Obama's new fundraising speech: 2008 was really bad, so I need a second term

After a rough month of enforced presidenting from within the White House, President Obama fled Washington and governing Wednesday, back to Chicago allegedly to celebrate his birthday with home folks.

But, of course, the real reason was campaigning for money, raising more of it from the Windy City for his billion-dollar reelection campaign. The Wednesday highlight was supposed to be a high-stakes dinner with the president, which isn't really dinner with the president because he just arrives late, speaks briefly and leaves without eating. The tab: $35,800 per plate.

Ticket readers get his entire expensive speech for free simply by scrolling down.

Despite enduring a newly sagging economy and the worst wrong track and job approval numbers of his presidency, this 50th birthday of Obama's is turning out to be a big deal. His Russian pal, President Dmitry Medvedev, called the other day. Jennifer Hudson sang for him Wednesday. Little Rahm Emanuel, now Mayor Emanuel, praised him highly.

Some Obama staff traveled out to Andrews Air Force Base to greet the returning POTUS at....

With debt deal done, Obama sees need now for new spending on bridges, roads, unemployment

President Obama reviewed the last few weeks for the nation today and shared his goals for the future. (Scroll down for full transcript.)

He said the debate over avoiding default was "long and contentious." He sees the deal as "an important first step" to getting the nation to "live within our means." But -- here it comes -- he said it also allows for more spending; he calls it "investments."

Back to young people, old people, sick people, unemployed, single moms, and the "balanced approach," the tax hikes he wants on those who already pay most of the taxes, which he didn't get this time but maybe next time. "That's the principle I’ll be fighting for during the next phase of this process."  

He wants to get back to creating jobs. But it won't come from easing life for business, rolling back regulations, stuff like that.

He said a lot of the nation's problems are beyond control: Japan's earthquake, the Arab spring, oil price hikes, those Europeans and their debts. He left out the Libyan war.

Obama said the different deadlines that his Treasury secretary set for default were just another Washington manufactured crisis. Oh, wait, no. He probably meant congressional disagreements over meeting his deadline.

He said the minute Congress returns from another vacation he'll be after....

More bad poll news for Obama as debt deal brings smiles to Capitol Hill

Lots of smiles and happy news from Capitol Hill late Sunday as legislators on both sides optimistically announced a debt limit-spending deal to avert a threatened government shutdown Tuesday.

Even Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who loves making deals, was glowering a little less.

The initial details of the bipartisan deal leaking out indicate that in return for driving his own job approval rating down to its lowest point ever, President Obama didn't get much out of the professed compromise.

He wanted new taxes; sorry, enhanced revenues. You know, those rich corporate jet owners, et al.

All he got basically, it seems, was an agreement to put off the next spending fight until after the 2012 presidential election. Republican legislators, who said they wanted to debate the debt limit again next winter, gave that up. Which helps them as much as the former legislator now in the White House.

Obama will, no doubt, have more to say about the deal today. See if he throws in more sour grapes as he did after the GOP won its Bush tax cut extensions in last December's talks. Back then, Obama, who promised to bring both sides together if elected in 2008, called his fellow deal-makers "hostage-takers."

We'll hear more too today from legislators on both sides; each caucus will be....

Michele Bachmann votes No on debt ceiling but Yes on fundraising

As you may have gathered from her repeated comments, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is voting No on her House party leader's plan to raise the nation's $14.3-trillion debt ceiling. Still.

However, the Minnesota representative is voting Yes to you sending her "a special emergency gift" of a campaign contribution in the form of a "donation of $25, $50, $100 or any any amount up to the $2,500 legal limit today!"

No actual explanation in her Thursday email solicitation as to what the emergency is requiring others to suddenly invest more money in her campaign. But it likely has something to do with taking advantage of all the publicity over the stalemated deficit talks between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner.

And the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13 and the Fox News Iowa debate two days previous will be key opportunities for the Iowa native and only female in the GOP race at the moment.

