White House press secretary Robert Gibbs donned a Canadian hockey jersey for his daily briefing today. He also sent a case of beer to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It was all part of paying off his bet against Canada’s Olympic champion men’s ice hockey team in the Vancouver Olympics.
** JUDGMENT DAY? PELOSI SAYS NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL COMES UP NEXT WEEK. With President Barack Obama delaying his big Asia trip, scheduled to begin on March 18th, for three days, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that the big House vote on the Senate bill is likely to come down next week.
The House must approve, if not specifally pass, the Senate bill, then await Senate passage through the majority vote budget reconciliation process on a number of sizable tweaks, including, perhaps, on abortion while itself adopting the same changes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her members Friday to brace themselves for a climactic health care vote as early as next week, warning them to clear their schedules for next weekend and promising to stay in session until the landmark vote, people present at the meeting said afterward. …
A vote next week sets up the prospect that Congress could pass a sweeping health reform bill championed by Obama that has been in the works for more than a year — though the Senate would still have to take up a series of fixes through a procedural process called reconciliation.
House leaders reassured members that two of the most controversial side deals — the so-called Cornhusker Kickback and more Medicare Advantage money for Florida — would be stripped out of the reconciliation bill.
But it appeared that the “Louisiana Purchase” — $300 million in additional Medicaid money for the state — and a $100 million hospital grant program requested by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will remain in the legislation, sources said.
In addition, it looks like House Democrats won’t have to vote directly on a Senate bill they really don’t like. The speaker hasn’t made a final decision, but she told her rank and file during the meeting that the plan now is to craft the legislation in such a way that they would “deem” the Senate bill passed once the House approves the package of fixes.
That means they would vote on the rule and the so-called reconciliation package, which would make changes to the Senate bill and require only 51 votes to pass the upper chamber. In addition, the package of changes would include a student lending bill that was paired with health care through the reconciliation process, leaders said Friday.
** GAVIN NEWSOM MAKES NICE WITH JERRY BROWN. From LA Times mid-day: Newsom also backed off his comments earlier this year that his former opponent for governor, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who is 71 and served as governor in the 1970s, didn’t have “fire in his belly.” He said he’d made those remarks at a time when Brown was delaying his formal entrance into the race and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), also the ex-San Francisco mayor, hadn’t officially ruled out a run for governor. Noting the “strong family ties” between him and Brown (Newsom’s grandfather was godfather to Brown’s sister, Kathleen), he said their policy differences never diminished his admiration for the party’s now presumed candidate for governor.
“We’re lucky that someone in this position at this point in his life would be willing to put himself out,” Newsom said. “He does not need to do this.”
** NEWSOM: SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR JUMPS INTO THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR’S RACE WITH STRONG BACKING.San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom this morning announced on CBS5 that he will run for lieutenant governor of California. As forecast here on Wednesday, he waited until today, the final day of filing, to make his candidacy official.
Newsom already has one less opponent in the Democratic primary. He announced this morning that state Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez of Bakersfield is now supporting him in the race. Florez and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn had been the two contenders for the Democratic nomination before Newsom decided to go for the office that Jerry Brown suggested last year, while running against him, that he seek. Newsom had his own gubernatorial bid, but withdrew last October.
Newsom has a number of other backers starting out with this strong announcement this morning, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, state Senate President Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker John Perez of Los Angeles. As I’ve reported, the California Teachers Association is also highly likely to support Newsom.
Other Newsom backers starting out include the nurses, food and commercial workers, and carpenters unions as well as United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, former longtime state Democratic chairman Art Torres, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg of LA, and Sacramento Mayor and former NBA star Kevin Johnson.
There is a bit of a soap opera element to this, in that Newsom’s chief strategist in his gubernatorial campaign, consultant/lobbyist Garry South, is now chief strategist for Hahn. And he, as readers will recall, launched a nasty attack on Newsom last month, revealing confidential information from their dealings in hopes of keeping Newsom out of the race.
** MEG WHITMAN’S NEW! IMPROVED! POST-JOURNALISM! POLITICS.Something new and more than a little bizarre is busy being born in California. Call it post-journalism politics.
Billionaire Meg Whitman has been spending feverishly for months on an advertising blitz, trying first to purchase the Republican nomination for governor and, ultimately, the governorship itself. After a number of terrible performances in press conferences and interviews with knowledgeable reporters, the former national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign and her high-priced handlers have decided to drop the pretense of normal campaign engagement, dispensing entirely with press conferences. …
In very stark contrast to Whitman and her bloated, big budget would-be blockbuster of a campaign, Jerry Brown is pursuing what might be described as a cinema verite campaign. …
President Barack Obama, speaking earlier in the week in St. Louis, Missouri, says that health care reform is the urgent issue. He’s just postponed his trip to Asia, which had been scheduled to begin on March 18th, to work for final passage of the national health care reform bill.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama meets with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room
At 1 PM Pacific, Obama meets with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in the Roosevelt Room.
Here is who is taking part in Obama’s latest big meeting on AfPak strategy:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Secretary of Defense Bob Gates
Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (via videoconference)
Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)
Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
General David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command
General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence
CIA Director Leon Panetta
General James Jones, National Security Advisor
Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
He also announced this morning that he will postpone his trip to Asia, scheduled to begin on March 18th, for three days to keep working on the national health care reform bill.
Vice President Joe Biden, in the midst of a rocky trip to try to jump-start the Middle East peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, tells Al Jazeera that a two-state solution is possible.
Preliminary esults from last Sunday’s national parliamentary elections in Iraq, which came off despite jihadist attempts to disrupt them, were to have been released yesterday. Instead, only a few results were available. What’s the hang-up? Supposedly, it’s due to computer problems.
Results are now expected in a week.
Vice President Joe Biden’s mission to jump-start the Middle East peace process, which was quite possibly derailed by Israel’s “accidental” announcement of new housing in disputed areas, is continuing.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Southern California today.
At 12:30 PM, Schwarzenegger will hold a press conference to highlight the creation of jobs at the groundbreaking of the new, state-of-the-art SKECHERS’ North American Operations Headquarters at the Highland Fairview Corporate Park in Moreno Valley, a city in the Inland Empire’s Riverside County. Skechers is a lifestyle footwear company largely geared to the female youth market.
Schwarzenegger will not attend the California Republican Party convention this weekend in Silicon Valley.
The two Republicans vying to succeed the term-limited governor — billionaire Meg Whitman and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner — are both running far to his right.
** IS MEG WHITMAN LIKE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER? YES (IN THE WRONG WAYS)Is billionaire Meg Whitman, the former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair who seeks to replace action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California, like Schwarzenegger?
It’s a question that her ultra-megabucks campaign clearly doesn’t like. The heavily programmed career corporate marketing executive goes out of her way to distinguish herself from the multiple times Mr. Universe. She was a CEO, of a company you may have heard of, eBay. And in case you hadn’t heard that and you live in California, she’s spent many millions of dollars for months on ads telling you about it. After all, it is her sole claim to fame. Whereas, in her view, Schwarzeneggger was merely a jock turned entertainer. (Not that she mentions her not so excellent eBay era adventures with, say, Skype, Craigslist, and Goldman Sachs. So I won’t, either.)
Whitman hates the comparison with Schwarzenegger, a comparison which is nonetheless obvious as both she and Schwarzenegger are Republicans, both are super-rich, and neither had any experience in elected office before deciding to run for governor of California. Why does she hate it? Well, Schwarzenegger, while still personally popular, has seen his once record job approval rating plummet with the global recession and the state’s gridlocked budget process. And he’s turned out to be too liberal for the increasingly right-leaning party whose nomination she is trying to win.
As someone who knew Schwarzenegger and talked with him extensively before he ran for governor in the 2003 California recall election — and who began scouting Whitman, putting together several hours of film of her, when she suddenly emerged as national co-chair of the Republican presidential campaign in early 2008 — it occurs to me that Whitman is like Schwarzenegger.
But in the wrong ways. (Keep in mind that I’m referring to the Schwarzenegger who suddenly jumped from promoting Terminator 3 into running for governor in 2003.) … From my March 9th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State. Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown. … From my March 2nd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $48 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
The FBI is investigating the case of an alleged Al Qaeda member from New Jersey accused of trying to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE GHOST(S): OF TONY BLAIR, ROMAN POLANSKI, AND A WAR ON TERROR.
** MEG WHITMAN: WHY SHE WON’T HAVE A PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. After I wrote earlier that billionaire Meg Whitman had not yet scheduled a press conference at this weekend’s convention, the Sacramento Bee reported that her campaign had decided not to hold a press conference.
So I called Whitman press secretary Sarah Pompei late this afternoon on her mobile phone to find out the reasoning behind this unusual move.
“We didn’t think we needed anything formal,” Pompei told me. “Meg’s going to be around. There will be plenty of opportunities to talk with her.”
There certainly have not been.
So, really, why not have a press conference?
Aside from the fact that every one of Whitman’s press conferences — two last year, an aborted press avail last month, and the press conference that wasn’t on Tuesday in Oakland — have been unmitigated disasters.
That’s easy.
A moving target is harder to hit.
In a press conference, the politician faces the press and takes questions in full view of everyone there. When the politician stumbles on substance, as Whitman has repeatedly, there is plenty of room and opportunity for follow-up, with no escape for the politician.
In contrast, a politician on the move, as Whitman will be this weekend, will not be attended by the entire press corps wherever she goes. She will be able to play hide and seek.
More to the point, she will be able to pick and choose what she will and won’t answer, and who she will and will not allow to ask her questions. Away from the view of the press corps.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: POST-TRAIN WRECK/PRE-CONVENTION MEG WHITMAN. A funny thing happened on the way to the coronation.
As of this afternoon, billionaire Meg Whitman, leading in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in California, has not yet scheduled a press conference at this weekend’s California Republican Party convention in Santa Clara.
In a sense, you can hardly blame the former national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign; she held press conferences at both state Republican conventions last year, and both were flaming disasters for her.
However, although she and her camp convinced the state party’s board of directors not to issue formal invitations for debates at the convention — something her rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner — very much wants, she may not be able to run around yet another hurdle on the race course.
That’s because she blew it, big time, on Tuesday at a Union Pacific facility in Oakland when she stiffed a local press corps invited by the campaign to interact with her.
And because she had another significant problem last night with a “town hall meeting” in Orange County.
