TPMDC White House
Birth Control
White House Seeks To Mute Catholic Uproar Over Contraception Rule
In the days since the conservative and religious uproar over the Obama administration's new contraceptive rule first erupted, the White House has been attempting to thread a policy needle so that nearly all women can receive free contraceptive services from their employer-provided health insurers, without forcing religious non-profits to provide benefits they oppose on "moral" grounds.
On Friday, President Obama announced the plan, which senior administration officials described in detail on a conference call with reporters.
"All women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services," one official said. But if a religious institution declines to provide coverage that includes contraceptive services, "the insurance company will be required to reach out directly and offer her contraceptive coverage free of charge."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Birth Control, Catholic Bishops, Patty Murray, White House
Debt
White House To GOP: Only One Way Around Defense Cuts -- And You're Not Gonna Like It
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
In light of Congressional Republicans' abandonment of a key part of the debt limit agreement, two senior administration officials briefing reporters at the White House Monday said automatic, across the board cuts to defense programs will happen as scheduled unless Republicans relent on their refusal to raise revenues.
The officials conducted the briefing under the condition that they not be quoted directly, but their position was unambiguous -- the White House will not support any effort to swap out scheduled cuts to defense programs (and other automatic cuts) unless Congress passes a balanced package of deficit reducing legislation of equal or greater measure. That means new tax revenue from wealthy Americans and corporate interests, which Republicans have routinely refused to consider.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Defense Spending, Taxes, White House
Defense Spending
Bait And Switch: GOP Leaders Renege On Debt Limit Deal Defense Cuts
House Speaker John Boehner with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the foreground.
Republican leaders in Congress have all but reneged on a key agreement they reached with the White House last summer rather than reconsider their unwavering stance against new tax revenue.
Relations between the Obama administration and the congressional GOP were already just about as bad as can be. But even so, this sets a precedent future Congresses and White Houses will remember when partisan mismatches force them to strike deals and govern.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Debt Ceiling, Defense Spending, John Boehner, Military Spending, Republicans, Spending, Super Committee, Tax Cuts, Taxes, White House
Jack Lew
Hill Dems Celebrate As White House Chief Of Staff Is Replaced
President Barack Obama and Bill Daley
It's well known in Washington that outgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley had a dysfunctional relationship with Capitol Hill -- particularly with Democrats there. And early signs suggest the new Chief of Staff -- Jack Lew, who has run the Office of Management and Budget for over a year -- will by comparison receive a warm welcome.
"Folks up here will view Lew as a big improvement," says one highly placed Democratic Hill aide. "It's hard to see Lew making the same mistakes his predecessor did. Lew understands the way this place works."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bill Daley, Jack Lew, OMB, Office of Management and Budget, White House
Debt Ceiling
White House Avoids Fight With GOP Over Debt Limit Hike
President Barack Obama
Remember how the Obama administration planned to alert Congress of its intent to raise the debt limit by today? Well, that's getting kicked back a few days.
An aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) says the White House has assured Republicans they will not issue the debt limit request this week, heading off a confrontation between the administration and the GOP over Congress' power under the debt limit law to block the increased borrowing authority.
Under the terms of the August debt limit agreement, the administration was given the right to raise the debt limit by $2.1 trillion in three tranches, nearly unilaterally. The catch was that Republicans reserved the right for the House and Senate, within a narrow time frame, to block the increase. This caveat was largely symbolic. Democrats control the Senate and wouldn't undermine President Obama by triggering another debt limit crisis -- and even if they did, Obama would reserve the right to veto the so-called "resolution of disapproval." But it's a ready-made talking point for the GOP.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Eric Cantor, Treasury, Treasury Department, White House
Debt Ceiling
Debt Limit Hike Causes Behind The Scenes Commotion On Capitol Hill
President Barack Obama
We're trying to sniff out exactly how this happened and what's being done to sort it out. But the Obama administration's announcement that it will certify this week its intent to raise the debt limit didn't sit well on Capitol Hill.
