House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, a very shrewd vote counter, said today that she is “very excited about the momentum that has built” around the national health care reform bill, slated for vote this Sunday. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio is, let’s say, less excited, vowing retribution if the bill is passed.
** HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND … The word out of the White House regarding this weekend’s vote on the national health care reform bill can be described as one of quiet confidence. With the not unexpected endorsements today of the American Medical Association and the American Association of Retired People, and a steady stream of House Democrats coming on board the bill, victory is at last looking assured. Or, I should say, is again looking assured, as it was prior to the shock election of Republican Scott Brown to the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s old seat two months ago. Obama and the Democrats have finally regrouped. Now, to borrow an old Schwarzenegger line, it will be up to Obama to not only win, but sell the win.
** ROMNEY LEADS 2012 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE. Mitt Romney, who put on a dual Romney for President/Meg Whitman for Governor event last Friday night at the California Republican Party convention in Santa Clara, is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in a new Public Policy Polling survey.
It’s Romney 28%, Mike Huckabee 24%, and Sarah Palin 23%.
Romney is viewed as the most electable by Republican voters.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: MEG WHITMAN TRIES TO SWITCH SIDES ON OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING. Billionaire Meg Whitman, that unavoidable presence on television if you live in California and watch TV, is happy about releasing a policy book in support of her bid for the Republican nomination for governor of California.
Maybe she should read it. And then maybe she should read what she already said in this campaign.
“With advances in drilling technology that reduce environmental risks, we need to re-look at offshore drilling. We have to utilize our resources here at home to reduce dependence,” says Whitman.
Meg opposes any new drilling off California’s coast until new technologies can be completely proven to minimize the environmental impact of extracting oil and gas reserves. While Meg is open to a careful and thoughtful process that explores and evaluates the potential future use of new and safer drilling technologies, she opposes new drilling until such technology is proven.
Time to scrub megwhitman.com.
Actually, Whitman has been for offshore oil drilling right along. When I followed her in 2008 in her role as national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign, she always said she was for offshore oil drilling. You may remember the mantra of their campaign: “Drill, baby, drill.”
Last year, Whitman told the Los Angeles Times she was very open to offshore oil drilling, with a special enthusiasm for new technologies such as slant drilling (an old technique which goes back at least 50 years).
Why the switch? Well, with her call for an end to all new regulation — and amazing claims that regulation cost “four million jobs” in California — as well as her insistence on the end of the landmark AB 32 climate change program, she is looking far too conservative for a general election. And a brand new stance of opposition to offshore oil drilling is a symbolic effort to address that problem.
Even though the record shows that Whitman is really for it.
** FIELD POLL: OBAMA’S CALIFORNIA JOB APPROVAL DIPS … TO 52%, WHILE APPROVAL ON HEALTH CARE RISES. The new Field Poll, parsed out as usual over a series of days, shows that President Barack Obama’s job approval amongst likely voters in the Golden State has dipped to 52%. With 37% disapproving.
That’s down from 56% in January.
Notably, Obama is approved by more independents, 55%, than he is by the sample of voters as a whole. That is due to his extraordinary unpopularity amongst California Republicans.
There is a huge partisan gap in voter perceptions of the job performance of the President. While nearly three in four Democrats (74%) and a majority of non-partisans (55%) approve of Obama, among Republicans just 17% approve. …
Californians are now evenly divided – 45% approving and 45% disapproving – in their appraisal of the job the President is doing in handling the issue of health care. This is an improvement over what it was two months ago. At that time just 39% approved of his performance on this issue, while 53% disapproved.
Obama’s improvement on health care is all due to Democrats.
Congress, in contrast, has a record low 12% approval rating. I believe that is now below the state Legislature, if that is possible.
Congress is also very low rated on the health care issue.
Before Republicans get too excited, however, Congressional Republicans are even more unpopular than Congressional Democrats.
By a 58% to 31% margin voters have taken a negative view of the job congressional Democrats are doing in addressing health care. However, voter appraisals of congressional Republicans’ performance is even worse – 66% disapproving and 22% approving.
The takeaway? Obama remains a big plus amongst the independent voters that Democrats need to win in California and his action on health care is beginning to spin up what has been a relatively dispirited Democratic base.
With the long awaited national health care vote scheduled for this weekend, President Barack Obama made a final pitch to pass the bill, and his latest pitch to sell its benefits, this morning at George Mason University in Virginia.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Virginia today.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden received the daily intelligence briefing and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama then traveled to Fairfax, Virginia, where he delivered remarks on health insurance reform at George Mason University’s Patriot Center.
He then returned to the White House.
At 10 AM Pacific, Obama and Biden have lunch in the Private Dining Room.
The national health care reform bill is getting down to the short strokes, and Obama has cleared much of his schedule to deal with details and lobby wavering members of Congress.