Reports are that the event was essentially a sham, a staged backdrop for the filming of Whitman TV ad footage. Audience members were apparently selected in advance to pose questions to Whitman.
When Whitman’s answers weren’t up to snuff — imagine that! — she got additional takes at the supposed town hall meeting.
In another blow to the Whitman camp’s credibility, a member of the Democratic Governors Association’s California Accountablity Project, who was ticked for the event, was forcibly ejected by security and then threatened with arrest at the hands of the Santa Ana Police Department.
DGA project director Nick Velasquez accused Whitman press secretary Sarah Pompei — the not quite fast enough pirouetting flak catcher at Tuesday’s debacle in Oakland — with lying about what happened.
Bush consigliere Karl Rove’s book has just come out. He’s making the East Coast media rounds promoting “Courage and Consequence: My Life As A Conservative In the Fight.” He’ll be in California soon, as well, and I just might go to a book party for him. Which would certainly be interesting.
His boss, former President George W. Bush, has his own book coming out in November.
And former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who may not have thought he’d end up so closely linked to a very conservative administration when he won one of the biggest landslide victories in British history in 1997, will release his memoirs in September.
In making the announcement, Blair’s publisher, Random House, noted with what was probably unintentional amusement that the former PM is not using a ghost writer.
There is a new movie out, a roman a clef about a very Blair-like figure, accused of war crimes in the Bush/Cheney-generated war on terror, and the intrigue surrounding his memoirs.
It’s called, of course, The Ghost Writer.
With the House debating a measure calling for a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan (which won’t pass), Congressman Patrick Kennedy rips the media for its round-the-clock fixation on the lurid details of private lives.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, he addresses the Export-Import Bank’s Annual Conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with members of the Congressional Black Caucus at the White House. The principal topic? The national health care reform bill.
At 12 noon Pacific, Obama meets with New York Senator Chuck Schumer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham in the Oval Office.
This is the third time in two weeks that Obama has met with Schumer. While earlier discussion undoubtedly dealt with the chaotic situation around the governorship in New York, as well as energy issues, this one will also deal with immigration issues.
At 12:45 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
At 1:15 PM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 2 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host a screening of The Pacific in the White House movie theater. Producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will be on hand, along with National Security Advisor Jim Jones (former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps) and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Pacific, a World War II miniseries which begins this weekend on HBO, is a follow-on of sorts to the producers’ acclaimed 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers. Where Band of Brothers followed paratroopers in the invasion of Europe, The Pacific follows the Marines fighting their way through a number of island battles.
At 3:20 PM Pacific, Obama meets with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the White House. The principal topic? The national health care reform bill.
Word out of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s shop is that substantial progress was made last night on the bill.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
Preliminary national parliamentary election results in Iraq, expected today, have been postponed. Except for two provinces that are strongholds of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and where his candidates unsurprisingly did very well. No reason has been given for the delay in broader results.
Vice President Joe Biden, his mission to jump-start the Middle East peace process quite possibly derailed by Israel’s “accidental” announcement of new housing in disputed areas, spoke today to students in Tel Aviv and with leaders in Amman, Jordan.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
Schwarzenegger has no scheduled public events.
He will hold private talks in and around the Capitol.
Schwarzenegger is, however, presenting the Vienna Boys Choir, the famed pride of his native Austria, in a noontime performance in the Capitol Rotunda.
Not everyone in Mexico is poor. Forbes magazine’s 2010 list of the world’s richest people is topped by Mexican telecom king Carlos Slim, tipping Bill Gates. This is the first time a non-American tops the list since 1994. The number of billionaires, incidentally, has actually increased over the past year.
** IS MEG WHITMAN LIKE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER? YES (IN THE WRONG WAYS)Is billionaire Meg Whitman, the former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair who seeks to replace action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California, like Schwarzenegger?
It’s a question that her ultra-megabucks campaign clearly doesn’t like. The heavily programmed career corporate marketing executive goes out of her way to distinguish herself from the multiple times Mr. Universe. She was a CEO, of a company you may have heard of, eBay. And in case you hadn’t heard that and you live in California, she’s spent many millions of dollars for months on ads telling you about it. After all, it is her sole claim to fame. Whereas, in her view, Schwarzeneggger was merely a jock turned entertainer. (Not that she mentions her not so excellent eBay era adventures with, say, Skype, Craigslist, and Goldman Sachs. So I won’t, either.)
Whitman hates the comparison with Schwarzenegger, a comparison which is nonetheless obvious as both she and Schwarzenegger are Republicans, both are super-rich, and neither had any experience in elected office before deciding to run for governor of California. Why does she hate it? Well, Schwarzenegger, while still personally popular, has seen his once record job approval rating plummet with the global recession and the state’s gridlocked budget process. And he’s turned out to be too liberal for the increasingly right-leaning party whose nomination she is trying to win.
As someone who knew Schwarzenegger and talked with him extensively before he ran for governor in the 2003 California recall election — and who began scouting Whitman, putting together several hours of film of her, when she suddenly emerged as national co-chair of the Republican presidential campaign in early 2008 — it occurs to me that Whitman is like Schwarzenegger.
But in the wrong ways. (Keep in mind that I’m referring to the Schwarzenegger who suddenly jumped from promoting Terminator 3 into running for governor in 2003.) … From my March 9th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State. Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown. … From my March 2nd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $48 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Billionaire Meg Whitman’s bizarre press conference that wasn’t, yesterday in Oakland. The massively self-funding candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of California laughs oddly when asked to answer questions.
** QUICK HITS.The stalled Middle East peace process took a big hit today. Visiting Vice President Joe Biden, embarrassed by the Israeli announcement that hundreds of new housing units will be constructed in hotly disputed territory, showed up 90 minutes late for dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. And the Arab League moved close to pulling its endorsement of Israeli/Palestinian peace talks. … Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s party appears to be leading in preliminary counting of Sunday’s national parliamentary elections. Over 60% of Iraqis turned out to vote despite a series of terrorist attacks that killed at least three dozen people. Some official results will be available tomorrow. … California political insiders are scratching their heads over billionaire Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s behavior yesterday. After inviting the press to a press availability at a Union Pacific in Oakland, the elusive former eBay CEO declined to speak with them. She also declined to allow them to view her touring the facility, claiming that the railroad officials forbade it. The railroad officials said they had no problem with it. I’m pleased that Whitman’s behavior matched my column about her, linked below.
** AND NOW FOR SOMETHING NOT COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. While a huge amount of eye-rolling surrounds billionaire Republican Meg Whitman’s ultra-megabucks campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, the race for lieutenant governor of California is about to heat up.
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has been the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
But now look for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to jump into the race on Friday. And not a moment too soon, as that is the end of the filing period. Newsom is still working on the question of who would succeed him as mayor if he wins in November.
Meanwhile, Hahn, the sister of former Los Angeles Mayor Jimmy Hahn and daughter of the late and legendary L.A. County Supervisor Kenny Hahn, today won the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The Hahns have long been very major players in LA politics. There’s a twist to this, however, as Villaraigosa beat Jimmy Hahn when the latter ran for re-election as mayor in 2005. After losing to him in 2001. And Villaraigosa is probably not anxious to see Newsom find his way into a statewide office.
Not to be outdone, Newsom is likely to have the endorsement of the California Teachers Association.
One key question: How will Newsom get along with Jerry Brown? There was some bad blood between their campaigns, albeit with much of it stirred up by Newsom’s then chief strategist, Garry South, who turned on Newsom about five minutes after Newsom withdraw from the race last fall.
NWN broke the story of Newsom’s withdrawal from the gubernatorial race and will be monitoring the situation.
The Republican field has long been set with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointee as lieutenant governor, moderate state Senator Abel Maldonado, facing off against conservative state Senator Sam Aanestad.
** NEW POLL: GOOD NEWS FOR OBAMA, BAD NEWS FOR CONGRESS.The new national AP poll shows President Barack Obama with a 53% job approval rating, good numbers in these bad times for incumbents. But the news is bad for Congress at the tail end of a long, nasty, and confusing debate over national health care reform.
As an institution, Congress has only a 22% job approval rating.
The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found that fewer people approve of Congress than at any point in Obama’s presidency. Support has dropped significantly since January to a dismal 22 percent as the health care debate has roiled Capitol Hill. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are safe; half of all people say they want to fire their congressman.
Conversely, Obama’s job-performance standing is holding fairly steady at 53 percent. And over the past two months, the Democrat has gained ground on national security issues, specifically the subsiding Iraq war and the escalating Afghanistan war, as he has spent most of his time — at least publicly — on domestic matters like the economy and health care. On those issues, he still has the support of about half the people. …
Congress is getting the blame for the gridlock in Washington.
And Obama’s handling of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is in positive territory and rising.
Obama’s overall standing hasn’t really moved since January. Neither have his ratings on health care and the economy.
But his marks have jumped on Iraq and Afghanistan. More than half of people approve of how he’s handling the wars, with 55 percent backing him on Iraq and 57 percent supporting him on Afghanistan. That’s compared with 49 percent for each two months ago. The new poll was taken during weekend elections in Iraq, where a U.S. troop drawdown is under way, and in the midst of a buildup in Afghanistan, as the U.S. notches victories in rooting out suspected terrorists.
By comparison, Congress’ approval rating has dropped 10 percentage points since January, perhaps an indication that people are blaming lawmakers more than the president for gridlock that has paralyzed Washington on a host of fronts.
It is quite unusual for voters to tear down their own member of Congress. People often dislike the institution of Congress but usually support their own representatives. But not this year. Half said they wanted to elect someone other than their current congressman; only 40 percent wanted to re-elect their lawmaker.
Vice President Joe Biden faces a very tricky path in Israel and Palestine.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Missouri today.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 8:20 AM Pacific, he meets with President Rene Préval of Haiti in the Oval Office.
They will discuss the ongoing efforts to recover from the massive earthquake in Haiti. Obama has withdrawn most U.S. troops dispatched to the island nation in its immediate aftermath.
At 8:55 AM Pacific, Obama and Préval make statements to the press in the Rose Garden.
At 11:05 AM Pacific, Obama boards Marine One and flies to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 11:20 AM Pacific, Obama departs Andrews Air Force Base on Air Force One en route to St. Louis, Missouri
At 1:25 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in St. Louis, Missouri.
