In the second of two fundraisers last night in Los Angeles, Jerry Brown attended an event hosted by the Obama-affiliated Generation for Change in the W Hotel’s rooftop nightclub, where he defended strong environmental regulation in the wake of the Gulf oil disaster.
** QUICK HITS. A sad milestone was reached today. With this morning’s suicide attack against a U.S. military convoy in Kabul, the 1000th American has been killed in action in Afghanistan. … The Securities & Exchange Commission adopted new rules to try to prevent the May 6th “flash crash” on Wall Street in which computerized trading progams triggered a sudden 1000-point meltdown in the Dow. … Pakistan has arrested an army major linked to Faisal Shahzad, the naturalized American citizen who is the prime suspect in the failed Times Square car bombing.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN. Never let it be said that political consultants don’t try the same things more than once.
In a move strangely reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign in the 2003 California recall election, billionaire Meg Whitman, now in a very tough fight in the Republican gubernatorial primary with Steve Poizner, yesterday called for a Cabinet-level inspector general and a special state grand jury to root out “$10 to $15 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse” in the California state budget.
In 2003, Schwarzenegger, though he did not cite such a dramatic figure, pledged to conduct a special state audit as governor to root out, yes, “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Schwarzenegger’s private polling showed that most voters, who don’t really have much idea about the state budget, felt that as much as a third of the budget was wasted.
So, advised by consultant Mike Murphy, who is now Whitman’s chief strategist (and who was also Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s consultant), Schwarzenegger imported the very conservative Florida budget director Donna Arduin to conduct the audit.
Arduin didn’t find all that waste, fraud, and abuse. In fact, she didn’t find much at all. But after her preliminary report, she was kept on as state budget director, where she had a controversial tenure.
Schwarzenegger instituted the California Performance Review to find long-term efficiencies in government. It didn’t come up with dramatic easy savings, either, and fell afoul of opposition from liberal interest groups and, most tellingly, internal infighting within the administration.
Now, oddly, after massive budget cuts, Whitman is still parroting the notion that there are these massive savings to be found by getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse.
If they were there, Schwarzenegger would have gotten rid of them by now.
In fairness, Whitman may simply be unaware of the recent history here. By her own admission, she didn’t bother to vote in the 2003 recall, merely one of the most famous and galvanizing elections in history, and a key moment of distress for the state about which she purports to care so deeply that she now wants to govern it.
For his part, the de facto Democratic nominee, former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown, denounced Whitman’s ideas as “nonsense” and added bureaucracy to boot campaigning yesterday at UC Santa Barbara and in Los Angeles.
Talking on the phone yesterday between campaign events, Brown made it clear that he doesn’t take Whitman’s recycled consultant-derived notions about state government seriously.
Frankly, it’s not easy to take someone seriously who has been talking non-stop for over a year about cutting 40,000 state government jobs as some sort of fiscal panacea — which the arithmetic shows it clearly is not — but is still unable to say which jobs she would cut.
In a recent Sacramento TV news interview, Whitman struggled badly at first to go beyond her talking point. Finally, she said she would cut jobs in prisons.
Unfortunately for Whitman, she had already called for building more prisons. Oops.
Citing growing cooperation with Russia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have agreed on a draft of new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program. This comes a day after Iran announced a deal with Turkey and Brazil to swap some of its uranium for enrichment abroad.
** IRAN’S NUCLEAR SWAP BACKFIRES. Iranian leaders thought they had come up with a way to stop a new round of sanctions against their nuclear program, which is heading in the direction of weapons development. Yesterday they announced a deal to swap some of their uranium for further enrichment by Turkey and Brazil.
But the deal left many other questions unanswered with regard to a variety of facilities and the country’s refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. And, unlike the deal Iran agreed to last fall and then reneged on, it did not account for most of the country’s store of uranium. That would be its known store of uranium.
In a swift answer to the Iran nuclear fuel deal secured Monday by Turkey and Brazil, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that world powers had finalized a package of “strong” new sanctions against Iran.
After months of diplomatic efforts, the US secured support overnight from Russia and China, removing the possibility that the move would be vetoed by the United Nations Security Council. The draft would be circulated later Tuesday to the full council, she said.
“This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken by Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide,” Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There are a number of unanswered questions regarding the announcement coming from Tehran.”
While Clinton said the US acknowledged the “sincere efforts of both Turkey and Brazil to find a solution,” she made clear that the US considered Iran to be still in breach of five Security Council resolutions against it.