The House vote is slated for Sunday afternoon.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Moscow to work on closing the new nuclear arms treaty with Russia, deal with NATO and AfPak matters, and to meet with other members of the Quartet powers on the Middle East (U.S., Russia, European Union, and United Nations).
Clinton and U.S. special envoy to Middle East George Mitchell met today on the stalled Israeli/Palestinian peace process with the Middle East Quartet powers. They included Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, EU foreign secretary Catherine Ashton, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet special envoy.
The Quartet (U.S., U.N., European Union, and Russia) called on Israel to halt its settlement activities in the disputed West Bank.
In the wake of last week’s snub of visiting Vice President Joe Biden in the form of the announcement of 1600 new housing units for the hotly disputed West Bank, Obama rescinded the scheduled trip to the region this week of Middle East envoy George Mitchell. Meanwhile, Palestinians are protesting the proposed increased Israeli settlement presence in East Jerusalem. Israel captured the area from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
“Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier!” Boomer icon Fess Parker, pictured here with Walt Disney, was Disney’s choice to play Davy Crockett in the 1950s TV series endlessly replayed in the ’60s, and the title character in Daniel Boone, which aired from 1964 to 1970. He died yesterday in Santa Barbara. Parker, a 6 foot 6 inch ex-Marine from Texas, was allergic to his buckskin costumes.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley today.
At 10:45 AM, Schwarzenegger holds a press conference at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto to announce the introduction and his sponsorship of SB 1395 by state Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) to make it easier for Californians to affirm their preferred organ donor status.
The bill would also create the nation’s first live donor registry for kidney transplants, the California Living Donor Registry.
** THE MITT & MEG SHOW: “TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS”Billionaire Meg Whitman, the seeming political cipher who would be governor of California, is purchasing endless amounts of unanswered advertising. It’s propelled her into a slight lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in the new Field Poll, something which Brown (who’s held, lost, and held again leads in many campaigns) told me weeks ago that he expected.
Yet she has serious problems. At this past weekend’s state Republican convention, she tried to deal with two of them: Her avoidance of the press and her mysterious motivation as a newfound politician.
As a character, Meg Whitman lacks evident psychological credibility. Why is someone with no engagement in public affairs before her sudden leadership role in the 2008 Republican presidential campaigns — someone who couldn’t even be bothered to vote, and can’t say how long she’s lived in California — suddenly running for governor of the state?
Conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Whitman’s business mentor, provides the answer. It was his idea that Whitman run for governor, and he convinced her to do it. … From my March 17th column.
** 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. … From my March 12th column.
** 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.
** 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.
In Rose Garden remarks this morning as he signed a big new jobs bill, President Barack Obama, citing a new fiscal analysis, said that his national health care reform bill would be the most significant effort to reduce the deficit since the balanced budget act of the 1990s.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are closing in on final passage of the national health care reform bill. Obama has again postponed his big Asia trip, this time till June, to one-time hometown Jakarta and other exotic ports of call, in order to close the deal. The word I hear is it is, at last, a go. … Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who intervened last year against State Bar officials to enable Sara Granda, a UC Davis law school graduate who is paralyzed from the neck down, to take the bar exam, has appointed her to a legal position with the state department of health services. … California Attorney General Jerry Brown was in the Inland Empire today joining forces with Republican Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco urging the public to help find members of a gang who tried to kill three police officers. … Billionaire Meg Whitman — who is today, predictably, already trying to alter the terms under which she will release her tax returns (and we haven’t even gotten to how long they will be available for needed forensic accounting analysis, which is to say, “Don’t blink”) — has also today, predictably, turned down a debate with Republican rival Steve Poizner offered by the Sacramento Bee and Fox News California stations. FNC made national anchor Bret Baier, who kept interrupting Obama in a nationally televised interview yesterday, available to moderate. Whitman and Poizner just debated before less than 2000 people in a constantly offline webcast format.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE GHOST(S): OF TONY BLAIR, ROMAN POLANKSI, AND A WAR ON TERROR.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: MEG WHITMAN RUNS INTO SOME REALITY-BASED PROBLEMS. Flushed out into actually fleshing out a program she has been touting for many months, billionaire Met Whitman is running into some serious reality-based problems.
There are the various sweeping and highly dubious claims I mention with regard to tax, budget, and regulatory proposals in my new column, linked below.
Even the author of this report has walked away from it, after getting shelled by authorities from Stanford and other major universities. Shouldn’t a would-be governor know this?
It really is simpler to just keep repeating that you want more jobs, better education, and more efficient government and pretend you have a program that delivers that. Maybe an overawed press, just happy to be able to talk with her at last, will play along for a few more weeks.
** OBAMA POSTPONES ASIA TRIP AGAIN. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced at mid-day in Washington that President Barack Obama is postponing his Asia trip till June. It had been scheduled for March 18th, and was moved to March 21st to allow more time for passage of the national health care reform bill.
