President-elect Barack Obama yesterday introduced much of his economic management team and discussed his emerging plan to revive the American economy.
** COMING UP … My new column on Obama, Arnold’s global climate summit, and the future of the climate issue in California and the U.S.
** CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE’S LATE START ON ITS ELEVENTH HOUR BUDGET CRISIS BID. So, surprise, they’re off to a late afternoon start on their last ditch bid during the special session to solve the deepening nature of California’s chronic budget crisis. I’m checking in regularly on this, but not holding my breath. Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and new Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will work with the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) — publishers of one of the top California polls, to which NWN subscribes — to develop an economic stimulus package for the new legislative session.
** GATES TO RUN PENTAGON, AS REPORTED ON NWN, AND OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY/GEOPOLITICAL SLOTS. As I reported immediately after the election, Defense Secretary Bob Gates will be reappointed next week by President-elect Barack Obama. Gates, a former CIA director and lifelong intelligence/national security professional, is a registered independent who has mostly served in Republican administrations. He was a member of the Iraq Study Group, whose advice, though excoriated by the neoconservative warhawks, is being largely followed in disengaging America from its Iraqi quagmire. Gates has also chilled out the warhawks in the Bush/Cheney Administration with regard to their Iran fantasies.
Others expected to be announced next week, along with Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, are retired Marine Corps General and NATO Commander James Jones as Obama’s national security advisor, retired Navy Admiral and Pacific Fleet Commander Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence, and former Assistant Secretary of State and longtime Obama advisor Susan Rice as US ambassador to the UN.
You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama, “the most radical presidential candidate in history” …
** ANOTHER GEORGIA POLL SHOWS A CLOSE RUN-OFF RACE FOR THE SENATE. The new Insider Advantage poll shows a tight race for the US Senate in Georgia. Republican incument Saxby Chambliss holds a narrow 50% to 47% edge over Democratic challenger Jim Martin. Yesterday’s Public Policy Polling survey gave Chambliss a 6-point edge in the race, which is on December 2nd.
It all hinges on turnout. PPP thinks the turnout of younger voters will be less than that in the presidential race, when President-elect Barack Obama lost the longtime red state to John McCain by only 5 points. Insider Advantage has black turnout at 25%, higher than usual. But less than the 30% that occurred with Obama on the ballot.
Obama has no current plan to campaign personally in the race. I should say, he has no current public plan to campaign in Georgia.
** OBAMA TO CONVENE MEETING OF NATION’S GOVERNORS NEXT WEEK. President-elect Barack Obama is inviting the governors of American states to meet with him on December 2nd in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to discuss the multiple crises besetting the nation.
While they can’t provide a tremendous amount of guidance on the crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, et al, they do have insights about the nation’s financial, economic, and fiscal crises. Among other things, states and local governments may need federal bailouts.
** OBAMA TODAY. President-elect Barack Obama holds another press conference this morning to discuss the nation’s deep financial crisis and the government’s fiscal crisis. Obama is appointing Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Orszag currently serves as director of the Congressional Budget Office.
In addition to an epic global financial crisis, Obama is inheriting a record federal budget deficit from President George W. Bush.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joins Sacramento Mayor-elect Kevin Johnson this morning at an event promoting volunteerism. Johnson is a former NBA All-Star and Cal All-American point guard.
The event will be webcast live at 10:30 AM at www.gov.ca.gov.
Schwarzenegger met with the various legislative leaders yesterday and is pushing for a vote today by the lameduck Legislature to right the reeling state budget. Not many expect a solution today.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, opining that the global financial crisis can be overcome in two years, bids hasta la vista to President Bush following the weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru. Medvedev is now meeting with Latin American leaders, coincident with the arrival in the Caribbean of a Russian naval squadron.
** SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: MASTERSTROKE, MOUSETRAP, OR BOTH? Potential Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Masterstroke or mousetrap? Or both? And for whom?
