*** AIG, yeah you know me : Be sure not to miss the letter in today’s New York Times from Jake DeSantis, executive VP of AIG’s financial products unit, who tells AIG CEO Edwards Liddy 1) that he's resigning from AIG; 2) that he’s giving his bonus money to those suffering from the economic downturn; and 3) that he and his co-workers have been unfairly maligned. “I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.” It’s a fascinating read.
*** South of the border : Also today, Secretary of State Clinton travels to Mexico, where she meets with President Calderon. There’s also a Senate hearing on the border violence. Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, as well as Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg and Deputy Attorney General Ogden testify at 9:30 am ET. Clinton's visit comes one day after Obama unveiled his plan to help curb the drug violence in Mexico, and as the New York Times front-pages that the administration’s next big foreign policy challenge could be next door. "Mexico’s economy is being dragged down by the recession to the north. American addicts have turned Mexico into a drug superhighway, and its police and soldiers are under assault from American guns. Nafta promised 15 years ago that Mexican trucks would be allowed on American roads, but Congress said they were unsafe.”
Video: Obama discusses how the U.S. is helping control the border with Mexico. Countdown to NY-20 special: 6 days
Countdown to Obama’s 100th day: 35 days
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 69 days
Countdown to VA Dem primary: 76 days
Countdown to Election Day 2009: 223 days
Countdown to Election Day 2010: 587 days
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The Boston Globe says Obama "urged the nation last night to be patient, pledging a presidency of perseverance that he said will eventually result in recovery from the recession." Washington Post : “Although he spoke sharply once in response to Republican criticism, Obama struck a tone of common purpose throughout his second prime-time news conference, urging the country to be patient as he works on issues as divergent as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the malign impact of lobbying in Washington.”
The New York Times says the Obama who appeared at last night’s presser was the “familiar character from early in the campaign. Placid and unsmiling, he was the professor in chief, offering familiar arguments in long paragraphs…Speaking past the reporters in the room to the tens of millions of viewers tuning in at home, he tried to reassure the nation that he could solve the crisis that has gripped the economy for more than a year. ‘We’re beginning to see signs of progress,’ he said, calling for a ‘renewed confidence that a better day will come.’”
The Hill : "President Obama said Tuesday night that the budget he has presented to Congress is 'inseparable' from economic recovery and will ensure that the nation does not face a similar economic crisis '10 or 20 years from now.'"
The Wall Street Journal : “Mr. Obama largely focused on defending his domestic economic proposals. He repeatedly took openings to make the case that the government should spend now on renewable-energy development, education and a health-insurance overhaul that would put the economy on a sounder footing once it recovers.”
CONTINUED >>
Geithner and Bernanke yesterday "argued Tuesday for unprecedented powers to regulate and even take over financial goliaths whose collapse could imperil the entire economy. President Barack Obama agreed and said he hoped 'it doesn't take too long to convince Congress.'" expects to get that authority .
Third time's the charm, we guess. Gary Locke was confirmed as Obama's commerce secretary. “Locke, 59, the nation's first Chinese-American governor, was approved by a voice vote and has promised to focus on job creation and to closely oversee the 2010 census.” don’t miss this … "Bill Clinton's White House era is finally getting the Tinseltown treatment. Dennis Quaid will play Bubba and Julianne Moore will portray Hillary in a new movie tentatively titled "Special Relationship," from Academy Award-nominated British screenwriter Peter Morgan, the Daily News has confirmed."
“Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has proposed slashing President Obama’s discretionary spending by half with a budget resolution that is expected to fracture the Democratic Conference,” The Hill writes. “The Senate Budget Committee chairman outlined his plan privately before colleagues at Tuesday’s closed-door policy lunch — one day ahead of Obama’s visit to Capitol Hill to discuss the topic — and publicly at a late-afternoon news conference.”
“Conrad’s budget resolution does not set aside a fixed amount of money for the president’s healthcare reform or cap-and-trade proposals. Instead, it creates “deficit-neutral” reserve funds that give Senate and House committee chairmen a free hand to craft their own proposals as long as they do not add to the deficit.”
Politico adds, “Obama, who will come to the Capitol Wednesday to meet with Senate Democrats, sought to downplay the differences at his White House news conference hours after Conrad’s announcement. But he was firm that he expects the final budget plan to foster ‘serious efforts at healthcare reform’ and his major investments —including energy and education—were ‘inseparable to this recovery.’”
MoveOn has radio ads up in districts and states of oft-targeted "moderate" Democrats, urging them to support President Obama's budget. The ads mention Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Warner and Evan Bayh, as well as Reps. Gabrielle Giffords, Harry Mitchell, Jason Altmire, Joe Donnelly, Chris Carney, Baron Hill and Mike McIntyre.
Hotline has more on the radio ads.
CONTINUED >>
About an hour before President Obama took to the podium for his primetime news conference, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was back in town for the NRCC's largest fundraiser of the year.
Roll Call : "An energetic Jindal told 1,200 partisans that Republicans are finished 'navel gazing' on the direction of their party and must be prepared to rebound. 'We need to worry more about fixing our country and helping to chart America’s future,' Jindal said."
More: "A particularly partisan Jindal addressed the crowd minutes before President Barack Obama held a nationally televised press conference. Jindal did not mince words, criticizing the Democrats for liberal spending practices and plans to expand government. 'I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t look like the Barack Obama we met on the campaign trail,' he said. 'I don’t know about you, but I liked that guy a lot better.'"
The event
took in more than $6 million , according to the group. That's about a million more than officials say they expected.
MINNESOTA : "Ex-Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.), at the Capitol on Tuesday to lunch with his former GOP colleagues, said he does not expect to take his election recount battle all the way to the Supreme Court,"
Roll Call reports. "’I’m not anticipating being across the street,' Coleman said, pointing toward the Supreme Court building as he stood just off the Senate floor. 'In the end for me, fundamentally, it’s about making sure every vote is counted.'"
The Hill looks at Republicans' chances for the ‘09 Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. It calls them "golden opportunities." NEW YORK : In the NY-20 special election, Jim Tedisco (R) and Scott Murphy (D) debated last night . “Tedisco sounded off on his experience; ‘I am the only candidate in this race with a proven record of public service who has represented upstate New York.’ Scott Murphy touted himself a not only a successful business man but also a family man. ‘A big part of the reason why I’m running is because of my big family and my ties here,’ says Murphy.”
More: “The two spoke on a wide range of topics from negative campaign ads, to AIG bonuses and the economy. On multiple occasions Murphy referenced his support of the stimulus bill. ‘What I’ve said from the beginning is that I’ve got the experience from working with small businesses to get the economy moving first step is President Obama's recovery act.’ Tedisco rebutted saying he supports the stimulus bill, but not everything in it.”
The hits keep on comin' for Gov. David Paterson. The New York Post has him on the cover : "Gov orders 8,900 layoffs."
From NBC's Mark Murray President Obama will deliver at his news conference just three hours from now.
Per the excerpts, Obama will (as expected) push for his budget. "The budget I submitted to Congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation, so that we do not face another crisis like this ten or twenty years from now. We invest in the renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and less dependence on foreign oil. We invest in our schools and our teachers so that our children have the skills they need to compete with any workers in the world."
He'll also discuss cutting (eventually) the deficit: "At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led to a narrow prosperity and massive debt. It’s with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest."
And he'll ask the country for patience in getting out of the recession: "We will recover from this recession. But it will take time, it will take patience, and it will take an understanding that when we all work together; when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other -- that’s when we succeed. That’s when we prosper. And that’s what is needed right now. So let us look toward the future with a renewed sense of common purpose, a renewed determination, and most importantly, a renewed confidence that a better day will come."
From NBC's Mark Murray Arlen Specter's decision to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. "Today’s announcement by Sen. Specter -- a sponsor of the original Employee Free Choice Act who voted for cloture in 2007 -- is frankly a disappointment and a rebuke to working people, to his own constituents in Pennsylvania and working families around the country."
Sweeney continues, "The fact is the Employee Free Choice Act has more support than ever -- large majorities in both houses of Congress, the President and Vice President, 73 percent of the public. We will continue to work with Democrats and a number of Republicans to create commonsense solutions to the decades of corporate power. We do not plan to let a hardball campaign from Big Business derail the Employee Free Choice Act or the dreams of workers."
From NBC's Mark Murray
It looks like it after Sen. Arlen Specter (R) signaled today that he would vote against cloture on the measure, denying Democrats 60 votes to break a GOP filibuster on the legislation -- even if Al Franken gives Democrats a 59th vote. Specter was the only Republican to vote for cloture on the legislation in 2007.
"The problems of the recession make this a particularly bad time to enact Employees Free Choice legislation. Employers understandably complain that adding a burden would result in further job losses," Specter said on the Senate floor. "If efforts are unsuccessful to give Labor sufficient bargaining power through amendments to the [National Labor Relations Act], then I would be willing to reconsider Employees' Free Choice legislation when the economy returns to normalcy."
Politics, of course, hovered over Specter's decision, especially since he's up for re-election in 2010. Organized labor floated the idea that it would back the Republican in a general election if he supported card check. But supporting the legislation would also potentially hurt him in a GOP primary.
CONTINUED >>
VIDEO: Chuck Todd previews Obama's second prime-time news conference tonight . The budget and the economy will dominate, and "Obama wants to get back on message."
Produced by NBC's Athena Jones
From NBC's Athena Jones
WASHINGTON -- The drug violence gripping Mexico is not just a Mexican problem, the Obama administration made clear Tuesday when it announced $700 million would be devoted to stepped-up border security efforts this year.
The plan, dubbed the Southwest Border Security Initiative, aims to improve screening and technology to help reduce arms smuggling and drug trafficking in border regions.
It would increase personnel and improve intelligence gathering and coordination with state, local and Mexican law enforcement officials, so that the "rule of law is upheld and enforced" in border areas, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters during a press conference that was added to the White House schedule this morning.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Speaker
Nancy Pelosi says that if AIG folks are really coughing up their bonuses, "then we have accomplished what we set out to do."
Recall that it was Pelosi who last week rushed the 90% bonus tax to the floor of the House, only to see congressional ardor for legislation fade this week in the Senate. It now appears that the Senate won't even get to its own version of the "clawback" measure until late in April, after the spring recess.
Pelosi says the goal was "to get the taxpayer money back," yet it is unclear just how much will be returned by AIG bonus recipients.
