President Obama yesterday outlined his plans for education reform in a speech to the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The address is receiving largely positive media coverage, with a number of print stories and analyses crediting the President with taking on the teachers' unions, considered a key Democratic constituency. The New York Times says Obama called for "sweeping changes" in a speech that "reflected his party's belief that education at all levels was underfinanced in the Bush years and that reform should encompass more than demands that schools show improved test scores." Obama, however, also "showed a willingness to challenge teachers' unions and public school systems, and to continue to demand more accountability." The Politico says Obama "for the first time confronted a powerful constituency in his own party: teachers' unions." He did so when he "proposed spending additional money on effective teachers in up to 150 additional school districts, fulfilling a campaign promise that once earned him boos from members of the National Education Association. ... Obama's embrace of merit pay won't go over well among a group that often provides key funding and foot soldiers for Democratic campaigns." Similarly, the Wall Street Journal reports Obama proposed "ideas long troubling to teachers' unions."
However, the AP notes that "despite their history on the issues, union leaders publicly welcomed Obama's words, saying it seems clear he wants to include them in his decisions." Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said, "We finally have an education president." NEA president Dennis van Roekel "insisted that Obama's call for teacher performance pay does not necessarily mean raises or bonuses would be tied to student test scores." Yet "administration officials said later they do mean higher pay based on student achievement, among other things." McClatchy also notes Obama "didn't mention the simmering dispute over" Washington DC's voucher program, which Congressional Democrats "were poised to wipe out."
On its front page, the Washington Post reports Obama said, "For decades, Washington has been trapped in the same stale debates that have paralyzed progress and perpetuated our educational decline. ... Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though it can make a difference in the classroom. Too many in the Republican Party have opposed new investments in early education, despite compelling evidence of its importance." Bloomberg News reports, "Without spelling out details, Obama has said he would retool the No Child Left Behind Act...to set more uniform and rigorous standards for tests on reading and mathematics in elementary schools." USA Today calls Obama's agenda "ambitious," though it adds his address included "sweeping goals but few specifics." The Los Angeles Times says "much of" the speech "focused not on detailing federal programs but on encouraging Americans to raise the standards on their own."
Under the headline "WH Hits 50-day Mark With Pride," The Politico reports that "the White House is declaring that Americans should be 'proud' of all the new president has gotten done." ABC World News reported, "Creating jobs and fixing the economy, of course, are cornerstones of...Obama's administration, hardly a day has gone by during his first 50 days in office that he hasn't spoken about those issues. But his agenda has been chock full of other initiatives, as well. And that's the rub. ... In a time of economic crisis...some question attempting to do so much simultaneously." NBC Nightly News similarly reported, "The President's first seven weeks have been a whirlwind with often dramatic movement in all directions, on all fronts...which raises the question, talked about on cable all day long. Is it all too much for any one administration?"
Fox News' Special Report said Congressional Republicans "complained that...Obama and Democrats are taxing too much, spending too much and borrowing too much. They say this is their mantra for the weeks and months ahead." ABC World News also reported "some critics say that President Obama is spending too much money and getting too little bang for the buck. Today, a leading Democratic economist, Mark Zandi, said that the administration's stimulus package would create 1 million fewer jobs than the White House has predicted."
Obama "Approval Index" At New Low Fox News' Special Report also reported, "Rasmussen's tracking poll shows the difference between people who approve of the President's performance and those who do not. It is the smallest since he took office. Rasmussen calls this the 'Presidential Approval Index,' it stands at six," with "38% approving 32% disapproving."
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The Hill reports Sen. Kent Conrad, Senate Budget Committee chairman, said yesterday that President Obama's proposed budget "doesn't have enough support from lawmakers to pass." Conrad "urged White House budget director Peter Orszag not to 'draw lines in the sand' with lawmakers, most notably on Obama's plan for a cap-and-trade system to curb carbon emissions." According to the AP reports "Conrad himself is part of Obama's problem. He is among those who oppose the president's bid to eliminate subsidies to farms with more than $500,000 in annual sales." The AP adds that "also unpopular with many Democratic lawmakers is the president's proposal to reduce the tax deductibility of mortgage payments and charitable gifts by households making more than $250,000 a year." House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel "said he worries there would be fewer donations to groups that help the needy 'during a time of crisis.'" The Politico reports Sen. Chuck Grassley is "fired up about...Obama's plan to trim some Medicare reimbursement rates that may disproportionately affect rural populations." Said Grassley, "I want to make sure if we have a national system of health care it is going to deliver the same thing in Iowa as it does in California, because for 40 years it didn't."
The Washington Post reports the Senate "gave final approval last night to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections." The bill "includes thousands of controversial earmarks inserted by members of both parties." President Obama "has indicated that he will sign the legislation despite having misgivings about the earmarks." The Los Angeles Times reports Sen. John McCain "repeatedly attacked the spending bill," saying yesterday, "Somehow it has been accepted around here that earmarks are a standard practice. ... The message is that it is business as usual here in Washington, while unemployment is 8.1%. ... If the president were serious about his pledge for change he would veto this bill. He won't."
According to The Politico, "just to get to the final cloture roll call," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "had to first beat back a series a series of politically punishing Republican amendments." The Politico adds that "the most dangerous was offered by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) requiring the House and Senate to vote on any future cost-of-living increases for lawmakers rather than allow the pay adjustment to take effect automatically." The Hill also refers to Vitter's amendment as the "biggest test of the omnibus," adding that "had the Senate adopted" it, the Senate "could have scuttled the omnibus."
