In an interview on ABC News' This Week, Vice President Joe Biden said that although the Administration relied on consensus economic forecasts in crafting its economic stimulus package, the White House erred in its assumption about the unemployment rate. Biden said, "The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy. The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures in most of the blue chip indexes out there. ... No one was talking about that we would be moving towards -- we're worried about 10.5 percent, it will be 9.5 percent at this point. ... We're much too high." The remarks were tepidly reported by news wires and print sources, which also noted congressional criticism. The AP reports Republican congressional leaders "expressed disappointment about the impact of stimulus spending," while Biden "cited the economic conditions inherited from the Bush administration."
The Washington Times notes that Biden "said it's unfair to consider" the stimulus "program a bust because 'no one anticipated, no one expected that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having distributed the bulk of the money.'" The Hill reports Biden "refused to rule out a second stimulus bill, which some economists have called for in order to stem job losses and spur the economy once again."
The Wall Street Journal reports Biden's comments were "likely to intensify calls for the administration to do more to counter job losses." White House economists "are discussing whether a second round of stimulus is needed, but a decision isn't expected until at least the fall."
On Fox News Sunday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, "I don't think anybody can honestly say that we're satisfied with the results so far of the stimulus. ... We're disappointed that it hasn't done more faster." GOP Minority Leader John Boehner added, "This was supposed to be about jobs, jobs, and jobs. And the fact is it turned into nothing more than spending, spending, and more spending on a lot of big government bureaucracy."
In a discussion of the stimulus bill, Michael Scherer, in a piece for Time, says, "Rarely has the passage of a measure been accompanied by such skepticism about the government's ability to spend the money wisely or well. And ever since, public doubts about the stimulus have, if anything, deepened."
US News Weekly reports, "As Americans become more skeptical of the administration's promise that the stimulus package will create or save 3.5 million jobs, there's an added frustration: Even if the $787 billion act is successful in creating work, Americans may never know. That's because counting the jobs involves estimating what would have happened without legislation."
ABC World News reported that Vice President Joe Biden "had a strong message" for the Iranians' "reported attempt to build a nuclear weapon." Biden told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that "the US would not step in if Israel attacks the nuclear facilities in Iran."
The AP similarly reports that Biden's remarks that "suggested a tougher U.S. stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions. Nonetheless, administration officials insisted his televised remarks Sunday reflected the US view that Israel has a right to defend itself and make its own decisions on national security."
The New York Times reports, "Biden's comments came at a particularly sensitive time, amid the continuing tumult over the disputed Iranian elections, and seemed to risk handing a besieged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a new tool with which to fan nationalist sentiments in Iran." The Los Angeles Times reports that "authorities" yesterday "blocked access to the website of a pro-reform group of seminary scholars in the holy city of Qom that has joined other reformist clergy in sharply criticizing last month's vote as authorities continued a crackdown against supporters of failed presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who has alleged massive fraud."
Still, on its front page, the New York Times notes that "in separate interviews this weekend," both the President and Biden "said that the accelerating crackdown on opposition leaders in Iran in recent days would not deter them from seeking to engage the country's top leadership in direct negotiations."
Mullen Criticizes Possible Israeli Strike Josh Kraushaar, in a blog entry in The Politico titled "Biden, Mullen Split On Israel And Iran?", reports that "Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was concerned about the unintended consequences of an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. That's a sharp departure from comments" made by Biden. AFP notes that Mullen also "said decisions about the future of US-Iranian engagement are 'for the (US) president to make.'"
The reports come as AFP reports, "Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli warplanes flying over the kingdom in any raid on Iran's nuclear sites," the Sunday Times of London said yesterday in a report "denied by Israel." Citing "diplomatic sources," the newspaper "said the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service had assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia has tacitly agreed to the use of its airspace."