But with a vote likely on Sunday afternoon at the earliest, and substantial congressional handholding necessary throughout, it became clear that Obama could not jet off to Jakarta and other points west.
That includes far right Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who is only four points behind Boxer!
This is in sharp contrast to the governor’s race, in which billionaire Meg Whitman’s massive unanswered advertising has given her a three-point lead over Jerry Brown, according to Field.
Brown still holds a massive lead over the other Republican, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. And in other polls is slightly ahead of Whitman, or even, as in the Republican Rasmussen poll, which has the race at 40% Brown, 40% Whitman.
Field has the Senate race this way: Ex-Congressman Tom Campbell 44%, Boxer 43%. Boxer 45%, ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina 44%. Boxer 45%, DeVore 41%.
In the Republican primary, the numbers are close. Campbell leads Fiorina, 28% to 22%. That’s all on name ID, and about what it was in January. DeVore trails with 9%.
Fiorina is poised to beat Campbell, who is at a financial disadvantage and has serious problems over his oft-changed story of his relationship with a convicted jihadist terrorist, his proposal of a big gas tax increase, and support for the legalization of heroin.
Indonesia is getting ready to welcome President Barack Obama in his first visit to the country as U.S. president. Many in the capital Jakarta have fond memories of Obama as a boy growing up. But will he have to postpone his Asia trip again as the national health care reform bill comes down to the wire?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
The national health care reform bill is getting down to the short strokes, and Obama has cleared much of his schedule to deal with details and lobby wavering members of Congress.
The Congressional Budget Office released its “scoring” of the bill. It will, in the CBO’s analysis, cost $940 billion, provide coverage to 32 million more Americans, and reduce the federal deficit by $130 billion over the next decade, and over a trillion dollars over the following decade.
Those are numbers that will please moderates.
A vote is tentatively being set for Sunday.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then signed the HIRE Act in the Rose Garden. This is a $17 billion bill to stimulate job creation.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
For his part, Vice President Joe Biden is off to North Carolina today to promote the economic recovery act.
He speaks at Cree, Inc. in Durham, North Carolina.
He then meets with small business owners and local officials to discuss the recovery act, then returns to Washington in the evening.
Biden is lobbying members of Congress on the national health care reform bill today by phone, as well as bolstering support in North Carolina.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Moscow to work on closing the new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and to meet with other members of the Quartet powers on the Middle East (U.S., Russia, European Union, and United Nations).
Clinton is meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, President Dmitri Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on nuclear weapons and other security-related matters.
Clinton and U.S. special envoy to Middle East George Mitchell will meet on the stalled Israeli/Palestinian peace process with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, EU foreign secretary Catherine Ashton, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet special envoy.
With the national health care reform bill reaching its final stages, Obama also finds himself this week managing a crisis with Israel. It came just before the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) meeting in Washington, which is drawing Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to town.
Analysts say that Al Qaeda has been seriously weakened by a relentless series of drone missile attacks and special forces raids against its leadership cadre since the end of 2008.
In the wake of last week’s snub of visiting Vice President Joe Biden in the form of the announcement of 1600 new housing units for the hotly disputed West Bank, Obama rescinded the scheduled trip to the region this week of Middle East envoy George Mitchell. Meanwhile, Palestinians are protesting the proposed increased Israeli settlement presence in East Jerusalem. Israel captured the area from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
He holds private talks in and around the Capitol.
Presented with only a fraction of the solutions he’d sought California’s chronic budget crisis, Schwarzenegger has vetoed all but a fraction of that, placing the remarkably slow-moving legislative process back at square one.
** THE MITT & MEG SHOW: “TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS”Billionaire Meg Whitman, the seeming political cipher who would be governor of California, is purchasing endless amounts of unanswered advertising. It’s propelled her into a slight lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in the new Field Poll, something which Brown (who’s held, lost, and held again leads in many campaigns) told me weeks ago that he expected.
Yet she has serious problems. At this past weekend’s state Republican convention, she tried to deal with two of them: Her avoidance of the press and her mysterious motivation as a newfound politician.
As a character, Meg Whitman lacks evident psychological credibility. Why is someone with no engagement in public affairs before her sudden leadership role in the 2008 Republican presidential campaigns — someone who couldn’t even be bothered to vote, and can’t say how long she’s lived in California — suddenly running for governor of the state?
Conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Whitman’s business mentor, provides the answer. It was his idea that Whitman run for governor, and he convinced her to do it. … From my March 17th column.
** 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. … From my March 12th column.
** 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.
** 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.
A Pakistani court charged five young Americans on Wednesday with planning terrorist attacks in the South Asian country. Their lawyer says the five, who are from the Washington, D.C. area, were actually heading to Afghanistan.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama comes to California next month to campaign for Senator Barbara Boxer, with a big fundraiser in Los Angeles and other events. … That suspiciously slow count of Iraq’s March 7th parliamentary elections continues, with a major plot twist. With about 80% of the vote counted, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s slate is surprisingly running neck and neck with the more secular slate of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose family actually lives in Britain, where he lived for half his life.
