President Obama's meeting on his budget plan with Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill led two out of three network newscasts, and is covered at length in today's major newspapers. A number of media reports suggest the President's plan may have sparked a sharp Democratic split over spending. On ABC World News, for example, George Stephanopoulos said, "The President's budget director says the budgets are 98% similar, but the Senate Democrats proposed budget cuts about $100 billion a year out of the president's budget, and it has four key changes from what the President is calling for." The Financial Times notes "the White House sought to play down differences between its blueprint and rival plans unveiled by Senate and House Democrats this week that would cut some of the president's key commitments."
Much more positive toward the Administration was the lead story on the CBS Evening News, which reported that "it looks like the President will get most of what he wants." Along similar lines, the AP refers to a "springtime show of unity."
Also very positive is the AP assessment of the President's overall approach to the current budget talks. Obama, says the AP, "is emerging as a president who avoids confrontation where possible, yields ground strategically and prefers the soft sell to the hard." The Hill, however, reports that while Obama's meeting with Democratic lawmakers was "roundly described as positive," it "appears to have left" key issues "unresolved."
The Washington Post reports, "Obama defends his proposal to cut the tax deductions that wealthy Americans can claim for their charitable donations by arguing that the shift would not have an adverse effect on giving, but two independent analyses concluded that the proposal could result in a drop of as much as $3.87 billion for the already reeling nonprofit sector."
The Washington Post says "Centrist Democrats who have complained that Obama's spending plan would drive the annual budget deficit to unacceptable levels held their tongues during the 45-minute lunchtime meeting." The New York Times reports, "some Democrats said they remained concerned about the spending and tax proposals tied to Mr. Obama's ambitious domestic agenda."
In addition to some apparent unease from moderates, The Hill reports "Obama is facing mounting pressure from his party's left flank to cut defense spending so more money can be spent on social programs."
Liberal Groups Target "Moderate Democrats" The Politico reports "MoveOn.org and Americans United for Change, the labor-backed organization that serves as the White House's chief third-party operation," yesterday "began airing ads... urging moderate Democrats in both the House and the Senate to get on board with the president's budget."
The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday considered a less punitive tax bill in response to the AIG bonus controversy, and media reports suggested cooling passions ruled the day as lawmakers considered the White House's opposition and potential unintended consequences. The AP reports lawmakers are "softening their stance on denying bonuses to employees of bailed-out financial institutions after President Barack Obama warned them against alienating the industry." Less than a week "after pushing through legislation to impose a 90 percent tax on the bonuses, the House Financial Services Committee prepared a considerably milder proposal that would let Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and financial regulators decide if employee compensation was 'unreasonable' or 'excessive.'"
The Politico reports House leaders aren't "quite as hot about taxing AIG now that many of the company's top bonus-getters are returning their cash voluntarily and the White House is signaling caution." On CNN's Situation Room, when asked whether Congress acted fairly with its bonus tax, Sen. John Ensign responded, "Typical of the House of Representatives, they acted too quickly before finding out exactly who was responsible, who shouldn't have gotten the bonuses maybe in the first place."
The Wall Street Journal reports amid the "flap over bonuses at American International Group Inc. two of the company's top managers in Paris have resigned." Representatives of "the Federal Reserve, AIG's lead U.S. overseer, are talking with French regulators and AIG officials to deal with the consequences of a complicated legal scenario in which the departures of the managers in Banque AIG, a subsidiary of AIG's Financial Products unit, could trigger defaults in $234 billion of derivative transactions."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports some AIG employees, "vilified for receiving bonuses amid the $173 billion bailout of their company, are fighting back. Wednesday, employees at the insurer gave a standing ovation for Jake DeSantis, an executive in AIG's financial-products division, who was the first to publicly refuse to return his retention bonus despite an outcry over the payments." The Financial Times reports DeSanti's resignation letter shows AIG "paid more than $40m in controversial retention bonuses to staff at its troubled financial unit in December, three months ahead of schedule."
