Morning Bulletin – Thursday, April 16, 2009
A roundup of news, schedules, and key stories from CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:
"His swift diplomatic mission is meant to show solidarity with a neighbor — and to prove that the U.S. is serious about halting the deadly flow of drugs and weapons," reports the Associated Press' Ben Feller.
"During his stop in Mexico City on Thursday, Obama will emphasize cross-border cooperation and probably put a focus on clean energy, but the economic crisis and the bloody drug trade have set the tone. Among the other touchy points are disagreement over a lapsed U.S. assault weapons ban, a standoff over cross-border trucking and immigration.
"The escalating drug war in Mexico is spilling into the United States and onto Obama's lap as a foreign crisis much closer than North Korea or Afghanistan. Mexico is the main hub for cocaine and other drugs entering the U.S.; the United States is the primary source of guns used in Mexico's drug-related killings. Mexican President Felipe Calderon's aggressive stand against drug cartels has won him the aid of the United States and the prominent political backing of Obama — never as evident as on Thursday, when the popular U.S. president is sure to stand with Calderon on his own turf and note his courage."
"On Wednesday Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano named a 'border czar,' Alan Bersin, a former Justice Department official who had served in a similar role under former President Bill Clinton. ... Despite its resonance in the U.S.-Mexican relationship, the White House stressed that drugs would not be the only topic of discussion between the two presidents. Energy, trade and the economy would also feature.
"Obama will likely echo the conclusions of a G20 summit in London this month with a promise to avoid protectionism -- a message Calderon is eager to hear. Mexico, a partner with Canada and the United States in the 1994 NAFTA trade pact, sends 80 percent of its exports to its northern neighbor."
However, "Analysts say Mr. Obama is unlikely to raise the issue of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he promised to revisit when he was a candidate for president last year," reports the Wall Street Journal's David Luhnow and Laura Meckler. "And he may be able to promise Mr. Calderon some progress on efforts to achieve immigration reform that would create a path to citizenship for some immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally."
Meantime, "President Obama yesterday ratcheted up efforts to curb the flow of drugs and guns across the southern border, imposing financial sanctions against three of the most violent Mexican drug cartels and threatening to prosecute Americans who do business with them," reports the Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu.
"By targeting the cartels -- Sinaloa, Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana -- the administration expanded its support for Calderón's crackdown on the narco-traffickers, an effort that has provoked a violent backlash and led to thousands of deaths in the past two years. The Obama administration accelerated what is normally a year-long effort to add names to the banned list.
"The government did not identify assets held by the three cartels, but authorities have estimated that $19 billion to $39 billion in drug proceeds flows south each year from the United States. The financial sanctions provide an additional tool against the organizations, whose drug and gun trafficking has proved exceedingly difficult to curtail. Mexico, for example, has seized more than 35,000 firearms from narco-traffickers since December 2006, and both governments say 90 percent of the weapons originated in the United States."
Tomorrow, the president leaves Mexico for Trinidad and Tobago and the Summit of the Americas where the economy will be the focus and though he's popular in Latin America, he does have some hurdles.
"Without the Spanish-speaking, governor-of-a-border-state cachet that George W. Bush initially brought to the table, Obama will rely on a hefty dose of show-don't-tell diplomacy to prove his administration will be an active ally. It's an approach his aides say he laid groundwork for in advance of his arrival in Mexico City Thursday, a move that makes a statement in itself.
"Obama will be the first U.S. president in 13 years to travel to the country's capital city. But despite recent Latin American policy announcements and diplomatic overtures, Obama has been slow on some fronts, making his job over the next few days even more difficult. He has not appointed a special envoy to the Americas as promised, for example, even though he's named envoys to several other parts of the world, including Sudan. 'He does have a lot of skepticism to overcome because of the history of past presidents saying they were going to have a close relationship, and events taking over,' said a source close to the White House. 'And in the first two and a half months Obama has been slow to focus on the region.'"
"Obama is a popular figure in the region and can expect an enthusiastic welcome. But he also will confront deep resentments over some U.S. policies that he is reluctant to change," writes the Los Angeles Times' Peter Nicholas.
