Media reports suggest a sharp partisan divide is reemerging in Congress over the economic stimulus bill. The Wall Street Journal reports the "even if" President Obama and GOP leaders "cultivate good relations, that won't prompt the two sides to make major compromises and meet in the middle." In a front-page piece titled "GOP Sees Positives In Negative Stand," the Washington Post reports Republicans "sense a tactical victory, particularly in the framing of their opposition to the plan as a clash with congressional Democrats instead of with President Obama."
Roll Call reports President Obama "has recognized that with Republicans reluctant to play much ball," and that he "needs to add a little old-fashioned Washington partisanship to his repertoire of togetherness." Meanwhile, The Hill notes Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, yesterday "took the time to lob some partisan bombs, taking cue from an administration more willing to criticize the Republicans they had previously openly courted." ." Said Summers, "Those who presided over the last eight years...don't seem to be in a strong position to lecture about the lessons of history."
RNC chairman Michael Steele, on ABC's This Week, responded to Summers, saying, "I didn't hear anything from Mr. Summers that assured me or reassured me that this administration gets it when it comes to how you create wealth in this nation." The AP reports Sen. McCain, appearing on CBS' "Face The Nation," said "Democratic lawmakers putting together an economic stimulus plan are no more open to input from the opposing party than the GOP was during the Bush administration." The Politico notes McCain called the Democratic bill "generational theft," and The Hill runs a similar report.
The New York Times reports Sen. Richard C. Shelby said on CNN, "We're going down a road to disaster." The AP reports GOP Sen. John Cornyn "warns that" the bill "could damage the US economy in the future." And Rep. Mike Pence, appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, said what "the American people are tired of is runaway federal spending."
Obama To Warn Of "Catastrophe" Unless Stimulus Passes Soon AFP notes the President today will "to take his case for a huge economic rescue plan directly to the US public, warning of a 'catastrophe' without urgent action, as a pivotal vote loomed in the Senate." ABC World News reported Obama "begins a PR offensive...visiting two cities hit hardest by the economic crisis, and then holding his first primetime press conference tomorrow night." The Chicago Tribune says "the White House hopes the attention will fall squarely on Elkhart, Ind., on Monday, and Fort Myers, Fla., on Tuesday." The story is also covered in USA Today, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, USA Today, and the Washington Times.
House-Senate Conference Another Hurdle The Washington Post reports that while the Senate "will hold a key procedural vote today on the stimulus package," even if "senators approve the bill, which carries an $827 billion price tag, they face the daunting task of negotiating a final bill with the House." The Hill notes senators "on both sides of the aisle stressed that if the bill undergoes major changes in conference negotiations with the House, the massive measure will not pass." The story was also reported by the New York Daily News, the AP, The Politico, the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, and the AP.
The Administration is delaying the rollout of its banking rescue plan in order to focus on the economic stimulus plan. The Wall Street Journal reports Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers "said the administration would delay unveiling its new bank bailout plan until Tuesday, in an effort to keep Washington's focus on the stimulus package now before Congress." The AP also reports the delay.
McClatchy reports Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner "had been scheduled to deliver a speech at noon Monday to spell out what the administration plans to do with the second half of $700 billion bailout that was approved last year in an effort to thaw credit markets and get the ailing banking sector on its feet again. But administration officials pushed that presentation to Tuesday as they stressed the need for passage of the stimulus bill."
The Washington Post reports in a front page story that the rescheduled announcement of the financial rescue plan came as part of "senior Obama administration officials" bid "to intensify pressure on Congress" to "pass a massive stimulus package for the crumbling economy."
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports the "core elements" of the "financial rescue plan to be announced on Tuesday" by Geithner include "guarantees on bank assets, expanded financing for credit markets, capital injections in the form of convertible shares and subsidies for anti-foreclosure programmes." The "main uncertainty revolves around whether there will also be a toxic asset purchase programme to help banks dispose of securities that have already been heavily written down.'
The Wall Street Journal reports Secretary Geithner "is expected to announce that the government will become a partner with the private sector to purchase banks' troubled assets, according to people familiar with the matter." The aggregator bank "would be seeded with funds from the $700 billion financial-sector bailout fund, but the idea is that most financing would come from the private sector."
The New York Times reports administration officials said the plan "was likely to depend in part on the willingness of private investors other than banks - like hedge funds, private equity funds and perhaps even insurance companies - to buy the contaminating assets that wiped out the capital of many banks."
The Politico and AFP also reports the story.
Frank: Foreclosure Aid Key Rep. Barney Frank, appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, said, "A major part of what you're going to see from the Obama administration is an effort to put substantial money into reducing foreclosures both because they are damaging socially, but even more important because, macroeconomically, until you reduce foreclosures you don't begin to get out of the problem."
