POTUS St Struggling With Leadership

When leadership is needed on a horrible new law, Obama View Blogseems to struggle.

"But as Obama returned to Washington from Illinois Wednesday night, he walked back to the press cabin on the presidential aircraft and, in an impromptu Q&A, essentially declared immigration dead.

Obama's retreat -- after encouraging senators only weeks ago to take up immigration reform -- clotheslined Senate Democrats. Since their proposal had already been leaked, they had no choice but to go ahead with the rollout of the plan Obama had just doomed. 'I don't know in what context the statement was made last night,' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters at Thursday night's rollout."

Again, leadership is needed, and Obama's struggling to provide it.

Obama's Bush Moment

From ThinkProgress, Obama's first Bush moment.

D'oh

Obama Extends Gay Rights To Hospital Visits

While I feel sometimes Obama is all over the place. (Passing health care then a week later, opening up offshore drilling.) This is the direction the country needs to keep moving.

"President Obama on Thursday ordered his health secretary to issue new rules aimed at granting hospital visiting rights to same-sex partners."

While he can't change the laws now, this is the process to make gay rights the norm.

Quote Of The Day

"Can you imagine if some of these reporters were working on a farm? You planted some seeds, and they came out the next day, and they looked, and nothing’s happened! There’s no crop! We’re going to starve! Oh, no! It’s a disaster!”

President Obama speaking in Maine about how quick journalists and politicos are to critique the health care bill. He does have a way of putting things in perspective.

Watch the video. Very funny.

Obama Revamps Student Loan Industry

This should come as great news to any future college student.

"The new law will eliminate fees paid to private banks to act as intermediaries in providing loans to college students and use much of the nearly $68 billion in savings over 11 years to expand Pell Grants and make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduating. The law also invests $2 billion in community colleges over the next four years to provide education and career training programs to workers eligible for Trade Adjustment aid."

So, no more going to the local bank for a student loan. You can get it directly from the government. Which is better because of lower fees/APR.

Obama Leading On Health Care

Well, it only took about 9 months but the President is finally showing leadership on the HCB. He released his version of the bill and it mainly follows what the senate put out. There are some things in there to entice moderate repubs but mostly a dem bill.

Will it get them the votes? I don't think so but the repubs find themselves in a unique position. If they do filibuster the only way the White House can counter is with reconciliation. With that being the only option, there is no way dems are going to let health care die.

The problem is that if reconciliation is a definite possibility, I think some dems will be pissed off if the public option is not in the reconciliation bill. I will be pissed off.

Obama, The Populist

Obama, seeing the writing on the wall for November is adding some populist parts to the HCB.

"President Barack Obama will propose giving U.S. officials the power to limit rate hikes by health insurance companies - part of a new health care overhaul plan he will unveil Monday in a last-ditch bid to salvage his signature issue. "

It is a good idea but a bit too coincidental with the recent health care rate hikes out in California. This type of stuff never hurts, as long as it doesn't seem obvious.

What Killed The Heath Care Bill

The fall of the health care bill (while it is not dead yet, it is on life support.) I will lay at the feet of two people.

1. Looking back over the past year, it was the glacial pace of the markup of the Health Care bill the really killed the bill. Max Baucus made the really bad decision to try and get repub support for a bill that repubs had determined early to never support this piece of legislation. Max helped kill this bill

2. The lack of leadership from Obama. While leaving the mark up of the bill in congressional hands, when things were flagging, (during Baucus's mark-up) he did not come out and lead. Blame it on his tenor in the senate, but he did need to come out and bust some heads. 6 months on a bill when you have a majority was way too long. He needed to show some leadership and expedite the process.

What is left? There is a bill the senate passed and the house could pass it. It sucks but it could be passed and can be amended later. Now more than ever we need leadership and what do we see. No one. We see repubs steeling the headlines. Very discouraging.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize?

Very surprising today was the sudden anouncement that Barack Obama won the nobel peace prize. Nine months into his presidency and, from what I found out, he was president 2 weeks in February before the nomination window closed.

I am a huge Obama fan but I find this very odd. Why now and what is the Nobel committee trying to do/say. Do they really feel his diplomacy is that great (even though it has only been 9 months)? Is this a big finger in the eye of the Bush admin? Or is it both?

I have no idea but rest assured, the right will be all over it trying to denounce what is a huge honor. Point of attack from the right. Obama is out to promote himself and his star status. Warning for Obama: don't let this point of attack stick.

Obama Backing Off Public Option

Obama's obsession with passing a bipartisan bill with the GOP is insane. They are out to destroy whatever comes down the pipe. Now, seeing that the public option won't win a filibuster majority, his administration is backing away from the public option.

Obama: “The public option – whether we have it or we don’t have it – is not the entirety of health care reform,”

CNN has Sec. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius as saying: "A public option 'is not an essential element,'”

What is the obsession with bipartisan. He has the opportunity to pass it without any GOP people. He is just not willing to go down that road. I don't understand it because he fought to get reconciliation for the health care bill last April and he's now unwilling to use it.

