White House aides indicated that President Obama will sign a $410 billion spending bill, even though it contains thousands of special projects or earmarks. The AP reports the White House "on Sunday downplayed massive deficit spending and President Barack Obama's pledge not to sign legislation laden with billions in earmarks amid Republican criticism that he was recanting on a key campaign promise."
The New York Times reports Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "said Sunday that President Obama would sign a $410 billion spending bill that includes thousands of pet projects, known as earmarks, despite campaign promises to put an end to the practice." Republican leaders, "meanwhile, accused the president of breaking his promises to change Washington's ways."
Roll Call reports, "Tucked into the 2009 omnibus spending bill that Congress is now deliberating is a $3 million provision that is not identified as an earmark and has no sponsor's name attached, but it appears to be the legacy of Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), a revered Member who left the House a decade ago." The provision "apparently has appeared in spending bills for so long that it has escaped the new requirements that the sponsors and beneficiaries of earmarks be disclosed, and even the recipients of the money could not explain how the language ended up in this year's spending bill."
Newsweek reports that when President Obama "was wooing" Rep. Charlie Dent "and other Republicans," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "was going in the opposite direction." To the "ire of Republicans, and some Democrats, Pelosi maneuvered to put the stimulus package on an emergency fast track, cutting short debate on the bill and cutting Republicans out of the discussion." Dent said, "I believe the president was absolutely sincere in looking for a bipartisan outcome. But the White House lost control of the process when the bill was outsourced to Pelosi."
Meanwhile, Kenneth T. Walsh writes in US News Weekly that Republican Party's "challenge is to find a way to clearly define itself as a party and block what the Republicans consider to be Democratic excesses without seeming obstructionist and, at the same time, show a pragmatic desire to get results for the American people."
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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag on Sunday defended President Obama's budget blueprint on Sunday talk shows as Republican lawmakers stepped up their criticism. On CBS's Face The Nation, Emanuel outlined the major components of the budget and added, "The Republicans will have an opportunity not just to criticize, but to propose. And the question is, will they continue the path of the seven years that have got us to the point of basically a culture of rising deficits and more and more consumer spending?" On ABC's This Week, Orszag said, "I just reject the theory that the only thing that drives economic performance is the marginal tax rate on wealthy Americans and the only way of being pro-market is to funnel billions and billions of dollars of subsidies to corporations. ... We've seen what the effects are over the last eight years."
The New York Times reports the Obama Administration "this weekend pursued a vigorous offensive to sell its economic program, counterattacking strongly against Republicans who call the new budget plan 'mind-boggling' in its numbers and ambition." The CBS Evening News reported Republicans call it a plan to redistribute wealth, robbing from the rich to pay the poor and leaving future generations to pick up the massive tab."
Sen. Jon Kyl, on Fox News Sunday, said Obama's budget is "terrifying in the policy implications as well as mind-boggling in the numbers." Rep. Paul Ryan, on the same program, added, "This is probably the biggest rewrite or transformation of our federal budget since the New Deal."
Rep. Eric Cantor, also on ABC's This Week, said, "What we see in this budget, frankly, is an attempt, again, to try and stimulate the economy through government expenditure. And, you know, at best what that can do is redistribute wealth." In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rep. Paul Ryan says President Obama's budget "does provide some certainty about where we are headed: higher taxes on small businesses, work and capital investment."
AFP reports Republicans "signaled they are ready to seize a gauntlet thrown down by US President Barack Obama over his whopping 3.55 trillion dollar budget, heralding a bruising Congress battle ahead." The Hill reports Emanuel said "the GOP has failed to propose alternatives to President Obama's $3.55 trillion budget outline, which he said would take the country in a different direction from the last seven years under President Bush." The Washington Post reports Emanuel "portrayed the president's budget -- which envisions huge investments in alternative energy, education and health care while raising taxes on top income earners and oil and gas companies -- as essential to reshaping the nation's economy."
The Wall Street Journal reports Republican congressional leaders "ramped up criticism of President Barack Obama's budget proposal, even as they conceded that they likely won't be able to block it."
In separate interviews Sunday, two top US officials appeared to present opposing statements on Iran's nuclear program. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen was asked on CNN's State of the Union if Iran has "enough fissile material to make a bomb," Mullen responded, "We think they do, quite frankly. And Iran having a nuclear weapon I've believed for a long time is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world."
And Defense Secretary Gates, on NBC's Meet the Press, said, "I think that there has been a continuing focus on how do you get the Iranians to walk away from a nuclear weapons program. They're not close to a stockpile, they're not close to a weapon at this point and so there is some time."
The AP notes the apparent discrepancy, while the New York Times says Mullen's remarks "went further than previous, official judgments of the Iranian nuclear threat, and it essentially confirmed a new report" by the IAEA, "which found that Iran had enough nuclear material for a bomb." But noting Gates' remarks, the Times says he "underscored the opportunities for diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, especially with the drop in oil prices and broader global economic pressures."
