Politics Today: Obama Talks Jobs
Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBSNews.com Politics Editor Kevin Hechtkopf:
**Obama to discuss jobs amid new employment report
**Major operation underway in Afghanistan
**Exclusive new Sarah Palin e-mails revealed
**The latest on Gov. Mark Sanford
Mr. Obama's remarks come as government reports this morning that 467,000 jobs were lost in June, which is more than what was expected. The unemployment rate was tagged at 9.5 percent, a 26-year high.
"The pace of job losses quickened in June after slowing just a month earlier, casting a shadow over the Obama administration's attempts to stanch months of declines in the labor market," writes The New York Times' Jack Healy.
"Economists said a decline of 322,000 jobs in May had raised expectations that the market was bottoming out as the economy struggled to right itself, but the numbers on Friday dashed some of those hopes. The figures also raised questions about whether the Obama administration, which has already passed a $787 billion stimulus plan, needed to step in again to shore up the American worker. …
"As the recession enters its 20th month, private wages and salaries are falling, working hours are dwindling and more people are without work. In essence, economists say, months of deep, broad job losses are effectively making unemployment a way of life for millions."
The Los Angeles Times' Don Lee also provides some sobering news about the economy.
"Even as the nation's economy begins clawing its way out of the worst recession in 60 years, there are growing signs that this recovery could come with an unsettling twist: The wheels of commerce may begin to turn again without any substantial boost in jobs. …
"Though it's common for the jobless rate to keep climbing for a time after economic output turns positive, the aftermath of the last two downturns, in 1990-91 and 2001, introduced the idea of a 'jobless recovery.' Even though the economy improved, many unemployed workers discovered that jobs as good as the ones they'd lost were almost impossible to find.
This time, many economists say, there are new factors that could make the problem worse. Many more layoffs in this recession have been permanent, not temporary."
"U.S. Marines began fanning out across the southern Helmand River valley Thursday, traveling by foot and armored convoys under the scorching summer sun in an effort to wrest control of the area from Taliban insurgents.
"Marine commanders reported only modest resistance from insurgent fighters as troops poured out of helicopters in the early morning and began conducting patrols. Some units encountered light small-arms fire, and one Marine company was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades after it discovered a cache of homemade explosives in a housing compound.
"The mission, which involves about 4,000 Marines, is the first large-scale test of the U.S. military's new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. The Marines, along with an Army brigade that is scheduled to arrive later this summer, plan to push into pockets of the country where NATO forces have not been able to maintain order."
"The 21,000 additional American troops that Mr. Obama authorized after taking office in January almost precisely matches the original number of additional troops that President George W. Bush sent to Iraq two years ago," adds Richard A. Oppel Jr. of the New York Times.
"It will bring the overall American deployment in Afghanistan to more than 60,000 troops. But Mr. Obama avoided calling it a surge and resisted sending the full reinforcements initially sought by military commanders.
"Instead, Mr. Obama chose to re-evaluate troop levels over the next year, officials said. The Obama administration has said that the additional American commitment has three main strategies for denying havens for the Taliban and Al Qaeda: training Afghan security forces, supporting the weak central Afghan government in Kabul and securing the population."
No troops have been reported killed yet in the operation, but a U.S. soldier was kidnapped in another part of Afghanistan three days ago, the military confirmed today.
CBS News' Sami Yousafzai reports that Taliban militants captured the soldier and three Afghan nationals in Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.
The Taliban commander told Yousafzai that a group of militants cornered them near a U.S. military base. He said the captives' fate would be decided by Taliban leaders, but that the Islamic extremist group would consider a prisoner swap.
"Internal campaign e-mails exchanged three weeks before Election Day offer a rare look at just how frustrated then Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had become with the manner in which top McCain campaign aides were handling her candidacy. The e-mails, obtained exclusively, also highlight the power struggle and thinly veiled acrimony that pervaded the relationship between Palin and the campaign's chief strategist, Steve Schmidt….
"Palin blasted out an e-mail with the subject line "Todd" to Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis and senior advisor Nicolle Wallace, copying her husband on the message (all of the e-mails are reprinted below as written).
"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote. "It's bull, and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it ... Pls have statement given on this so it's put to bed."
Meanwhile, the Washington Post's Dan Balz and Perry Bacon Jr. follow up on the Vanity Fair article on Palin earlier this week and the larger GOP fight which has emerged.
"The Palin controversy highlights personal enmities and strategic disagreements among Republicans. The victory by Democrat Al Franken over Republican Norm Coleman for a U.S. Senate seat representing Minnesota, though long anticipated, drives home the degree to which Republicans are now a true minority party. Together, the controversies are another double blow to the weakened party. Republicans grappling with how to respond to their latest setback in the Senate were appalled by the sniping over Palin …
"Palin's performance as McCain's vice presidential running mate created a wide gulf in public opinion between those who found her fresh and appealing and those who found her shallow and unready. That she divided Democrats from Republicans was not the surprise. But as the campaign went on, and even more since, she has become a source of division within the Republican Party, at least among GOP strategists, insiders and talking heads."
But the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has another take on the Palin coverage this week in his blog The Fix, wondering if there is a possible rebound for the Alaska governor.
