Obama and the House GOP: Full Q&A From Baltimore Courtesy of C-SPAN, watch the whole (and at times, lively) exchange between President Barack Obama and Republican House members at a GOP retreat in Baltimore on Friday.
Courtesy of C-SPAN, watch the whole (and at times, lively) exchange between President Barack Obama and Republican House members at a GOP retreat in Baltimore on Friday.
Jeffrey Kaye: Mañana for Immigration Reform A long-promised, bi-partisan U.S. Senate bill aimed at comprehensive immigration reform will be delayed until at least March, according to a lobbyist involved in negotiations…
3 Americans Killed In Afghanistan, NATO says KABUL — Two U.S. service members and one U.S. employee were killed Friday in eastern Afghanistan, pushing the American death toll this month to 29….
On his radio show, Sean Hannity claimed that President Obama “seems to be concerned about a massive deficit,” which Hannity said Obama “created,” and asserted that the economic “stimulus is a failure.” In fact, the 2009 increases in spending and the deficit include the impact of policies enacted under former President Bush, and economists have estimated that the stimulus “raised employment” by as many as 2 million jobs through December 2009.
From the January 28 edition of ABC Radio Networks’ The Sean Hannity Show:
HANNITY: He lies about the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case. I think the biggest lie of the night, “Well, we saved 2 million jobs.” You’ve lost 4 million jobs. You know, he seems to be concerned about a massive deficit — he created it. You know, a guy that, you know, believes the federal government should run pretty darn near everything in your life — the auto industry, the banks, the insurance companies, student loans, health care, and it never ends.
What is appalling is the massive ego of this president, which was on full display last night, taking responsibility for nothing, learning nothing. It’s arrogant. He’s cold, he seems detached, and literally is insisting on dragging this nation off a cliff. And his stimulus is a failure, so we’ll spend $30 million more on the stimulus.
Fact: Policies enacted before Obama took office comprised much of FY 2009 spending increase
CBO: TARP, Fannie, Freddie commitments comprised much of spending increase in FY 2009. CBO stated in its January 2010 Budget and Economic Outlook that “[w]ithout changes in current laws and policies, CBO estimates, outlays will rise from $3.0 trillion in 2008 to $3.5 trillion in 2009.” This estimate included $240 billion — in contrast to the $91 billion recorded at the end of fiscal year 2009 — for “incorporating the two housing GSEs into the federal budget.” Before Obama took office or signed any legislation, CBO had estimated that the deficit would be $1.2 trillion for fiscal year 2009.
Spending for unemployment benefits, Medicaid increased as result of recession. CBO also stated of fiscal year 2009:
Social Security outlays rose by 9 percent ($53 billion) last year, primarily because the 5.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that took effect in January 2009 was the largest annual adjustment since 1982. Medicaid spending (excluding stimulus funding) increased by 9 percent ($18 billion) in 2009 — exceeding its 7 percent average annual growth rate of the previous 10 years — largely because higher unemployment boosted enrollment in the program. Medicare outlays (including an offset for premium payments) also rose at a faster rate than the average of the past decade, growing by 10 percent ($39 billion).
In addition, payments for unemployment benefits rose by $76 billion in 2009, pushing outlays for that program to more than double the level recorded in 2008. The jump was caused by substantially higher unemployment as well as increased and extended benefits to unemployed workers ($27 billion from ARRA and $17 billion from other legislation).
New York Times: Obama policies are “responsible for only a sliver of the deficits.” According to a budget analysis by The New York Times, “Mr. Obama’s main contribution to the deficit is his extension of several Bush policies, like the Iraq war and tax cuts for households making less than $250,000. Such policies — together with the Wall Street bailout, which was signed by Mr. Bush and supported by Mr. Obama — account for 20 percent” of the increase between the FY 2008 and FY 2009 budget deficit estimates. The New York Times wrote that 70 percent of the increase is attributed to a combination of economic hardships, including “the fact that both the 2001 recession and the current one reduced tax revenue, required more spending on safety-net programs and changed economists’ assumptions about how much in taxes the government would collect in future years” and “new legislation signed by Mr. Bush … like his tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.”