The AP says that "within Democratic ranks, there was relief, not jubilation." The Wall Street Journal notes the vote "did not fall strictly along party lines. The eight Republicans who supported the bill included members of the Senate Appropriations Committee who had helped to draft it." Three Democrats, Sens. Evan Bayh, Russ Feingold and Claire McCaskill "opposed the bill as wasteful," and those "defections were small but could signal problems for Mr. Reid as he tries to hold his troops together as Congress faces an array of complex bills."
Cuba Travel Restrictions Eased AFP notes the measure "eases Cold War-inspired restrictions on Cuba," blocking "enforcement of rules that keep Cuban-Americans from visiting their homeland more than once every three years, allowing them to visit once per year instead. It would also expand the definition of 'close relative' to allow Cuban-Americans to visit cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles, in addition to parents, grandparents, children and siblings." The bill "would allow Cuban-Americans to spend up to 179 dollars per day while in Cuba, and would also ease some restrictions on food and medicine sales to Cuba -- but it does not lift the US embargo." The Financial Times says the change marks "the most concrete sign yet of a softer approach under...Obama to the hemisphere's longest-running dispute."
The Politico reports Charles W. Freeman's "abrupt withdrawal from his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council came after he drew fire on a number of fronts -- including questions about his financial ties to China and Saudi Arabia." The Politico adds, however, that "the most heated opposition came from supporters of Israel - and Freeman's departure shows Obama's reluctance to signal a dramatic change to a U.S. policy in the Middle East." Freeman "left no doubt about where he places blame in a written statement after his withdrawal. 'The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired, still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in the Middle East,' he wrote. 'The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth.'"
The Financial Times reports Freeman "stepped down after a barrage of criticism from the pro-Israel lobby," while The Hill says he withdrew "after facing strong opposition from Senate Republicans." The Washington Post reports that Rep. Steve Israel "one of the first congressmen to raise questions about Freeman...said yesterday that he spoke of his concerns last week to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and later sent him materials about the former ambassador's statements and associations."
The Wall Street Journal notes that "just hours earlier," DNI Dennis Blair "had defended Mr. Freeman at a Senate hearing under sharp questioning from Sen. Joseph Lieberman." The Journal reports "critics called Mr. Freeman anti-Israel and cited a comment in which he said the Chinese government acted too slowly to crack down on protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989." According to the AP, "Freeman's financial, personal and business ties with the governments of China and Saudi Arabia have also been called into account. He was president of the Middle East Policy Council, which received some funding from the Saudi government, and he is on the international board of advisers to a Chinese-government owned oil company."
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The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Illinois Sen. Roland Burris' (D) "statewide support seemingly has dwindled as criticism over his appointment grows" and a new Zogby poll shows him pulling just 5% in a hypothetical Democratic primary, with state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) pulling 28% and state Comptroller Dan Hynes (D) taking 27%. The Hill adds the primary could be even more crowded, as former Commerce Secretary William Daley (D) and IL9 Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D) are both considering bids.
The Hill reports, "Amid the soap opera-like drama that has become" Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning's (R) "political future, the lawmaker has commissioned the first poll of his bid for a third term - and he's not releasing the results. 'It's none of your godd---ed business,' Bunning told reporters on a morning conference call, when asked about the poll's results. 'If you paid the 20 grand for the poll, you can get some information out of it.'" McClatchy adds, "When a reporter asked if Bunning's decision to keep the poll numbers private infers that he isn't happy with the results, he responded: 'You are going to infer any damn thing you choose, so why should I try to influence it.'"
The Politico reports a new Quinnipiac University poll of 1,238 registered Connecticut voters taken March 3-8 shows former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) leading Sen. Chris Dodd (D) 43%-42%. However, in a hypothetical match-up with CNBC host Larry Kudlow (R), Dodd leads 46%-34%. Roll Call adds that while Simmons "has not announced his candidacy yet, the former Congressman said in a phone interview Tuesday that he thought the poll was 'fantastic' and 'unbelievable.'" Simmons added that while he's not an official candidate yet, "it looks like my exploring days are going to come to an end pretty soon."
The AP reports that Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken (D) said yesterday he sees "a light at the end of the tunnel" in the ongoing battle for the seat, and yesterday traveled to DC to meet with Democratic senators. The Politico adds that while Franken said Tuesday that he's "optimistic that a three-judge panel reviewing his 225-vote lead over Republican Norm Coleman will soon rule in his favor," if Franken ultimately wins and Norm Coleman (R) appeals, "it would land in the state Supreme Court."
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The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a Zogby International online survey of 644 likely Illinois voters conducted Feb. 20- 23 shows Illinois AG Lisa Madigan (D) leading Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn 41%-29.5% in a hypothetical Democratic gubernatorial primary match-up.
Roll Call reports, "After dodging arrows from his own party for a series of media missteps," RNC Chief Michael Steele "is now tempting the fire of" GOP "Senators, who fear that his lackluster management of their national party organization could cost them at the polls in 2010." However, the AP adds that while Steele "stands as a lightning rod for critics and comedians," he is "being embraced by state GOP leaders and grass-roots activists still reeling after crushing losses on George W. Bush's watch."
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Jay Leno: "The stock market went up 379 points today. President Obama says he has no idea why, but he's asking all Americans to do the same thing tomorrow you did today. Eat the same breakfast, wear the same clothes, drive the same don't change anything!"
Jay Leno: "President Obama" is still having "a problem...filling his cabinet positions." CNN "medical expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta," turned "down the job of surgeon general. He was very honest. He said he didn't want to take the big pay cut." In response, Obama "said, 'Hey, don't worry about it. After my tax hike, it will work out to be the same money anyway.'"
David Letterman: "Thank you. As the octo-mom said, 'That was more than I was expecting.' By the way," Rush Limbaugh, "as you know, is the new face of the Republican Party. Have you seen this guy? I mean, he looks like he's carrying octuplets."
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