"After enduring months of derision within Republican circles for her role as the party's 2008 vice presidential nominee and her uneven performance as a national figure this year, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is experiencing something of a rebound among the D.C. chattering class in the 48 hours since the release of a very tough profile on her in Vanity Fair magazine.
In the wake of that piece -- a 9,800 word opus penned by Todd Purdum -- a number of operatives who worked closely with Palin during the 2008 campaign have reached out to the Fix to defend the governor."
Anchorage Daily News' Sean Cockerham, "Ethics investigations cost state $296,000"
"Gov. Mark Sanford on Wednesday repaid the South Carolina general fund an additional $334 after The State newspaper questioned how much he had reimbursed taxpayers for a June 2008 trip to see his Argentine lover," writes The State's Jeff Wilkinson.
"Spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor's office miscalculated meals and miscellaneous travel expenses after The State asked how the $3,000 he repaid Tuesday evening was calculated.'It was a clerical mistake, period,' Sawyer said. 'We made the governor aware of it immediately.'"
"A Sanford staffer hand-delivered the check to state treasurer Converse Chellis' office about 10 minutes after a call from the newspaper, the treasurer's spokesman Scott Malyerck said."
Also from The State: "Gov. Mark Sanford left the Governor's Mansion without a security escort, 38 times in 2008. In the first six months of this year, he left the mansion without security, 39 times. Those trips are about one-third of the 195 trips Sanford made from the mansion, with or without security, over that 18-month period," writes Clif LeBlanc.
Meanwhile, Sanford himself said he is done talking about the affair as he remains defiant to stay in office.
"As calls for his resignation mounted Wednesday, Gov. Mark Sanford finally decided to clam up about his Argentine mistress and other extramarital transgressions, ending a weeklong purging that has gutted his marriage and political career," writes the Post and Courier's Glenn Smith and Yvonne Wenger.
"Sanford's attempt to defuse the situation with a tell-all interview with The Associated Press this week appears to have backfired. His latest confessions about his Argentine "soul mate" and dalliances with other women provided new fodder for critics and weakened his already tenuous support.
"The governor is now trying a new tactic: staying quiet. His office issued a terse statement indicating he had said all he intends to say about his love life. Sanford also backed out of a promise to AP to release personal financial records proving he did not use state money for trips to see his mistress."
The State's Roddie Burris, Gina Smith, James Rosen, "Sanford has no plans to budge"
The State's Roddie Burris, Clif LeBlanc and Gina Smith, "Sanford confidant Davis confers with Sanfords, staff"
Economy
Washington Post's Nancy Trejos, "Credit Card Issuers Raising Rates Ahead of New Law"
New York Times' Sam Dillon, "Facing Deficits, Some States Cut Summer School"
Health Care
Washington Post's Michael D. Shear and Jose Antonio Vargas, "A Pitch on Health Care To Virginia And Beyond"
Wall Street Journal's Amy Dockser Marcus, "To Fix Health Care, Some Study Developing World"
Wall Street Journal's Jane Zhang, "Medicare Plans to Cut Specialists' Payments"
The Hill's Jeffrey Young, "Administration trims health reform price tag"
Foreign Policy
CBS News Mark Knoller, "White House to Hold Firm on European Missile Shield"
New York Times' Charlie Savage, "To Critics, New Policy on TerrorLooks Old"
N. Korea Test-Fires Short-Range Missiles
Alan M. Dershowitz writing in the Wall Street Journal, "Has Obama Turned on Israel?"
Sonia Sotomayor
New York Times' Benjamin Weiser, "Sotomayor's Recusals Suggest Impartiality"
Wall Street Journal's Jess Bravin, "Sotomayor Helped Push Minority Cases"
Obama Administration
Washington Post's Michael D. Shear, "For Some WH Aides, Public Service Has Its (Six-Figure) Rewards"
Los Angeles Times' Josh Drobnyk, "Iraq war veteran will lead effort to reverse 'don't ask, don't tell'"
Congress
Associated Press' Henry C. Jackson, "Franken to give Democrats a boost on key issues"
Pioneer Press' Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, "Supporters give Al Franken a victory rally long time in coming"
New York Times' Carl Hulse, "What's So Super About a Supermajority?"
Wall Street Journal's Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam, "Congress's Travel Tab Swells"
CQ Politics' Kathleen Hunter, "Majority Leader Shines in the Shadows"
Future Races
2009 N.J. Governor: Star-Ledger, "Obama to hit the trail for Corzine"
2010 Pa. Senate: Philadelphia Inquirer's Joelle Farrell, "Overeager media announce Sestak will run"
2010 N.Y. Senate: The Hill's Aaron Blake, "Rep. Maloney to challenge Sen. Gillibrand"
2010 N.Y. Senate: New York Times' Raymond Hernandez, "For an Insider, a Lonely Road to Senate Run"
2010 N.H. Senate: Manchester Union-Leader's Mark Hayward, "Sununu won't run for Gregg's Senate seat"
2010 Minn. Governor: Star Tribune's Mike Kaszuba, "If Coleman goes for governor, he'll cast a long shadow"
ETC
Los Angeles Times' Anna Gorman, "L.A. employers face immigration audits"
Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, "Black Reporters on the Beat of Michelle Obama"
The Hill's Molly K. Hooper, "Boehner doesn't try to recruit new golf pal Tiger"
Editor's Note: Politics Today will be off tomorrow ahead of the holiday. Happy Independence Day!