GOP Economic Plan = Going Back to Failed Bush Economic Policy
July 19th, 2010 by Karina
On Sunday, a top Republican leader—Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)—admitted the Republican economic plan for the future is more of the same failed Bush-Republican policies that got us into this mess. On Meet the Press, he explained:
David Gregory: “…I think what a lot of people want to know is if Republicans do get back into power, what are they going to do?…”
Congressman Pete Sessions: “…We need to go back to the exact same agenda…”
The same agenda that resulted in 8 million jobs lost?
Source: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=2399
Chart Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/
US Treasury http://www.treasury.gov/
Federal Reserve http://www.federalreserve.gov/
U.S. Office of Management and Budget http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
.
Tuesday Jul. 20, 2010
All Times Eastern
8:00 AM
VP Biden has breakfast with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom.
9:00 AM
9:45 AM
Pres Obama receives the presidential daily briefing.
10:00 AM
10:15 AM
Pres Obama meets with senior advisers.
10:45 AM
VP Biden holds a Middle Class Task Force event.
11:00 AM
Pres Obama holds a bilateral meeting with Cameron.
12:00 PM
12:20 PM
Pres Obama and VP Biden host a working lunch with Cameron.
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
Pres Obama holds a joint press conference with Cameron.
2:15 PM
VP Biden swears in Carte Goodwin as a U.S. Senator from West Virginia.
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
June 30, 2010
Republican Deficits vs. Democratic Deficits
President Obama’s rebuff on stimulus spending by the G-20 and the latest Republican roadblock on the Senate jobs bill is producing fears of a deeper, double-dip global recession. While Thomas Frank urged the U.S. to avoid the “austerity trap,” Paul Krugman warned that the “pain caucus” here and in Europe could produce the “Third Depression.”
But behind the tidal wave of austerity fever threatening to wash away the U.S. recovery is a fundamental split between the two parties on when and why the federal government should run up deficits in the first place. Simply put, Republicans embraced massive deficits during times of prosperity, while Democrats turned to deficit spending to fight the recessions and economic hardship the GOP helped produce.
That’s the record of the past generation. Under Republican leadership, economic common sense was upended. The national debt tripled under Ronald Reagan and, after the budget surpluses of the later Clinton years, doubled again under George W. Bush. As analyses from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities show, the Bush tax cuts accounted for almost half the mushrooming deficits during the last decade and, if made permanent, over the next 10 years would produce more red ink over than two wars, TARP, the Obama stimulus package and the revenue lost to the recession combined.
That Republican “debt orgy,” as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) aptly labeled it, largely served to produce a massive transfer of wealth to the richest Americans needing it least. (That perverse development is reflected in “the Bush 400″, the richest 400 taxpayers in the United States who saw their incomes double and tax rates halved between 2001 and 2007.) As the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted last year, that windfall for the wealthy, the Medicare prescription program, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were never paid for:
“President Obama’s agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying…
The economic growth under George W. Bush did not generate nearly enough tax revenue to pay for his agenda, which included tax cuts, the Iraq war, and Medicare prescription drug coverage.”
For the entire article: http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/001899.htm
Fantastic information and thread topic, CR. Thank you.
*~*~ Happy Dance !!! ~*~*
SenatorFranken video, July 19, 2010 -
In his floor speech on the budget, Sen. Franken points out the importance of the recovery act, and makes the case that we would have much higher deficits if we had not passed it.
Sen Franken is right!
The spending surge that never happened
May 22, 2012 By Steve Benen – maddowblog
The notion that federal spending soared after President Obama took office is one of those “facts” that the political world just accepts implicitly. Republicans have repeated the claim so often (and so loudly) that it’s no longer even questioned. Indeed, Mitt Romney promises to “stop the excessive overspending” on a nearly daily basis.
But MarketWatch’s Rex Nutting took a closer look at the assumption that many assume is true, but isn’t. (The MarketWatch piece included this great chart, too.)
Government spending under Obama, including his signature stimulus bill, is rising at a 1.4% annualized pace — slower than at any time in nearly 60 years.
But it didn’t happen. Although there was a big stimulus bill under Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s…. There has been no huge increase in spending under the current president, despite what you hear.
It matters, of course, that a political myth is accepted as fact, especially when it’s likely to be one of the driving messages of the 2012 campaign.
For more: http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/22/11814072-the-spending-surge-that-never-happened?lite
How Mitt Romney gets away with his lying
5/16/12 By Greg Sargent washingtonpost
Yesterday, Mitt Romney gave a big speech in which he accused Obama of lighting a “prairie fire of debt.” It’s a good line, and it has received widespread media coverage.
Romney’s speech has already been dissected by Jonathan Chait and Steve Benen. They note that it’s entirely at odds with conventional understanding of how deficits work, and utterly disconnected from context, rendering it almost unquantifiably misleading.
But I wanted to make another point. If you scan through all the media attention Romney’s speech received, you are hard-pressed to find any news accounts that tell readers the following rather relevant points:
1) Nonpartisan experts believe Romney’s plans would increase the deficit far more than Obama’s would.
2) George W. Bush’s policies arguably are more responsible for increasing the deficit than Obama’s are.
Oh, sure, many of the news accounts contain the Obama campaign’s response to Romney’s speech; the Obama campaign put out a widely-reprinted statement arguing that Romney’s plans would increase the deficit and that he’d return to policies that created it in the first place.
But this shouldn’t be a matter of partisan opinion. On the first point, independent experts think an actual set of facts exists that can be used to determine what the impact of Romney’s policies on the deficit would be. And according to those experts, based on what we know now, Romney’s policies would explode the deficit far more than Obama’s would.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has taken a close look at this question. It has determined that relative to current policy — that is, if you keep the Bush tax cuts in place, as Romney wants to do — Romney’s tax cutting plans would increase the deficit by nearly $5 trillion over 10 years. That’s on top of keeping the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Romney has promised to close various loopholes to pay for his tax cuts, but he hasn’t specified which ones. Until he does, the Tax Policy Center concludes, his plan would cost $5 trillion — which would be added, yes, to the deficit.
By contrast, Obama’s plans would not increase the deficit by anything close to that amount. Relative to current policy, the Tax Policy Center has found, Obama’s plan would reduce the deficit by approximately $2 trillion over the next decade. Now, under Obama, the deficit would still increase. That’s because current policy means we’re forgoing the $4.5 trillion in revenues we’d gain if we let all the Bush tax cuts expire. But neither candidate is going to do that. Obama, however, would end the Bush tax cuts for the rich and bring in revenues through a variety of other tax increases. Bottom line: relative to current policy, Obama’s plan would reduce the deficit by bringing in $180 billion or more in revenues a year, or approximately $2 trillion over 10 years; Romeny’s plan would increase the deficit by nearly $500 billion a year — $5 trillion over ten years.
The Tax Policy Center’s Roberton Williams summed it up perfectly in a quote to me:
“The bottom line is that whatever baseline you use, until Romney makes good on his promise to pay for his tax cuts, he would increase the deficit far more than Obama would.”
For more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/why-mitt-romney-gets-away-with-his-lying/2012/05/16/gIQADLzyTU_blog.html
Kagan approaches confirmation finish line
Democrats have enough support to send her nomination to full Senate vote
7/19/2010 Carrie Dann and Jason Strachman Miller – msnbc.msn.com
WASHINGTON — After more than two months in the national spotlight and over 17 hours of grueling committee testimony, Elena Kagan is poised to take one step closer to a permanent seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The 19-member Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Tuesday on Kagan’s nomination for the high court, sending it to the full Senate for a final vote in August.
Tuesday’s vote won’t be a nail-biter; the committee is comprised of 12 Democrats and 7 Republicans, so Kagan’s approval by the panel has always been considered virtually assured, barring a major gaffe or scandal.
During two days of testimony in June, Kagan won sparkling words of praise from Democratic lawmakers on the committee, including Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who flatly predicted that she will be confirmed to the high court. One Republican lawmaker, Sen. John Cornyn, even accidentally betrayed the widely-held expectation that she will eventually win confirmation, reportedly referring to the nominee at one point during the hearing process as “soon-to-be Justice Kagan.”
Six of the seven Republicans on the panel have made it clear that they intend to oppose her. The possible holdout is Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
For the entire article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38312777/ns/politics-supreme_court/
Tuesday, July 20th – Baltimore, Maryland: The First Lady will announce a joint initiative relating to her Let’s Move! childhood obesity campaign with members of Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association. Mrs. Obama will join Sue Selig, wife of Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Tim Brosnan, MLB Executive Vice President of Business, Tony Clark, Director, Player Relations, MLB Players Association and the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays leadership and players for an 11:00 AM press conference at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Following the announcement, the players will conduct a baseball clinic on Camden Yards field for 50 young baseball players from local Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) leagues and Boys & Girls Clubs.
Later that evening, Mrs. Obama will be escorted out to home plate by young baseball players from the RBI and the Boys & Girls Club who will throw out the first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays game.
Lynne Sweet – blogs.suntimes.com
FLOTUS on the mound
7/19/10By AMIE PARNES – POLITICO
Michelle Obama will take to the mound on Tuesday night when the Orioles play the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards.
But, contrary to published reports—even on the Major League Baseball website —she won’t be throwing the first pitch.
According to White House aides, Obama will accompany a group of children from local groups—including Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities and the Boys and Girls clubs—to the pitcher’s mound, where the kids will throw the ball.
This won’t be the first lady’s inaugural trip into the diamond. Last year, during Game One of the World Series, she and second lady Jill Biden escorted Yoggi Berra to the mound during a pregame ceremony. (No pitching then, either.)
Still, there’s reason to hope we may eventually get to see the Obama’s famous arms toss the ball to home plate. Other first ladies have cleared the way for the opportunity.
Barbara Bush is believed to be the original first lady to throw out a ceremonial pitch. She took to the mound for the first time after George W. Bush became the owner of the Texas Rangers, according to the National First Ladies Library.
And during her time at the White House, Hillary Clinton—who grew up in Chicago—also threw out the first pitch at a Cubs game. Clinton, “spent the weekend before practicing her pitch to the president in the White House Rose Garden,” the First Ladies Library notes on their website.
Laura Bush, however, did not appear on the mound during her eight years in the White House.
White House video, July 14, 2010 -
Vice President Joe Biden is joined by Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer as he discusses the latest quarterly report on the economic impact of the Recovery Act.
Slowly but surely!
US Department of Labor video, July 19, 2010 -
Meet Rhonda Gage, 53, who yearned to become a registered nurse after serving eleven years as a medical assistant. With DOL funded schooling, Gage studied full time while working part time, taking key classes in labor and delivery, surgical nursing, and cardiology. Today she works for a healthcare firm making three times what she previously earned. For more about training programs near you, visit http://careeronestop.org.
Go Nurses!
DemRapidResponse video, February 16, 2010 -
GOP: Recovery Act Hypocrites
YEAH!
DemRapidResponse video, February 24, 2010 -
REPUBLICANS: Highway Hypocrites
PARTY OF NO ARE HYPOCRITES!
FEMA video, July 19, 2010 -
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate outlines the new enhanced features of the FEMA mobile site, m.fema.gov, including the capability for disaster survivors to register for assistance via their smartphone.
The White House Blog, July 19, 2010:
For First Time, Disaster Survivors Can Apply For Federal Disaster Aid On Smartphones
Posted by Craig Fugate, Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Back in May, we launched our mobile site, http://m.fema.gov to make it easier than ever for people to access information from FEMA quickly and easily. This launch was only a first step and I’m glad to announce today a new feature to our mobile site that allows disaster survivors to apply for federal assistance directly on their web-enabled mobile devices after Presidentially declared disasters (such as BlackBerry®, Apple iPhone®, and Windows Mobile® devices).
Registering through the mobile site takes just three easy steps:
1. Go to http://m.fema.gov and click “Apply Online for FEMA Assistance”. You will be directed to our partner site disasterassistance.gov.