ON another front, Pelosi is supportive of Geithner's proposal for new power to "unwind" companies like AIG through a broadening of federal power. "It is a good step in the right direction," she said.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
On Day 140, the FEC ruled that both Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken can go back to the well and re-tap maxed out donors. Both sides lobbied for this.
"For instance, a person who gave the maximum contribution of $30,400 to a national Democratic or Republican party organization this year can now give the same maximum to a party recount and trial fund for one of the candidates," the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. "The party organization can use the fund to help the candidate pay his expenses. Similarly, a political committee could give another $15,000 to such a fund even if it gave the maximum amount during the campaign."
And get this: "[T]he candidates are believed to have raised at least $11 million combined since the November election to pay for the recount and trial. That's about one-fourth of what they raised and spent during the entire 2007-08 election cycle. Election law experts estimate that each of the six or more lawyers actively working on the case made about $500 an hour while in the courtroom."Specter to vote against card check? Accentuating why Democrats want that 60th senator (and Republicans want to delay, delay, delay), there are a couple of reports that say Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter "will vote against a cloture motion to limit debate on the Employee Free Choice Act," Congress Daily writes, citing business sources.
What that essentially means is that he would filibuster card check as it is currently written. This could be a big blow to advocates of the legislation that would, in part, make it easier for workers to form a union.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro tongue-in-cheek post on Elizabeth Kucinich participating in a local version of "Dancing with the Stars," but now her husband, congressman and presidential also-ran Dennis Kucinich , is plugging the show and urging people to vote for her... on Twitter.
"D-OH Dennis Kucinich Please vote for Elizabeth in week 2 of Cleveland Dancing show. Vote poll is half way down right side."
Just so you know.
Elsewhere in the Twittersphere:Zach Wamp makes this claim: "The democrat budget spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much. More debt in this budget than last 43 Presidents combined."
Bill Shuster wants you to help him decide on whether Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner should keep his job: "Added a new poll on my blog - should Geithner resign or should he stay? Stop by and vote."
John Ensign still wants you to be his friend: "Help me reach 900 Facebook supporters tonight (just 10 away), by inviting your friends to support me."
From NBC's Pete Williams
After a morning of very spirited argument about freedom of speech at election time, including banning books, the U.S. Supreme Court seemed prepared to rule in favor of the conservative backers of "Hillary: The Movie" -- and make a new exception to the laws restricting campaign ads.Clintons wanted to put on cable TV, as a video-on-demand offering, just as the primaries were heating up in January 2008. The federal government blocked it, deeming the film nothing more than a glorified attack ad, improperly paid for in part by corporate contributions. That ran afoul of the McCain -Feingold law intended to keep corporate money out of politics, even though the corporate contributions to the film came from a small non profit.
Video: “Hillary: The Movie,” produced by a former Republican congressional aide, is being debated in the Supreme Court. NBC’s Pete Williams reports. The moviemakers claimed that the ban was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, and a majority of the Supreme Court appeared to agree.CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro *** Meeting the press, again: The last -- and only other -- time President Obama conducted a primetime news conference was on Feb. 9, the very day he traveled to Indiana to sell his stimulus plan. Since that newser six weeks ago, the president signed that stimulus into law (2/17); announced he was redeploying 17,000 troops to Afghanistan (2/17); unveiled his $3.6 trillion budget (2/26); announced his plans to bring home troops from Iraq in 19 months (2/27); began facing the furor over the AIG bonuses (3/16); and went on the road to sell his budget (3/18). Indeed, tonight’s news conference comes at a crucial time for Obama. While his poll ratings have held steady, the public's anger over bailouts and the AIG bonus mess in particular have created a volatile political environment. “The American public is rooting for him. They want him to succeed,” Democratic pollster Peter Hart told NBC. “But against that, they want answers.” Before the news conference, which begins at 8:01 pm ET, Obama meets in the morning with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Also today, the president calls the space station, and we might learn more about the administration’s plan about the drug violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Video: President Obama is taking his economic message directly to the people with his second prime-time news conference since becoming president. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports. ***
A lesson learned? The
new polls out in the last few days all seem to agree on one thing: AIG has not hurt Obama personally. Instead, it has hurt Washington, Wall Street, and some views on the economic fixes -- but not the president. The lesson the White House will take from these polls? They aren't risking over-exposure; they probably believe that had the president NOT done this six-day media blitz, he would have been more singed on AIG than he was. But he was out there talking all week about it and wasn’t hunkered down at the White House. Look back at this last week and realize this will be a lesson the Obama White House learns.
*** From Wall Street goat to genius? Six weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Geithner got panned after his first policy rollout -- and then pretty much every day after that. But after unveiling yesterday’s toxic-asset plan, and with the Dow jumping up almost 500 points, Geithner has suddenly turned into a Wall Street hero, at least for now. As Jackie Calmes writes, “This time President Obama directed some of the stagecraft. This time … Geithner fleshed out the substance of their long-anticipated program to remove banks’ toxic assets and revive the financial system. And this time the reaction was widely positive, giving the embattled Mr. Geithner a critically needed boost.” But it’s important to keep this in mind: While the press will continue to watch the market’s daily reactions to the administration’s policies, what truly matters is what the Dow and the economy in general look like come the summer and fall of 2010. And one other risk: Will some on Main Street look at Wall Street's reaction and wonder if this new banking plan is TOO pro-Wall Street?
*** Slowly but surely: One potential question that Obama might receive tonight -- on the dearth of high-level appointees at the Treasury Department -- might be a tad easier for him to answer now that he announced yesterday that he’s filling three of the top four jobs underneath Geithner. The picks: Neal Wolin (deputy secretary), Lael Brainard (undersecretary for international affairs), and Bush appointee Stuart Levey (undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence), who will remain at the post he’s held since 2004. These picks come as government expert Paul Light writes a New York Times op-ed arguing that Congress needs to do a better job speeding up the confirmation process. Light also makes this point: While the Senate has confirmed just one Treasury appointee, Geithner is hardly alone at Treasury. “He has an at-will chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, press officer, three special counselors and 50 at-will appointees working in his executive suite.” Still, something needs to give on the confirmation process. The Senate Finance Committee is holding up the vetting process at an unprecedented rate.
*** Regulators, mount up: Speaking of the Treasury Department, Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify on AIG oversight before House Financial Services Committee beginning at 10:00 am ET. During his testimony, Geithner will urge Congress to pass legislation that would give the federal government new regulatory powers, including “resolution authority,” to help ensure that key financial institutions that fail don’t pose risk to the country’s financial system. “We must ensure that our country never faces this situation again,” Geithner is expected to say. “To achieve that goal, the administration and Congress have to work together to enact comprehensive regulatory reform and eliminate gaps in supervision. All institutions and markets that could pose systemic risk will be subject to strong oversight, including appropriate constraints on risk-taking. Regulators must apply standards, not just to protect the soundness of individual institutions, but to protect the stability of the system as a whole.” This new agency could be a public way for the Treasury Department to appoint a secretary of AIG or an AIG czar. Keep this in mind: AIG has received more government guarantees than the annual budgets of State and Homeland Security COMBINED!!!
*** Global author: In advance of the upcoming G-20 meeting in Europe, the president has written an op-ed running in more than 30 countries (including the U.S.) that calls for bold international action to confront the global economic crisis. “Our leadership is grounded in a simple premise: We will act boldly to lift the American economy out of crisis and reform our regulatory structure, and these actions will be strengthened by complementary action abroad,” he says. “Through our example, the United States can promote a global recovery and build confidence around the world; and if the London Summit helps galvanize collective action, we can forge a secure recovery, and future crises can be averted.”
*** 2012 watch: Last night, DNC chair Tim Kaine announced he was appointing 37 members -- including Jim Clyburn and Claire McCaskill as co-chairs -- to look at the Democratic presidential primary calendar and nominating process. (Obama campaign manager David Plouffe also is a member of the commission.) Question here: Do we really think Obama's DNC is going to back any plan that costs Iowa or South Carolina its place in the calendar? For those folks in Michigan and Florida looking for a role early in the process, they may have to start asking for a rotation of some sort beginning in 2016 -- not 2012. Then again, the length of the primary process in 2008 could help sell some states and state party leaders that earlier isn't necessarily better. In fact, could this lead to a push to guarantee longer primary seasons? The quick end of the 2008 GOP primary campaign doomed McCain.
*** More 2012: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal headlines a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which takes place at the National Building Museum in DC at 7:00 pm ET. Remember the last time Jindal was the main GOP responder to an Obama event in primetime?
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Previewing tonight’s big political event, the AP says that “Obama is virtually certain to use Tuesday's prime-time news conference to continue an effort that began over the weekend: cooling the anti-AIG ferocity, now that it threatens to undermine his efforts to bail out the nation's deeply troubled financial sector.”
The Washington Post’s Cillizza : “Expect Obama to follow the outline utilized in his first prime-time press conference on February 9 -- introductory remarks designed to frame the context for those watching at home followed by a dozen (or so) questions from reporters. (In his first press conference Obama took 13 questions -- five of which centered on the economy.) Obama likely will filibuster a question or two, spending considerable time expounding on his economic policies in order to limit the total number of questions asked.”
In advance of tonight’s press conference, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has released a Web video -- entitled “Change We Can Believe In?” -- that contrasts Obama’s rhetoric on the campaign trail with some of his actions as president.
Meanwhile, the liberal Campaign for America’s Future, along with liberal blogger Jane Hamsher, will host a conference call at 11:00 am ET to announce the launch of a campaign to target conservative Democrats who are opposed to Obama’s budget.
CONTINUED >>
The New York Times front-pages, “The Obama administration’s new plan to liberate the nation’s banks from a toxic stew of bad home loans and mortgage-related securities is bigger and more generous to private investors than expected, but it also puts taxpayers at great risk… Investors reacted ecstatically, with all of the major stock indexes soaring as soon as the markets opened. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up nearly 500 points, or 6.84 percent, to 7,775.86. The thundering response was the mirror opposite of the bitter disappointment by investors when the plan was first vaguely described on Feb. 10.”
The cover of the New York Daily News : "Wow! That's better." Subhead: "Bam's bank plan sparks Dow rally; AIG execs start giving back OUR cash."New York Post goes all glass is half empty on it's cover: "Half A$$ AIG." Subhead: "Giving back on 50% of bonus bucks." some economists didn't : "Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist, said the government is 'trying to keep the banks going, trying to hope they'll recover profitability.' He said the plan fails to address the fundamental problem -- that some banks are insolvent and should not be propped up."