"Barack Obama’s failed leadership and shameful spending policies have single-handedly put our nation at risk," Bachmann asserts. "It is time to stand up to the president and say 'no more.' "

A new Gallup Poll this week finds former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leading the announced Republican candidate field with 27% and Bachmann second with 18%. However, if Sarah Palin and Texas Gov. Rick Perry enter the field, as seems more likely by the day, then Bachmann falls to a fourth-place tie with Rudy Giuliani at 11%, with Palin at 12%, Perry at 15% and Romney down to 17% but still in first.

In her afternoon email, Bachmann adds: "It’s time to make the tough choices and make the spending cuts necessary to balance our budget. I am running for President of the United States to restore our constitutional conservative values to government and put our nation back on a path towards prosperity."

RELATED:

Polls confirm Obama's base crumbles

Glenn Beck compares Norway victims to Hitler Youth

Michele Bachmann: Obama doesn't grasp the magnitude of nation's debt

-- Andrew Malcolm

Follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photo: Mark Wilson / Getty Images (Bachmann and Speaker John Boehner, Jan. 5).

Buddy Roemer elbows into a crowded GOP presidential field

  

Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is running for the GOP nomination for president.

Outside of Louisiana -- where Shreveport-born Roemer was a four-term member of Congress in the early to mid-'80s, and the state's one-term 52nd governor back in the late '80s and early '90s -- the response of most GOP voters would probably be, "Who?"

Of course, that's the same reaction many had to the candidacy of Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, but at least he had recent appearances on C-SPAN and Fox News' "RedEye W/Greg Gutfeld" to his credit. The 67-year-old Roemer has been out of politics since attempting a gubernatorial comeback in 1995, working in finance and banking (as befits a Harvard MBA).

These days, the only excitement over a Louisiana governor running for the Republican nod would be if the statehouse's present occupant, Bobby Jindal, jumped in -- and there's no indication of that.

Roemer's announcement at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire on Thursday was under the motto of "Free to Lead" -- which he is, as is everybody else in the race, since none of the announced candidates is incarcerated or a convicted felon.

No debt deal necessary for Obama's reelection campaign; he reports raising $86 million last quarter

He may have been leading from behind all spring in those nettlesome national debt reduction talks with congressional Republicans.

Unemployment may be back up to 9.2%. But President Obama is doing great up front where it counts in the political fundraising business to keep his own job in next year's election.

In a video emailed to supporters early this morning, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the Democrat's bid for four more years in the Oval Office would report raising more than $47 million for the old Organizing for America outfit. And another $38 million-plus for the Democratic National Committee. All from 552,462 donors, Messina said.

All campaigns' fundraising numbers for the April-June quarter are due into the Federal Election Commission on Friday, unless they get an exemption for starting late, as Jon Huntsman did.

Obama's campaign donation total is chump change compared to the trillions in budget cuts he claims to be negotiating with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The reported $86 million dwarfs the anticipated quarter totals of his Republican challengers such as former Govs. Mitt Romney at $18 million and Tim Pawlenty and Huntsman around $4 million each.

Not counting Michele Bachmann, who has been a top congressional fundraiser but not yet announced her haul, the Republican field combined has raised around $35 million. An independent committee supporting Romney has collected another $12 million.

Messina claims that the Democrat needs a whole lot more money to compete with what he said could be "as much as" $500 million from outside committees supporting Republicans.

Originally, Obama campaign aides talked of a $1 billion campaign on behalf of their boss. But they have since scaled that back closer to the $745 million he raised for the 2008 campaign, which he won, in case you hadn't noticed.

 RELATED:

Americans to Obama on his threatened government shutdown: OK

Obama on debt deal: 'I have bent over backwards to work with Republicans'

No recession for 454 Obama White House aides: They'll make $37,121,463 this year

-- Andrew Malcolm

Don't forget to follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photo: Pete Souza / White House

861 days and $787 billion in, Obama pleads for more time on jobs

Because who doesn't want to take his 747 to Iowa at this time of year?, President Obama popped up in Iowa today.

And you'll never guess what he did.

He pleaded for yet more time to create new jobs and keep his.

Eight hundred and sixty-one days after popping up in Denver, of all places, to sign the Democratic Congress' $787-billion stimulus bill that was going to work almost immediately and absolutely keep unemployment below 8%, Obama offered another jobs speech today (full text below) with unemployment at 9.1%.

