Coverage of the Senate debate on the $410 billion omnibus spending bill focuses mainly on the earmarks contained in the bill. Most reports, including reports on all three networks, reflect negatively on the White House and Democratic lawmakers. Under the headline "Democrats Stop Effort To Remove Earmarks," the Washington Post reports "the Senate approved $10 million in funding yesterday for clients of" the PMA Group, "a now-disbanded lobbying firm that is under federal investigation for alleged fraud in political contributions to members of Congress, while approving an additional $16 million for pet projects such as a water-taxi service and manure management." Roll Call notes the vote on a proposal to strip the PMA earmarks was 43-52, "closer than expected, with a number of Democrats waiting until the waning moments to cast their votes." The Politico says the Republican amendments were "intended to embarrass the majority and President Barack Obama over the thousands of spending earmarks in the giant package," and "those Democrats running for re-election in 2010 appear most skittish." On CNN's The Situation Room, Sen. Russ Feingold called the earmarks "monkey business we have to get rid of."
ABC World News reported, "You may ask, didn't the presidential candidates last fall agree to get rid of earmarks?" The CBS Evening News notes "several Administration officials will get to keep the earmarks they inserted before leaving Congress, including Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." NBC Nightly News reported, "This did start under the President Bush administration. That is true. But it's being debated and changed right now"
Meanwhile, The Hill reports President Obama invited Sen. McCain "to the White House on Wednesday, despite his having given the Monday floor speech that ripped Obama and senior White House officials for what he called their disingenuous stance on earmarks." McCain "told The Hill that Obama pledged, during their meeting, to work with him on earmarks, which Senate observers interpreted as an effort by the president to mend an important relationship."
The Politico reports "most earmarks" in the bill "are spelled out in an accompanying legislative report --not the legislation itself," so "the president could defy lawmakers by simply refusing to recognize the report language as having the force of law."
Reports Conflict On Bill's Chances In Senate The AP reports Democrats, who have 58 seats, "probably will need votes from perhaps five or six Republicans if the measure is to pass Thursday night or Friday." Last night, "Democratic leaders were cautiously optimistic...they could do just that." Fox News Special Report reported, "Democratic leaders are increasingly worried that they may not have the needed 60 votes to pass that $410 billion spending plan for this year in the Senate." Roll Call says "Democratic defections and only modest GOP support threaten to make this week's expected vote on final passage a squeaker."
White House Softens Line-Item Veto Support The Hill reports the White House "softened its support for line-item veto power Wednesday, prompting Republican supporters of the measure to accuse...Obama of backing down in order to placate senior Democrats in Congress." The AP notes the President "thinks the best way to reduce wasteful spending is for lawmakers in both parties to work with him to do it, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday."
CNN's The Situation Room reported, "Even as President Obama vows to crack down on wasteful spending, critics complain that some of the economic stimulus money that has already been passed is not -- repeat -- not being used wisely." The "nation's first project paid for by the nearly $800 billion stimulus bill" is "a bridge across the Osage River in Missouri." It's "about three hours from Missouri's second largest city, St. Louis, where the mayor is not happy about the bridge. He says stimulus money in his state is going to rural, far-flung projects almost forgotten -- until stimulus money started flowing from Washington."
ABC World News reported, "The government is now ready to start writing the checks to get people working again." In "cities and towns across country, in order to be shovel ready, they're getting the workers ready." ABC continued, "With hundreds of millions of dollars in the pipeline from Washington, contractors are hiring now."
Some Cities Creating Their Own Stimulus Plans The Christian Science Monitor reports that "a handful of cities," including New York, Boston, and San Francisco, are "not waiting for a federal stimulus to see their businesses through the current crisis." They are implementing their own stimulus plans, believing that "the scope of the problem demands action."
And the Wall Street Journal reports, "Municipalities around the country are looking to merge services, departments and even themselves in an effort to cut costs in the recession." The idea "has been gaining popularity for some time, but is getting a stronger push now."
