Capitol Hill hosted a contentious day of bailout battling on Tuesday, as in the morning the House Financial Services Committee grilled Bush Administration officials on the Treasury Department Troubled Asset Relief Program, and in the afternoon, auto industry leaders appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to plead for a piece of the bailout pie.
The day began with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair facing what the AP calls "exasperated lawmakers upset by shifts in bailout strategy." Paulson "launched a spirited defense" of his handling of the $700 billion TARP, but committee members "grilled Paulson for not doing enough to help distressed homeowners and for failing to force banks that get some of the bailout money to specifically use it to bolster lending to customers, one of the prime reasons behind the rescue package." The CBS Evening News said Paulson "had a lot of explaining to do." CBS added Paulson "traveled to Capitol Hill armed with optimism," but "that wasn't nearly enough ammunition to face down angry House Democrats." Rep. Maxine Waters: "You, Mr. Paulson, took it upon yourself to absolutely ignore the authority and the direction that this Congress had given you, just amazes me." ABC World News said "Paulson and other top officials were called on the carpet." The Wall Street Journal says the "increasingly restive lawmakers greeted" Paulson and Bernanke "with a wave of criticism."
USA Today reports Chairman Barney Frank and other Democrats pushed Paulson and Bernanke "to support a $24 billion mortgage relief plan developed" by Bair. Paulson said he "had 'reservations' about using the $700 billion to directly aid homeowners but would keep searching for ways to address the housing crisis." Bair, however, "told lawmakers it was 'essential' Treasury offer loan guarantees and credit help to slow foreclosures, and warned that 4 million to 5 million mortgages will enter foreclosure over the next two years if nothing is done."
The Washington Post reports on its front page that "lawmakers are none too pleased with the way Paulson and his colleagues so far are handling the powers they were granted under the rescue plan." NPR's Day To Day reported Frank "said that banks aren't using all the money they've received from the federal government for lending," and "he said there's been no effort to reduce foreclosures." But the New York Times says Paulson "dug in his heels and said he wanted to put money only into financial institutions." Bloomberg News says Paulson told the panel, "The rescue package was not intended to be an economic stimulus or an economic recovery package." The Hill reports Democrats "expressed confidence that the administration will soon make an effort to reduce foreclosures." After the hearing, the Financial Times reports, Frank told reporters that he "thought there would be movement from the administration on money for foreclosure relief."
Big Three CEOs Plead For "Lifeline" Over in the Senate, "Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with reluctant lawmakers Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry," the AP reports. Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, and GM CEO G. Richard Wagoner Jr. warned of "national economic catastrophe should they collapse." ABC World News said the "$25 billion taxpayer bailout...would amount to $81.71 for every man, woman, and child in America. The heads of GM, Ford and Chrysler, however, predicted an economic disaster for themselves and the country if they don't get the money." But "many in Congress are skeptical." Sen. Christopher Dodd: "They are seeking treatment for wounds that I believe to a large extent were self-inflicted. No one can say that they didn't see this coming."
Katie Couric opened the CBS Evening News by saying, "It is the toughest road General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have ever had to travel: uphill all the way to the US Capitol. The American auto industry, once the envy of the world, reduced today to pleading with Congress for a bailout just to stay in business." NBC Nightly News, which also led with the story, reported, "GM may not make it without help, and others may have to merge. If just one of the Big Three were to fail, an estimated 2.5 million jobs might be lost. That's what Congress is trying to balance because there's bailout fatigue right now in Washington."
AFP reports that GM "has said it will run out of cash as early as January if it does not get help from the government and analysts have said it would likely be liquidated if it was forced into bankruptcy protection." The Wall Street Journal says in its front-page reports that the fact "that the companies were convening -- 'hat in hand,'" as Dodd put it -- "before a congressional panel reinforced the depth of their difficulties and the possible diminishment of their political clout."