At 1:50 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on health reform at St. Charles High School.
This is the second trip out into the country this week for Obama in promotion of the national health care reform bill, which he wants passed by the time he leaves for Asia on March 18th.
At 5 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a fundraising dinner for Senator Claire McCaskill at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis.
At 5:25 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a grassroots fundraising reception for McCaskill at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.
At 6:35 PM Pacific, Obama departs St. Louis, Missouri on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 8:20 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 8:35 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
Israeli leaders threw Vice President Joe Biden’s Middle East peace mission a major curveball yesterday, announcing 1600 new housing units for settlements in disputed East Jerusalem.
Biden met today with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He did not seem amused by the Israeli apology for “bad scheduling” in announcing the new settlements drive during his trip.
China and the U.S. are fighting to lead the world in green energy technology, but China is well ahead.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and Sacramento today.
At 10:15 AM, Schwarzenegger is at Microsoft in Mountain View where he will announce that California will join forces with Microsoft to provide free technology training to thousands of Californians through Elevate America, Microsoft’s tech jobs training program.
** IS MEG WHITMAN LIKE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER? YES (IN THE WRONG WAYS)Is billionaire Meg Whitman, the former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair who seeks to replace action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California, like Schwarzenegger?
It’s a question that her ultra-megabucks campaign clearly doesn’t like. The heavily programmed career corporate marketing executive goes out of her way to distinguish herself from the multiple times Mr. Universe. She was a CEO, of a company you may have heard of, eBay. And in case you hadn’t heard that and you live in California, she’s spent many millions of dollars for months on ads telling you about it. After all, it is her sole claim to fame. Whereas, in her view, Schwarzeneggger was merely a jock turned entertainer. (Not that she mentions her not so excellent eBay era adventures with, say, Skype, Craigslist, and Goldman Sachs. So I won’t, either.)
Whitman hates the comparison with Schwarzenegger, a comparison which is nonetheless obvious as both she and Schwarzenegger are Republicans, both are super-rich, and neither had any experience in elected office before deciding to run for governor of California. Why does she hate it? Well, Schwarzenegger, while still personally popular, has seen his once record job approval rating plummet with the global recession and the state’s gridlocked budget process. And he’s turned out to be too liberal for the increasingly right-leaning party whose nomination she is trying to win.
As someone who knew Schwarzenegger and talked with him extensively before he ran for governor in the 2003 California recall election — and who began scouting Whitman, putting together several hours of film of her, when she suddenly emerged as national co-chair of the Republican presidential campaign in early 2008 — it occurs to me that Whitman is like Schwarzenegger.
But in the wrong ways. (Keep in mind that I’m referring to the Schwarzenegger who suddenly jumped from promoting Terminator 3 into running for governor in 2003.) … From my March 9th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State. Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown. … From my March 2nd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $48 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Vice President Joe Biden had hoped to promote a restart of talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Yet, while he found common ground with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Iran’s nuclear program, his visit to the region is clouded by word that Israel plans to build 1,600 more homes in disputed east Jerusalem.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S DAY: BUDGET BILL VETO, OPEN PRIMARY SAVE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND JOBS. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has had an interesting day. In a speech, a press availability, and some statements, he has explained his veto of an illusory partial solution of the chronic California budget crisis, pushed back against an assessment that the state’s landmark climate change program will result in some near term job loss, and expressed pleasure at blocking a secret move to eviscerate the open primary initiative appearing on the state’s June primary ballot.
Schwarzenegger yesterday vetoed a seemingly big bill sent to him by the Democratic majority Legislature that appeared to cut a few billion from the $20 billion deficit problem. Why? Because the cuts were illusory. None took place in the current fiscal year.
Schwarzenegger expressed pleasure about the legislative leadership folding on a stipulated settlement with a big public employee union that suddenly sued at the end of last week to change the ballot description of the open primary initiative the Legislature passed last year as part and parcel of the compromise budget package. Under pressure of sunlight (see yesterday’s item), the state’s Legislative Counsel abandoned plans to stipulate a settlement and instead agreed to allow Schwarzenegger and open primary author Abel Maldonado, the moderate Republican state senator and Schwarzenegger’s appointee as lieutenant governor, legal standing to fight the legal move against the initiative. Given the legislative intent expressed in legislative passage, the move will now almost certainly fail.
Schwarzenegger also pushed back against a curious letter issued yesterday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office which claims near term job loss from implementation of the landmark climate change program. Schwarzenegger did it in terms of faith in sticking to investing in clean energy, noting that most of the leading greentech firms are in California.
I looked at the actual letter. While it raises methodological questions about the the California Air Resources Board’s forecast that the climate change program will result in 120,000 new jobs, the LAO analysis provides no support for its assertion that some unspecified number of jobs will be lost in the near term. That is no more than an opinionated guess, and ought to be withdrawn.
The effort to repeal AB 32 is funded by two Texas oil companies.
This is not the first time that Texas-based energy companies have meddled in California’s energy and environmental policy. The role of Enron in manipulating California’s misbegotten Pete Wilson era electronic power deregulation will not soon be forgotten.
Whitman, as I have just reported (see link just below) has held only two press conferences, both disasters. She had a press availability last month, which consisted of a non-answer to one (1) staff pre-approved question before fleeing the scene. Today she again agreed to take a few questions. And this time reneged entirely.
Shocking. Positively shocking.
The Whitman campaign also reneged on allowing reporters to view her tour of some meaningless Union Pacific site.
It’s all quite nonsensical. If you like, you can click through and watch Whitman press secretary Sarah Pompei engage in wild dissembling about the situation, claiming that Whitman hadn’t really agreed to take any questions and the hosts wouldn’t allow it anyway and in any event Whitman was far too busy to take questions. Even though the would-be governor lingered at the scene, doing nothing much, as you can see if you are so inclined. And the hosts had no problem with the press. And Whitman had agreed to a press availability. It’s all highly predictable at this point.
It should be perfectly obvious at this point that Pompei is a flak catcher, nothing more. I had drinks with her last fall, teasing her about the missing Whitman helicopter. She’s a very nice young woman, a very familiar type in PR. She doesn’t really know much, which is actually fine as she isn’t supposed to know much. She is supposed to put an agreeable face on the fast shuffle, as well as provide the obligatory plug-in quote in a story.
She’s since been complemented, as it were, by the hiring of Whitman communications director Tucker Bounds. He was the Baghdad Bob of the McCain campaign, the guy rolled out to say preposterous, nasty things about Obama and get smacked around. There’s a whole piece in that, and there is ample video footage available to support that. But it’s essentially an obvious topic.
** IS MEG WHITMAN LIKE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER? YES (IN THE WRONG WAYS)Is billionaire Meg Whitman, the former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair who seeks to replace action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California, like Schwarzenegger?
It’s a question that her ultra-megabucks campaign clearly doesn’t like. The heavily programmed career corporate marketing executive goes out of her way to distinguish herself from the multiple times Mr. Universe. She was a CEO, of a company you may have heard of, eBay. And in case you hadn’t heard that and you live in California, she’s spent many millions of dollars for months on ads telling you about it. After all, it is her sole claim to fame. Whereas, in her view, Schwarzeneggger was merely a jock turned entertainer. (Not that she mentions her not so excellent eBay era adventures with, say, Skype, Craigslist, and Goldman Sachs. So I won’t, either.)
Whitman hates the comparison with Schwarzenegger, a comparison which is nonetheless obvious as both she and Schwarzenegger are Republicans, both are super-rich, and neither had any experience in elected office before deciding to run for governor of California. Why does she hate it? Well, Schwarzenegger, while still personally popular, has seen his once record job approval rating plummet with the global recession and the state’s gridlocked budget process. And he’s turned out to be too liberal for the increasingly right-leaning party whose nomination she is trying to win.
As someone who knew Schwarzenegger and talked with him extensively before he ran for governor in the 2003 California recall election — and who began scouting Whitman, putting together several hours of film of her, when she suddenly emerged as national co-chair of the Republican presidential campaign in early 2008 — it occurs to me that Whitman is like Schwarzenegger.
But in the wrong ways. (Keep in mind that I’m referring to the Schwarzenegger who suddenly jumped from promoting Terminator 3 into running for governor in 2003.) …
After meeting today in Israel with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Vice President Joe Biden said that the U.S. will back those willing to “take risks for peace.” Biden is on a week-long trip to the Middle East, promoting the Israeli/Palestinian peace process and working on the the Iranian nuclear crisis.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 9:15 AM Pacific, he has lunch with business leaders in the Private Dining Dining Room.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in the Oval Office
At 12:10 PM Pacific, Obama meets with members of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the East Room.
At 1:30 PM, Obama meets with a bipartisan group of Senators to discuss energy at the White House. Here are the attendees:
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).
At 2:30 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at reception honoring Greek Independence Day in the East Room.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
Israeli leaders threw Vice President Joe Biden’s Middle East peace mission a major curveball today, announcing hundreds of new housing units for settlements in the disputed West Bank.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 12 noon, Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks at the Bank on California Director’s Luncheon at th Citizen Hotel in Sacramento. Bank on California is a program to help Californians without bank accounts to gain them.
He will hold a press availability after his speech.
Yesterday, Schwarzenegger vetoed the budget bill sent to him by the Legislature. After two months of work, only 10% of the state’s budget shortfall had been addressed.
** IS OBAMA’S AFPAK STRATEGY ACTUALLY WORKING?I’m not a big fan of the big escalation in Afghanistan. While there are many things that would be good to do in Afghanistan, there is only one thing that we have to do: Deny it as an operational base for Al Qaeda or other transnational jihadists. As Vice President Joe Biden and others have pointed out, that can be done with far less than the nation-building exercise which ex-President George W. Bush promised and President Barack Obama at times seems bent on delivering. Yet there are some signs that Obama’s strategy, which goes well beyond the escalation, is working. Is it? …
That said, what I like about Obama’s AfPak strategy, though I do not like the big escalation in Afghanistan, is that there is a suppleness to it. It evolves. Or, at least, it seems to evolve. For all I know, what appear to be evolutions in the strategy is merely Obama choosing to reveal new elements of it over time. … From my March 5th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …From my March 2nd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
Despite its Oscars, the movie The Hurt Locker has gotten very mixed reviews from U.S. military personnel doing the real bomb disposal job on which the film is based. But they appear to appreciate the publicity.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $48 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Speaking this morning about health care reform at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, President Barack Obama urged people to stand by his proposal because “it’s the right thing to do.”
