Barack Obama

TPMDC Saturday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | September 26, 2009, 1:05PM

Obama: "The International Community Is More United Than Ever Before" On Iran
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama spoke of international cooperation at the G-20 Summit -- including on the crucial issue of dealing with Iran's nuclear program:

"On this, the international community is more united than ever before," said Obama, later adding: "Iran's leaders must now choose - they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations. Or they will face increased pressure and isolation, and deny opportunity to their own people."

Isakson Blasts Dems For "Demonizing Regular Citizens" On Health Care
In this weekend's Republican video, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) criticized the Democrats on health care, accusing Democrats of a "heavy-handed approach" that has involved "demonizing regular citizens":

"Americans are rightly concerned about the rush to pass a massive overhaul that will raise their taxes, lower their quality of care and put government between them and their doctor," said Isakson. "They also are concerned about the heavy-handed approach the Democrats have taken, such as demonizing regular citizens for asking questions about their plans and imposing a gag order on insurers for suggesting anyone might lose benefits under the Democrats' plan."

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Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | June 18, 2009, 9:02AM

Bush Hits Obama On Gitmo
During a speech yesterday in Pennsylvania, former President George W. Bush deviated from his previous declarations that he would not criticize President Obama. "I told you I'm not going to criticize my successor," he said. "I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that persuasion isn't going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet with Vice President Biden at 1 p.m. ET. At 3:15 p.m. ET, the two of them will meet with George Mitchell, the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. At 4 p.m. ET, Obama will meet with Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner. At 7 p.m. ET, Obama will speak at a DSCC/DCCC fundraising dinner.

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Guantanamo Bay

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | June 16, 2009, 8:57AM

WaPo: Documents Suggest CIA Mistakes In Torture Of Detainees, False Confessions
The Washington Post reports that new documents show that key Guantanamo detainees told the Combatant Status Review Tribunal that they either lied to the CIA in order to stop being tortured, or were later informed of mistakes in their capture. "They told me, 'Sorry, we discover that you are not Number 3, not a partner, not even a fighter,'" said Abu Zubaida. And Khalid Sheikh Mohammed described his interrogation: "Where is he? I don't know," Mohammed said. "Then he torture me. Then I said yes, he is in this area."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet one-on-one with President Lee Myung-bak, of the Republic of Korea, at 10:30 a.m. ET. They will have an expanded meeting at 10:45 a.m. ET, and then a joint press availability at 11:35 a.m. ET, and a working lunch at 12 p.m. ET. At 4:30 p.m. ET, Obama and Vice President Biden will meet with Sec. of Defense Robert Gates.

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Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | June 12, 2009, 9:04AM

Obama And Congressional Negotiators Reach Compromise On Abuse Photos
House and Senate negotiators have approved a $106 billion compromise bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, after President Obama personally intervened on the controversy over an amendment to forbid the release of detainee abuse photos. The amendment was removed in the hope of assuaging liberal Democrats -- but Obama promised to use all means at his disposal to prevent their release.

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet at 2:30 p.m. ET with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and at 2:50 p.m. ET with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). At 3:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Moran Tsvangirai, who will press Obama for international aid and try to assuage the doubts about his country's political situation, given the uneasy power-sharing government he has with his rival, President Robert Mugabe.

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Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | June 9, 2009, 9:01AM

First Gitmo Detainee Brought To United States
The Justice Department has announced that they have for the first time brought a Guantanamo Bay detainee to the United States: Ahmed Ghailani, who was indicted in 1998 for al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed mored than 224 people. Said Attorney General Eric Holder, in a press release: "The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will be speaking at 1 p.m. ET, advocating for the budgeting principle known as PAYGO (Pay As You Go) -- that any new tax or entitlement policies should be paid for up front. Members of Congress, including the members of the Blue Dog Coalition, will attend the event. At 2:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with the Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee. At 4:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with Sec. of Defense Robert Gates, along with Vice President Biden.

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James Inhofe

Inhofe: Obama Not On The Side Of Terrorists--Or Our Troops.

Brian Beutler | June 5, 2009, 2:50PM

Liz Cheney's basic line about President Obama's historic speech yesterday is that she's "troubled" that Obama thinks he can stop terrorism with "hand-holding."

Pretty harsh, right? Well, she's got nothing, though, on Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). He called the speech, "un-American," adding, "I just don't know whose side he's on."

Curious which 'sides' Inhofe might have had in mind, I asked his communications director, Jared Young, to complete the picture a bit. According to Young, Inhofe was saying he's "kind of confused about why the President's going on foreign soil and in some cases echoing talking points from al Qaeda about Guantanamo Bay."

So is he saying he think's the President's on the side of terrorists?

"No, no, he's not saying that, no. He just certainly doesn't seem to be on the side of our men and women in uniform."