The Washington Post says in its front-page story that "the chances were looking increasingly bleak that Congress would quickly approve a lifeline to help the firms survive." Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said on CNBC's Squawk Box before the hearing, "We passed $25 billion in loans in the resolution that was passed in September...and I think if you put $25 billion more on top of the $25 billion they already have, it's going to set a terrible precedent. Why not the airline industry? Why not the other industries?" The Financial Times says "such Republican views are all the more important since the Democrats only command 50 votes in the current lame-duck session of the Senate." The New York Times also says "lawmakers in both parties saw little chance that a bailout could be put together and passed during the current lame-duck session."
President-elect Obama has reportedly selected Eric Holder to serve as attorney general. Media coverage of the nomination is tentative, as unnamed sources note the vetting process for Holder, who served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton Administration, is not yet complete. In particular, media reports note Holder's role in former President Clinton's controversial pardon of Marc Rich, but the issue was not portrayed as a major obstacle to the nomination.
In one of the more definite stories on the move, Newsweek reports President-elect Obama "has decided to tap Eric Holder as his attorney general, putting the veteran Washington lawyer in place to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department." One source said Holder "still has to undergo a formal 'vetting' review by the Obama transition team before the selection is final and is publicly announced."
NBC Nightly News reported, "Those involved in the process tell us that Eric Holder was actually offered this position last week and accepted it contingent on what kind of reception he would get in the Senate." ABC World News reported Obama has "signaled that in the cabinet, there will be diversity, diversity of political party, of gender, of geography and of race." If "confirmed, Eric Holder would be the first African-American to" serve as attorney general.
MSNBC's Hardball reported that Holder "had reservations about accepting the offer due to concerns that the confirmation process could dredge up Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich which the Justice Department signed off on while Holder served as acting AG." However, the CBS Evening News reported, "After some initial hesitation, Holder has now told the Obama team he wants the job."
The AP reports the Obama transition team "has gone so far as to ask senators whether they would confirm Holder." The Washington Post reports the Obama team "intends to make the nomination official if he receives at least moderate support from Republican lawmakers and completes the vetting process, the sources said." The Chicago Tribune reports several Senate Republican leadership aides "said that neither they nor their senators had been contacted yet, and some expressed surprise that Holder would have been chosen without their input." The Washington Times reports, "Three top Republicans said they had not been contacted by Team Obama, including" Sen. Arlen Specter, "who said it was 'too soon' to judge whether he'd vote for him."
The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Politico and the Financial Times also reported the story.
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Unnamed sources have told media outlets that Sen. Hillary Clinton is unsure if she would accept the nomination for secretary of State, even as she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, engaged a big-name legal team to complete the vetting process. The New York Times reports an adviser said Clinton "has reservations" about the post, and it was "unclear if Mrs. Clinton's stated hesitation was part of a bargaining tactic as the Obama team weighs whether to appoint her secretary of state, a genuine moment of indecision or, perhaps, a signal that she was preparing to withdraw from consideration." The Politico says press reports "that portray Clinton as willing to accept the job once the Obama transition team vets Bill Clinton's philanthropic and business ventures are inaccurate, one Clinton insider told Politico."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports in a front page story that former President Bill Clinton has "offered to submit future charitable and business activities to strict ethics reviews if his wife," were "nominated as secretary of state." He has "also agreed for the first time to disclose many of the previous donors to his efforts." The AP reports that attorneys Cheryl Mills, David Kendall and Robert Barnett "are working with the Obama transition team to review information about the Clintons' background and finances," and Bruce Lindsey, a "longtime Clinton adviser who now heads the former president's charitable foundation, has taken a leadership role in the process, aides said."
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports Sen. Clinton's "potential appointment to Mr Obama's cabinet and the inclusion of dozens of former Clinton officials in the president-elect's transition team have convinced many people that 'experience' will be the ultimate victor. ... "Not so, says the Obama camp. 'People are fundamentally misreading how Obama is making his appointments this is about 'change with experience',' said an unpaid adviser."
