Election Central Sunday Roundup
Biden Heading Up "White House Task Force On Working Families"
The Obama transition team announced this morning the creation of the "White House Task Force on Working Families," which will be chaired by Joe Biden and also include the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Health and Human Services, plus many other top economic advisers. The task force's goal is to craft policies furthering the areas of education, work/family balance, labor standards and workplace safety, and income and retirement security.
Obama Expands Stimulus Targets To Cope With Rising Unemployment Projections
Barack Obama has reportedly expanded his economic stimulus plan to have a target of creating three million new jobs, up from a prior goal of 2.5 million jobs. However, the New York Times points out that even this would fall short of the projected four million jobs that many economist believe would be lost if no action were taken in an economy that is only getting worse and worse.
Report: Obama Team To Say Rahm Only Spoke With Blago Once
George Stephanopoulos reports that an upcoming internal report from the Obama transition team will say that Rahm Emanuel only had one conversation with Rod Blagojevich, a courtesy call after Rahm was named as White House Chief of Staff. The alleged conversation was mostly about Rahm's own House seat, with only a "passing reference" to the Senate seat and with no deals over it being discussed.
Poll: Public Optimistic About Obama
The new ABC/Washington Post poll finds 68% of adults saying they are optimistic about the policies that Barack Obama will pursue upon taking office, and 65% support a large infrastructure-based economic stimulus plan such as the one he's laid out. In addition, a 51% majority wants him to make major changes to the health care system right after taking office, compared to 26% who say he should wait and only 20% who say he shouldn't do it at all.
Hillary's Debts At $6.4 Million
Hillary Clinton's campaign debt is now $6.4 million, lower than it was at any previous time this year -- and the amount is owed to just 16 specific creditors, the most notable one being Mark Penn. Hillary is in a bit of a race against the clock to get the money paid off, as she will be unable to personally conduct fundraising activities after she is sworn in as Secretary of State.
Cheney On Biden's Rhetoric: "I Don't Take It Seriously"
During an interview aired today on Fox News Sunday, Dick Cheney ridiculed Joe Biden for having attacked Cheney's performance in office, and said it was Biden who doesn't understand the Constitution. "I write that off as campaign rhetoric," said Cheney. "I don't take it seriously. And if he wants to diminish the office of vice president, that's obviously his call."
The media been lusting over these conversations between Rahm and Blago and his Ad??? They are real boring considering what the media been fantasizing over. I'm sure the media will blame Obama's ad. for not just saying this from the beginning........
December 21, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric, I heard differently on the Sunday Talk Shows.
They said Rahm had only one conversation about Jarrett with Blagojevich, but that there were several others where he discussed his seat. IIRC they said there are a total of 4 conversations.
December 21, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're wrong. They said Rahm had one conversation with Blago in which they didn't really discuss the senate or congressional seat, merely talked about Obama's win, etc. Rahm had four conversations with Blago's chief of staff and discussed Jarrett gettting the senate seat once. There were a total of five conversations with Blago's circle but only one with Blago.
December 22, 2008 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
I love the Blago mess! Everyone in the media, liberal and conservative, have allowed negative speculation to run wild; they've been besmirching Rahm's reputation and touting Sun Times & Trib gossip as if it were the gospel. Now what?
Rahm talked with Blago once and four times with his COS? Boy is that a snoozer. And they can't claim Obama is lying since the feds have all the conversations on tape. Looks like Obama wasn't rushing to the cameras on this because there wasn't anything to tell. Yeah, boring story.
December 21, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Something tells me Gov. Spellcheck is going to be a footnote very soon.
December 21, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Blago/Rahm story will end up being a big snoozer.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ....
December 21, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't understand why Obama would raise the scope of his stimulus. It is naive to do so. Actually it is naive to SAY so. I know you shouldn't play politics with this but I believe Obama should stick with the 2.5 million job number so he can EXCEED that number exponentially in 2 years. If he kept it at 2.5 when he helps in creating 5/6/7/8/9 million jobs people will say "wow he far exceeded his goals and is helping move the economy back on track". I just don't get it. It would be playing chess with everyone, and helping the American people all at once.