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … IS MEG WHITMAN LIKE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER?
** QUICK HITS. Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled today that the House is moving closer to passing the Senate version of the national health care reform bill. With needed changes to be passed on a majority vote, filibuster-free basis in the Senate through the so-called budget reconciliation process. … President Barack Obama hit the road today in Pennsylvania with a rousing speech in favor of health care reform. He goes to Missouri to deliver a similiar message on Wednesday. … General Gabi Ashkenazi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, arrived in Washington today for talks on the emerging sanctions proposals targeting Iran’s nuclear program. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to indirect peace talks. Vice President Joe Biden is trying to improve on that this week. …
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE OPEN PRIMARY GAMBIT. As I mentioned this morning, an intriguing bit of legalistic and political legerdemain is underway around the open primary initiative, now on the June statewide ballot. Now there is an effort underway to change the descriptive wording of the bill passed by the Legislature last year. Placing this on the ballot was part of the price for enactment of last year’s budget.
Last week, the big California School Employees Association (CSEA) went to court to try to change the wording to something more negative and, lo and behold, the Legislative Counsel’s office is refusing to defend the wording adopted by the Legislature. Not a surprise, when you understand that Leg Counsel, despite being non-partisan, works for the Democratic legislative leadership, which in turn is heavily influenced by some public employee unions who like the system the way it is. Like the CSEA, which gave over $400,000 last year to Democratic politicians.
What is a surprise is that the measure’s proponents say they received no notice of this, and learned of it only late Friday on a blog. And in a further surprise, in point of fact if not politically, Legislative Counsel operation is apparently willing not only to not defend the measure but to concur in a stipulated agreement to strip the measure of supportive statements that make it attractive to voters.
What a great movida! In other words, had the initiative’s proponents not fortuitously learned of this, the whole campaign might have been, in essence, over before anyone knew. (What is a movida? A very slick, crafty, and underhanded political move.)
Ironically, before this move emerged, I spoke recently with former Governor Gray Davis, who knows all the ins and outs of such things. I remember seeing him years ago, when he was governor, at the state convention of the union in question, the CSEA, and he told me then that he had attended 25 of their conventions in a row. Imagine the fun of that.
Now that he is not seeking that sort of support, he has a different tack. For one thing, the veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time.
“Nothing gets done in the first few months of the year, so send them back to their districts where they can spend time with the local people, not the lobbyists,” Davis says.
“Let’s make the Legislature more accountable,” he says, “and let’s save the Legislature from its own worst instincts.”
By which he means the desire by Democrats and Republicans to use up all revenue by pushing more spending programs and tax cuts. Which, not coincidentally, was the thing that he unsuccessfully grappled with in his foreshortened governorship.
Davis thinks that legislators are made more accountable by redistricting reform, a Schwarzenegger initiative victory in 2008 (which won’t take effect until the next election cycle) to take the drawing of district lines out of politicians’ hands, and by an open primary. In an open primary, which was proposed by Schwarzenegger, the top two finishers regardless of party affiliation face off in the general election.
The idea is to force candidates to appeal from the beginning to all voters, not just the partisans who tend to turn up in party primary elections.
Davis thinks that these things — the redistricting reforms coupled with the open primary — will affect “10% to 20%” of the Legislature, going at least part of the way to re-establishing the more productive political atmosphere that existed in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.
Davis notes that he himself ran for governor and was elected in a modified open primary system in 1998. And that it encourages, not discourages, voter participation.
This movida by the union and legislative leaders goes to court tomorrow. Since the Legislature won’t defend the law it passed, Schwarzenegger and his allies are seeking standing to defend the initiative.
** NEW SURVEY: VIEWS ON ABORTION ARE MORE POLARIZED BY PARTY THAN EVER. With the anti-abortion views of a small group of conservative House Democrats emerging as the possible stumbling block to a final passage of the national health care reform bill, a new survey of Gallup Polls from 1975 through 2009 reveals a tremendous amount of stability in the majority view that abortion should be legal within certain restrictions.
And, while the survey shows that the views of independent voters are essentially stable, mirroring the majority viewpoint, the views of Democrats and Republicans have become more polarized in opposite directions.
The Democrats have grown more liberal on abortion, while the Republicans have grown more liberal.
Gallup’s long-term abortion question — instituted two years after the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case gave sweeping constitutional protection to abortion — asks Americans to say whether they believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” legal “only under certain circumstances, or “illegal in all circumstances.”
In the broadest terms, the largest segments of Republicans and Democrats have consistently preferred the middle “legal only under certain circumstances” abortion position. What’s changed since 1975 is that the percentage of Republicans favoring the “illegal in all circumstances” position has grown and the percentage favoring the “legal under any circumstances” position has decreased. The reverse pattern is seen among Democrats.
Among independents, the overall outline of views has been more stable. While most take the middle position, independents favoring the availability of legal abortion under any circumstances have consistently outnumbered those who favor keeping it illegal in all circumstances (albeit by a dwindling margin in recent years).
Among all Americans, the dominant view over the past 3 ½ decades has been the moderate “legal only under certain circumstances” position. Several changes occurred during the 1980s and 1990s in the balance of preferences for the two extreme views — always legal vs. always illegal — but in 2009, attitudes were back to their original 1975 levels. …
Whereas Republicans and Democrats had similar outlooks on abortion in the 1970s and 1980s, that started changing in 1990; and by 2009, more Republicans believed abortion should be illegal than broadly legal (by a 21-point margin), while the reverse was true among Democrats (by 19 points).
Which does not explain the phenomenon of this small band of anti-abortion House Democrats.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, and Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill today discussed the estimated turnout of over 60% of Iraqi voters in Sunday’s national parliamentary elections. The election took place despite a series of terrorist attacks which left dozens killed and many more wounded. As a result, the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops appears to be on schedule.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
A big week on tap in presidential politics and California politics. President Obama is working on selling the national health care reform bill this week, both on the road and behind closed doors. He’s also assessing yesterday’s Iraqi parliamentary elections, next steps in Afghanistan, and the Iranian nuclear crisis, as well as dispatching Vice President Joe Biden to get the Israeli/Palestinian peace process moving.
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is working with legislative leaders to get more action on the state’s chronic budget crisis. The Legislature has produced less than 10% of needed solutions in the past two months. He’s also pushing the open primary initiative on the June ballot, which legislative leaders now appear to want to undermine. And Schwarzenegger’s would-be successors are off and running, with Democrat Jerry Brown having formally announced his candidacy with a big flurry of in-depth media interviews and Republican rivals Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner jousting over who’s the most conservative heading into next weekend’s state Republican convention.
Obama announced his path forward on the national health care reform bill on Wednesday, and expanded on his message in his weekend video/radio address, which plays above. As expected, he wants the House to adopt the Senate bill and the Senate to to pass changes needed to mollify House Democrats through the majority vote budget reconciliation process, thus avoiding a Republican filibuster. They probably need to have this done, one way or the other, no later than Easter. It has certainly dragged on far longer than anticipated.
Obama wants the national health care reform bill passed by March 18th. Why then? That’s when he leaves on a big trip to Asia.
Obama had wanted Congressional passage by the end of last August. Subsequent deadlines came and went. Following passage of different versions of national health care reform by the House and the Senate, something never done before since then President Teddy Roosevelt first called for universal health care, the two houses were closing in on agreement when inattentive Democrats lost the Massachusetts special election for the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s old seat.
This week, Obama travels to Pennsylvania and Missouri to push the health care bill.
Obama and U.S. military commanders are heartened by yesterday’s Iraqi national parliamentary elections. Turnout is estimated at 62%, despite a spate of terrorist attacks which killed at least three dozen people. Preliminary results will be available in a few days.
Obama dispatched Defense Secretary Bob Gates to Afghanistan, where he is reviewing plans for the next big operation in Afghanistan, expected to be the clearing of Taliban fighters from in and around their traditional stronghold of Kandahar. That is where the fundamentalist religious students movement first took hold in the mid-1990s in the midst of civil war between rival warlords following the U.S.-fueled defeat of the Soviet Union.
On Iran, Obama continues working on a new sanctions regime against Iran and its nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly defied agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency and resolution from the UN Security Council. The question is whether new sanctions, on which Obama wants agreement from Russia and China, will be strong enough to dissuade the Iranians from their present course.
In California, Schwarzenegger is gearing up a campaign for the open primary initiative on the June ballot. But first he has to fend off an attempt to change the descriptive wording of the bill passed by the Legislature last year. Placing this on the ballot was part of the price for enactment of last year’s budget. Last week, the big California School Employees Association went to court to try to change the wording to something more negative and, lo and behold, the Legislative Counsel’s office is refusing to defend the wording adopted by the Legislature. Not a surprise, when you understand that Leg Counsel, despite being non-partisan, works for the Democratic legislative leadership, which in turn is heavily influenced by some public employee unions who like the system the way it is.
In the race to succeed the term-limited Schwarzenegger, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who is on the air advertising now against the months-long unchallenged ad drive of billionaire Meg Whitman, the leading Republican hopeful, easily won the endorsement of the archconservative California Republican Assembly over the weekend.
Both Whitman and Poizner addressed the Orange County convention, with the heavily funded Whitman operation having a large presence. But Poizner easily bested her in the endorsement vote, by a better than 3 to 1 ratio.
Meanwhile, Jerry Brown, who cleared the Democratic primary field last year, finally announced his candidacy last week with a well-regarded three-minute webcast address. He then embarked on a lengthy round of freewheeling, in-depth press interviews, also acquitting himself well. And establishing in the process that Brown, who turns 72 next month, can beat any reporter in the state in pull-ups. Probably.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Pennsylvanian today.
He received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama then traveled this morning to Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, where he delivered remarks on national health care reform at Arcadia University.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama departs Willow Grove, Pennsylvania on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 10:15 AM Pacific, Obama lands at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, he lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 10:50 AM Pacific, Obama welcomes the national college football champion University of Alabama Crimson Tide to the White House and delivers remarks.
At 12 noon Pacific, Obama meets with President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador in the Oval Office.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at an International Women’s Day reception in the East Room.
At 2:30 PM Pacific, Obama meets with New York Senator Chuck Schumer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham in the Oval Office.
