Morning Bulletin – Monday, Feb. 23, 2009
A roundup of news, schedules, and key stories from CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:
"Obama's summit at the White House on Monday is the first meeting toward a strategy to address the long-term fiscal health of the nation. The gathering also comes as Obama prepares ambitious plans to cut the federal deficit by half within four years," writes the Associated Press' Philip Elliot.
"Even before it began, some of its 130 invited participants cautioned against overinflated expectations. 'It can either be a nice press event. Or it can be a substantive event,' said Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, whom Obama appointed as commerce secretary before the New Hampshire lawmaker balked. 'History tells us it will be the first. We've had these meetings before. There's always a lot of people willing to point out the problem.' Yet, he said, there is seldom anyone willing to make the difficult decisions to solve those problems."
President Obama, like his predecessors, is emphasizing the need to reform Social Security and Medicare and is hoping he'll actually get the chance to do that, unlike his predecessors. It turns out, just like his predecessors, he's running into resistance from his colleagues in Washington, reports the New York Times' Jackie Calmes.
"President Obama is eager to seek a bipartisan solution to ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security, people who have spoken with him say, but he is running into opposition from his party's left and from Democratic Congressional leaders who contend that his political capital would be better spent on health care and other priorities," writes Calmes.
"The president signaled in his campaign that he would support addressing the retirement system's looming financing shortfall, in part by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000. But that would ignite intense opposition from Republicans, especially with the economy deep in recession.
"Liberal Democrats are already serving notice that they will be equally vehement in opposing any reductions in scheduled benefits for future retirees. But any solution, budget analysts said, must include a mix of both approaches, though current beneficiaries would see no change.
"Despite the long-running partisan divide over benefits and taxes, the advocates for a compromise see an opportunity now given the fact that the stock markets' slide has discredited the idea of carving private accounts from Social Security. Former President George W. Bush demanded such accounts as the centerpiece of any compromise, while Democrats and some Republicans were just as adamantly opposed, dooming his effort in 2005."
Meantime, in his meeting with the governors this morning, the president will name Earl Devaney to oversee the stimulus spending as Chair of the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, an administration official tells CBS News.
Devaney is currently the Inspector General of the Interior Department. Also at this morning's meeting, Vice President Joe Biden will "oversee the Administration's implementation of the Recovery Act's provisions – meeting regularly with key members of the Cabinet, Governors and Mayors to make sure their efforts are speedy and effective," per an administration official.
Tomorrow night, Mr. Obama will deliver a quasi-"State of the Union" address to a joint session of Congress where he's expected to lay out the parameters of his budget plan. On Thursday, Congress will get the details from the White House.
"Stepping up a campaign to persuade Americans he is serious about the budget deficit, President Barack Obama this week will propose using mandatory, across-the-board spending cuts to offset any new initiative that expands the government's red ink," report the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman and John D. McKinnon.
"The proposal, which would apply to any new tax cuts or spending, would return the government to the budget constraints that existed in the 1990s, a senior administration official said. Mr. Obama wants those rules to come in the form of a law, passed by Congress and signed by him.
"That would put presidential prestige on the line, raising pressure on Congress to observe the limits. Such restrictions have been in effect in recent years, in the form of rules adopted by Congress and enforced by the lawmakers themselves -- with spotty results. The Obama administration's initiative is set to be unveiled in a week dedicated to addressing a budget deficit that could be heading toward $2 trillion this year. Over the weekend, the administration said Mr. Obama would seek to cut the deficit in half by 2013, through tax increases and spending restraint.
"Mr. Obama will address a joint session of Congress Tuesday to stress what spokesman Robert Gibbs called the 'shared sacrifices' needed to tame the government's budget problems. Thursday, the president will unveil a 10-year budget blueprint that will provide a window into his plans for entitlements and taxes as well as for his big initiatives in health care, energy and education. Any meaningful budget-restraint rules would likely face opposition from both parties. Many Republicans oppose constraints on tax cuts, which they say spur economic growth and generate government revenue. Some liberal Democrats have qualms about rules that could thwart long-sought expansions of government programs."
"President Obama will use his first address to Congress on Tuesday to present a road map for 'how we get to a better day,' a senior adviser says, in a speech intended to explain his economic policies and argue that legislative revisions on health care, education and energy are crucial to lifting the economy," adds the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny.
"The appearance before a joint session of the Senate and the House offers an opportunity for Mr. Obama to reprise some themes and initiatives from his campaign that have been overshadowed by the economic emergency that has defined the first month of his presidency.
"The televised speech, which his advisers have been preparing for as though it were a formal State of the Union address, is typically an opening act on Capitol Hill for a new president, a moment to outline specific goals of an administration. But the appearance by Mr. Obama follows a string of legislative action, notably passage of the economic stimulus package, along with a wave of criticism over a series of government bailouts and rescue plans.
"'Sometimes these speeches can be a series of disembodied initiatives, a catalog of ideas that don't necessarily cohere,' said David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president. 'Today, we've got huge challenges that are very much related, so there is a narrative to tell about how we get to a better day.' The president is not planning to announce significant new policies, officials said, but intends to explain how his agenda can advance despite the deepening recession and monumental budget deficit. The address will be heavily weighted toward domestic priorities and the economy, aides said, and will offer only a brief look at foreign policy."
Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman, "Obama Targets U.S. Deficit"
McClatchy Newspapers' Kevin G. Hall and David Lightman, "Obama's deficit plan based on optimistic assumptions"
ECONOMIC STIMULUS
Wall Street Journal's Leslie Eaton, "Governors Agree on Woes But Disagree on Stimulus"
NY Times' Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear, "Rift Over Stimulus Embroils G.O.P.": "Republican governors split sharply during the weekend over how to respond to the economic crisis, a debate whose outcome will go a long way toward shaping how the national party redefines itself in the wake of its election defeats of recent years."