** THE MITT & MEG SHOW: “TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS”Billionaire Meg Whitman, the seeming political cipher who would be governor of California, is purchasing endless amounts of unanswered advertising. It’s propelled her into a slight lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in the new Field Poll, something which Brown (who’s held, lost, and held again leads in many campaigns) told me weeks ago that he expected.
Yet she has serious problems. At this past weekend’s state Republican convention, she tried to deal with two of them: Her avoidance of the press and her mysterious motivation as a newfound politician.
As a character, Meg Whitman lacks evident psychological credibility. Why is someone with no engagement in public affairs before her sudden leadership role in the 2008 Republican presidential campaigns — someone who couldn’t even be bothered to vote, and can’t say how long she’s lived in California — suddenly running for governor of the state?
Conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Whitman’s business mentor, provides the answer. It was his idea that Whitman run for governor, and he convinced her to do it. …
** CALIFORNIA OPEN PRIMARY ADVOCATES WIN FINAL COURT VICTORY. After a court victory late last week, advocates of the open primary initiative on the June ballot, Proposition 14, this morning won a final victory in the California state court of appeals over an effort by open primary opponents to re-write the ballot summary and fiscal impact statement for the initiative.
The state Legislature passed the open primary act last year as part of a compromise state budget deal, placing it on the June ballot with designated descriptive language. But in early March, 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 refused 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 was a surprise is that the measure’s proponents say they received no notice of this, and learned of it only on a blog. And in a further surprise, in point of fact if not politically, Legislative Counsel operation was 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.
Once that was revealed, the legislative operation backed away from that position. Open primary advocates, a coalition that includes Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, several reform groups, and former state Controller Steve Westly and Governor Gray Davis, were granted standing to oppose the move. They have now prevailed, and passage of the initiative appears likely.
The initiative, which would force candidates to appeal to a general election audience from the beginning, will cause general election campaigns to feature the top two candidates in the primary, regardless of party. It is opposed by both major political parties and Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.
** NEW POLL: DEMOCRATS HAVE SLIGHT EDGE IN CONGRESSIONAL PREFERENCE. There is no question that Congress is highly unpopular. And there is no question that the far too lengthy debate over the national health care reform bill has fed a firestorm of controversy.
Yet there is also no question that Congressional Republicans are highly unpopular.
Voters disapprove of the Republicans in Congress by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The White House has gone green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. They do the same thing with the river in Chicago.
** CALIFORNIA FIELD POLL: WHITMAN HAS NARROW LEAD OVER JERRY BROWN, HUGE LEAD OVER POIZNER. As I reported here yesterday, a new Field Poll screened for likely California voters shows billionaire Meg Whitman moving into a slight lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in November’s race for governor. And a huge lead over her super-rich Republican primary rival, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.
Brown sources told me weeks ago that they expected Whitman to take a lead on the strength of her massive uncontested advertising.
It’s Whitman 46%, Brown 43%, which is within the margin of error of the poll. And Whitman 63%, Poizner 14%. Which is not within the margin of error of the poll.
The Irish-Catholic Brown leads Poizner, 49% to 32%. That’s about the same as it’s been throughout.
Whitman, as you know, has been spending millions for months on advertising. Poizner has only recently gone on the air, in a muddled TV ad which tries to do too many things in 30 seconds. Brown is husbanding his resources for the general election.
Despite heavy hype in some elements of the press, notably the San Francisco Chronicle, rather prematurely announced Democratic independent expenditure committees still have spent no appreciable amounts of money on advertising against the very rich Republican contenders.
One committee launched with great fanfare in the Chronicle on February 10th.
At least on the surface, the independent expenditure situation is as I reported it was nearly a month ago.
Whitman’s advertising presents her as essentially a non-partisan figure, whereas her actual positions are those of a big business conservative in the fashion of her mentor, conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who identified himself as the intellectual author of her candidacy at their joint appearance this past Friday night at the California Republican Party’s convention banquet in Santa Clara.
** OBAMA TODAY. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
There is a very large St. Patrick’s Day theme to the day, on the surface. Beneath the surface, attention is focused on the national health care reform bill and worsened relations with Israel in the wake of new clashes on the West Bank over an expansion of settlements there.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then met with the Taoiseach of Ireland Brian Cowen in the Oval Office.
At 9:35 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Friends of Ireland Luncheon at the Capitol. The taoiseach and Vice President Joe Biden also attend.
At 4:25 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host a St. Patrick’s Day reception in the East Room.
For his part, Biden hosted a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast at the Naval Observatory
Tonight Biden delivers remarks at the Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Moscow today and tomorrow to work on closing the new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and to meet with other members of the Quartet powers on the Middle East (U.S., Russia, European Union, and United Nations).