Vice President Joe Biden left Washington last night on a week-long trip to the Middle East, a visit that comes just after the aforementioned Iraqi elections.
But his focus is on jump-starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Defense Secretary Bob Gates is in Afghanistan today, meeting in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and General Stanley McChrystal. Gates will assess the Marjah operation and look at plans for a coming offensive in Kandahar.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
Last night’s Academy Awards saw the little-seen Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker win most of the top awards, including best picture, best screenplay, and best director. Director Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win the Oscar as best director. She is also the former wife of Avatar director James Cameron. With just over $21 million in global box office, The Hurt Locker is the least popular film ever to win the best picture award. Avatar, which lost out last night, passed $2.6 billion in global box office over the weekend, further extending its record over that of Cameron’s previous film, Titanic.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
Schwarzenegger has no scheduled public events today.
He will hold private talks in and around the Capitol.
** IS OBAMA’S AFPAK STRATEGY ACTUALLY WORKING?I’m not a big fan of the big escalation in Afghanistan. While there are many things that would be good to do in Afghanistan, there is only one thing that we have to do: Deny it as an operational base for Al Qaeda or other transnational jihadists. As Vice President Joe Biden and others have pointed out, that can be done with far less than the nation-building exercise which ex-President George W. Bush promised and President Barack Obama at times seems bent on delivering. Yet there are some signs that Obama’s strategy, which goes well beyond the escalation, is working. Is it? …
That said, what I like about Obama’s AfPak strategy, though I do not like the big escalation in Afghanistan, is that there is a suppleness to it. It evolves. Or, at least, it seems to evolve. For all I know, what appear to be evolutions in the strategy is merely Obama choosing to reveal new elements of it over time. … From my March 5th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …From my March 2nd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Iraq held its national parliamentary elections today. While there were numerous attempts to disrupt them, and some 30 Iraqis were reportedly killed, the elections went forward as scheduled.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He is monitoring several geopolitical crises — in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq — with a special focus on today’s already concluded Iraqi national parliamentary elections.
Obama will deliver remarks at the White House on the Iraqi elections at 12 noon Pacific.
He has issued this statement:
I congratulate the people of Iraq for casting their ballots in this important parliamentary election. I have great respect for the millions of Iraqis who refused to be deterred by acts of violence, and who exercised their right to vote today. Their participation demonstrates that the Iraqi people have chosen to shape their future through the political process.
I commend the Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces for providing security at nearly 50,000 voting booths at more than 8,000 polling stations across Iraq. We mourn the tragic loss of life today, and honor the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people who once again defied threats to advance their democracy. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi poll workers contributed to the effort, as well as domestic party and civil society observers. Iraqi citizens around the world also participated in these elections, including Iraqis living in the U.S. who voted in Arlington (VA), Chicago, Dallas, Dearborn, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Francisco.
The important work of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) will continue in the days to come as it counts ballots, tabulates results and investigates complaints. We also salute the invaluable assistance provided by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Columbus, Ohio today.
He is participating in the annual Arnold Sports Festival.
The event, known first as the Arnold Classic, has taken place since the 1980s. Tens of thousands of people attend, with many of them competing in bodybuilding, powerlifting, physical fitness, and other athletic-oriented events.
The two Republicans seeking to succeed Schwarzenegger as governor, billionaire former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair Meg Whitman and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, both addressed the far right California Republican Assembly convention yesterday in Orange County, striking very conservative themes.
The convention votes today on endorsements.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama says that national health care reform will not only have long-term advantages for the country but will have immediate protections and benefits this year if passed by Congress.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama has no scheduled public events today.
Obama announced his path forward on the national health care reform bill on Wednesday, and expanded on his message in his weekend video/radio address, which plays above.
As expected, he wants the House to adopt the Senate bill and the Senate to to pass changes needed to mollify House Democrats through the majority vote budget reconciliation process, thus avoiding a Republican filibuster.
They probably need to have this done, one way or the other, no later than Easter. It has certainly dragged on far longer than anticipated.
Obama wants the bill passed by March 18th.
Obama had wanted Congressional passage by the end of last August. Subsequent deadlines came and went. Following passage of different versions of national health care reform by the House and the Senate, something never done before since then President Teddy Roosevelt first called for universal health care, the two houses were closing in on agreement when inattentive Democrats lost the Massachusetts special election for the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s old seat.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
In Afghanistan, U.S. and allied forces are engaged in mopping up operations in the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited southern Afghanistan today. Brown met with many of the 4,000 British troops who have taken part in the Marjah operation, pledging a few hundred more trainers for the Afghan police and new equipment to detect improvised explosive devices.
In Iraq, preparations are underway for Sunday’s national parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen how Sunnis will react to the banning of hundreds of candidates by Iranian-aligned Shiite officials. A threatened boycott of elections hasn’t gathered much public steam.
There was, however, a suicide bombing near a shrine in Najaf, Iraq’s holiest Shiite center. Perhaps pointedly, four Iranian pilgrims were killed in the blast.
In Pakistan, another top Taliban leader was reportedly killed, this time in an attack by Pakistani helicopter gunships yesterday on a Taliban regional headquarters.
On Iran, Obama continues working on a new sanctions regime against Iran and its nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly defied agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency and resolution from the UN Security Council.
The question is whether new sanctions, on which Obama wants agreement from Russia and China, will be strong enough to dissuade the Iranians from their present course.
John Patrick Bedell, the man killed after opening fire on guards at the entrance to the Pentagon, lived with his parents in an upscale community in Hollister, California. It’s the familiar story in the aftermath of such events: He seemed so nice, yet he had a little known history of mental illness.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Columbus, Ohio today.
Schwarzenegger is participating in his annual Arnold Sports Festival, which began in the 1980s.
Formerly known as the Arnold Classic, the event brings together tens of thousands of enthusiasts, many of whom participate in bodybuilding, powerlifting, and physical fitness contests.
All of it presided over by the many times Mr. Universe.
The Republicans trying to succeed the term-limited Schwarzenegger as governor are in Orange County this weekend for the annual convention of the far right California Republican Assembly.
Billionaire Meg Whitman, the former national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign, and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner are each vying to be seen as the real conservative. They are having to toss a lot of red meat to appeal to the CRA crowd.
Meanwhile, Democrat Jerry Brown has completed several days of freewheeling, in-depth interviews with journalists from around the state.
That’s something Poizner has done. But you’ll never see Whitman, whose only two press conferences have been utter disasters, try that.
** IS OBAMA’S AFPAK STRATEGY ACTUALLY WORKING?I’m not a big fan of the big escalation in Afghanistan. While there are many things that would be good to do in Afghanistan, there is only one thing that we have to do: Deny it as an operational base for Al Qaeda or other transnational jihadists. As Vice President Joe Biden and others have pointed out, that can be done with far less than the nation-building exercise which ex-President George W. Bush promised and President Barack Obama at times seems bent on delivering. Yet there are some signs that Obama’s strategy, which goes well beyond the escalation, is working. Is it? …
That said, what I like about Obama’s AfPak strategy, though I do not like the big escalation in Afghanistan, is that there is a suppleness to it. It evolves. Or, at least, it seems to evolve. For all I know, what appear to be evolutions in the strategy is merely Obama choosing to reveal new elements of it over time. … From my March 5th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …From my March 2nd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed at $81.50 per barrel on Friday. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama, pushing greentech jobs today in Arlington, Virginia, said that the better-than-expected report on jobs isn’t good enough.
** QUICK HITS. Embattled New York Congressman Eric Massa is resigning in the wake of allegations that he sexually harassed a male staff member. This lowers the number of votes Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to corral for the national health care reform bill to 216. Massa was a No vote because he wants an all government-run system. … In the California governor’s race, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner got a boost in his Republican primary battle against billionaire Meg Whitman today with the endorsement of Congressman Tom McClintock. The veteran legislator, who finished third in the 2003 recall election for governor, is the leading figure of the California right wing. … All the Republican candidates for governor and U.S. senator are heading to Orange County for this weekend’s convention of the far right California Republican Assembly. The group will vote on endorsements on Sunday
** THE CALI SENATE GOP TUSSLE. All three Republican candidates vying to face off against Senator Barbara Boxer debated today on a conservative Sacramento radio show. I was only able listen to part of the hour-long debate, but have seen the coverage and have a few thoughts.
Far right Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, now running a distant third, seemed the most comfortable and had the best voice for radio. He probably won the debate, in the sense that was the most facile of the three in presenting his positions and never seemed on the defensive. But winning a primary debate doesn’t usually mean all that much. Just ask Tom Hayden, the left-liberal Democrat who probably won every debate he was in, but never won the Democratic nominations for governor or U.S. senator, much less got elected mayor of Los Angeles.
Ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina was the only candidate not in the studio with right-wing talk show host Eric Hogue. She was on the phone, which affects the sound quality a bit. It can also throw off one’s timing. I’ve been on what seems like thousands of radio shows, so it’s second nature. Fiorina doesn’t have that experience, so she seemed at least a half-beat off throughout the show.
But she did well enough, fending off criticism of Hewlett Packard selling printers to Iran, which was legal under U.S. law, and denying that her campaign manager Marty Wilson had called ex-Congressman Tom Campbell an “anti-semite.”
Fiorina still seems to be the candidate that the Democrats are most interested in bringing down. That’s because of her financial advantage. And the fact that the debate even took place was an advantage for her, coming in the wake of revelations of current frontrunner Campbell’s former close association with a convicted terrorist.
Campbell has seen his fundraising, aided by supporters of billionaire Meg Whitman, pick up notably since he dropped out of the governor’s race and switched to the Senate race. But it’s still not at the pace that he probably needs.
For his part, he did well enough in the debate, which he wanted to do to try to clear his name after it came out that he had a rather close association with former University of South Florida Professor Sami Al-Arian. Campbell defended Al-Arian against charges of terrorist activities and denied that Al-Arian had contributed to his past campaign. But it quickly emerged that Al-Arian had not only helped raise money for Campbell, but had also given him $1300. Which Campbell said he had forgotten about.
Al-Arian’s fundraising for Campbell happened before Al-Arian pled guilty to working with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist organization.
Campbell also has a problem in that, as a congressman, he sponsored legislation to bar the use of classified information in immigration proceedings. Such as the immigration proceeding involving Al-Arian’s brother-in-law. Campbell visited him in jail.