The key issue is the 15-day deadline Congress has to vote on a resolution of disapproval of the President's request to raise the debt ceiling. The timing of the administration's planned certification implies that the 15 days would be up before Congress returns in January from its holiday recess. Whether this was an accident or not, we're told that the calendar issue created a behind-the-scenes mess -- with Republicans threatening to return early from recess -- and that the administration is trying to figure out a way to keep it from spilling out into the public.
I've reached out to the administration for further guidance on both questions. It's still unclear whether this was a hardball political move, a dumb mistake, or just a misunderstanding -- or what, if anything, can be done to avoid a public clash with the GOP over the timing.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Debt Ceiling, Republicans, White House
Debt Ceiling
Is The White House Jamming Republicans Over The Debt Ceiling?
President Barack Obama and Senior Adviser David Axelrod
Is the White House taking advantage of the holiday recess to thumb its nose at Congressional Republicans over the nation's debt limit?
That's one interpretation of an announcement Treasury Department officials made today, which sets in motion an automatic increase in borrowing authority while Congress is out of session.
All of this dates back to the destructive summer fight over whether, by how much, and under what conditions to raise the national debt ceiling. Back then, the White House sought over $2 trillion in new borrowing authority -- enough to assure the country avoided another debt limit fight in the middle of election season, when members of Congress might be even more willing to put the country's creditworthiness at risk for short-term political gain.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Debt, Debt Ceiling, S&P, Social Security, Super Committee, White House
Scott Brown
GOP Fractures Further Over Payroll Tax Mess
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
House GOP aides basically admitted this to reporters yesterday, but it bears repeating. The reason they fashioned a Rube Goldberg-esque procedural device to kill the Senate payroll tax cut compromise is that they know they're now in political free fall on the issue. By doing things the way they did, at least vulnerable House Republicans can say that they didn't vote against a tax cut for the middle class.
This was probably the only way House GOP leaders were ever going to get the minority of their caucus on board with the vote. And if you want proof, look no further than the handful of Republicans who defected from their leadership Tuesday. Or, better yet, vulnerable Senate Republicans who are in cycle in 2012.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Charlie Bass, Chris Gibson, Dean Heller, Frank Wolf, Harry Reid, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Jeff Flake, John Boehner, Payroll Tax Cut, Scott Brown, Tim Johnson, Walter Jones, White House
Payroll Tax Cut
Standoff: A Guide To The Ongoing Fight Over The Payroll Tax Cut
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama
At a Capitol press conference Monday morning, House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he expects his members will kill the bipartisan, Senate-passed, two-month payroll tax cut bill. Instead he said Republicans will insist that Senate Democrats return to Washington and hash out the differences between that package, and the partisan one-year bill the House GOP passed a week ago.
That's setting up a new round in the ongoing fight over how to prevent that tax cut -- and other expiring policies like emergency unemployment benefits, and reimbursement rates for Medicare physicians -- from expiring.
Where we go from here depends on Boehner making good on his threat. To that end House and Senate Democrats, along with key Senate Republicans -- who voted for the compromise measure, and whom Boehner is hanging out to dry -- are pressing the House GOP to follow through on the deal.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Allen West, Barack Obama, Debt Ceiling, Doc fix, Harry Reid, John Boehner, Marco Rubio, Medicare, Mitch McConnell, Payroll Tax Cut, Steve Israel, Unemployment, White House
Payroll Tax Cut
Boehner Outlines Path Forward In Government Shutdown Fight
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama
At his weekly Capitol briefing, House Speaker John Boehner outlined a way around the current impasse in Congress that will result in a government shutdown if it's not resolved by Friday night. And it could alleviate Dem fears that Republicans are trying to jam them with partisan legislation that would renew the payroll tax cut and extend unemployment benefits, but with a significant number of poison pills thrown in.
"There's an easy way to untangle all of this," Boehner said in introductory remarks. "First I think Democrats should join Republicans and sign the conference report [on appropriations legislation] to fund our government. House and Senate appropriators have done their jobs. There's an agreement on a bill that would keep the government open. They've worked out all the details and shook hands, and the bill's done. It's bipartisan, it's bicameral, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate are both ready to vote on this."