The Washington Post adds, ”But even as markets exulted, conflicting interests among the program's participants -- banks, investors and taxpayers -- were emerging, leaving in doubt the fate of a program meant to revive bank lending and in turn reinvigorate the overall economy.”
The AP on Bernanke’s and Geithner's testimony on the Hill today: They make "a rare joint appearance at a congressional hearing, ostensibly to take a scolding over the handling of bonuses at AIG." Also expect them to ask about the new toxic asset relief program.going in with (another) plan . He "will face tough questions from lawmakers on Tuesday as he spells out the basics of the Obama administration's plans to reshape financial regulation at a high-profile congressional hearing," Reuters says.
Meanwhile, "President Obama and Senate Democrats have buried a bill passed last week by the House that would have heavily taxed executive bonuses at bailed-out firms," The Hill writes. "Despite the public outcry over $165 million in bonuses awarded at troubled insurer AIG, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) showed little inclination Monday to bring the explosive issue to the floor this week or next. Instead, Reid is likely to delay action on executive compensation until late April, after the Senate returns from a two-week recess starting April 4."
CONTINUED >>
GOP WATCH: Go back to your bunker?
Roll Call: "Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appears to have bought himself at least a modicum of breathing room from his critics for the time being, thanks in part to his decision to essentially drop out of the public spotlight and to a poor showing by the Democratic National Committee in the February fundraising race. In the first full month under Steele’s watch, the RNC raised $5.1 million, which is $2 million short of the mark set by former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan in February 2007, his first full month on the job, several Republicans pointed out. But with the DNC -- which should be reaping the financial benefits from a newly minted president with high approval ratings -- reporting a haul of only $3.2 million in February, Steele’s performance has been seen as positive by many in the GOP."
And “Todd Herman former Microsoft and msnbc.com employee and streaming media expert, has been named the Director of New Media for the Republican National Committee. Herman founded and ran SpinSpotter, a startup that provides tools to detect spin in news stories.”
COLORADO: "Republicans firmly believe that the conservative 4th district, which had elected a Republican Member to Congress for 37 years before Markey’s victory, should still be in GOP hands,"
Roll Call says. McCain narrowly won the district. The top GOP candidate it seems is state Rep. Cory Gardner. The state party appears ready to paint Markey as a "toady" for Nancy Pelosi. But will running against Pelosi work for a state party that has seen lots of recent losses in a growing state?
NEW YORK: The DCCC launched its
latest ad affront against Tedisco, accusing him of voting "against middle-class property tax relief during his 26 years in the state Legislature. ‘But Tedisco DID help a wealthy mortgage executive convicted of millions in fraud ... asking the judge to go easy on him,' an announcer in the spot says. 'Then the convicted felon’s company became one of Tedisco’s top campaign contributors. That’s Jim Tedisco. Just another Albany politician.'" The NRCC launched a Web ad hitting Murphy on his support for the stimulus.
New York Gov. David Paterson takes another hit in the
New York Daily News . "Now, when we need a strong governor more than at any time since the Great Depression, when we face a historic budget crisis and the possibility of a $2.50 subway fare, we have a guy who is at most half what he should be," the paper writes. When we need resolve, he waffles. When we need honesty, he fibs. When we need competence, he bungles. When we need leadership, he mumbles."
From NBC’s Christopher Wilson As reported here on First Read Friday , President Obama will be speaking at the University of Notre Dame commencement ceremony on May 17th. While the president will also be speaking at the Naval Academy and Arizona State, those appearances haven’t caused as much uproar as his trip to South Bend, Ind.The Shirt or whether it’s proper to chant “Sucks” at sporting events -- was expanded to cover a lively debate over whether Obama should be speaking.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones
The Treasury Department released a long-awaited plan to help deal with the troubled assets at the root of the credit crunch that's crippling the economy.
The plan would use a combination of public and private money to encourage the purchase of as much as $1 trillion in bad loans, or "toxic assets" -- which the administration calls "legacy assets" from banks.
Video: Geithner explains details of the Obama administration's plans to mock up toxic assets. "We believe this is one more element that is going to be absolutely critical in getting credit flowing again,"
President Obama told reporters after his daily economic briefing, where he was joined by Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner , FDIC chair
Sheila Bair , Fed chair
Ben Bernanke , and other economic advisers. "It's not gonna happen overnight. There's still great fragility in financial systems, but we think that we are moving in the right direction."
CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Geithner in the spotlight : Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner steps back into the political spotlight today, and he’s no doubt hoping for a better reception than his previous trips onto the political stage. Today, Geithner will outline perhaps the most important proposal to getting the economy back on track: the plan to buy up as much as $1 trillion in troubled assets and mortgages. First, he holds a pen-and-pad briefing with reporters (which began at 8:45 am ET); he’ll appear in front of cameras (pool spray) with President Obama, FDIC chair Sheila Bair, and Fed chair Ben Bernanke later this morning; and he’s penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed on today’s plan. Of course, most of the recent chatter surrounding Geithner has been about if he’ll step down. But that’s about as likely as our chances of winning our NCAA pools (who else had Wake Forest going to the Final Four?). Not only did Obama tell “60 Minutes” that he’d refuse Geithner’s resignation, does anyone -- no matter your political views -- really believe it’s healthy for the financial system to have the president fire his Treasury secretary at this moment? Also, is it smart for a president in his first 100 days to ask Congress for a do-over on his Treasury pick? Imagine that confirmation hearing; it's political suicide. Bottom line: Common sense dictates that this is a far-fetched idea, and the focus on his future seems like a waste of time.
Video: Geithner plans to unveil a new phase of the bank rescue plan. ***
The AIG complication : What is perhaps most interesting about today’s toxic-asset plan is how the AIG bonus story has made some investors wary about the plan. “Some of them have told administration officials that they would participate only if the government guaranteed that it would not set compensation limits on the firms,” the
New York Times writes. “The executives also expressed worries about whether disclosure and governance rules could be added retroactively to the program by Congress.” More: “Administration officials took to the airwaves Sunday to reassure investors that the public would distinguish between companies like A.I.G., which are taking government bailout money, and private investment groups that, under this latest plan, would be helping the government take troubled assets off the books of some of the country’s biggest banks.” Meanwhile,
Paul Krugman criticizes the administration’s toxic-asset plan. For those who think Krugman is turning on Obama, here’s this friendly reminder: When Krugman fully embraces something Obama’s doing, it will be the first time. He's been anti-Obama since the start of the Democratic primary campaign, and has barely written a positive word about him. He's a straw man for conservatives to claim liberals are turning on Obama; he's actually never embraced the president.
Video: A crucial week awaits the Obama administration as it deals with banks, budgets, toxic assets and the AIG bonuses. ***
Clawing Back The Claw Back: Speaking of the AIG bonuses, it seems that President Obama has some concerns about Congress’ plan to claw them back by taxing them. Here’s what he told
“60 Minutes”: "Well, I think that as a general proposition, you don't want be passing laws that are just targeting a handful of individuals. You want pass laws that have some broad applicability. And as a general proposition, I think you certainly don't want use the tax code to punish people.” And the
Washington Post notes that the administration’s top economic officials “reacted coolly to congressional actions to recoup bonuses from financial firms through targeted taxes, with one adviser saying the approach may be a ‘dangerous way to go.’”
*** A GOP budget alternative? Last week, GOP leaders seemed to be disinclined to produce their own alternative budget. But GOP Rep. Mike Pence now says otherwise. Pence on ABC yesterday: "The House Republicans are going to come up with a budget alternative that is going to be built on fiscal restraint and getting this economy growing again." Asked if it will be a "comprehensive alternative," Pence replied: "It's going to be a comprehensive alternative. And let me tell you, after -- it's after months of runaway spending on the federal level. I mean, we saw last -- last year's Wall Street bailout, the part of -- auto bailout, and then we saw the so-called stimulus bill, then the omnibus bill." Was Pence on message with the rest of the congressional Republican team? Is McConnell ready for a full-fledged alternative? What about Cantor and Boehner? Pence is a principled guy, and we're guessing he's pushing for a full-fledged alternative while the more politically engaged members of leadership don't want to do this. *** UPDATE ***
*** Recyling TARP funds into campaign cash? Per Newsweek , some U.S. financial institutions that are currently receiving TARP funds are STILL making political contributions to Democrats and Republicans. “In recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, the political action committee for Bank of America (which got $15 billion in bailout money) sent out $24,500 in the first two months of 2009, including $1,500 to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and another $15,000 to members of the House and Senate banking panels. Citigroup ($25 billion) dished out $29,620, including $2,500 to House GOP Eric Cantor, who also got $10,000 from UBS which, while not a TARP recipient, got $5 billion in bailout funds as an AIG ‘counterparty.’ ‘This certainly appears to be a case of TARP funds being recycled into campaign contributions,’ says Brett Kappell, a D.C. lawyer who tracks donations.” It's amazing. We're doing a detailed analysis, which will be posted on First Read later today. But needless to say, in the month of February, thousands of dollars exchanged hands between financial institution PACs and members of Congress and the political parties. In fact, Bank of America on Feb. 17, 2009, gave $15,000 EACH to the DSCC, DCCC, NRSC and NRCC. Who’s dumber here -- the banks that are cutting political checks in this environment, or the members of Congress or political parties who are asking for them? And what's the difference between an AIG using taxpayer money to fulfill bonus contracts, and Bank of America taking taxpayer money and funneling some of it BACK to Washington in the form of campaign contributions? And you wonder why the country and the press are so cynical sometimes.
*** Judge Drudge : If you’re asking yourself how some of the lengthy Obama interviews -- like Leno or “60 Minutes” -- get reduced into gaffes about the Special Olympics or whether or not President Obama is laughing too much, look no farther than Drudge . As he did during the general election, he has been working overtime to paint the current president in the most negative light. So far, with Obama’s approval rating in high 50s, low 60s, it hasn’t worked -- yet.
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In a Wall Street Journal op-ed today, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlines the administration’s plan to buy as much as $1 trillion in troubled assets and mortgages. “The funds established under this program will have three essential design features. First, they will use government resources in the form of capital from the Treasury, and financing from the FDIC and Federal Reserve, to mobilize capital from private investors. Second, the Public-Private Investment Program will ensure that private-sector participants share the risks alongside the taxpayer, and that the taxpayer shares in the profits from these investments. These funds will be open to investors of all types, such as pension funds, so that a broad range of Americans can participate. Third, private-sector purchasers will establish the value of the loans and securities purchased under the program, which will protect the government from overpaying for these assets.”