Campbell’s legislation would have made it more difficult to use information gleaned from counter-intelligence operations to expel suspected terrorists. None of the 9/11 hijackers, to use an obvious example, were American citizens.
Fiorina doesn’t quite know how to use this issue against Campbell. Yet.
** IS OBAMA’S AFPAK STRATEGY ACTUALLY WORKING?I’m not a big fan of the big escalation in Afghanistan. While there are many things that would be good to do in Afghanistan, there is only one thing that we have to do: Deny it as an operational base for Al Qaeda or other transnational jihadists. As Vice President Joe Biden and others have pointed out, that can be done with far less than the nation-building exercise which ex-President George W. Bush promised and President Barack Obama at times seems bent on delivering. Yet there are some signs that Obama’s strategy, which goes well beyond the escalation, is working. Is it?
With a few exceptions, in the form of rebuilding advanced industrial nations that we had smashed, America really isn’t very good at nation-building. And now we need to focus on a nation-building project rather closer to home, in that it is at home.
America is getting hollowed out economically. The middle class is in trouble, the poor hanging on by a thread. We all know it. The financial machinations that made a few wildly rich nearly wrecked the country. Yet we are still involved in a rickety nation-building experiment in Iraq after an invasion which looks only more idiotic as time passes and we learn more. We simply don’t need another nation-building experiment, much less one in a tribal society in which literacy is rare and corruption is the norm, with narcotics by far the biggest industry.
That said, what I like about Obama’s AfPak strategy, though I do not like the big escalation in Afghanistan, is that there is a suppleness to it. It evolves. Or, at least, it seems to evolve. For all I know, what appear to be evolutions in the strategy is merely Obama choosing to reveal new elements of it over time. …
** NEW SURVEY: FOUR OF THE TEN METRO AREAS WITH THE LOWEST OBESITY RATES ARE IN CALIFORNIA. SAY, ARNOLD … After giving Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger some gas for three California metropolitan areas turning up in the national top 10 for highest obesity rates (with Stockton tied for first), it’s a pleasure to note that California has four of the metropolitan areas that rank best in the country on that measure of health.
Schwarzenegger and former President Bill Clinton hosted a summit last week in Los Angeles on health and obesity issues.
The new Gallup/Healthways survey reveals that San Luis Obispo/Paso Robles, Santa Cruz/Watsonville, San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, and San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont all made the national top 10 in this measure, in fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth place, respectively.
America’s 10 least obese metro areas boast an average obesity rate of 18.7% — 15.1 percentage points lower than that of the nation’s 10 most obese places and significantly better than the national average.
Fort Collins/Loveland, Colo., has the lowest obesity rate of any metropolitan area in the country, at 16.0%, followed closely by Boulder, Colo., at 16.6%. Four Colorado metro areas rank among the 10 least obese places, as do four areas in California.
Indeed, nine of the leading metro areas in this measure are in the West. Reno/Sparks, Nevada joins the Colorado and California metro areas amongst the national leaders.
Only two metropolitan areas outside the West make the list, and they are both in New England. That’s Barnstable Town, Massachusetts. And Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Connecticut, which finished in a tie for 10th place with Denver.
Actually, this reminds me of a map to Gary Hart strongholds in the Democratic presidential primaries of the 1980s.
Jerry Brown, who just bested a round of far younger reporters in pull-ups a month before his 72nd birthday during a series of very long interviews, also did very well in these areas in his two runner-up races for the Democratic presidential nomination.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted yesterday that the national health care reform bill will be passed. But it may not happen by March 18th, which is what President Barack Obama wants, as some anti-abortion Democrats and pro-single payer Democrats are not yet on board.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Virginia today.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have received the daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama then delivered remarks on clean energy jobs at a small business in Arlington, Virginia.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama and Biden have lunch in the Private Dining Room.
Obama announced his path forward on the national health care reform bill on Wednesday.
As expected, he wants the House to adopt the Senate bill and the Senate to to pass changes needed to mollify House Democrats through the majority vote budget reconciliation process, thus avoiding a Republican filibuster.
They probably need to have this done, one way or the other, no later than Easter. It has certainly dragged on far longer than anticipated.
Obama had wanted Congressional passage by the end of last August. Subsequent deadlines came and went. Following passage of different versions of national health care reform by the House and the Senate, something never done before since then President Teddy Roosevelt first called for universal health care, the two houses were closing in on agreement when inattentive Democrats lost the Massachusetts special election for the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s old seat.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
In Afghanistan, U.S. and allied forces are engaged in mopping up operations in the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah.
In Iraq, preparations are underway for this weekend’s national parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen how Sunnis will react to the banning of hundreds of candidates by Iranian-aligned Shiite officials. A threatened boycott of elections hasn’t gathered much public steam.
There has not yet been a repeat of yesterday’s suicide bombings on early polling stations in Baghdad for security personnel who will be working on Sunday.
The gunman who wounded two police officers at the subway entrance to the Pentagon has died. John Patrick Bedell, a Californian, drove across the country from California before the attack.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio today.
Schwarzenegger is attending the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …From my March 2nd column.
** SO WHO IS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER ANYWAY? PALIN, ROMNEY, PAUL (!) …Okay, so exactly who is the Republican presidential frontrunner now? Sarah Palin, the Tea Party darling/best-selling “author?” Mitt Romney, the moneybags ex-Massachusetts governor knocked out in the 2008 California and Florida primaries by John McCain? Mike Huckabee, the creationist talk show host who was the distant runner-up of 2008? Ron Paul, the cranky libertarian who embarrassingly actually won this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over previous winner Romney? … From my February 23rd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Military officials in Pakistan are showing off a mountain that Al Qaeda had been using both as a hide-out and as a place to store weapons, currency and look-alike U.S. military uniforms.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … IS OBAMA’S AFPAK STRATEGY ACTUALLY WORKING?
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE WHITMAN-POIZNER FIGHT ON TAX CUTS AND WHAT IT MEANS. The two Republican gubernatorial primary rivals, billionaire Meg Whitman and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, are in a nasty tussle on tax policy. They both want big tax cuts. But Poizner wants them for individuals as well as big corporations, whereas Whitman wants them for the corporate set only.
The Poizner campaign is trumpeting remarks made today by Whitman on a radio show in which she dissed the Reagan tax cuts of the 1980s for leading to a drop in revenue, at least in the near term. Poizner takes the more classically “Laffer Curve” view that tax cuts for all will lead to an explosion of entrepreneurial activity and more revenue.
Where Poizner talks up an individual-oriented conservative stance, Whitman champions a corporate conservative stance.
In the spring of 2008 — back when she was saying she’d lived in California for less than 20 years, rather than the 30 years she falsely claimed for months before being caught after her first TV ad — Whitman laid out a staunchly corporate conservative view on tax cuts and other economic matters as she accompanied John McCain on a day-long trip in California.
But in his California trip, McCain hewed pretty heavily to the party line, even as he said he aims to make a real run at the state in which Bush and the Republican brand are in the dumpster. In Silicon Valley, the Vietnam War hero talked up the need to cut greenhouse gases, his hoped-for silver bullet talisman demonstrating his non-Bushieness. But he also talked up Bushonomics: Lower corporate taxes, disdain for the capital gains tax, reduced regulation. And he attacked Obama for wanting to “unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA.” The same thing his roundtable moderator and national co-chair, billionaire former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, said. Some Republicans, fearful that the governorship will go back to the Democrats after the term-limited Schwarzenegger departs at the end of 2010, look to this former Romney national finance co-chair to make a run.
Whitman, incidentally, is actually well to the right of the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, since she wants to roll back California’s landmark climate change program, the pride of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Whitman’s stance will help Poizner work the alienation factor against her in the GOP race for governor. And if she gets to the general election, her stance will help Jerry Brown work the alienation factor against her.
** TWO CALIFORNIA SETBACKS. Two setbacks for California emerged today. Neither of which is a huge surprise.
First, Acting House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Pete Stark of the San Francisco Bay Area was turned aside in his bid to ascend to the permanent chairmanship of the committee by Democrats concerned about his acerbic outburst, outbursts which I alluded to yesterday after Charlie Rangel was forced out of the chairmanship by corruption allegations.
Instead of Stark, it will be Michigan’s Sander Levin who chairs the powerful House Ways & Means Committee.
And California, despite persistent efforts by the Schwarzenegger Administration and state Senate president Darrell Steinberg, which succeeded in changing state law to qualify California, has missed out on the first round of Obama Administration “Race To the Top” education challenge grants.
But so did all but a few states. There will be at least one more round of challenge grant funding, and probably more.
Early voting for those who can’t vote on Sunday, mostly security personnel, began today in Iraq’s national parliamentary election. Suicide bombers struck two polling places in Baghdad.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have received the daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 8:35 AM Pacific, Obama signs the Travel Promotion Act in the East Room.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with key Democratic members of the House on national health care reform in the Roosevelt Room.
At 12 noon Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in the Oval Office.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama meets with New York Senator Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office.
Obama announced his path forward on the national health care reform bill yesterday.
As expected, he wants the House to adopt the Senate bill and the Senate to to pass changes needed to mollify House Democrats through the majority vote budget reconciliation process, thus avoiding a Republican filibuster.
They probably need to have this done, one way or the other, no later than Easter. It has certainly dragged on far longer than anticipated.
Obama had wanted Congressional passage by the end of last August. Subsequent deadlines came and went. Following passage of different versions of national health care reform by the House and the Senate, something never done before since then President Teddy Roosevelt first called for universal health care, the two houses were closing in on agreement when inattentive Democrats lost the Massachusetts special election for the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s old seat.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
In Afghanistan, U.S. and allied forces are engaged in mopping up operations in the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah.
In Iraq, preparations are underway for this weekend’s national parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen how Sunnis will react to the banning of hundreds of candidates by Iranian-aligned Shiite officials. A threatened boycott of elections hasn’t gathered much public steam.
Early voting began today in Iraq, for soldiers, police, and others who may not be able to get to the polls on Sunday, the main election day.
Suicide bombers struck in Baghdad, killing at least seven people at two polling places.
