Roll Call reports was reporting Thursday evening that "the Obama administration has been floating the idea of naming Republican Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) to be Commerce Secretary, several Senate sources said Thursday." The Politico says that in response to the "rumors," Democrats "are delighted because it could mean they gain a pivotal seat." Asked "whether he'd ever been offered the Commerce job, Gregg told Politico: 'I am not at liberty to discuss that.'" The Politico adds that "a White House official would say only that Obama "has not made a decision" about the Commerce job." New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch "is a Democrat. If Gregg were to leave and Lynch were to appoint a Democrat in his place -- and if Al Franken wins in Minnesota -- the Democratic Party would suddenly control 60 seats in the Senate." The New York Times also says that Gregg's nomination "could open the way to significant shift in the balance of power in Congress." Yet "a senior administration official said the commerce secretary position had not been narrowed down to a sole finalist."
Black Caucus Pushing Symantec CEO The Hill reports, "The Congressional Black Caucus is lobbying President Barack Obama to pick African-American technology executive John Thompson to be his commerce secretary." Thompson "is chairman and chief executive officer of Symantec Corp, the software security company best known for its Norton computer protection products. He is expected to step down in early April." The Hill adds that "In a letter to Obama, the caucus members stressed that Thompson is the only African-American leading a major technology company."
In remarks after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, President Obama yesterday called the bonuses awarded to Wall Street executives during the ongoing economic crisis "height of irresponsibility" and "shameful." USA Today reports that "the president said his administration will be talking to the business community -- especially those that receive government assistance 'to underscore that they have to start acting in a more responsible fashion if -- if we are to, together, get this economy rolling again.'" Added Obama, "There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses. Now is not that time." The Wall Street Journal notes that "earlier Thursday, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli" had "said that total Wall Street bonuses totaled $18.4 billion last year."
The President's comments are generating generally positive media coverage, much of it remarking on his outraged demeanor. The story led all three network newscasts last night. ABC World News reported, "The President did not mince words this afternoon, indeed he was angry." The CBS Evening News said the country "found out what it takes to get...Obama angry," and NBC Nightly News described Obama as "channeling his inner populist," and added that "Vice President Biden, in an interview with CNBC's John Harwood, was even blunter about these executives." Biden, on CNBC's Street Signs said, "It just offends the sensibilities. I would like to throw these guys in the brig. I don't know I do know what they are thinking. They are thinking the same old thing that got us here: greed. They are thinking, 'take care of me.'" CNN's The Situation Room cautioned, however, that "what's unclear, though...is what this administration can really do to crack down. ... A lot of bark, but no bite right now."
Report reported Obama "let loose, aiming fire directly at a group many people blame for much of the current financial mess," and AFP says that "anger" flashed across Obama's "usually calm countenance." On its front page, however, the New York Times says its was "a pointed -- if calculated -- flash of anger," noting Obama "struck his populist tone as he confronted the possibility of having to ask Congress for additional large sums of money, beyond the $700 billion already authorized, to prop up the financial system." The Politico and the Financial Times runs similar stories.
The AP notes "Obama's stand also came just one day after he surrounded himself with well-paid chief executives at the White House. He had pulled in those business leaders and hailed them for being on the 'front lines in seeing the enormous problems in our economy right now.'" The Washington Post also says that "a day earlier, however, Obama passed up a chance to send that message publicly" when he "stood with 13 CEOs in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday to push for congressional passage of his $816 billion stimulus package."
Dodd Will Seek To Confiscate Bonuses. The Hill reports Sen. Chris Dodd "has vowed to use all legal means available to confiscate Wall Street bonuses paid out at the end of last year." Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, "told reporters that he would press the Treasury Department to recoup the more than $18 billion in Wall Street bonuses paid out after one of the worst years in stock market history."
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With the stimulus debate moving to the Senate, media reports continue to remark on the party-line House vote. The New York Times reports "Congressional Democrats" yesterday "were chafing at the White House talk of accommodating Republicans in the wake of the House Republicans' unanimous opposition." The Times adds that although President Obama "at one point said he hoped for as many as 80 Senate votes, on Thursday the Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said Democrats would be satisfied to pass the bill regardless of how many Republicans supported it." The Hill, in fact, reports Senate Democratic leaders "warned they would cut off the GOP's ability to offer amendments to the stimulus if Republicans try to stall or block it." Majority Leader Harry Reid, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer and Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray "said the stimulus plan deserves Republican support but could pass without it."
Another story in The Hill, meanwhile, notes Speaker Nancy Pelosi's response yesterday when pressed about the House vote. Pelosi "expressed no regrets over passing the stimulus measure without any GOP support," and said, "I didn't come here to be partisan, I didn't come here to be bipartisan. ... I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest." Roll Call reports Pelosi went on to say "Democrats reached out to Republicans 'all along the way. And they know it."
CNN's The Situation Room, however, reported, "To some, the fact that it was so partisan, no Republican votes, suggests the Democratic leadership made some major tactical errors. Even some of Pelosi's fellow Democrats say their own leaders robbed Barack Obama of bipartisanship he preaches by adding too much government spending that won't stimulate the economy."
Obama Given Credit for Trying The Financial Times reports, "With precisely zero votes from Republican lawmakers for his $819bn stimulus package, Barack Obama's bipartisan aspirations may already be in tatters barely a week after assuming office." Now "White House officials are pinning great hopes on peeling off moderate Republicans in the Senate." Obama "has gone to great lengths to restore a civil tone to politics, even having Republican lawmakers round for a cocktail in the White House on Wednesday night shortly after they had voted against his bill. No such invitations were issued to Democrats" by former President Bush." The Christian Science Monitor asks whether Obama "wasted his time reaching out, to an unusual degree, to Republicans," and concludes that he hasn't, "not yet, anyway," because "he has already distinguished his administration sharply from those in recent memory, analysts say. And he's begun work on the difficult task of remaking the highly partisan culture of Washington, as promised in his campaign."