2. Click on “Start Registration.”
3. Fill out the registration form to apply for assistance.
This new addition to our FEMA mobile site will provide disaster survivors with another avenue to quickly apply for assistance, not just from FEMA, but also from the Small Business Administration and our other federal partners. As smartphones become cheaper and more prevalent, and wireless networks more resilient, these devices are becoming more than just simple communication tools – they can be life lines during emergencies.
This new addition to m.fema.gov is just another way we are expanding the tools we use to communicate with the most important member of our emergency management team – the public.
For claims regarding the BP oil spill, individuals should continue to visit http://www.bp.com/claims.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/19/first-time-disaster-survivors-can-apply-federal-disaster-aid-smartphones
USA Today, July 19, 2010:
Gulf oil well cap appears successful
By Alan Levin
Engineers battling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are confident that the cap over the rogue well is strong enough that they may be able to plug it by pumping mud inside, bringing the three-month disaster closer to an end, BP and the Coast Guard said Monday.
The cap is holding tight at pressures slightly below what engineers had expected, said BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells. That means it may be possible to once again try using the dense liquid to help permanently seal the well, he said.
An earlier attempt at a “top kill” failed because the oil was gushing too violently, but it may be easier for the mud to plug the well when oil isn’t flowing, Wells said.
The capping strategy hit a snag over the weekend when oil was discovered seeping into the nearby sea bed. But that oil doesn’t appear to have come from the well, said retired Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen. He said pollution from the well doesn’t seem to be spilling and pressures are acceptable.
“There is no indication at this time that this is any indication of a significant problem in the well bore,” Allen said. “But we are running every one of these anomalies down.”….
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-20-1Aoilspill20_ST_N.htm?csp=34news
ITN News video, July 19, 2010 -
Admiral Thad Allen says that tests on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill cap will continue.
Admiral Thad Allen is doing an excellent job; maybe there will be a position for him in PBO’s administration
etribune (Express Tribune) video, July 19, 2010 -
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on a two-day visit to Pakistan to participate in a strategic dialogue process aimed at developing the country. Islamabad correspondent Sohail Chaudhry has the details in this report.
CNN.com, July 19, 2010 –
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a major aid package for Pakistan on Monday — pledging hundreds of millions of dollars for projects to address the country’s water and power shortage and its floundering economy.
Clinton made the announcement at the beginning of a day-long “strategic dialogue” in Islamabad on the second day of her visit to the South Asian country, after which she flew Monday to an international conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Authorities there said they were investigating “a number of blasts,” though CNN staffers located near the site of Tuesday’s planned conference said they did not hear them. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said the blasts likely were from unguided rockets that landed on the outskirts of Kabul.
The projects in Pakistan, which Clinton called “long-term investment in Pakistan’s future,” include the construction of several dams, improvements to hydroelectric power plants and the country’s power grid, and the construction or renovation of three medical facilities.
The United States will also invest $100 million to expand access to credit for small- and medium-sized businesses, and provide $50 million to support investments in innovation and technology projects, she said.
The projects will be funded by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act, which authorizes $7.5 billion in development aid to Pakistan over the next five years.
In the past year, the United States has started engaging more with Pakistan, said Vali Nasr, a senior adviser to Richard Holbrooke — the U.S. special representative for the region….
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/19/pakistan.clinton.trip/?hpt=T1#fbid=MYrDr5IkFnF
Sec State Clinton is doing a great job!
BBC.co.uk, 20 July 2010:
Print David Cameron set for talks with President Barack Obama
The BP oil leak, Afghanistan and the global economy will be on the agenda when David Cameron holds talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington….
Mr Cameron has also agreed to meet four US senators about the Lockerbie bomber’s release, having earlier said he did not have time in his schedule.
But a Downing Street spokesman said: “The prime minister recognises the strength of feeling and knows how important it is to reassure the families of the victims.
“We are happy to see them face to face and find time in the diary.”
Four senators from New York and New Jersey are calling for an investigation into allegations that BP lobbied for the early release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which killed 270 people….
And he wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal: “When I see President Obama this week we have a very clear common agenda: succeeding in Afghanistan, securing economic growth and stability at home and across the world, fighting protectionism.
“And on one issue in particular, Lockerbie, let me be absolutely clear there’s no daylight between us….”
In his article, Mr Cameron said he was “unapologetically pro-America” but he would be “hard headed and realistic” in relations with the US.
“I understand that we are the junior partner – just as we were in the 1940s and, indeed, in the 1980s,” he said.
“But we are a strong, self-confident country clear in our views and values, and we should behave that way.
“In a world of fast-growing, emerging economies, we have a responsibility to engage more widely and bring new countries to the top table of the international community.
“To do so is pro-American and pro-British, because it’s the only way we will maintain our influence in a changing world.”….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10693215
Ta Kathleen for the post
USAToday. Com, July 20, 2010:
President Obama to push Congress on pay-fairness bill
By Saul Loeb
President Obama plans to press Congress today to pass pay-equity legislation that would make it easier for women to sue employers who pay them less than their male counterparts, the White House said Monday.
“Women deserve equal pay,” White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said in an interview, citing government statistics that show women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. “It’s a very fundamental right.”
Obama will announce his support for the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that has languished in Congress for several years. In 2007, President Bush warned he would veto the bill, and it has been stalled by opposition from some Republicans and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The bill passed in the House in 2009, but did not get through the Senate. Its prospects there remain unclear.
“The bill is a cruel hoax. It won’t empower women who face pay discrimination, but it will empower trial lawyers whose junk lawsuits will clog up the courts and make it hard for businesses to grow and hire,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-07-20-payequity20_ST_N.htm
Pres Obama is a fair man!
MercuryNews.com, July 19, 2010:
Obama’s new ocean policy offers greater safeguards for Central Coast
By Kurtis Alexander – Santa Cruz Sentinel
The Obama administration Monday unveiled [a] new policy for managing the nation’s oceans, seeking to strengthen protection of coastal waters from the Gulf of Mexico to the Monterey Bay….
At the heart of the new plan is a practice known as marine spatial planning. Just as local governments establish zoning to manage land use, ocean regulators will approach coastal waters from a broad perspective, figuring out what aquatic activities are appropriate and where.
Whether its oil drilling or generating energy from waves, new activity would have to comply with the spatial plans.
The planning will be done by nine regional bodies, building upon existing state and federal laws and overseen by the National Ocean Council, made up of scientists and top administration officials.
“With a growing number of recreational, scientific, energy and security activities, we need a national policy that sets the United States on a new path for the conservation and sustainable use of these critical natural resources,” Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a prepared statement.
The policy won’t likely have an immediate effect on offshore oil drilling. A presidential commission is now studying drilling practices in response to the BP spill, and the administration has tried to enact a moratorium on deep-water drilling until the commission’s work is done. The courts, though, are contesting that ban.
Environmentalists in the Monterey Bay area Monday praised the president’s new oceans policy.
“What we’ve done in the past is piecemeal,” said David Wilmot, president of the Capitola-based advocacy Ocean Champions. “Instead of just proposing something, we (now) look at the entire area and decide what we want to do with it… I expect some people will be told no, you can’t do that here.”
Though most of the Central Coast is part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and, as such, enjoys strict protections, Wilmot said decisions around the sanctuary will now be made with the area’s conservation goals in mind.
Offshore drilling and other potentially invasive activities are likely to be more limited near the Monterey Bay region, he said.
Not everyone, however, is expected to be on board with the new policy. When the plan was being drafted, fishing groups and oil interests expressed concern about a top-down bureaucracy, a fear that’s apt to continue.
Obama’s plan calls for the new National Ocean Council to convene this summer.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15552517?nclick_check=1
Switchboard, National Resources Defense Council Staff Blog
July 19, 2010:
President to make environmental history today with national ocean policy
By Sarah Chasis
…. This national ocean policy is important not just from an environmental standpoint but from an economic standpoint. The U.S. ocean economy provides more jobs and more economic output than the entire farm sector. A majority of this value is attributable to tourism and recreation, which in 2004 contributed more than $116 billion to the nation’s GDP and was responsible for more than 2 million jobs. As the disaster in the Gulf has illustrated all too clearly, this economy depends to a significant degree on clean water and abundant fish and wildlife. America’s ocean industry needs the kind of security a healthy ocean policy can provide. Protecting our oceans means protecting money and jobs nationwide….
…. [The taskforce’s] recommendations followed an inclusive and transparent process that included extensive input from stakeholders, experts and public hearings around the country. In fact, the taskforce’s draft recommendations received extensive comments from the public, all levels of government, business interests, the fishing community and conservation groups, and makes sure the federal agencies are working with coastal states to build on existing efforts at protection.
In sum – this policy is desperately needed. President Obama is charting the course for healthy American seas and a healthy American ocean economy.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/schasis/president_to_make_environmenta.html
NBCPhiladelphia.com, July 19, 2010:
Bullied 5th Grader Inspired by Letter from the President
By Anne Grant
Some kids turn to parents, friends or teachers if they’re dealing with bullies. But one local girl went right to the top for a little help.
Student Ziainey Stokes from West Philadelphia wrote a letter to President Obama about bullying in January. The 11-year-old was fed up with being a victim after several years of abuse at two schools.
“I wrote that some people don’t care if you get bullied or not, but I do care,” Ziainey said.
Not expecting a response, Ziainey was ecstatic to find what arrived in her mailbox in March – a genuine letter from the Commander-in-Chief.
“I wanted to cry, but I was in public so I went home and went into the bathroom and started crying because I was so happy,” said Ziainey.
In the letter, Mr. Obama thanked Ziainey for bringing attention to the issue of bullying.
“Your letter demonstrates a desire to change the culture of your classroom as well as your community,” he wrote.
The letter also ended with a promise: “You deserve a safe, engaging, and enjoyable classroom, and together we will strive to make this a reality.”
That sentence — and the entire letter for that matter — resonated with the young girl, inspiring her to start a new organization to fight bullying.
“I’m starting an organization called No Kid Should Be Bullied,” Ziainey commented on her quest to help other kids feel accepted at school.
Ziainey’s mom Zina admits she was surprised when her daughter said she penned a letter to the president, but says she’s proud of the way the girl dealt with the issue.
“Ziainey handled it her way, which is great, because her way was non-physical,” Zina said.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/5th-Grader-Gets-Obamas-Support-Against-Bullying-98797139.html
Oh man, what a beautiful story. Thank you.
You asked about that Facebook group earlier, well, it’s just a group for “Liberals stuck in conservative hell” – Dems from Red States.
Yeah for Ziainey!
Thank you Kathleen for a great story!
Beautiful young girl who is setting a great example for her classmates. Thank you, Mr. President, for supporting her dreams.
Good Morning O’Team
Great informational thread CR
Please join me in lighting your daily candle for the President, his family and the Nation.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=pbo
Have a Great Productive O’Day!
Good morning and thank you Donna!!!
Good Morning Everyone!
Send the GOP vs Democrat Presidential Years link to any doubters!
Good Morning CR and everyone.
Good Morning Jocelyne!
Good morning Donna, CR, BWD and Jocelyne. Thanks CR for this fountain of information. Pictures surely do speak louder than words!
Good Morning Jackie!
Good Morning Jackie. I agree, CR and Kat are full of pertinent information and videos.
Good Morning everyone!!!!
Another great day full of possibilities in the O’Family.
Have a great one everybody!!!
Good Morning Sandy!
You too Sandy!
Morning guys! That story about the bullied girl writing a letter has me tearing up this early morning!!! Wow. Inspirational.
On a random note, CR, do you think you can change the title of this post, fixing the term “Democrat” and using “Democratic?” It’s small, but the Repuke talking point is to call us the “Democrat Party” whenever they can, so I think we need to be very mindful of when we’re using their term in their context.
We are the Democratic Party, so that should read Democratic Presidential Years.
Hope you don’t mind my suggestion, and thanks for all you continue to do.
Good Morning Vero! Thanks for pointing that fact out; I will change it.
Cool! Glad I could help. I’m probably overly sensitive about that Repub talking point…lol.
Good Morning Vero!!
