Roundup

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | July 28, 2010, 9:02AM

Big War Boost Clears Congress, Despite Afghan Leak
The Associated Press reports: "The House on Tuesday sent President Barack Obama a major war-funding increase of $33 billion to pay for his troop surge in Afghanistan, unmoved by the leaking of classified documents that portray a military effort struggling between 2004 and 2009 against a strengthening insurgency. The House voted, 308-114, to approve the spending boost for the additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Other non-war provisions brought the total bill to nearly $59 billion."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET, will meet at 10 a.m. ET with senior advisers, and will meet at 10:40 a.m. ET with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). He will depart from the White House at 11:45 a.m. ET, and depart from Andrews Air Force at 12 p.m. ET, arriving at 12:50 p.m. ET in Newark, New Jersey. At 1:30 p.m. ET, he will meet with a group of small business owners in Edison, New Jersey, and will deliver a statement to the press at 2:20 p.m. ET. He will attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at 5:40 p.m. ET, and another DNC fundraiser at 7:20 p.m. ET, both of them in New York City. He will depart from Newark at 8:50 p.m. ET, arriving back at Andrews Air Force Base at 9:40 p.m. ET, and back at the White House at 9:55 p.m. ET.

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Roundup

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | July 11, 2010, 1:35PM

Gibbs: GOP Could Win House
Appearing on Meet The Press, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged that the Republicans could potentially win the House of Representatives: " I think there's no doubt that there are a lot of seats that will be up, a lot of contested seats. I think people are going to have a choice to make in the fall. But I think there's no doubt there are enough seats in play that could cause Republicans to gain control. There's no doubt about that. This will depend on strong campaigns by Democrats. And again, I think we've got to take the issues to them. You know, are--do you want to put in, in to the speakership of the House a guy who thinks that the, the financial calamity is, is tantamount to an ant? The guy who's the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Joe Barton, started his congressional testimony of the CEO of BP by apologizing, not to the people in the gulf, but to the CEO. I think that's a perfect window, not into what people are thinking, but the way they would govern. Joe Barton, John Boehner, those are the type of things you'll hear a lot, I think, from both the president and local candidates about what you'd get if the Republicans were to gain control."

Holder: DOJ Not Ruling Out Racial Profiling Suit Against Arizona Law
Also during his appearance on Face The Nation, Attorney General Eric Holder explained that the federal government was not ruling out opposing the Arizona illegal immigration law on the grounds of racial profiling, in addition to the federal preemption argument that is currently the basis for their lawsuit against the statute. "It doesn't mean that if the law, for whatever reason, happened to go into effect that six months from now, a year from now, we might not look at the impact the law has had and... see whether or not there has been that racial profiling impact," he said. "And if that was the case, we would have the tools, and we would bring suit on that basis."

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Roundup

TPMDC Saturday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | February 13, 2010, 1:06PM

Obama Touts PAYGO Rule, Executive Order To Create Fiscal Commission
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama touted the return of the Pay-As-You-Go rule, compared to the policies of the previous administration that passed massive tax cuts while simultaneously creating a new drug program that wasn't paid for. And Obama confirmed that he is creating a bipartisan Fiscal Commission by executive order:

"Because in the end, solving our fiscal challenge - so many years in the making - will take both parties coming together, putting politics aside, and making some hard choices about what we need to spend, and what we don't," said Obama. "It will not happen any other way. Unfortunately this proposal - which received the support of a bipartisan majority in the Senate - was recently blocked. So, I will be creating this commission by executive order. After a decade of profligacy, the American people are tired of politicians who talk the talk but don't walk the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility. It's easy to get up in front of the cameras and rant against exploding deficits. What's hard is actually getting deficits under control. But that's what we must do."

Graham: Civilian Terror Trials Compromise Intelligence, Help Bin Laden
In this weekend's Republican address, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) criticized the Obama administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists in civilian criminal courts, instead of military commissions. Graham said that the 1995 Blind Sheikh trial, regarding the first World Trade Center bombing, compromised U.S. intelligence and aided Osama bin Laden:

"In the 1995 trial, because of civilian court rules, the government was required to disclose the identity of all known co-conspirators to the defense," said Graham. "One of the conspirators -- relatively obscure at the time -- was Osama bin Laden. Our intelligence services later learned this list made its way back to bin Laden tipping him off about our surveillance. A conviction was obtained in that trial, but valuable intelligence was compromised. The rest is history."

