Hours after calling for reforms to the earmark process, President Obama yesterday signed a spending bill that contains some 9,000 earmarked projects -- described by critics as pork-barrel spending. The move sparked criticism from Republicans and some Democrats, and generated starkly negative media reviews -- including reports in all three networks that suggested that the President's action ran contrary to his own campaign rhetoric. ABC World News, for example, reported that "away from cameras," Obama "signed a massive spending bill containing roughly 9,000 earmarks, despite his past campaign rhetoric." NBC Nightly News noted "critics said the President should have put up more of a fight when it came to those pet projects." The CBS Evening News similarly reported there was "no photo-op for this signing."
McClatchy reports Obama "criticized pork barrel spending in the form of 'earmarks,'" and "then he signed a spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them, some that members of his own staff shoved in last year when they were still members of Congress." The AP reports Obama "raised the issue of earmarks in public remarks playing down their scope and possible harm in the measure."
In a story headlined "Reform Lite: Obama Goes Soft On Pork" The Politico says, "The old bulls won. Pulled between his campaign rhetoric and his own party's congressional barons...Obama largely sided with his Hill allies in unveiling an earmark proposal Wednesday that shies away from any strict crackdown on the practice."
Fox News Special Report reported the President "did not call for an end to earmarks or set a target to reduce their number or the amount of taxpayer dollars they consume. In fact, he said some earmarks should continue." The Washington Post says "Obama's call to rein in the use of earmarks was met with derision yesterday even from some of his past reformer allies, dealing an early blow to his attempt to change how business is done in Washington."
The Chicago Tribune says that "to one Republican, Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, though," the proposal "sounded like the wit who said, 'Give me sobriety, but not yet.'" The New York Times titles its report "Obama Signs Spending Bill As He Criticizes Earmarks," and notes "Obama returned fire at Republicans by implying hypocrisy on their part since they too have earmarks in the bill."
Jim VandeHei, executive editor of The Politico, said on CNN's Newsroom, "To be blunt, this is such a sideshow. Yes, the earmark process has been abused in Congress, there is no doubt about it," and it "led to several scandals over the last couple of years. But you're talking about the tiniest fraction of the Federal budget."
Obama Reversal On Signing Statement Noted The AP notes that also yesterday, "two days after criticizing his predecessor for issuing guidelines on how to put legislation into practice," Obama "issued such a directive himself." In his "signing statement," the President "objected to provisions of the bill that he said the Justice Department had advised 'raise constitutional concerns.'"
The Christian Science Monitor asks whether President Obama is "taking on too much" at the outset of his Administration, saying that the "first 50 days" have seen "a whirlwind of activity -- a record $787 billion economic stimulus bill, summits on fiscal responsibility and healthcare, a raft of executive orders undoing Bush-era policies." The White House "has not hidden the fact that it sees a limited window to enact its agenda, almost like a game of 'beat the clock.'"
Under the headline "Obama's Honeymoon Bliss Fading," The Hill (3/12, Bolton) says that clock may be ticking, writing that "Obama's honeymoon is beginning to fade. Members of Congress and old political hands say he needs to show substantial progress reviving the economy soon." Some Democrats worry voters "don't and won't understand the link between economic revival and Obama's huge agenda, which includes saving the banking industry, ending home foreclosures, reforming healthcare and developing a national energy policy, among much else."
Financial Times columnist Chrystia Freeland writes that Obama is determined "to turn the world's deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression into the beginning of a new era of progressive politics in America." On CNN's Situation Room, when asked to give President Obama a grade for his first 50 days in office, senior political analyst Gloria Borger gave Obama an "incomplete." CNN contributor Steve Hayes, of the Weekly Standard, said, "I don't grade on a curve. I would probably give him a 'D.'" Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley did not give Obama a letter grade, but asserted "he still gets an 'A' from most of the American public. That's what matters."
Economists "Fail" Obama, Geithner The Wall Street Journal reports President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner "received failing grades for their efforts to revive the economy from participants in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey." The assessment of economists "stands in stark contrast with Mr. Obama's popularity with the public, with a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll giving him a 60% approval rating. A majority of the 49 economists polled said they were dissatisfied with the administration's economic policies."
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During an interview with journalists for regional papers, including a McClatchy reporter, President Obama "weighed in Wednesday on the escalating drug war on the US-Mexico border, saying that he was looking at possibly deploying National Guard troops to contain the violence but ruled out any immediate military move." Said the President, "I don't have a particular tipping point in mind," but "I think it's unacceptable if you've got drug gangs crossing our borders and killing US citizens."
The Dallas Morning News reports that Obama said the cartel violence merits "top-level attention," but "it isn't time to send US troops." Noting the appointment of Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and the removal of cabinet-level status for ONDCP, the Morning News adds that Obama "bristled at the suggestion that means he isn't as serious about fighting drugs. 'The implication was somehow that I think we should weaken our drug laws. That's never been my position,' Obama said."
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Express-News reports Rep. Henry Cuellar filed a bill Wednesday to "create a federal task force to coordinate efforts against drug trafficking, gun smuggling and kidnapping on the US-Mexico border." The move came a day after Rep. Jerry Lewis "called on the Pentagon to use helicopters, drones and military patrols along the US-Mexico border."