Here's part two:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Government Shutdown, Harry Reid, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Payroll Tax Cut, Unemployment, White House
Government Shutdown
House GOP Pushes The Envelope In Shutdown, Payroll Tax Fight
John Boehner
Late Wednesday night -- in the early hours of Thursday morning, really -- House Republicans decided to go all in on the latest government shutdown fight.
Testing the limits of compliance with their own rule that legislation be posted online for three days before a final vote, GOP leaders, over White House objections, unveiled major appropriations legislation that must pass by Friday at the stroke of midnight if Congress is to avoid a government shutdown.
The move raises one key question for each party. Can Republicans pass these appropriations on their own, if Democrats stick to their guns and withhold their votes. And, if the GOP succeeds, will Senate Democrats and President Obama hold their ground and block the legislation until a key policy issues are addressed, and the parties reach agreement on the separate issue of how to extend the current payroll tax cut into next year.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Government Shutdown, Harry Reid, John Boccieri, Keystone XL, Payroll Tax Cut, Tax Cuts, Taxes, Unemployment, White House
Richard Cordray
GOP Filibusters Top Consumer Protection Nominee
This post was updated at 11:55 a.m.
As they promised they would, the overwhelming majority of Republicans on Wednesday filibustered Richard Cordray, the uncontroversial former Ohio Attorney General whom President Obama tapped to be the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- an agency tasked with mitigating fraudulent and dangerous financial products.
The final vote was 53-45, with one Senator, Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voting present and one, John Kerry (D-MA) not on hand to vote. GOP Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) -- running for re-election against the CFPB's godmother Elizabeth Warren -- joined the Democrats in supporting Cordray.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Financial Reform, John Kerry, Olympia Snowe, Richard Cordray, Scott Brown, White House
Payroll Tax Cut
Democrats' Big Payroll Tax Cut Gamble
If this year's payroll tax cut is extended -- and possibly expanded -- for another year, it will prevent the economy from taking a significant hit at a time when demand is weak and unemployment remains unacceptably high.
That's the good news.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Harry Reid, Payroll Tax Cut, Social Security, White House
Taxes
Switcheroo: Democrats And Republicans To Trade Places On Taxes, Spending
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama
For at least the next several weeks, politics will undergo a strange transposition, during which Republicans will warn of the economic dangers of cutting government spending, and President Obama will barnstorm the country warning voters that Republicans are inviting a tax increase on the majority of Americans.
The timelines won't align perfectly, and the Democrats will have a greater sense of urgency. But in the wake of Super Committee failure, Democrats and Republicans are staring down uncomfortable deadlines, and each party's best bet for avoiding outcomes that harm their interests is to adopt the other's rhetoric.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Buck McKeon, Defense Spending, Super Committee, Taxes, White House
Super Committee
Obama Issues Veto Threat On Bush Tax Cuts
President Barack Obama
President Obama has threatened to veto any legislation that attempts to eliminate the automatic penalties for Super Committee failure. But on January 1, 2013 -- the same day the automatic, across the board spending cuts are scheduled to take effect -- all of the Bush tax cuts are set to expire. And the White House plans to use the threat of full expiration the exact same way they're using the threat of sequestration -- to force Republicans to accept a higher tax burden on wealthy Americans.
"He won't sign a full extension," said one Senior Administration Official at a White House background briefing for reporters on the Super Committee.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Grover Norquist, Spending, Super Committee, Tax Cuts, White House
Super Committee
The Brutal Politics Of Super Committee Failure
Super Committee Democrats and Republicans and the leaders of both parties will work through the weekend to avoid missing their fast approaching deadline to cut $1.2 trillion from federal deficits over the next decade. Though the 12 members officially have until Wednesday to reach an agreement, the more realistic deadline is Monday evening, by which time they must have word back from CBO about the impact any plan they send to Congress will have on the budget.
Failure is very much an option. And if failure happens, Capitol Hill politics will take a severe turn heading into the 2012 election.