Fact: Economic analysts estimate the recovery act increased relative employment by as many as 2 million jobs
Economists estimate stimulus “raised employment” by as many as 2 million jobs through December 2009. In a quarterly report issued January 13, the White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated: “As of the fourth quarter of 2009, the CEA estimates that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has raised employment relative to the baseline by between 1½ and 2 million. The CEA estimates for both the effects on GDP and employment are similar to those of respected private forecasters and government agencies.” The CEA cited Moody’s Economy.com estimates that the stimulus increased employment by 1.6 million jobs through the fourth quarter of 2009. From the CEA’s quarterly report:
Two Giants Have Fallen Both died Wednesday, Jan. 27th of natural causes, J.D. Salinger was 91; Howard Zinn was 87. Read more about Salinger here. Read more about Zinn here. A sampling of quotes from Howard Zinn: “I suggest that if you know history, then you might not be so easily fooled by the government when it tells you you must go to […]
Dollar stores may be places to nab a bargain but for many they are the only place to buy food — the rock-bottom of the food chain, the last stop before the food pantry.
Bringing formerly taboo issues to TV, the former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler's show has caught on. Conspiracy theorists probably aren't surprised.
The 6 Weirdest Things Women Do to Their Vaginas What the hell is vaginal rejuvenation? Who would want their vagina bleached? Here’s a list of the strangest ways to make your genitals meet the demands of the beauty industry.
What the hell is vaginal rejuvenation? Who would want their vagina bleached? Here's a list of the strangest ways to make your genitals meet the demands of the beauty industry.
GOP Media Mistake The Republican House members invited President Obama to their retreat. The White House suggested that the whole session including the Q & A be on camera. The Repubs agreed. But as Luke Russert tweets from Baltimore. GOP aides telling…
Sheikh Jarrah: ‘Ground Zero’ Yesterday’s vigil did not grow in numbers, but it was clear from the people who turned out that it is growing in moral prestige. During the week, J Street issued a statement of support. The world press has begun to…
State Of The Union: Deep Twitter Thoughts on SOTU Before the State Of The Union kthalps: guys, the only way obama can repeal dont ask dont tell is if we dont ask dont tell. so shut up abt it. duh! State Of The Union Starts kthalps: I guess we’ll…
Boehner Feigns Ignorance That His GOP Retreat Is Attended By Goldman Sachs, Other Corporate Lobbyists This weekend, Republican leaders will convene at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore to plot strategy, socialize, and plan both legislative and campaign themes for the year. Yesterday morning, ThinkProgress caught up with House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who confirmed that the Congressional Institute — a nonprofit run by Republican corporate lobbyists — is […]
This weekend, Republican leaders will convene at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore to plot strategy, socialize, and plan both legislative and campaign themes for the year. Yesterday morning, ThinkProgress caught up with House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who confirmed that the Congressional Institute — a nonprofit run by Republican corporate lobbyists — is sponsoring the retreat. Normally, such lobbyist-sponsored soirées would be illegal under House ethics rules. But by forming an ostensibly nonpartisan educational front called the Congressional Institute, lobbyists are able to skirt any such oversight. However, Boehner told ThinkProgress that he did not know if any lobbyists would be present at the retreat:
TP: For your retreat this weekend, is the Congressional Institute attending or sponsoring at all?
BOEHNER: They’ve always sponsored retreats for both Democrats and Republicans.
TP: Are any of their lobbyists attending this weekend?
BOEHNER: I don’t know. […] I said I don’t know.
Watch it:
Boehner is wrong when he claims that the Congressional Institute sponsors Democratic retreats. According to the Politico, House Democratic retreats are not paid for by any special interest funds or the lobbyist-run Congressional Institute.
To fact-check Boehner’s sheepish reply that he simply didn’t know if lobbyists would be at the retreat, I visited the Renaissance hotel in Baltimore yesterday afternoon. Upon arriving at the front desk, I spoke to Patrick Deitz, a staff assistant for the Congressional Institute, who confirmed that Congressional Institute board member Michael Johnson was upstairs at the retreat, and that Dan Meyer, another board member, was on his way. Johnson, a lobbyist at the OB-C Group, touts himself as a “Republican heavyweight” whose firm represents the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, JP Morgan Chase, and the health insurance giant WellPoint. Meyer, a longtime Republican operative and chairman of the Congressional Institute, works for the Duberstein Group, where he represents BP, Goldman Sachs, HealthNet, and AHIP, the umbrella trade group for the health insurance industry. Meyer’s colleague at his lobbying firm, Steve Champlin, urged insurance industry executives last year to fight ruthlessy to kill health reform, proclaiming, don’t “give comfort to the enemy who is down.”