December 21, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well then, given the people he's talking to, maybe he's saying we need to raise the scope of the stimulus because that's what they believe needs to be done?
Sounds good to me. Putting out goals because they make sense instead of posing for photo opportunities.
December 21, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
See, there's this thing called Congress. They, er, control the money. The stimulus plan is about spending money. Obama can't just say, hey, I'm gonna spend some money over here & POOF, why, there's more jobs than I hoped! No. He needs to spend lots of money. He's gotta pass a bill. It's gonna be public.
The point of the jobs number is that it's a number of people, not a number of dollars. He's refused to put a price tag on this thing, rather setting it up as "We need to create X# jobs; & these eggheads are gonna work out exactly how to do it." Then when the price tag hits & Lou Dobbs or somebody starts screaming about how he's just on a spending spree, he just says "Hey, the eggheads say that's what X# jobs is gonna cost!"
And what happened? The CW started coming back saying his jobs target is too low. So now he looks like it was the economists (including conservative ones) and pundits (ditto) who made him up the target. Think it would have worked like that if he'd started out with just a dollar figure?
December 22, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's Sun Tzu'ed the media and the GOP again
Someday they'll learn ..or not
December 21, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
My money is on "or not."
December 21, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Cheney continues to walk free, let alone boast his criminality on TV, that's going to say a lot about America's direction, regardless of how well the Obama administration performs otherwise.
December 21, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep. What is up with that? Do you think they are daring the Obama administration to prosecute them? Do you think that once Obama gets in and finds out the real deal, he will have no choice but to continue the status quo?
I mean it is scary to think of what Cheney means when he says Obama will be glad to have the changes they brought once he knows all the classified info.
I am like WTF are we running a Treblinka with trains on schedule and all?
December 21, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the Obama administration does not go after Cheney for war crimes, we will all suffer for it.
December 21, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree.
Take what happened when Elliot Abrams was allowed to walk for Iran-Contra, and raise it to the tenth power.
War Crimes must be prosecuted.
~
December 21, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. The nation does not have a choice if it wishes to return to its evolution into a democracy.
John Dean warns against PE Obama's "commission." The primary problem is that such a proceeding could not possibly conclude before the statute of limitations of 8 years runs out, nor do such things ever result in either the complete truth or indictments.
But more to the point: Obama is mis-reading the country. There is a time for outreach, and that is in about six months. But right now, the opposition needs to be told "no, you lost, you need to pipe down and reflect on the damage you have done."
It is a time for old-fashioned, podium-thumping oratary that channels the country's outrage. And Obama does not have this in him today. Is he saving it for January? One president at a time, and all that? We shall indeed see. Forcefully calling out injustice is as solid a Presidential requirement as outreach to those who would recognize the truth.
This is why the Rick Warren pick fails miserably. The damage being done to gay married couples in CA by the likes of Ken Starr to undo their certificates -- all 18,000 of them -- cannot be condoned in *any* forum.
This is a 180-degree switch for me since Warren was announced. But the pain I see on people's faces who are directly affected by this continued permission slip to not just hate the phaghallers, but to string them up, if they thought for an instant they could get away with it.
Until religion comes out of the system, this nonsense will continue. Until we gather our voices and realize we CAN tell people that belief in tribal magic-thinking is damaging the country, we will have "christian" presidents who are no such thing.
The luster is coming off PE Obama, and I find that satisfying. It speaks to a balancing out.
Pax,
M.
