ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos": Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and a round table with ABC's Donna Brazile,
Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts, George Will and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post.
Bloomberg's "Political Capital with Al Hunt": Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and
Bloomberg's Hans Nichols, Mike Tackett, Heidi Przybyla and former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber.
CBS' "Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer": Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and a round table with Kevin Merida and Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post.
CNN's "GPS with Fareed Zakaria": Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, at left.
CNN's "State of the Union with John King": Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.),
Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Rep. Patrick Murphy
(D-Penn.) and CNN's Mary Matalin.
"Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace": Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Cornyn (R-Texas)
and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and a round table with Fox News'
contributors Laura Ingraham, NPR's Mara Liasson and Juan Williams and the
Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol.
NBC's "Meet the Press with David Gregory": Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a round table with NBC's Andrea Mitchell, Democratic strategist Bob Shrum and Politico's Roger Simon.
This week's weekly remarks open with President Obama in Africa opening on foreign affairs. But by the second paragraph out of 20, he gets to what he really wants -- needs -- to talk about: domestic business in general and the economy specifically.
His polls numbers have slipped, especially among seniors and even independents. People still like him a lot (though they now like his wife better).
But they're increasingly worried about some of his programs and these numbers with more digits than civilian calculators can display -- all the spending and unemployment still growing, reform of healthcare that some 70% of Americans are satisfied with now.
You can tell what White House polling has told them by the subjects ticked off in Obama's remarks: We inherited this mess, the economic stimulus bill so urgently pushed in February wasn't really designed to fix the economy, and the switching of terms about jobs. It used to be about creating and/or preserving jobs. Now, preserving jobs comes first, which, like murders not committed, is difficult to prove or disprove without numbers. Which is the point.
Be patient, Obama urges, more spending will kick in this summer. I promise healthcare reforms won't add to the deficit. We're cutting waste. We need clean energy. Etc.
The Republican remarks, provided this week by Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, are in many ways the mirror image.
They see their own poll numbers. It's been six months; the economy belongs to Obama now. Where are the promised jobs? Unemployment at 9.5% is already higher than the 8.5% the administration promised as max. The stimulus bill was larded with pork. We can't afford all this spending and borrowing. The federal government this year alone has borrowed $10Gs for economic stimulus from every American family. Do you feel better knowing that?
This is an argument we will all hear in varying forms from now until next year's midterm elections, when the White House party historically takes a hit in Congress.
This week, we’ve made important progress toward the goal of bringing about change abroad and change at home. During my visit to Russia, we began the process of resetting relations so that we can address key national priorities like the threat of nuclear weapons and extremism. At the G-8 summit, leaders from nearly 30 nations met to discuss how we will collectively confront the urgent challenges of our time, from managing the global recession to fighting global warming to addressing global hunger and poverty. And in Ghana [see arrival photo below], I laid out my agenda for supporting democracy and development in Africa and around the world.
But even as we make progress on these challenges abroad, my thoughts are on the state of our economy at home. And that’s what I want to talk to you about today.
We came into office facing the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. At the time, we were losing, on average, 700,000 jobs a month. And many feared that our financial system was on the verge of collapse.
As a result of the swift and aggressive action we took in the first few months of this year, we’ve been able to pull our financial system and our economy back from the brink. We took steps to restart . . .
True to his coming-into-office promise, President Barack Obamahas held his top staff salaries at the same level as his predecessor.
Which ain't too shabby.
$172,200.
True, according to an initial analysis by The Hotline, Obama has more folks making that top salary (20) than George W. Bush did (18). The hours are long. And they could probably make more dough back in Illinois politics, if you know what we mean. And D.C. house prices always get jacked when a new administration comes to town because there's not a lot of time to negotiate.
But they get free parking for their foreign brand cars in downtown Washington. And access to the White House Mess.
Here are some of the newly-minted bigshots making the big bucks: David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, Valerie Jarrett, Carol Browner, Larry Summers, James Jones, Susan Sher (Michelle's chief of staff), Rahm Emanuel and Jon Favreau, the paper Hillary-groping speechwriter (photo here).
(The president, btw, gets $400G's plus $50G's tax-free for expenses. Vice President Joe Biden gets $208,100, less than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's $223.5G's.)
Former eBay CEO and current GOP candidate for California governor Meg Whitman will announce shortly that she's already raised more than $6.5 million for her campaign. More, her campaign claims, than any other Republican candidates in the race longer.