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, University of Chicago law professor Richard A. Epstein says, "Bills now winding their way through Congress would tax between 70% and 90% of bonuses paid to any executive earning in excess of $250,000, if he or she is employed by a business that received more than $5 billion from U.S. bailout funds." While "any sensible system of limited government should consider the proposed bills unconstitutional," a "constitutional attack against any such law that might emerge faces an uphill battle. Since the New Deal, if not earlier, the courts have allowed Congress and the states to decide which economic activities to tax, and how."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
The Wall Street Journal reports Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner "briefly unsettled currency markets when he appeared willing to entertain a Chinese proposal that an international currency supplant" the dollar as the "premier global reserve currency." Taking questions at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Geithner said he was "'quite open' to the idea of a larger global-finance role" for a "melded currency used by the International Monetary Fund." Currency traders took the comment "as implied support" for a suggestion by Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China that some "cross-border currency" take the "dollar's place in central-bank reserves around the world." The Washington Post reports Geithner soon clarified his comments, saying the US "would do whatever it takes to make sure the dollar would remain the world's dominant reserve currency." The New York Times says the dollar, which "plunged" after Geithner's first comment, "rebounded later" on Geithner's clarification. The Washington Times, however, says the "damage may already have been done. By afternoon, a poor showing of buyers at a Treasury bond auction sent interest rates sharply higher, raising fears about the U.S. ability to sell a massive load of $2.5 trillion of debt this year."
The Wall Street Journal editorializes, "As if the dollar didn't have enough problems," Geithner "took China's bait" before his clarification. Geithner "is learning on the job, and yesterday's lesson is that it isn't smart to fool with currency markets when you are already tempting fate with a gigantic U.S. reflation."
Geithner Seeks Stricter Regulations On Financial Firms The Wall Street Journal reports Geithner will call today "for changes in how the government oversees risk-taking in financial markets, pushing for tougher rules on how big companies manage their finances as well as tighter controls on some hedge funds and money-market mutual funds." The move comes "just days before" Geithner and President Obama travel to London to discuss the financial crisis with world leaders. The Los Angeles Times reports the Obama Administration plans "an aggressive new push to regulate large financial corporations" that would "wreak havoc on the nation's economy should they fail."
The Washington Post reports on its front page that sources say the plan "would extend federal regulation for the first time to all trading in financial derivatives and to companies including large hedge funds and major insurers" like AIG. The White House will also "seek to impose uniform standards on all large financial firms, including banks, an unprecedented step that would place significant limits on the scope and risk of their activities." The New York Times, also on its front page, reports that if regulators "decided that a company had become 'too big to fail,'" they would "subject it to much stricter capital requirements than smaller rivals and much closer scrutiny," The Hill reports, "Financial industry trade groups on Wednesday generally supported the new resolution," but the Financial Times reports that the plan "may prove worrying to creditors."
The AP reports, "Glimmers of hope for the economy - better home sales and higher demand for goods, plus optimism from the White House and a nearly 20 percent rally in stocks - have some people wondering if the worst is over." But "many economists" say "not so fast" because "layoffs are still mounting and home prices are still falling in an economy shrinking at an alarming rate. A recovery anytime soon doesn't seem likely."
The New York Times reports in "a glimmer of surprisingly upbeat economic data, manufacturing orders for goods like metals, machines and military equipment rose last month for the first time after six months of declines, the government reported on Wednesday." The Commerce Department "reported that orders for durable goods rose 3.4 percent in February after a downwardly revised 7.3 percent decline in January."
