Several media accounts are describing President-elect Barack Obama's statements over the weekend as an indictment of the current President's handling of the economy since the election. Obama said on NBC's Meet the Press, "I'm disappointed that we haven't seen quicker movement on this issue by the Administration." Obama's comments about the economy led all three network newscasts last night. ABC World News reported Obama "took the unusual step of criticizing the outgoing president." The CBS Evening News reported that regarding his planned stimulus package, Obama "said he is not going to just write blank checks for everybody and will not listen to politicians or lobbyists as he makes his decisions." NBC Nightly News showed Obama saying, "The key for us is making sure that we jump start that economy in a way that doesn't just deal with the short term." McClatchy also reports Obama criticized "the White House directly for the first time since November's election," accusing Bush "of not doing enough to stem the nation's home foreclosure crisis."
The AP notes Obama "said his blueprint for recovery will include help for homeowners facing foreclosure on their mortgages." The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama said he and his advisors "had been in contact with...the Bush team, offering input on an expected deal this week to bail out the domestic automakers." The Politico, adds that "without going into details," Obama "said his transition team had had conversations with Bush officials on the mortgage issue and is preparing plans." However, the Wall Street Journal reports that Obama's transition team "is resisting Bush administration overtures to coordinate more on the financial-sector rescue, convinced that neither...has the clout to win a smooth congressional release of more bailout funds." U.S. News and World Report notes House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer "lashed out at" President Bush's "resistance to the Democrats' bid for an economic stimulus package" saying it "constituted 'his last act of economic malpractice.'"
The Financial Times says Obama "made it plain that economic events will not respect America's oddly archaic 77-day transition." Another Financial Times piece contends President Bush "has been largely absent from the recent economic debate." The Washington Post similarly reports that "in a transition that has emphasized continuity and harmony with the outgoing president, there were glimmers of tension yesterday." The AP reports Obama also said "the economy will get worse before it gets better," as he "pledged a recovery plan 'equal to the task.'" According to the Financial Times, Obama "spelled out his plans for the biggest infrastructure investment in the US for half a century." The Washington Times runs a similar report under the headline "Obama Puts Deficit On Back Burner." The Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today all delve into the details of Obama's stimulus proposals.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in the standoff between the lame-duck Republican president and an ascendant Democratic speaker of the House, an odd thing happened: The president won." The Journal adds "the Detroit rescue package being negotiated by congressional leaders is coming together in defiance of the prevailing political winds, representing a rare concession by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and showing that even a weakened president can make an impact at the tail end of his administration." President Bush "stood his ground, demanding that any rescue of the Detroit auto makers be financed by $25 billion in already-approved loans intended to help the industry meet higher fuel-economy standards." The President "essentially won that argument Friday, when Rep. Pelosi, who had wanted to tap the $700 billion pool created to calm financial markets, backed down."
The Washington Post says the Bush administration "is calling for a car czar within the Commerce Department who would be empowered to force the automakers to restructure or force them into bankruptcy." The New York Times says that the "form of oversight was still to be negotiated." Another Wall Street Journal piece says Congressional Democrats "are hoping for a vote on bailout legislation as soon as Tuesday."
The Detroit Free Press reports that Sen. Carl Levin signaled that "a compromise pact to provide at least $15 billion in loans...could be unveiled within the next 24 hours." USA Today and AFP run similar stories. The Politico reports that the loan deal "leaves open the door for the incoming Obama administration to add more money...by tapping into the Treasury's financial rescue package." On ABC World News Obama was shown saying, "I think that Congress is doing the exact right thing by asking for a conditions-based assistance package that holds the auto industry's feet to the fire." The Detroit News reports that Sen. Chris Dodd said GM CEO Rick Wagoner should resign. The AP and the Washington Post also note Dodd's comments.
Obama: Big 3 Lack "Sustainable Business Model" The Wall Street Journal notes that yesterday President-elect Obama "suggested the Big Three may have to make management changes as part of a bailout." The Financial Times says Obama suggested that his administration "would seek to restructure the vehicle industry by simulating the effects of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while providing government aid to keep it functioning." Also on NBC's Meet the Press , Obama said of the auto makers, "If they expect taxpayers to help in that adjustment process, then they can't keep on putting off the kinds of changes that they, frankly, should have made 20 or 30 years ago."
GOP Opposition Taking Shape? Sen. Richard Shelby, on Fox News Sunday, was asked if he's prepared to filibuster a bailout. He responded, "I think we need to debate it. And that's what filibuster is about. ... We'll see what happens." The CBS Evening News showed Sen. Jeff Sessions saying, "I think Congress is tired of being stampeded, they are tired of being threatened that we have got to pass something." Sen. Sessions, on CBS's Face the Nation, said, "I truly believe these companies would be better off if they sought reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code." Roll Call also notes potential Republican opposition.
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USA Today reports President-elect Obama "chose retired general Eric Shinseki on Sunday to be secretary of Veterans Affairs, tapping a former Army chief of staff who left the Bush administration after questioning its post-invasion plan for stabilizing Iraq." The CBS Evening News said that in picking Shinseki, Obama "offers a symbolic rebuke to the Bush Administration for underestimating the insurgency in postwar Iraq that the former general memorably warned that would take far more resources to fight." NBC Nightly News similarly described Shinseki as "a decorated war hero known for disagreeing with the Bush Administration about troop levels for the war in Iraq." The AP reports that Shinseki "was nudged out as Army chief of staff in 2003 after testifying to Congress that the US needed more troops in Iraq than Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believed at the time. Shinseki was later proved correct." However, the Washington Times reports that while the 2003 remarks have been "widely reported" as the reason for Shinseki's retirement, "in an April 19, 2002 article, The Washington Times reported the general's scheduled retirement." According to the Washington Post, "Military leaders and veterans advocates hailed Obama's selection of Shinseki." Gen. Colin Powell called Shinseki "a superb choice." The Washington Post notes that Obama's aides "actually kept the appointment of...Shinseki...secret until Obama decided to leak it to NBC's Tom Brokaw early Saturday afternoon."