"Other leaders want the administration to normalize relations with Cuba and resurrect a ban on the kinds of assault weapons being smuggled into Mexico, commitments Obama is unwilling to make. Still, Obama is bound to get a better reception than his predecessor.
"Polls showed Bush to be the least popular American president ever among Latin Americans. The last summit, held in Argentina four years ago, was widely considered a fiasco. Violent protests dominated the news. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez himself took part in an anti-American rally of 25,000 people.
"'The new president is going to be the focus,' said Julia Sweig, director of the Latin America program at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank. 'Even for someone like Hugo Chavez, who at the last summit made himself the focus, it will be virtually impossible to upstage Barack Obama. This is his coming out party, his cotillion in the Americas, and there's an excitement just to meet the guy, see him up close and get a feel for him.' ...
"At the fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago beginning Friday, Obama will meet with 33 other democratically elected heads of state and government. Cuba, which does not have a democratically chosen leader, was the only country in the hemisphere not invited. ... Imagery will count for a lot. At the 2005 summit in Argentina, Bush was once seen off by himself as the other leaders chatted in small cliques. Obama will be a more sociable presence."
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY: CBS News' Michelle Levi reports that there were "No Surprises In Obama's Tax Returns", which were released yesterday. "President and Mrs. Obama, as well as Vice President and Dr. Biden, joined the ranks of all Americans today by filing their 2008 income tax returns on time. In total, the first couple had a joint income of $2,736,107 while the Bidens had a joint income of $269,256. The Obamas paid $855,323 in federal income taxes while the Bidens paid $46,952. The majority of the Obamas income came from book proceeds totaling $2,479,648 during the campaign year. Vice President Biden earned $9,563 in audio book royalties."
4944099Politico's Kenneth P. Vogel discovered in campaign finance reports filed late yesterday that the president's campaign operation is still spending money. "Obama for America, the fundraising juggernaut that powered Obama's ascent to the presidency, spent nearly $9.5 million in the first three months of this year, including $684,000 on telemarketing and print and online advertising, $994,000 on event staging and $310,000 on payroll and taxes. To be sure, some of the payments stem from bills accrued in early January — or even the end of last year — before Obama took the oath of office, and others come from normal shut-down costs.
"Plus the campaign committee is no longer raising money; it came into the year with $18.3 million in the bank and finished the first quarter with $10 million on hand. Yet the report shows that Obama's campaign continued to be of use well after Election Day and suggests it still maintains some semblance of operational capacity. Last month alone, it paid $74,000 in payroll, $23,000 for rent, $10,000 for polling and $6,400 for travel."
Vogel also reported that Hillary Clinton, whose campaign operation is still trying to pay off debt, raised $5.6 million in the first three months of the year and paid off $3.7 million in debt. "The report shows that Clinton has only one vendor left to pay off: pollster Mark Penn. Her campaign paid his firm $3 million in the first quarter, but still owes it $2.3 million."
4836717And White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is unloading cash from his House campaign war chest donating "$85,000 from his campaign account to Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), during the first week of January, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Emanuel also repaid himself $450,000 that he'd loaned to his campaign fund, his campaign report shows," Politico's John Bresnahan writes.
"The former Illinois Democrat made the donations and debt payments during the first week of January, before Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. Emanuel was tapped by Obama to become White House chief of staff shortly after his victory in the presidential contest with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Emanuel still has $1.18 million in cash in his campaign account as of March 31, his FEC report shows. It is unprecedented for a top administration official to have access to campaign funds as Emanuel does, but his donations were all easily within FEC limits. Former members from both parties often control large campaign accounts once they leave office, and they can legally use those funds to spread money around to their ex-colleagues."
"He said the federal government has strayed somewhat from what our founders wanted and is choking Americans with excessive spending and taxation. Although Perry made it clear that he doesn't see the need to secede and isn't advocating it, he said there's no question that it's on the mind of some Texans," reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Anna M. Tinsley.