The political world has been all aflutter for the better part of a week at the prospect — initially portrayed as a done deal — that Hillary Clinton will be Barack Obama’s secretary of state. On the Republican side of the aisle, Henry Kissinger calls her “highly qualified” and Arnold Schwarzenegger dubs it “a great move.” The Clintons’ opponents in the Democratic Party have been restrained in their response. The media loves it, running with endless references to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s very fine book on the Lincoln Cabinet, an Obama favorite, “Team of Rivals.” … From my Wednesday column.
** MIAMI BLUES: PALIN AND NATIONAL REPUBLICANS LOOK LIKE THE SAD CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY. … From my November 14th column.
** THE AMERICA THAT CAN BE/THE AMERICA THAT HAS BEEN. It was the America That Can Be vs. the America That Has Been. The future won. Yet there is much in the past that is of enduring value.
I must say that this campaign, for all its excitement, its twists and turns, and its thrilling outcome, was something of a disappointment. In Barack Obama and John McCain, we had the two most compelling figures in the two parties, representatives of an emerging set of values and an enduring tradition. … From my November 7th Huffington Post column.
** GLOBAL OBAMA: BIG OPPORTUNITIES, BIGGER CHALLENGES. If he wins, Obama will have the global popularity that no American president has had in a great many years. But what sort of challenges will counter the global opportunity that an Obama presidency might afford America? … From my October 24th 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 new 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, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, 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.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included.
Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. After crashing over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, crude oil is trading in the $50 to $51 per barrel range.
OPEC forecasts a 0.6% decline in global oil consumption in 2009. But sees a 2.5% growth in oil consumption in developing nations.
The drop of $97 per barrel since the record high over the summer comes on acknowledgment that the weak US economy will cut future demand and on the easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. It is clear that that, contrary to much chatter, neither the US nor Israel is about to launch a strike against Iran. And the Russian war with Georgia, confounding much speculation and reporting to the contrary, actually decreased the geopolitical risk premium in the oil market.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
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| Comments (94) |
That’s a very good Obama press conference.
Barack has so much cleaning up to do after Bush. That clown who could barely put a sentence together did more to wreck America than any enemy of America could have ever hoped.
Medvedev isn’t going to miss Bush …
The Russians are almost as happy to see Bush gone as me.
Yesterday Dana posted this WAPO article on the Office of Thrift Supervision: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/22/AR2008112202213_pf.html
The guy under Bush who oversaw two of the biggest financial failures (Washington Mutual and Countrywide) was the same guy who was responsible for “regulating” Keating’s S&L back in the 80s!
WTF — this guy almost flushes the financial system down the crapper and Bush lets him do it again?! Looks like this guy is responsible for hundreds of billions of dollars in bad loans.
lol
That was lol to what Capitol Boy said.
“Ann Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 9:47 am
lol”
Laughing all the way to the failed bank?
It could have been lol to what Brasky said, too.
“That was lol to what Capitol Boy said.”
Oops — obviously we have “less than instant” messaging.
Maybe we should laugh about everything.
Brasky Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am
“Ann Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 9:47 am
lol”
Laughing all the way to the failed bank?
OK, I’m using IE 7, and am still getting every post labeled as #1. Bill, you obviously are allowed to use superior browsers, but I’m being punished for my sins, and have to use Microsoft products. Is this just an issue with my system, or is anyone else having this. It’s weird.
“Maybe we should laugh about everything”
Laugh or cry — it’s a pick-em….
Propsero…
I’m also using IE 7 and getting all #1 as well.
Prospero, Salon: ditto
But for whatever reason, all the numbers actually work on my latest Firefox. Go figure.
Where’s Schwarzeneger?
I just sent a message to my webmaster about this.
># Sacramento Solon Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 10:25 am edit
Propsero…
I’m also using IE 7 and getting all #1 as well.
I don’t have IE 7, so didn’t check on it.