I was so moved by the bully story so I posted it at OFA this morning and it did not get one single response. Ummmmmm
With the exception of a few it sure makes me wonder what is left over there?
I know what you mean, Donna.
Good morning, OTeam! Those are some great graphs. Thanks for all this information to keep us fired up.
Another very busy day.
Livestream schedule
Wednesday, July 20
All times Eastern
8:30AM
Clean Energy Economy Forum: Sustainable Building
Leading by Example in Sustainable Building with opening remarks by Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. The White House
Livestreamed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
10:00 AM
Supreme Court nomination hearing: The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kagan nomination vote expected.
Livestreamed at http://live.cnn.com/
10:45 AM
Middle Class Task Force event: Vice President Joe Biden holds a Middle Class Task Force event on solutions for those balancing work and family.
Livestreamed at Livestreamed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live and http://live.cnn.com/
11:30 AM
Thad Allen briefing on Gulf oil disaster: Retired Coast Guard admiral and National Incident Commander Thad Allen holds a briefing in Washington on efforts to contain the Gulf oil disaster.
Livestreamed at http://live.cnn.com/
2:00 PM
President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron speak with reporters following closed-door talks.
Livestreamed at Livestreamed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live and http://live.cnn.com/
2:15 PM
The Senate swears in West Virginia’s Carte Goodwin and considers invoking cloture on a measure that would extend jobless benefits through November.
Livestreamed at http://live.cnn.com/
2:30 PM
National intelligence director nomination hearing: The Senate Intelligence Committee considers the nomination of retired Air Force Gen. James Clapper to become the next director of national intelligence.
Livestreamed at http://live.cnn.com/
Good Morning and thank you Meta!
Good Morning meta! Thanks!
Good morning, peeps!
Today they will confirm Elena Kagan.
Today they will pass Unemployment Benefits.
Today we will take two steps forward!
YES!
WE
CAN!
What a day! Thanks, Meta!
Manchin just made it official he will be running for Congress to replace Byrd.
Sandy, I wondered who would replace Manchin as Governor, and according to this it would be the State Senate President, who is a Democrat:
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/539651.html?nav=511
Happy Tuesday and bonjour CR, BWD, Meta, Donna, Jocelyne, Jackie, Sandy, Vero and all friends!
>^..^<
Good Morning Kathleen!
Hi!
Igualmente!
¡Quiero el chocolate!
Claro que si!
?? (I’ve reached the limit of my understanding.)
It just means, “of course!”
I only know a few phrases of idiomatic Spanish!
Actually, more like,
“why, of course!”
or
“but, of course!”
Bonjour Kathleen!
Hola!
I like our international flair!
Good Morning Kathleen!
Hi, Jocelyne, comment ça va?
Ça va bien! et toi?
Bien, merci !
NPR.org, July 20, 2010:
Senate Democrats Look To Extend Jobless Benefits
by NPR Staff and Wires
Senate Democrats hope the swearing-in of a new replacement senator from West Virginia on Tuesday gives them enough momentum to extend long-term unemployment benefits.
West Virginia attorney Carte Goodwin, 36, will become the 59th member of the Senate Democratic caucus when he is sworn in Tuesday as the replacement of the late Sen. Robert Byrd. Goodwin will also be the Senate’s youngest member and the vote Democrats need to break a GOP filibuster blocking the extension of long-term unemployment benefits.
All but two Republicans, along with one Democrat, have opposed those benefits, saying they would add $34 billion to the budget deficit.
Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed finds that inconsistent.
“We’ve been struggling for months to try to pass unemployment compensation and being told you’ve got to pay for them. And then in the same breath our colleagues say, ‘Well, we have to extend the Bush tax cuts, including the estate tax cuts, without paying for them,’” Reed says.
Extending those tax cuts for a decade would cost the Treasury more than $3 trillion.
If the measure passes, millions of people stuck on the jobless rolls would receive an extension of unemployment benefits averaging $309 a week.
Democrats have stripped the unemployment insurance measure down to the bare essentials for Tuesday’s expected vote, which is a do-over of a tally taken late last month.
With Goodwin poised to claim Byrd’s seat, two Republicans will be needed to vault the measure over the filibuster hurdle. Maine GOP moderates Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are expected to provide the key votes to create a filibuster-breaking tally on a key procedural test.
The measure is expected to pass later Tuesday. The House would take it up Wednesday and then send it to President Obama for his signature.
If all goes as expected, about 2.5 million people will receive jobless benefits retroactively. Instead of being dropped from a federal program that extends benefits for those whose six months of state-paid benefits have run out, millions of others will continue to receive payments….
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128641541
All the Republicans are wiping the floor with Elena Kagan right-wing demagoguery and declaring they will vote NO. These guys are really despicable.
They are a pathetic bunch!
Elizabeth Warren Could Head CFPB Without Senate Confirmation
7/20/10 Shahien Nasiripour – Huffinton Post
Elizabeth Warren could lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without ever having to face a Senate confirmation hearing.
The Harvard Law professor and bailout watchdog, beloved by the left and reviled by big banks, is one of three candidates the White House identified Friday as potential picks to lead the new consumer agency. Created as part of the financial reform bill President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law on Wednesday, the agency is supposed to protect borrowers from predatory lenders and centralize the federal government’s role when it comes to extending credit to consumers. Warren conceived of the agency in 2007 and since last year has served as the public face of the campaign to enact it into law.
But some have speculated Warren may face an uphill battle to become its inaugural chief. Lenders fear her — particularly given her strong advocacy on behalf of the debt-strapped middle class — and are furiously fighting her potential nomination as she’s viewed as the most consumer-friendly of the candidates. Their friends in the Senate may take up their cause.
Proponents and critics agree that the first director will have a lasting impact on the agency, from the hiring of staff to the general attitude it takes towards consumer protection. Some are expected to prepare a Supreme Court-style campaign when Obama names his nominee.
During a radio interview Monday, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said there’s a “serious question” over whether she, as Obama’s nominee, could be confirmed by the Senate.
“We are confident she is confirmable,” White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said.
The administration, though, could bypass the Senate entirely — without engendering the ill-will that would result from a recess appointment.
For the entire article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/19/elizabeth-warren-could-he_n_651759.html
Seven Latin American Nations Join Mexico In Arizona Immigration Lawsuit
7/20/10 AP
PHOENIX — Seven other Latin American countries want to join Mexico in supporting a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s immigration enforcement law.
Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru filed separate, nearly identical motions to join Mexico’s legal brief supporting the lawsuit filed by U.S. civil rights and other advocacy groups.
A federal judge formally accepted Mexico’s filing July 1 but did not immediately rule on the latest motions filed late last week.
Mexico says the law would lead to racial profiling and hinder trade, tourism and the fight against drug trafficking.
The law is to take effect July 29. It requires that police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible legal violations ask them about their immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that they’re in the country illegally.
CR, I kind of know how you feel about what happened to you on OFA: I have just been chastised for posting personal info on Brad, but, he has been removed.
I will have to be careful from now on, loll!
Sorry that you had to go through that when you were trying to help the blog.
Unfortunately the trolls can always come back and trash the blog freely because the door is always WIDE OPEN FOR THEM at OFA.
Yes I know, but I don’t mind making it difficult for them…
Besides, you are doing so well here, I am glad that I have the time to go to both!
I just saw that Jocelyne. Wow! Ever since Erica has taken over from Chris Hass (who I believe is no longer at OFA on a regular basis) she is quick on the draw. I think Brad signed right back up as “User from Chesapeake, Va”.
Ugh!!
No Donna, I think User is another one. He copies and pastes, unlike Brad.
It’s too bad I got this comment, because I think posting the FB link really annoyed him.
The White House Blog, July 20, 2010:
You’re busy. We get it!
By Katelyn Sabochik
Don’t have time to check WH.gov everyday? That’s ok – we’ve got a new feature to make staying current even easier. Starting today, the White House will offer a brand new weekly email with updates and latest news on the economy and job creation in America. Each week, we’ll send you the latest economy and jobs related posts from the White House blog as well as a look ahead to what’s on tap for next week.
You can check out the first edition of the Economy and Jobs Agenda below and sign up to get the weekly updates in your inbox here. We’ll also launch an Energy and Climate Agenda later this week – sign up now. Look for more topics coming soon. (Sign up for updates: http://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/sign-weekly-newsletters)
The Week in Economy and Jobs
On Thursday, the Senate passed the historic Wall Street reform bill. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/15/president-obama-final-passage-wall-street-reform-end-bailouts-a-beginning-accountabi?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=intro&utm_campaign=economy)
The bill includes provisions to protect taxpayers from having to bail out big banks and provides for a number of common sense consumer protections. The President is expected to sign this bill into law on Wednesday.
In his Weekly Address, President Obama called on Congress to pass measures to provide additional credit to small businesses and extend unemployment insurance – a measure that has come up in the Senate on three prior occasions. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/17/weekly-address-filibustering-recovery-obstructing-progress?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=intro&utm_campaign=economy
Earlier last week, NEC Director Lawrence Summers made the economic case for extending unemployment insurance in a blog post on WhiteHouse.gov. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/14/economic-case-extending-unemployment-insurance?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=intro&utm_campaign=economy
The CEA also released their fourth quarterly report on the economic impact of the Recovery Act. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/14/cea-releases-fourth-quarterly-report-economic-impact-recovery-act?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=intro&utm_campaign=economy
Highlights
Weekly Address: Filibustering Recovery and Obstructing Progress
July 17, 2010
The President blasts Republicans in the Senate who are blocking unemployment insurance and small business tax breaks to create jobs — even as they push for permanent, massive tax cuts for the richest Americans.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/17/weekly-address-filibustering-recovery-obstructing-progress?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=highlights&utm_campaign=economy ….
More here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/20/you-re-busy-we-get-it
What a great initiative! Thanks for posting Kathleen.
This is really great. We have to get our “highlights” out by whatever means necessary. I like this.
I sent story suggestions to these news agencies to feature the information based on the GOP vs Democratic charts from http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=2399 :
NPR
Wall Street Journal
CNN
Chrisitan Science Monitor
POLITICO
Huffington Post
VAOnews
San Jose Mercury News
Please send the same to your local newspapers!
Great, CR!
I’ll do the same this afternoon.
Working on a diary. It’ll be there for sure.
Man, i’d give so much to see Elaine Stritch’ clip from last night at the White House. I can’t remember when was the last time i was so moved. It warmed my heart to no end. I wish they would release a clip.
I know BWD I was on youtube and google last night looking for it. I couldn’t find anything anywhere on it but I’ll continue to search.
ditto
BWD, I think because it’s part of a PBS series to be broadcast in the future, there won’t be a clip.
Yea, i know. There is one other though:
Aha! Well let’s keep our fingers crossed that we find one because it was one of the highlights of the evening.
I believe I read someplace that when Paul McCartney made the comment about former President Bush not knowing where the library was, PBS chose to air a different version of the segment. I hope that PBS does not edit out Elaine Strich’s comments.
Office of the Press Secretary, July 20, 2010:
Statement by the President on Equal Pay Day
In America today, women make up half of the workforce, and two-thirds of American families with children rely on a woman’s wages as a significant portion of their families’ income.
Yet, even in 2010, women make only 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. The gap is even more significant for working women of color, and it affects women across all education levels. As Vice President Biden and the Middle Class Task Force will discuss today, this is not just a question of fairness for hard-working women. Paycheck discrimination hurts families who lose out on badly needed income. And with so many families depending on women’s wages, it hurts the American economy as a whole. In difficult economic times like these, we simply cannot afford this discriminatory burden.
My Administration has already begun to address this problem. In my first week in office, I signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps women who face wage discrimination recover their lost wages, and in my State of the Union Address, I promised to crack down on violations of equal pay laws. Today the Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force will present its recommendations, which include ways to better coordinate among enforcement agencies and inform employees about their rights. These steps support women, and they also support businesses that are doing the right thing and paying their employees what they deserve.