After informing Deitz and other Congressional Institute staffers that I work for ThinkProgress and wanted to interview some of the lobbyists in attendance, another staffer, named Mary, told me to leave the building or else I would be arrested. Mary, who refused to give her business card or last name, told Deitz not to tell me his last name either. During the course of the conversation with Congressional Institute staffers, a gaggle of men dressed in business attire discussed technology policy behind me. One of them had a name tag that read John Sampson; who according to his LinkedIn profile is the chief lobbyist for Microsoft.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that ThinkProgress will be able to attend, or even approach the building, for the lobbyist-organized GOP retreat. If we could, we might witness quite a reunion. Many of the lobbyists running the Congressional Institute are former top staffers to Newt Gingrich, who is addressing the gathering. Here is a picture of Congressional Institute board members Meyer and Arne Christenson — now a lobbyist for American Express — plotting strategy for Gingrich back in 1995.
Responding to the State of the Union, Boehner was quick to attack the administration for supposedly lacking transparency. But for a retreat planning public policy, Boehner apparently prefers to keep the corporate lobbyists involved behind closed doors — and even refuses to acknowledge their attendance.
?Left-leaning? Washington Post op-ed page features mostly right wingers. In an online chat earlier this week, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz defended Fox News’ conservative orientation by saying there is a “distinction” between Fox’s opinion shows and news programming. “Just as you have to make a distinction between The Post’s news pages and its left-leaning editorial page,” said Kurtz. As Jamison Foser pointed […]
In an online chat earlier this week, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz defended Fox News’ conservative orientation by saying there is a “distinction” between Fox’s opinion shows and news programming. “Just as you have to make a distinction between The Post’s news pages and its left-leaning editorial page,” said Kurtz. As Jamison Foser pointed out at the time, the idea that the Post’s op-ed pages are “left-leaning” is laughable. As if to prove that point today, the Post’s op-ed page features columns by two former Bushspeechwriters, “Obama’s biggest critic,” and a former National Review editor:
Business columnist Robert Samuelson also has a piece saying that the Obama administration’s “blunder” of pushing for health care reform has caused “business planning and the willingness to expand” to suffer. The print edition of the Post also has a short item from liberal Eugene Robinson. This isn’t the first time that the Post has loaded its op-ed page overwhelmingly with conservatives.
Blackburn questions Obama at House GOP conference After addressing the GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore on Friday, President Obama took a series of questions from the lawmakers. Here is a transcript of one of the questions posed to the president:
Republicans woo ‘tea party’ members, but face activists’ distrust of GOP HONOLULU — The Republican Party’s flirtation this week with a proposal to punish GOP candidates who do not commit to a list of conservative principles was about more than just purity. It was about winning over angry activists.
Conservative activist admits to plot in Landrieu’s office The conservative activist accused this week in a plot to tamper with telephones in the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) admitted to the scheme Friday, conceding that he “could have used a different approach” in trying to determine whether she was avoiding calls from opponents of the health-ca…
Obama talks to House Republicans in Baltimore in rare, televised debate in BALTIMORE — President Obama offered a muscular defense of his first year in office Friday in the most hostile of territories — a gathering of House Republicans, who engaged him in a pointed debate that had moments of both tense drama and bipartisan comity over the stark policy differences that…
What Will Obama Do About Gridlock? Jim Manzi, National Review Enter Your E-Mail Address to Sign UpFriday, January 29, 2010Delayed Reaction to the State of the Union [Jim Manzi]It has taken me a while to assess my reaction to President Obama’s speech. On the whole, I think his supporters should be somewhat dismayed. It struck me as very effective in diagnosing problems, and in proposing policy solutions that — even though I disagree with many (but not all) of them — are well-reasoned and might plausibly succeed; but as far as I can see, he proposed no realistic solution to the political problem that he…
State of the Union Pressed Reset Button Michael Tomasky, The Guardian The main task before Barack Obama in his state of the union address was to push the reset button. To reclaim some control over the agenda, which he had basically lost since about last October, when it became apparent that the signature healthcare initiative was going to take longer to pass than Hadrian took to build his wall.So did he? Yes, for now. On the most fundamental level, Obama made it clear that the top item in his in-basket is the matter that most occupies Americas' minds: jobs. He mentioned the word 29 times in the speech. Thursday, he and vice-president Joe Biden followed up…
President Obama’s Health Care Mistake Paul Howard, Forbes It's never too late to do what you said you were going to do. This is the chief lesson that President Obama should draw from Massachusetts voters' stunning rebuke to Democrat's bloated and expensive health care legislation. Obama campaigned as a centrist who would draw on the best ideas of both parties, but he has governed by deferring to the liberal wing of his party and locking Republicans out of Democrats' backroom health care deals. As a result, the current bill is justly opposed by the majority of Americans as too expensive, too convoluted and packed with bribes,…
Misguided Policies: Obama Doesn’t Quit Frank Beckmann, Detroit News The most revelatory words from President Barack Obama's State of the Union address came near the end when he uttered, “I don't quit.” It's something to remember when digesting his incongruous remarks to the nation this week. The president re-emphasized just about every major point of his 2008 political campaign and even gave reason for brief hope that he might embrace a few ideas that aren't in lockstep with the left-wing ideology he has pushed for a year. Then came reality. When he said, “I don't quit,” he meant he truly will push every single…
The Obama Contradiction Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal When you watch a president give a State of the Union Address on television, you're always watching three people: the president at the podium, and the vice president and House speaker on the rise behind him. As a TV shot it's awkward. The vice president and the speaker have been instructed by media professionals not to let their eyes do what they want to do, which is survey the doings in the chamber. Instead they must stare unwaveringly at the back of the president's head. This is so that they appear to be fascinated by what he's saying, as if he's so interesting that…
Teleprompter Malfunction Leaves Obama Speechless The president needs to start making some remarks off the cuff, because he’s leaving himself wide open for this sort of parody. And no, while it bears a resemblance to Fox News, this is not real.