The New York Times over the weekend: “The three-pronged approach is perhaps the most central component of President Obama’s plan to rescue the nation’s banking system from the money-losing assets weighing down bank balance sheets, crippling their ability to make new loans and deepening the recession.”
Here are more articles on the plan.Washington Post , “Key details of the toxic asset purchasing program are not yet finalized, said officials in contact with the Treasury. Some expressed concern that the markets would expect too much out of Monday's announcement. When Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner first sketched out the administration's rescue plan last month, he was criticized on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill for being too vague and creating uncertainty in the markets.”
It’s going to be a busy week for the Obama administration’s economic folks… They are “expected to announce new proposals for financial regulation, executive pay, accounting standards, the structure of the International Monetary Fund and other issues ahead of a summit of 20 major nations in London on April 2.”
CONTINUED >>
Some of the highlights of President Obama’s interview last night on “60 Minutes”: On whether Geithner should resign: “No. And he shouldn't. And if he were to come to me, I'd say, 'Sorry, Buddy. You've still got the job.' But look, he's got a lot of stuff on his plate. And he is doing a terrific job. And I take responsibility for not, I think, having given him as much help as he needs."
On Wall Street executives who might be upset with the Obama administration over executive pay: "I've told them directly, 'cause I've heard some of this. They need to spend a little time outside of New York. Because you know, if you go to North Dakota, or you go to Iowa, or you go to Arkansas, where folks would be thrilled to be making $75,000 a year without a bonus, then I think they'd get a sense of why people are frustrated.”
On Afghanistan: "Making sure that al Qaeda cannot attack the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests and our allies. That's our number one priority. And in service of that priority there may be a whole host of things that we need to do. We may need to build up economic capacity in Afghanistan. We may need to improve our diplomatic efforts in Pakistan."
On former Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that Obama’s recent actions, like calling for Gitmo’s closing, has made the U.S. less safe: "I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney. Not surprisingly. You know, I think that Vice President Cheney has been at the head of a movement whose notion is somehow that we can't reconcile our core values, our Constitution, our belief that we don't torture, with our national security interests. I think he's drawing the wrong lesson from history."
CONTINUED >>
The Hill says this is a "make-or-break week" for Obama's budget. Lawmakers from both sides were critical of some items and the House and Senate budget committees are expected to draft their own resolutions. But the most hyperbolic words were from Obama's former Commerce Secretary nominee, Judd Gregg, who said Sunday, “The practical implications of this is bankruptcy for the United States. There's no other way around it.” Really? No other way around it? announced an alternative . Labor unions and labor-backing congressmen rejected it.
"Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) told two Florida newspapers Saturday that she has secretly battled breast cancer for the past year, undergoing seven major surgeries as she worked full time in Congress and as a chief fundraiser for House Democrats." Roll Call dives into the Boehner-Cantor relationship. brushed off ethics charges against him . has decided to seek the chairmanship of the business-friendly New Democrat Coalition, sources with knowledge of the decision said."
The Minneapolis Star Tribune : “As the candidates await a verdict from the three judges who oversaw the trial [over the Coleman-Franken recount], expectations grow that the loser will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. And that has stirred speculation over the effect a continued court battle would have on the reputations and political prospects of the candidates -- especially the one who comes up short. ‘It's either win or oblivion,’ said Hamline University Prof. David Schultz. ‘Whoever loses is viewed as the obstructionist, the person who held up Minnesota seating a senator.’”
“But Coleman has perhaps more to lose in the long term if he continues to wage an unsuccessful fight, said University of Minnesota political scientist Lawrence Jacobs. ‘The longer he stays in and fights, it diminishes his chances of running for governor, which seems like a real possibility,’ Jacobs said. ‘In some people's eyes there's just irritation that this has gone on. That's not necessarily fair. Norm Coleman's decision to enter the [trial] is entirely legitimate and appropriate.’”
"Senate Republicans for weeks have attacked Obama and Democrats on philosophical grounds typical of the liberal-conservative divide in Congress," Roll Call writes. "But last week, as the furor over AIG’s use of taxpayer funds to pay executive bonuses boiled over, top Senate Republicans played the competence card, signaling a broader case they intend to make against the president and the Congressional majority as midterm elections near." NEW YORK : Legislators are flooding the zone in NY-20 . Republican Aaron Schock made two stops for Jim Tedisco (R) on Sunday. Minority Whip Eric Cantor hosts a fundraiser for him in New York City today. New York Democratic Reps. Paul Tonko and Steve Israel were there on Sunday for Scott Murphy (D).
The latest controversy between Tedisco and Murphy -- Murphy’s answer that he opposes the death penalty, even for terrorists. cover : "Clueless Dave." Subheadline : Chaos and dysfunction ruled day when gov was Senate minority leader, bombshell reports says."
From NBC's Ken Strickland
While there was strong bipartisan support in House-passed version, it's unclear where most Senate Republicans stand. The Senate version on the tax bill would impose a 70% excise tax on all retention bonuses given since the beginning of this year. It would apply to companies that received federal bailout money, including AIG.
But is such a dramatic tax on a niche segment of the population constitutional?
"It is wrong," said Republican Judd Gregg in a statement today, "to propose to use the taxing authority of the government in a manner that is arbitrary, punitive, and targeted on a single group of people who they have deemed as having acted improperly." While not calling it "unconstitutional," Gregg's words seem to align with the sentiments in the Constitution. Addressing Congress directly it says, "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." (Article 1, Sec 9.)
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones and Mark Murray President Obama will deliver commencement addresses at Arizona State (on May 13), Notre Dame (May 17), and the U.S. Naval Academy (May 22).
What do those first two addresses have in common? They're in battleground states -- Arizona and Indiana. While Obama didn't truly contest Arizona last year (because it's McCain home state), you can be certain he'll target it in 2012.
Video: Presidential prime-time address, fundraisers, Jindal's back and Meet the Press.
From NBC's Mark Murray today's news that the budget deficit, per the Congressional Budget Office, will top $1.8 trillion this year and will reach nearly $1.4 trillion in 2010 -- more than the Obama administration's estimate. John McCain in a statement: “The Congressional Budget Office report proves that the Administration has indeed engaged in a policy of generational theft. The CBO numbers show the reality of the fundamentally flawed assumptions of the president’s budget and make clear what it really is: a risky, debt-ridden threat to the nation."
Here's Sen. John Thune : “These numbers are staggering and prove that spending in Washington is out of control. It is unconscionable to borrow this much money from China and force American families and small businesses to cover the cost through higher taxes."
And House Minority Leader John Boehner : "We simply cannot continue to mortgage our children and grandchildren's future to pay for bigger and more costly government. Families and small businesses across America are making difficult budget decisions each and every day during this recession, and it's time for Washington to do the same. Unfortunately, the President's budget doesn't do that."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Howard Dean in the Boston Globe that we didn't include in this morning's First Read, but it's worth a read. The Globe's Sasha Issenberg went to England with Dean and notes that his embrace there (literally and metaphorically) "was far warmer than anything the former Vermont governor has felt recently from his domestic allies.
"After November's landslide, Obama let Dean move on from his four-year chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, and bitter rivalries with some in Obama's circle have kept the former practicing doctor out of the three top administration posts committed to changing the healthcare system. 'Everybody likes to think they did it all by themselves,' Dean said in an interview. 'I don't believe in the great-man theory of history. You really have to see change as a continuum. It doesn't come in packets, it comes in waves. ... I didn't think any Democrat could win unless we reorganized the party dramatically," Dean said. "There were some famous dustups between me and people who are now in the administration. I don't regret any of them.'"
More: "Now, unlike virtually all the other leaders of the Democratic comeback, Dean is out of office. He is easing into an exile as a Democratic version of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spent the Bush years operating as a freelance visionary and policy entrepreneur, a permanent creature of the political margins credited with having successfully plotted his party's recapture of power but not long trusted to actually wield it."
It does bring up the question of Dean's legacy, his bouts with Rahm and how much credit/ire he deserves. There's nothing quite like a discussion on Howard Dean to stir the passions. Have at it.
From NBC's Mark Murray President Obama announced today that lobbyists who meet with the administration to discuss projects connected with the recently passed stimulus will have to submit their conversations in writing, so they can be posted on the internet.
"If any member of my administration does meet with a lobbyist about a Recovery Act project, every American will be able to go online and see what that meeting was all about," Obama said. "These are unprecedented restrictions that will help ensure that lobbyists do stand in the way of our recovery."
In his remarks, Obama also defended his $3.6 trillion budget, which contains big increases in health-care, education, and energy spending. "It's a budget that makes hard choices about where to save and where to spend. Because of the massive deficit we inherited and the cost of this financial crisis, we are going through our books line by line so that we can cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term" -- which might be more difficult to achieve under the new Congressional Budget Office's projections.
"But," he continued, "what we will not cut are investments that will lead to real growth and real prosperity."
From NBC's Mark Murray In remarks to community bankers today in Phoenix, AZ, Fed chairman
Ben Bernanke
discussed what has dominated the news this week: executive pay for bankers.
He said that "poorly designed" compensation policies can jeopardize the health of the banking industry.
"Management compensation policies should be aligned with the long-term prudential interests of the institution, be tied to the risks being borne by the organization, provide appropriate incentives for safe and sound behavior, and avoid short-term payments for transactions with long-term horizons."
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro A stellar performance? Outside of his crack about the Special Olympics (more on that below), President Obama’s appearance on Leno last night was a big success for the White House, considering the criticism he was receiving going into the interview. As Washington resembles a zombie-horror movie -- with Congress eating banking executives, Republicans eating Democrats, and Democrats eating Democrats (Chris Dodd vs. Treasury) -- Obama gave perhaps his best explanation of the AIG crisis and those bonuses; he looked like the adult compared with Congress; and he bought his embattled Treasury secretary more time. Forty-eight hours ago, we might have agreed with House Minority Leader John Boehner that Geithner was on thin ice. But the White House has doubled down on their man. “This guy has not just a banking crisis; he's got the worst recession since the Great Depression, he's got an auto industry that has been on the verge of collapse,” Obama told Leno. “And he's doing it with grace and good humor.”