Clinton is meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, President Dmitri Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on nuclear weapons and other security-related matters.
Clinton and U.S. special envoy to Middle East George Mitchell will meet on the stalled Israeli/Palestinian peace process with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, EU foreign secretary Catherine Ashton, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet special envoy.
Erstwhile ultra-left presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, a congressman from Cleveland, Ohio who had previously opposed the national health care reform bill because it is not the government-run system he favors, announced this morning that he is switching his No vote to Yes.
With the national health care reform bill reaching its final stages, Obama also finds himself this week managing a crisis with Israel. It comes just before the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) meeting in Washington, which is drawing Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to town.
In the wake of last week’s snub of visiting Vice President Joe Biden in the form of the announcement of 1600 new housing units for the hotly disputed West Bank, Obama rescinded the scheduled trip to the region this week of Middle East envoy George Mitchell. Meanwhile, Palestinians are protesting the proposed increased Israeli settlement presence in East Jerusalem. Israel captured the area from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967.
Palestinain protests turned violent yesterday and today.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
In Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal is placing all but a few special operations units under his direct purview. The move comes in the wake of continued high civilian casualties during special forces missions.
In Iran, the regime is now saying it is willing to exchange its uranium for enriched uranium. But only within Iran, and at once.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
He holds private talks in and around the Capitol.
Presented with only a fraction of the solutions he’d sought California’s chronic budget crisis, Schwarzenegger has vetoed all but a fraction of that, placing the remarkably slow-moving legislative process back at square one.
** 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. … From my March 12th column.
** 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.
** 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.
Violent clashes erupted today in East Jerusalem over the Israeli policy of increased settlements there.
** QUICK HITS.The Israeli-Palestinian peace process went from bad to worse today, as you can see in the video footage above. The controversy over expanded settlements in the disputed West Bank is leading to an impasse of sorts between the U.S. and Israel. … Since I am not a subscriber to the Field Poll (I am a subscriber to the Public Policy Institute of California poll), I can reveal that tomorrow’s Field Poll will show that billionaire Meg Whitman’s massive unanswered advertising campaign has moved her into a slight lead over Jerry Brown in the California governor’s race. Whitman also has a huge lead over her Republican rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. …
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE MITT & MEG SHOW: “TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS”
** SCHWARZENEGGER PUSHES BACK HARD ON ANTI-AB 32 MOVES. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the Green California Expo this morning. Having been in the middle of it, I can tell you that it was a tumultuous slow walk with a large entourage, festooned with cameras, interrupted by countless well-wishers.
Schwarzenegger stopped at many displays of what looks like a vibrant emerging green technology sector in California.
He also pushed back hard against the forces that want to roll back California’s landmark climate change program, AB 32.
Two Texas oil companies are funding an initiative drive seeking to place a proposition on the November ballot to roll back AB 32. The weekend’s California Republican Party convention, which Schwarzenegger did not attend, was awash in anti-AB 32 sentiment. Both candidates who are trying to succeed Schwarzenegger, billionaire Meg Whitman and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, want to suspend AB 32. Whitman also vowed to call a halt to all new regulation in California, claiming in her Friday night banquet speech with her mentor, conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that it has cost four million jobs.
This morning, Schwarzenegger was having none of that.
“It’s an amazing experience to come through here, and see the technology moving so quickly. All the innovation, and we see because of our policies that we have put in place, people are saying this is where we want to do business, no matter where they come from around the world. Because they know that we stay with the policy moving forward.
“I think that the Californian people are very much for protecting our environment. And for supporting AB 32. I think Californian people are outraged that Texas oil companies are coming to California to try to change the law and affect policies in California.
“I mean, it’s outrageous. And so this is why I think all of us, environmentalists and ordinary citizens, we all will be out there defending AB 32, this historic, landmark policy that rolls back greenhouse gases and protects the environment.”
Why the push for the anti-AB 32 initiative?
“It’s just greed. They just want to go and make decisions for another state,” he said, referring to the two Texas oil companies bankrolling the drive. “We make the decisions for this state.”
Schwarzenegger noted California’s long history as a leader, especially on energy.
“This has been what we do here. Energy conservation. The state has been number one, 40% more energy efficient than the rest of the United States, for a long time. And the great thing about AB32 is job creation, look around here. Every one of the businesses that I visited want to expand. The only place that is creating jobs now is the green sector. So why would I want to go and undo that? Why would we want to go back to the Stone Age?”
** THE BIG NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SPLIT. OR IS IT A WASH? A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll is coming out late this afternoon on the national health care reform bill. But part of it has been released in advance. And that part shows that, while the vote is certainly a tough one for members of Congress, it may also be something of a wash.
Asked if their representative were to vote with Republicans to ditch the current health care overhaul bill, 31% said they would be more likely to vote for him or her in November while 34% said they’d be less likely and 34% said it wouldn’t matter. The poll, which comes out later today, also asked voters how they would feel if their representative voted with Democrats to pass the bill, and 28% said they’d be more likely to vote for him or her. On the other hand, 36% said they’d be less likely, and 34% said there would be no difference.
