Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | July 10, 2009, 9:02AM

Obama: "Full Recovery Is Still A Ways Off"
During his press conference this morning, President Obama said the world seems to have avoided a total economic collapse, but that "full recovery is still a ways off." With the end of the G-8 Summit, Obama said leaders have agreed on significant measures for the economy, the environment and national security, with a "widespread consensus we must continue our work to restore economic growth and restore our financial regulatory systems."

Obama's Day: Meeting With The Pope
President Obama attended a working breakfast with G-8 and African leaders, at 2:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. local time). At 4:30 a.m. ET, he attended a meeting with G-8 and African leaders, and then at 6:35 a.m. ET he met with South African President Jacob Zuma. He held a press conference at 8 a.m. ET. At 10 a.m. ET, he will meet with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone at the Vatican, and then at 10:15 a.m. he will have a bilateral meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. The First Family will have an audience with the Pope at 10:40 a.m. ET. At 12 p.m. ET, Obama will leave Rome for Accra, Ghana, arriving there at 4:20 p.m. ET.

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Barack Obama

Both Surprising and Subtle

Matthew Cooper | March 10, 2009, 6:04PM

Hmmm? Where would Chuck Schumer come down on the withdrawal of Chas Freeman? In the shy and retiring style which Brooklynites and all New Yorkers know so well, the Senior Senator declared:

Charles Freeman was the wrong guy for this position. His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration. I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing.

I will confess to being a total agnostic on Freeman's appointment to the National Intelligence Council. My friend James Fallows made a good case for him as did my boss, Josh Marshall. My former New Republic colleague and friend, Jonathan Chait, made the case against him here. All are pretty thoughtful looks at the guy, unlike Schumer's I-told-you-so.

Senate

Senate Intel Committee Announces Broad Investigation of CIA Interrogations

Elana Schor | March 5, 2009, 4:15PM

When asked whether she could support the call for a "truth commission" to investigate the civil liberties and human rights abuses committed under George Bush, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said that she expected to be doing similar work on her panel ... and she wasn't kidding.

The Intelligence panel announced today that it would conduct a year-long inquiry into the scope and performance of the CIA's interrogation program, including "whether the CIA accurately described the detention and interrogation program to other parts of the U.S. government" and "whether the CIA implemented the program in compliance with official guidance."

This investigation has the potential to unearth much more detail about the conduct of Bush's "war on terror" than we already have, but it is likely to be conducted largely in private. (The "truth commission," by contrast, is intended to operate in the public eye.)

Unfortunately, the Intelligence panel doesn't have the best track record when it comes to bipartisan investigations. The committee's reports on pre-war use of intelligence on Iraq (a.k.a. "Phase One" and "Phase Two," which was delayed by several years) were panned by progressive analysts for succumbing to White House pressure and ignoring crucial evidence.

It's worth noting, however, that Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) was the chairman senior Democrat on the panel at the time of those reports, not Feinstein.

Late Update: Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-WI) statement on the inquiry is after the jump.

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George W. Bush

GOPer: We Can't Investigate Bush Because of the Bad Economy

Elana Schor | February 18, 2009, 3:40PM

The AP finally takes a look today at our January Sleeper Bill of the Month, the congressional proposal for an independent commission that would investigate civil-liberties and human-rights abuses permitted during the Bush years.

Shocking as it is, Republicans tell the AP that a post-Bush "truth commission" is a terrible concept. But you've got to applaud the sheer chutzpah of Sen. John Cornyn's (R-TX) response:

This not only a bad idea, it is a diversion from the economic crisis we face.

I can't wait until the economic recession becomes a reason not to debate union organizing rules and pass health care reform.

CIA/DNI/Intelligence

Obama's Winning Week. Really.

Matthew Cooper | February 14, 2009, 5:44PM

Smart take from Ron Brownstein on where we stand now after the stimulus has passed. I think it's the right take.

Many on the left seem truly despairing after this week, feeling that Obama got rolled by the right on the stimulus and the Judd Gregg withdrawal, that Washington media is arrayed against them and that things are generally lousy. I think that's unduly pessimistic. I'm persuaded by the economists who say that a bigger stimulus would have been better and I think the cuts imposed by the centrist gang were more nonsensical than not. Still...This is a $14 trillion economy and the differnece between a stimulus package in the $700 billion range and the $800 billion range is not going to be the determining factor in the fate of the republic. The fact is that Obama remains incredibly popular and he just passed as mammoth a rescue package as we've seen in generations. There are many reasons for despair at the moment but the events of this week, it seems to me anyway, are not really deserving of them.

I think Obama's efforts at bipartisanship on the stimulus and in his cabinet appointments will work to his advantage in the long run. He's not a sucker. The president knows that there will be occasions when he can pick up Republican votes and it wills erve him well.

I'm not sure I buy my colleague Josh's assessment about Washington being arrayed against Obama. Obviously there are institutional impediments to change of any kind, whether it's Reagan's or Obama's. Ours isn't a system designed for dramatic shifts in power. But the White House was pleased with the way business lobbies supported the stimulus. K Street, far from being Tom DeLay's pet, was more in the Democratic camp than not. It won't always be so but to see the culture of lobbying as being irreversably and irrevocably opposed to Democratic or progressive goals is the stuff of lampoon and caricature. Does an on-one-hand-on-the-other media continue to turn out some lame copy about who's at fault when the parties split? Sure, but so what? The important thing is not the atmosphere but the results.

I don't underestimate what lies ahead but I'm pretty amazed by how despairing the tone on the left has been in the wake of what was a very significant passage of legislation.

CIA/DNI/Intelligence

What Does Daschle Have in Common With Panetta?

Elana Schor | February 4, 2009, 2:05PM

Leon Panetta, nominated to become CIA director, has his confirmation hearing tomorrow in the Senate intelligence committee. As we reported last month, initial resistance to his nomination from Democrats has faded into the background -- but that doesn't mean the GOP won't try to make Panetta's ride as bumpy as possible.

Which brings me to the answer to the question posed above: the common thread between Daschle and Panetta is Catherine Reynolds, the student-loan mogul whose ties to the now-withdrawn health secretary nominee first slowed his roll last month.

As the WSJ reports today, Reynolds -- still the subject of a Senate Finance Committee investigation into her company's tax status -- donated upwards of $50,000 to the California public policy think tank that Panetta led until his CIA nomination.

There's no evidence at all of any impropriety linked to the donation. But knowing Republicans' love of opposition research, don't be surprised if you hear Panetta field breathless, faux-concerned GOP questions on this tomorrow.

CIA/DNI/Intelligence

Did Holder Make a Telecom Immunity Promise to Senator Bond?

Elana Schor | January 29, 2009, 11:46AM

We were amused to find yesterday that no one except Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) was buying the claim that Eric Holder made Republicans a secret promise not to prosecute Bush intelligence officials -- not senior Democrats and not Holder himself.

But Bond made another assertion to the Washington Times yesterday that would be news ... if it's true:

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