A Flury of Health Care Activity

First, the House Committees working up the health care bill finished and a vote is planned sometime soon. Also, the Seante Health Committee finished their bill

Second, Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, said they would have a bill done by the end of the day today. Which is huge because Baucus was trying too hard to get repub votes and Harry told him to stop. Rare backbone for Harry.

Third, Harry Reid said the senate would vote on the health care bill by the end of the month.

Lastly, Obama is steering closer and closer to going it alone w/o repub votes for the health care bill. Which is very important b/c he was emphasizing bipartisanship for sometime now. Which, I wrote about earlier, depends on the definition of "bipartisan".

Jobless Rate Climbs

With Joe Biden's admission that they had underestimated how bad the economy was going, Obama faces growing skepticism about his handling of the economy. With May's huge unemployment numbers it seemed that Obama might have the beginnings of an upheaval within his own party as dems start to get skittish about the economy and possible fodder for repubs.

Moderately good news:

"Initial jobless claims fell by 52,000 to 565,000, a lower level than forecast, in the week ended July 4, from a revised 617,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Meanwhile, the number of people collecting unemployment insurance jumped to a record in the prior week."

While people still lossed their jobs, it was the lowest all year and below expectations. This doesn't get Obama off the hook.

From Hillary Clinton's pollster Mark Penn:

"Unless some tough decisions are made soon, rising jobless figures will most likely hit what could be a public opinion and political tripwire: 10 percent unemployment.

If and when the country crosses that line, it will be the No. 1 news story for days, recent stock market gains could recede, and consumer confidence will fall. And whether or not the economic crisis is coming to an end, such a high unemployment level has the potential to undermine the hard-won confidence enjoyed by the Obama administration. The Republicans will quickly claim all we have is more debt and fewer jobs. "

The problem is that if it does hit 10% it will start to drag other things down like the stock market. He can no longer claim that he inherited this economy. The economy is now his. Whether it is fair or not. He now owns it.

He needs to get that stimulus money out faster. Get people in jobs and all this will go away.

Obama Addresses Muslim Nation

In Obama's speech today in Cairo, he described a world in which christians, Jews and Muslims can all work together for the better of the world.

Highlights:

-Islam and the United States can work together.

-9/11 was an attack on the U.S. and everyone else and we needed to respond to its perpetrators: Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

-The Iraq war was a "choice war" and we want to get out asap

-Israel needs to be recognized and Palestine needs its own state.

-Iran can only pursue peaceful nuclear power/energy

Overall, it was pretty good. Here is the text and video grace a TPM

Obama Playing His Cards Right

Politico has an article out about how Obama has been laying the groundwork to isolate repub conservatives to the south. In Obama's most recent appointment, he nominated  Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) for Army secretary. The idea of nominating very qualified repubs from areas trending dem is not new.

"It’s an event that’s happening with enough frequency to suggest the presence of a design, a plan that not only sketches the outline of a reelection strategy but manages to drive a wedge into the opposition at the same time. Call it a Sherman’s March in reverse — an audacious attempt by Obama to burn down any lines of escape for Republicans from their one refuge of popularity, the deep South."

What is the strategy? Politico lists many. First, Obama keeps his campaign promise to be bipartisan. Second, and most interesting, is that by taking out moderate repubs he's isolating the conservatives in the GOP party to a regional southern party. (If you look, the GOP has been losing senate and house seats hand-over-fist in the North and Midwest over the 2 election cycles.)

Third, by taking away moderates from areas trending blue the GOP has to then spend serious cash in defending the seat. This takes away valuable cash that could be used to attack dem seats instead of defending currently held ones. This gives dems better opportunities. 

Overall, its a great plan. 

Obama Picks Sona Sotomayor

President Obama has chosed veteran judge Sona Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice Souter. I have not read much about her record so I can't comment just yet. However, I do recall the repubs preemptively attacking her before she was nominated. This tells me a lot and she must be a good pick.

Obvious reasons why she will be confirmed. She was first nominated to federal judge by George H.W. Bush. She saved baseball by stopping the player strike years ago. She is also latina. Why is that important? The repubs already have a really bad relationship with the latino community due to attacking immigrants while Bush Jr. was trying to get immigration reform passed last year. (Which did not get passed b/c the repubs squashed it.) They cannot come after her too much for fear of alienating the few latinos still supporting the GOP.

On the face of this, this is a good pick. A lot of experience as a lawyer, trial judge, federal judge, and appeals judge. A very well rounded candidate. 

Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Obama did an amazing job in his speech at the Correspondents Dinner. This is the same dinner that Colbert ripped Pres Bush 3 years ago.

He was funny and very sharp in his jokes. Highlights

Watch it at C-Span here.

"Now Sasha and Malia aren't here tonight because they're grounded.  You can't just take Air Force One on a joy ride to Manhattan.  I don't care whose kids you are.  We've been setting some ground rules here.  They're starting to get a little carried away. "

"Dick Cheney was supposed to be here but he is very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled, 'How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.'"

"Which brings me to another thing that's changed in this new, warmer, fuzzier White House, and that's my relationship with Hillary.  You know, we had been rivals during the campaign, but these days we could not be closer.  In fact, the second she got back from Mexico she pulled into a hug and gave me a big kiss.  Told me I'd better get down there myself.   Which I really appreciated.  I mean, it was -- it was nice."