># Prospero Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am edit
OK, I’m using IE 7, and am still getting every post labeled as #1. Bill, you obviously are allowed to use superior browsers, but I’m being punished for my sins, and have to use Microsoft products. Is this just an issue with my system, or is anyone else having this. It’s weird.
“OBAMA TO CONVENE MEETING OF NATION’S GOVERNORS NEXT WEEK”
This is smart, on many levels.
Brasky Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 10:39 am
“OBAMA TO CONVENE MEETING OF NATION’S GOVERNORS NEXT WEEK”
This is smart, on many levels.
—–
Must say I’m quite pleased by what I see so far. Dude appears to have his stuff together.
Meanwhile the far right are spinning like crazy, and sadly many in the media are paying too much heed to this “center-right” nonsense that Bill has debunked before. Mark Evanier notes how uninteresting it is to hear far left radio folks whining as if their side lost, which is what the Pacifica crowd will always do. But take a gander at the Rush spin Evanier quotes that going rightward, purging moderates, blaming Obama for the economic meltdown is the great consequence for the Republicans of this ballotbox meltdown and the path to winning again. Do these rightwing pundits do anything but pander to the clueless far right base? Rush etc. can continue squeezing millions from the people who want to to hear this sort of nonsense but how far before the Republican brand is totally devalued? Is it a political party whose purpose is electing people or a vehicle for pushing an ideology even if it doesn’t work or is outdated? Does anyone still think Karl Rove is a genius as a strategist? Or that Bill Kristol should be allowed to continue sharing his insights other than via standing on a soapbox in an empty corner of the park?
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_11_22.html#016238
If we win Georgia, we’re at 60, right?
Assuming Al Franken wins, too.
“Do these rightwing pundits do anything but pander to the clueless far right base?”
they are caught in a feedback loop…don’t look for anything to change for awhile…
“Assuming Al Franken wins, too.”
Al is going to win.
Georgia is tough…Obama and the Clintons would have to go down there, plus a lot of other stuff, to get that seat.
Brasky sez “Georgia is tough…Obama and the Clintons would have to go down there, plus a lot of other stuff, to get that seat.” So what? You do what you have to. Politics is a full contact sport. So put your head down and drive forward if you expect to win. Or as Super Chicken would say: “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!”
Dana — my point was that I’m not seeing the commitment necessary to even have a CHANCE of winning the seat.
As Mr. Miyagi would say, “do or do not – there is no try.”
lol
BB:Others expected to be announced next week, along with Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, are retired Marine Corps General and NATO Commander James Jones as Obama’s national security advisor, retired Navy Admiral and Pacific Fleet Commander Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence, and former Assistant Secretary of State and longtime Obama advisor Susan Rice as US ambassador to the UN.
You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama, “the most radical presidential candidate in history” …
“You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama, ‘the most radical presidential candidate in history’ …”
Jesus, do these guys really believe all this crap, or can that just not stop spinning?
William Jennings Bryan, Ralph Nader and Ross Perot would be three easy picks for most radical candidates to run for president (not including the Nazi or Cannabis parties, etc).
Teddy Roosevelt was considered so radical by his fellow Republicans that they offered him the vice presidency to keep out of the Oval Office. I finally accepted it because he didn’t have anywhere else to really go
Sorry “he finally accepted it” — typing and listening to the phone at the same time…gotta stop that.
Especially on those 1-900 calls…
Goats????
!!??!!
Perhaps Eugene Debs or Norman Thomas was more radical than those three, depending upon how one defines radical, of course. They got more votes than Nader ever did.
Some would argue that Lincoln was the most radical POTUS (and that the times demanded it) although he was fairly cautious as a candidate. Among major party nominees, Reagan ran against the status quo as much as any candidate I can recall.
>William Jennings Bryan, Ralph Nader and Ross Perot
Brasky Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
!!??!!
—–
My friend, just checking…old and feeble guy doesn’t know what’s at those 1-900 calls you mentioned.