If November 23 comes and goes and there's no deal, Republicans will declare war on both Democrats and each other, and the most powerful interest groups in Washington will maul both parties in an effort to make sure that Super Committee failure doesn't translate into lost profits.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Defense Spending, John Boehner, Medicare, Super Committee, Tax Cuts, Taxes, White House
Barack Obama
Environmentalists Win Big Keystone Decision -- For Now
Liberals and environmentalists are rejoicing tonight over the Obama administration's decision to delay -- or in bureaucratese, "seek further review of" -- a proposal to build a massive pipeline from the Canadian Tar Sands to the gulf coast. But their celebration could be short lived.
Here's the full backstory. The so-called Keystone XL pipeline has become the frustrated environmental community's final litmus test for the President. Though the bureaucratic questions surrounding the project have to do with domestic health and safety concerns, environmentalists fear, with good reason, that the pipeline would assure the extraction of too much carbon for the climate to bear. So they've been hounding the White House and State Department for months in an effort to get the project scrapped altogether.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Environment, Mike Johanns, Oil, State Department, White House
Barack Obama
Hill Democrats Pleased With Daley's Diminished Role
Congressional Democrats weren't surprised Tuesday to learn, in a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley had handed a big chunk of his portfolio over to senior adviser -- and former acting Chief of Staff -- Pete Rouse. Indeed, they've been living under the new regime for several weeks, and according to one highly placed Senate Democratic aide the improvement has been self evident.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Bill Daley, Democrats, Economy, Harry Reid, Jobs, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Rouse, Rob Nabors, White House, William Daley
Barack Obama
White House: Our Jobs Message Is Catching Fire
The White House is pushing ahead with its strategy of taking executive action to circumvent Congressional GOP opposition on job creation, on Friday unveiling a new presidential memorandum aimed at helping private businesses in hard economic times.
As President Obama struggles to build support for many components of his jobs bill in Congress, he continued to roll-out unilateral steps as part of his new "We Can't Wait" theme. Obama on Friday signed two business-friendly memorandums: one that would shorten the time it takes for federal research to translate into commercial products in the marketplace, and another creating a website, known as BusinessUSA, to make it easier for companies to learn about federal export opportunities and other government services.
"Today, I am directing my administration to take two important steps to help American businesses create new products, compete in a global economy, and create jobs here at home," Obama said in statement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Economy, House Republicans, Jobs, John Boehner, Senate Republicans, White House
John Kline
GOP Opposes Obama's Decision To Lower Student Loan Payments by 5%
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, isn't happy with President Obama's executive action aimed at helping students pay back college loans.
House Republicans, he said, believe the presidential push to scale back students' monthly payments will only increase overall student debt and do nothing to curb unemployment.
"Sadly, the President has once again chosen to put politics before policy, touting a plan that will do nothing to help the nation's unemployed workers," Kline said in a statement Wednesday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, House Republicans, John Kline, Occupy Wall Street, Student loan reform, White House
House Republicans
House GOPers Were For Withholding Biz Tax Before They Were Against It
House Speaker John Boehner with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the foreground.
House Republicans are crowing about leading efforts to repeal an impending 3 percent withholding tax on government contractors as yet another way they're rolling back the regulatory burden on businesses to help spur economic growth and job creation.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) on Tuesday touted the withholding repeal, which the House plans to take up Thursday, and pressed President Obama to jump on the bandwagon.
"We're bringing up 3% withholding bill to help gov'ts & their contractors at all levels work in a more efficient way so prices don't go up," Cantor tweeted. "Hope the President will join us in supporting this because this is a provision in his bill & we have used a pay-for that he's embraced."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Economy, Eric Cantor, House Republicans, Jobs, John Boehner, Tax Cuts, Taxes, White House
American Jobs Act
White House Hands GOP Victory In Jobs Bill Shadow Boxing Match
President Barack Obama
Republicans just won a round of jousting over President Obama's jobs bill.