The Financial Times reports Pakistan and India "were locked in a fresh diplomatic row on Sunday over whether India's foreign minister made a threatening phone call to Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, at the height of last month's attack in Mumbai." According to "Pakistani officials...a caller claiming to be Pranab Mukherjee, India's foreign minister, had reached Mr Zardari on November 28 and threatened Indian military action over allegations Pakistan had backed the militant attacks in Mumbai." Mukherjee "denied making the call." McClatchy says that despite Mukherjee's denial, "Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and defense secretary Robert Gates "rushed to the region." The Wall Street Journal says that at some point "a senior official said Pakistan determined the call was a hoax and took the air force off high alert." However, the Washington Post reports "Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's information and broadcasting minister, said in a statement that the call came from 'a verified official phone number of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.'" The AP, moreover, adds that "a senior Pakistani diplomat said Saturday that he had 'circumstantial evidence' that India's military had been preparing to attack Pakistan."
Tribes Fighting Back Against Taliban According to U.S. News and World Report, "Tribal militias in Pakistan's lawless backcountry are taking up arms to confront a Taliban insurgency that now roils on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. Early comparisons have been made to the so-called 'Anbar Awakening' in Iraq."
U.S. News and World Report reports, "After a series of dire new warnings about possible terrorist threats --capped by a government commission's report that terrorists are likely to stage a biological or nuclear attack somewhere in the world during the next five years -- some experts are urging officials 'to retire the fear card,' as California Rep. Jane Harman puts it." Harman, chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Terrorism Risk Assessment, said, "It's time for the rhetoric about that threat to calm, instead of inflame, an anxious public."
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Building on their momentum following the Georgia Senate win last week, Republicans won two US House races in Louisiana on Saturday. In the LA2 race, Anh "Joseph" Cao (R) became the first Vietnamese-American elected to the House, CNN reports. The AP reports Cao unseated 9-term Rep. William Jefferson (D) 50%-47%, who is under indictment on federal corruption charges, in the heavily black district. The New Orleans Times-Picayune says Jefferson's defeat "came on a day of abysmally low turnout, which political pundits had predicted could be Jefferson's undoing despite his demographic and political advantages." The newspaper speculates that if Hurricane Gustav had "not postponed the voting schedule one month, the general election would have been held the same ballot as last month's presidential election, when high turnout among African-American voters likely would have carried Jefferson to a 10th term." The New York Times, under the headline "History And Amazement In House Race Outcome," reports "few in New Orleans were betting" on Cao "in the days before the election," as "Jefferson has been a fortress in this city's politics for more than two decades and appeared to gain strength at home as his legal troubles mounted outside of it." The Hill adds, "Republicans can claim some measure of momentum even after losing at least 20 seats in the House and seven in the Senate."
Elsewhere in Louisiana, the GOP also won the LA4 race, where John Fleming (R) defeated Paul Carmouche (D) by the narrowest of margins. The Hill says, "With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Fleming led by just 356 votes out of more than 92,500 cast." The contest was for the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Jim McCrery.
With Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts' role in the Senate declining as he battles cancer, the potential for another member of the Kennedy clan to join the Senate emerged over the weekend. With Sen. Hillary Clinton resigning her Senate seat to become Secretary of State, ABC World News reported over the weekend that it "has learned" that Paterson "has approached Caroline Kennedy about taking" the seat already, and while she "is considering the offer," she "has told family members she is not inclined to accept it." But the CBS Evening News said Kennedy "is interested in the seat" and "has spoken to" Paterson about it. The New York Daily News reports that yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama "warmly praised" Kennedy but refrained from endorsing her for that position. "'Caroline Kennedy has become one of my dearest friends and is just a, a wonderful American, a wonderful person,' he told 'Meet the Press.' 'But the last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics,' Obama said."
The AP reports Mary Jo Kilroy (D) "came from behind Sunday to snatch a central Ohio seat from House Republicans after elections officials tallied provisional ballots." Kilroy's "victory by a little more than 2,000 votes" over Steve Stivers (R) in the OH15 open seat race puts the district into Democratic hands after the retirement of Rep. Deborah Pryce (D). The Washington Post adds, "Kilroy trailed Stivers by 594 votes when officials began counting about 9,600 provisional ballots in her district. The ballots were issued at polls to people who believed they were wrongly denied the right to vote."
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Jay Leno: "Looks like Barack Obama has been giving jobs to all the Democrats who ran against him for president. ... Joe Biden got vice president. Hillary Clinton, secretary of state. Bill Richardson...got commerce secretary. And today, he even hired Dennis Kucinich to play the elf at next year's White House Christmas party."
Jimmy Kimmel: "Remember last month the big story about all the money that the Republican National Committee spent on clothes for Sarah Palin and her family? I believe it was $150,000. Well today, the RNC tacked another $30,000 on to that. ... Who would have guessed that the Republicans' October surprise turned out to be their credit card bill?"
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