That sounds to me like President Barack Obama has the opportunity to recast the bill once passed.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE GREAT DEBATE! THAT WASN’T! Billionaire Meg Whitman and her Republican rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, faced off in their first debate last night before a private fundraising group in Orange County. Frankly, the event was something of a farce.
The debate should have taken place, as Poizner wanted, at the California Republican Party convention just before in Santa Clara. But Whitman would have none of that.
Far more people would have seen the event, which was not televised. There were also far more press in attendance in Santa Clara.
I watched the debate on a live webcast, the only way it could be seen outside the hall in Costa Mesa. Actually, I should say that I tried watching it.
For a big money group, the New Majority — joined by the California Chamber of Commerce and California Association of Realtors as the co-sponsors — did a remarkably inept job of operating a webcast. It cut out entirely about 20 minutes in, then played intermittently after that.
I would say that the shockingly bad transmission kept viewership down. However, there were only about 1700 people viewing when the transmission was first lost. From what I could tell, viewership topped out around 2000 at the debate’s height.
As for the debate itself, there were no knockout blows landed.
Whitman nearly knocked herself out, however. First when she didn’t know how to use her microphone. Again when she nearly knocked the water over. Her expected case of nerves led to some serious clumsiness on the Republican frontrunner’s part.
In contrast, Poizner was much more relaxed.
He zinged her as a liberal masquerading as a conservative. She zinged him as a liberal masquerading as a conservative.
I think you see where this is going.
Both sides claimed victory. The press onhand proclaimed it a draw. I say, let’s see a real debate in front of a real audience, on television, not the world’s most inept webcast viewed by 1500 political junkies.
The two debate again in May.
President Barack Obama continued his renewed push for a national health care reform bill yesterday in Ohio.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have received the daily intelligence briefing and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 9 AM Pacific, Obama and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine have lunch in the Private Dining Room.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama meet with Secretary of Defense Bob Gates in the Oval Office.
In other action, Biden hosted a breakfast meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Naval Observatory. Biden also meets with senior officials to assess progress in Iraq in the wake of the national parliamentary elections.
Clinton is off to Moscow tomorrow to work on closing the new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and to meet with other members of the Quartet powers on the Middle East (U.S., Russia, European Union, and United Nations).
Clinton will meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, President Dmitri Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on nuclear weapons and other security-related matters.
Clinton and U.S. special envoy to Middle East George Mitchell will meet on the stalled Israeli/Palestinian peace process with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, EU foreign secretary Catherine Ashton, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet special envoy.
With the national health care reform bill reaching its final stages, Obama also finds himself this week managing a crisis with Israel. It comes just before the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) meeting in Washington, which is drawing Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to town.
In the wake of last week’s snub of visiting Vice President Joe Biden in the form of the announcement of 1600 new housing units for the hotly disputed West Bank, Obama rescinded the scheduled trip to the region this week of Middle East envoy George Mitchell. Meanwhile, Palestinians are protesting the proposed increased Israeli settlement presence in East Jerusalem. Israel captured the area from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
Schwarzenegger tours the Green California Expo this morning at the Sacramento Convention Center.
** 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. … From my March 12th column.
** 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 Pentagon is investigating reports in the New York Times and elsewhere that one of its officials illegally hired contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to track down and kill insurgents.
** 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.
** 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.
President Barack Obama traveled today to the Ohio hometown of a cancer victim who wrote to the president saying that she gave up her health insurance after the cost rose to $8,500 a year. Obama cited that letter to illustrate the urgency of the national health care reform bill.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE MITT & MEG SHOW: “TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS”
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama sat down with ABC News today and pronounced himself very confident about the fate of the national health care reform bill. … In advance of tonight’s Republican gubernatorial debate, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s press secretary Aaron McLear put out a fact sheet showing Schwarzenegger to be amongst the thriftiest spenders of modern California governors, which also notes Schwarzenegger’s permanent cuts to social welfare spending. … None of this is enough for billionaire Meg Whitman or her super-rich rival, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. They both want not only budget cuts, but also more tax cuts. Both oppose the open primary reform initiative backed by Schwarzenegger, and support a proposed initiative to eliminate California’s landmark climate change program, an effort bankrolled by two big Texas oil companies.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE WHITMAN-POIZNER DEBATE. Finally, the first debate between Republican gubernatorial primary rivals Meg Whitman, the billionaire former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair, and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Spending heavily for months on advertising — and ducking the four debates that Poizner and ex-Congressman Tom Campbell, who dropped out to run for the U.S. Senate — Whitman has built up a big lead in polls over Poizner. But is there any real depth to this lead?
Private polling, in no way connected with the Poizner campaign, indicates that Whitman’s unfavorables are growing, getting close to her favorable rating, even without any real attack on her.