President Obama supports passage of House GOP legislation that would eliminate a tax compliance rule affecting big government contractors and pay for it by limiting Medicaid eligibility, the White House announced Tuesday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Jobs, Medicaid, Taxes, White House
Veterans
White House: 'We Can't Wait' To Put Vets Back To Work
A soldier helps guard the Rumelia Oil Field in southern Iraq on April 2, 2003.
As part of its new "We Can't Wait" for Congress theme, the White House has announced an initiative to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars get back to work.
The latest effort, part of a comprehensive plan to transition veterans from the battlefield to the workplace, challenges community health centers around the country to hire 8,000 veterans over the next three years.
Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Economy, Health Care, Jobs, Michelle Obama, Veterans, Veterans Day, White House
Housing/Foreclosures
Obama Rolls Out New 'We Can't Wait' Slogan On Housing, Economy
President Barack Obama
President Obama is heading straight into the heart of the housing crisis -- Nevada -- to unveil a series of executive branch steps to give the economy a shot in the arm, beginning with new rules making it easier for underwater homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
The White House is calling the new roll-out the "We-Can't-Wait" program, a not-so-subtle jab at Republicans in Congress, who have spent the last two weeks blocking Obama's job bill. Las Vegas' economy was one of the hardest hit by the housing crisis.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Economy, Housing/Foreclosures, Jobs, White House
President Obama's earliest supporters, many of whom were first attracted to him because of his opposition to the war in Iraq, spent Friday cheering the news that all U.S. troops would be out of the country by the end of the year.
Still, for core Democratic voters and all war-weary Americans, serious questions remain about how the decision was made, the extent and propriety of the United States' continued commitment and what it means for the mission in Afghanistan.
Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, held a conference call Friday afternoon to try to answer some of those lingering questions.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, Commission on Wartime Contracting, Iraq, State Department, White House
Barack Obama
Obama Feels Your Pain, Cuts A Check
President Barack Obama not only feels your pain -- he just might cut you a check if you write him and tell him about it.
On some occasions, the President writes a personal check -- actual money from his own pocket -- to Americans who write him about personal hardships, according to a a report by Eli Saslow in the Washington Post last week that probably received far less attention than it deserved.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Economy, Jobs, Jobs summit, White House
Barack Obama
Obama: "The Tide Of War Is Receding"
President Barack Obama
President Obama announced a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year, a decision he said fulfills a campaign promise to bring the war to a responsible end.
"After taking office, I announced a new strategy that would end our combat mission in Iraq and remove all of our troops by 2011. As commander-in-chief, ensuring the success of this strategy is one of my highest national security priorities," he said Friday, addressing the White House press corps.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Iraq, Military, Military Spending, Military service, White House
Barack Obama
Obama: GOP Needs To Explain Why Americans Don't Deserve Jobs
President Obama continued to hammer away at Republicans to stop obstructing his jobs bill after Senate Republicans, along with three conservative Democrats, prevented any traction on the portion that would have provided states $35 billion to hire or retain teachers and emergency responders.
The Thursday vote to stop floor debate came as no surprise. Democrats and President Obama had expected the bill to fail and likely chose the teachers and first responders spending portion because they knew Republicans would vote against it in lockstep and the move would play into the Democratic message of Republicans obstructing job creation. Just last week, Republicans, along with three Democrats, voted down the entire jobs package when it was offered as a whole.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Economy, Jobs, Senate Republicans, Teachers, White House
Barack Obama
Obama On Qaddafi: 'The Dark Shadow Of Tyranny' Has Lifted
President Barack Obama
President Obama took a moment to herald the death of longtime Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and mark a turning point for the Libyan people, their relentless pursuit of freedom and their country's democratic future.
Speaking in a live address from the White House Rose Garden Thursday afternoon, Obama welcomed the lifting of "the dark shadow of tyranny" from Libya.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Arab Spring, Barack Obama, Congress, Foreign policy, Libya, Muammar Qaddafi, White House
Harry Reid
Reid To GOP On Jobs: POTUS Bus Tour Seems To Be Working
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is reminding Republicans attacking President Obama for traveling around the country promoting his jobs plan that the bus tour seems to be working -- polls show most Americans support the plan to get Americans back to work.