“We are proceeding to rally the international community on behalf of a strong sanctions resolution that will in our view send an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran,” Clinton said.
Of course, it’s unclear how effective these sanctions, as yet undisclosed, will be. They apparently center on searches of shipments and financial sanctions against key elements of the Iranian national security state.
They shy away from more broad-based sanctions that would impact the Iranian people, and hence the regime’s popular legitimacy. But legislation is pending in Congress to deal with that eventuality, in the form of an embargo on refined petroleum products.
That bill, authored by LA Congressman Howard Berman, has already passed the House.
Though Iran is a major oil producer, it has little in the way of refining capacity, leaving Iran dependent on others for much of its gasoline.
A Taliban suicide bomber driving a van loaded with explosives attacked an American military convoy during the morning rush hour in the Afghan capital city of Kabul with a highly lethal result.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … AFTER THE AFPAK SUMMIT: FIVE KEY THINGS TO KNOW.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 7:20 AM Pacific, Obama departs the White House on Marine One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 7:50 AM Pacific, Obama departs Andrews Air Force Base on Air Force One en route to Youngstown, Ohio.
At 9:50 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Youngstown, Ohio.
At 10:20 AM Pacific, Obama tours the facilities of V&M Star, a pipe manufacturer expanding with help from the economic recovery act.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on jobs and the economy to workers.
At 12:20 PM Pacific, Obama departs Youngstown, Ohio on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 1:25 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 1:55 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 2:15 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Jewish members of the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses.
There are big elections tonight in Pennsylvania and Arkansas, where two Democratic senators, ex-Republican Arlen Specter and Blanche Lincoln, face tough challenges in Democratic primaries.
In other action, Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a rally for Iowa Governor Chet Culver.
And National Security Advisor General James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta are in Pakistan for meetings with Pakistani leaders.
They are there to assess progress in the war against internal jihadists and the Pakistani Taliban connections to the failed Times Square car bombing. They are expected to urge more of a crackdown against training camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where suspect Faisal Shahzad, son of a retired Pakistani general, says he received training before his failed attack in New York.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
In Afghanistan, a Taliban suicide bomber roaming the streets of the capital city Kabul struck during the morning rush hour, targeting an American military convoy. At least 10 people were killed, including five American soldiers.
In Iran, officials are gauging reaction to their agreement with Turkey and Brazil to swap lightly enriched uranium for further enrichment to use in their medical reactor.
France and Germany immediately denounced it, saying it is a distraction from Iran’s other nuclear facilities and its refusal to adequately cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Sanctions are needed immediately, the two countries said in separate statements. Russia insists on getting more information before approving the plan.
BP’s best case scenario for the precarious siphoning of oil from the undersea flow in the Gulf oil disaster is far short of a solution.
Obama is monitoring the Gulf oil disaster, where things haven’t improved much. The device that BP finally succeeded in inserting to siphon off oil from the massive undersea leak is only getting, at most, 20% of the flow.
Obama is going to appoint an independent commission of inquiry on the disaster. The chief federal regulator of offshore oil drilling, a holdover from the Bush/Cheney Administration, has resigned.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 8:15 AM, Schwarzenegger will participate in a moderated discussion with California Chamber of Commerce president Allan Zaremberg at the Chamber’s 85th annual Sacramento Host prayer breakfast at the Sacramento Convention Center.
At 2:30 PM, Schwarzenegger will join First Lady Maria Shriver and deliver remarks at Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Green Initiative Kickoff at the Secretary of State Building.
The Green Initiative will bring together leaders from the business, non-profit, academic, civil and governmental sectors to coordinate regional efforts to encourage green technology job growth
** MEG WHITMAN’S WILD WEEK THAT WAS.Is billionaire Meg Whitman having fun yet? She’s certainly had a careening week in her once seeming juggernaut of a bid to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California.
In any car race, the worst moment is not when the trailing car pulls up in the rear view mirror, it’s when you can no longer see it in the rear view mirror. That’s because it’s alongside.
I’ve been reporting for weeks on her steep slide in private polling on her Republican primary race against super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who was once dismissed by nearly all as a hapless speed bump in the race. That culminated here on the Huffington Post in “Meg Whitman’s Titanic Campaign for Governor of California.”
After a lot of denial of the truth by her chief strategist Mike Murphy and others in the well-paid Whitman camp, this week they had to face facts. This week began with a stark bit of reality. … From my May 15th column.
** IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK AND CONFUSED.The biggest movie of the summer may already be in theaters. It’s Iron Man 2, of course, sequel to 2008’s surprise smash hit starring Robert Downey, Jr. as that billionaire technologist/arms dealer-turned-peaceloving action hero Tony Stark. (Be aware that there are a few spoilers.)
Iron Man has cultural and political roots that elevate it beyond a simple action flick, and in Downey, a seemingly quirky choice, it has the post-modern Howard Hughes it needs. Downey’s old friend Warren Beatty has always said that casting is the key, and nowhere is that more obvious than with Downey. In the hands of a conventional action star or leading man, Tony Stark would not be nearly so interesting a character. … From my May 13th essay.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th 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 $36 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
However, it is down nearly one-fifth from two weeks ago. European economic activity is slowing again, there are still major worries about the Greek bail-out, and American inventory is increasing.
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 today signed a law intended to provide more protections for a free press around the world. The law, the Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act (named for the reporter murdered by jihadists), expands efforts to identify countries where press freedom is being violated.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … AFTER THE AFPAK SUMMIT: FIVE KEY THINGS TO KNOW.
** MEG WHITMAN: PORN QUEEN, AND THE STATE OF THE RACE AFTER THE WEEKEND. Sorry for the stereotypical Internet snark. Which does sort of write itself. Longtime readers know that I’m still into irony and dry humor, which sometimes goes over people’s heads.
This, of course, is well known to anyone who has frequented eBay. Several newspaper reports earlier this year delved into the details. The material is frequently more than a bit outre even for my rather libertine sensibility. Not that I’m offended, merely put off. But is it an appropriate business for a gubernatorial candidate representing the party of family values?
What the Poizner ad has not pointed out is the role of eBay under Whitman in the promotion of prostitution. With an eye to taking it over, Whitman led eBay into acquiring the largest outside stake in Craigslist, the online classifieds operation which has decimated the newspaper business. Craigslist swiftly became the largest vehicle for the promotion of prostitution.
Whitman secured a big role on the Craigslist board for eBay, but did not blanch at the sex trade side of the business, which was of course highly lucrative.
Her dealings with Craigslist later went badly south, but not because of any objection to its promotion of prostitution. Having failed to take it over outright, Whitman launched a competing service, which Craigslist leaders say benefited from, and this will sound familiar with regard to her tenure on the board of Goldman Sachs, inside information.
I don’t know what role this ad is playing in Poizner’s latest ad rotation around the state. It may be as much rhetorical as anything else at this point.
I do think that Poizner fell back some in private polling over the weekend. Though nowhere near to the extent of a poll touted by Whitman chief strategist Mike Murphy, whose similar pronouncements during the 2005 California special election were routinely wrong. This poll, commissioned by Whitman ally Joel Fox, a pro-business/anti-tax lobbyist who once headed the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, was conducted by some little-known PR firm and purports to have Whitman 18 points in the lead. Fat chance.
Why might Poizner have fallen back some over the weekend, from running essentially even to the high single digits or perhaps a bit more?
Two reasons. First, he is being attacked, and is still not that well known. Second, his Tom McClintock ad, which was both a positive and a negative ad, is off the air.
Which suggests a few things.
But for Poizner, help is already on the way.
In the form of Whitman’s new 60-second spot. As I predicted at the end of last week, it did not clear much onto the airwaves during watchable time over the weekend. Now that it is coming on the air, it’s taking up air time from other ads, and it’s limiting her impressions, as TV time is sold in 30-second increments.
** NEVADA STORY: THE MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN IMPLOSION. Nevada’s Republican primary for the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is breaking the way of the far right Tea Party candidate, as the establishment pick implodes.
Speaking of implosion, there is the case of Republican Governor Jim Gibbons. With all that is going on, I tend to give short shrift here to politics in Nevada (except in presidential politics), one of my favorite states and a frequent stomping grounds. I actually got married there, at least once. Yet I digress.
By the summer of 2008, Gov. Jim Gibbons’ whereabouts were often unknown — even to his senior staff.
Only he and his longtime scheduler had access to the governor’s calendar. As a result, senior staff were often forced to “wing it,” as one said. Some weekend days in spring and summer, he was not to be disturbed — he was mowing the significant lawn at his Reno home.
When Gibbons was absent or unavailable and something needed to get out, staff would use what is known as an “autopen,” a device that replicates a signature, to sign official documents and letters. Some staff would joke, “The autopen was the busiest employee in the state,” a former administration official said.