December 21, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has better instincts than any pundit, blogger, critic and many politicians. He didn't listen when people told him that America was not ready for a Black president, he knew that the country was worn out and sick of Bush and ran on Change, he knew Americans were sick and tired of politics as usual and chose to take the high road when it came to his opponents. He kept his cool when many told him that he needed to start foaming at the mouth. The country is ready to move on and work with Obama, even those who didn't vote for him. The election is over, and Obama needs to work on keeping his promises not putting people in their place. Have you not caught on to the fact that Obama is subtley reminding the "opposition" that the economy is getting worse? How do you think the "opposition" will look when they try to block his agenda? The country isn't outraged, they are scared and Obama needs to be that reassuring voice that we saw in the 30-minute ad. As for Rick Warren - leave the blogosphere once in a while and you will see that the vast majority of Americans could care less, or are fine with it and understand/accept what Obama is trying to do. This is just the start baby!
December 21, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very well stated. Good post.
December 21, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll tell you who's misreading the mood of the country--the GLBT community. Many people like me understand their disappointment over Warren's appearance but they lose when they (a) demand he be disinvited which is no different from what the right does and (b) start to call anyone who disagrees with this tact, including Obama, a bigot and a homophobe.
When you have prominent gays like Time writer John Cloud calling Obama a bigot and a homophobe and Avarosis chiming in, it's a big, big mistake. When you have a gazillion people on HuffPo saying that everyone who doesn't agree with gay marriage is a bigot and anyone who offers any defense of Warren is a hater and a homophobe, that's an even bigger mistake.
There will be no gay equality without the support of many straight people. You don't get that by villifying people who have stood with you for decades. Like I'm really fired up to charge the barricades in opposition to Prop 8 after I've been labeled a hateful bigot. Sure thing.
Going after Warren is one thing (although I think it's a waste of time) but trashing Obama as a bigot is another. Way, way too far.
December 21, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for saying that. Some people just don't know when they are winning. We are about to have the most pro-LGBT president we have ever had, and everyone is screaming as if he had suggested everyone get back in the closet.
Yes Prop. 8 was a setback, but it happened in large part because the LGBT community did not do enough outreach to the straight community. You have to change people's minds to make progress and you cannot change people's minds by only talking to the people who agree with you. It's that simple.
December 21, 2008 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
The left has supported the party for decades but it is routinely villified. Seems to me the Obama fanatics do plenty of villifying and he's yet to deliver on anything to anybody. It's a little early for him to think he can write off segments of his own party be they gays or the left in general.
December 21, 2008 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
So, anyone who disagrees with anything Obama does is being "written off?"
Do you even realize how ridiculous you sound?
December 21, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, I should have said that if you are on the left you won't even have the opportunity to disagree with Obama because you won't be included in the discussion at all.
December 21, 2008 8:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have you considered that he hasn't "delivered on anything" because he hasn't been sworn in yet???
December 21, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
What makes me most furious FreeRider, is that this is completely disrespectful to the stature of the Presidency.
Let's think about this. Bush nor his daddy were supporters of any gay policies and they were pals with Robertson and Graham who said some very hateful things about gays YET, never once was there a headline where their character was malign with the scurrilous accusation of being a BIGOT.
This of course, as you noted, is even more egregious given Obama is the most politically pro-GLBT occupant to ever reside in the WH
I beleive that their is a virulent racist streak that runs deep in the GLBT community. It is well0known that they have separate but equal, bars, theatre groups, restaurants and networking within the gay community.
What is also known is that gays are disproportionately represented in our newsrooms and newscasts network anchor slots. Both Cooper and Maddow are gay. These individuals are able to use their anchor positions as a bully pulpit and focus on an issue incessantly that is not of interest to 99% of Americans. But disproportionate representation in the journalism field allows this travesty and broadcast lynching to be sustained and unrelenting. It was also the reason that there was so much propaganda about blacks being the reason for the failure of Prop8..once again a primarily homosexual view dominanted the news cycle.
I think that due to the racism within the community that gays have decided to switch tactics and use race to engender white racial solidarity for themselves just like WJC tried to do for HRC. Gays are saying..you are not going to treat us as bad as you do blacks are you? All the while using the civil rights platform to pander as victims. It is a victim blame game with nasty vile racist appeals.
I fervently hope that the GLBT tears their proverbial ass on this and renders themselves politically neutered having shot their wad on something which does not impact policy.