Video: NBC's David Gregory takes a look back at some of President Obama's most memorable moments on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." ***
But a “Special” gaffe? Yet one of the dangers of a president or political candidate embarking on a non-traditional media blitz -- especially in this 24/7 news environment where opponents are looking to pounce at every opportunity -- is making a gaffe. And Obama made one when joking to Leno about his bowling prowess, or lack thereof. “It was like Special Olympics, or something,” Obama said. Uh-oh. But even before the interview aired on the East Coast, the White House apologized for the comment. “The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics,” deputy press secretary Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One. “He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world.” President Obama also called Tim Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, to apologize. The incident, in fact, reminds us of the crack Obama made about Nancy Reagan at his first news conference after winning the presidential election. Every once in a while, it seems that Obama gets into this mode where he relaxes a bit too much and, well, does what many folks do in private: make an inappropriate comment.
*** From Leno to the Middle East: Obama’s media blitz continues -- with the president delivering remarks today at 12:35 pm ET in DC to the National Conference of State Legislators, with his appearance on “60 Minutes” this Sunday (taped sometime today with Steve Kroft; we'll be spying for him), with his presidential news conference this coming Tuesday, and with his new video to Iran . That’s right, coinciding with that country’s ancient festival of Nowruz that marks its New Year, Obama has cut a video speaking directly to the people of Iran. ”So on the occasion of your New Year, I want you, the people and leaders of Iran, to understand the future that we seek. It's a future with renewed exchanges among our people, and greater opportunities for partnership and commerce. It's a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater security and greater peace.” Obama even speaks at the Farsi at the end. “Thank you, and Eid-eh Shoma Mobarak.” The president's credibility in the Islamic world has always been an asset the White House and State Department folks have wanted to tap into. We'll see if these remarks, with the president speaking over the heads of Iran's political leadership, get traction.
*** Things that make you go, hmmmm: Also on this Friday are a few columns and news analyses that are worth chewing on. The first is David Brooks’ piece in The New York Times . “You’d think if some tiger were lunging at your neck, your attention would be riveted on the tiger. But that’s apparently not how it works in the age of global A.D.D.,” he writes. “As a tiger sinks its teeth into the world’s neck, we focus on the dust bunnies under the bed and the floorboards that need replacing on the deck. We live in the world of Perverse Cosmic Myopia, an inability to focus attention on the most perilous matter at hand.” In addition, National Journal’s Kirk Victor writes that presidents always stumble; what’s important is how they end up responding. “Virtually every president in the past 50 years or so has had to recover from such a disappointment in the first months of his administration. Some have been more adept than others in limiting the fallout from such failures,” he notes, citing Carter, Reagan, and Bush 43. Also in National Journal, Charlie Cook seizes on a new NPR poll (conducted by GOP and Dem pollsters) showing Republicans tied with Democrats on the generic congressional ballot test.
*** To multi-task or not to multi-task? Turning back to Brooks’ column… While his biggest criticism seems to be with Washington’s overemphasis of the AIG bonuses, he also takes Obama to task for juggling health care, energy, and education during this economic crisis. Yet if Obama were just focused on one issue, then folks would be asking, "What's slipping through the cracks?” “Why aren't you trying to deal with health care and energy independence, since it's part of the economy going forward when you rebuild”?
*** Going door to door: This is worth keeping an eye on this weekend: Obama’s Organizing for America, which is housed inside the DNC, is making its first truly big foray into creating a campaign style push for his budget. Per the DNC it will be launching a nationwide canvassing effort, in which citizens in all 50 states will participate in more than 1,000 door-to-door canvasses. And their job on pushing for the president's budget will get harder tomorrow… The Congressional Budget Office releases ITS deficit estimates based on the Obama budget, and will release those figures later today. According to sources, though, there could be a massive difference in deficit projections, giving Republicans something to seize on in their critiques of the Obama budget. The White House believes the CBO is using too low of an estimate on economic growth and that accounts for just about the entire difference in the deficit projections.
*** If Maine and Nebraska ruled the world: CQ recently looked at November’s presidential election by congressional district, to see what the electoral vote count would have been if it was done by CD (like it is in Maine and Nebraska) instead of by statewide vote. As it turns out, by congressional district, Obama won by a slightly smaller margin. Indeed, he underperformed versus the current House composition. According to CQ’s count, Obama won 242 congressional districts to McCain’s 193. Yet Democrats presently hold a 254-to-178 advantage in the House, with three vacancies. Below, we break down where McCain and Obama overperformed, and these are probably the places where the NRCC and DCCC should be starting to find pick-up opportunities. What's amazing: Despite the belief that the Democrats have hit their high-water mark in the House, there are still some Republicans sitting in Obama districts that can be targeted. And more importantly to the House Democrats, there aren't as many Democrats sitting in Republican districts as the CW might suggest.
Most of the places where McCain overperformed were in the South and in or around Appalachia:
On the other hand, Obama overperformed in the North and West:
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"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner acknowledged Thursday that his department 'expressed concern' to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
that a provision concerning bonuses in the stimulus bill could prompt lawsuits from workers at bailed-out companies -- a measure at the heart of this week’s AIG bonus controversy."
It looks like folks at the Fed knew first about the bonuses (interesting that Bernanke and the New York Fed president are ducking criticism). “Interviews with senior Federal Reserve and Treasury officials, as well as members of Congress, leave little doubt that the bonus program was a disaster hiding in plain sight.
Mr. Geithner is not the only one who appears not to have understood the populist fury the bonuses would set off.
“Career staff officials at the Treasury, Fed and Federal Reserve Bank of New York
exchanged e-mail messages about the A.I.G. bonus program as early as late February, according to a person familiar with the matter. A.I.G. itself revealed the bonus plan in regulatory filings last September. In November, when the bailout of A.I.G. was restructured, Treasury and Fed officials negotiated the terms under which A.I.G. could make the retention payments. And in December, Democratic lawmakers sought a hearing about the payments.”
CONTINUED >>
Per NBC’s Savannah Guthrie and MSNBC’s Alex Johnson , “President Barack Obama said Thursday evening that he was ‘stunned’ to hear about the $165 million in bonuses that were paid to employees of troubled insurer AIG over the weekend, promising to do everything he could to ‘get these bonuses back.’ ‘These financial industries are holding us hostage,’ Obama said in an interview on NBC’s ‘Tonight Show With Jay Leno,’ which NBC said was the first time a sitting president had been a guest on a late-night talk show.”
Video: President Obama discusses the AIG bonuses and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." NBC's Chuck Todd Reports. More: “Obama used the visit as an opportunity to defend Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has been sharply criticized for his handling of the AIG controversy.”
The New York Daily News cover: "Heeere's the prez!" Subheadline: "Obama first sitting President to visit late-night TV -- gets laughs, makes gaffe."
The New York Post sees the worst in Obama's Leno appearance. Its cover: "No joke." Subheadline: "O yuks it up on Leno as economy burns."Roll Call writes. CONTINUED >>
“Congress moved yesterday to levy punitive taxes on bonuses paid by financial firms receiving government aid, threatening to undermine federal efforts to rescue the financial system by driving away participants in the programs,” The Washington Post reports. “A quickly assembled House bill was approved 328 to 93. It struck hard at Wall Street's compensation system, which has come under fire because of the $165 million in bonuses distributed last week by American International Group to executives of the troubled unit that helped lead the insurance giant to the brink of collapse. Under the legislation, those who received bonuses of more than $125,000 would surrender 90 percent of their payments to a special income tax.”
The New York Times : “Despite questions about the legality of the retroactive 90 percent levy, Democrats and some Republicans said the tax on bonuses for traders, executives and bankers earning more than $250,000 was the quickest way to show angry Americans that Congress intended to recoup the extra dollars. Even backers of the measure noted it was an extraordinary step.”
The AP writes, “Gov. Sarah Palin said Thursday that she would accept only 69 percent of the estimated $930 million dollars that could flow to the state, including $514 million for capital projects and $128 million for a hike in Medicaid reimbursement… Palin's rejection of $160 million for education drew a rebuke from Anchorage Superintendent of Schools Carol Comeau, who said she was shocked and disappointed.”
The DNC made this point: “Palin's Never Seen a Federal Dollar She Didn't Want... Until Now.”
Romney has raised more than half a million dollars through his PAC. He's donated to candidates about $16,000, but has spent about $200,000 on travel, expenses, staff, benefits and consulting.
COLORADO: Politico dives into the Colorado Senate race. Yet it notes that the GOP doesn't yet have a candidate to go against Michael Bennet, the replacement appointment who could be a major Republican target for 2010.
NEW YORK: "The special election to replace appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is raking in a huge amount of cash,"
The Hill reports. "The two men vying for the New York House seat pulled in a combined $1.85 million in just over a month and loaned their campaigns another combined $450,000, continuing the big money trend that has characterized the race of late." Democrat Scott Murphy outraised Jim Tedisco (R) slightly -- about $900,000 to $840,000. (Murphy lent himself $250,000 while Tedisco lent about $200,000.)
From NBC's Mark Murray Reuters : "Responding to public and political outrage to the bonuses after the insurer received a government bailout up to $180 billion, lawmakers voted 328-93 for a bill to impose a 90% on bonuses for executives whose incomes exceed $250,000."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Video: Twittermania sweeps the nation. Some random pluckings from around the Congressional Twitter Web:
R-CA
Darrell Issa Lincoln fired incompetent generals. So, Mr. President: why waver in firing Economic Field Marshall Tim "AIG Is Alright With Me" Geithner?
R-OK
John Sullivan At a forum on small business and economic recovery - Obama's budget is a jobs killer -- plain and simple.
R-IL
Judy Biggert Very pleased to see Administration retreated on its misguided proposal on veteran health. We owe them better than that
And for all Republicans' complaints about Obama's NCAA bracket, here's Chuck Grassley: R-IA
Charles Grassley Bsy day in the Senate but will have staff updt me on UNI game. Go panthers.
In case your staff hasn't updated you, senator, Northern Iowa was down 18-6 to Purdue with 10:45 to go in the first half.
Virginia Foxx also has a bracket and is promoting it: R-NC
Virginia Foxx Join my Bracket on Yahoo Sports
It's really quite something, how some members of Congress get such "Twitter muscles." Would Issa call Geithner "Tim 'AIG Is Alright With Me' Geithner" on television? Maybe.
From NBC's Lisa Myers
On a conference call, New York Attorney General
Andrew Cuomo says he has not yet received information on bonuses from Bank of America, but expects to get it today. He wants to review the information before he decides whether or how to make it public.
AIG has until the end of the day to comply with a subpoena for bonus info.
On the broader issue, Cuomo said he has been investigating the bonus practices of all TARP recipients.