Well, I guess that clears that up.

Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | May 26, 2009, 9:01AM

Obama To Nominate Sotomayor For SCOTUS
President Obama will announce at 10:15 a.m. ET this morning that he is nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York for the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, age 54, has been one of the top names mentioned in the media since the news first broke of Justice David Souter's retirement. She would be the first Hispanic Justice, and the third woman to serve on the court.

Obama's Day Ahead: Raising Money For Harry Reid
President Obama will be having his regular meetings with advisers today in the Oval Office. At 10:15 a.m. ET he will announce the Sotomayor nomination for the Supreme Court. Then in the afternoon he will depart from the White House for Las Vegas, Nevada. He will arrive in Las Vegas at 8:50 p.m. ET, and at 10:55 p.m. ET he will attend a fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, at Caesar's Palace.

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Ben Nelson

Ben Nelson: Now More Conservative Than Ever

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2009, 1:37PM

If you read this site fairly regularly, you might be thinking that President Obama is having some issues with the Senate. And you'd be correct. Here's an abbreviated list of hurdles: Dawn Johnsen can't be confirmed to head the Office of Legal Counsel; health care reform may have to do without a public option--if it happens at all; and Obama's goal of shuttering the Guantanamo Bay detention center by early 2010 is suddenly imperiled by the common cousins of conservative demagoguery and Democratic sheepishness.

The examples are manifold. And the voices of opposition are united.

"No way I can vote for her," says a senator of Dawn Johnsen.

Seeking to protect health insurance companies, which would be hard pressed to compete with a government provider, one senator called the idea of a publicly run insurance option a "deal breaker."

And on Guantanamo, the voice of the opposition in the Senate can be summed up thusly: "I think they need to be kept elsewhere, wherever that is. I don't want to see them come on American soil."

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Russ Feingold

Feingold To Obama: Preventive Detention Is Unconstitutional

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2009, 10:51AM

But Feingold was either holding fire, or the words he'd just heard hadn't settled in immediately. Because by the end of the week, a reservation had emerged. In a gentle, but resolute, letter to Obama dated Friday, May 22, Feingold says a key aspect of Obama's outlined detention policy is likely unconstitutional.

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Guantanamo Bay

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | May 24, 2009, 12:53PM

Mullen: Gitmo Needs To Be Closed
Appearing on ABC's This Week, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen reaffirmed his belief that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed. "The concern I've had about Guantanamo in these wars is it has been a symbol, and one which has been a recruiting symbol for those extremists and jihadists who would fight us. So and I think that centers -- you know, that's the heart of the concern for Guantanamo's continued existence, in which I spoke to a few years ago, the need to close it."

Obama's Day: Camp David
President Obama has been spending the weekend at Camp David, and is scheduled to arrive back at the White House tonight at 10 p.m. ET. He does not have any public events scheduled. Vice President Biden is in Wilmington, Delaware, and also does not have any scheduled public events.

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Guantanamo Bay

Some Americans Do Want Terrorists In Their Communities

Brian Beutler | May 22, 2009, 12:58PM

On Wednesday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to deny President Obama the funds he needs to shutter the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The stall may be temporary, but many are convinced that it's yet another example of the tired political dynamic in post-9/11 Washington whereby Democrats cave to cowing Republicans the moment the conversation turns to terrorism.

Two weeks ago, though, the GOP got a little bit ahead of itself. "Do you know of any community in the United States of America that would welcome terrorists -- former terrorists, would-be terrorists, people trained as terrorists -- that have been incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay into any community in this country?" asked Sen. Richard Shelby (R-KY).

The question was directed at Attorney General Eric Holder, who basically punted. But it turns out there are at least a few communities in the country that might just welcome a suspected terrorist or two to stay for a while.

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Guantanamo Bay

GOP Invokes "Daisy" In Gitmo Web Video

Eric Kleefeld | May 22, 2009, 10:00AM

The Republican National Committee has put out this new Web ad, borrowing from the Democrats' infamous "Daisy" attack ad against Barry Goldwater in 1964 -- and likening the danger of Guantanamo detainees being brought on to U.S. soil to the 1960s threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union:

Interestingly, this Web ad uses audio of the nuclear explosion from the Daisy ad, but the RNC wasn't daring enough to incorporate the full visual of a mushroom cloud. The ad also uses audio of Lyndon Johnson saying "These are the stakes!" but cuts off the full statement: "These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." That kind of aspiration for a world of love isn't exactly a GOP slogan these days.

The message of original Daisy spot, by the way, was that Goldwater would recklessly get us all killed. So it would logically follow that the message of this ad, of course, is that Obama will recklessly get us all killed.