He admitted that things are not good for millions of Americans and said it was going to take even more time to do what his vice president promised would be happening 14 months ago.

How could the awful economic hole from you-know-who keep getting deeper 889 days after the guy fled back to Texas?

Obama stated:

For a lot of Americans, those numbers don’t matter much if they’re still out of work, or if they have a job that doesn’t pay enough to make the mortgage or pay the bills. So we’ve got more work to do. And that work is going to take some time. The problems that we developed didn’t happen overnight. We’re not going to solve them overnight either. But we will solve them.

Perhaps the plea for more time has something to do with the 497 (and dwindling) days left before Americans pass their final judgment on the Obama-Biden administration's stewardship of everything, including the new war in Libya.

Will it be Democrat Jimmy Carter redux? Or will it be the first time in nearly two centuries that Americans reelect three presidents in a row?

Usually when political opponents visit somewhere, the opposing party's state....

White House bubble? Fundraising Obama boasts he 'could not be prouder' of his presidential record

Did somebody say political disconnect?

When Barack Obama became president of the United States, the national unemployment rate was 7.3%. Today, it is 9.1%, almost 14 million American workers idle. Millions more if you count those who've surrendered to no paycheck.

This despite the spending of $787 billion in stimulus money that was promised to keep unemployment below 8% and generate hundreds of thousands of jobs each month by last year. In May the private sector created 54,000 new jobs.

The Federal Reserve estimates unemployment by the fall of 2012 will be somewhere between 7.8% and 8.2%. No incumbent president in 75 years has been reelected with unemployment above 7.2%.

When Barack Obama became president, the national debt was $10.6 trillion. Today, it is $14.3 trillion, a 35% increase in 885 days. Borrowing of nearly $4.2 billion every day, photo op or not.

On his second day in office when Barack Obama signed that executive order to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within one year, his job approval was 69%.

Yesterday, according to Gallup, Obama's job approval was 43%.That's down 25 points among whites, down 24 among seniors, down 23 among independents, down 22 among men, down 21 among women.

Fifty percent of Americans disapprove of his job.

The latest Bloomberg National Poll finds 2 out of 3 Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. Only 23% see signs of economic recovery.

Only 10% expect employment to improve within two years. A plurality favor repealing Obama's trademark healthcare legislation, and Gallup found Americans' economic confidence plunging again this month.

Gallup's latest generic 2012 presidential ballot reveals Obama losing to some Republican 39%-44%.

With his wife, daughters, mother-in-law, niece and nephew on safari in Africa, the president was baching it on the road for a four-speech Thursday. The campaign's first quarter of fundraising totals are due to the Federal Election Commission in early July. His Chicago organization plans to raise $1 billion before Nov. 6, 2012.

So with budget talks with congressional Republicans near collapse and VP Joe Biden off duty at home Friday, Obama was back in New York City on Thursday to do another three Democratic fundraisers. He opened at a quiet restaurant soiree with Wall Street bankers, private equity investors and hedge fund managers, who paid $35,800 per plate to dine with the man who's publicly bashed them so often.

The evening's last Obama event in Manhattan was at the Broadway Theatre, hosted by TV yapper Whoopi Goldberg. The Real Good Talker from the White House promised the 1,400 enthusiastic audience members he wouldn't give a long speech. But during his 21-minute oration he did utter one amazing boast:

The track record of the last  2¹/₂  years is one that I could not be prouder of.

RELATED:

Al Gore attacks President Obama on his environmental record

Quietly, steadily, Mitt Romney builds a lead among Republicans

Obama's unauthorized war on Libya costing taxpayers $9,421,000 a day

-- Andrew Malcolm

Don't forget to follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photos: Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press (Top, Obama boards Air Force One in New York. Bottom, he embraces Whoopi Goldberg at one of three Democratic fundraisers he attended Thursday night in New York City).

What the Newt Gingrich staff implosion means for the 2012 Republican race

 

The real import of Thursday's aide walkout from Newt Gingrich's flailing presidential campaign has little to do with the former House speaker himself.

It's like a football expansion draft, the players from Gingrich's now-crippled political franchise will get picked up and signed on to other GOP campaigns, this being the eve of prime-time for these savvy hired guns who live for the unpredictable adrenalin rush and constant predictable grind of campaign days.

Immediately, Sonny Perdue, the former Georgia governor and national co-chair for Gingrich 2012, signed on to Tim Pawlenty's political team.

But what's more important is that two of these now-departed Gingrich campaign aides were actually on loan from another governor, Texas Republican Rick Perry. Chief among them Rob Johnson, Gingrich’s campaign manager, and Dave Carney.

The tall conservative Eagle Scout, now Texas' longest-serving governor ever, has stated several times that he's not running for his party's 2012 nomination, which is smart. He's been dealing with the state legislature all spring. And why ask to be targeted by opponents sooner than necessary?

But he's waffled enough to keep the hopeful murmurs smoldering like a Texas wildfire during the night, especially among fiscal conservatives dissatisfied with the fiscal and smaller government bona fides of the current crop of Republican wannabes.

With his fiscal (and reportedly personal) stinginess, no-new taxes and pro-business climate, Perry's state has created more new American jobs in the last four years alone than all the other 49 states combined.

Think that might resonate instantly with many Americans who've told pollsters from Day One of the Obama Change Era that the economy/jobs were, are and will be Issue One for them?

And Perry's recent book title is a perfect campaign theme for anti-Obama forces assembling on the right: "Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington."

Perry is also chairman of the Republican Governors Assn., putting him in almost daily touch with the country's heavy financial hitters. With his campaign gang back home in the heat of the Texas summer, Perry can now begin seriously assessing his 2012 prospects, for a possible move later this summer if the lack of passion for the current Republicans field continues.

As for Gingrich, he passed for a no-holds-barred D.C. politician 15 years ago. With his long classroom experience, he was one of the best no-notes public speakers around. And his widely-distributed Go-Pac lecture tapes tying world history into contemporary American issues could be mesmerizing.

He seemed to overflow with new ideas, often pulling folded notes or articles from his coat pocket to show listeners. His speaker resignation after the disappointing 1998 midterms combined with serial romances created overweight personal baggage and took him off the playing field for too many years, despite frequent TV appearances.

Additionally, the pace and meanness of federal politics has increased. So, even without his opening campaign missteps this time, Gingrich's bid seemed marginal at best and from another time. Many of his most logical supporters were not just not supporting him, but harshly criticizing him.

A dead giveaway to this doomed campaign came in his one-sentence Thursday vow to continue:

"I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring. The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles."

Actually, not Los Angeles. Beverly Hills. The influential Republican Jewish Coalition is meeting there. There's only one reason any pol starts anew, stops or ends in Beverly Hills. And it's not to greet commuters exiting the subway.

It's money, dollars being the most important kind of votes at this stage in any presidential campaign.

RELATED:

The secret lesson within Gingrich's botched campaign launch

Romney now leads President Obama among registered U.S. voters

You know how Sarah Palin said Paul Revere warned the British? Well, he did

-- Andrew Malcolm

Don't forget to follow the Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photo: Jack Plunkett / Associated Press (Perry).

Forget those Republicans for now, Obama's real 2012 opponent is The Economy

It's not really that hard to do so far.

Just forget for a minute the expanding array of already, certain and maybe Republican presidential candidates. And forget the idea of a serious Democratic challenger to President Obama next year.

The incumbent's most serious opponent for reelection in 2012 is right now and likely still will be not a person but The Economy.

It's not good, despite all of Joe Biden's glib fundraiser promises. From the very beginning of his presidency, which sure seems like more than 870 days ago, almost every poll has shown the top concerns of Americans were economic: jobs, the economy, the deficit.

Yes, yes, Obama said and still does, creating new jobs is Job One, after endlessly reminding of the troubled economy he inherited, an excuse that doesn't seem to work anymore. On June 2, press secretary Jay Carney repeated all the travails and then stated:

"There is no issue that matters more to this president than the economic health of this country and the job security of Americans and job creation in this country. So he's focused on this very directly."

Which is, no doubt, why a Daily Economic Briefing has been quietly erased from....