The president needs to start making some remarks off the cuff, because he’s leaving himself wide open for this sort of parody. And no, while it bears a resemblance to Fox News, this is not real.
Ronald Dworkin: The “Devastating” Decision President Obama is right, the Citizens United decision will further weaken the quality and fairness of our politics, as well as hand already-overpowered lobbyists a nuclear weapon for influencing policy.
Health Care ‘Stalemate’ WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s health care appeal failed to break the congressional gridlock Thursday, dimming hopes for millions of uninsured Americans. Democrats stared down…
A Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that Obama “re-pitched the health bill now in Congress with the same contradiction-covers more people but saves money too-that all but the most devoted partisans long ago dismissed as unbelievable.” However the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the health care reform bills passed by both the House and the Senate would reduce federal deficits through 2019 and beyond.
On health care, Mr. Obama offered a Willy Loman-esque soliloquy on his year-long effort, as if his bill’s underlying virtues and his own hard work haven’t been truly appreciated by the American public. He showed no particular willingness to compromise, save for a claim that he was open to other ideas.
And he re-pitched the health bill now in Congress with the same contradiction-covers more people but saves money too-that all but the most devoted partisans long ago dismissed as unbelievable. The President sounded to us like a man who is still hoping Democrats will find a way to sneak this monstrosity into law despite its unpopularity.
FACT: CBO estimated that health care reform bills would reduce deficits over next 10 years and beyond
CBO: Senate bill yields “a net reduction in federal deficits of $132 billion” over 10 years. On December 19, 2009, CBO reported of the Senate bill incorporating the manager’s amendment:
CBO and JCT estimate that the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act incorporating the manager’s amendment would yield a net reduction in federal deficits of $132 billion over the 2010-2019 period.
CBO also estimated on December 20, 2009, that the bill will continue to reduce the deficit beyond the 10-year budget window that ends in 2019 “with a total effect during that decade that is in a broad range between one-quarter percent and one-half percent of GDP.”
CBO estimated the House bill will result in $138 billion in deficit reduction through 2019. On November 20, 2009, CBO reported of the House health care reform legislation, “CBO and JCT now estimate that the legislation would yield a net reduction in deficits of $138 billion over the 10-year period.” CBO also stated in its November 6 estimate that “[i]n the subsequent decade, the collective effect of its provisions would probably be slight reductions in federal budget deficits. Those estimates are all subject to substantial uncertainty.”
WSJ previously misled on budgetary impact of health care reform. CBO estimates showing health care reform will reduce deficits, a January 27 Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that President Obama should “[d]rop the health-care bill” if Democrats “really are serious” about fiscal responsibility.
White House Will Consider Moving 9/11 Trials “Facing mounting pressure from New York politicians concerned about costs and security, the Obama administration on Thursday began considering moving the trial of the chief organizer of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks out of Manhattan,” the New York Times reports.
The notion that 'there are no atheists in foxholes' isn't just mistaken, it's bigoted and ugly; a denial of atheists' humanity and the reality of our experience with death.
Blackwater’s Youngest Victim Nine-year-old Ali Kinani died from a gunshot wound to the head in the Nisour Square massacre. His father may be the one man standing between Blackwater and total impunity.
Nine-year-old Ali Kinani died from a gunshot wound to the head in the Nisour Square massacre. His father may be the one man standing between Blackwater and total impunity.
