TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Obama Plans To Cut Deficit -- From Enormous Down To Huge
President Obama is reportedly planning a budget policy that would cut the deficit in half by cutting the budgets for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and by ending the Bush tax cuts for individuals making over $250,000. But here's some math to show just what a tough job he has ahead of him: The deficit would still be $533 billion by the end of his first term, down from the $1.3 trillion he inherited from George W. Bush.
Obama Hosting Governors At The White House Tonight
President Obama and the First Lady are hosting the National Governors Association for dinner at the White House tonight, with entertainment by Earth, Wind and Fire. Expect this to be a huge, momentous gathering -- and that's just Earth, Wind and Fire.
Sanford: Clyburn's Accusation About Stimulus Money "Is Absurd"
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) fired back at House Majority whip James Clyburn (D-SC) for saying his potential refusal of stimulus money was a "slap in the face" to his African-American constituents. "I think that any of us as governors -- and we do have 50 different incubators of different ideas and trying to get it right within our respective states, trying to make the judgment as best they can," said Sanford. "But the idea that color would filter into that decision-making process is absurd."
Barbour Accuses Obama Of Waging Permanent Campaign
In an interview with CNN, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), a former RNC chairman, noted that President Obama has been promoting the stimulus plan in swing states like Colorado, Indiana and Florida. "He's going to those places for a reason," Barbour said, attributing this development to the campaign skills of David Axelrod. "And so this is what we've become accustomed to, the perpetual campaign."
Feds Question Burris About Blago
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that federal authorities questioned Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) at his lawyer's office on Saturday, regarding the Blagojevich case and the circumstances of his Senate appointment. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Franken Camp Files New Ballot List
The Franken campaign has filed an amended list of 1,585 rejected absentee ballots that they say should be reconsidered for counting. Quite interestingly, nearly half of them were already on Norm Coleman's list of 4,800 -- but the conventional wisdom has been that both sides pick ballots that they believe will skew towards themselves. Does the Franken campaign know something that Team Coleman doesn't?
Schwarzenegger: GOP Is Creating Insecurity, Should Work With Obama
Appearing on This Week, Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized the Republican Party in Washington for being overly ideological, and not working constructively with President Obama. "They should make an effort to work together and to find what is best for the people," said Arnold, "because by derailing everything, it's not going to help anybody, and it creates instability and insecurity."
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Shelby as an asshole.
Factcheck: Resounding slap down of citizenship rumors
And is Shelby so uninformed that he isn't aware that Hawaii was/is part of America?
Honestly, this has got to stop. It's fueling the angry tinfoilers out there, and it seems as if it's dangerous for Obama's safety. To echo the question to Joseph McCarthy: Senator Shelby, have you no decency whatsoever?
February 22, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shelby is playing both ends. He plays to the slack-jaw GOP base by questioning Barack's citizenship, uttering the buzzwords "birth certificate". Then he offers a quiet "just kidding" when someone in the real world calls him on his stupidity.
Typical Republican.
February 23, 2009 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Turning down funding for unemployment benefits is about juking the stats for aspiring presidential candidates, nothing more. Remember, unemployment stats are determined by the number of people receiving benefits. Increase available funding for benefits and the rate will appear to go up/stay the same. The aspiring presidential candidates want to say they cut unemployment, and they don't care if the price of juking the stats is thousands of starving children. This is also why they all fell like dominoes when one threatened to do it. They don't want to give one the opportunity to claim the mantle of top stat-cooker.
February 22, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to become the newest Public Enemy #1 for wingnut radio and their lemmings. "He's never really been a Republican - he's married to a Kennedy for crying out loud" "Look at how he bankrupted California - only silly lubruls would elect a movie star", "He's not even American"...
February 22, 2009 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I never thought I'd say this, and it feels funny to say this, but Arnold Schwarzenegger is the smartest person in the Republican party.
February 22, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not for long. One way or another, Ahnald's days in that party are numbered. Either they'll purge him, or he'll quit and, which ever it way it happens, they'll have a "you can't fire me, I quit!/you can't quit, you're fired!" argument about it.