The Washington Post reports after "several months of relentlessly grim economic news, analysts have been looking for any indication that the pace of the economy's deterioration is slowing. Recently, they have had at least some reason to hope." On CNN's Situation Room, chief business correspondent Ali Velshi reported "mortgage rates for 30-year fixed are now down to 4.63%, the lowest rate in about 60 years for a mortgage," existing home sales "in February compared to January [are] up 5.1%," in February "new home sales were up 4.7%," and "durable goods were up 3.4%." Velshi went on to say, "We have four things that are going on here that are very, very significant. It's having quite an impact on consumer sentiment and it could be...a turning point."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Top
The AP reports, "In a pair of political firsts as president," Barack Obama emailed a fundraising pitch on behalf of Scott Murphy (D) in the NY20 special election and "was the main draw at two" DNC "fundraisers on Wednesday." The New York Times adds that two Democratic National Committee fundraising events "underscored the challenge he faces in engaging in politics as so many Americans are facing hard times. On one hand, Mr. Obama is trying to pull the nation together, using his platform as president to tamp down populist anger at Wall Street bailouts and expressing sympathy for people who are losing their homes and jobs. On the other, he is trying to capitalize on his popularity to raise money to help pass his ambitious agenda." Bloomberg News reports the events brought in more than $3 million.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the NY20 race "is turning into an early referendum on the Obama administration's economic agenda, especially the $787 billion economic-stimulus package," while USA Today also says that the race is "providing an early look at how President Obama's economic policies may play out on the campaign trail in 2010." The Politico reports that Vice President Biden yesterday "recorded a radio ad for" NY20 special election candidate Scott Murphy (D), "a Democratic source told Politico."
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
The Hill reports that both the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee are establishing "panels aimed at perfecting their broken primary systems," with the goal of "delaying their 2012 nominating calendars," while Democrats are also looking to limit the influence of superdelegates.
In a blog posting, CNN reported, "Embattled" Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele "told CNN Wednesday he'd consider running for president someday, but stressed he has never given serious thought to a potential White House bid." Steele said, "God has a way of revealing stuff to you, and making it real for you, through others. And if that's part of the plan, it'll be the plan....[If I run] it'll be because that's where God wants me to be at that time."
The Chicago Sun-Times reports former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D) "took to the airwaves Wednesday morning, lashing out at the politicians who booted him out of his job and admitting he wishes he still was the governor," and The Politico notes Blagojevich "maintained his innocence, saying he was 'hijacked from office.'" The complete audio is available online.
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Roll Call reports "a source close to" Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway "said this week that the Democrat will run for Senate in 2010 and that he is expected to announce his candidacy as soon as early April," which would set up a primary battle with Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (D) for the right to take on Sen. Jim Bunning (R), should he run for reelection.
The Des Moines Register reports that Ed Failor Jr. (R) said this week that he wouldn't run for governor of Iowa, "ending the tax reform advocate's short-lived flirtation with a 2010 campaign."
Roll Call reports that a Public Policy Polling (D) of 600 registered Arkansas voters taken March 20-22 shows Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) topping former U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin (R) 46%-38% and state sen. Gilbert Baker (R) 48%-37% in hypothetical 2010 general election match-ups.
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Top
Jay Leno: "How many watched the President's news conference last night? ... He got a little testy there, you know. When he was asked why he waited three days to speak out against the AIG bonuses, President Obama said he likes to know what he's talking about before he speaks. So, yet another reversal of the Bush policies."
Jay Leno: "President Obama also announced a major faith-based program. His budget."
David Letterman: "Listen to this. George W. Bush," who "was our president before Barack Obama, recently "signed...a deal to write a book" for "$7 million." And "it makes sense because when you think George W. Bush, you think book. Don't you, really?"
Jimmy Fallon: "Many people are complaining, though, that Obama is becoming too scripted. Last night, he was having an intimate moment with Michelle, and she said, 'Wait, are you reading the teleprompter?'"
Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.
Top
Click image for larger view.
Smart analysis, insightful reporting, in-depth perspective—in a new, digital format.
Log in | Buy Now | See sample
View sample page 2View sample page 3View sample page 4View sample page 5advertisement
Get your POLITICALBULLETIN
Click image for larger view.
Smart analysis, insightful reporting, in-depth perspective—in a new, digital format.
Log in | Buy Now | See sample
View sample page 2View sample page 3View sample page 4View sample page 5Embed exclusive U.S. News headlines, rankings, columns, and blog postings to your Web site, blog, or social network.
advertisement
Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.