Ahead of Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Capitol Hill later Wednesday afternoon, Reid touted poll number after poll number showing strong bipartisan support for the entire jobs package -- and overwhelming support for the break-out component introduced in the Senate Monday aimed at putting 400,000 teachers, police officers and first-responders back to work.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Jobs, Joe Biden, White House
Richard Cordray
Attorneys General Back Cordray for Consumer Protection Bureau
Richard Cordray, nominee for Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The White House isn't backing away any time soon from Richard Cordray's bid to become the first director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The administration enlisted the help of 37 attorneys general, both Republicans and Democrats, to push for their former colleague, Ohio's previous attorney general, and sing his praises. The attorneys general sent a letter Tuesday to every member of the Senate, asking them to overcome their opposition to Cordray and the CFPB in general.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, Senate Republicans, White House
Barack Obama
Obama Sends 100 Troops To Central Africa To Help Fight LRA
President Obama is sending a total of 100 troops into central Africa to help a resistance movement fight the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for committing atrocities across the continent.
The first troops left Wednesday and in the next month additional forces are set to deploy, including a second combat-equipped team, as well as communications and logistics personnel, Obama informed Congressional leaders in a letter sent Friday afternoon. The mission's goal is to remove LRA leader Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield, according to the letter.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Africa, Barack Obama, Lord's Resistance Army, Military, Sudan, Troops, White House
John Boehner
White House To Boehner On Jobs Plan: Did We Hit A Nerve?
The White House is holding fast to its claim that Republicans are running a do-nothing Congress, and, unlike President Obama, have yet to put forth a jobs bill -- or at least a real one.
Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) press office Thursday evening pointedly released a summary of a private phone call he and Obama had earlier that day, in which Boehner took serious issue with Obama's claims during that morning's press conference that he has yet to see a GOP plan for job creation. (Obama had called Boehner to congratulate him on the passage of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama).
Boehner reminded Obama that House Republicans put forth a "Plan for America's Job Creators" in May, and noted that he and other members of the GOP leadership team have spoken with the President and his staff about the plan and referenced it on numerous occasions, in letters and elsewhere.
The GOP plan consists of repealing government regulations on businesses, reducing taxes on individuals to 25 percent, allowing businesses to reinvest their overseas profits in the U.S. without having to pay a tax penalty, passing the three trade agreements, maximizing U.S. energy production and paying down the debt by slashing government spending.
But the White House argues that most of those policies -- minus the trade agreements (which he strongly supported) -- won't do anything to create jobs immediately, and so Obama and his team don't consider the proposal a real Jobs plan and they haven't been shy about saying so.
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Friday was asked whether Obama was miffed by Boehner's decision to release the contents of his private conversation with the President. Carney's response: we must have hit a nerve.
"What I think it points out [is] that Republicans are coming under pressure from their constituents to do something on jobs and the economy, because again, one of the reasons they're coming under pressure, we're not just saying this is essential, their constituents are saying it," Carney said.
"The Republicans' so-called plan for jobs creators, while it might have some good ideas in it, free trade agreements, passage of patent reform and some other issues, those same outside analysts are saying will have no significant impact on the economy or jobs in the near term," he continued.
In Boehner's account of the phone call, he told Obama that Republicans have given his jobs plan serious consideration and even released a detailed memo outlining specific areas where they believe common ground can be found.
Boehner also pointed out that the House has already acted on several items in the White House jobs package, including a veterans hiring bill, trade agreements, and a 3 percent withholding bill, which the Ways & Means Committee approved Thursday and will be voted on the House floor this month.
"They also discussed transportation and infrastructure, and the Speaker expressed his desire to do something on the issue, but to do it in a fiscally-responsible way," Boehner's release noted.
Correction: original report misquoted Carney as saying NAFTA reform, instead of patent reform.
Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, House Republicans, Jay Carney, Jobs, John Boehner, White House
Iran
Obama Predicts Other Middle Eastern Countries Will Punish Iran
President Barack Obama
President Obama said Iran will pay a price for a plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, arguing that the Iranian regime has increasingly alienated other countries in the Middle East.