February 22, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Schwarzenegger will be term-limited out of office after the 2010 elections anyway. And the fiscal disaster there will keep him from getting elected to the Senate; he'd have a hard time even winning the primary now.
About the best thing that can be said about his reign as governor is that he was much better than Jesse Ventura, the previous celebrity turned governor.
February 22, 2009 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shorter Barber: "He can't run a permanent campaign! Only Republicans are allowed to run a permanent campaign!"
February 22, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The 'Governater': Congressional Republicans Are 'Economic Surly Man'
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=6331
February 22, 2009 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the man Sanford is a just a Blooming Itjet. This is what he said in response to another governor saying the governors that are rejecting the stim package are a fringe group.
"I think in this instance I would humbly suggest that the real fringe are those that are supporting the stimulus," Sanford said. "It is not at all in keeping with the principles that made this country great, not at all in keeping with economic reality, not in keeping with a stable dollar, and not in keeping with the sentiments of most of this country.
I don't think I want to know Sanfords economic reality.
February 22, 2009 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I may be a little prejudiced, but I think Charley Crist is pretty smart, also. He embraced the whole package whole-heartedly from the very beginning. And made no bones about it. He was on one of the shows today and said, like Arnold said, "I'll take any money anyone else doesn't want". Crist's approval rate is near 70%. When more repubs are like those two, this country will be much better off.
February 22, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep, Crist is now the second guy after Ahnald on their purge list.
February 22, 2009 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uh, before you elevate Crist, go watch what he had to say on Meet The Press today. He also hedged on taking the stimulus money. He said quite clearly that he wasn't sure if he'd take it all. He said he would have to study it and see if it makes sense or words to that effect. There's not much distance between Jindal and him.
He's smart alright. Smart enough to know not to make unequivocal statements that pin him down. Like all of them, he'll do what makes him electable at whatever level he wants to play at.
February 22, 2009 9:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Replying to myself ...
I feel compelled to correct an inaccurate statement I made in my post above.
I went back and watched Crist's MTP segment again. It was Obama's mortgage/housing program that Crist equivocated about and that seemed based on the principle of not bailing out people who speculated and got in over their head with mortgages they knew they couldn't afford rather than an ideological stance. Fair enough.
As far as the stimulus, Crist seemed wholeheartedly in favor of accepting all the money Florida is entitled to. Sorry for any confusion.
February 23, 2009 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Barbour: '"He's going to those places for a reason," Barbour said, attributing this development to the campaign skills of David Axelrod. "And so this is what we've become accustomed to, the perpetual campaign."'
And Bobby Jindal going to Iowa for a fundraiser is what, just a coincidence? Give me a break!
February 22, 2009 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
This "perpetual campaign" that the Governor of Mississippi speaks of is nothing new.
Pat Caddell urged Jimmy Carter to adopt a continual campaign mode in his presidency. This advice was possibly a vision of what the future of politics would be, the compressed cycles.
Obamas great strength like Reagans is his oratory and charisma. To keep this man in Washington, the city that didn't want him as a nominee, the city that he said "must change" would be foolish.
Obama should not only perpetually campaign for the policies of his administration he needs to campaign to rebuild the democrat brand all across the country. While some in the gop would call it campaigning President Obama is doing something the gop has lost familiarity with, its called being a leader.
February 22, 2009 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
of course obama's crime of a perpetual campaign is that he's PROMOTING the stimulus in swing states, not that he's actually directing policy to specifically benefit the swing states over other states. Big. Farking. Deal.
we might ask barbour what he's campaigning for since i'm guessing he's term-limited as governor...
February 23, 2009 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Politicizing? Who ever thought of that? I would pinch those red-neck governors 'till their electorate acted. Why is it that the states at the bottom of the pond usually elect GOP politicians? Utilize any metric you may choose...The lower the standing the wider the divide between the rich and the rest.
February 23, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
check check
March 1, 2009 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink