Over the weekend the Obama transition team signaled its intent to take a lead role on economic matters starting today, announcing its key economic players and outlining a stimulus package which, according to the New York Times, "might be extraordinarily large." The Times adds "a member of the Obama economic advisory team, William M. Daley, acknowledged that because of the gravity of the situation, Mr. Obama was leaning toward letting a Bush tax cut for the wealthy expire on schedule in 2011 rather than repealing it sooner." The Wall Street Journal reports President-elect Barack Obama's "new economic stimulus plan" is expected to contain "more than $500 billion in federal spending and tax cuts." The Washington Post, meanwhile, says the "massive fiscal stimulus program...could total as much as $700 billion over the next two years," and U.S. News and World Report estimates the plan's cost at $300 billion.
The Financial Times, in a story titled "Hint Of Hold On Taxes As Obama Plans Stimulus," reports "David Axelrod, Mr Obama's chief political adviser," offered "an olive branch to Republicans" as he "floated the possibility that the president-elect might wait for the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010 rather than acting sooner to raise rates for high earners." The AP also says that there are "no plans to balance the tax cuts" in an upcoming stimulus plan "with an immediate tax increase on the wealthy," as Obama had proposed "during the campaign."
Referring to Obama's overall economic plan, the CBS Evening News reported last night, "Broadly outlined in a weekend address by Mr. Obama, the goal is to create 2.5 million jobs by putting Americans to work building roads and bridges and refurbishing schools, so-called green jobs will be created in alternative energy projects and the development of fuel-efficient vehicles." The Financial Times reports, "Uncharacteristically for a politician who often trod a cautious path during the presidential campaign, Mr Obama has taken a risk by setting a firm target and deadline for his jobs plan. But as with his timeline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, he left plenty of ambiguity in how the 2.5m jobs would be defined." Adds the Times, "Not all of them must be new jobs. Any that would arguably have been lost but for the recovery plan would also count." McClatchy and Roll Call also report on Obama's plan
Obama Aide: "Era Of Dithering" Almost Over McClatchy reports "a senior Obama adviser...accused the Bush administration of doing little to help" the economy, "vowing that things will change once Obama is sworn in. 'The era of dithering is going to end,' said Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee." The AP, meanwhile, quotes "top Obama aide" Goolsbee saying, "We're out with the dithering, we're in with a bang."
Media analysts, and even at least one key Senate Republican, are praising President-elect Barack Obama's top economic appointments, which will be officially announced today. The CBS Evening News reported last night, "CBS News has confirmed tomorrow Mr. Obama will name Timothy Geithner, the current head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Secretary of the Treasury, and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as head of the National Economic Council."
GOP Sen. Richard Shelby, on ABC's This Week, said of Geithner's expected nomination, "I think it's overall a good appointment. I've worked with Tim Geithner. He's young. He's innovative. I believe he will be up to the challenge. He knows a lot about the economy and he knows a lot about problems. He has been involved in the bailout. ... He is a breath of fresh air, so to speak. I think he will do well." Even the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page calls Geithner "probably the best choice short of Paul Volcker," as "he guarantees the smoothest transition from the current Treasury team. ... This continuity is especially important given that the credit markets have taken a major step backward since...Obama's election."
The Politico says Obama's economic team is getting "rave reviews on Wall Street and will likely get an easy ride through the Senate." The Financial Times reports, "Both men bring great experience to their likely new roles," and "both are renowned in economic and financial circles throughout the world," and another Financial Times piece says of Geithner that "no one has a better grasp of the emergency Fed and Treasury initiatives to try to contain the credit crunch, ensuring he will be able to hit the ground running."
Under the headline "Geithner's Style Puts Him In Sync With Obama," the Wall Street Journal reports both Geithner and the President-elect "have a track record of identifying economic risks in advance through speeches and public statements. But neither has had enough power in their positions to address them fully to get ahead of the problems." Under the headline "Duo Has Proved More Pragmatic Than Ideological," the Wall Street Journal offers another positive portrayal of the expected nominees, as do the Washington Post, Washington Times and USA Today. Also very positive is an editorial, titled "A Team Of Talents," running in today's Financial Times.
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The Politico reported yesterday that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson "is slated to be named Secretary of Commerce by President-elect Obama, adding to the new administration's heavy roster of Clinton administration veterans." The AP says Obama "planned to announce the nomination after Thanksgiving, according to a Democratic official familiar with the discussions."
The Financial Times notes current Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told Fox News that "having been around the world in the UN," Richardson "has a sense for how important trade is, how much trade is part of a foreign policy strategy, the fact that it does lead to better relations with countries all over the world."
The Financial Times reports that President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet "selections have not been Clintonite in style but often Clintonite in substance." Obama "has taken pains to avoid the famously messy transition of Bill Clinton," and "indeed, in gathering veterans of the last two administrations around him, Mr Obama has in some ways echoed the choices made by George W. Bush, who reached back to personnel from the Ford administration to staff his cabinet." Adds the Times, "The picture that emerges is of a group of centrist officials, many of whom did not support Mr Obama until late in his 22-month quest for the presidency and whose experience of Washington often far outstrips his own." The Politico and USA Today run similar assessments this morning.
The Politico notes that "appearing on CBS' "60 Minutes" last Sunday, Barack Obama reiterated a campaign-trail promise. 'Yes,' the president-elect told Steve Kroft, he would include Republicans in his Cabinet. Pressed if there would be more than one, Obama declined to elaborate." But "as the top tier of his Cabinet begins to come into focus...it looks increasingly unlikely that Obama will break new ground when it comes to fashioning a bipartisan government. Instead, he appears to be taking a check-the-box approach that would differ little from the pattern set by predecessors Bill Clinton and George W. Bush," who "made a nod to the opposition party in their Cabinet selections but in the main did not depart from Washington's to-the-victor-goes-the-spoils tradition in their personnel choices or the policies that flowed from them.
The New York Times, meanwhile, reports "Obama is working to build a cordial relationship with Republicans by seeking guidance on policy proposals," and "while he has yet to name any Republicans to cabinet-level positions as pledged, he is strongly considering James L. Jones for national security adviser, a retired Marine general who appeared at a campaign event with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, earlier this year." Obama's "bipartisan concessions have infuriated many liberal Democrats," even as they "offer a window into how Mr. Obama hopes to approach the presidency. The criticism from the left illustrated the challenges he faces as the symbolism of reaching out to Republicans gives way to disagreements over the Iraq war, taxes and a health care overhaul, particularly considering the size of the Democratic majorities in Congress and the pressures that will bring from his own party."
Obama's "Deep Respect" For Scowcroft Noted The Wall Street Journal reports, "Many of the Republicans emerging as potential members of the Obama administration have professional and ideological ties to Brent Scowcroft, a former national-security adviser turned public critic of the Bush White House." Scowcroft "spoke by phone with...Obama last week, the latest in a months-long series of conversations between the two men about defense and foreign-policy issues, according to people familiar with the discussions." The Journal adds "the relationship between the president-elect and the Republican heavyweight suggests that Mr. Scowcroft's views, which place a premium on an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, might hold sway in the Obama White House." While "Obama aides declined to comment on the substance of the conversations," a "transition aide said the president-elect has 'deep respect for...Scowcroft.'"
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Republican Sen. Norm Coleman led Democrat Al Franken by 180 votes as the opposing sides in the Minnesota Senate race prepare to clash over absentee ballots. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports the attorneys "on both sides have already armored up for the next pitched battle: over whether to reexamine thousands of rejected absentee ballots." The "difference could come down to clerical errors on absentee ballots or even a challenge of Minnesota's law governing such ballots." On Wednesday, "both sides will face off at a state Canvassing Board hearing that could prove momentous, with discussion and perhaps a ruling on whether rejected absentee ballots are in or out."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports former Vice President Al Gore "urged about 600 cheering people in Atlanta on Sunday night to vote for Jim Martin on Dec. 2 to help bring about 'historic change' in Georgia and the nation." Gore "took direct aim at Martin's opponent, incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss," saying, "It's time for him to go. The Bush-Cheney-Chambliss philosophy has been tried and has not only found out to be wanting, it has been found out to be a catastrophe."
Roll Call reports Sen. Joe Lieberman on Sunday "once again defended his decision to support Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) over President-elect Barack Obama in the White House election, but he said he regretted the harsh tone of the campaign and appreciated the 'spirit of reconciliation' that prompted his Senate Democratic colleagues to allow him to keep his gavel on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee."
On NBC's Meet the Press, Lieberman said, "I don't regret having supported John McCain. ... But I do regret, as I said to the caucus and, and afterward publicly, there were some things I said in the heat of a campaign that I wish I had said more clearly. There are other things, frankly, I wish I hadn't said at all." Asked if he had spoken to President-elect Obama, Leiberman said he had called but "He's busy. I heard back from Joe Biden and Rahm Emanuel. I'm sure, in time, Senator Obama and I...will talk."
The Washington Times reports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's team "has told the Federal Election Commission that she continued her campaign even after endorsing Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama on June 7, a claim that lets her transfer millions of dollars from her presidential bid to her Senate campaign." Mrs. Clinton "made the $6.4 million transfer from her White House campaign, which remains more than $7 million in debt, to Friends of Hillary on Aug. 28. That date would fall outside the legal deadline for making such a move if her campaign were to have ended June 7."
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Jay Leno: "The Obama transition team has leaked that his top choice for Homeland Security chief is Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. First job, find out who leaked her name."
Jay Leno: "Well, you know what's really strange is if she gets this," she "would be the first official ever to take the job overseeing Homeland Security working for a guy, who if he wasn't President, his name would be on the no-fly list."
David Letterman: "Sarah Palin...may get a $7 million book deal. ... And she got a great guy working on the deal, Joe the agent."
David Letterman: "Here's some fascinating historical info. On this date in 1620," pilgrims "landed on Plymouth Rock" and "immediately applied for a government bailout."
Conan O'Brien: "This week, a New York elementary school became the first school in the country to be named after Barack Obama. ... Yeah, unfortunately, yeah, no one likes their team's new nickname, the Fighting Husseins."
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