We cannot do this work alone. So today, I thank the House for its work on this issue and encourage the Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, a common-sense bill that will help ensure that men and women who do equal work receive the equal pay that they and their families deserve. Passing this bill is one of the Task Force’s key recommendations, and I hope Congress will act swiftly so that I can sign it into law.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-equal-pay-day
MUSIC SERIES Students and stars celebrate Broadway, arts at White House
7/20/10 By Nelson Pressley- Washington Post
Washington usually does ceremonial showbiz pretty well, but the East Room seemed to muffle dirty ol’ Broadway on Monday night in the sixth installment of the White House Music Series. Politeness got the upper hand on pizazz — as though the vaudeville-based genre was a bit at a loss in such official surroundings.
Not that the evening was a train wreck (except briefly, and memorably). Nathan Lane hosted and proved quick on his feet, even as jokes about show tunes making people feel gay (as in “happy,” he wryly clarified) up and died. Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba from Broadway’s “Wicked,” provided some welcome electricity by dynamically belting out “Defying Gravity.” And Audra McDonald proved that she’s as captivating a singer as Broadway offers these days.
Education is a major thrust of this program as conceived under the Obamas, so New Yorker Assata Alston, 12, took the stage early and rose capably through the scales in the yearning “Gimme, Gimme” from “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” The event, taped for an Oct. 20 “In Performance at the White House” telecast on PBS, also included an afternoon dress rehearsal for 20 Washington area students working on “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from “Hairspray” in front of parents, the news media and the first lady.
For the entire article and photos: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071905021.html
Huffington Post photos: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/obama-salutes-broadway-at_n_652279.html
Secretary Sebelius Lauds Urban Farming As Crucial Preventive Health Care Measure
7/20/10 obamafoodorama.blogspot.com
Vegetable gardens as official US health policy, funded with federal dollars
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has, of course, been a critical partner in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign. The Secretary is a member of the President’s White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, and has made many public appearances for the Let’s Move! campaign.
Unlike Mrs. Obama, however, Sec. Sebelius isn’t usually associated with food gardening. But thanks to Mrs. Obama’s influence, and the broad scope of the Let’s Move! campaign, vegetable gardens are now part of official US health policy, and falling under the rubric of preventive health care.
In a new entry posted to the Let’s Move! blog, Sec. Sebelius writes about her visit on July 9 to The Food Project’s Urban Farm in Roxbury, MA, which is worked by teen volunteers, and funded by an HHS grant. Sec. Sebelius lauds vegetable gardening and healthy eating as an “essential” part of preventive health care, and calls the farm “engaging” and “empowering” for community-wide health efforts to reduce obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and other diet-related disease. (Above: Sec. Sebelius visiting the urban farm project, with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and teen volunteers)
“Programs like this urban farm in Boston can do a lot to prevent disease–simply by giving people healthier food choices right where they live,” Sec. Sebelius writes, in a nod to another Let’s Move! goal, which is improving food access and affordability.
For the entire article: http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2010/07/secretary-sebelius-lauds-urban-farming.html
The Washington Post, July 20, 2010:
The Tea Party must purge racism from its ranks
By Eugene Robinson
…. If [expelled Tea Party member Mark] Williams is now a pariah in Tea Party circles, that’s progress. But this episode should prompt the national leadership to look inward and acknowledge — not just to the rest of us, but also to themselves — that ugly, racially charged rhetoric has been part of the movement’s stock in trade all along. If the Tea Party groundswell is to mature into something important and lasting, it needs to purge itself of this poison.
And if the Republican Party is going to try to harness the Tea Party’s passion on behalf of GOP candidates, responsible leaders need to make clear that racism will not be tolerated. Yet Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to talk about the NAACP flap when asked about it Sunday, and Sen. John Cornyn volunteered that accusing the Tea Party of racism is “slanderous.”
It’s not slander if it’s the truth, senator. No one can deny that some fraction of the Tea Party’s considerable energy is generated by racism. Excommunicating Mark Williams was a start to disowning and discarding this element — but just a start….
The writer will be online to chat with readers at 1 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday. Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071903686.html
IMO the TP cannot pull that string without unraveling altogether.
New DNC ad:
This is a good one!
Yes, I hope it plays everywhere and often.
Good morning O family. I absolutely love this video. Thanks for posting BWD.
Good morning COS!
Who would have thunk it that Sessions would be the DNC 2010 poster boy!
Heh!
VOAvideo, July 20, 2010 -
As Prime Minister David Cameron makes his first visit to Washington as his country’s leader, he is expected to defend embattled oil company BP when he meets with President Obama at the White House. In addition to the Gulf oil spill, Mr Cameron and Mr. Obama are also expected to discuss Afghanistan. As Jennifer Glasse reports from London, Mr Cameron says he would like British troops out by 2015.
DemRapidResponse video, July 16, 2010 -
Wall Street Reform: A Major Victory for Obama
DOE’s Energy Blog, July 20, 2010:
Clean Energy Ministerial: Join the Discussion
by David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs
Today marks the second and final day of the world’s first Clean Energy Ministerial. We want you to be part of it. That’s why we’re webcasting all of today’s proceedings as they happen, so you can observe and weigh in on the discussion. Watch it live from 10am to 5pm today. http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=79293458
As you watch, we invite you to submit your questions and comments directly via:
•Twitter with the #CEM hashtag http://twitter.com/energy
•Facebook http://facebook.com/energygov
•Or email, newmedia@hq.doe.gov.
I’ll personally follow-up with answers to some of the most popular questions.
http://blog.energy.gov/
Just saw on OFA. Kagan vote 13 to 6 in Kagan favor. We go to a full Senate vote!
Yeah!!
Here you go. Found a link to the story.
Judiciary Committee Approves Kagan to Supreme Court
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/graham-to-support-kagan/?hp
Sen. Graham “said that she was not someone he would have chosen ‘but the person who did choose – President Obama – I think chose wisely.’….
‘But I understood – we lost [in 2008], President Obama won. The Constitution in my view puts a requirement on me not to replace my judgment for his.’”
Next Up…
July 20, 2010
2:00 PM EDT
President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom hold Joint Press Conference
The White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/Watch/Media/2010/07/20/HP/R/35749/Afghanistan+Economy+Oil+spill+on+agenda+as+President+meets+with+PM+Cameron.aspx
CNN http://live.cnn.com/
Thanks, CR!
Karzai reaffirms 2014 goal for Afghan-led security
7/20/10 DEB RIECHMANN and RAHIM FAIEZ, AP
KABUL, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment for Afghan police and soldiers to take charge of security nationwide by 2014 and urged his international backers to distribute more of their development aid through the government.
Karzai spoke at a one-day international conference on Afghanistan’s future that comes at a critical juncture: NATO and Afghan forces have launched a major operation to drive the Taliban out of their strongholds, and the insurgents are pushing back. Rockets fired at the Kabul airport Tuesday forced the diversion of a plane carrying U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sweden’s foreign minister.
Wearing a traditional striped robe and peaked fur hat, Karzai said that Afghanistan and its Western allies share “a vicious common enemy.” But, he said, victory will come in giving Afghans as much responsibility as possible in combatting the insurgency within its borders. He was flanked by international diplomats including Ban and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“I remain determined that our Afghan national security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement operations throughout our country by 2014″ — more than three years after President Barack Obama’s date for the start of an American troop drawdown, Karzai said.
Karzai’s reference to a “vicious enemy” appeared at odds with his recent more reconciliatory stance toward the Taliban and willingness to hold peace talks to end the nearly nine-year war amid growing recognition that the insurgents are unlikely to be defeated militarily.
Clinton sought to allay concerns over the US military drawdown.
For the entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan;_ylt=Ahg_uhhuxU1SHOWGo67xXA9vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJmdGQ1djZoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNzIwL2FzX2FmZ2hhbmlzdGFuBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNrYXJ6YWlyZWFmZmk-
Aw! PM Cameron just called PBO “Barack.”
I noticed. I kinda like it.
I liked both answers to the first questions.
Kat did you notice that all the usual suspects were not called on, i.e. Ed Henry, Chuck Todd, Chip Reid and the other gotcha reporters?
Heh heh!
Shakeup at Anthem Blue Cross as its president steps down
Leslie Margolin led California’s largest for-profit insurer as it came under fire over planned rate hikes of up to 39%. WellPoint said that Margolin’s departure was not related to the individual rate controversy.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-anthem-resign-20100721,0,388580.story
Well, well!
The body language is so telling. These two men really like and respect each other.
It was cute when David mentioned the girl’s rooms.
Lawmakers to question DNI Nominee James Clapper
7/20/10 CSPAN.org
Last month, President Obama nominated retired Air Force lieutenant General and Defense Department intelligence chief James R. Clapper Jr. to be the new Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Today, he will take lawmakers questions when the Senate Intellegence Committee meets to consider the appointment. Read More »
Top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee have publicly expressed reservations on his appointment, favoring a civilian for the role. Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has mentioned concerns that Clapper may be “beholden to the Pentagon’s interests.” Meanwhile, ranking member of the Committee Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) stated that Clapper lacked “the necessary clout with the president, has proven to be less than forthcoming with Congress and has recently blocked our efforts to empower the DNI.”
If confirmed, Clapper will be the fourth DNI since the office was created five years ago on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.
Watch DNI Nomination: LIVE on http://www.cspan.org/Watch/Media/2010/07/20/HP/R/35730/Lawmakers+to+question+DNI+Nominee+James+Clapper.aspx
OBAMA SO FAR: GOOD JOB!
7/19/10 Richard Reeves – syndicated columnist
LOS ANGELES — This is about what I think, expressed cleverly by another columnist, Froma Harrop of the Providence Journal:
“When the pollster calls and asks whether I think the country is going in the right direction, I will say ‘no.’ When she asks if I approve of the job Congress is doing, I will say ‘no.’ And when she follows up with a question on President Obama’s performance, I will answer: ‘Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The guy drives me nuts at times.’
“But when they ask whether I want Republicans to take back Washington, I’ll respond: ‘Are you out of your mind? We’re still recovering from their last round of debauchery — their fiscal irresponsibility, servility toward Wall Street, disrespect for science, contempt for the environment.’”
Harrop says she is a “reasonable woman,” who does not care about ideology. And she adds that many voters must agree with her.
Well, I do, even if I do care about ideology.
Then, she says: “Republicans doubled the national debt under Bush. Perhaps they’d like to triple it the next time.”
Actually, they have already done that: The national debt tripled during the administration of Ronald Reagan. He made his career by attacking “tax and spend” Democrats. Then he invented “tax and borrow” Republicanism. That was certified as party dogma when Vice President Dick Cheney told President George W. Bush: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”
President Obama may have driven pundit Harrop a bit nuts last week. “You know, sometimes these pundits, they can’t figure me out,” the president said, campaigning in Kansas City, Mo. “They say, ‘Well, why is he doing that? That doesn’t poll well.’ Well, I’ve got my own pollsters, I know it doesn’t poll well. But it’s the right thing to do for America.”
For the entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucrr/20100719/cm_ucrr/obamasofargoodjob
Richard Reeves is a writer, syndicated columnist and lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
A good read. Thanks CR.
Thanks, CR!
“Personally, I think the guy, the president, is doing a pretty good job in ominous times. I will repeat that if any pollster wants to call.”
Considering the “ominous times,” I think he’s doing an amazing job!
Randi Rhodes is saying that the lady who is subject of the Fox news racist rant was driving and the White house stoppeed her and told her they wanted her resignation. Has anyone seen anything about this? This seems a little extreme. I am surprised that this was the way it was handled.
I mean “stopped”.
Yup I just saw on MSNBC online. It’s not pretty.
Here you go: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38321920/ns/us_news-life/
It’s the last paragraph.
OMG, She had to submit her resume on her blackberry. Not pretty at all.
I meant “resignation”. Sometime I have these senior moments.
I think the WH was trying to do a rapid response and not considering who broke the story (Fox news). Turns out after other media examined the tape it’s highly edited. I just got a tweet from Donna Brazile she has word from NAACP that they are trying to reach Ms. Sherrod to possibly apologize and maybe help her get her job back.
