Media coverage of the House stimulus vote tends to focus on the tally's sharp partisan divide, which is being cast as a disappointment for President Obama. ABC World News said Republicans turned "a cold shoulder to the President's appeal for bipartisan support." The CBS Evening News led its broadcast by reporting "Obama made an in-person appeal to House Republicans...but it didn't work." The "final tally, 244 yays and 188 nays. Twelve Democrats also voted no." NBC Nightly News reported that Obama "doesn't need Republican votes. But he wants them."
The bill, says the Washington Post, "is among the most expensive pieces of legislation ever to move through Congress, and marked the biggest victory of his presidency a little more than a week into his term." McClatchy says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "met privately on Tuesday night with a small group of GOP moderates, but the effort was futile." The AP reports "one participant" described the meeting with Emanuel as "a soft sales job." The Hill lists the GOP moderates, while the New York Times, meanwhile, quotes Emanuel saying of the House vote, "The most important number here for this recovery plan is how many jobs it produces, not how many votes it gets."
CNN's Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull reported the White House is "deep down" disappointed by the lack of House GOP support for the stimulus bill, but "publicly they are trying to keep a brave face." On CNN's The Situation Room, Gloria Borger said she was "sort of stunned" that no House Republicans voted for the stimulus bill, but "I was told by a Democratic source that there may have been about 30 Republican who were leaning toward voting for it."
Under the headline "GOP Gambles With Stimulus," Roll Call reports Republicans "hoping to rebound from a second straight drubbing at the polls have placed a very large bet against the $825 billion stimulus package that is the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's early agenda." The Wall Street Journal reports, "House Republican leadership aides said the vote should force Democrats to compromise in the Senate, but White House aides were more sanguine." They "said the package in the Senate has already moved toward Republican positions on key issues, making GOP votes more likely. Mr. Obama has said he wants a final compromise version by Feb. 13." USA Today, the Washington Times, the Financial Times, The Politico, The Hill, the Los Angeles Times and AFP, among other news outlets, also highlight the party-line vote.
Some Question Value Of Stimulus Provisions ABC World News reported "Republicans say the bill is filled with old-fashioned big-government spending that won't stimulate the economy. For example, $335 million for sexually transmitted disease prevention, $600 million to buy new cars for government employees, and $1 billion to follow up on the 2010 census, which, of course, hasn't happened yet." Under the headline "Stimulus Package's Components Vary In Speed And Efficiency," the New York Times says "estimating how effective the huge program of tax cuts and spending will be in getting America's economic engines humming again is a far more complex calculation requiring almost line-by-line scrutiny of the 647-page bill, lawmakers, economists and policy analysts say." CNN's Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull reported, "This is why so many conservatives oppose this bill. ...A lot of this just advances a Democratic agenda. Of course, Democrats would say, oh, it will help the economy in the long run. But it is not immediate stimulus. And that's why this is the most political and controversial part of this bill."
The Washington Times reports that "Republicans and some Democrats have complained that the recovery bill is loaded with items that would provide little short-term help in boosting the economy" and "instead has become a vehicle for congressional Democrats to get approval for projects they've been unable to secure in recent years." One example is the $335 million in the House and $400 million in the Senate versions devoted to "the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases."
Obama Invites Lawmakers For Drinks The AP reports "Obama has invited Republican and Democratic lawmakers for drinks at the White House as they consider his economic recovery bill that still faces opposition." The AP adds that "White House aides say about two dozen key members of Congress were invited to the Executive Mansion Wednesday evening. The guest list includes six House Democrats, six House Republicans and five senators from each party." The Hill lists the invitees.
The AP reports President Obama is "building a White House staff so loaded with big names and overlapping duties that it could collapse into chaos unless managed with a juggler's skill." Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution, a "longtime observer of government organization" says the Administration "seems 'addicted to czars.'"
Karl Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal that "on the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being 'obsessed with the perpetual campaign.' As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs -- who coordinates the president's involvement with his party and other campaign related activities -- an office in the West Wing. ... This is one of many of Mr. Obama's changes to the management structure of the White House that will likely undermine his stated aims and create a more centralized and possibly incoherent policy process."
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The Politico reports President Obama "promised during his campaign that lobbyists 'won't find a job in my White House.'" But "at least a dozen former lobbyists have found top jobs in his administration, according to an analysis done by Republican sources and corroborated by Politico."
The Hill reports President Obama has "granted some of his nominees waivers when it comes to their lobbyist past - an action that has resulted in criticism from government watchdog groups. But some claim the new president will have to issue more in order to get the best people on board."
Meanwhile, The Politico reports Deputy Defense Secretary-designate Lynn "is in line for a payout of as much as $1.25 million in the coming weeks - for his work as a lobbyist for one of the nation's top defense contractors," Raytheon.
McClatchy reports President Obama "on Wednesday named a politically connected top executive of a financial services company that's seeking federal bailout money to be his chief legal counsel on the economy, a move raising ethical concerns with watchdog organizations and casting a shadow on Obama's campaign theme of change." Obama said in a statement that "he appointed Neal Wolin, division president of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., to become his deputy White House counsel for economic affairs." The AP reports the White House on Wednesday defended Secretary Geithner's "choice of Mark Patterson - an ex-lobbyist from Goldman Sachs - to be his chief of staff."