Jerry Brown discussed his candidacy to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California Tuesday night on Larry King Live. King’s second question was on the California as “failed state” debate. See my Tuesday column on that linked below. Brown offered some qualified praise for Schwarzenegger.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 11 AM, Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks at the 17th Annual California Charter Schools Conference at the Sacramento Convention Center, promoting funding for charter schools and options for students and parents.
At 3 PM, Schwarzenegger joins First Lady Maria Shriver at the California Museum for Women’s Conference Day at The Museum. Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks honoring California women in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Schwarzenegger will also hold private talks on the state’s chronic budget crisis and the initiatives on the open primary and water development.
He will also monitor demonstrations on higher education around the Capitol and on various campuses around the state.
Schwarzenegger met yesterday afternoon with university and student leaders on the shortfall in funding, urging that university spending be at least equal with prison spending.
He’s also monitoring an effort bankrolled by two Texas oil companies to overturn California’s landmark climate change legislation through an initiative aiming for the November ballot.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …From my March 2nd column.
** SO WHO IS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER ANYWAY? PALIN, ROMNEY, PAUL (!) …Okay, so exactly who is the Republican presidential frontrunner now? Sarah Palin, the Tea Party darling/best-selling “author?” Mitt Romney, the moneybags ex-Massachusetts governor knocked out in the 2008 California and Florida primaries by John McCain? Mike Huckabee, the creationist talk show host who was the distant runner-up of 2008? Ron Paul, the cranky libertarian who embarrassingly actually won this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over previous winner Romney? … From my February 23rd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $46 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama urged Congress today to vote “up or down” on sweeping health care legislation in the next few weeks, endorsing a plan that denies Senate Republicans the ability to kill the bill by stalling with a filibuster.
** CALIFORNIAN PETE STARK TAKES OVER CHAIRMANSHIP OF HOUSE WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE. New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, under fire on corruption charges, announced this morning that he is taking a “leave of absence” as chairman of the principal fiscal committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, the powerful House Ways & Means Committee.
But the House parliamentarian ruled that there is no such thing as a leave of absence, and that by relinquishing the chairmanship Rangel has actually resigned it.
Stark is a longtime congressman from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is, let’s say, a colorful character. Before election to Congress in 1972, Stark (whose actual first name is Fortney) founded Security National Bank. He festooned his bank with a peace sign.
Stark, a staunch liberal, has since become known for having an eye for the ladies and for being a master of personal invective. He is, I believe, the first open atheist to serve in Congress.
** NEW POLL: ECONOMIC CONFIDENCE HOLDING STEADY.A new Gallup Poll reveals that confidence in the economy in America is relatively stable since last spring, following an upward rise with the end of the Bush/Cheney Administration.
Democrats were less negative than either independents or Republicans about the economy in February, as has been the case since shortly after President Barack Obama took office in early 2009. Democrats’ -10 reading on Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index in February compares to -34 among independents and -44 among Republicans. …
But economic confidence was greater last August than it is now. That’s around the time when people realized that improvements in employment were significantly lagging improvements in the overall economy.
Economic confidence dropped across all three partisan groups in 2008, but Republicans remained consistently less negative than independents or Democrats throughout the year. Obama became president in late January 2009. In the following month, February, economic confidence across the three party groups equalized, a fairly rare occurrence, with each group recording confidence in a narrow range between -56 and -60. From March 2009 to the present, however, Democrats have reported significantly more positive economic confidence levels than have either independents or Republicans.
Democrats’ economic confidence reached its most positive point of the last two years (-3) in August 2009, and is currently at -10. Independents and Republicans also became more positive through the first part of last year, but not nearly to the same degree as Democrats. Independents were at -31 in August and September (their most positive point during the last two years) and are at -34 today. Republicans improved to -36 in September and are at -44 today.
From a broader perspective, economic confidence has been fairly stable for a number of months, after dropping from -32 in January 2008 to its low point of -60 in late 2008. Economic confidence last month (-29) is slightly more negative than it was in January and December, but slightly more positive than in November. …
Within a month or two of Obama’s presidential inauguration in January 2009, Democrats became strikingly more positive about the economy, and have remained positive, on a relative basis. Republicans’ economic confidence had been dropping in the waning months of the Bush administration and, although it improved modestly in the first part of 2009, has remained well below the confidence of Democrats since then. Independents’ confidence was slightly more positive than Democrats’ in 2008 (but well below Republicans’ confidence) and has been slightly more positive than Republicans’ in 2009 and 2010 (but well below Democrats’ confidence).
These are not good numbers for President Barack Obama and the Democrats. While it’s clear that economic confidence tracks partisan identification rather closely, it’s also clear that perceptions have essentially plateaued for months.
That’s in part due to the continually lagging job market, and to the incredible focus on health care policy in the national conversation rather than economic policy.
With Obama making a last push for a national health care bill, not just in the Congress but also in the country — he’ll be out in the country next week talking up health care reform — the needed political pivot is not happening yet.
New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, beset by corruption allegations, today sought a leave of absence from his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He announces his path forward on the national health care reform bill today.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, he delivers remarks on health care reform in the East Room.
Obama is expected to urge passage of the Senate bill by the House, with the majority vote budget reconcilation mechanism – needed to circumvent a certain filibuster move by Republicans – used in the Senate to pass changes required by the House.
At 12:05 PM Pacific, Obama meets with National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans Bobby Barrera in the Oval Office.
At 1:35 PM Pacific, Obama meets with American Legion Commander Clarence Hill in the Oval Office.
At 2:30 PM Pacific, Obama hosts a reception for members of Congress to thank them for their efforts to restore statutory pay-as-you-go to the budgeting process.
In other action, Vice President Joe Biden hosts a reception at the Naval Observatory for state attorneys general. Jerry Brown will not be in attendance.
Biden also delivers remarks at a memorial service for the late Congressman John Murtha at the Capitol. Murtha, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who strongly opposed the Iraq War, was the longtime chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
In Afghanistan, U.S. and allied forces are engaged in mopping up operations in the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that Marjah is just the first example of a new type of approach in Afghanistan. The longtime cradle of the Taliban movement, Kandahar, is known to be on this year’s target list. That’s where Pakistani intelligence helped nurture the religious students movement in the mid-1990s, several years after the ouster of the by then late Soviet Union.
In Iraq, preparations are underway for this weekend’s national parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen how Sunnis will react to the banning of hundreds of candidates by Iranian-aligned Shiite officials. A threatened boycott of elections hasn’t gathered much public steam.
The race to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California, as you may have heard, is underway, with Jerry Brown formally announcing his candidacy yesterday and discussing things with CBS News.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
Schwarzenegger will hold private discussions in and around the Capitol on the state’s chronic budget crisis and preparations for the June primary election, in which he will be promoting the open primary initiative.
Late this afternoon, after meeting with education leaders, he will hold a press availability.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …From my March 2nd column.
** SO WHO IS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER ANYWAY? PALIN, ROMNEY, PAUL (!) …Okay, so exactly who is the Republican presidential frontrunner now? Sarah Palin, the Tea Party darling/best-selling “author?” Mitt Romney, the moneybags ex-Massachusetts governor knocked out in the 2008 California and Florida primaries by John McCain? Mike Huckabee, the creationist talk show host who was the distant runner-up of 2008? Ron Paul, the cranky libertarian who embarrassingly actually won this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over previous winner Romney? … From my February 23rd column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Jerry Brown announces his candidacy for Governor of California, striking a post-partisan stance, emphasizing that he brings “an insider’s knowledge and an outsider’s mind.”
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN.With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State.
Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown.
It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City.
Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.” And it featured Schwarzenegger’s one-time bitter opponent, former Governor Gray Davis — removed from office in the famous 2003 California recall election that swept Schwarzenegger into power — as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is nowhere near being America’s first failed state. …
Davis tells me … The veteran Democratic politician, who served as Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial chief of staff, state legislator, and state controller and lieutenant governor before winning two terms as governor, now thinks that the state Legislature should be made part-time. …
** NEW GALLUP SURVEY: THREE OF THE TEN LEADING METRO AREAS FOR OBESITY ARE IN CALIFORNIA. SAY, ARNOLD … A new Gallup/Healthways survey shows that three of the top 10 metropolitan areas in America for obesity are in California.
They are all in the Central Valley.
Montgomery, Ala., and Stockton Calif., tie for the most obese metro areas in the U.S., with adult obesity rates of 34.6% — substantially surpassing the national average obesity rate of 26.5%. More than one-third of adults are classified as obese in the 10 metro areas found to be most obese according to Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index collected in 2009. …
Gallup tracks Americans’ height and weight daily, and then determines obesity by calculating a respondents’ Body Mass Index (BMI) based on these self-reports. The 26.5% found to be obese in the United States in 2009 is up from 25.5% in 2008. Looking in-depth at the health-related behaviors, community conditions, and physical health across the 10 most obese metro areas reveals that on almost every item these 10 places rank among the bottom two-thirds of all 187 metro areas surveyed.
Stockton, a mere 40 miles south of the California state capital where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famed fitness champion, holds forth, is tied for the dubious crown of the most obese metropolitan area in the country. But not far behind in third place is Visalia/Porterville.
Bakersfield is seventh.
Schwarzenegger hosted a summit on health and obesity last week with former President Bill Clinton.
Gallup tracks Americans’ height and weight daily, and then determines obesity by calculating a respondents’ Body Mass Index (BMI) based on these self-reports. The 26.5% found to be obese in the United States in 2009 is up from 25.5% in 2008. Looking in-depth at the health-related behaviors, community conditions, and physical health across the 10 most obese metro areas reveals that on almost every item these 10 places rank among the bottom two-thirds of all 187 metro areas surveyed.
Gallup and Healthways measure healthy behaviors in the United States by combining four metrics measuring Americans’ eating, exercise, and smoking habits into the Healthy Behaviors Index. The results show that areas ranking high on obesity generally rank low on healthy behaviors. Specifically, all of the 10 most obese metro areas fall within the bottom two-thirds of all areas surveyed for frequent exercise. In terms of eating habits, of the 10 most obese places, seven are in the bottom two-thirds among all metro areas for reporting eating healthy “yesterday” and for fruit and vegetable consumption.
** JERRY BROWN ANNOUNCEMENT STATEMENT.
Hi I’m Jerry Brown, your Attorney General. I’ve lived in California all my life. As a former Governor, Secretary of State and Mayor, I’ve seen our government from every angle. When it works and when it doesn’t work. And, it’s no secret that Sacramento isn’t working today. The partisanship is poisonous. Political posturing has replaced leadership. And the budget, it’s always late, it’s always in the red and it’s always wrong.