Sandy,
I just wrote a long commentary about our media over at OFA in response to Archeology Jim and another comment to Rock on this subject.
I will go read it Donna.
Yes, Randi played everything the lady said. I hope she can get her job back. I know they were trying to do a rapid response but this time it could backfire more than help. This should be a teachable moment. If it comes from Fox or CNN or any of these stations, please investigate. Perception is everything and right now we don’t need to be perceived as quickly throwing people under the bus, although I know this is not the intention. She deserves an apology from Vilsack also. Randi gave out his phone number for folks to call.
I agree with everything you wrote COS, she deserve a public apology.
Sandy, I just listened to the elderly couple involved in this and this story need to go away. They have refuted this story.Brought tears to my eyes. They said it just sound like someone want to stir up trouble.
Thanks for the update COS. Mr. Jealous just released a statement. I hope this goes away too.
Here is the statement:
http://www.naacp.org/press/entry/naacp-statement-on-the-resignation-of-shirley-sherrod1/
Here’s a new diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/20/885768/-If-one-voice-can-change-a-room…
Thanks BWD!
Thanks BWD!
Awesome!
Unemployment benefits extension clears hurdle
7/20/10 ANDREW TAYLOR- AP
WASHINGTON – Legislation to restore unemployment benefits to millions who have been out of work for more than six months broke free of Senate Republican delaying tactics on Tuesday. Senators voted 60-40 to move ahead on the bill, clearing the way for a final Senate vote later on Tuesday. The measure would restore jobless checks for 2.5 million people whose benefits started running out seven weeks ago in a stubbornly jobless economic recovery.
The vote was a modest victory for President Barack Obama and Democrats, whose more ambitious hopes for a jobs agenda have mostly fizzled in the face of GOP opposition in the Senate. A battle has raged for months over whether jobless benefits should be financed with additional federal debt as Democrats want or through cuts to other government programs as most Republicans insist.
The vote came moments after Carte Goodwin was sworn in as a successor to West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, who died last month at the age of 92. Goodwin was the crucial 60th senator to defeat a Republican filibuster that has led to a lapse in benefits for 2.5 million people. The Senate gallery was packed with Goodwin supporters, who broke into applause as he cast his “aye” vote.
Two Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, voted to end the filibuster. Ben Nelson of Nebraska was the lone Democrat to break with his party and vote to sustain it.
After a final Senate vote, the House is expected to approve the legislation and send it to President Barack Obama on Wednesday.
For tbe entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_unemployment_benefits;_ylt=Am046VnErhFWW2eIlKowPkys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNvMmRycmRvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNzIwL3VzX3VuZW1wbG95bWVudF9iZW5lZml0cwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzEEcG9zAzIEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3VuZW1wbG95bWVudA–
Instant gratification or resolution be it positive or negative is demanded of everyone nowdays. This era of youtube and blogs and online news has its benefits but it can be destructive as well.
Honest to goodness this WH can’t win for losing.
Sigh!!
Now on the day when the headlines should be that the President and the Congress stand for our fellow man by extending unemployment benefits we have another controversy compliments of Fox News.
Donna needs a break!
Hey Donna,
I’m just catching up on all that is going on with this Agric Dept story and Ms. Sherrod. This is such a tempest in a teapot. So some random lady 20-something years ago, who now works in some obscure government position was made out to be a racist and then vindicated. And it is national news????
The rightwing really do control what we view as newsworthy. The administration totally mishandled this, but I’m not following why this is such a big f’in deal a la Joe Biden.
Gimme a break.
Typical Fox News timing.
I mean “Noise” not “News.”
The First Lady Teams Up with Major League Baseball
7/20/10 Posted by Tony Clark
On behalf of Major League baseball players, I was honored today to stand with the First Lady at Camden Yards as we kicked off a new partnership with the Let’s Move! campaign.
As we gathered with local RBI and Boys & Girls Clubs of America youth, I was struck by the First Lady’s wisdom and courage to confront childhood obesity and her ongoing commitment to making a difference. I’m sure there are other, politically safer, social issues to champion, but this is not a problem that can be solved simply by pretending it does not exist. Nor is this a problem we can afford to ignore.
The Major League Baseball Players Association is excited about the Let’s Move! campaign because it promises to actually do something about a serious problem facing our youth, rather than just talk about it. Today we kicked off a new public service campaign featuring 30 MLB players, one from every Club, that will run in stadiums, online and on media with the Ad Council later in the summer.
For the entire article: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/20/first-lady-teams-with-major-league-baseball
Good point about there being “politically safer” issues for the First Lady to take on. The Obamas are all about courage.
I know Tony Clark. He retired from the Arizona Diamondbacks last year and still lives here in Phoenix. He is a wonderful guy. His daughter and my granddaughter go to the same Christian school and are really good friends.
Nice!
White House video, July 20, 2010 -
Equal Pay and Workplace Flexibility
Vice President Joe Biden hosts a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force focusing on new recommendations for equal pay for men and women and for increased workplace flexibility to help families balance the demands of home and work.
The president should step in and make sure this woman get her job back. There’s no way around it. I’ll be extremely disappointed if it won’t happen.
Can she even contribute to her old position after all of this?
Vero, maybe early retirement, so she can leave in dignity?
It doesn’t matter. If they must, they should find her something else that pays the same money keep her status. This is makes me so mad, i’m disgusted to no end. I can maybe understand why they wanted to kill the story quickly, but now, they must fix it. And the president, especially this president, can not let this horrible injustice stick, and hand the criminals from Fox this win.
I hear ya. We’ll see how it shakes out. I have to admit that I’ve been out all day, haven’t seen a thing of this visually – just read a summary of this story on some blog. So I’m kind of coming from a very dispassionate perspective, mixed in with a little “don’t care.” I feel for this woman who was victim to the teabagging right wing and too an overly sensitive WH when it comes to issues of race. But she is just one person, and if reinstating her or not becomes some big distraction to bigger things, I will be a little annoyed.
Hopefully the WH nips this thing in the bud sooner, rather than later. Reinstate her, let her have early retirement, whatever. This story needs to be resolved…like yesterday. In the grand scheme of things, this story does not have any bearing on the pressing matters of our country. All this is, is evidence of a messed up political culture where everyone is trigger happy and skittish and looking for the gotcha – or in the WH’s perspective – trying to minimize the gotcha.
I’m just now getting done with work and checking back in, so I don’t have all the details of this latest controversy. But something about his whole mess seems off.
This is one of the first articles I’ve read so far. It was just posted a few minutes ago at TPM:
Point of Clarification
David Kurtz | July 20, 2010, 5:11PM
There’s been some confusion today over one aspect of this Breitbart/USDA story that I want to try to clear up.
Shirley Sherrod, the USDA official forced out, did an on camera interview with CNN at midday. In the interview, Sherrod described the pressure she came under yesterday from within the USDA to resign her post in light of the Breitbart video. Shortly after that, the Washington Post had a write-up of the interview in which they quote Sherrod as saying, “I got three calls from the White House. At one point they asked me to pull over to the side of the road and do it because you are going to be on Glenn Beck tonight.”
Now that purported declaration — that she got three calls from the White House demanding her resignation — seems off to anyone who follows these things. Sherrod is a low-level official. The White House wouldn’t need to get involved so directly and rarely ever wants to. Why get involved directly in a mess that you can leave to a cabinet department to handle? So if Sherrod’s account of what happened yesterday is off, then how reliable is her account of the speech she gave back in March?
But here’s the thing: We can’t find any evidence she actually said that, either in the video or in CNN’s transcript. What she did say, our review of the video shows, was: “I had at least three calls telling me the White House wanted me to resign.”
That’s very, very different.
Elsewhere in the interview, Sherrod identified the person who called her as Cheryl Cook, a deputy undersecretary at USDA. Did Cook invoke the White House in demanding her resignation? That seems to be what Sherrod is suggesting and that sounds much more plausible given what we know about how White House’s work in these situations. For the record, the White House denies any involvement.
It’s a minor point in the overall story but it’s led to some confusion today.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/07/point_of_clarification_1.php#more
Does anybody have a link for what has happened from the point of view of Sherrod? Sounds like somebody on the right heavily edited a tape and ran with it. And now the entire press corps are excited to have another PBO bashing story? Is that about right?
Fox showed a tape that made her sound really racist. She was asked to resign immediately. Turn out, the tape was indeed heavily edited, but now she’s out of her job. I wish Fox would burn in hell – but i just can’t accept any explanation to why the WH would cave to that fear mongering piece of wingnuts piece of crap.
Meta, 7 pm eastern. John King will have the blogger on. This is a scam.
What blogger? Is this Andrew Breitbart that he is going to have on his show tonight?
I still say tat at this point it doesn’t matter what was done, but what will be done. This woman should get her job – or a similar job – back. If it won’t happen, it’ll be the first time president Obama would break my heart, and i really don’t want to know that feeling.
Well, just putting myself in the position of Vilsack and the White House, I’ll probably reach out to her, discuss the situation, find out if she even wants her same job back, and either offer it to her, or see if we can work out another position or early retirement.
IMO, the damage (from the administration’s perspective) is already done once Vilsack fired her. They can’t take that overreaction back.
I will saw, BWD, you are lucky this will be the first time you’ve been disappointed. I got that feeling back during the health care debate, and it was probably really good to have happen since it put him into perspective for me…he’s a phenomenal person – but like his wife has said – he’s only a man. I still love him to pieces and support him 100%, but I know realize he is prone to making 100% purely political and calculated moves that aren’t necessarily the right thing to do.
Not the first tie to be disappointed, but the first time to be heartbroken. I’ve been disappointed more than once, but i live in the real world and i know history and i never thought that he was a magician – so i know that this is already one of the greatest presidents ever. But if they won’t fix this – it will be a real heartbreak for me.
Yeah, heartbreak is different. I’m not sure I’ve felt that yet. I hope they can make it right, but I see this as one of those situations where the damage is done.
White House Tells Mediaite That It Had No Involvement With Shirley Sherrod Resignation
7/20/10 by Tommy Christophe – http://www.mediaite.com
Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod has gone from racial villain to inspiration overnight, but the emerging context to the remarks that got her fired yesterday seem to make little or no difference to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Despite the fact that Sherrod explained to her superiors that the full speech exonerated her of what was suggested in the edited clip, Vilsack stands by the firing. Additionally, a White House official tells Mediaite that this decision was Vilsack’s alone.
Here’s Vilsack’s statement:
Yesterday, I asked for and accepted Ms. Sherrod’s resignation for two reasons. First, for the past 18 months, we have been working to turn the page on the sordid civil rights record at USDA and this controversy could make it more difficult to move forward on correcting injustices. Second, state rural development directors make many decisions and are often called to use their discretion. The controversy surrounding her comments would create situations where her decisions, rightly or wrongly, would be called into question making it difficult for her to bring jobs to Georgia.
Our policy is clear. There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA and we strongly condemn any act of discrimination against any person. We have a duty to ensure that when we provide services to the American people we do so in an equitable manner. But equally important is our duty to instill confidence in the American people that we are fair service providers.
Contrary to what some are reporting, the White House was not involved in Sherrod’s dismissal. A White house official told Mediaite “We did not pressure her to resign. It was the Secretary’s decision.”
That’s fine, but now they need to step in and fix this.
Now the WH has been put in a very uncomfortable position. If they rehire her, then it will undermine Vilsak’s authority and question his decisions. I am not sure what the White House can do at this point. If they step in it will be putting fuel on fire and this would be yet another story to loop 24/7.
CR thanks for this link. I was not aware of this website. I bookmarked it.
I always use the news search engine: news.yahoo.com
That was I can get various news articles from different news agencies all at once.
Thanks CR.
I’m glad Secretary Vilsack has finally made it clear that this is his decision, not the White House’s. I had read the same thing earlier at The Plum Line, credited to an anonymous WH official.