Plans For Obama Helicopter Leaked To Iran Fox News reports on its Website that "a Pennsylvania company that monitors peer-to-peer file-sharing networks discovered a potentially serious security breach involving President Obama's helicopter, Marine One," WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported. Tiversa CEO Bob Boback "said a defense contractor in Bethesda, Md., had a file sharing program on one of their systems that contained highly sensitive blueprints for Marine One and financial information about the cost of the helicopter."
NBC Nightly News reported on the state of the Marine One program, noting the "cost has almost doubled to $11.2 billion or about $480 million per helicopter." The "new, armored 64-foot long helicopter is supposed to fly farther and faster, fend off missiles and resist some effects of a nuclear blast all while carrying 14 passengers and thousands of pounds of secure communications gear. The latest Pentagon review says perceived urgency led to unrealistic timelines and underestimated costs." If the "project is to move forward, Defense Secretary Gates must determine that the helicopters are vital to national security and that there are no less costly alternatives. Critics are urging Gates to scrap the program altogether."
On Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates sounded an optimistic note on Iraq, suggesting that the US would be able to go ahead with plans to withdraw combat troops. AFP reports Gates "on Sunday touted military 'success' in Iraq and said it was unlikely that conditions would force a change in plans to withdraw most US troops within 18 months." AFP adds that "asked if the United States will have achieved victory when it pulls out of Iraq, Gates said 'we have had a significant success (on) the military side,' while acknowledging 'the political side is still a work in progress in Iraq.'"
The New York Times also notes Gates "defended President Obama's strategy for withdrawing troops from Iraq." The "timing" of Obama's proposed "withdrawal and his decision to leave as many as 50,000 troops in that country have drawn criticism from ranks within his own party." Gates "responded that the figure came from a dialogue with the joint chiefs and their chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, commanders in the field and the president." The Washington Times notes Gates said "the decision was reached after thorough consultations between the president and military personnel, as well as 'a lot of analysis of the risks that were involved.'"
Describing the role of US troops in Iraq beyond August 2010, Gates said on NBC's Meet The Press, "They do have a very different mission, but that mission will be principally a training, assistance, advisory role. There will be a limited counterterrorism operations aspect to it, and we will still have some soldiers embedded with Iraqi units as part of...the training effort." The Politico reports, "The secretary's comment should reassure Democratic skeptics who have said they are worried about possible loopholes in the president's announcement."
Meanwhile, The Politico reports that Gates "also told moderator David Gregory that President Obama 'is somewhat more analytical' than his predecessor." On NBC's Meet The Press, Gates said, "I think that probably President Obama is, is somewhat more analytical, and, and, he makes sure he hears from everybody in the room on an issue. And if they don't speak up, he calls on them. President Bush was interested in hearing different points of view but didn't go out of his way to make sure everybody spoke if they hadn't... spoken up before."
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The Chicago Tribune reports that on WGN-AM 720, Sen. Dick Durbin (D), "who advised Sen. Roland Burris last week to step down from the Senate, acknowledged Sunday that racial considerations were at play in the decision by majority Democrats to seat Burris." Durbin "noted that Rep. Bobby Rush, a Chicago Democrat, appeared at Gov. Rod Blagojevich's announcement of his appointment of Burris and used racially charged language to defend the appointment." Durbin said, "My colleague from Illinois, Congressman Bobby Rush, made strong statements along those lines. They were painful and hurtful, and it became part of this calculation." Meanwhile, in an editorial titled, "Schedule The Election," the Chicago Tribune (3/2, 577K) calls on state lawmakers to schedule a special election to replace Burris.
The Boston Globe reports RNC Chairman Michael Steele "predicted that both" Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), the state's first black governor "and President Obama will lose star power the second time around without history on their side. The president and the governor, he said, will be run-of-the-mill political incumbents and voters 'will take a more normal view' of their candidacies. 'It will be interesting to see what happens in 2012, when the novelty of having a black president has worn off,' Steele said."
The New York Daily News reported that "in a setback" for New York Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco (R), Scott Murphy (D) "has landed the Independence Party line" in the NY20 special election "after furious lobbying by both sides."
The Chicago Daily Herald reports that at least three Illinois Republicans are considering running against Gov. Pat Quinn (D), including state sen. Bill Brady (R), who is "set to officially declare his candidacy," DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett and former Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Doug Whitley.
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The Oklahoman reported that OK5 Rep. Mary Fallin (R) "confirmed to delegates and others attending Saturday's Oklahoma County Republican Convention that she intends to run for governor in 2010."
The AP reported Tennessee State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey "has told Republicans in Greene County that he will run for governor in 2010," becoming the fourth Republican to enter the race. On the Democratic side, the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reports Kim McMillan (D) "is making it official" that she will seek to succeed Gov. Phil Bredesen (D).
The Longview (TX) News-Journal reports Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer (D) is expected to announce today that he will form a committee to explore running for governor of Texas.
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The late night shows were in reruns on Friday.
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