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The Wall Street Journal reports President Obama is "meeting strong Democratic Party resistance to his proposal to reduce tax deductions enjoyed by upper-income Americans and is signaling he may drop the idea." Obama's budget blueprint "proposed a cap on itemized deductions for mortgage interest and charitable donations to help pay for his health-care overhaul." But after "objections from Democratic lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner indicated Wednesday that the administration was willing to consider dropping or modifying the proposal."
The AP reports President Obama's "proposal to limit itemized tax deductions for high earners is running into opposition from key Democrats in Congress who worry that charities and the housing market would be hurt." Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus "questioned Wednesday whether the proposal was viable, a day after his House counterpart also expressed reservations."
The AP reports Treasury Secretary Geithner defended "proposed tax increases on the wealthy, saying they are necessary to limit future budget deficits."
Boehner Directly Targeting Obama Budget The Politico reports House Minority Leader John A. Boehner "has shifted gears and gone directly at President Barack Obama and the budget blueprint his White House unveiled last week." As the "markets continue to falter, Republicans are becoming more confident in their criticisms of the president -- some have already taken to using the phrase 'the Obama economy.'"
The Politico reports House Republican leaders "launched an assault on President Obama's economic agenda today, suggesting the president was out of touch after he compared the stock market to a tracking poll on Tuesday." House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said, "It's not a tracking poll. It's real. The stock market reflects real money, it reflects real loss."
The White House on Wednesday unveiled its foreclosure prevention plan to largely positive media coverage. The story was the lead on each of the network newscasts, which focused on explaining the details of the two-part, $275 billion plan. Several sources, such as ABC and the Wall Street Journal, noted the positive response from the stock markets. ABC World News reported, "If you live in your house and are struggling with your mortgage, the government has got a $75 billion plan for you. And maybe, just maybe those $75 billion will bring stability to everyone's home price." The CBS Evening News reported, "Many homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages. Today, President Obama rolled out a plan that could help as many as nine million of them." NBC Nightly News reported, "Administration officials admit the plan is not meant to save every borrower, but millions of Americans could benefit from the latest government bailout."
McClatchy reports the Obama Administration "detailed its ambitious $275 billion plan to halt soaring foreclosures nationwide, outlining the financial incentives it's offering investors, lenders and their bill collectors to lure them into modifying distressed mortgages to keep Americans in their homes." The Wall Street Journal says the Administration, "which was criticized for its rollout of its financial-sector rescue last month, got a generally warmer reception for the details of the foreclosure program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 149.82 points, or 2.2%, snapping a dismal losing streak in recent days."
The New York Times reported banks that "receive additional bailout funds must participate. In addition, the administration has instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-controlled mortgage-finance companies, to refinance homeowners at today's low market rates even if those people have less than the standard 20 percent equity usually required by lenders." USA Today reports adds Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said, "Today's announcement means you should call your lender to find out if you qualify. This should get the ball rolling."
The Washington Post reports, "Several large lenders praised the program, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. There were also converts among those outside the industry."
The Financial Times reports, "Lenders and servicers welcomed the plan on Wednesday as providing the first comprehensive scheme for easing the crisis, which they say has worsened in part because struggling homeowners have held out for the latest government bail-out."
Did Former Fannie Mae CEO Get Mortgage Deal? The Washington Post reports Franklin D. Raines, "the former chief executive of Fannie Mae, used a special program at mortgage lender Countrywide Financial to receive a below-market rate on a home loan, contrary to sworn testimony he made to Congress in December, according to the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government." The Hill reports Rep. Darrell Issa is "sending a letter on Wednesday to Raines's lawyer, Kevin Downey, saying that documents Raines provided on Jan. 29 indicate that he knew he was receiving benefits on a June 2003 loan as part of the 'Friends of Angelo' program. Angelo Mozilo was the chief executive at Countrywide."