Not bad considering she's a political newcomer and been an announced candidate for only five months.
And 85% of that dough came from Californians, the campaign says. Whitman has also chipped in $4 million of her own for a total of about $10.5 million.
In the news release Whitman's campaign chair, former mayor, former senator, former gov Pete Wilson, says:
There is no more certain measure of enthusiasm for a candidate than heavy early campaign contributions. This unprecedented outpouring of support for Meg confirms the demand for a new style of leadership that creates jobs, cuts wasteful spending, and effectively manages state government. Meg's appeal reaches far beyond just traditional Republicans. She is attracting new donors and new voters to expand our party at a critical time. They are putting their money where their hearts and minds are.
Whitman knows a little about money, having turned eBay from a company with 30 employees and $4.7 million into one with 15,000 employees and $8 billion in revenues. In the no-longer-very-recent presidential campaign, she was natrional finance chair for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and then raised millions for Sen. John McCain. Both have since endorsed her; probably a coincidence.
The gubernatorial field is vying for the unlikely honor in this fiscally-pressurized deficit days of replacing Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose term limits run out in January 2011.
Whitman's primary primary opponent, Steve Poizner, the state insurance commissioner, reports raising north of $1.2 million with $250,000 coming the last two days of the quarterly reporting period. He's also given himself $4.2 million and reports $3.5 million still in hand.
"The Poizner campaign will be fully-funded," said spokesman Jarrod Agen, "and we will make Meg Whitman spend it all.'
On the Democrat side, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsomreported raising $1.6 million in the last six months, most of it online, which is way less than fellow Democrat, former gov, former mayor and current state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who reports raising $7.3 million.
All great news for the state's TV stations next year.
-- Andrew Malcolm
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ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos: David Axelrod, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). Round table with Michael Dyson, Georgetown University; Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal; Kathleen Parker, Washington Post.
Bloomberg's Political Capital with Al Hunt: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and interviews with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger.
CBS' Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
CNN's GPS with Fareed Zakaria: Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Robert Baer, author of "The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower," on Iran and election. Hoover Institute's John B. Taylor on economy and healthcare.
CNN's State of the Union with John King: Gen. Ray Odierno, Commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) on Iraq, Iran and war on terrorism. Mary Matalin and James Carville on healthcare debate and Obama's response to Iran. T. Boone Pickens, chairman and CEO, BP Capital, on energy.
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Topics: Healthcare with Sebelius and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Iraq with Gen. Ray Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National Force, Iraq.
NBC Meet the Press with David Gregory: Mitt Romney, David Axelrod, Sen. Lindsey Graham with roundtable of David Brooks of N.Y. Times, NBC's Mike Murphy and Dee Dee Myers.
Weekly Remarks of President Barack Obama, June 27, 2009
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a historic piece of legislation that will open the door to a clean-energy economy and a better future for America.
For more than three decades, we have talked about our dependence on foreign oil. And for more than three decades, we have seen that dependence grow. We have seen our reliance on fossil fuels jeopardize our national security. We have seen it pollute the air we breathe and endanger our planet.
And most of all, we have seen other countries realize a critical truth: The nation that leads in the creation of a clean-energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. Now is the time for the United States of America to realize this too. Now is the time for us to lead.
The energy bill that passed the House will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean-energy transformation in our economy. It will spur the development of low-carbon sources of energy – everything from wind, solar and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal.
It will spur new energy savings, like the efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. And most importantly, it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs.
Make no mistake: This is a jobs bill. We’re already seeing why this is true in the clean-energy investments we’re making through the Recovery Act. In California, 3,000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1,000 permanent jobs. In Michigan, investment in wind turbines and....
Washington. Mandarin Oriental Hotel. LGBT fundraiser. Hauled in about $1 mill. 33% better than last year with Michelle Obama.
Maybe four dozen protesters outside, impatient with the Obama administration's perceived slow pace on lesbian and gay issues. Signs: "SHAME." "Gay Uncle Toms." Chants: "Shame on You." "Boycott the Bigots."
Inside, Biden spoke 20 mins. Lots of applause. "I am not unaware of the controversy swirling around this dinner and swirling around the speed or lack thereof that we are moving on issues that are of great importance to you."