At this point I am not publically judging anybody (except the bomb-throwers at Faux News) or drawing any conclusions, except that FN’s singleminded mission until Inauguration Day, 2017 and probably thereafter is to cause trouble for President Obama and division among Democrats and independents.
Jay Bookman at AJC posts the video, says it ends abruptly at the point where Ms. Sherrod gives context to her remarks, and demands that BigGovernment.com (Breitbart) release the entire tape.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/07/20/in-the-curious-case-of-shirley-sherrod-lets-see-the-whole-tape/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog
I like it when the subject who is inflicting the pain (Breitbart) become the story. I hope there is a full video out there somewhere.
David Kurtz at TPM says:
Even Erick Erickson is having his doubts about Breitbart’s video: “I’m hoping there is more to the video of Shirley Sherrod, because otherwise it seems like the right just got the scalp of a penitent lady.”
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/07/getting_awfully_lonely_over_there.php?ref=fpblg
Thank God for that. I was in our breakroom and CNN was on. Sherrod was on claiming it was President Obama. I knew he would not do something so harsh without out ample investigation.
YUP!
NAACP Statement on the Resignation of Shirley SherrodJuly 20, 2010
(BALTIMORE, MD) – NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous issued the following statement today after a careful investigation into the presentation of former USDA Official Shirley Sherrod.
“The NAACP has a zero tolerance policy against racial discrimination, whether practiced by blacks, whites, or any other group.
The NAACP also has long championed and embraced transformation by people who have moved beyond racial bias. Most notably, we have done so for late Alabama Governor George Wallace and late US Senator Robert Byrd — each a man who had associated with and supported white supremacists and their cause before embracing civil rights for all.
With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA Official Shirley Sherrod, we have come to the conclusion we were snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias.
Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans.
The fact is Ms. Sherrod did help the white farmers mentioned in her speech. They personally credit her with helping to save their family farm.
Moreover, this incident and the lesson it prompted occurred more that 20 years before she went to work for USDA.
Finally, she was sharing this account as part of a story of transformation and redemption. In the full video, Ms.Sherrod says she realized that the dislocation of farmers is about “haves and have nots.” “It’s not just about black people, it’s about poor people,” says Sherrod in the speech. “We have to get to the point where race exists but it doesn’t matter.”
This is a teachable moment, for activists and for journalists.
Most Americans agree that racism has no place in American Society. We also believe that civil and human rights have to be measured by a single yardstick.
The NAACP has demonstrated its commitment to live by that standard.
The Tea Party Federation took a step in that direction when it expelled the Tea Party Express over the weekend. Unfortunately, we have yet to hear from other leaders in the Tea Party movement like Dick Armey and Sarah Palin, who have been virtually silent on the “internal bigotry” issue.
Next time we are confronted by a racial controversy broken by Fox News or their allies in the Tea Party like Mr. Breitbart, we will consider the source and be more deliberate in responding. The tape of Ms. Sherrod’s speech at an NAACP banquet was deliberately edited to create a false impression of racial bias, and to create a controversy where none existed. This just shows the lengths to which extremist elements will go to discredit legitimate opposition.
According to the USDA, Sherrod’s statements prompted her dismissal. While we understand why Secretary Vilsack believes this false controversy will impede her ability to function in the role, we urge him to reconsider.
Finally, we hope this incident will heighten Congress’s urgency in dealing with the well documented findings of discrimination toward black, Latino, Asian American and Native American farmers, as well as female farmers of all races.”
###
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
http://www.naacp.org/press/entry/naacp-statement-on-the-resignation-of-shirley-sherrod1/
Thank you Donna!
I never read/watch anything from Faux News…….might as well read those tabloids by the check out stands!
Atlanta Journal Courier, July 20, 2010:
… Sherrod “kept us out of bankruptcy,” said Eloise Spooner, 82. She and her husband Roger Sooner, who own a farm in Iron City, located in southwest Georgia, approached Sherrod in 1986 — when she worked with the Georgia field office for the Federation of Southern Cooperative/Land Assistance Fund — seeking assistance….
But Spooner, who considers Sherrod a “friend for life,” said the federal official worked tirelessly to help the Iron City couple hold onto their land as they faced bankruptcy back in 1986.
“Her husband told her, ‘You’re spending more time with the Spooners than you are with me,’ ” Spooner told the AJC. “She took probably two or three trips with us to Albany just to help us out.”
Spooner spoke to her friend by phone Tuesday morning.
“She’s very sad about it,” Spooner said. “She told me she was so glad we talked. I just can’t believe this is happening to her.”….
http://www.ajc.com/news/couple-says-fired-usda-574027.html
Thanks Donna for posting this statement. I don’t read or watch anything from Fox either. The majority of my news are from links here and OFA.
Donna, thanks for this.
I applaud NAACP President Jealous’s statement about considering the source. These are wise words.
It seems obvious to me from viewing the tape that there is more to Ms. Sherrod’s statement than we are being allowed to see. Even what we can see and hear does not shock or offend me; I don’t find it surprising that she took umbrage at conduct from a white client she found insulting. She is delivering an interesting, nuanced statement that — again, it seems to me quite clearly –shows the evolution of her thinking. She’s developing a narrative. It must have a conclusion, which has been withheld by BigGovernment.com.
That’s all I’ve got. More wise words from President Obama: “I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.”
I wonder if PBO was one of those kids who seemed like he had an “old soul” because he is so calm, grounded and wise!
CR, I admire him so much for doing his growing-up before he entered public life. We have seen many other politicians who carry a lot of baggage with them.
I’m going to go ahead and post these vids of MSNBC’s coverage of the President’s/PM’s joint appaearance today, until such time as the WH releases something.
Fugumble video, July 20, 2010 -
Part 1 of 4
President Obama welcomes Prime Minster David Cameron of the UK on his first visit to the White House.
POTUS and PM joint appearance, July 20, 2010 -
Part 2 of 4
POTUS and PM joint appearance, July 20, 2010 -
Part 3 of 4
POTUS and PM joint appearance, July 20, 2010 -
Part 4 of 4
POLITICO.com has started posting the Georgia Primary
* Senate
* House
* Governor
Biden to swear in Goodwin (No. 100)
7/20/10 By ALEXANDER BURNS – POLITICO
Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to swear in Carte Goodwin Tuesday afternoon as the new senator from West Virginia, installing the former counsel to Gov. Joe Manchin in the seat previously held by the late Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd.
Goodwin will hold the seat until after the November election, when a new senator will be elected to complete Byrd’s unexpired term. Manchin, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that he would run in the special election.
The top potential Republican candidate for the seat is Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, who has not indicated whether she will run.
I just got O-Mail from Ortiz.
I know that she was so fed up with the trolls, etc at OFA that she quit blogging there. I told her to come lurk or/and blog here.
We are all O-Family here!
Oh that would be great. I miss her posts.
Good news.
Office of the Press Secretary, July 20, 2010:
Statement by President Barack Obama on Senate Vote for Cloture on Unemployment Insurance Extension
THE PRESIDENT:
Today marks an important step toward passing the unemployment insurance extension which is critical to millions of Americans fighting to find a job, put food on the table and make ends meet during this tough economic time. After a partisan minority blocked this critical aid to our nation’s families three separate times, the Senate has moved forward on restoring benefits to the 2.5 million Americans whose livelihood has been held hostage by obstruction and game playing over the past weeks.
I will continue to fight for economic policies that will lead us out of this mess, and press Congress to act on more proposals to create new American jobs and strengthen our recovery, including a small business jobs bill, aid for struggling states to prevent layoffs, and tax cuts for middle class families. Americans who are struggling to find a job and get back on their feet deserve more than the same political game-playing and failed policies that helped cause this recession. And I thank the members of the Senate who stood on the side of these working families today.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-senate-vote-cloture-unemployment-insurance-extensi
Office of the Press Secretary, July 20, 2010:
Administration Officials Continue Travel Across the Country for “Recovery Summer” Events, Project Site Visits; HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Visit New Mexico; DOT to Break Ground on Golden Gate Bridge Access Road Project
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Administration officials are continuing to hold “Recovery Summer” events and visit Recovery Act project sites as part of a focus on the surge in Recovery Act projects underway across the country this summer. The Recovery Act has already funded tens of thousands of projects and put about 3 million Americans to work, but this summer is the most active Recovery Act season yet, with thousands of new projects breaking ground that are helping to create more jobs for American workers and economic growth for businesses large and small.
Week Ahead:
Tuesday, July 20
Department of Agriculture
USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Jay Jensen will visit the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest where the Recovery Act is funding highway and trail maintenance and facility upgrades at Mount Rose, Nevada…
Department of Transportation
FHWA Administrator Mendez will visit the Eastern Avenue Bridge in Washington, DC [which] will use $9.6 million in Recovery Act funds to provide higher clearances for interstate traffic and improve traffic flow.
Wednesday, July 21
Department of Health and Human Services
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will visit the Pueblo of Jemez, a federally recognized Indian tribe situated outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, [that] received a $900,000 Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant through the Recovery Act to improve health conditions for the Pueblo’s children and families.
Department of Transportation
FHWA Administrator Mendez will attend a groundbreaking for a segment of the Doyle Drive Replacement project. Doyle Drive, the existing south access road to the Golden Gate Bridge, will be replaced with a structurally and seismically safer new road….
Thursday, July 22
Department of Justice
DOJ Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Director Bernard Melekian will join Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn to swear-in 48 Recovery Act-funded police officer recruits in Milwaukee, WI. Without Recovery Act funding, the city of Milwaukee would not have created these 48 new law enforcement positions….
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/administration-officials-continue-travel-across-country-recovery-summer-events-pro-1
Office of the Press Secretary, July 20, 2010
President Obama Expands Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target for Federal Operations
Washington, DC – President Obama announced today that the Federal Government will reduce greenhouse gas pollution from indirect sources, such as employee travel and commuting, by 13% by 2020. This commitment expands beyond the Administration’s greenhouse gas reduction target from direct sources set in January, 2010, such as Federal fleets and buildings, by 2020. Cumulatively, greenhouse gas pollution reductions from Federal government operations will total 101 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions from 235 million barrels of oil.
The reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is called for in President Obama’s Executive Order 13514 on Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, which requires the Federal government to lead by example towards a clean energy economy and reduce, measure and report direct and indirect greenhouse gas pollution.
“Every year, the Federal Government consumes more energy than any other single organization or company in the United States,” said President Obama. “That energy goes towards lighting and heating government buildings, fueling vehicles and powering federal projects across the country and around the world. The government has a responsibility to use that energy wisely, to reduce consumption, improve efficiency, use renewable energy, like wind and solar, and cut costs.”
The Federal government is the single largest energy consumer in the US economy. It owns 600,000 vehicles, owns and manages nearly 500,000 buildings, and paid a $24.5 billion utility and fuel bill in 2008. Meeting these targets will engage the nearly 2 million men and women across the country who are employed by Federal agencies….
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-expands-greenhouse-gas-reduction-target-federal-operations
Office of the Vice President, July 10, 2010:
Vice President Biden to Travel to Alabama on Thursday
WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Thursday, July 22, Vice President Biden will return to the Gulf Coast region. The Vice President will visit Theodore, Alabama, to assess efforts to counter the BP oil spill and visit with Gulf residents affected by the spill. Additional details and media logistics are forthcoming.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/vice-president-biden-travel-alabama-thursday
Office of the Press Secretary, July 20, 2010:
Statement by the President on the Senate Judiciary Committee Vote
THE PRESIDENT:
Elena Kagan is one of this country’s leading legal minds, and has shown throughout this process that, if confirmed, she would be a fair and impartial Supreme Court Justice who understands how decisions made by the Court affect the lives of everyday Americans. Today’s vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee is a bipartisan affirmation of her strong performance during her confirmation hearings. I want to thank the Judiciary Committee for giving her a thorough, timely and respectful hearing, and I look forward to the full Senate taking up and voting on this nomination before the August recess.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-senate-judiciary-committee-vote
Testimony of Lael Brainard
Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs
Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance
United States Senate
July 20, 2010 treasury.gov
TG-780
Chairman Bayh, Ranking Member Corker, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss our international financial reform agenda.