The hour-long debate unfolds tonight at 5:30 PM before a private Republican fundraising group, the New Majority, in Orange County. The event, fittingly is co-sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Association of Realtors, and is open by invitation only.
Poizner and many others had wanted Whitman to debate this past weekend at the California Republican Party convention in Silicon Valley, before the assembled party delegates from around the state and most of what remains of the state’s press corps.
Now, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. Big ones. The surveys were conducted last year, though later in the year, and are only being released now. Since phone service is relatively minimal, the surveys were conducted face-to-face. The respondents may have been under the impression that they were dealing with a government official. And I have no way of knowing if samples were properly drawn from a proper census model, which I’d expect would not be easy to construct in those countries.
The Taliban’s presence on either side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is largely unwelcome, but increasingly so in Pakistan, where Gallup surveys show they have lost much of the little appeal they had. Four percent of Pakistanis in a November-December 2009 poll, conducted prior to Pakistan’s current push to rout the Taliban within its borders, said the Taliban’s presence in some areas of the country has a positive influence, down from 15% in June.
Gallup most recently polled Pakistanis in the particularly deadly period after the army’s anti-Taliban operations in the South Waziristan tribal area started in October. Retributive militant attacks across Pakistan reportedly have claimed more than 600 Pakistanis’ lives since then, which the public’s increasingly negative view of the Taliban may reflect.
The Taliban lost support in every region of Pakistan. But nowhere are they more unpopular than in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), ground zero for a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban last May. In November-December 2009, 1% of NWFP residents said the Taliban have a positive influence, down from 11% in June. The percentage saying the Taliban’s influence is positive in Baluchistan, which abuts South Waziristan, dropped from 26% to 5%.
On the other side of the border, Afghans agree with Pakistanis that the Taliban have a negative influence. However, Afghans’ views have remained relatively unchanged despite the Taliban’s threats and violence before the presidential election in August. In both surveys in 2009, roughly 8 in 10 Afghans said the Taliban has a negative influence.
Majorities of Afghans in every region of the country see the Taliban as a negative influence, with their opinions changing little throughout 2009. Residents in the South, which included people in Kandahar, where U.S. and coalition forces are expected to challenge the Taliban this summer, continued to be more likely than others to say the Taliban have a positive influence. But even so, the majority said the Taliban have a negative influence.
White House senior advisor David Axelrod, the chief strategist in the Obama for President campaign, discusses the problematic nature of recent developments in relations between Israel, Palestine, and the U.S.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
A very big week lies ahead in presidential politics, along with a big week in California politics.
This is the crunch week for the national health care reform bill, now, once again, on the verge of passage in both houses.
It is also a week in which a long simmering crisis with Israel, now governed by a far right coalition in which conservative Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is the moderate voice of reason, may come to a head.
It’s also the week in which the delayed results for Iraq’s national parliamentary elections are due to come to light.
In California politics, billionaire Meg Whitman and her super-rich Republican rival, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, finally face off for their first debate tonight in Orange County before a private fundraising group. Whitman succeeded in avoiding a debate before the state Republican convention and most of the remaining state press corps this past weekend.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger keeps pushing for more budget solutions, delayed through a combination of Democratic legislative intransigence on cuts (party leaders have already pledged not to seek tax hikes) and what is probably too much hopefulness over revenues finally rising from the depths of the Great Recession.
Schwarzenegger also is gearing up the campaign to pass the open primary initiative, now opposed by would-be moderate Meg Whitman and, naturally, by the hard right California Republican Party whose convention he skipped this past weekend. In addition, Schwarzenegger is rallying support against the proposed initiative to repeal California’s landmark climate change program, funded by two big Texas oil companies, and supported by both Poizner and Whitman.
And the gubernatorial and Senate races move forward. Whitman is finally being flushed out (and fleshed out — see my upcoming column) and Carly Fiorina is gaining momentum in the Republican Senate race with putative frontrunner Tom Campbell on the ropes over his friendship with and support from a jihadist professor convicted of terrorist activity.
The White House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are acting confident about finally gaining passage of the national health care reform bill. They’d better be. Obama postponed the start of his big Asia trip by three days, from March 18th to March 21st, to gain work on the issue. He’s finally out selling the bill in the country, something which began last week and continues this week.
Given the crucial nature and timing of the health care issue, this is probably not the week in which the White House wants a big controversy with Israel. But it may be inevitable. The big AIPAC pro-Israel conference in Washington is this week, featuring an appearance by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. That worthy may have been sandbagged by a couple of his ultra-right ministers last week in the announcement — while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting to jump-start the Israeli/Palestinian peace process — of 1600 new housing units for the hotly disputed West Bank territory.
