Politics
3/31/2009 | Economy, Politics
An Economic Wake-Up Call
Too many Americans are turning a blind eye to the seriously radical agenda that President Obama is unfolding, motivated by their wholesome and patriotic desire to let the new President enjoy the benefit of all doubts. However, the Obama team’s decision to push the envelope of the honeymoon period by front-loading an unprecedented number of truly extreme proposals demands that we engage in critical thinking and not just sentimental forbearance. Yesterday, a series of radical proposals was unveiled by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposing an extraordinary restructuring of not only our financial system but more broadly our entire economic system. It struck me as the kind of wake-up call that we simply cannot ignore, and yet it appears from the morning-after news coverage in the major national newspapers that we are doing precisely that.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/18/2009 | Economy, Politics
Some Dems want brake in Obama plans
POLITICO
Barack Obama’s Big Bang Theory of Governance is starting to face its first big test among the new president’s fellow Democrats. At the White House Tuesday morning, Obama began the day with a sharp push-back against the idea that his uncommonly ambitious agenda on health care, energy and other initiatives is too much, too soon. As Obama’s remarks echoed on Capitol Hill, it soon became clear that the skeptics are not just Republicans. There is rising doubt among Democrats — particularly moderates already concerned about the big costs and deficits called for in Obama’s budget — that either Obama or Washington have enough bandwidth this year to stimulate the economy, overhaul the failed financial sector and move on to a far-reaching domestic agenda. ...Democrats’ comments were muted, with few directly criticizing Obama for being too ambitious. But several lawmakers made clear that they have trouble with Obama’s logic that deep economic troubles make it more urgent, not less, to take on expensive projects such as health care and education reform.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/18/2009 | Economy, Politics
A chaplain at Hospice by the Sea in Boca Raton has resigned, she says, over a ban on use of the words "God" or "Lord" in public settings.
New York Post
ALL the world's a stage, wrote Shakespeare, and in the world of Washington, the curtains have opened on the most elaborate farce of the year. Welcome, taxpayers, to the Kabuki Theater of AIG Outrage - where DC's histrionic enablers of taxpayer-funded corporate bailouts compete for Best Performance of Hypocritical Indignation. Over the weekend, cloaked in their finest populist costumes, the Beltway's hair-sprayed and powdered politicians and White House aides took to the airwaves to inveigh against $165 million in employee-retention payments made by the government-backed insurance giant. The checks were mailed Friday, but the March 15 bonus deadline had been on the Capitol Hill radar screen since December. But it wasn't until last week that the hapless court jester of the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, scrambled to rein in the payments. ...Geithner, the primary architect of the original $85 billion AIG bailout last fall, "reluctantly" approved the bonuses. And now his outraged boss has ordered him to scour every legal nook and cranny possible to get the money back. ...Two weeks ago, Team Obama forked over another $30 billion for the basket-case company after it reported $61.7 billion in fourth-quarter losses. That's on top of the first $85 billion round and the second $38 billion round under George W. Bush - both of which Obama supported. (Obama, by the way, collected more than $101,000 in AIG campaign contributions.) ...Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the corporate crony who is the largest recipient of AIG donations, is now leading the charge to tax the retention payments in order to recoup the $450 million the company is paying to employees in its financial-products unit. But Dodd, it turns out, was for protecting AIG's bonuses before he was against them.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/3/2009 | Economy, Foreign Policy, Politics
Brown woos Obama on global deal
The Sunday Times
GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a “global new deal” to lift the world out of recession. As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president’s inauguration, the prime minister has hinted that he is ready to make further tax cuts to boost the UK economy. Brown will meet Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Aides say he has both to demonstrate to a sceptical British public that he commands the respect of the president, and to persuade the American political establishment that global action is needed to rescue the US economy. ...Many US politicians believe economic policy should put America first, and have shown little interest in concerted global action. Brown will argue for a renewal of the transatlantic relationship, with the two powers working together to solve global economic problems. The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century “global new deal” will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessCliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Joe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res3/3/2009 | Foreign Policy, Israel, Politics
U.S. Supports Two-State Solution in Mideast, Clinton Says
Associated Press
JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. will vigorously pursue the creation of a Palestinian state. Mrs. Clinton is making her first visit to the region as the top U.S. diplomat. She spoke Tuesday alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni ahead of a meeting later in the day with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jeruslaem. Mr. Netanyahu's criticism in the past of peace talks with the Palestinians and the possibility of Palestinian independence has raised concerns that his new government could clash with the U.S. Mrs. Clinton said earlier in the day that the U.S. would work with any Israeli government. But she said the U.S. "will be vigorously engaged in the pursuit of a two-state solution every step of the way." Mrs. Clinton also said the U.S. will dispatch two envoys to Syria for "preliminary conversations." The statement is the most significant sign yet that the Obama administration is considering restoring ties with Damascus. She said there is "no way to predict" the direction U.S.-Syria relations will take, but thinks "it is a worthwhile effort to go and begin these preliminary conversations." Mr. Netanyahu, leader of the hardline Likud Party, is putting together a new coalition government and is expected to be sworn in as prime minister within weeks. His criticism of U.S.-led Mideast peace talks during the recent election campaign has raised fears that his government could clash with the Obama administration. Mrs. Clinton sought to play down such concerns, saying the U.S. is ready to work with any Israeli government. "We will work with the government of Israel that represents the democratic will of the people of Israel," she said after meeting Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres.
Recommended Guests:
Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipTom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of RepresentativesWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyPaul "Dave" Gaubatz, Owner-Director, Wahhabi CT PublicationsColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USACliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological SeminaryJan Markell, President, Olive Tree MinistriesJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinWalid Shoebat, President, Shoebat FoundationWilliam Sutter, Executive Director, The Friends of Israel3/3/2009 | Economy, Politics
The Obama Economy
The Wall Street Journal
As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem. Americans have welcomed the Obama era in the same spirit of hope the President campaigned on. But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if not stopping, what would otherwise be the normal process of economic recovery. From punishing business to squandering scarce national public resources, Team Obama is creating more uncertainty and less confidence -- and thus a longer period of recession or subpar growth. The Democrats who now run Washington don't want to hear this, because they benefit from blaming all bad economic news on President Bush. And Mr. Obama has inherited an unusual recession deepened by credit problems, both of which will take time to climb out of. But it's also true that the economy has fallen far enough, and long enough, that much of the excess that led to recession is being worked off. Already 15 months old, the current recession will soon match the average length -- and average job loss -- of the last three postwar downturns. What goes down will come up -- unless destructive policies interfere with the sources of potential recovery. ...So what has happened in the last two months? The economy has received no great new outside shock. Exchange rates and other prices have been stable, and there are no security crises of note. The reality of a sharp recession has been known and built into stock prices since last year's fourth quarter. What is new is the unveiling of Mr. Obama's agenda and his approach to governance. Every new President has a finite stock of capital -- financial and political -- to deploy, and amid recession Mr. Obama has more than most. But one negative revelation has been the way he has chosen to spend his scarce resources on income transfers rather than growth promotion. Most of his "stimulus" spending was devoted to social programs, rather than public works, and nearly all of the tax cuts were devoted to income maintenance rather than to improving incentives to work or invest.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res2/24/2009 | Economy, Politics
Obama to address Congress, nation on economy
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Barreling ahead on a mammoth agenda, Barack Obama is ready to offer a detailed sketch of the first year of his presidency, casting the nation's bleeding economy as a tangle of tough, neglected problems. In a prime-time speech from the House of Representatives, Obama will make his case Tuesday that much more has to be done to turn around the economy — a message he knows he must explain. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama will provide more details about his financial stability plan and measures to help the economy while delivering "a sober assessment about where we are and the challenges we face." ...Already, the nation is nearly dizzy keeping up with what's emerged from Washington during Obama's first weeks as president, from a staggering $787 billion stimulus plan to a revamped bailout for the financial sector to a rescue plan for struggling homeowners. ...The president will push for movement on ensuring health coverage for all Americans. He will seek to expand educational opportunities, and diversify the country's energy sources, and contain sacred entitlements like Social Security, and halve the soaring budget deficit in four years.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res2/13/2009 | Economy, Politics
Will the stimulus actually stimulate? Economists say no
Mcclatchy