"That was obvious at tea parties around the state, where 'Secede' was a popular sign slogan. 'Texas is a unique place,' the governor told reporters in Austin. 'When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. My hope is that America, and Washington in particular, pays attention,' he said. 'We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot, to boot.'
"Perry stressed later in an interview with the Star-Telegram that he never specifically said that Texas should consider trying to secede."
ALSO TODAY: Vice President Joe Biden visits Jefferson City, Missouri today to continue selling the president's economic stimulus plan.
ECONOMY / BAILOUTS
USA Today's Pallavi Gogoi and Kathy Chu, "All banks expected to pass stress test; analysts not so sure"
Washington Post's David Cho, "Bank Test Results May Strain Limits Of Bailout Funding"
TAXES AND TEA PARTIES
Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman and John D. McKinnon, "Obama Calls for Simpler Tax Code"
LA Times' Michael Finnegan and Janet Hook, "Republicans stage 'tea party' protests against Obama"
Washington Times' Sean Lengell and Valerie Richardson, "Tax demonstrators teed off"
Wall Street Journal's Karl Rove, "Republicans and the Tea Parties"
FOREIGN POLICY
NY Times' Simon Romero and Alexei Barrionuevo, "Deal by Deal, China Expands Its Influence in Latin America"
Associated Press' Arthur H. Rotstein, "DHS sec.: Request for Guard on border under study"
Washington Post's Colum Lynch and Glenn Kessler, "U.S. Looks to Balance Response to N. Korea"
INTELLIGENCE
NY Times' Eric Lichtblau and James Risen, "N.S.A.'s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress"
Wall Street Journal's Evan Perez and Siobhan Gorman, "Portions of CIA Memos Expected to Be Released"
HOMELAND SECURITY REPORT ON EXTREMISM
LA Times' Greg Miller, "Right-wing extremists seen as threat"
Politico's Josh Gerstein, "Napolitano defends DHS report"
SARAH PALIN
NY Times' William Yardley, "For Gov. Palin, a Rough Return to the Day Job"
Associated Press' Anne Sutton, "Governing not easy for Alaska's polarizing Palin"
Politico's Kenneth Vogel, "Friends, foes cash in on Palin"
MINNESOTA SENATE RECOUNT
Minneapolis Star Tribune's Kevin Diaz and Bob Von Sternberg, "$12 million later and still no senator from Minnesota"
CQ Politics' Emily Cadei, "GOP Money Flows to Coleman in Minnesota Senate Dispute"
Politico's Manu Raju, "Coleman, Franken run low on cash"
NY-20 SPECIAL ELECTION
Oneonta Daily Star's Patricia Breakey, "Murphy ahead in latest ballot count"
Albany Times Union's Leigh Hornbeck, "Murphy gains as judge narrows challenges"
Washington Post's Keith B. Richburg, "GOP Challenges Gillibrand's Ballot in Race to Fill Her House Seat"
FUTURE RACES
2009 VA Governor: Washington Post, "Clinton & Friends Pony Up"
2010 MN Governor: NY Times' Adam Nagourney profiles Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., "G.O.P. Leader Wants to Be More Than Opposition"
2010 CT Senate: CQ Politics' Emily Cadei, "Dodd Totals More than $1 Million in Receipts in First Quarter"
2010 PA Senate: Wall Street Journal's Susan Davis, "Conservative Toomey Mounts Bid for Specter's Senate Seat"
2010 PA Senate: NY Times' Katherine Q. Seelye, "Challenger to Specter From Right of His Party"
2010 DE House: The Hill's Aaron Blake, "Rep. Castle gets challenger for House race"
ETC.
NY Times' Thom Shanker, "Pentagon Closes Office Accused of Issuing Propaganda Under Bush"
Wall Street Journal's Alex Roth and Betsy McKay, "Fear and Greed Have Sales of Guns and Ammo Shooting Up"
NY Post's Page Six, "CNBC Sweats 'Obama-Bashing'"
USA Today's Mimi Hall, "Internet engaged people in '08 election, survey shows"