Larry,
Just ordered up the two latest Inspector O books. Don’t have a clue when I will get to them, but they will be in house.
Kandy Kid,
Check in…close to Squanto’s Day and this foodie needs to know what’s going to be on your table. Plus, your presence is missed…
I feel as though clouds of endless delusion are finally parting with Obama taking the Presidency.
I believe they really are crazy. Just think of all the incredibly stupid things they have done. Financial deregulation. Pretending Iraq was a cakewalk. Pretending there was WMD. Pretending Pakistan wasn’t hiding Bin Laden. I can’t go on, it’s too upsetting.
Brasky Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
“You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama, ‘the most radical presidential candidate in history’ …”
Jesus, do these guys really believe all this crap, or can that just not stop spinning?
It’s so ridiculous.
Ann Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
lol
BB:Others expected to be announced next week, along with Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, are retired Marine Corps General and NATO Commander James Jones as Obama’s national security advisor, retired Navy Admiral and Pacific Fleet Commander Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence, and former Assistant Secretary of State and longtime Obama advisor Susan Rice as US ambassador to the UN.
You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama, “the most radical presidential candidate in history” …
Well, I guess I can live with Gates at Defense for a year or two IF IF IF the policies change. One can hope that Obama as C-in-C will enable the “soft power” side of Gates to emerge more fully. That’s the sort of shift best accomplished with bipartisan consensus. And I suppose a withdrawal from Iraq, for political reasons, would be better done with a Reep as the face of the policy.
But if Obama is serious about going through the federal budget “line-by-line” to ferret out waste, at some point he’ll have to confront Pentagon spending excesses, too.
> ** GATES TO RUN PENTAGON, AS REPORTED ON NWN,
Gates is a good choice. He’s been pushing back the crazies very effectively. You can’t have a lefty Defense Secretary, who probably wouldn’t know much any ways.
Don’t forget Obama wants to grow the Army, not cut it.
None of those guys were ever serious Presidential candidates.
Chris M Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Perhaps Eugene Debs or Norman Thomas was more radical than those three, depending upon how one defines radical, of course. They got more votes than Nader ever did.
Figures.
** CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE’S LATE START ON ITS ELEVENTH HOUR BUDGET CRISIS BID. So, surprise, they’re off to a late afternoon start on their last ditch bid during the special session to solve the deepening nature of California’s chronic budget crisis. I’m checking in regularly on this, but not holding my breath. Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and new Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will work with the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) — publishers of one of the top California polls, to which NWN subscribes — to develop an economic stimulus package for the new legislative session.
I don’t care if Obama appoints name liberals or not. What I care is that he changes direction and starts getting the job done.
Obama has also pledged that “Each major defense program will be reevaluated in light of current needs…[and to] Launch a program of acquisition reform and management to gain massive savings in the Pentagon budget…”
>Don’t forget Obama wants to grow the Army, not cut it.
Those Rightosphere people are just plain crazy.
Ann Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
lol
BB:Others expected to be announced next week, along with Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, are retired Marine Corps General and NATO Commander James Jones as Obama’s national security advisor, retired Navy Admiral and Pacific Fleet Commander Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence, and former Assistant Secretary of State and longtime Obama advisor Susan Rice as US ambassador to the UN.
You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama, “the most radical presidential candidate in history” …
Bill muses “You know, I have to laugh, thinking about the frankly irrational maunderings of the far right about Obama…”
Of course the wingnut right-wingers who have made a fortune from being media gasbags are huffing and puffing. They recall those immortal words of Governor William J. LePetomane: “We’ve gotta protect our phoney-baloney jobs…”
I agree. They should make sure the far right doesn’t catch its breath after the knock down it just suffered. Keep them guessing and scared…
Brasky sez: Dana — my point was that I’m not seeing the commitment necessary to even have a CHANCE of winning the seat. As Mr. Miyagi would say, “do or do not – there is no try.”