He added that by withholding the bonus information, the banks are fueling a lack of confidence.
"Let the American people see," Cuomo said. "When you hide the ball, you make people suspicious."
AIG CEO Edward Liddy testified that he would like to comply with the subpoenas, but is concerned for the safety of the employees, many of whom have received death threats.
*** UPDATE ***
CONTINUED >>
NBC's Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd wants to know what questions you'd like for him to ask President Obama during his prime time news conference next Tuesday night? Send him your ideas here .
VIDEO )
From NBC’s Mike Viqueira
House Republicans will by and large vote against the bonus tax today.
A spokesman for
John Boehner says the leader will vote against it. Also, the leader of the conservative caucus has just put out a memo to his members asking for a "nay" vote (full release below).
But House Democratic leaders have brought it up under special rules that require a two-thirds majority for passage. So now the question becomes, will it pass?
The debate and vote is scheduled for perhaps later this afternoon.
Question: Can you even stand the suspense?
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland and Mark Murray
And their criticism of President Obama went beyond AIG. "He flies off to Los Angeles tonight to be on the Jay Leno Show," Sen. Jon Kyl said. "My suggestion is that he come back -- since he's taken the full responsibility [for the AIG bonuses] -- to get his people together and say, 'All right, I want to know exactly what happened? Who did what when? And how are we going to prevent this from ever happening in the future?'"
Sen. Lamar Alexander also picked on Obama's NCAA basketball picks. "He's even found time to fill out his NCAA basketball brackets, which is a healthy thing to do in my opinion. But he picked North Carolina, and he caused the Duke coach, our Olympic coach, Coach K, to say respectfully, 'You might be spending less time on the brackets Mr. President and more time on the economy.' I think that's what we'd like to say, with respect."
(Just pointing this out, but John McCain Bob McDonnell Chuck Grassley
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
You knew that President
Obama picking UNC as the champs and Duke out in the Elite Eight was going to stir the Tobacco Road hornet's nest.
But who knew that Coach K himself would weigh in?
"Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told the
Associated Press .
Zing.
But maybe it's not surprising that Krzyzewski took his shot at this president.
After all, not only did Dean Smith, the original Carolina coaching legend,
endorse Obama during the 2008 campaign (Coach K did not), but Kryzeweski landed in hot water in 2002 for hosting an on-campus fund-raiser for Republican
Elizabeth Dole , then a candidate for U.S. Senate. (Dole was ousted in 2008 by now-Sen.
Kay Hagan .)
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Obama and McCain was their view about the central front in the war on terrorism -- Obama said it was in Afghanistan/Pakistan, while McCain said it was in Iraq.
McCain, in fact, didn't call for sending more troops to Afghanistan until the very day when Obama unveiled his plan to divert U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
But now, with troops set to leave Iraq, McCain is focusing on Afghanistan. And he appears to be applying the same rhetoric to Afghanistan that he once saved for Iraq. In a Washington Post op-ed he co-authors with ally Joe Lieberman , the Arizona senator warns the Obama administration to not adopt a "minimalist" approach to Afghanistan.
"Let there be no doubt: The war in Afghanistan can be won. Success -- a stable, secure, self-governing Afghanistan that is not a terrorist sanctuary -- can be achieved. Just as in Iraq, there is no shortcut to success, no clever 'middle way' that allows us to achieve more by doing less. A minimalist approach in Afghanistan is a recipe not for winning smarter but for losing slowly at tremendous cost in American lives, treasure and security."
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Reclaiming the bully pulpit : So what do you do when the American public is outraged beyond belief at the AIG bonuses? When congressional Republicans and now even some Democrats (see: Dodd, Christopher) are blaming your administration? You get out of Washington and use a power that these people don’t have: the bully pulpit. That’s what President Obama did yesterday at his town hall in Orange County, CA -- an event that was planned before the news about the AIG bonuses first surfaced. At the town hall, Obama accepted responsibility over the AIG mess (“Some say it’s the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility. I’m the president”). He presented himself as the anti-Washington figure (“It’s always good to get out of Washington for a little while”). And he struck a populist tone (describing a culture “where people made enormous sums for taking irresponsible risks that have now put the whole economy at risk"). Earlier in the day, Obama seemed to accidentally refer to “voters.” It appeared the president had slipped into candidate mode. But he clearly was “fired up and ready to go,” and perhaps showed that he misses the good old days of the campaign trail.
Video: Obama speaks on AIG bonuses. ***
California, Day Two : The president today will most likely pick up where he left off yesterday when he tours an electric vehicle plant in Pomona, CA, making remarks there at 1:45 pm ET; holds a town hall at 4:10 pm in Los Angeles, where he’ll be joined by California. Gov. (and stimulus supporter) Arnold Schwarzenegger (R); and then tapes his appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” at 7:20 pm. Critics, of course, are wondering whether it’s appropriate for the president to be filling out NCAA tournament brackets and appearing on Leno, especially during these tough economic times. But after following the presidential election for the past two years, who didn’t think Obama would be having a little fun with the NCAA tournament?
*** Saving Private Geithner : Right before he departed to California yesterday, Obama also used the bully pulpit to perform his own rescue of sorts -- this one saving his Treasury secretary. “Tim Geithner didn’t draft these contracts with AIG,” Obama said.
“There has never been a secretary of the Treasury, except maybe Alexander Hamilton right after the Revolutionary War, who’s had to deal with the multiplicity of issues that Secretary Geithner is having to deal with, all at the same time.” The president clearly bought Geithner some time from what was turning into a feeding frenzy for his head. What is Plan B, anyway? Whom does the congressional lynch mob that’s currently eyeing Geithner want instead, if Geithner is forced to step down? Geithner's toxic asset plan, which could come out as early as today or could be unveiled next week, involves some combination of government financing for hedge funds and other folks who have the cash to buy up these questionable assets. It could mean some Wall Street titans could make money, thanks to the government. It's not a popular plan, but given the need for the government to find a private sector solution, what choice does he have?
*** Saving yourself : While Obama yesterday was accepting responsibility for the AIG bonuses and trying to save his Treasury secretary, Chris Dodd was trying to save … himself.
That’s what happened when he said that it was the Treasury Department that had requested the loophole for executive bonuses that were contained in contracts before Feb. 2009. "Sen. Dodd's original executive compensation amendment adopted by the Senate did not include an exemption for existing contracts that provided for these types of bonuses,” his office said last night. “Because of negotiations with the Treasury Department and the bill conferees, several modifications were made, including adding the exemption, to ensure that some bonus restrictions would be included in the final stimulus bill.” Treasury sources dispute Dodd’s account. Despite pointing the finger at the Obama administration, it seems as if Dodd's political problems -- he’s up for re-election in 2010 and seems vulnerable -- are going from bad to worse.
*** Czar wars : Mindful that this bonus issue may have fallen through the regulatory cracks at both Treasury and the Fed, the Obama administration is asking Congress to create a new regulatory agency. Just as the FDIC has the power to shut down banks without a bankruptcy court, this new agency could take the lead on complicated cases like AIG, allowing the agency head to act as a bailout czar. Bottom line: If Congress gives Obama this new agency, it means the fogginess of who is in charge of AIG (Treasury or the Fed) gets cleared up. And that person would be the one held accountable for the NEXT problem with AIG. Speaking of problems, these bonus stories out of Merrill Lynch are only adding fuel to the populist fire, and could make Obama and Geithner's job of getting more congressionally-approved bailout money that much harder. In fact, it could mean that Ben Bernanke’s Fed will have to step in and start handing out more cash. What Bernanke did yesterday seemed to single-handedly turn the market around for the day. By the way, is this the week that the Fed chairman began to show signs of having the credibility to be his own oracle of sorts -- a la Greenspan in the '90s and Volcker of the '80s?
*** Just askin’ : While we love the outrage soundbites for television, do the congressional theatrics regarding the AIG bonuses really serve the institution well? Yesterday's AIG show was a substantive hearing at many points. But because there was grandstanding on both sides, it did seem to trivialize the confrontation and probably make lots of folks watching wondering if this group of people really is the best and brightest to be running the country. Individually, members of Congress usually do come across as very capable people. But put three or more members together in a hearing -- especially with a TV camera on -- and they seem to, well, morph into something else.
*** Nationalize this : We’re always leery of reading too much into a special election. But the contest at the end of this month to fill Kirsten Gillibrand’s congressional seat has become something to watch -- not only because it’s the first race of 2009, but also because it’s being fought on national issues. The big one is Obama’s stimulus, which Democratic candidate Scott Murphy supports and Republican Jim Tedisco opposes (although he didn’t take a position until recently). Also, Tedisco now argues that Murphy’s support for the stimulus means that he supports the AIG bonuses, since it included language protecting bonuses that had been agreed to before this past February; Tedisco even has a new TV ad hitting Murphy on the subject. And Tedisco is blasting Murphy’s ties to Wall Street and high finance (which certainly aren’t popular right now), and Murphy is countering with Tedisco’s longtime service in the State Assembly. One thing is pretty clear: While Tedisco once had a sizable lead in polls, the race has now narrowed. Given that -- and given the candidates are dueling over the stimulus -- does Obama decide to swoop into the race and stump for Murphy?
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The Washington Post : “Federal Reserve officials knew for months about bonuses at American International Group but failed to tell the Obama administration, according to government and company officials, exposing problems in a relationship that is vital to addressing the financial crisis… AIG executives said the Fed was informed three months ago by the company that it would pay $165 million by March 15 to employees working at its most troubled division. The Treasury and White House said they learned of the payments from Fed officials only days before they were due.”
More: “Close coordination between the Fed and the administration is now more important than ever as they near the launch of two signature programs to rescue the financial system, which together could reach $2 trillion and are aimed at reviving consumer lending and purchasing soured assets and loans from ailing banks.”
The New York Times front-pages that now has become a defining moment for Treasury Secretary Geithner. “On Wednesday, a junior Republican in Congress and some traders on Wall Street went so far as to call for him to quit or be fired. The Republican leader of the House, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, told a conservative talk-radio host that the secretary is ‘on thin ice.’ But Mr. Geithner’s boss, the president, interjected a vote of ‘complete confidence.’”
“‘Tim Geithner didn’t draft these contracts with A.I.G.,’ Mr. Obama told reporters as he left for California on Wednesday. ‘There has never been a secretary of the Treasury, except maybe Alexander Hamilton right after the Revolutionary War, who’s had to deal with the multiplicity of issues that Secretary Geithner is having to deal with — all at the same time.’”