Today, the political breakdown in Sacramento is threatening jobs, our schools and the state’s credit rating, which is the worst in the country. Our state is in serious trouble and the next Governor must have the preparation, and the knowledge and the know-how to get California working again. That’s what I offer and that’s why I’m declaring my candidacy for Governor.
The key is knowledge. Some people say that if you’ve been around the process you can’t handle the job, that we need to go out and find an outsider who knows virtually nothing about state government. Well, we tried that and it doesn’t work. We found out that not knowing is not good. What we need is not a scripted plan cooked up by consultants or mere ambition to be Governor. We need someone with insider’s knowledge, but an outsider’s mind. A leader who can pull people together– Republicans and Democrats, oil companies and environmentalists, unions and businesses. We need to work together as Californians first. And at this stage in my life, I’m prepared to focus on nothing else, but fixing this state I love.
Let me share with you a few of the governing principles that will guide me and that you can count on.
* First, I’ll tell you the truth. No more smoke and mirrors on the budget. No more puffy slogans and platitudes. You deserve the truth and that’s what you’ll get from me.
* Second, in this time of recession when people are financially strapped, there will be no new taxes unless you the people vote for them.
* Third, we have to downsize state government from Sacramento and return decisions and authority to the cities, to the counties and to local schools.
California by itself can’t end the national recession that is destroying so many jobs. But the partisan paralysis in Sacramento has made things much worse. When I was Governor, California added 1.9 million new jobs in 8 years. I know we can do it again and be the leader in renewable energy, good jobs and quality schools.
These are really serious times but our state is still the best place on earth to live and to raise a family. Our businesses lead the world in technology and innovation, our natural environment is second to none. By making the tough decisions now, we can get through this crisis leaner and more efficient, poised for a comeback that will lead to a whole new period of prosperity. That’s what drives my candidacy.
But it’s not going to happen overnight or with empty promises or photo ops. It takes patience and courage. But, together, we can all get California working again.
Thank you.
** NEW FIELD POLL: SPENDING CUTS FAVORED AS PRINCIPAL MEANS TO CLOSE CALIFORNIA BUDGET DEFICIT.A new Field Poll, unsurprisingly, shows that spending cuts are the favored means of closing the state’s chronic fiscal gap.
Half of the state’s registered voters (50%) would prefer closing California’s projected $20 billion
deficit either entirely or mostly through spending cuts. This compares to just 13% who favor reducing
the budget shortfall solely or mostly through tax increases. Another 29% support a balanced approach
with an equal mix of spending cuts and tax increases, while 8% have no opinion.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats and non-partisans to favor spending cuts as the primary
means for reducing the budget deficit, with 70% of GOPers favoring this approach. Among
Democrats 36% support closing the deficit primarily through spending cuts, 35% favor an equal mix
of spending cuts and tax increases, while 22% would do so mainly through tax increases. Among
non-partisans 46% prefer a mainly spending cuts approach, 33% favor an equal mix of spending cuts
and tax increases and 12% would primarily employ tax increases.
By a 63-28 margin, Californians say that the government isn’t responding to the needs of people like them.
By a 4 to 1 ratio, they want fundamental problems solved by politicians working together rather than by changes in the state constitution.
And prospects for changing the two-thirds vote requirement for passing a budget and raising taxes are not good.
By a 47% to 43% margin voters narrowly reject the idea of reducing the legislative vote requirement
needed to approve a state budget from its current two-thirds supermajority to a simple majority vote.
Views about this proposal are highly partisan. Democrats favor this idea 54% to 38%, but
Republicans are opposed 57% to 31%. Non-partisans also line up against the idea 49% to 38%.
By contrast, by a 51% to 37% margin voters support the idea of replacing the simple majority vote
requirement needed for voters to approve amendments to the state constitution to a two-thirds
supermajority. There are no significant differences toward this proposal across partisan lines.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: SO MUCH FOR POIZNER WAITING UNTIL MAY! Super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is up on the air today around the state with a 30-second TV ad. It’s both definitional and comparative, in that it identifies Poizner as the pro-tax cuts and anti-illegal immigration candidate in the Republican race for governor, and billionaire Meg Whitman as, well, not.
Never buying the notion promoted by the Whitman camp that Poizner was waiting until May to unleash his advertising in a flurry of attack ads, I did expect his early advertising to have a significant comparative component. This ad does, right at the top of the ad. It’s harder edged than I had anticipated, at least until last Friday when Whitman suddenly dumped four 15-second attack ads on the air around the state.
Saying that California is in crisis, the female announcer asks what Whitman’s response is and answers her own question by saying that “liberal Meg Whitman” has launched false attack ads on Poizner. Then asks who can save California “from liberal failure.”
The answer, naturally? Steve Poizner, who is presented as the only candidate who is for broad-based tax cuts and wants to “save billions by cutting taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens” and report them to immigration authorities when they’re arrested.
The ad then closes by referencing Poizner’s “strong, conservative, new solutions.”
Tax cuts are conservative Republican dogma. Whitman hasn’t supported across-the-board tax cuts, presumably due to the state’s chronic budget crisis. Poizner says he believes that cutting taxes will raise revenue, which goes back to the old “Laffer curve” developed by economist Arthur Laffer. Who, incidentally, is a friend of Jerry Brown.
On immigration, Poizner is catching Whitman in the middle of a very serious contradiction.
In a recent radio ad, narrated by Whitman herself, the billionaire former national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign railed against welfare and the large number of cases in California.
What Whitman failed to mention is that the welfare caseload in California is driven by illegal immigrant children.
Yet Whitman says she is against denying benefits to illegal immigrant children, and that she would have voted against Prop 187, backed by her campaign chairman, former Governor Pete Wilson, had she been a California voter when it passed in 1994.
This is a serious contradiction for her, which the Poizner campaign now seems very willing to exploit.
The rationale for 187’s draconian approach was that eliminating benefits to illegal immigrants has the effect of providing a major economic disincentive for them to come here. This argument worked in 1994, especially after opponents staged a parade in Los Angeles featuring lots of Mexican flags, and the initiative backed by Wilson passed in a landslide and propelled him to victory over Kathleen Brown.
The counter-argument is that illegal immigrants come to California for jobs which will make them better off than had they remained in their native countries and that to deny benefits such as health and education is to create an unhealthy, uneducated population, which in the end is much worse than providing benefits.
Poizner, incidentally, speaks directly to camera for the entire 30 seconds. This is a stark contrast with Whitman’s ads, which barely show the candidate speaking.
The As-Sahab media wing of Al Qaeda has released a video featuring Humam al-Balawi, who launched a deadly suicide bombing on a CIA base in Afghanistan, filmed just before the attack.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Georgia today.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama then departed the White House on Marine One for Andrews Air Force Base, where he boarded Air Force One and proceeded to Savannah, Georgia.
At 8:35 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Savannah, Georgia.
At 8:55 AM Pacific, Obama tours Savannah Technical College.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on jobs and the economy.
Obama will unveil details of the so-called “Cash for Caulkers” program (yes, it’s a groaning pun on Cash for Clunkers). The official name of the program is Home Star, a la Energy Star for electronic devices.
This is a program to aid in home retrofitting for greater energy efficiency. It’s also a jump start for employment, as it offers rebates of up to $3,000 to be offered directly by contractors and stores and reimbursed by the government.
The program is expected to cost $6 billion and cover a few million home owners.
At 10:20 AM Pacific, Obama tours a local manufacturing facility.
At 11:50 AM Pacific, Obama tours a local small business.
At 12:40 PM Pacific, Obama departs Savannah, Georgia on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 2 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 2:15 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
In Afghanistan, U.S. and allied forces are engaged in mopping up operations in the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah.
In Pakistan, the military is moving again against jihadists in the frontier regions, though Pakistani officials had said in January that no new operations of that nature would be undertaken for at least six months.
In Iraq, preparations are underway for this weekend’s national parliamentary elections. It remains to be seen how Sunnis will react to the banning of hundreds of candidates by Iranian-aligned Shiite officials.
In Iran, there are more confusing statements of intent on the nuclear program. Russian officials say they look favorably on a new sanctions regime that doesn’t hurt the Iranian people, which would seem to rule out their help with cutting the Islamic republic’s supply of gasoline.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Sukhoi plant in Moscow yesterday to oversee the development of a new long-range strategic bomber and a stealth fighter jet.
In Moscow, meanwhile, a new generation of bomber and fighter aircraft is undergoing crash development.
Notwithstanding a new era of relative friendliness between the U.S. and Russia — which also sees Russian assistance to the U.S. effort in Afghanistan and some cooperation on nuclear weapons — Russia is continuing to expand its influence in its “near abroad” of former Soviet states, having recently offered to take several of them under Moscow’s nuclear umbrella. The U.S.-backed president of Ukraine was knocked out in the first round of voting, with only 6% of the vote.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Sacramento today.
This morning Schwarzenegger tours the Wintec Energy Wind Farm in Palm Springs.
He then holds a press conference at 9:30 AM to highlight his proposal to create jobs by exempting green tech manufacturing equipment from the state sales tax.
** SO WHO IS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER ANYWAY? PALIN, ROMNEY, PAUL (!) …Okay, so exactly who is the Republican presidential frontrunner now? Sarah Palin, the Tea Party darling/best-selling “author?” Mitt Romney, the moneybags ex-Massachusetts governor knocked out in the 2008 California and Florida primaries by John McCain? Mike Huckabee, the creationist talk show host who was the distant runner-up of 2008? Ron Paul, the cranky libertarian who embarrassingly actually won this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over previous winner Romney? … From my February 23rd column.
** THE BIGGEST SPENDING RACE IN AMERICA IS UNDERWAY! (WELL, SORT OF.)The biggest spending race in America is fully underway! Or not.
That would be the California governor’s race. With billionaire Meg Whitman, the ex-eBay CEO and national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign, spending like a Russian oligarch, it’s inevitable that this will be the most expensive race in the country. But aside from Whitman blanketing the state for months with her robotic ads, it’s not there yet. … From my February 19th column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** SELLING MEG WHITMAN: GLITCHES EMERGE IN THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.What would Don Draper do? … From my February 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $46 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
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