Here’s the latest from me on the TARP negotiations on the Hill. Yesterday really was something to watch with Senate Dems openly going into the meeting voicing skepticism about supporting the second half of the bank bailout, an issue on par with President Bush in public approval ratings, both are at 27%. “I don’t think the climate …
Statement from Harry Reid and Dick Durbin:
“The Secretary of the Senate has determined that the new credentials presented today on behalf of Mr. Burris now satisfy Senate Rules and validate his appointment to the vacant Illinois Senate seat. In addition, as we requested, Mr. Burris has provided sworn testimony before the Illinois
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Following up on Karen’s post – Speedy Gonzales beat me to it! Voinovich makes the third GOP senator to retire this cycle. If Senate Republicans thought 2006 and 2008 were bad, the spate of retirements is making 2010 look pretty painful. First there was Florida Senator Mel Martinez – because Florida’s always an easy state for both …
Obama today sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asking them to allocate the second half of the $700 billion TARP funds passed by Congress last year. House Banking Committee Chairman Barney Frank introduced a bill …
Obama today is expected to give a “major” speech on the economy this afternoon at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, probably the first of many to convince “some [that] might be skeptical of the plan,” as he says in excerpts e-mailed to reporters this morning. Just when we thought the eternal campaign was over… But
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Obviously yesterday’s nasty scene left a bad taste in the mouths of Senate Democratic leaders. While they aren’t going to immediately seat Burris, as was reported this morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did tell reporters they’ll consider seating the former Illinois attorney general depending on the outcome of Burris’ testimony …
Apparently, Obama wants to name CNN’s talking-head neurosurgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as Surgeon General. Gupta is an accomplished surgeon, Emory University medical professor and award-winning journalist, who has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the tsunami in Sri Lanka. He’s also not totally unpolitical, having served as a …
For all that Obama has been winning praise for his relatively smooth transition (okay, Richardson and Panetta aside), Dems must not be loving the side show Blagojevich has created. In fact, as one observer put it to me, “the clowns have taken over the circus — all three rings of it.”
Today’s spectacle of Burris being turned away by …
Here’s the latest from me. I find this issue really interesting because it encapsulates perfectly the struggle between supply-and demand-side economics. If it passes, or if Obama manages to enact rule changes without going through Congress, it’s a victory for all those demand-side economists who for years have been saying that
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The White House today played coy about prospects of an auto bailout. Here’s CBS’s inestimable Bill Plante trying to nail down an answer during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Dana Perino:
Q Just one more time. Why do you say, “if we decide to do it”?
MS. PERINO: Because I don’t have an announcement
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As I type this Dow futures are down 320 points, S&P futures are down nearly 37 and Nasdaq’s futures are down 50 points. As Harry Reid said late last night: “I want everyone to understand that when we vote tonight, it’s over with. I dread, Mr. President, I dread looking at Wall St. tomorrow.”
So, Congress failed to bailout the
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Here‘s the latest on the mess that is the auto bailout on Capitol Hill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell today insisted that the GOP be allowed to vote on an amendment by Tennessee Senator Bob Corker.
From his speech on the Senate floor:
“The Corker Amendment does not just encourage reform, it requires it. And it does so with
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Amidst all the auto bailout drama today, Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers and Phil Schiliro’s visit to the Hill went relatively unnoticed. The three Obama wise men met with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid talking about what the stimulus package might look like when Congress reconvenes next year and other legislative issues expected to come up in …
