What’s $1 to someone worth an estimated $47 billion? Although those aren’t exactly high stakes for Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, he has an interesting gamble with a former Obama official on the economy. However, it’s Buffett that’s betting on economic improvement. (more)
Peter Orszag shed some new light on why he left his post as White House budget director and brushed off criticism over his decision take a multi-million dollar job at CitiGroup in an interview with New York magazine. (more)
1.) Obama’s jobs team gets green-washed — “President Barack Obama will name Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric Co.’s chief executive officer, to head his outside panel of economic advisers, replacing former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker,” reports Bloomberg News. “Immelt has sounded many of the administration’s themes: boosting jobs through U.S. exports, ensuring companies can compete with powers like China and India, and jumpstarting a clean-energy economy. Immelt wrote today that he and Obama ‘are committed’ to making the U.S. ‘the most competitive and innovating economy in the world.’” According to Bloomberg, “Immelt is among a group of executives — Boeing Co. CEO Jim McNerney; Motorola Solutions Inc. CEO Greg Brown, and Honeywell International Inc. Chairman David Cote — who have voiced support for Obama policies. The four serve on several of the president’s outside advisory boards”–and all four have made a killing on green jobs subsidies (more)
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)
The resounding win by the Republicans in November holds the promise of getting some control on spending in Washington. It seems, for the moment, that Congress is focusing on this goal, thanks to its members’ feet being held to the fire by the Tea Party. (more)
Have you read Amanda Carey’s fantastic story about CINOs, AKA capitalists in name only? If not, here’s a snippet, and you can read the rest later: (more)
“[T]here are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America.” (more)
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday gave a mixed but decidedly negative review of President Obama’s economic policies, saying that the reason for joblessness is uncertainty in the private sector caused by government and that the president is uninterested in business. (more)
The recent announcement that Larry Summers will be departing as head of President Obama’s National Economic Council (NEC) has prompted rampant speculation about what this will mean for future White House economic policy and process direction. (more)
In a break with the White House, Peter Orszag, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), recommended Tuesday that Congress extend the expiring Bush tax cuts for two years, then do away with them altogether. (more)
Days from stepping down as director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag can now add another feather to his cap: he has inspired someone to write a song in his honor. (more)
Rep. Paul Ryan, the fast-talking, number-crunching Republican from Wisconsin, caused a stir last week when he called out his own party for not offering Americans a substantive alternative to Democrats in this fall’s elections. (more)
Peter Orszag, the president’s outgoing Director of the Office of Management and Budget, released the annual mid-year update to the administration’s budget projections at 3 pm last Friday afternoon in a conference call with reporters. That was a dead giveaway that the administration was hoping not to make much news with its latest budget projections, or at least not make news in a way that anyone would notice. (more)
The federal budget deficit, which hit a record $1.4 trillion last year, will exceed that figure this year and again in 2011, the White House predicted Friday, providing fresh ammunition to Republicans who are hammering President Obama for all the red ink as they campaign to regain control of Congress in November. (more)
The federal budget deficit, which hit a record $1.4 trillion last year, will exceed that figure this year and again in 2011, according to a White House forecast released Friday. (more)
One of Obama’s hand-picked fiscal commissioners calls him a liar — Lad mag offers Democrats an econ lesson — Former health care execs cannot stop patting one another’s butts — If you smoke, shoot, or booze, the government robbed you good this year — Obama flunky is crushed that businessmen do not want to listen to her monotone nonsense all day — Why are Democrats punishing the poors who have no jobs? (more)
The Democratic co-chair of President Obama’s fiscal commission said Wednesday that the president’s health care bill will do very little to bring down costs, contradicting claims from the White House that their sweeping legislation will dramatically impact runaway entitlement spending. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama nominated Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget Tuesday, charging him with putting the nation on a fiscally responsible path. (more)