The AP reports "Obama's hopes of changing Washington's partisan culture went unmet," but AFP notes that "the White House said Obama had no regrets about his week-long courtship of Republicans, all of whom rejected his advances and voted 'no' as the Democratic House majority passed the 819-billion-dollar measure." Spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "The president wouldn't do anything differently. ... His hand is, was, and will always reach out." The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Los Angeles Times run similar stories.
President Obama yesterday signed his first bill into law yesterday, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. USA Today says the new law "makes it easier for workers to sue companies for pay discrimination and effectively reverses a 2007 Supreme Court decision that had given workers 180 days to file a lawsuit after the pay inequity allegedly first took place."
The Washington Times (1/30, Bellantoni, 83K) reports, "As for the pay-discrimination law, the president called it an important step, but "only the beginning," adding he wants to close pay gaps between men and women." Ledbetter "promised to keep fighting for the Paycheck Fairness Act and to 'make sure that women have equal pay for equal work.'" That bill "passed the House last session." It "would expand lawsuit damages, make it harder for businesses to justify pay disparities between employees, and mandate studies and voluntary guidelines for employers on the issue."
All three networks reported the story last night. NBC Nightly News said, "With a stroke of a pen, another big break from the Bush era. Democrats in Congress have been trying to get this equal pay law through for nearly two years. Today it became a reality," and "the first bill-signing had something of a party atmosphere." ABC World News very briefly mentioned the signing, and the CBS Evening News showed Obama saying, "I sign this bill for my daughters and all those who will come after us, because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contribution, where there are no limits to their dreams." The First Lady, who was present at the signing, was shown saying, "This legislation is an important step forward, particularly at a time when so many families are facing economic insecurity and instability."
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The Illinois State Senate on Thursday voted 59-0 to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) from office, ignoring his impassioned plea on the Senate floor earlier in the day to reject the impeachment charges. Blagojevich's ouster was reported at length by all three network broadcasts last night and is a leading story in papers across the country this morning. ABC World News reported, "After shunning his own trial for a media marathon, the day began with Rod Blagojevich making one last stand, defiant to the bitter end." Blagojevich: "There is no evidence before your body here that shows that there was any wrongdoing by me." The CBS Evening News reported that Blagojevich "is now banned from ever again holding public office in Illinois." NBC Nightly News reported, "Just hours after the Governor made this last-minute step into the lion's den, it was unanimous," after "senator after senator lined up to condemn him." The Chicago Tribune reports, "Senators dismissed the governor's plea, saying Blagojevich violated the public trust and paralyzed state government." The Washington Post (1/30, A1, Slevin, Lydersen, 696K) reports on its front page that Blagojevich "called the verdict 'un-American.'"
The Wall Street Journal notes that Blagojevich's removal comes "nearly two months after he was led from his home in handcuffs by federal authorities on suspicion of influence peddling." The Journal adds, "The scandal became an embarrassment for President Obama and Washington Democrats, forcing them earlier this month to accept his appointment to fill Mr. Obama's Senate seat." The AP adds that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn "was promptly sworn in as governor," and "President Barack Obama pledged to give Quinn his full cooperation. 'Today ends a painful episode for Illinois,' Obama said Thursday night in a statement. 'For months, the state had been crippled by a crisis of leadership. Now that cloud has lifted.'"
The Politico reports that "in what could be a preview of the 2012 presidential race," Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and President Barack Obama "will share a stage together this Saturday night in Washington, Politico has learned." Palin, "making her first trip to the nation's capital since the election, will join the president at the Alfalfa Dinner, a venerable gathering of the city's political elite. The president is scheduled to address the black-tie crowd at the Capital Hilton." The Hill adds, "While in Washington, Palin will also have dinner with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and meet with Alaska's lobbyist to discuss economic stimulus legislation expected to reach the upper chamber on Monday."
The Politico reports that "GOP insiders" say today's election of a new RNC chairman "will be a long and drawn-out affair, with multiple ballots necessary to determine the winner. In part, it's a reflection of a party that, even after a nearly three month-long chairman's race, remains deeply uncertain of which candidate can best lead the GOP back to power." According to "estimates of the five candidates' support," current RNC Chief Mike Duncan is widely viewed as leading the field, "followed by" ex-Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and South Carolina GOP Chair Katon Dawson, "with Michigan" GOP Leader Saul Anuzis and ex-Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell "behind them." The Hill adds, "The field is expected to remain largely static over the first two ballots, with most campaigns expecting some significant fluctuations on the third ballot." The Charlotte Observer quotes ex-RNC Chief Charlie Black as saying of this year's contest, "It's completely unpredictable. I don't know how anybody can predict the outcome." CQ Politics reports, "A multiple-ballot election would touch off dizzying rounds of lobbying for votes between ballots."
The New York Times, meanwhile, reports that Chip Saltsman, "who came under fire late last year for distributing a holiday CD with the parody song 'Barack the Magic Negro,' dropped out of the" RNC chair "contest Thursday on the eve of the vote."
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Jay Leno: "Our studio audience might not know this," but "a couple hours ago, Gov. Blagojevich was convicted and removed from office" by a "vote of 59-0. So close!"
Jay Leno: "So now, the lieutenant governor" of Illinois "will...move up and he'll be sworn in. And Blagojevich still doesn't get it. Like when he heard the lieutenant governor was going to get his seat, he said, 'You mean for free?'"
David Letterman: "On this date in 2002, President Bush, do you remember this, the access of evil speech? Do you remember his axis of evil? Do you remember what the axis of evil was? Iran, Iraq, Dick Cheney. That was the axis of evil right there."
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