The historic passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act lays the foundations for a sounder and more resilient financial system. Thanks to the leadership of President Obama, Secretary Geithner, and Chairmen Dodd and Frank, and to the hard work of this committee, this legislation enacts the most far-reaching reforms of our financial system that this country has seen since the Great Depression.
The challenge before us now is to ensure that the world’s standards are every bit as strong as America’s. In the wake of the most globally synchronized financial crisis the world has ever seen, we must develop the most globally convergent financial protections the world has ever attempted. It is critical to level the playing field up–while protecting against future financial crises and promoting economic growth.
While implementation will take some time, we are determined to move quickly to provide clarity and certainty about the basic rules. We will do so with great care recognizing the complexity of the challenges, but with a sense of urgency commensurate with the critical importance of achieving international convergence and consistency.
Today, I will discuss our international regulatory reform agenda, focusing on the importance of achieving international convergence to high-quality standards that address too big to fail and extend the perimeter of regulation, and establishing a global architecture that will prevent future crises.
For the entire article: http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/tg780.htm
Ok, I’m home and finally able to watch tv and get a good feeling of this story.
I think the only thing I can say is that the administration needs to do something different when issues of race arise. Maybe they shouldn’t be so quick to try and sweep racial issues under the rug. I think that in their haste to put this story to bed, Vilsack made a quick decision and ended the career of an innocent woman.
I still don’t know how they’ll make it right, but I think the lesson is this is that the White House needs to stop being overly sensitive and careful about how they deal with matters involving race. Sometimes, they just have to own the fact that the president is black and as a result uncomfortable racial issues will arise every now and then. Rather than run from it, maybe they should confront those issues every once and a while.
At the end of the day, this story is not going to affect the war, or the economy…it is small potatoes. But it does show that this administration is hyper-sensitive to racial stories, and could do a better job in that arena.
Donna’s posted an article from the NAACP up thread (time stamped 3:29 pm)
Other than Vilsack, who in the WH has been involved in this?
The White House is denying they had no involvement, but CNN is reporting that the president was briefed on this situation and stands behind the Agric. Secretary.
My larger point is that the White House has set a tone, within their administration, that they’re not going to touch matters of race unless it’s in their face. So, I think they have inadvertently created an atmosphere where everybody is hyper sensitive and has a quick trigger to shoot down racial issues that may rise….and I think maybe a little too quick and too sensitive.
That should say:
“The White House is denying they HAD INVOLVEMENT….”
I see, thanks. I can’t believe that PBO stands behind Vilsack’s decision. It doesn’t make sense. It’s so flawed and so punitive and it comes from the slimiest of right-wing extremists. If they’re going to play that game, then it’s open season on Fox. UGH. UGH. UGH.
I guess I wonder what PBO was briefed on, exactly.
I hate to say this, but I’ve never liked Vilsack. He was the governor of Iowa and he also ran for President in 2008. The word was that HRC talked him into stepping aside so she could win Iowa and offered him the national co-chair position in her campaign. That has never sat well with me.
I have no opinion of Vilsack, he seemed to be keeping his head down and doing his job as Agriculture Secretary, so I’m inclined to think he’s been a team player.
Like the NAACP, Vilsack acted too quickly. The right wing noise machine, the Tea Party, Fox News – all of those folks – have folks scared. I think the Rev. Wright and Gates controversy has truly scared the administration and like it or not, the feel like the right wing has power and so they handle right wing “issues” gingerly.
And I think PBO was briefed on this issue AFTER it happened, and has decided after hearing all the facts, he stands by Vilsack.
I think now the problem is undermining Vilsack and reversing themselves and looking wishy-washy. I don’t know…they should just swallow this one and do the right thing and rehire her or something.
This whole thing is just so fishy. With this action, Vilsack’s judgment is as much called into question as Sherrod’s. I hear you, but it doesn’t make any sense to me that PBO supports that.
Just to be clear, I meant the judgment that Vilsack ALLEGES of Sherrod.
The White House Blog, July 20, 2010:
President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron, in Words and Photos
by Jesse Lee
For allies with so rich and deep a history as the United States and the United Kingdom, any bilateral meeting is likely to cover an exceptionally broad a range of topics. In their opening remarks at the press availability afterwards, President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron spoke about long term growth, long term stability and long term fiscal responsibility. They spoke about standing together internationally with regards to Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. And they spoke about the profound mutual respect that is the basis of the “special relationship” between these two nations.
President Obama opened on a lighter note:
“We have just concluded some excellent discussions — including whether the beers from our hometowns that we exchanged are best served warm or cold. My understanding is, is that the Prime Minister enjoyed our 312 beer and we may send him some more. I thought the beer we got was excellent — but I did drink it cold. (Laughter.)
Mr. Prime Minister, we can never say it enough. The United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a truly special relationship. We celebrate a common heritage. We cherish common values. And we speak a common language —- most of the time. We honor the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform who have served together, bled together, and even lay at rest together.
Above all, our alliance thrives because it advances our common interests. Whether it’s preventing the spread of nuclear weapons or securing vulnerable nuclear materials, thwarting terrorist attacks, or confronting climate change, or promoting global economic growth and development, when the United States and the United Kingdom stand together, our people —- and people around the world — are more secure and they are more prosperous.
In short, the United States has no closer ally and no stronger partner than Great Britain. And I appreciate the opportunity to renew our relationship with my partner, Prime Minister Cameron.
In his campaign, David was known for his extensive town halls discussions with voters —- “Cameron Direct.” And that’s the same spirit that we had here today. I appreciate David’s steady leadership and his pragmatic approach. And just as he’s off to an energetic start at home, I think we’ve had a brilliant start as partners who see eye-to-eye on virtually every challenge before us.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/20/president-obama-and-prime-minister-cameron-words-and-photos
Transcript of the POTUS/PM joint press avail: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-cameron-united-kingdom-joint-press-avail
The Talents and Hazards of Elizabeth Warren
Judging from the newspapers these last few days, liberal activists seem to have made some progress in their quest to turn to President Obama’s choice to run the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) into a proxy for whether or not the transform-Washington, candidate-of-hope-and-change is a just talk or the real deal. Obama will pass the test, in liberal eyes, if he appoints Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren to the head the agency. He will fail otherwise.
Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/07/20/the-talents-and-hazards-of-elizabeth-warren/#ixzz0uGksj4yc
He should appoint Warren because Wall Street and the Republicans are against her. That is good enough for me.
All I know is that as president, he has the right to appoint people – that is HIS judgment call. This pressure from others on who he “should” appoint is unfair. And as the article said, Warren is now a symbol of this president’s love for the left, so if he picks someone else, it’s personal to the left, rather than him just going in another direction.
So, here he is – stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Oh good. Another liberal test for the President. We don’t have nearly enough of those.
The White House YouTube channel has almost three hours of video posted on the Clean Energy Economy Forum. View them here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse
I’m a little exhausted and dispirited I’m signing off now, good night folks. NACCP released the entire tape here you: http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/video_sherrod/
Have a good night Sandy
Take good care, Sandy.
Holy cow — over 43 minutes in that video. “Selectively edited” indeed!
Sandy, feel better and have a good night.
Night Sandy – I hear ya!
THIS IS THE ISSUE, IMO
Andrew Breitbart is a Liar. Let’s Not Forget That One.
by grannyhelen
Watching Brietbart’s self-inflicted Liargate unfold: http://www.dailykos.com/… , I think it’s important to keep this one proven fact front and center: Andrew Breitbart is a liar. His website, biggovernment.com, is a delivery vehicle for lies. His misguided minions who engage in their own version of what they like to term “journalism” are practicing the not so subtle art of lying.
And those lies have brought down a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping poor people and a woman who saved a family’s farm, and who was able to overcome her own issues on race in the process.
Should the Dept of Agriculture rescind the firing of this employee and restate her to her position? O heck yeah. Should the President come out and make a statement on race? It seems to be his role in history so to do.
But let’s make one thing clear: Andrew Breitbart is a dangerous liar, and his lies hurt good people.
Any journalist, any news organization, any broadcaster, any blogger and just plain any person out there who cites anything from his website is aiding and abetting a liar with an agenda and a serious – I mean serious – problem when it comes to matters of race.
If you missed Eugene Robinson on Hardball tonight, you should definitely spend a few minutes to view the clip: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/…
He was short, sweet and to the point: this entire episode began with the big lie, and that lie was told by Andrew Breitbart.
Don’t let anyone forget that.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/20/886004/-Andrew-Breitbart-is-a-Liar.-Lets-Not-Forget-That-One.
SenateDemocrats video, July 20, 2010 -
With the help of the Senate’s newest member, Carte Goodwin, today an extension of unemployment insurance benefits passed 60-40. “Finally we have a respite from the obstruction,” said Senator Jack Reed of Republican efforts to block this legislation.
SenateDemocrats video, July 20, 2010 -
Reid: GOP Better Be Ready To Explain Their Safety Net Delay
At this point, I want to see a timeline on this whole awful affair. And I want to make sure that PBO heard the FULL account and that he stands behind the actions of Vilsack knowing the FULL story. If that’s the case, then he has a full-blown controversy on his hands that will not be easily quelled.
Good evening everyone..I’ve been monitoring the inah-netz and I see the media has found its weekly
outrage…I think its a tough break for
Ms.Sherrod…I personally think that she will be
compensated for her troubles…Pres.Obama cannot be expected to micro-manage every part of his administration no more than I’d expect the CEO of Burger King to personally field every customer complaint..There must be a level of “TRUST” with every department..Even when its ugly and “Especially”
when it is hard…What’s done is done and Pres.Obama is wise not to wallow in this muck that the media is all to ready to oblige…Skip Gates anyone..??
Oh…I almost forgot..Here’s the NAACP latest tweet..
Watch the FULL Shirley Sherrod video for the first time, and see how much context counts: http://bit.ly/9XMlK0
In response to meta above:
I’m not sure if it’s about Vilsack’s judgment so much as it is about the racial hot potato Breitbart caused. In a way, I don’t blame Vilsack for his quick rush to judgment…the White House will lose 99% of the time when the issue of race is front and center. So, I believe the White House has created a culture – that has affected everyone in the administration – to squash racially sensitive stories asap. So Vilsack did that. I mean, the NAACP was feeling the heat from this story too, and rushed to judgment as well.
I think this is a case of being too quick to try and squash this, and now the Obama administration has egg on their face. That is why I said they need to reconsider this “quickly kill racial stories” thing that the White House has shown a propensity for. I understand their sensitivity, but I think they have to own the fact that this president is black and that means every now and then he’s got to “go there.”
Vero, I think you’re right.
I just something at TPM that I think makes my point better than I can:
“It’s easy to pop Andrew Breitbart in this whole mess, but Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack isn’t exactly covering himself with glory. Vilsack was on CNN earlier essentially saying that it doesn’t matter whether Breitbart’s video turns out to be a bogus smear of Shirley Sherrod. No, Vilsack demanded Sherrod’s resignation because the whole episode could open her up to charges of racism in the future and impair her ability to do her job.
So I guess if I were to write that Tom Vilsack doesn’t have his people’s back and won’t even do a cursory investigation before throwing his employees to the wolves, then that could open him up to charges that he doesn’t have the confidence of USDA employees and impair his ability to do his job.
Dangerous logic.”
So that’s my point, really. That Vilsack doesn’t make a compelling case for asking for her resignation.
I do agree that the WH does needs to confront issues of race for what they are and deal with them on the merits.
That’s interesting to read about what Vilsack has said about this. The hardest thing for a politician to do is apologize and admit they were wrong. He doubled down. I do think she won’t be able to have peace and be as productive if she’s rehired after all of this. That’s why I like the idea of them allowing her to retire early.
Ugh – this is such a mess.
Yeah, what I objected to the most was his doubling down and that’s why I kept going back to him. It just reeks of privilege, an attitude about how dispensable some people are.