Several major papers and columnists question the possible Clinton appointment. The Washington Post says in an editorial if Obama "chooses Ms. Clinton, he'll get Mr. Clinton -- two for the price of one, you might say. And this is where critics of the Clintons, and even their supporters, have legitimate concerns." Washington Post columnist David Broder says, "I would be less than honest with readers if I did not say what I believe: Making Hillary Rodham Clinton the secretary of state in Barack Obama's administration would be a mistake." The New York Times' Thomas Friedman says, "When it comes to appointing a secretary of state, you do not want a team of rivals."
On the other hand, in her New York Times column, Maureen Dowd notes David Geffen, "who famously opposed Hillary's presidential bid thinks she'd make a great secretary of state." Geffen said, "She's smart and tough, a lot better than any of the old hacks like Holbrooke, Albright, etc."
The AP reports, "Calling climate change an urgent challenge, President-elect Barack Obama promised Tuesday that Washington would take a leading role in combating it in the United States and throughout the world." In the "roughly four-minute message, Obama reiterated his support for a cap-and-trade system approach to cutting green house gases. He would establish annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them another 80 percent by 2050. Obama also promoted anew his proposal to invest $15 billion each year to support private sector efforts toward clean energy."
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With the final vote tallies completed in the Alaska Senate contest, Sen. Ted Stevens (R) has been defeated by challenger Mark Begich (D), the Mayor of Anchorage. The AP reports Stevens, "the longest serving Republican in Senate history," "couldn't survive a conviction on federal corruption charges." Tuesday's "tally of just over 24,000 absentee and other ballots gave Begich 146,286, or 47.56 percent, to 143,912, or 46.76 percent, for Stevens." The Washington Post reports in a front-page story that Begich's win "gives Democrats control of 58 seats in the Senate, including two independents who caucus with them." The Politico says Democrats have "a real shot at the filibuster-proof 60 if things go their way in Minnesota and Georgia. Simply put, Barack Obama will begin his presidency with a very muscular majority in the Senate."
The Wall Street Journal adds Stevens' "loss renders less likely the prospect of his being expelled from the U.S. Senate, something his Republican colleagues were set to debate and vote on Tuesday." Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "The position of the conference was that that matter ought to be postponed until we knew the outcome of the election."
USA Today reports Democrat Al Franken and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman "are continuing their fight as officials begin a recount Wednesday that is expected to last for weeks." Coleman "is ahead by 215 votes out of 2.9 million cast, according to the latest unofficial results. Because the margin is so close, state law requires all ballots to be recounted -- by hand. ... Both Minnesota candidates are expected to be in Washington today, but their campaign staffs are engaged in a war of words over the process as they try to ensure that questionable ballots break their way."
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Jay Leno: "These wildfires continuing to burn here in L.A. I haven't seen anything go up in smoke like this since my 401(k)."
Jay Leno: Once Barack Obama "becomes president, he'll have to give up all personal communication devices because of security concerns. So, it looks like America's ready for a black president. We're just not ready for a BlackBerry president."
Jay Leno: "Barack Obama says one of his top priorities once he becomes president is closing down Guantanamo Bay. To make sure it closes, he's going to turn it into a bank."
David Letterman: Thanksgiving is "a time when people can do nice things for others who are less fortunate. ... For example, if you get the opportunity, if you have your Thanksgiving dinner, invite a Lehman brother."
Craig Ferguson: "Everyone is waiting to see what" Barack Obama has "got planned. We already know his economic plan. It's designed to help small businesses that make under $250,000 a year. You know, like General Motors and Chrysler."
Conan O'Brien: Barack Obama "met with former political rival John McCain." Both "men said it was a relief to put their differences aside, sit down, and really make fun of Sarah Palin."
Jimmy Kimmel: Hillary Clinton might become Barack Obama's "secretary of State." She "went from almost being the President to a secretary. It sounds like somebody needs to watch 'Working Girl' again, because that's not how it's supposed to work."
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