Israelis and Palestinians had both agreed, at last, to indirect negotiations, with U.S. special envoy George Mitchell engaging in shuttle diplomacy between the two parties. Biden wanted to make that more direct. Now even that is in serious jeopardy. I’ve long suspected that extremists on both sides will sabotage any real peace effort. It’s not as though the situation hasn’t been demonstrating its intractable nature for decades on end.
The vote count slowed dramatically in Iraq last week, with two deadlines come and gone. A situation attributed to computer problems, the all-purpose excuse in the Information Age. But now we are supposed to get comprehensive if not final tallies late this week.
The credibility of the Iraqi election results will have a major impact both on the stability of the Iraqi government, which is actually, all things considered, doing well under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. And that in turn will directly affect the timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops this fall.
I’ll have a lot more about the California Republicans in my upcoming piece. For now, let’s say that Whitman, under pressure and looking down at the abyss of her hopes, stepped away from the precipice of post-journalism politics and into the no man’s land of peekaboo politics. She also finally was flushed out into fleshing out her purported agenda of jobs, education, and governmental efficiency. I say purported because there was virtually nothing to what she’d been saying. Now there is, and it’s, let’s say, not unfamiliar, and not unproblematic.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Ohio today.
Obama has traveled from Washington to Cleveland, Ohio. He has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings on Air Force One.
At 9:05 AM Pacific, Obama lands in Cleveland.
At 10:05 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on health care reform.
At 11:25 AM Pacific, Obama departs Cleveland on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 12:35 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 12:50 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 1:15 PM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles, Salinas, Sacramento, and Silicon Valley today.
At 10:15 AM, Schwarzenegger will hold a press conference at a housing development in Salinas to highlight the proposal to extend and expand the $10,000 homebuyer tax credit to include the purchase of existing homes, in addition to new residences, for first-time homebuyers.
At 7 PM, Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks at the Irish Technology Leadership Group Awards Banquet at Stanford University.
** 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. … From my March 12th column.
** 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.
** 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.
The new miniseries The Pacific, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, premiered last night on HBO. This is the follow-on to 2001′s highly acclaimed Band of Brothers. Where the latter followed paratroopers fighting Europe in World War II, this Spielberg/Hanks miniseries follows the Marines, engaged in far more brutal combat in the Pacific.
** 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.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama President discusses his blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul No Child Left Behind.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He is postponing his trip to Asia, which had been scheduled to begin on March 18th, for three days to keep working on the national health care reform bill.
Obama senior advisor David Axelrod, on one of the Sunday chat shows, expressed great confidence in the final passage of the national health care reform bill, which Obama is still working on.
Preliminary results from last Sunday’s national parliamentary elections in Iraq, which came off despite jihadist attempts to disrupt them, were to have been released on Thursday. Instead, only some results have been available. What’s the hang-up? Supposedly, it’s due to computer problems.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was hospitalized recently but shrugs off a supposed assassination attempt, seems to have a slight lead.
Israel is trying to make nice with the U.S. after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton read the riot act to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in a lengthy phone call for embarrassing Vice President Joe Biden with the announcement of 1600 new housing units in hotly disputed areas.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of state.
He has no scheduled public events.
Schwarzenegger did not attend the California Republican Party convention this weekend in Silicon Valley.
I did. And I will have lengthy reports during the week including a new feature column. (I was too busy on Saturday to write something and, in any event, there were no blockbuster happenings.)
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 the action superstar’s right.
Whitmann stepped back from the abyss of totally post-journalism politics, but launched into a new phase of peekaboo politics. She also launched into an unprecedented duo performance with her mentor, conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Aside from her Friday night banquet appearance, Whitman was not much in evidence at the convention, which she left altogether after her breakfast Saturday morning with Romney, who celebrated his birthday on Friday by appearing with Whitman.
Poizner, in contrast worked the convention and its grassroots activists through Saturday and into his evening banquet speech. Where Whitman spoke — to a notably tepid response — from subtly concealed teleprompters, despite her resolutely conservative message, Poizner spoke without notes. His response was better, if hardly overwhelming.
The star of the convention on Saturday turned out to be Carly Fiorina, the ex-Hewlett Packard CEO running for U.S. Senate. The current leader in the GOP primary, ex-Congressman Tom Campbell, had a much smaller presence and was overshadowed, still struggling with his past involvement with a convicted jihadist terrorist.
Fiorina’s speech, also delivered without a teleprompter (though she used some notes on a stool, to which she circled back from time to time), delivered in a theater-in-the-round set-up, was a big hit. As was the new film from “Demon Sheep” creator ad man Fred Davis. Featuring a giant Hindenberg head of Senator Barbara Boxer, floating across the country from Washington to California, making various pronouncements, it’s a clever skewering of Boxer and promotion of Fiorina’s pseudo-populist, anti-big government themes.
Behind-the-scenes video of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks visiting the White House to screen their new series The Pacific. The miniseries tells the story of the Pacific front during World War II.
** 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. … From my March 12th column.
** 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 $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.
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.
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