Alan Keyes

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | May 22, 2009, 9:00AM

WaPo: White House To Steer G.M. Into Bankruptcy
The Washington Post reports that the Obama Administration is preparing to send General Motors into a planned bankruptcy as the end of next week, with the intention to give the company nearly $30 billion more in aid to help them restructure.

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will sign the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, at 9 a.m. ET in the Rose Garden. At 10 a.m. ET, he will deliver the commencement at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At 3 p.m. ET, he will return to the Rose Garden to sign the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act.

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Barack Obama

Reid: Senate Dems Look Forward To Reviewing Obama's Gitmo Plan When It's Released

Eric Kleefeld | May 21, 2009, 4:21PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has released this statement on President Obama's speech today:

"The President today reiterated the belief we both share that closing Guantanamo will make America more secure. I share his concern that we must ensure our national security needs and our Constitutional values continue to coexist, and that the rule of law must supersede politics. Senate Democrats look forward to reviewing the details of the Administration's plan when it is released, and to working with the President to keep Americans safe and bring to justice those who seek to do us harm.

"While others may spend all their time defending the mistakes of the past, I am encouraged that our President is focused squarely on the future."

Barack Obama

Feingold Praises Obama Speech

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 3:31PM

Civil libertarians outside of Congress might have serious reservations about the outline of the President's Guantanamo policy. But on Capitol Hill they're less critical. "I welcome the president's emphasis on congressional oversight and the need for collaboration with Congress, for which the Bush Administration held such contempt," said Sen. Russ Feingold.

The president's remark on reforming the way the state secrets privilege is used also seems to indicate he is moving in the right direction. And I am also pleased that the president echoed the same point I recently made regarding claims by the former vice president: that I had seen nothing to indicate that the torture techniques authorized by the last administration were necessary or the most effective way to get information from detainees.

The president has taken some important steps in his first four months. He has banned torture, increased transparency, and focused on the crucial threat to our national security emanating from al Qaeda's safe haven in Pakistan. And he has pledged to close Guantanamo, which is being used as a recruiting tool by our enemies. But nobody expected the president would be able to undo the eight year assault on the rule of law by the last administration in just four months. So I look forward to continuing to work with him to restore the rule of law and put in place policies that will keep America safe and reduce the threats to our country that have grown more challenging because of the missteps of the last administration.

Barack Obama

ACLU: Obama's Speech Was Dazzling--Too Bad The Policies Suck

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 2:37PM

Without going so far as to compare Obama to George W. Bush, the ACLU thinks the President's deeds are out of step with his words. "We welcome President Obama's stated commitment to the Constitution, the rule of law and the unequivocal rejection of torture," said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero. "But unlike the president, we believe that continuing with the failed military commissions and creating a new system of indefinite detention without charge is inconsistent with the values that he expressed so eloquently at the National Archives today."

That's some pretty thinly veiled criticism. At issue is Obama's announcement of a system of so-called "preventive detention" for suspects who, according to Obama, "cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people." They will, apparently, be held for years, subject only to judicial and congressional oversight mechanisms that have yet to be defined. If you want to know how such a system compares to indefinite detention programs other democracies have used, Spencer Ackerman brings the knowledge. The left is not happy about this.

Guantanamo Bay

CCR: Obama Embraces Indefinite Detention, Not Meaningfully Different From Bush

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 12:41PM

President Obama's speech touched on a number of significant and controversial national security policies--but perhaps the two most important were his proposed plan for dealing with Guantanamo detainees and his outline for reforming the State Secrets privilege, which may well become an issue when some of those detainees are tried in U.S. courts.

Civil libertarians and human rights activists won't necessarily be pleased. Shayana Kadidal is the senior managing attorney of the Guantanamo project at the Center for Constitutional Rights. He says the administration's plan to maintain a system of military commissions is deeply troubling.

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Barack Obama

A Day After Congress Withholds Funds, Obama Defends Decision To Close Guantanamo

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 11:05AM

Yesterday, Congressional Democrats denied President Obama, at least for now, the funds he needs to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were responding in part to scare tactics from Republicans, who have been insisting for months that Obama's plan will bring terrorists to American cities. But they were also upset that Obama hadn't used his bully pulpit to counter those charges. Today, Obama did just that:

Some have derided our federal courts as incapable of handling the trials of terrorists. They are wrong. Our courts and juries of our citizens are tough enough to convict terrorists, and the record makes that clear. Ramzi Yousef tried to blow up the World Trade Center - he was convicted in our courts, and is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison. Zaccarias Moussaoui has been identified as the 20th 9/11 hijacker - he was convicted in our courts, and he too is serving a life sentence in prison. If we can try those terrorists in our courts and hold them in our prisons, then we can do the same with detainees from Guantanamo.

For more on this point, read this primer written by the National Security Network. And as Ken Gude of the Center for American Progress told me yesterday, Obama can still take near-term steps to begin closing the facility, and then return to Congress for funding in July, when his task force completes its comprehensive report on everything that policy will entail.