Boasted the new administration has appointed 60 gays or lesbians, including nine requiring Senate confirmation. Promised to "put some pace on the ball."
Standing ovations as he pledged to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, Don't Ask Don't Tell and get passage of the Lieberman-Baldwin bill on health benefits.
Additionally, Biden promised to put a ban on workplace discrimination, get adoption rights for all and end the HIV travel ban.
Biden also praised Tim Kaine as the "great governor of New Jersey."
One problem: Tim Kaine's not governor of New Jersey.
Jon Corzine (right) is governor of New Jersey (Remember, he didn't wear his seatbelt in the state patrol car for the big high-speed crash).
Tim Kaine is governor of another state, called Virginia.
He's also chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Third, all of you give a lot of that money to Barack Obama's Democratic presidential campaign.
A new research study by the Center for Responsive Politics confirms what a lot of Washington watchers expected all along: All that Obama talk about changing the way Washington works is also a whole lot of hooey, at least insofar as it relates to United States ambassadors to other countries.
The capitol's decidedly bipartisan tradition for generations has been: Want to live in a foreign place for a couple of years, probably not all that important a place but still foreign, get a nice title for life, luxurious government housing, staff, car and driver and more use for your tuxedo than back home?
Then help the winning White House entrant finance his/her campaign.
And no one throughout American political history ever had a better-financed campaign than Obama with his $750 million.
The CRP has found 19 of Obama's new ambassadors and their families bundled at least $3.4 million for Obama's campaign and an additional $1.4 million just for his inauguration festivities. And you thought the campaigns don't keep track of such generosity? Even some of now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's donors are getting rewarded.
Yes, true, Obama did name Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman as ambassador to China. And Huntsman bundled $500,000 for Obama's defeated Republican opponent, old what's-his-name from Arizona who keeps popping up on the Sunday shows anyway.
But it's apparently worth at least a half-mil to Obama to get Huntsman tied to his Democratic administration, out of the country and far from Iowa in the run-up to 2012.
Vice President Joe Biden interrupted a series of private meetings today to go over to a Washington hotel and talk enthusiastically and volubly to a crowd of Democrat donors for the party's Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees getting ready for next year's electoral struggles.
Because as the Obama-Biden ticket demonstrated last year with its amazing $750 million in donations, you can never have too much political money, even in these days of Republican Party disarray. And the president speaks at another Democratic money convention this evening where most of the 187 donors will pay even more than the $5,000 they shelled out for lunch with a hurried Joe.
The VP is clearly at home among the backslapping, concealed weapon congressional crowd, having served in the Senate for nearly four decades even before his new boss set his sights on the White House in law school.
Look, on the surface, Biden's 18-minute speech seems like a good-natured, rah-rah celebration of seizing power on both sides of the Hill and in the White House and a recitation of achievements already underway thanks to those victories that would have been impossible without the audience's past money-giving and an unspoken demonstration of the kind of access to officialdom that their future donations can purchase.
Harry Reid, the Democratic Majority Leader in the Senate who's up for reelection next year with impressive unpopularity ratings back in Nevada, could probably have done without Biden's joke pointing out to the economically struggling world that Reid has a free car and driver standing by at all times. But the luncheon didn't allow TV cameras, so there will be no troublesome video of that for anyone to use against the senator back home.
Joe also loved the job Nancy Pelosi is doing, "an incredible, incredible job," given the circumstances she inherited as House speaker, although she's actually been there a few years. And nevermind ...
And he'll end it in the afternoon with, surprisingly, another series of private meetings.
In between, Biden, who spent nearly four decades in the U.S. Senate from little old Delaware preparing to handle the duties of the vice presidency, will meet pretty privately with the deputy prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard. Photos will be allowed briefly.
Biden will also witness President Obama's meeting with the administration's special Mideast envoy for peace, George Mitchell. Closed to the press.
And the Democratic vice president will speak at a lunchtime Democratic fundraiser. Just to ensure no videotapes emerge of any impromptu Biden remarks, the lunch may be covered only by a few print media with pens (or pencils).
Oh, and yet another afternoon oath-giving, this one for Ray Maybus, the new secretary of the Navy. But because this is such a uniquely transparent administration, that historic event will be closed to the press altogether.
Other than that, more private meetings. Also closed. Hence the term "private."
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Our Bloggers
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the Countdown to Crawford blog here at The Times.
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