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In an interview on CBS' Face the Nation, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said the US's troop strength in Afghanistan is sufficient. AFP reports Mullein said the "number of US troops sent to southern Afghanistan to launch a major offensive is sufficient to seize and hold areas currently under Taliban control." Mullen told CBS, "We have enough forces there now not just to clear an area but to hold it." The Hill, meanwhile, says Mullen "left the door open to additional troops in the country if the situation calls for it." Mullen "said he would wait to hear from General Stanley McChrystal, the new head commander in Afghanistan, who is conducting a 60 day assessment."
On CBS's Face The Nation, Mullen said, "We're all committed to properly resourcing this undertaking. And General McChrystal, who's the new leader over there, is in the middle of an assessment. And he'll come back sometime late July or to mid-August with what he needs. And his guidance is to come back and tell us exactly what he needs." On Fox News Sunday, Mullen added, "I'm very comfortable that we have the troop numbers about right in the south. That offensive just started. The whole goal of this is to provide security for the people of Afghanistan. ... And that leads to an environment that supports elections later this August."
Biden: Troop Levels Reached By "Consensus Opinion" On ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos noted that it has been reported that Biden opposed President Obama's decision to increase troop strength in Afghanistan. Biden responded, said, "No, no. I did want an expansion of troops. There was a slight difference about how to layer them, how to proceed." But, eventually, "we reached a consensus opinion, and the consensus opinion of the national security team, of which I'm a part, was to do exactly what's under way."
The AP reports, "A week before her Senate hearings, Republicans are floundering in their efforts to trip up Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, unable to find an effective message about why she is not fit to serve." The AP attributes the GOP's inability to "the tricky politics of opposing the woman who would be the first Hispanic justice, especially for a party struggling to broaden its base and whose chief spokesman on Judge Sotomayor has a troubled history of racism allegations."
Roll Call reports, meanwhile, that Sotomayor supporters "fanned out across the country last week, organizing local rallies and other events to tout her law and order credentials and build grass-roots momentum for her impending confirmation."
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The consensus in the media today is that no one really knows what to make of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) decision to step down at the end of the month, but the expectation is that it won't turn out well for Palin's political career. ABC World News reported last night in its lead story that GOP leaders yesterday "took to the airwaves to say they are just as baffled as everyone else." The AP says "political observers struggled to make sense of the decision," while the Washington Times reports that Mike Huckabee (R) said that "Palin's hastily called news conference on Friday to announce her resignation has raised more questions than it answered." The Politico reports that Karl Rove said yesterday the he is "a little perplexed" by the move.
NBC Nightly News reports Palin "has damaged any future run for the presidency, say most Republican strategists." The New York Daily News reports that "Palin is pretty much toast for 2012" but "she can still make a lot of money for herself and the party, top Republicans said on Sunday." Editorial pages agree. For example, USA Today wrote today that if Palin continues to be interested in the presidency, "it's hard to believe she didn't just make the climb steeper. Quitting under fire generally doesn't draw much voter support." The Wall Street Journal similarly says, "Giving up on an executive job a year and a half early isn't the best way to persuade voters you're ready for the more demanding rigors and scrutiny of the White House."
Meanwhile, one possible cause of Palin's resignation decision can be ruled out. The Anchorage Daily News reports FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez said yesterday, "We are not investigating her. ... Normally we don't confirm or deny those kind of allegations out there but by not doing so it just casts her in a very bad light. There is just no truth to those rumors out there in the blogosphere."
The Hill reports that the race between Corning Mayor Tom Reed (R) and first-term NY29 Rep. Eric Massa (D) is expected to be "a closely watched and tight race." National Republicans "signaled that Massa is one of their main targets in 2010" as they seek "to push back against the idea that they are a dying breed in the Northeast," and Democrats "are playing up Republicans' woes in the region." While the two candidates "have stayed cordial toward one another, the state and national parties are in full attack mode" and "already the rhetoric sounds like the homestretch of a campaign."
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The late night shows were in reruns last week.
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