"I have to emphasize that this plot is not simply directed at the United States of America," Obama said at a press conference with the South Korean president. "This is a plot directed at the Saudi ambassador...You're going to see folks throughout the Middle East region questioning their ability to work with Iran."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Iran, Justice Department, Saudi Arabia, White House
Tea Party
White House: Tea Party Is Wagging The GOP Dog
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday trained his fire on the Tea Party, blaming "one element" of the Republican party for Standard and Poor's mid-August downgrade of U.S. credit worthiness.
In response to a a question about why support for President Obama is slipping among Latino voters, Carney readily acknowledged that approval ratings for both Obama and Congress have fallen sharply this year as Americans have grown increasingly disgusted by the brinksmanship between the two parties, which was on vivid display during the mid-summer debt crisis.
Topics: Barack Obama, Debt, Economy, House Republicans, Jobs, Standard & Poors, Tea Party, Tea Party Caucus, White House
White House
Two Dems Vote With GOP To Kill Obama Jobs Package In Senate
Update: 8:56 p.m. Eastern -- At the last moment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote to "no" after Sen. Shaheen cast a yes vote. Reid altered his position in order to be able to bring the measure to a vote again. The final tally came to 50-49.
Senate Democrats lost a procedural hurdle on President Obama's jobs bill Thursday night, scuttling any progress on passage of the entire package.
As of early evening, Senate Democrats were still holding the vote open for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who had a scheduling conflict and was still in flight when the vote began. With Shaheen's yes vote, Senate Democrats could show a majority of support, 51 votes, for the President's $447m plan to spur economic growth.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Ben Nelson, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Senate Republicans, White House
Democratic Governors Association
16 Dem Govs. Pressure Dem Senators Ahead Of Jobs Vote
Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD)
With President Obama's jobs package facing a handful of Democratic defections in the Senate, the White House released a letter from 16 Democratic governors who are standing squarely behind the bill in a last-ditch lobbying blitz before the Tuesday night vote.
The jobs bill faces almost certain defeat Tuesday night on a procedural motion requiring 60 votes to stop a GOP filibuster. All Republicans are expected to oppose it-- and even a handful of Democratic senators are poised to vote no.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Democratic Governors Association, Economy, Republicans, White House
Barack Obama
White House: Unanimous Dem Support For Jobs Bill Is Not The Right Test
President Barack Obama
The White House is rejecting the notion -- even among senior Democrats -- that the President's jobs bill needs to get unanimous Democratic support when it hits the Senate floor tonight or face criticism that Obama is having a tough time convincing members of his own party about its viability.
"The test is not unanimous support among Democrats," a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday morning, noting that rarely does the entire Democratic caucus vote in lockstep on any bill.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Economy, House Republicans, Senate Democrats, White House
Barack Obama
White House Backs Reid's 'Nuclear' Approach
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney
The White House tepidly endorsed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (R-NV) decision to go a bit nuclear Thursday night and change a Senate rule in order to allow passage of the widely popular China currency manipulation bill... and prevent a potentially embarrassing vote on the President's jobs bill.
"Well, I don't know the particulars or the arcane details [of Senate parliamentary procedure]," Carney said. "But I can say, yes, we think it's generally a problem that the filibuster has become a tool that is applied so broadly to measures that normally require just a majority vote."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Eric Cantor, Jay Carney, Occupy Wall Street, White House
Barack Obama
House Republicans Want Obama's Emails
Blackberry Phone
Remember all the handwringing from the Secret Service and the National Security Agency over President Obama's decision to keep using a Blackberry while serving as commander-in-chief?
Turns out, it may have been warranted for reasons entirely unrelated to personal or national security. In every Washington scandal or headline grabbing lawsuit, it's the emails that getcha, and for the first time a sitting President is known to have plenty of the chatty Internet missives piling up.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, House Energy & Commerce Committee, House Republicans, National Security, Solyndra, White House
