Budget

CNBC Anchor Whiffs On Obama Budget In White House Interview

Brian Beutler | April 12, 2012, 6:09AM

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo

President Obama's top economic adviser Gene Sperling got heated in a Tuesday interview on CNBC, when anchor Maria Bartiromo pressed him on the federal budget. The exchange was so explosive that CNBC re-aired the interview on Wednesday -- in celebration of holding officials to account and setting the record straight for the public.

There were just a couple problems: Bartiromo initially elaborated on a false premise, and her subsequent line of questioning treated a GOP political stunt as if it was standard operating procedure on Capitol Hill.

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Barack Obama

Reid: Actually Obama Will Meet With Senators On Debt Limit Wednesday

Brian Beutler | June 30, 2011, 1:29PM

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.

Turns out President Obama will come to the Capitol to talk debt ceiling...just not today.

At a Thursday Senate press conference, scheduled minutes before it began, Democratic leaders called out their GOP counterparts, who invited Obama to the Hill without notice in order to swipe at him later for declining. Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that Obama will come, along with the Vice President Joe Biden, to visit Senators on Wednesday.

"Next week, on Tuesday, we're going to have Sen. [Kent] Conrad who's worked really hard with the people on the Budget Committee to come up with a way forward on the budget," Reid said.

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Social Security

White House To Remain Mum In Social Security Fight -- Until Congress Comes Up With a Plan

Brian Beutler | March 21, 2011, 11:49AM

The White House will not prominently inject itself into congressional negotiations on Social Security reform until after key legislators in both the House and Senate unveil their plans to reduce projected long-term deficits, according to administration officials.

That won't please Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, who have attacked Obama for remaining silent in this debate. And these 64 Senate Republicans and Democrats won't be too happy either. But it's part of a broader political and policy strategy the administration is employing to keep Obama's powder dry while Republicans struggle to reduce deficits without increasing revenues in any meaningful way.

The White House's reticence has been characterized by some as a symptom of a rift between Obama's economic and political advisers. Some, like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, do in fact believe that a bipartisan deal on Social Security would result in real economic benefits, while others argue that Obama shouldn't embrace any plan that substantially cuts benefits at all.

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