The economy dominated the news throughout the weekend, with President Bush speaking on the subject on Friday in New York and in his weekend radio address, and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson appearing on three Sunday morning talk shows. The backdrop for this was that even as Bush warned against overreaction, the Federal Reserve was stepping in to bolster investment bank Bear Stearns. The New York Times reports this morning that J.P. Morgan will buy Bear for "a mere $2 a share." Bear plummeted last week, and the Wall Street Journal notes that its shares "traded as high as $170 in January 2007."
The New York Times reports on its front page that the Federal Reserve, "hoping to avoid a systemic meltdown in financial markets," approved a $30 billion loan to engineer the Bear takeover. On its front page, USA Today says Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, "in a statement read to reporters during a hastily arranged conference call, said the central bank was 'working to promote liquid, well-functioning financial markets.'" The Wall Street Journal calls the Fed's actions "an extraordinary weekend move," and notes the Fed is also "expected to cut the fed-funds rate target by at least half a point at its meeting tomorrow." USA Today says "the announcements from both the Fed and JPMorgan come ahead of what some analysts expected to be a brutal day for global stocks."
Paulson said on ABC's This Week, "Our primary concern right now -- my primary concern -- is the stability of our financial system, the orderliness of the markets. ... Our financial institutions, our banks and investments banks, are very strong. And I'm convinced that they're going to come out of this situation very strong. Our markets are resilient. They're flexible. I'm quite confident we're going to work our way through this situation." On Fox News Sunday, Paulson said, "We're all over this. And the President is very focused on what's going on in the economy. We got out ahead of it early, coming off a third quarter where the GDP grew at 4.9 percent. We actually were criticized for some for moving too fast with a stimulus package." On CNN's Late Edition, Paulson said, "We know the economy has slowed down. The American people know it has slowed down. So the important thing is, what do we do about it? And we have an economic stimulus plan."
Bush Warns Against Too Much Government Action The AP reported that in his weekly radio address, President Bush said "the government must guard against going too far in trying to fix the troubled economy, cautioning that 'one of the worst things you can do is overcorrect.'" Democrats, meanwhile, said Bush "was relying on inaction to solve the problem." Bloomberg News says Bush's remarks "echoed" his Friday speech in New York, "when he said the economy is going through a 'tough time' and that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department will take 'appropriate steps' to stabilize the financial system after a bailout of Bear Stearns." UPI reports Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad "delivered the Democratic response Saturday to President Bush, saying he has 'driven the country into a fiscal ditch.'"
US News and World Report reports Bush "says it's important to resist any stampede on Capitol Hill to hastily enact another economic growth package. Bush is concerned that congressional proposals for heightened federal intervention might help some homeowners temporarily with a form of bailout or by abrogation of existing mortgages but would artificially inflate housing prices over the long term." Meantime, Bush "argues that it's best to give the already passed stimulus package a chance to work."
Democrats were critical, however. Sen. Charles Schumer said on Fox News Sunday that Bush is "behaving like Herbert Hoover. We're in the most serious economic problem we've been in in a very long time, much worse than 2001. The President's hands-off attitude is reminiscent of Herbert Hoover in 1929, in 1930." Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd said on Fox News Sunday, "This will be the second recession in this Administration. The difference is in this recession, you don't have the solid underpinnings that we had six years ago when you had another recession." And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC's This Week, "The President has said he wants to wait to see if this" stimulus package "works before we go to the next place. I don't know that we have that luxury." Another warning came from Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who writes in the Financial Times, "The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war."
The Supreme Court this week will consider the constitutionality of the 1976 District of Columbia gun control law. ABC World News says the court will "decide one of the great unresolved questions: Does the Second Amendment protect an individual's right to keep and bear arms? Or does it only protect a state's right to have a well-regulated militia?" The Financial Times reports the case is "politically explosive," and "could influence some voters in the forthcoming general election."
The Los Angeles Times reports few "would cite D.C.'s gun ban as proof that gun control leads to crime control, as Washington continues to have one of the nation's highest rates of violent crime. Even some gun-control advocates don't support it." The Washington Times reports the District's "fight to preserve its nearly 32-year-old ban on handguns before the U.S. Supreme Court has drawn nationwide attention as a bellwether vote on the limits of gun control."
USA Today notes the court "allotted an additional 15 minutes to U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, whose argument on behalf of the Bush administration falls between the two sides. The administration supports finding an individual right to gun ownership but wants to ensure that all federal gun regulation is upheld."
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The AP reports from Baghdad that Vice President Dick Cheney "opened a new US push for political unity in Iraq on an unannounced visit Monday, just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion." Cheney "landed at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter into the heavily secured Green Zone for talks with Iraqi leaders and US military and diplomatic officials." Before news emerged about Cheney's trip to Iraq, the Financial Times reported Cheney was "expected to urge Saudi Arabia to increase oil production and step up pressure on Iran to rein in its nuclear programme during an extensive tour of the Middle East beginning on Monday."
In the New York Times Sunday, reporter Jeff Burns wrote that as the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war approaches, the "conflict's staggering burden is a rebuke to any who hoped Mr. Hussein's removal might be accomplished at acceptable cost." Burns says if reporters "accurately depicted the horrors of Saddam's Iraq in the run-up to the war, with its charnel houses and mass graves, we have to acknowledge that we were less effective, then, in probing beneath the carapace of terror to uncover other facets of Iraq's culture and history that would have a determining impact on the American project to build a Western-style democracy."
The Sunday New York Times also ran op-ed columns by nine experts who evaluate the conflict. Former presidential envoy to Iraq L. Paul Bremer III wrote, "Our troops on the ground were valiant and selfless, but prewar planning provided for fewer than half the number of troops that independent studies suggested would be needed in Iraq." Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote, "The most serious surprise was that what appeared to be the American A-Team in national security ignored years of planning and months of interagency activity before the war, and the United States had no meaningful plan for stability operations and nation building after the defeat of Saddam Hussein's armed forces."
ABC World News reported Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he "opposes the death penalty for the six prisoners at Guantanamo charged with 9/11 crimes. The six include Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused to being the principal architect of the attacks."
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC's This Week, "If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party." NBC Nightly News said Pelosi's comments could "be a blow to Hillary Clinton, who right now trails Barack Obama in the delegate count." ABC World News said that while "officially, Pelosi is neutral," her comments "did not sit well with Hillary Clinton's campaign."
Clinton supporter Rep. Nita Lowey said on NBC's Meet The Press, "The superdelegates have to look at the whole picture. They have to use their judgment." Similarly, on CBS' Face The Nation, Clinton supporter Leon Panetta said, "Ultimately it goes to the superdelegates. But it seems to me that in the end that the superdelegates were created as an independent body. Otherwise, they wouldn't exist. And they have to exercise independent judgment."
The New York Times reported on its Sunday front page that "interviews with dozens of undecided superdelegates...found them uncertain about who, if anyone, would step in to fill a leadership vacuum and help guide the contest to a conclusion that would not weaken the Democratic ticket in the general election." Meanwhile, Roll Call reports with the "odds increasing that they will not have a clear presidential nominee before June, Democratic Party leaders are preparing for the possibility that they might have to plan the remainder of their national convention without a candidate."
Obama Gains Nine More Delegates In Iowa The AP reported that Obama "expanded his fragile lead in delegates" over Clinton "on Saturday, picking up nine delegates as Iowa activists took the next step in picking delegates to the national convention. More than half the 14 delegates allocated to John Edwards on the basis of caucus night projections switched Saturday to Obama."
The AP says Michigan Democrats "agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June." Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick "said a likely date is June 3. ... The contest must be held by June 10 for the results to count under DNC rules." The Detroit Free Press reports Sen. Barack Obama's campaign "said it will evaluate the details 'of any new proposed election carefully' but otherwise did not comment on the prospect of a full-scale primary."
The AP later reported that Clinton said she "supported an effort by Michigan Democrats to hold a new primary in June. 'It needs to get resolved and hopefully Michigan by the end of this week will have done that,' Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane between stops in Pennsylvania. 'I think they are moving in an appropriate direction to have a revote.'" NBC Nightly News reported that the "Obama camp so far has been more skeptical about the possibility of redoing the primaries in Michigan and Florida."
Obama supporter Gov. Deval Patrick said on CBS' Face The Nation, "I think the Democratic National Committee is working on solutions now for Michigan and Florida, and I hope that those and trust that those solutions will respect the rules that were agreed to and in place at the beginning of the campaign, but also enable representatives from Michigan and Florida to participate in the convention."
Clinton supporter Rep. Nita Lowey said on NBC's Meet The Press, "Never mind the party, the voters in Florida and Michigan shouldn't be disenfranchised. ... I do believe the voters should be given the opportunity to express their preference."
. The Wall Street Journal reports Sen. Barack Obama "is entering a phase of scrutiny as he grapples with the fallout from statements by his longtime spiritual adviser and the indictment of a former political patron." Obama "said Friday that his past political campaigns had accepted more money raised from Chicago developer Antoin Rezko, on trial on influence peddling charges, than he had previously said." In addition, "Obama denounced remarks by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. as 'inflammatory and appalling' when videos of Rev. Wright's sermons surfaced last week." USA Today reports Obama "was dogged over the weekend about comments made by Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of a Chicago church who has demonized white people and said the United States brought the 2001 terrorism attacks on itself."
The Hill reports "top aides" to Sen. Hillary Clinton attacked Obama Saturday "in response to a new report that Obama has received $250,000 in campaign contributions from indicted fundraiser Tony Rezko since 1996. Clinton strategist Mark Penn called on the Obama campaign to fully disclose any involvement" between Obama and Rezko.
However, in a 1,000-word Sunday editorial, the Chicago Tribune said that while Obama "waited 16 months to attempt the exorcism," when he "finally sat down with the Tribune editorial board Friday, Obama offered a lengthy and, to us, plausible explanation for the presence of now-indicted businessman Tony Rezko in his personal and political lives. The most remarkable facet of Obama's 92-minute discussion was that, at the outset, he pledged to answer every question the Tribune journalists crammed into the room would put to him. And he did." Obama "now has spoken about his ties to Tony Rezko in uncommon detail. That's a standard for candor by which other presidential candidates facing serious inquiries now can be judged."
As for Wright, Obama supporter Sen. Christopher Dodd said on Fox News Sunday that Obama has "totally rejected this as quickly as anything. He was not there when these statements were made. They're outrageous statements. I don't know how much more clear Barack Obama could have been on all of this." Clinton supporters also downplayed the matter. Sen. Charles Schumer said on Fox News Sunday, "I prefer Sen. Clinton for a whole lot of reasons, but I don't cast aspersions on Sen. Obama for what somebody else said." Rep. Nita Lowey said on NBC's Meet The Press, "I think we should just accept what Barack Obama has said and move on and consider the serious issues that we both have to deal with."
Sen. John McCain arrived in Baghdad Sunday, where he met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and planned to meet with Gen. David Petraeus. The Washington Post reports, "Unlike a previous trip to Iraq, in which he was criticized for his optimistic pronouncements about progress and security, McCain's visit on Sunday was largely out of the public view." McClatchy reports "McCain made no public statements Sunday, avoiding stunts such as the marketplace stroll that earned him ridicule when he was last here in April 2007." The New York Times says "McCain stands to reap the most politically from any rise in public support for the war effort, having staked his candidacy on his unflagging backing of President Bush's troop escalation."
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Jay Leno: "And Geraldine Ferraro has left Hillary Clinton's campaign. ... She's got a new job in radio now. She's the new sidekick for Don Imus."
Jay Leno: "With all the bad news about the economy today, John McCain started distancing himself from President Bush. In fact, McCain was running so fast from President Bush, he ran into Barack Obama, who was running from his minister, and Hillary, who was running from Geraldine Ferraro. And they all just collided."
Jimmy Kimmel: In his Economic Club of New York speech, President Bush "urged the businessmen and women in the audience not to overreact. And if you've ever seen the footage of him reading to the children on 9/11, you know one thing this guy doesn't do is overreact."
Jimmy Kimmel: Bush "also said that if you look at the numbers overall, even though things may seem bad right now, they're actually very, very good compared to how they're going to be."
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