House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was afflicted Wednesday with a case of political schizophrenia. Pelosi had called the House back for a rare August session mainly to approve an economic assistance bill intended to prevent layoffs of some 300,000 teachers and others nationally, after the Senate passed the legislation last week. Lawmakers voted to approve the bill, H.R. 1586, the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act on a vote of 247 to 161, and President Obama immediately signed it into...
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Following Foster’s Buddies’ Money
"Enron-like in its complexity ... Its' complexity is a big red flag," said McNab. "Why so complex? Why so many layers, so many supporting organizations and murky connections?"
Obama Unleashes Partisan Attack: ‘You Want To Go Forward, You Put It In D.’
President Obama mixed barbed partisan attack with substantive defense of his policies Monday at a Democratic fundraiser in Texas. In remarks at a Democratic National Committee event in Austin, Obama extended his established comedic metaphor of Republicans having driven the nation into a ditch with their economic policies. The president also outlined how his policies will benefit Texas, while criticizing the GOP approach. Obama regularly jokes that in this upcoming election, Republicans essentially want the keys to the nation...
‘That Would Be A Mistake’: Geithner Forcefully Rejects Tax Cut Extension For Wealthy
In the latest skirmish with Republicans over the future of Bush-era tax cuts, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unequivocally rejected conservative pressure to extend those cuts for the wealthiest Americans. In a speech in Washington, Geithner took aim at the core conservative claim that the faltering U.S. economy would be damaged if taxes on the richest 2 percent of U.S. taxpayers were allowed to rise next year. Geithner, however, says that he wants the tax cuts enacted during George W....
‘No Drama Obama’ Needs a Strong Second Act
The Obama administration is a welcome change from the Bush–Cheney years. Against severe Republican opposition, President Obama has kept campaign promises to reform health care, curb Wall Street excesses, create a federally-funded stimulus program to help bring the nation out of the recession, and to remove American troops from the needless Iraq war, which has already cost Americans more than $740 billion and 4,400 lives. He has also pledged to eliminate the Bush–Cheney tax cuts for the rich, while...
Disappearing Oil and Gulf Seafood: Passing the Sniff Test
Since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank on April 20 killing 11 workers the NOAA estimates that 206 million gallons of "light sweet crude" spewed from BP's Macondo well field, fouling the waters of the Gulf, shutting down much of the commerce of the surrounding region and creating a giant toxic bouillabaisse in which now swim whatever critters managed to survive poisoning, suffocation, or being roasted alive.
Capitol Idea: To Get Re-elected, It’s Not The Republicans Obama Has To Worry About
Every American president’s worst re-election nightmare isn’t an economy that’s tanking as November approaches, or even having to face a popular opponent of the other party. No, what presidents fear most is having to face a challenge to renomination from his own party. That’s because having to defeat a primary opponent splits a president’s base and certainly dooms his chances in the general election. Ronald Reagan’s 1976 challenge from the Right certainly sealed Jerry Ford’s fate that November, while...
Administration Tries Positive Spin On Dismal Jobs Data, As Economist Confirms ‘Long Haul’ For High Unemployment
The Obama administration’s top labor official tried Friday to make the best of July’s sluggish job growth, as one independent economist noted that the nation is in for high unemployment for perhaps five years or longer. The Labor Department reported that private-sector employers added just 71,000 jobs in July, leaving the nation’s unemployment rate steady near double digits, at 9.5 percent. Despite that slight uptick, overall employment shrank by 131,000 as more temporary Census workers ended their service. With...
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