But that didn’t stop the New York Post’s Hurt from jumping on the dump-Geithner bandwagon. "At least AIG boss Edward Liddy was man enough to show up and explain himself before Congress yesterday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner -- the tax cheat and 'architect' of the AIG Ponzi scheme that Congress calls a 'bailout' -- wouldn't even untuck his tail from between his legs and show his face before Congress." And taking it a little far: "Geithner might have been stoned to death outside the committee room by angry mobs of innocent citizens infuriated that in these tough times."
The Los Angeles Times covers Obama’s town hall remarks yesterday in California, where 1,300 came to hear him speak. “Obama addressed the crowd with a mix of wonky detail about the roots of the economic collapse (even using the term ‘securitized mortgage instruments’ at one point) and a promise that recovery was in the offing. Fielding a range of questions, he outlined his thinking on immigration, bank loans and school class size. ‘I can't tell you how long it's going to take or what obstacles we'll face along the way, but I can promise you this: There will be brighter days ahead, here in California and all across America,’ the president said. ‘But that's only going to happen if we pull together and focus on the big things -- focus on the long term.’”
The New York Times : “Mr. Obama’s trip to California was planned before the explosion over A.I.G. bonuses last weekend. But he clearly appeared to relish the opportunity to talk about something different. ‘It’s always good to get out of Washington for a little while and come to places like Costa Mesa, because the climate’s a lot nicer and so is the conversation,’ Mr. Obama said.”
“The Costa Mesa visit — to be followed Thursday by trips to Los Angeles and Burbank, where he will tape ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ — is part of the White House effort to sell the budget to America before the expected fight in Congress. The White House announced Wednesday that Mr. Obama will hold another prime time news conference at 8 p.m. Tuesday.”
CONTINUED >>
“Under intense pressure from the Obama administration and Congress, the head of bailed-out insurance giant AIG declared Wednesday that some of the firm’s executives have begun returning all or part of bonuses totaling $165 million,” the AP writes.
But the Boston Globe says “the concession did little to assuage indignation or alter the hearing's dynamic: a gathering of aggrieved shareholders confronting the runaway management of a company they control but seem happy to loathe."Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes that Liddy was a congressional punching bag yesterday.
Per NBC’s Mike Viqueira, the House today will take up and bill that would tax bonuses at a rate of 90%. That rate would apply to employees of companies receiving TARP funds in excess of $5 billion, and as long as that individual's family income is below $250,000. The bill is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2009. Asked why the rate was 90% and not 100%, Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel joked that "state and local governments will take the extra 10%." Viq also points out that Rangel had been quoted on Tuesday as saying that he didn't want to do what the House is set to do, on the grounds that the tax code should not be "punitive." Asked about that yesterday, Rangel said that this was the only way to go about it. The Senate will try to take up a related measure today.
CONTINUED >>
Per Roll Call , DSCC Chair Sen. Robert Menendez laid out the 2010 map and "said he is encouraged by Democrats’ strong early recruiting effort, a rash of retirements on the other side of the aisle and a Republican political strategy that he said is built on obstruction and 'betting on failure.'" The DSCC, Menendez acknowledged, is trying to ward off any primary challengers to Bennett (CO) and Gillibrand (NY). One place there will definitely be a primary challenge is in Illinois, but Menendez said, a seat in Illinois “will be incredibly hard for us to lose.” "Other states where the Democratic field remains in flux include Ohio, Kentucky and Florida." In Missouri and New Hampshire, the most likely pick off, Dems already have their preferred candidates. report raising $5.1 million during the month of February when reports are filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission. The number is down slightly from the amount the party raised in January, when the RNC raised $5.77 million..."
Stu Rothenberg, writing in Roll Call , with an interesting take: "Don’t be surprised if you soon hear Democrats asserting that midterm elections are referendums on incumbent presidents and that as long as President Barack Obama’s numbers remain strong and the GOP brand remains weak, Democratic candidates running for high office next year have nothing to worry about. In fact, some wise Democrats are concerned about a possible disconnect between the president’s popularity and voters’ views of Democratic candidates next year, especially for incumbents. Their fear is that even if Obama remains personally popular, voters will not look kindly on their party’s candidates for Congress and governor if the economy remains weak and the public mood is sour and frightened."
CONNECTICUT : The New York Post headline: "Dodd lied about OK of bailout execs' $$." "Dodd claimed he was bullied by the Obama administration into adding a major exception to his provision that would have blocked companies receiving federal assistance from giving generous bonuses to employees… An administration official disputed Dodd's version of the events, however, telling The Post that the Treasury Department had merely flagged the provision as one that could be vulnerable to lawsuits in the future."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro vast improvements, it looks like the president exaggerated some of his claims during a speech last week, according to FactCheck.org :
"Last year, the president touted U.S. gains in education, saying that our "fourth- and eighth-graders achieved the highest math scores on record." He bragged that "African-American and Hispanic students posted all-time highs." Last week, the president said those eighth-graders weren't so great at math after all. He claimed they had "fallen to ninth place" in the world, and he bemoaned a high school dropout rate that had "tripled" over three decades. What a difference a year makes. ...
"We certainly wouldn't argue that education can't be improved, but some of the figures Obama used painted a bleaker picture than actually exists:
The high school dropout rate hasn't "tripled in the past 30 years," as Obama claimed. According to the Department of Education, it has actually declined by a third.
Eighth-grade math scores haven't "fallen" to ninth place compared with other countries. U.S. scores have climbed to that ranking from as low as 28th place in 1995.
Obama also set a goal "of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world" by 2020. But in terms of bachelor's degrees, we're nearly there. The U.S. is already second only to Norway in the percentage of adults age 25 to 64 with a four-year degree, and trails by just 1 percentage point.
Just as Bush left out any mention of less-than-rosy assessments of the nation's education system, Obama didn't say too much about how smart our kids are. And some of his gloomy claims were just plain wrong, or misleading.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Al Franken wants Republican Norm Coleman to pay the costs of the seven-week, three-judge trial if Coleman ultimately loses.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune : "Democrat Al Franken wants the judges who heard the U.S. Senate trial to force Norm Coleman to pay court costs and some opposing lawyers' fees -- a potentially expensive bill -- if the Republican loses his bid to overturn the results of the recount. ... Franken's document asks that Coleman pay the costs of the seven-week trial. And in seeking attorneys' fees for Franken lawyers... ."
This is Franken, in part, trying to put pressure on Coleman who, at this point, has to be operating on limited resources.
It also comes in the wake of revelations that a list of Coleman donors' names and credit card numbers showed up on another Web site.
"Coleman accused political opponents of hacking into his campaign website to discourage prospective donors from financing the long, expensive recount process. Several Web operators, however, said they believe the campaign mistakenly left the website open for several hours in late January," the Star-Tribune writes.
From NBC's Mark Murray Terry McAuliffe , the former DNC chair and Hillary backer who's now running for Virginia governor, is airing a new radio ad in Richmond and Hampton Roads that targets African-American voters.
And as
Politico's Ben Smith points out, the ad makes it seem like he was always supporting
Obama . (Of course, during the general election, McAuliffe actively campaigned for him.)
The ad goes: "Did you know that Terry McAuliffe fought to protect voting rights and led the effort to give Democrats in our region a stronger voice in deciding the party's presidential nominee? That's right. Terry McAuliffe defended our rights and was the leader who brought us together and united the party. And in 2008 our voices were heard when we elected our president, Barack Obama."
From NBC's Mark Murray Gallup poll -- conducted March 17 of 1,012 adults, +/-3% margin of error -- finds that 59% are outraged at the AIG bonuses, and another 26% say they're bothered by them.
In addition, a whopping 76% believe the government should try to block/recover the bonuses. Just 17% say the government shouldn't intervene.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The first member of Congress has given his thumbs down to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Rep. Connie Mack goes Chuck Grassley-light, calling for Geithner to either "resign or be fired."
Mack's statement after the jump:
*** UPDATE *** Darrell Issa has now jumped on the bandwagon of calling Geithner to resign:
“As one of the chief architects of the AIG bailout, Secretary Geithner was in a position to do what any lender of the last resort would do – negotiate concessions from AIG. Secretary Geithner either didn’t know about the bonuses, and was grossly negligent, or he did know and failed to bring this to the President’s attention. Either way, the end result has been a significant waste of taxpayer dollars and he should take immediate responsibility and resign.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner said Geithner's on "thin ice" on a radio program.
CONTINUED >>
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
As he announced on Morning Joe today, Sen.
Evan Bayh is forming a Moderate Dems Working group that will meet every other Tuesday before the Democratic caucus to discuss legislative strategies and ideas.
Per Bayh's office, the group's goal "is to work with the Senate leadership and the new administration to craft common-sense solutions to urgent national problems."
Video: Bayh is forming a 15-person working group focused on fiscal responsibility. Here's part of a statement to be released very shortly from Bayh... The group will focus "on the upcoming budget negotiations and the importance of passing a fiscally responsible spending plan in the Senate."
More: "Leading the new group are Democratic Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana,
Tom Carper of Delaware and
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas... [O]thers joining the group are Sens.
Michael Bennet of Colorado,
Mark Begich of Alaska,
Kay Hagan of North Carolina,
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin,
Mary Landrieu of Louisiana,
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut,
Claire McCaskill of Missouri,
Ben Nelson of Nebraska,
Bill Nelson of Florida,
Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire,
Mark Udall of Colorado, and
Mark Warner of Virginia."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Since the president waded into this policy area, it's an excuse for me to do so as well.
My four: Wake, UConn, Pitt, UNC. Wake was the top seeded team in the country not too long ago. That said, of course, Louisville could roll, but that could shape up to be a good Sweet 16 game IF Wake survives Cleveland State. Beware, Gary Waters' squad is really tough. And, out on a limb, I like West Virginia to beat Kansas and Michigan St. to get to the Elite Eight. But the Midwest bracket is tough to call. UConn-Memphis would be a great game, and a contrast of styles. Memphis would have a chip on its shoulder, but the bruising of the Big East could pay off here. To win it all -- Carolina over UConn.
What are your picks?*** UPDATE *** From NBC's Mark Murray : My picks are the exact same as Domenico's -- Wake, UConn, Pitt, and UNC. And I also have Carolina beating UConn in the finals. Looks like those first- and second-round games will determine who beats whom in our NBC pool.