To call Obama a bigot is simply so far over the top and completely disrespectful of his as the PE.
December 21, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
The day AG Holder announces Cheney's indictment will be the day Obama's approval ratings will tank. Americans who lack a job a house and health insurance absolutely do not want the Government spending even two seconds on prosecuting Bush, Cheney, or anybody in their Administration for war crimes.
December 21, 2008 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, to quote Cheney himself, "So?".
This isn't about polling or doing what's politically expedient....it's about defending the constitution, standing up for the rule of law, and demanding of ourselves what we demand of others.
December 21, 2008 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign.
December 21, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cheney and the Bush gang along with Rove are so guilty that they are working feverishly to block the confirmation of Holder. Buchannan was on McLaughlin today saying that one of Obama's nominees would not be confirmed.
December 21, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, it's the liars on Sunday TV again this week. Just like right before the iraq invasion. These war criminals have no shame. Darth Vader lying through his teeth on fox entertainment. Chris wallace actually is the only news person on that station. He actually does a pretty good interview. And condi "I am the best of the best liars" rice on meet the right-wing hack. That woman is incredible. Wallace did a thousand times better than the right-wing hack and wallace is on fox?????
By the way, how do these people sleep at night? I really don't see how. All the hundreds of thousands of dead innocents. It makes my skin crawl.
December 21, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
It looks like one thing we learned today is that the vice president has the power to amend the constitution, keep the amendment secret, and do all of that without involving Congress or the states. Fantastic man, that Cheney! Just imagine his shock when he wakes up.
December 21, 2008 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry to bring this up...but look, I posted this on another TPM blog but no one responded:
The words of Joe Biden, when he said that Barack was clean and articulate...REALLY hurt me. When he said that Barack was unqualified: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMYty1PgHEg Barack looked down for a second...then looked back up....He still rose from that and chose him as his running mate.
When you're insecure about something...You get mad, upset, furious, OUTRAGED! When you're like Barack and confident in what you believe in, nothing fades you. This is a new time, people can disagree with him, but he won't let that shake him because he's confident, secure, and BOLD. Bill AND Hillary Clinton slammed and dissed him for cryin' out loud....in the WORST WAY! But who's his Sec of State now. I could have NEVER done that. Because most human beings seek revenge. But Barack brings hope and diversity. He's a breath of fresh air. WE NEED THAT.
As a "middle person" I see both right and left acting the same way. Both too blind to see each other's side. It's pitiful. Obama is trying to bring folks together.
And if you can't ride that train...SORRY, but both LEFT and RIGHT...CONSERVATIVE and LIBERAL will be left in the dust!!!!
December 21, 2008 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I couldn't have said it better myself. Co-sign.
December 21, 2008 9:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think about Biden and Clinton every time people say well what if Obama had invited a white supremacist to the inauguration. Biden and Clinton aren't supremacists but many blacks had written them off as racists for what they said about Obama. They believed Clinton wanted him assassinated for god's sake! I had to calm my black friend down when it was rumored she was going to be SOS. And people you should have taken a gander at the black blogosphere after Biden was announced.
December 22, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rahm's gojng to be under oath if there is impeachment or Fed charges. Here's Former Assembly Speaker, Former San Francisco Mayor and all around connected Democrat, Willie Brown's take:
I wouldn't bet on him stepping aside anytime soon. If anything, his hand is getting stronger by the day.
I can't go into details, but my impression is that the whole mess started because the governor had been considering appointing a political rival, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, to the Senate so she wouldn't be able to run against him when he went up for re-election in 2010.
Apparently, Obama's people weren't happy about the idea of Madigan coming to Washington, and there were some pretty heated conversations between Blagojevich and Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, which I understand will burn your ears off.
http://www.sfgate.com/columns/williesworld/
December 21, 2008 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, well, well. One paper says Madigan was on Obama's "approved list" of candidates and now Wilie claims that he was angry about the possibility of her being appointed. Okie dokie!
December 21, 2008 8:11 PM | Reply | Permalink