Barack Obama

Points Of Friction: Obama Meets With Civil Libertarians, Human Rights Activists

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 10:56AM

Yesterday morning President Obama met with representatives of several human rights and civil liberties groups in the White House's cabinet room. Joining him were his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior adviser David Axelrod, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder. They sat down with representatives of the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Human Rights Watch, among others.

Last night on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow reported that one of the attendees warned the President he was letting George Bush's policies become his own--and that Obama was not pleased by that characterization.

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Barack Obama

Obama: My Administration Isn't The Bush Administration

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 10:42AM

Barack Obama's speech touches on just about every controversial Constitutional issue in the news, but it's also peppered with reminders that he's not the same as George W. Bush.

As Senator McCain once said, torture "serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us." And even under President Bush, there was recognition among members of his Administration - including a Secretary of State, other senior officials, and many in the military and intelligence community - that those who argued for these tactics were on the wrong side of the debate, and the wrong side of history. We must leave these methods where they belong - in the past. They are not who we are. They are not America.

And:

[T]he problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility; the problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.

For just two examples.

Barack Obama

Obama's National Security Speech

Eric Kleefeld | May 21, 2009, 10:29AM

The following is the prepared text of President Obama's speech today on national security. You can also watch the speech live.

These are extraordinary times for our country. We are confronting an historic economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century. There is no shortage of work to be done, or responsibilities to bear.

And we have begun to make progress. Just this week, we have taken steps to protect American consumers and homeowners, and to reform our system of government contracting so that we better protect our people while spending our money more wisely. The engines of our economy are slowly beginning to turn, and we are working toward historic reform of health care and energy. I welcome the hard work that has been done by the Congress on these and other issues.

In the midst of all these challenges, however, my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe. That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.

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Barack Obama

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | May 21, 2009, 8:56AM

Today: Obama's And Cheney's Big Speeches On National Security
The big headline event will be a dueling pair of speeches from President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney, each laying out their visions for national security. Obama will be discussing at 10:10 a.m. ET the steps his Administration is taking on such issues as Guantanamo Bay and fighting terrorism, while Cheney will be speaking at 10:45 a.m. ET from the American Enterprise Institute, laying out a thorough defense of the Bush Administration's policies and condemning Obama's approach.

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will deliver his speech on national security at 10:10 a.m. ET, from the National Archives Museum Rotunda. At 1:30 p.m. ET, he will welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to the White House, at the South Portico. At 4:15 p.m. ET, he will meet with President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania.

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Guantanamo Bay

The Mark-Up, 05-20-2009

Brian Beutler | May 20, 2009, 4:40PM

TPMDC's daily update on the biggest legislative initiatives on the Hill:

• Guantanamo: The Senate stripped Guantanamo detention center closing funds from a war funding bill by an overwhelming vote of 90-6.
• Credit Card Reform: The House passed--and the President will soon sign--legislation cracking down on credit card companies. House leaders split the bill in two because of a measure sponsored by Tom Coburn (R-OK) allowing people to take guns into national parks. Both parts of the bill passed, but the move allowed liberal Democrats to go on record against the idea.
• EFCA: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) tells potential EFCA opponents to get serious about compromise, or they'll have to go on record, one way or another, on the question of the original bill.
• Defense Spending: Defense Secretary Robert Gates isn't backtracking on his decision to cancel the (well over-budget) presidential helicopter program. But he does envision the possibility of a "escape helicopter," to make the President's job seem more awesome.

Guantanamo Bay

Off Track: Senate Democrats Block Funding To Close GITMO After White House Left Them High And Dry

Brian Beutler | May 20, 2009, 3:19PM

We reported earlier that the Senate voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to strip the funding for the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay from a supplemental war spending bill.

The move has angered many. It comes a day after Senate Democrats announced they would withhold the money until the White House settles on a comprehensive plan for dealing with detainees--and critics on the left are charging that Democratic leaders have caved to Republican scare tactics.

That's certainly part of the story--but a bigger problem, according to several sources, has been the White House's failure, for months, to co-ordinate strategy and messaging on the issue with Congress, where the bulk of opposition to the plan lies.

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Guantanamo Bay

Inhofe: Free Colonoscopies At Gitmo

Eric Kleefeld | May 20, 2009, 1:07PM

Those Gitmo prisoners don't know just how good they've got it!

At a press conference by Republican Senators opposed to closing the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) elaborated on what a humane environment Gitmo is: "anyone, any detainee, over 55 has an opportunity to have a colonoscopy."

"Now none of them take 'em up on it, because once they explain what it is, none of them want to do it," Inhofe added. "But nonetheless it's an opportunity that they have."