WASHINGTON — The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won't stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists. "I think (doing) nothing would have been better," said Ed Yardeni, an investment analyst who's usually an optimist, in an interview with McClatchy. He argued that the plan fails to provide the right incentives to spur spending. ...A Republican-backed proposal that would've provided a $15,000 tax credit to first-time homebuyers also was scaled back dramatically. Instead, the compromise provides first-time homebuyers a tax credit of up to $8,000, and it doesn't have to be repaid over the life of the mortgage. Incentives already in place offer buyers a $7,500 credit that must be repaid, so the bill is an improvement, but short of what many economists think is necessary. Another reason that some analysts frown on the stimulus is the social spending it includes on things such as the Head Start program for disadvantaged children and aid to NASA for climate-change research. Both may be worthy efforts, but they aren't aimed at delivering short-term boosts to economic activity. "All this is 25 years of government expansion jammed into one bill and sold as stimulus," said Brian Riedl, the director of budget analysis for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research group.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res2/13/2009 | Politics
Democratic Senator Predicts None of His Colleagues 'Will Have the Chance' to Read Final Stimulus Bill Before Vote
CSNNEWS.com
(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted on Thursday that none of his Senate colleagues would "have the chance" to read the entire final version of the $790-billion stimulus bill before the bill comes up for a final vote in Congress. “No, I don’t think anyone will have the chance to [read the entire bill],” Lautenberg told CNSNews.com. Of the several senators that CNSNews.com interviewed on Thursday, only Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) claimed to have read the entire bill--and he was speaking of the preliminary version that had been approved by the Senate, not the final 999-page version that the House-Senate conference committee was still haggling over on Thursday afternoon. When CNSNews.com asked members of both parties on Capitol Hill on Thursday whether they had read the full, final bill, not one member could say, "Yes." And only one--Voinovich--volunteered that he had actually read the version of the bill that had passed the Senate. Both Republicans and Democrats told CNSNews.com they were eager to read the unseen bill--once they could get get their hands on a copy of the final legislation. ...Some lawmakers said one of the reasons they would not vote for the bill was because there would be no time to study it before it came up for a vote. “The Democrats have thrown this at us very last-minute,” said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). “That’s why the rule of thumb in the United States Congress should be, ‘When in doubt, vote no,’ because the devil is in the details and that’s why this stimulus is not worthy of support.”
2/12/2009 | Economy, Politics
Economic stimulus package on track for final votes
Breitbart.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Economic stimulus legislation at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan is on track for final votes Friday in the House and Senate after a dizzying final round of bargaining that yielded agreement on tax cuts and spending totaling $789 billion. Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track." The $500-per-worker credit for lower- and middle-income taxpayers that Obama outlined during his presidential campaign was scaled back to $400 during bargaining by the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Couples would receive $800 instead of $1,000. Over two years, that move would pump about $25 billion less into the economy than had been previously planned. Officials estimated it would mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks this year when withholding tables are adjusted in late spring. Next year, the measure could yield workers about $8 a week. Critics say that's unlikely to do much to boost consumption. "The most highly touted tax cut in the original proposal now translates into $7.70 a week for middle-class workers," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Recommended Guests:
Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy AnalysisDavid Bossie, President, Citizens UnitedDan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio ProgramPhil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.Chuck Colson, Prison FellowshipWard Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights InstituteWilliam Devlin, National President, Redeem The VoteJames Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLCJoseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDailyFrank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security PolicyJames Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of CommerceLou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT CorporationColin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USALowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security InstitutePhillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of BusinessJoe Murray, Columnist, The BulletinGrover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI FundsTony Strickland, Taxpayer AdvocateJohn Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res2/3/2009 | Politics
Daschle withdraws as nominee for HHS secretary
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination on Tuesday to be President Barack Obama's Health and Human Services secretary, dealing potential blows to both speedy health care reform and Obama's hopes for a smoother start as president. "Now we must move forward," Obama said in a written statement accepting "with sadness and regret" Daschle's surprise request to be removed from consideration. A day earlier, Obama had said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle in the face of problems over back taxes and potential conflicts of interest. ...Daschle also was facing questions about potential conflicts of interests related to the speaking fees he accepted from health care interests. Daschle also provided advice to health insurers and hospitals through his post-Senate work at a law firm. The controversy also has undercut Obama's promise to run a more ethical, responsible and special interest-free administration.
1/22/2009 | Politics
CAROLINE'S KAPUT
The New York Post
Caroline Kennedy last night withdrew from consideration to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, just two months after rocking the New York political landscape by throwing her hat in the ring. She confirmed the news publicly in a statement released shortly after midnight today - hours after The Post exclusively revealed her decision last night. "I informed Gov. Paterson today that, for personal reasons, I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate," the 51-year-old Camelot daughter said.
1/22/2009 | Politics
The Obama presidency: Here comes socialism
The Hill
2009-2010 will rank with 1913-14, 1933-36, 1964-65 and 1981-82 as years that will permanently change our government, politics and lives. Just as the stars were aligned for Wilson, Roosevelt, Johnson and Reagan, they are aligned for Obama. Simply put, we enter his administration as free-enterprise, market-dominated, laissez-faire America. We will shortly become like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, or Sweden — a socialist democracy in which the government dominates the economy, determines private-sector priorities and offers a vastly expanded range of services to many more people at much higher taxes. Obama will accomplish his agenda of “reform” under the rubric of “recovery.” Using the electoral mandate bestowed on a Democratic Congress by restless voters and the economic power given his administration by terrified Americans, he will change our country fundamentally in the name of lifting the depression. His stimulus packages won’t do much to shorten the downturn — although they will make it less painful — but they will do a great deal to change our nation.
12/31/2008 | Politics
New Yorker of the Year: Hillary Clinton proved a woman of resolve and class
The Daily News
The most powerful woman in the world. So Hillary Clinton will become with the dawn of a new White House. Madam Secretary of State. A strong hand in a velvet glove, extended to the globe on behalf of the most anticipated presidency in generations. Short of Barack Obama, no American today has a greater opportunity to shape international history than does New York’s departing junior U.S. senator. And, short of Barack Obama, no American played a greater role last year in influencing the choice of the 44th President of the United States. Clinton galvanized 18 million voters and made her ultimately successful rival much the better by testing him vigorously. For carrying the banner of a history-making candidacy with a resolve and class worthy of this city — in victory and defeat — we today salute Hillary Clinton as the Daily News New Yorker of the Year for 2008.
12/31/2008 | Politics
The Minnesota Recount Folly: We've Been Down That Road
The Wall Street Journal
Sorry Minnesota, but the sequel is never as good as the original. For those who watched the Washington State governor's race recounts in 2004, the ongoing recount drama in Minnesota is just another rehash of the same script -- albeit for a U.S. Senate seat that might put Democrats one vote away from a filibuster-proof majority. Four years ago in Washington, Democratic Party candidate Christine Gregoire lost the first count, lost the recount, and then won a second, highly dubious recount by 133 votes. In Minnesota, where Sen. Norm Coleman is defending his seat against comedian-turned-candidate Al Franken, the first count showed Mr. Coleman up 725 votes. Today, thanks to another dubious recount, Mr. Franken is apparently in the lead. Razor-thin margins like these put election systems to the test. As the old proverb goes, they are a crisis and an opportunity. Yet the crises keep coming and the opportunities continue to be squandered. It's time to learn the lessons of the recount wars and address the systemic flaws in our election processes. Indeed, the price of a continued decline in voter confidence is too troubling for most Americans to comprehend. In Washington's 2004 gubernatorial election, at least 1,392 felons illegally voted, 252 provisional ballots were wrongly counted, and 19 votes were cast from beyond the grave, according to Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges's opinion in a case brought by Dino Rossi, Ms. Gregoire's Republican opponent.