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Roundup

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | February 12, 2010, 9:01AM

WaPo: Obama To Help Select Location Of KSM Terrorism Trial
The Washington Post reports that President Obama will become involved in the selection of a site for trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: "Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET, and the economic daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET. He will meet with senior advisers at 10:30 a.m. ET. He does not have any public events scheduled for today.

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Roundup

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | January 31, 2010, 1:12PM

Boehner: 'There Aren't That Many Places Where We Can Come Together'
Appearing on Meet The Press, House Minority Leader John Boehner downplayed the possibility of bipartisanship. "Listen, there aren't that many places where we can come together. The President-- is-- he was the most liberal member of the United States Senate. You don't get there by accident," said Boehner. "And if you look at the policies that we've seen over the course of this year from the Administration and -- his Democratic colleagues in Congress-- there are all these leftist proposals. And the people of Massachusetts, the people of Virginia, the people of New Jersey are sending a pretty loud signal, just like the other 47 states to -- to Washington, saying, 'Stop. This is -- this is way more than we ever want -- wanted Washington to do.'"

Gibbs: Health Care Reform 'Still Inside The Five-Yard Line'
Appearing on State of the Union, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that Democrats are "still inside the five-yard line" on health care reform. "We're one vote in the House of Representatives from making health care reform a reality," said Gibbs, though he was noncommittal on whether it was definite strategy to have the House of Representatives pass the Senate bill: "I don't think we know yet the answer on the process of this."

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Barack Obama

TPMDC Saturday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | January 30, 2010, 1:20PM

Obama Slams GOP Reversals On Fiscal Commission
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama called for taking action to reduce the budget deficit. He also blasted Republican Senators who stopped the formation of a Fiscal Commission, after having previously co-sponsored it:

"This past week, 53 Democrats and Republicans voted for this commission in the Senate. But it failed when seven Republicans who had co-sponsored this idea in the first place suddenly decided to vote against it," said Obama. "Now, it's one thing to have an honest difference of opinion about something. I will always respect those who take a principled stand for what they believe, even if I disagree with them. But what I won't accept is changing positions because it's good politics. What I won't accept is opposition for opposition's sake. We cannot have a serious discussion and take meaningful action to create jobs and control our deficits if politicians just do what's necessary to win the next election instead of what's best for the next generation."

Collins: Obama Administration Can't See A Terrorist 'Even When He Stands Right In Front Of Them'
In this weekend's Republican address, a very alarmed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) lambasted the Obama administration's handling of the Abdulmutallab case:

"The Obama administration appears to have a blind spot when it comes to the War on Terrorism," said Collins. "And, because of that blindness, this administration cannot see a foreign terrorist even when he stands right in front of them, fresh from an attempt to blow a plane out of the sky on Christmas Day. There's no other way to explain the irresponsible, indeed dangerous, decision on Abdulmutallab's interrogation. There's no other way to explain the inconceivable treatment of him as if he were a common criminal."

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Roundup

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | November 18, 2009, 8:59AM

Obama Will Release Afghanistan Plan Soon, Promises Exit Strategy
In an interview with CNN, President Obama said he will soon release his plans for Afghanistan, and that there will be an exit plan. "The American people will have a lot of clarity about what we're doing, how we're going to succeed, how much this thing is going to cost, what kind of burden does this place on our young men and women in uniform and, most importantly, what's the end game on this thing," said Obama. "My preference would be not to hand off anything to the next president. One of the things I'd like is the next president to be able to come in and say I've got a clean slate."

Obama's Day In China And South Korea
President Obama held a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, at 11:30 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET last night), with a working lunch at 12:15 p.m. local time. Obama toured the Great Wall of China at 2:30 p.m. He departed Beijing at 5:10 p.m., arriving in Seoul, South Korea, at 7:45 p.m. local time (5:45 a.m. ET).

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Roundup

TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | November 15, 2009, 1:14PM

Axelrod: Obama Opposed To Bill With Stupak Amendment
Appearing on State of the Union, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said that President Obama would oppose the Stupak Amendment as a change in the status quo on abortion law. "The president has said repeatedly, and he said in his speech to Congress, that he doesn't believe that this bill should change the status quo as it relates to the issue of abortion," said Axelrod. Asked whether Obama would sign a final bill that contains the Stupak Amendment, Axelrod replied that Obama "believes both these issues and can and will be worked through before [the final bill] reaches his desk."

Conrad: Health Care Bill Can't Pass Without Restriction On Abortion Funding
Appearing on State of the Union, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) said that the health care bill cannot pass without something like the Stupak Amendment. "What is clear is at the end of the day, for this bill to be successful, that there cannot be taxpayer funding of abortion," said Conrad, also adding: "It was clear in the House. It'll be clear in the Senate."

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