Peter Orszag, President Obama’s former White House budget chief, issued a dire warning to the nation Friday about the inability of Democrats and Republicans to overcome political motivations and act to prevent a fiscal crisis. (more)
The unemployment rate and the nation’s increasingly precarious fiscal position – its enormous budget deficits and its ballooning debt – will be the dual points of emphasis in President Obama’s second State of the Union address on Tuesday. (more)
1.) White House reporters ask first truly tough questions in two years — Pres. Obama was inaugurated two years ago today, which means it only took the White House Press Corp members one year, 11 months, and 29 days to find their spines. “Could you explain to the American people how the United States could be so allied with a country that is known for treating its people so poorly, using censorship and force to oppress its people?” asked AP reporter Ben Feller. He then turned to China’s Hu Jintao and asked, “How do you justify China’s record and do you think that’s any of the business of the American people?” When a mixup with the translator prevented Hu from hearing Feller’s question, Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols used his turn to ask Feller’s question again. But no amount of tough questioning could force either Obama or Hu to answer honestly. And in front of God and everyone, the 2009 Nobel Prize winner claimed that the country which is keeping the 2010 Nobel Prize winner under house arrest has made “enormous progress” on human rights which has been “widely recognized in the world.” The ensuing cognitive dissonance threw the Washington Post for a spin. Both headlines appeared in this morning’s paper: “President Obama makes Hu Jintao look good on rights”; “Obama presses Chinese leader on rights.” (more)
A number of the House GOP’s leading conservative members on Thursday will announce legislation that would cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years, which will be by far the most ambitious and far-reaching proposal by the new majority to cut federal government spending. (more)
There was much speculation coming into Chinese President Hu Jintao’s appearance at the White House on Wednesday about how he would handle the inevitable questions about human rights in China during a rare appearance in front of U.S. reporters. (more)
Add David M. Walker, the former comptroller of the United States under Presidents Clinton and Bush, to the list of likely candidates to run for Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman seat in 2012. (more)
An observer seeking signs that the U.S. and China have had difficulty playing nicely with one another would only have to listen to the words used by President Obama and President Hu Jintao at the official start of the Chinese premier’s state visit to Washington Wednesday morning. (more)
The arrival of Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington Tuesday evening brought the U.S. face to face with the leader whose nation many Americans believe will supplant them as the world’s most dominant super power. (more)
1.) Obama writes editorial against regulatory excess, can name only one excessive regulation — Overly schoolmarmish regulations have to go, Pres. Obama writes in an op-ed in the morning’s Wall Street Journal. In it, Obama pays lip service to America’s semi-free market system as the source of “dazzling ideas and path-breaking products” and “the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known.” The op-ed is a curtain-raiser for this afternoon, when Obama will sign an executive order that “requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth,” as well as “a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.” But do not get your hopes too high: Apparently, the only regulatory excessiveness that Obama could think of was artificial sweetener: “The FDA has long considered saccharin, the artificial sweetener, safe for people to consume. Yet for years, the EPA made companies treat saccharin like other dangerous chemicals. Well, if it goes in your coffee, it is not hazardous waste. The EPA wisely eliminated this rule last month.” Meanwhile, a spox for Rep. Eric Cantor wishes Obama had released this executive order in 2009, when House Republicans proposed it first. (more)
President Obama moved Tuesday to undercut criticism by conservatives that he will unilaterally impose his agenda through regulation, announcing an executive order making economic growth a required criteria for federal rule-making. (more)
State governments are beginning to choose one of two directions to dig out of deep budget deficits, and the resulting clash of visions between raising taxes or cutting spending has some conservatives salivating at the contrast between liberal and conservative philosophies of how to create economic growth. (more)
President Obama this month has sustained the momentum he gained in December by playing the role of political strategist, world leader and, in the last week, the nation’s healer. (more)
A top official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that the nation’s largest business lobby would support eliminating most of the tax loopholes obtained by large corporations to move toward comprehensive tax reform that resulted in lower rates. (more)
1.) Catty Hill Dems can’t resist spinning a tragedy — Here are two good ways to win votes and influence people: Hours after a national tragedy, phone a reporter and spin the event this way: The Obama White House “need[s] to deftly pin this on the tea partiers….Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.” When Pres. Obama instead says before a crowd in Tucson, “What we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another….Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations,” the next best thing Democrats can do, apparently, is personally attack Rep. John Boehner for not flying to Tucson to hear Obama discourage personal attacks. Different aide, different day, same moral depravity: “Don’t you think they could have worked with the White House on timing to make sure he got on AF1?,” a senior congressional aide told The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward on Thursday. “Hell, as speaker, he could have taken a delegation to Arizona on military air.” When it was pointed out that Boehner was already attending a memorial, in Washington, the aide argued that the speaker was skipping Tucson for an RNC event. “Tell these guys to give me a break. Bottom line: he’s not there and he’s Speaker of the House. He’s not there and is at an RNC event tonight. Period.” The aforementioned statements have nothing to do with why House Democrats are in the minority, but are two good reasons why they should stay there. (more)
Democrats on Wednesday criticized House Speaker John Boehner for missing a memorial service in Arizona for the victims of Saturday’s shooting in Tucson, as partisan sniping continued around the edges of the attack and its aftermath. (more)
President Obama on Wednesday urged the nation not to ‘turn on one another’ in the wake of Saturday’s shooting in Tucson of 19 people, including a congresswoman, and to be ‘worthy’ of the six who died in the attack. (more)
Barack Obama flew to Arizona Wednesday to deliver what may be one of the more politically treacherous speeches of his presidency. (more)
When all 63 new Republican House members arrived in Washington last week, they brought with them varying degrees of expertise in policy and politics. (more)
The casual observer may be forgiven for thinking that Michael Steele will be a non-factor this Friday when the Republican National Committee gathers to select its chairman for the next two years. (more)
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