How to Date a Corporation: Dating Rules for a Post-Citizens United World The Supreme Court recently determined that corporations are entitled to freedom of speech because they are legally persons. The ramifications of this decision, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, cannot be overstated: it introduces an entirely new and untapped population…
Iran: Making the Regime-Change Calculation Having used Robert Kagan as a stand-in for skeptics of engagement more than once, let me give a more measured response to the argument he made today for supporting Iranian regime-change (fellow Democracy Arsenal blogger Pat Barry will give you…
Obama’s Post-Partisan Style of Partisanship Obama, who hates to thunder against Republicans outright–it’s not in his metabolism–held fast to post-partisanship tonight: what the American people hope – what they deserve – is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences; to…
Does Rove Think Reagan And Bush Were ‘Weak’ For Discussing The ‘Situation’ They Inherited? In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama described the dire state of affairs he faced as he entered office a year ago. “One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in […]
In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama described the dire state of affairs he faced as he entered office a year ago. “One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt,” said Obama.
Conservatives, who often complain that Obama blames former President George W. Bush too much, did not appreciate Obama’s recitation of the facts. “The blaming of the past administration is pathetically unpresidential,” blogged National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez last night. On Fox News this morning, Brian Kilmeade asked former Bush adviser Karl Rove if it’s “good politics” to “bring up your predecessor and talk about your first year in office while looking back at his last year in office?” “No, I think it makes you look weak,” replied Rove. Watch it:
By Rove’s logic, conservative icon Ronald Reagan and his former boss George W. Bush were also “weak.” As Media Matters’ Matt Gertz noted last night, Reagan “devoted significant portions” of his 1982 State of the Union “to attacking President Carter’s administration for ‘the situation at this time last year’”:
To understand the State of the Union, we must look not only at where we are and where we’re going but where we’ve been. The situation at this time last year was truly ominous. […]
First, we must understand what’s happening at the moment to the economy. Our current problems are not the product of the recovery program that’s only just now getting under way, as some would have you believe; they are the inheritance of decades of tax and tax, and spend and spend. […]
The only alternative being offered to this economic program is a return to the policies that gave us a trillion-dollar debt, runaway inflation, runaway interest rates and unemployment.
Though it wasn’t technically a State of the Union address, when former President Bush first addressed a joint session of Congress in February 2001, he too cast aspersion on his predecessor’s legacy. “Last year, Government spending shot up 8 percent. That’s far more than our economy grew, far more than personal income grew, and far more than the rate of inflation,” said Bush. “We must take a different path.”
After Obama speech, Democrats confused about path ahead A day after President Obama called on them to renew efforts to pass his ambitious agenda, congressional Democrats remained in disarray Thursday about how to move forward, with at least some pointing at the White House as the cause of the legislative standstill gripping Capitol Hill.
Democrats prepare legislation to counter ruling on campaign spending Sensing a clear political opportunity, congressional Democrats are rushing to craft legislation to counter a Supreme Court ruling that they fear could lead to a flood of foreign spending on U.S. political campaigns.
Chris Matthews on Obama: `Forgot he was black’ MSNBC’s Chris Matthews says President Barack Obama has done so much to heal racial divisions that he “forgot he was black” while watching his State of the Union address.
No Sign of Reset After Massachusetts Message Clive Crook, The Atlantic Little sign of a reset that I could see. The speechemphasized jobs and the economy over healthcare reform, but that wouldhave made sense even if the political landscape had not shifted. As forthe poll numbers, as for Massachusetts, they might never have happened.He mentioned Scott Brown's victory only obliquely, and in way thatdenied it any significance.I know it's an election year. And after last week, it isclear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual. But westill need to govern.He conveyed almost no sense that the country was sending him amessage and that he was…
A Bid to Recapture the Magic – With a Dose of Reality Peter Baker, NYT WASHINGTON — By now, President Obama can hardly be under any illusions about the depth of the partisan divide as he seeks to reboot his presidency. Yet he still seemed surprised on Wednesday night when he could not get Republicans to applaud tax cuts.The latest on President Obama, his administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion.As he boasted in his first State of the Union address that his economic program had cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, Democrats jumped to their feet to cheer. Republicans sat quietly. Mr. Obama paused as…
The State of the Union is Strongly Angry Gail Collins, New York Times My fellow Americans, the state of the union is angry. Also strong. Presidents usually say the state of the union is strong. But this year you would have to go with strongly angry. Gail Collins David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns. In his speech on Wednesday night, President Obama actually dropped that traditional state-of-the-union-is rhetoric completely in honor of the new irascibility. “We all hated the bank bailout,” he said in one of his first big applause lines. Yes, the one good thing you can say about our highest elected officials is that they are…
