All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Candidate Barack Obama's firm pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class was one of the clearest promises of his campaign.

"Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase," he said. "Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

He repeated it countless times, both as candidate and president.

That's why it was so stunning – and created such a furor on cable and in the blogosphere -- when BOTH Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner AND Larry Summers, top economic advisor in the White House, seemed to fudge on the issue on Sunday's talk shows.

Here's a key part of the exchange between Bob Schieffer and Larry Summers on CBS' "Face the Nation":

SCHIEFFER: No tax increases for middle-income Americans?

SUMMERS:...There is a lot, though, there is a lot that can happen over time. But the priority right now, so it is never a good idea to absolutely rule things -- rule things out no matter what. But what the president has been completely clear on is that he is not going to pursue any of his priorities -- not health care, not energy, nothing -- in ways that are primarily burdening middle-class families. That is something that is not going to happen.

Wait a minute: "PRIMARILY" burdening middle-class families? I thought it was NO tax hikes for middle-class families.

And it's never a good idea to absolutely rule things out? Isn't that what the president has done again and again and again on middle-class tax hikes?

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CBS News White House Correspondent Chip Reid – along with columnist Helen Thomas – got into a contentious back-and-forth with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at Gibbs' daily briefing yesterday.

The topic? The questions being asked at yesterday's health care "online town hall," which were submitted by the public but selected by the White House. Reid also brought up the fact that the audience was selected by the White House and the college where the event was held.

"It just feels very tightly controlled," Reid said. "It feels -- I mean, the concept of a town hall I think is to have a open public forum, and this sounds like a very tightly controlled audience and a list of questions. Why do it that way? Why not open it up to the public?"

"How about we do this -- how about you can ask me that question tomorrow based on what questions were asked rather than preselecting your question based on something that may or may not come through," Gibbs replied.

"This is a town hall," Reid said later. "This is an open forum for the public to ask questions, but it's not really open."

Responded Gibbs: "Based on what?"

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Amidst a backdrop of growing tensions with North Korea, President Obama today held his first White House Rose Garden press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid asked two questions of the president than spoke to host Bob Orr on today's "Washington Unplugged."

Both leaders "made very clear that they will do what needs to be done to keep the Korean peninsula denuclearized," Reid said.

Joining CBS' Reid and Orr on the show was Nick Szechenyi, a senior fellow at the Council For Strategic International Studies.

And on another foreign front, CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer is among the reporters now barred from covering the protests in Tehran's streets. She set the scene for CBS News' "The Early Show" earlier this morning.

Watch Washington Unplugged today below, and watch us live and on demand daily on cbsnews.com.

In only his second interview since announcing he will not seek a third term, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) will talk to Bob Schieffer about the future of the Republican Party as well as his plans for 2012 on this week’s edition of “Washington Unplugged.” Could a run for the White House be in the cards?

Also on the Web-only broadcast will be an interview with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Associate Editor Michele Dunne, who will discuss the impact on U.S./Arab relations of President Obama’s closely-watched address to the Muslim World.

In addition, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid will report from Germany, where he is travelling with the president. Mr. Obama plans to visit the Buchenwald concentration camp with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and also mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy, France.

Finally, Schieffer will sit down with Newsweek's Richard Wolffe to discuss Wolffe’s new book, "Renegade: The Making of a President." The book offers an intimate view of Obama on the campaign trail, shedding light on his life before he took office. "Renegade" is already making waves in Washington.

Tune in this Friday at 2pm ET at www.cbsnews.com/washingtonunplugged to check out new episodes of “Washington Unplugged,” and send your questions to be asked during the show to washingtonunplugged@cbs.com.

It doesn't take one more than a second to look at a map of the Middle East to see that Turkey is pretty close to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Besides being Iraq’s northern neighbor, Turkey is a key ally in U.S. efforts on both war fronts. So when the White House announced that President Obama would end his 8-day European swing in Turkey, it didn’t take long for members of the press to speculate that Turkey would not be the last stop on the trip.

For the last week, while traveling to London, Strasbourg, Prague, Ankara and finally Istanbul, the big question among the traveling White House press corps was "where’s he going to go?" It was almost a foregone conclusion that the president would take an unscheduled stop on his way home to Washington.

Usually, the White House press leaves a location a few hours after the president does. After the press was told that our departure from Istanbul was delayed a few hours, this after the president took off from here, supposedly to go home, reporters grew even more suspicious.

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The final question at President Obama's press conference in London today came from CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid, who asked the president to what degree he had encountered the perception at the G20 summit that America is to blame for the global economic crisis.

When Mr. Obama called on Reid, the president took a moment to offer a personal sentiment.

"Chip, my heart goes out to you," the president said.

Reid replied, "Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate that." He then posed his question.

Watch the exchange:



The reason the president offered his condolences is that Reid's father passed away shortly after the correspondent arrived in London to cover the president's trip to Europe.

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Reporting from the seating area closest to President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural platform, CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Chip Reid asked renowned director Steven Spielberg what brought him to the inauguration.

"What inspires me is what inspires everybody. He is young, he has tremendous optimism and courage about this country," he said. "The most important thing is he's got great ideas. He is the president of ideas."

"This is more than just a presidential election. This is really the new beginning," he continued. "Two of my kids are here. I just wanted them to ... rub up against history."

President-elect Barack Obama delivered a speech this morning where he outlined his stimulus plan for the economy. (click here to read more on the speech or here to read the transcript)

Immediately following his remarks, CBS News anchor Katie Couric talked with CBS News chief White correspondent Chip Reid and business correspondent Anthony Mason for their takes on the speech. Here's a part of what they had to say:

Reid: "There are signs in Washington that this stimulus package is getting bogged down a bit… initially they were shooting for January 20, inauguration day, to get it on his desk. Now they are talking about mid-February. There are lots of debates about what's going to be in it, what's not. He wants the American people to understand how bad things are. It is potentially catastrophic, and he wants to light a fire under Congress and get them to do this, and do it quickly."

Mason: "What struck me about this speech is his appeal for sacrifice. Basically saying we have to end this culture of anything goes. He's telling Americans they need to change the way they live… He's got to get them in there with him now... So much of this whole financial crisis is psychological. So he's got to keep the country with him, or fear will get out of hand."

You can watch the whole exchange below:



See also: click here to read analysis from CBS News Chief Political Consultant Marc Ambinder.