4793278Washington Post's Philip Rucker, "Governors Hope to Guide Spending of Stimulus Funds"
LA Times' Jim Puzzanghera, "Stimulus may be just the first chapter"
NY Times' Carl Hulse, "Explaining a 'No' Vote on Stimulus in Michigan": "[Rep. Thaddeus] McCotter [R-Mich.], a junior member of the House Republican leadership, ticked off some alternatives offered by Republicans and stuck to his position that the $787 billion stimulus package presented an unacceptable trade of minimal near-term benefits for future fiscal disaster.
"'It won't work,' said Mr. McCotter, 43, who worked his way up from local elected office. 'If I thought it would work, I would have voted for it.' Now Mr. McCotter — whose suburban district west of Detroit is laced with unemployed autoworkers, shuttered automotive plants and struggling manufacturers — could become a test case of whether House Republicans' united front against the economic measure was the wise political and policy course."
Meantime, McCotter is one of 12 members of Congress being target by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which announced it's "targeting Republicans who opposed President Obama's economic recovery bill ... by mounting a major grassroots campaign that includes phone calls, e-mails, and text messages directly to targeted Republicans' constituents," per a press release.
The calls say, "Hello, I'm calling on behalf of House Democrats with an important message about the economy. Did you know Congressman Thad McCotter voted against President Obama's economic recovery plan, endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? McCotter's empty rhetoric can't hide that he voted to raise the AMT tax on 22 million middle class Americans and against the largest tax cut history. Call McCotter at 734-632-0314 to ask why he voted to raise taxes on middle class families." In addition to McCotter, the Republicans targeted include: Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), Michael Castle (R-Del.), Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Pete Sessions (R-Tex.).
Washington Post's Alec MacGillis, "Government Gets Chance To Prove It Can Work – Stimulus Act Will Test Civil Servants' Abilities"
FINANCIAL BAILOUT
Wall Street Journal's David Enrich and Monica Langley, "U.S. Eyes Large Stake in Citi - Taxpayers Could Own Up to 40% of Bank's Common Stock, Diluting Value of Shares"
LA Times' James Oliphant, "New checks, balances coming to financial industry"
NY Times' Edmund L. Andrews, "As Doubts Grow, U.S. Will Judge Banks' Stability"
USA Today's Matt Kelley, "Lawmakers tiptoe bailout conflict-of-interest": "As Congress began considering a financial industry rescue plan last fall, Rep. Jean Schmidt called the House ethics committee staff with a question: Did she have to sit out any votes on the package because her husband is a Smith Barney financial adviser? The answer was no, said Schmidt spokesman Bruce Pfaff. ...
"Citigroup, Smith Barney's parent company, eventually received $50 billion from the package that Schmidt, R-Ohio, voted to approve. Schmidt voted in January to oppose release of the program's second $350 billion. 'At no point was there ever a discussion of, 'How does that benefit us?' ' between Schmidt and her husband, Pfaff said.
"Schmidt is one of two dozen members of Congress with substantial financial ties to the banks and other companies getting a piece of the $700 billion financial rescue package, according to a USA TODAY analysis of disclosure reports covering 2007, the most recent available. Schmidt and three other House members have spouses who work for recipients of the money, and seven senators and 13 representatives had investments worth more than $100,000 in at least one of thecompanies that received funds, their reports show."
AUTOMAKER BAILOUT
Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey McCracken and John D. Stoll, "Bankruptcy Funding Solicited for Car Makers"
FOREIGN POLICY
Bloomberg News' Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, "Clinton Uses Candor to Seek Engagement in Asia on First Trip"
Associated Press' Matthew Lee, "Star power fuels Clinton trip to Asia"
Wall Street Journal's Jay Solomon, "Clinton Meets With China's Leadership"
Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, "Clinton Urges Continued Investment in U.S."
MINNESOTA SENATE RECOUNT
Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Rulings have diminished Coleman's recount chances"
SEN. ROLAND BURRIS
WBBM-TV's Joanie Lum, "Burris Under Fire, But Still Silent"
Politico's Manu Raju, "How Burris blew it"
FUTURE RACES
Washington Post's Chris Cillizza and Perry Bacon Jr., "Well Before the 2012 Season, Obama Kicks the GOP a Political Football"
Associated Press' Beth Fouhy, "Looking to 2012, GOP governors step into spotlight"
Politico's Alexander Burns and Alex Isenstadt, "Bobby Jindal's big moment"
MO Sen. 2010: Missourinet.com's Steve Walsh, "Republicans split on possible U.S. Senate showdown"
NY Gov. 2010: NY Times' Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore, "Conceding Errors, Paterson Vows to Regain Trust"
2010: Politico's Josh Kraushaar, "Female candidates line up for 2010"
IL-5 2010: Chicago Sun-Times' Abdon M. Pallasch, "Candidates crowd into 5th District – 23 in race – Vying for Emanuel's seat"
ALSO:
Wall Street Journal's Timothy J. Alberta, "Congress Moves on Giving D.C. Full Voting Rights": "After three decades of debate, Congress appears poised to pass legislation that would give the District of Columbia full voting rights in the House of Representatives. ... The legislation would permanently increase House membership to 437 from 435; the Democratic-dominated District would pick up the first seat and the second would go to reliably Republican Utah, the fastest growing state since the 2000 census."
NY Times' Marian Burros, "Before Big Dinner, the First Lady Gives a Kitchen Tour"
Louisville Courier-Journal's Joseph Gerth, "Bunning: Justice Ginsburg likely will be dead in 9 months"