In his Wall Street Journal (1/29) column, Daniel Henninger says, "Had he been judged under the current code of political justice, Timothy Geithner would be home in New York, phoning old IMF friends for a job. Instead, the former tax scofflaw is U.S. Treasury Secretary. Call it the Geithner Exception." Henninger notes the fates of Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power, Clinton campaign adviser Mark Penn, and former World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz, noting that "judged by standards such as these, Tim Geithner -- a non-taxpaying Treasury Secretary -- should be toast."
To scant media coverage, President Barack Obama met yesterday at the Pentagon with top US military leaders to discuss strategies for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. USA Today reports Obama "and top military leaders discussed what Obama called 'difficult decisions' surrounding the U.S. wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan." CNN's The Situation Room reported, "Military analysts say President Obama could have called the Joint Chiefs to the White House, but it wouldn't have the same effect." Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution: "Going to visit people on their turf, it's a sign of respect."
Obama, the AP reports, said after the meeting that "the fight against terrorism is 'uppermost on our minds' as he takes over management of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but his first visit to the Pentagon as president ended with no decision on his campaign pledge to bring combat forces home from Iraq in 16 months." White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, AFP reports, said a decision will be made "relatively soon," but declined to "an exact date."
In analysis of the options facing the President in Iraq, the New York Times reports during yesterday's visit to the Pentagon, Obama "seemed to be looking for an option that would let him stay true to his campaign promise, at least in theory, without alienating the generals." On Afghanistan, the CBS Evening News reported the "first decision the White House has to make is whether it's going to continue to support its old ally, Hamid Karzai, as president, on whose watch this corruption has just ballooned, or whether it's going to change tack and support an entirely new candidate in presidential elections later on this year."
White House Says NYTimes Story Erred Michael Calderone wrote in his blog for The Politico that Press Secretary Gibbs was asked yesterday "about today's front page New York Times story on the administration's policy toward Afghanistan." The story said "that Obama will adopt a tougher stance with President Hamid Karzai, and there are plans to 'put more emphasis on waging war than on development.'" Gibbs referred to "erroneous reporting," but "did not list any specific errors in the piece."
President Obama's comments about Washington DC's reaction to inclement weather generated some media coverage and even some criticism. ABC World News reported "Washington, DC was hit by" an ice storm "and President Obama took a dig at how the nation's capital deals with bad weather. The President told reporters his daughters had a snow day at their new school, something that he says never would have happened back in Chicago."
On NBC Nightly News, Obama was shown saying, "My children's school was canceled today, because of, what? ... Some ice? As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled. In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors."
The Washington Post reports that Obama's "remarks might have captured Washington's attention as much as anything Obama has said since taking office a week ago. With those offhand comments, the president homed in on the one thing that riles Washingtonians every winter. His words reflected a common sentiment among recent arrivals from up North or out West: The denizens of Washington are weather wimps."
The Washington Post editorializes, "Obama can make pronouncements from inside his well-shoveled bubble, but we can report that it was pretty treacherous out there in the real world. School administrators who opted for closure made the right call -- this time. To the Obamas, we say: Welcome to Washington, and, hey, you have it easy. At least one parent has the flexibility to work from home."
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NBC Nightly News reports that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) "has boycotted his impeachment trial in the state Senate this week," but yesterday "changed his mind" and will show up tomorrow "to make his own closing argument just before lawmakers vote on whether or not to remove him from office." However, the AP adds Blagojevich "still refuses to answer questions from the lawmakers who will decide whether to remove him from office, the Illinois Senate president announced Wednesday." The Chicago Sun-Times says the decision sets "the stage for one of the most dramatic political days in state history"
The Politico reports that a day after Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning (R) "insisted he would seek a third term," National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn "said he still wasn't sure whether" Bunning "would actually run," but McClatchy reports that Bunning "said he told Cornyn of his re-election plans on Tuesday." Cornyn's statement comes a day after Bunning had a blowup with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) over whether Bunning was seeking reelection.
The Hill reports that New York lawmakers "are so far unwilling to throw their support behind newly crowned" Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), and some Democrats "in the state's 26-member House delegation made it clear this week that Gillibrand has something to prove to them - specifically on whether she's going to stick to conservative positions on issues like guns, illegal immigration and economic issues - or take a more Democratic-held position."
The AP reports that Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum (R) "will seek another term instead of running for U.S. Senate and" FL2 Rep. Allen Boyd (D) "on Wednesday also took himself out of the 2010 race to replace retiring" Florida Sen. Mel Martinez (R). The Hill adds that McCollum's move "creates an opening for a trio of Florida office-holders now likely to intensify their exploration of a bid" -- ex-state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), FL13 Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) and FL14 Rep. Connie Mack (R).
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Jay Leno: "As you know, President Barack Obama gave his first sit-down interview as president to an Arab TV network. He's reaching out to the Arab world. In fact, he even made a cameo appearance on one of the biggest sitcoms in the Arab world, 'How I Met Your Mullah.'"
Jay Leno: "Al Gore told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the Earth is in grave danger from global warming." But "is this the best time to try to convince people that global warming is real, in the middle of a blizzard?" He should come "back in August when the air conditioner is broken, come out with a panting dog, and then maybe...people will listen."
Jay Leno: "And the 'Wall Street Journal' reports that Bill Clinton made $4.7 million last year in speaking fees from foreign countries. And they say this will cause a conflict for Hillary as secretary of state, but Bill has vowed not to cause any problems for her. And believe me, when Bill Clinton makes a vow to Hillary, you can take that to the bank."
David Letterman: "And President Bush, after eight years, is also in retirement. How can you tell?"
David Letterman: "President Bush, of course, has a place just outside of Crawford, Texas -- Rancho Inepto."
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