Sen. John Ensign, also on NBC's Meet the Press, agreed that "the housing crisis is what has drug the rest of the economy down," but added "that's why the stimulus bill should have been focused, to a great deal, on fixing the housing problem." Rep. Mike Pence, on NBC's Meet the Press said Congress "now wants to tell the banks how to be run," after it "forced banks...in the 1990s, into making more and more bad loans."
The Politico reports Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius "is the leading contender to replace Tom Daschle as President Obama's choice for secretary of Health and Human Services, with Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen also remaining under consideration, administration officials told Politico." The AP notes "a senior administration official" said "Sebelius is near the top of...Obama's list of candidates." But "other candidates, including former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, remain in the mix."
Sanders Endorses Dean For HHS Position The Hill reports, "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the latest lawmaker to back Howard Dean, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, for secretary of Health and Human Services."
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The Washington Post, in a front-page article on Saturday, reports that according to a former top aide, Republic National Committee Chairman Michael Steele "arranged for his 2006 Senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed, his finance chairman from that campaign has told federal prosecutors. Federal agents in recent days contacted Steele's sister, a spokesman for Steele said yesterday." The Post adds that Fabian "offered the information last March as he was seeking leniency for himself during plea negotiations on unrelated fraud charges." The Washington Post reports this morning that Steele "said yesterday that there was nothing improper in a payment of more than $37,000 to his sister's company for work on his 2006 Senate campaign and that he would work with the FBI 'to clear up my good name.'" Appearing on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Steele said "that the FBI is 'winding this thing down,' although he did not explain how he knew that." The AP today adds Steele said that if his sister had not been reimbursed, "both he and his sister would be violating campaign finance laws, said Steele"
The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois Sen. Roland Burris (D) received $1.2 million in loans from businessman Joseph Stroud for his 2002 gubernatorial run, plus $375k in cash and in-kind donations, but has only repaid $6,000 an amount that "brought scrutiny from Illinois legislators last month when he appeared at a hearing over former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's possible impeachment."
The Philadelphia Inquirer that after Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman (D) was appointed to fill the seat formerly held by Vice President Joe Biden, "speculation began immediately" that he was "a loyal placeholder for the vice president's oldest son, state Attorney General Joseph R. 'Beau' Biden 3d, now in Iraq with his National Guard unit." Kaufman says, "What I'm doing is guaranteeing that in 2010 anybody who wants to run . . . can run, and no one has the advantage of having been the incumbent. I am for an open election.'"
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The Hill reports that NRSC Chairman Sen. John Cornyn "struck a positive tone for Republicans' chances in 2010, while acknowledging that moderate candidates must be embraced in order to win regions that don't run as red as his home state" of Texas. On C-Span's Newsmakers yesterday, Cornyn said, "I think everybody agrees that one thing the Republican Party needs is a fresh face and new blood, and we've got, I think, some really promising candidates who've stepped up."
U.S. News & World Report reported on its 'Washington Whispers' blog that actress Fran Drescher, who "lost out to" ex-NY20 Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in her hopes of being tapped to fill the vacated New York Senate seat, "tells Whispers that she isn't giving up her goal" and may challenge Gillibrand in the Democratic primary, though she and her allies feel she has time before she has to make a decision.
The AP reported that in the race to replace retiring Gov. Mike Rounds (R), South Dakota Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) "has a huge monetary lead in the race for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010, according to campaign finance reports filed in the past week," holding $811k in his campaign warchest, compared to $168k for state sen. Dave Knudson (R) and "only" about $15k for Brookings Mayor Scott Munsterman (R). Daugaard has also been endorsed by Rounds.
The AP reported that Vermont Secretary of State Deb Markowitz (D) "filed papers Friday saying she is raising and spending money as she explores whether to seek the office now held by four-term" Gov. Jim Douglas (R).
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Jay Leno: "President Obama getting very tough now, has imposed a $500,000 salary cap for executives getting Federal bailout money. And listen to this -- not only that, on weekends, they can only play miniature golf. No more 18 hole."
Jay Leno: "See, the whole theory behind the salary cap is if you're not performing well and you're taking taxpayer money, then that should be reflected in lower wages. Of course, under that" kind of "criteria, everybody in Congress should get what, two bucks an hour or something like that?"
Jimmy Kimmel: "Word out of the Senate tonight is that a deal has been reached on a $780 billion stimulus package. It's said to include a mixture of tax cuts, infrastructure spending, healthcare stipends, and ponies for everyone in America."
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