12/16/2008 | Politics
Time's Jay Carney will be Biden aide
Politico
Jay Carney is leaving Time magazine after 20 years to be Vice President-elect Joe Biden's communications director in the White House, astonished magazine and gleeful transition sources said. Carney's title will be assistant to the vice president and director of communications. TIME.com's "The Page" first reported his new job. Carney, the magazine's Washington bureau chief, is one of Washington's best-known talking heads, with regular appearances on ABC's "This Week," "The McLaughlin Group" and MSNBC's "Hardball." Biden has assembled a team of heavyweights: Ron Klain, who was chief of staff to former Vice President Al Gore, as chief of staff; Mike Donilon, one of Washington's best-connected Democratic consultants, as counselor; and Tony Blinken, a longtime Biden adviser, who is expected to fill a senior role on the National Security Council or on Biden's staff. A Democratic official close to the selection process said Carney had already decided to do something different after the election, and Biden advisers believed Carney would bring "a fresh perspective" to their deliberations.
12/9/2008 | Politics
Chicago Sun-Times
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich taken into federal custody
Gov. Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested at their homes this morning in a probe involving the governor’s quest to fill Sen. Barack Obama’s Senate seat. The charges also include alleged attempts by the governor to influence the Tribune editorial board.
12/3/2008 | Politics
Saxby Chambliss wins Georgia runoff
Politico.com
Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss won a resounding victory over Democrat Jim Martin in the Georgia Senate runoff Tuesday, capturing a second term and ending Democratic hopes of gaining a 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate majority. Chambliss defeated Martin by 16 percentage points, 58 to 42 percent, with 93 percent of precincts reporting. Turnout was moderate across the state– estimated to be around 30-35 percent – a development that unexpectedly played to Chambliss’ advantage. In the battle to get out the vote, Republicans won decisively. GOP turnout in the party's metropolitan Atlanta suburban strongholds surged for Chambliss, while African-American turnout dropped off significantly from the levels attained in the November election. The runoff was necessitated after Chambliss came up about 9,000 votes short of the 50 percent threshold necessary to win the seat outright on Election Night. In his victory speech, Chambliss said his re-election was a triumph of conservative principles.
12/3/2008 | Politics
Anxiety among Democrats as Pelosi tightens her grip
The Hill
Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) moves since the November elections have shaken up some of her colleagues, with some looking over their shoulders and others worried about how the Speaker will lead her expanded majority in 2009. Next year is regarded as the biggest legislative opportunity for Democrats since 1993, the last time they controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. But not all Democrats are celebrating. Liberals are worried about Pelosi’s vow to govern “from the middle” and centrists are concerned that the make-up of the House leadership team has shifted noticeably to the left. Contrary to the jubilation of House Democrats after they regained control of the lower chamber after the 2006 elections, there is some unease among members heading into the 111th Congress. “Everybody I talk to, everybody’s worried about something,” said a Democratic staffer.
12/2/2008 | Politics
Outsiders Look to Sway Georgia Race With Ads, Manpower
Wall Street Journal
ATLANTA -- Georgia voters on Tuesday are set to resolve one of the final elections of the 2008 campaign, but some of the most active groups seeking to shape the outcome of the Senate race here won't be heading to the polls. With Democrats inching toward a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, dozens of out-of-state interest groups on both sides of the aisle have flooded the state with political advertisements and manpower in an effort to influence the race. Neither incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss nor Democratic challenger Jim Martin won 50% of the vote on Nov. 4, as required to declare a winner under state law. Tuesday's runoff has turned into an unlikely and expensive battleground, with the outcome of the race possibly determining whether Democrats gain an even tighter grip on Washington next year. Overall, interest groups, candidates and political parties have spent more than $17 million during the four-week runoff campaign. That is about as much as was spent during the nine-month run-up to the November election, according to figures collected by the Federal Election Commission, the candidates and their political parties.