And the Yuma Sun/Capitol Media Services reports Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer "on Wednesday asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to put another 250 National Guard troops along the border." In a letter to Gates, Brewer said the "request may not be her last," and that "she may soon be asking him for additional equipment - paid for by the federal government - to meet the demands the task force faces."
The AP reports, "Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said the request was prompted by a combination of Arizona's problems from immigrant and drug smuggling and rising violence in Mexico's war with drug cartels." Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith "declined to comment on Brewer's request."
In its "Washington Whispers" column, U.S. News and World Report reports, "Mexico is quite particular about its sovereignty," but it "may be the ongoing cartel wars that finally bury those grudges-with diplomats picking their words carefully on both sides. 'Some of the old biases against cooperation between our militaries and so on, I think, are being satisfied,' Defense Secretary Robert Gates said recently, discussing the drug violence that has killed 1,000 people this year alone."
The Politico reports House Minority Whip Eric Cantor "didn't rule out the idea of a second stimulus package and said Wednesday he would be willing to sit down with the White House and congressional Democrats to discuss any new emergency spending proposals." However, Cantor, speaking at a Capitol Hill forum, said he "would only support a bill that differed from the first stimulus and included additional tax cuts for small businesses." AFP reports, however, that both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner said they "would oppose another economic stimulus package."
Fox News' Special Report reported, "House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey says he has directed staffers to begin preparing options for a second stimulus bill, but Obey says it is too early to be moving forward with any new spending plan." Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday "left the door open for a stimulus sequel. She said some time was needed, however, to see how the first stimulus impacts the economy."
Meanwhile, Roll Call reports, "House and Senate Republicans are hoping to re-engage the public in the energy debate that they started last summer, but this time in the form of GOP stimulus legislation." Sen. David Vitter, Rep. John Shadegg, and others "unveiled their 'no-cost stimulus' package that bears a striking resemblance to the pro-drilling energy legislation that House Republicans rallied around all last summer." They say the bill "can save more than 2 million jobs and $10 trillion in the gross domestic product."
Unemployment Up In 49 States, DC The Wall Street Journal reports, "Unemployment rates rose in nearly every state in January, illustrating that no region has been immune to the recession that has grown broader as it has deepened." The "highest unemployment rates were in manufacturing-heavy states in the Midwest, and in states that suffered the most from the housing bust, including California, Nevada and Florida."
The AP reports jobless rates "rose in 49 states and the District of Columbia." Louisiana "was the only state to record a drop." USA Today says unemployment topped 10 percent in four states. Michigan's unemployment rate "was 11.6%, up 4.3 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest for any state." California, Rhode Island, and South Carolina hit "jobless rates in the double digits" for the first time during the current recession. Bloomberg News reports US companies "have announced more than 823,347 job cuts" since Election Day 2008.
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The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Norm Coleman's (R) case in the Minnesota Senate trial, "once built on the prospects of counting thousands of rejected absentee ballots, is now down to 1,360 ballots or fewer," according to his lawyers, and "if the court accepts all of the 1,360 ballots for counting, it's not clear Coleman's gains would be large." Meanwhile, a separate story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, "The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how personal details on thousands of campaign contributors to" Coleman "were dug out of his database and posted on the Internet."
The Wilmington News Journal reports that a Public Policy Polling (D) survey of 728 Delaware residents shows DE-AL Rep. Mike Castle (R) would top state Attorney General Beau Biden (D), the VP's son, 44%-36% in a hypothetical 2010 Senate matchup.
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The Washington Post reports, "After a presidential election that helped spark the appointment of four senators and a burst of related controversy," members "of House and Senate Judiciary subcommittees" met yesterday to debate "a proposed constitutional amendment that would end the practice of allowing governors to make interim appointments to fill vacant Senate seats, instead requiring that all such openings be filled via election." The AP adds, "Problems with the constitutional amendment were raised by several experts testifying at the hearing," including the time it takes to organize elections and the low turnouts of such contests.
The Washington Times reports that RNC chair Michael Steele, who has already drawn fire for a number of his recent pronouncements, "called abortion 'an individual choice' during a GQ magazine interview, though he also said the Supreme Court 'wrongly decided' the 1973 case that struck down state limits on abortion and made it an individual right."
The Politico reports that New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) "has launched an inquiry into potential voter fraud and disenfranchisement" in the 2008 presidential election, focusing on an MIT report "estimating that as many as seven million voters were kept from casting ballots in November."
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In his 'Granite Status' column in the New Hampshire Union Leader, John DiStaso writes that businessman Jim Wieczorek (R) is "thinking seriously" of joining the crowded GOP field running for NH1 Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's (D) seat, saying he is concerned about the "totally reckless massive spending" by Congress.
The AP reports that according to Levi Johnston, he "and Bristol Palin, the teenage daughter of" Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), "have broken off their engagement...about 2 1/2 months after the couple had a baby."
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Jay Leno: "Hey, before we get started tonight, I want to remind any potential cabinet members you have until April 15th to not pay your taxes, okay?"
Jay Leno: "And there was a big rally on Wall Street yesterday after Citigroup reported a profit for the first two months of the year. That just goes to show you what determination, hard work, and $45 billion of our bailout dollars can do."
Jimmy Fallon: "President Obama created a new White House Council on Women and Girls," which "deals with all things related to women. When Bill Clinton heard about it, he said, 'Why didn't I think of that?'"
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