Vero, I really appreciate your willingness to engage on all these matters we face day in and day out! It’s important that we draw out all the information and support each other’s views, no matter what.
…”I really appreciate your willingness to engage on all these matters we face day in and day out! It’s important that we draw out all the information and support each other’s views, no matter what.”
Ditto. One of the reasons I like this blog and all of us on it is that I feel comfortable on it. I can rely on the fact that I’m amongst supporters, like-minded people, and I’m not being fed b.s. from crazy people or inadvertently giving comfort to trolls when I have less than supportive things to say about the administration.
Mediaite, July 20, 2010:
This is just getting silly. The originators of the edited video now say Ms. Sherrod is a victim of the NAACP and the Obama administration.
Fox News Responds To NAACP ‘Snookering’ Accusation: ‘We Didn’t Even Do The Story’
http://www.mediaite.com/online/fox-news-responds-to-naacp-snookering-accusation-we-didnt-even-do-the-story/
Big Government’s Whiplash-Inducing Position Shift On The Shirley Sherrod Story
http://www.mediaite.com/online/biggovernments-whiplash-inducing-position-shift-on-the-shirley-sherrod-story/
It should be written everywhere in large letters of fire: Trust nothing that comes from Fox and its associates.
That is Faux News to us
“This is just getting silly”.
HeHe..Yes it is :0)
Hi Tigerfists!
On a side note, I wonder if she’ll have a lawsuit against the administration? I doubt it since her position was appointed, but it’s an interesting possible additional dynamic.
Yeah, I think because she was an “at will” employee, she may not have a wrongful termination case. But are there any loopholes there? My heart goes out to her and I hope there is something there for HER at the end of all this.
I’m thinking she may be able to go after Breitbart and co. for defamation.
Defamation is difficult to prove. The gist is that you need to show someone made a UNTRUE statement – written or oral – to another person (a third part) which caused some kind of injury…usually monetary injury.
I think she has an argument that the snipped up video made an untrue statement, obviously posted to others, and as a result she was fired – lost money.
I think she should sue – at least for the principle of it.
THAT would be justice.
And she’s probably not considered a political person, or a public figure, so I think the standard for her to use is quite low.
I think she has a case.
Rachel is doing a good job giving a timeline. It’s interesting to see how Fox hyped this like crazy as “Breaking News.”
Rachel is making my point about the White House needing to stop being so hypersensitive on issues surrounding race. They keep making things worse by being so quick to try and dismiss it.
Thanks for the play-by-play as I don’t have TV/Satellite/Cable.
Glad I can help…lol.
Ben Jealous who’s chairman of the NAACP is on now being interviewed. He’s apologizing profusely, but he’s not very well spoken. I think they mishandled their tea party announcement, and now this mess…he needs to take a breather. LOL.
I didn’t realize how bad of a speaker he is – he doesn’t have a strong speaking presence.
Ok I just got home. So I heard that the President is standing by Vilsack or is that speculation?
Girl, it is a weird statement that simply says: “The President was briefed on the issue and stands by Vilsack’s decision.”
So that’s all we have. I saw it on CNN.
Geesh!
I don’t know what to say if this is indeed a fact. I guess he has to support his department head but Geesh.
Ok reading your comments made me turn on Rachel I guess too late because Jealous was gone and their was a commercial on with the President’s voice. Did you see that????? Was that a joke?
Yeah, that was a strange commercial – don’t know what that’s all about. Jealous actually ended pretty strong, but I think he’s feeling a lot of heat for their tea party statement and this issue…he seemed flustered and overwhelmed. I feel bad for him…I don’t think people get that the tea party is being propped up by Fox News and their very important and influential allies in the conservative movement. Doing battle against them is hard and must be done smartly.
I think it all boils down to the disgusting fact that we are all still being played by Rove.
Basically
Oh, I see Brian Williams is leading off with oil and the Sherrod story on National news.
Of course COS that’s their MO. Somewhere buried in the news will be the unemployment benefit extension.
I watched BriWi tonight because I hadn’t been following this story all day and wanted to see how the MSM is covering it and at least they portrayed it as a matter of a lot of different conflicting stories. At least they tried to capture the complexity of it. They did make a very big deal of it in the context of race and seemed to leave it open as to how much PBO knows about the whole case given the WH statement.
I never watch John King but it was on, and he seemed genuinely concerned with pointing out that the woman’s full speech isn’t as Breitbart presented.
I think the media feels bad for the woman, so they’re carefully covering this and doing a decent job pointing out the nuances.
Now Brian Williams is talking about that Black Panther case.
Sigh!!!
I think they should all shut down and just let Faux News run things since they all take their cues from them anyway.
I happened across that CNN Reliable Sources show this Sunday a.m. for a hot minute, and they devoted a segment on Fox’s coverage of the New Black Panther case and whether other networks really did drop the ball.
So they basically did a story – NOT REALLY on the case itself, but on whether Fox’s argument that no one is covering it is valid. So, they don’t really get into the case and ya know, report and inform the public on it. Instead, they mention Fox’s position on it, then rather than discuss the merits of that position, they go on to see if the coverage has been adequate.
So as a viewer, you’re left pretty much thinking the DOJ threw out this racially charged case and no one covered it but Fox.
Me to Donna. Today is one of those days that I just feel like running way and I have no idea where. We do not need this right now. We have elections going on. Guthrie said PBO was briefed after all of the facts and he is standing by Vilsac. We cannot not afford to lose the black vote. I know I am going overboard but I am disillusioned tonight.
COS, it’s funny you mention the black vote. Just tonight I was thinking that this situation could do some actual damage to Obama’s base – black folks.
I’m going to listen to black radio in the morning on my way to court to get a feel for how this is all playing. He will be forgiven if they do a mea culpa. But if he doesn’t do it, and let’s this woman hang out there without even an apology, it’s going to hurt what is a very strong and emotional relationship he has with the black community. There’s already a grumbling that he’s too shy about race issues…this certainly won’t help that. Even I feel like they need to at least apologize to her for jumping the gun. This is no time for political pride.
THAT’S THE WHOLE RIGHT-WING INTENTION.
Yes Meta!
Divide and Conquer and then they win.
From Ambinder’s twitter feed:
9 minutes ago:
USDA is preparing some sort of new comment on Sherrod’s case; don’t know the content.
1 hour ago:
A WH official says that Shirley Sharrod’s case is being reviewed at this hour….
That’s good….
He refers to this at The Atlantic, too.
“The White House is loathe to touch anything resembling a racial thing, but this isn’t a racial thing: it’s a judgment thing. It’s about thinking before speaking. It’s about slowing down, it’s about gathering evidence before making decisions, it’s about doing the right thing.
White House officials initially were refusing to comment; now two administration officials say they’re reviewing the situation. Which means that the story is not over.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/07/the-white-houses-shirley-sherrod-test/60136/
I am emotional about this because growing up in Arkansas, I related to a lot of what Sherrod said like leaving home going North to find a job and seeing home folks come home in new cars. We thought they were rich but as we got older we realized that they were rented cars.
She has really paid her dues.
Good!
My heart was sinking for this woman.
How can we not allow people to talk and mentor their peers about how we evolve as a society. My goodness Robert C Byrd would have never been the giant in the Democratic Party that he was if we booted people out because of past opinions.
Not sure what I expect of Vilsack but I sure expect more than him doubling down on his original opinion on this issue.
Donna, you touched on the most important point. That those who lived through the 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s and on and on have seen a lifetime of pain and suffering AND change. And that we are evolving in our understanding of how we as a nation have institutionalized racism. How we have bred it into our most important practices of hiring and administrating and implementing policy and programs and selling goods and services. And how we’ve learned from that painful indoctrination. How we need to understand how it happened so we can prevent it’s continued growth. She deserves PRAISE not condemnation.
I think this whole fiasco was timed deliberately to coincide with the November elections. To cause pain and make people regret that we elected a Black President.
There is NO WAY I’m ever going to feel that. NO WAY I’m ever going to go back. NOT THIS TIME.
I know Donna. She was just using that as an example. I was very struck with how she kept complementing PBO. We need people like her who have influence on people.
They are playing Willie Horton politics right now. They will do anything to regain power but we must not let it happen.
Notice how they stepped ALL OVER the news of the passage of unemployment benefits. No accident.
Yes and also the approval of Kagan by the committee.
Donna, I don’t know what to make of Vilsack. At the point today when I thought, yes, he really jumped the gun, I realized that meant the NAACP had also jumped the gun, and that totally confused me. Based on accusations from Faux?
The same people who say the President of the United States is a foreign-born Manchurian candidate who is secretly installing socialism and fascism to destroy America? They desperately want to make everything about race simply because it’s the big red flag to their audience. They want to divide the President from as many constituencies as they can.
And now it seems the White House has to get involved in what should never have been an issue, had the source been considered and proper inquiries made.
You are right, how can we ever get anywhere if we don’t allow people the chance to change their ideas.
Until I get the word straight from PBO, I reserve my final judgment. I trust him over any Cabinet official or media pundit.
I need to get the word from PBO also. He is caught between a rock and a hard place and I am not going to blame him. He has enough to deal with.
That’s the truth, COS.
thehilldotcom video, July 20, 2010 -
Vice President Biden, in his role as President of the Senate, officially administered the oath of office to Carte Goodwin of West Virgina making him the newest member of the Senate. Goodiwn’s swearing-in brings the Democrats back to 59 members.
WLNS.com, July 20, 2010:
Sen. Carte Goodwin, (D) West Virginia: “I could not feel more privileged than I do to have taken my first vote as a member of the United States senate to have it be a vote that helps millions of Americans and over 12,000 West Virginians who are still looking for work as the economy continues to turn around. These are real issues that affect real West Virginians and real Americans in a very real ways, and I feel privileged to have played a small role in helping to move this legislation forward.”
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=12841289
thehilldotcom video, July 20, 2010 -
Senator Goodwin speaks about casting his vote to pass unemployment benefit legislation.
This is what the CNN article states:”President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation after Vilsack decided to seek Sherrod’s resignation, according to a White House official, who said the president fully supports the decision.”
Ok this is different than “the President has been briefed on the situation and supports Vilsacks decision.”
I was of the impression that the President was briefed of the new information and was fully supporting Vilsacks decision. That’s not how I read that quote from CNN.
Does anyone else see it that way?
http://us.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/20/agriculture.employee.naacp/index.html
Donna, I also think those two statements say different things.
I hope the WH is listening to Rachel and think, the next time if any story is coming from fox.
You are right there is a difference, and earlier when I wrote what the statement said, I was going off of my memory of seeing the statement written at the bottom on the screen while I watched CNN on tv while eating dinner.
It was ambiguous and not the strongest and most straightforward statement they could have issued. But to reiterate, I was going off of my memory of reading the statement, and based on your link, I see that I didn’t interpret it correctly. I’m sure I’m not the only one who glancing up at the screen could’ve misinterpreted when and what the president knew.
What this says is that PBO was not a part of the decision making process. That’s good news and makes sense to me. It sounds like he was backing up his people but now may be taking a second look based on more information. I’m very displeased with Vilsack right now. This is exactly the kind of thing you NEVER do to your boss.
For one thing, I doubt very much that the President of the United States was involved with the firing of an employee at Ms. Sherrod’s level. That is something that would naturally be left to her more immediate supervisory chain. Of course the media wants to bring PBO in on it from the outset, but it just doesn’t make sense that he’d be micro-managing.
Yes Kathleen I agree with you.
The MSM try to sensationalize even a small story to get more viewer to tune in. They are baiting the hook.
Also, I guess I initially understood the statement as stating that the president supported Vilsack after being briefed. I guess I assumed “being briefed” included being made aware of all the new info on the fact that the video was edited. But I guess what they mean is that he was supportive after Vilsack made the decision but before finding out the speech was clipped and edited????
I think we’re not clear who briefed the President and if it was Vilsack, then for me, all bets are off.
I bet that Gibbs is NOT looking forward to tomorrow’s presser.
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