*** UPDATE 2 *** full NCAA Bracket . (For those surprised Obama would do this, he did two during the campaign, so it should be expected. His brother-in-law is the head coach at Oregon State and basketball played a prominent role during the 2008 campaign in hoops happy states like Indiana and North Carolina.)
In his picks, Obama appears to have done what we all do -- change our minds. Some notable cross outs: going with UNC over Louisville after first picking Louisville to win it all; picking Carolina over Pitt after first writing in Pitt in the Final Four; Florida St. over Xavier; VCU over UCLA; Oklahoma over Clemson; Missouri over Marquette; and Tennessee over Oklahoma St. Obama also appears most clear-eyed on the bracket that many are calling the toughest to predict -- the Midwest. White House Blog post with other photos.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Bob McDonnell released his as well . He's running a "Bracket Madness." (John McCain also promoted his bracket competition.) And, of course, he puts VCU in the Elite Eight. It is possible though -- and could have been a popular sleeper pick if they wouldn't have to play Villanova in Philly, as Mark Murray points out.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro We noted earlier that Dennis Kucinich 's 31-year-old wife appeared on Cleveland's local news version of Dancing with the Stars. The low-budget production is complete with Cleveland Browns football players, mascots and a keyboard soundtrack.
And here's the video . (Warning: If you are easily made queasy, do not click on the link.)
And a promo:
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Ed Liddy meets Congress: Those AIG bonuses have dominated the political news for the last three days. Now make it four, with AIG CEO Edward Liddy testifying today before a House Financial Services subcommittee beginning at 10:00 am ET. In advance of his testimony, Liddy pens a Washington Post op-ed , in which he details the past mistakes AIG made (before he came aboard), notes that total executive compensation at the firm is down, and states that he would have not approved of the retention bonuses had he been CEO at the time they were put in place. “It was distasteful to have to make these payments,” he says. “But we concluded that the risks to the company, and therefore the financial system and the economy, were unacceptably high.” But this piece of news , courtesy of New York AG Andrew Cuomo, might be difficult for Liddy to defend today: 52 of the 418 AIG employees who received retention bonuses no longer work for the firm. So much for retention, eh?
Video :
Ed Liddy testifies before Congress today about the millions in bonuses given to AIG executives. ***
Defending Liddy: Before today's testimony, Treasury Secretary Geithner sent a letter yesterday to Pelosi, Reid, Boehner, and McConnell, in which he defends Liddy. “I know that much of the public ire has fallen on Mr. Liddy, which is understandable, since it is his name on the door. But it also is unjustified. Mr. Liddy was put in place as the CEO of AIG last year at the request of the U.S. government to help rehabilitate the company and repay taxpayer funds. He inherited a difficult situation, including these AIGFP retention contracts, which were entered prior to his or the government’s involvement in AIG. As long as he is there, we will work with him on measures to wind down AIG in an orderly way and protect the American taxpayer.” Also in his letter, Geithner expresses outrage at the bonuses (but acknowledges that they would be legally difficult to prevent); recounts that he demanded Liddy to scrap hundreds of millions of dollars in future payments; and notes that he’s working with the Justice Department to seek avenues to recoup the bonuses that were paid. Let’s face it: This is a crucial period for Geithner. He has to get control of this AIG situation in some form, even if just rhetorically. The letter to Congress is a start, but he needs to make some sort of CEO-like move in Treasury to make a visual attempt to take the reins of the controversy.
*** One eventful week: So what did the Obama administration know about these bonuses, and when did they know it? It was only last Tuesday when Treasury officials alerted Geithner that $165 million in AIG bonuses were due to be paid out by the end of the week. On Wednesday, Geithner contacted Liddy to stop payment on the bonuses, but Liddy told him it couldn't be done. On Thursday, Geithner warned White House senior adviser David Axelrod about the bonus problem; later that day, Axelrod informed the president. On Friday and Saturday, Treasury officials worked on ways to limit or eliminate the AIG bonus money. It wasn't until Sunday when senior White House aides went public with their outrage. And finally, on Monday, nearly a week after Geithner first learned about the bonus problem, President Obama made his first public statement.
*** California dreamin’: Given the AIG drama in Washington, President Obama’s trip today to California -- where he will hold a town hall at 7:00 pm ET in Costa Mesa -- couldn't have come at a better time for him. The reason: It gets him out of the Washington cesspool. Per NBC’s Athena Jones, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday that Obama will most likely discuss his stimulus, his budget, his home-foreclosure plan, his plan to stabilize the financial industry, and of course those AIG bonuses at tonight’s town hall. In fact, we wonder if the president will not just talk about the bonuses, but go a step further to justify why the AIG bailout is necessary and vital to the world's economy. Obama might have an additional opportunity to say this when he delivers remarks at 12:30 pm ET from the White House before departing for California. Besides his trip to California, check out the rest of Obama’s media blitz: He unveils his NCAA tournament brackets on ESPN (today), does Leno (tomorrow), and appears on “60 Minutes” (Sunday). Three time's a charm? If at first you don't succeed, try again, right? Today, President Obama's third pick for Commerce secretary -- former Washington Gov. Gary Locke -- has his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee at 10:00 am ET. Of course, Obama's previous nominees for the post, Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg, never made it this far. Speaking of Gregg, the onetime Obama cabinet pick is howling at the administration’s consideration of using the budget reconciliation process, under which legislation needs only a simple majority to pass the Senate (i.e., there’s no filibuster). "That would be the Chicago approach to governing: Strong-arm it through," Gregg said, per The Washington Post . "You're talking about the exact opposite of bipartisan. You're talking about running over the minority, putting them in cement and throwing them in the Chicago River."
***
Julius Caesar Bloomberg? One of the biggest political stories that got buried during last fall’s presidential election was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) persuading the City Council to nix its term-limits law to allow him to serve a third term. And yesterday, per the
AP , the Justice Department cleared the final hurdle for his bid this November. Would Bloomberg’s brazen move have received more attention -- and possibly criticism -- had it occurred when the world wasn’t fixated on Obama vs. McCain? Or if Bloomberg were not as popular as he is right now? In any case, Bloomberg’s bid for a third term this November seems to have frightened away some potential candidates, including Rep. Anthony Weiner (D), who probably would have been the favorite if Bloomberg weren’t running.
*** If you can't beat 'em, join 'em: Looking at other 2009 races, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's office announced yesterday that it’s suing Lehman Brothers and its accountant for "misrepresentations" that "led the Division of Investment in the Department of Treasury to purchase $182 million in Lehman securities in April and June 2008, which resulted in an estimated $118 million in losses." That's quite the gambit considering Corzine is a former chairman of mega investment bank Goldman Sachs (!). He's in trouble in his reelection bid this year with his Wall Street background being used against him. He was down 46%-37% in a recent Quinnipiac poll to former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie -- even though Garden Staters said they didn't know Christie all that well. Will voters buy it? Can Corzine, a target of populist outrage, jump on the bandwagon to reverse his fortunes?
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"Lawmakers channeled their raw outrage Tuesday into a competition to see who could hammer AIG the hardest for doling out $165 million in bonuses after getting a $170 billion taxpayer bailout."
AIG CEO Edward Liddy’s op-ed in the Washington Post : “No one knows better than I do that AIG has been the recipient of generous amounts of government financial aid. We are acutely aware not only that we must be good stewards of the public funds we have received but that the patience of America's taxpayers is wearing thin. Where that patience is especially thin is on the question of compensation.” The Hill , adding, “It’s terrible; it’s disheartening." AP 's preview, which also notes that Liddy will reluctantly defend the bonuses.
CONTINUED >>
"Geithner said yesterday that any bonus payments that the Treasury cannot recoup will be recovered by requiring AIG to repay the Treasury an amount equal to the remaining bonuses," the AP says. AP : "Geithner sent a flurry of letters to lawmakers Tuesday night on measures he's taking -- including bringing in Attorney General Eric Holder -- to try to recover as much of the bonuses as possible. For the time being, Geithner, formerly president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, remains a key player in the gargantuan task of slowing the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. But his future could soon be as murky as the economy's."
Meanwhile, Obama went on the attack against Republicans regarding his budget: “‘Just say no’ is the right advice to give your teenagers about drugs; it is not an acceptable response to what our economic policies propose by the other party.”
The New York Times adds, “The strong words were the latest in a push that has come to resemble elements of the two-year-long presidential campaign. Mr. Obama may hold his second prime-time news conference as president, perhaps as early as next week, to talk up the budget. On Wednesday and Thursday, he is taking his budget show on the road to California, where he will hold two town-hall-style meetings and will even try to talk about the economy on Thursday on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.’”
The AP previews Obama’s trip to California. "His first appearance as president in a state that was a getaway for his predecessors could instead become a political test for Obama, whose administration has been trying to find its voice on the economy."
2008 flashback: "It was a year ago today that Barack Obama, then a candidate for president fearing a divisive racial backlash over his pastor, took to the stage in Philadelphia and said it was time to have a new conversation about race," Politico notes, adding, "But in the year since that speech -- through campaign and convention, election and inauguration -- Barack Obama hasn’t taken part in the discussion of race in America in any sustained way, the way he did that day in Philadelphia to get out of a campaign jam." Roll Call reports. "Tauscher’s exit would create a vacancy atop the New Democrat Coalition, a bloc of pro-business moderates emerging as a force in the new Congress." all diplomats out of the country.
After watching almost every Obama move over the past two years, former RNC spokesman Alex Conant writes a column about the five biggest myths about Obama (he’s more cautious than you think; his communication skills, beyond his speeches, aren’t that great; he doesn’t really have a “Team of Rivals”; he’s gaffe-prone; and he doesn’t have a good relationship with press).
President Bush gave his first speech since leaving the White House -- in Canada. "I love my country a lot more than I love politics," Bush said. "I think it is essential that he be helped in office." He also "declined to critique the Obama administration in Tuesday's speech, saying the new president has enough critics and that he 'deserves my silence.'" Bush said he's going to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he had to make.
Video: Bush received a cold reception in Canada yesterday while giving a speech in Calgary. Palin's staff again shows one hand not talking to the other. The NRSC and NRCC both still insist Palin's headlining a major June fundraiser. They confirmed it with her PAC. On the other hand, her Alaska staffers say they knew nothing about it. "This is not the first time there has been confusion over a Palin address in Washington, D.C. Palin was announced as a speaker for the Conservative Political Action Committee’s annual conference in February but pulled out of the event a couple weeks before, citing official duties,"
Roll Call writes.
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