The AP reports, "Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday that poor children getting vouchers to attend private schools in the District of Columbia should be allowed to stay there, putting the Obama administration at odds with Democrats trying to end the program." The Washington Post notes that "in an interview with Washington Post editors and reporters," Duncan said yesterday that "he opposed any move to disrupt the schooling of children now in the program but that vouchers were not the answer to school improvement in the District or elsewhere. 'You need to fix the DC school system,' Duncan said." Duncan also said yesterday that "history has shown that money alone does not drive school improvement...pointing to the District of Columbia, where public school students consistently score near the bottom on national reading and math tests even though the school system spends more per pupil than its suburban counterparts do." Said the Secretary, "DC has had more money than God for a long time, but the outcomes are still disastrous."
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The Hill reports, "White House efforts to highlight Rush Limbaugh as the face of the" GOP "dominated another news cycle Wednesday, much to the chagrin of House GOP leaders," who "said Americans are more concerned about the economy and President Obama's budget than they are with Limbaugh." Fox News Special Report reported, "Why would Democrats want to elevate Limbaugh this way? Because Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg and CNN commentator James Carville started polling last fall and found Limbaugh is a good whipping boy to rally liberal troops." However, the Washington Times adds, "The White House on Wednesday fessed up to lowering the quality of public discourse and acknowledged that its sniping at radio show host Rush Limbaugh has been 'counterproductive,' even as Democratic political committees continued to use the issue in a political line of attack approved by the Obama administration itself."
After Norm Coleman (R) suggested earlier this week that a re-do of the Minnesota senate race might be necessary, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that in the trial over the race, Al Franken's (D) lawyer Marc Elias said that the state election system got "it right 99.99 percent of the time" and that his team "will move today to dismiss parts of the election recount trial."
The Washington Post reports that the effort to give DC a seat in the US House, "once seemingly on the cusp of legislative approval, stalled indefinitely yesterday as key supporters offered no timetable or strategy for scheduling the D.C. vote bill, which House leaders pulled back this week."
The Politico reports that RNC Chairman Michael Steele yesterday "refused to retreat on his pledge to back primary challengers against the three GOP senators," Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins, "who voted in favor of President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus," but added, "the reality is that that's something that is going to come from" the state Republican parties.
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The Hill reports, "Coming off a surprisingly close reelection race in 2008," MI11 Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R) "dodged a bullet Wednesday when state House Speaker Andy Dillon (D) told national Democrats he would not run in 2010."
The Greenville (SC) News reports that SC3 Rep. Gresham Barrett (R) officially entered the South Carolina gubernatorial race yesterday, but The State adds that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R) and Attorney General Henry McMaster (R) "also are considering bids."
The Miami Herald reports that "without any fanfare," former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) "registered as a Senate candidate one month ago, hired a prized fundraiser of former Gov. Jeb Bush, and conducted a national search for a campaign manager," but said yesterday he is still only "testing the waters" for a run for the seat being vacated by Florida Sen. Mel Martinez (R).
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Jay Leno: "Well, folks, it's happened again. President Obama's latest nominee for US trade representative, a man named Ron Kirk," owes "$10,000 in unpaid back taxes. Apparently, when it comes to taxes, 'yes, we can' is now, 'no, we didn't.'"
David Letterman: "Here's a great story. In New Jersey, somebody bought a lottery ticket" and won "$212 million. ... Now, under the new Obama plan, after taxes, that person will have enough money left over to buy another lottery ticket."
David Letterman: "By the way, ladies and gentlemen, Rush Limbaugh is the new face of the Republican Party. And I'm thinking, if I see any more of Rush Limbaugh, I'm going to have to send my housekeeper out to buy me painkillers."
Jimmy Fallon: "The Republican Party said it would donate Sarah Palin's $150,000 wardrobe to a needy cause. That's nice, that's nice. They looked around. It turns out the neediest cause is the Republican Party."
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