For them, the autopen became a symbol of Gibbons’ tenure. As Nevada endured the worst crisis in its history, he was for months — perhaps years — disengaged from the day-to-day duties of governing, uninterested in public policy and often absent. That is the portrait that emerged in interviews with more than a dozen current and former aides, legislators and lobbyists. Many former staff members would not comment, even when granted anonymity.
Now, fighting for his political life in next month’s Republican primary, Gibbons has recently become more engaged, including during the February special session of the Legislature to close a more than $800 million budget hole.
Yet in that fateful summer of 2008, Nevada needed leadership as the state’s fortunes were rapidly sinking: unemployment rising by half a percentage point per month, neighborhoods being emptied by foreclosures, Strip projects stalling, state government facing a fiscal crisis. The governor’s staff began to prepare its 2009 budget, knowing programs would have to be dramatically cut in response to plunging tax revenue.
In a series of meetings, Gibbons’ core staff gathered to determine how they would balance the budget. Gibbons never attended nor did he provide policy direction beyond “no tax increases, no fee increases,” according to a former official, whose account was confirmed by others. …
BP says engineers have finally succeeded in keeping some of the oil gushing from a blown well out of the Gulf of Mexico, hooking up a mile-long tube to funnel the crude into a tanker ship. The success follows three weeks of failures. But in reality, this techno-fix is capturing only a fraction of the flow, and is no final solution.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK. Another big week on tap in presidential politics. And California politics grows more intriguing as well, as Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator head toward the finish and as maneuvering around the state’s chronic budget deficit ramps up some.
For President Barack Obama, this is a week focused on the economic recovery, with more signs of slow improvement, the drive to confirm his pick Elena Kagan as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Gulf oil disaster, and geopolitics, including his second state dinner, this one for the president of Mexico.
On Monday, Obama signs the Freedom of Press Act, and in the afternoon welcomes the NCAA champion University of Connecticut women’s basketball team to the White House.
On Tuesday, Obama will travel to Youngstown, Ohio, and tour the facilities of V & M Star Ohio before delivering remarks on jobs and the economy to workers.
On Wednesday, Obama will hold a bilateral meeting and press conference with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico. In the evening, the the Obamas will host a State Dinner in honor of President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala.
On Thursday and Friday, Obama has meetings at the White House. The Obama White House likes to maintain flexibility in its scheduling toward the end of a week, so the weekly guidance frequently gets a little vague there.
Obama, clearly angry in his Friday press conference, is closely monitoring ongoing efforts to stop the BP oil spill and help affected communities.
BP is trying yet another techno-fix to stop the massive leakage nearly a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. This one involves inserting a device to siphon oil from the depths.
This one has had some success. But only some. About one-fifth of the oil estimated to be pouring constantly into Gulf water is now being siphoned off. That amount may increase in coming days. But it is not a final solution.
Not surprisingly, the federal regulatory agency that was supposed to inspect the late Deepwater Horizon and other such offshore oil rigs slacked off over the past decade.
Obama’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, Solicitor General and former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan, appeared to gain a clearer path to confirmation over the weekend when Republican leaders announced that they would not filibuster her nomination. Now she must pass through confirmation hearings, amidst an odd cable news-type debate over her sexuality. Is she a lesbian?
I personally don’t care (and she apparently is not) one way or the other. But many in the yaposphere are transfixed by the question. She has short hair (which is quite sensible for a busy woman), has never been married (which certainly made her skyrocketing career easier), and has been known to play softball. (Which is not the same as hanging in Palm Springs for the LPGA.) Amazing stuff, to be sure.
Back to serious matters.
Iran has announced an agreement with Turkey and Brazil to transfer uranium to be enriched for use in its medical reactor. Which might be a breakthrough of a sort. And might be a distraction from other nuclear facilities, and Iran’s refusal to cooperate with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.
The Iranian move comes, naturally, with an international consensus forming on the need for tough new sanctions against Iran for its rogue nuclear program. France and Germany reacted by denouncing Iran’s motives and calling for those sanctions.
Iran, of course, was emboldened geopolitically by the removal of Saddam Hussein. Obama also must contend with another result of the foolhardy invasion of Iraq.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed. With prodding from the Obama Administration, the major Shiite and Sunni parties have agreed to coalition talks, which have not happened.
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular Sunni party finished first, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have seen talks repeatedly canceled by Maliki and his party.
Maliki had high hopes for a recount of the vote in Baghdad Province. However, the recount is now finished and shows nothing wrong with the big vote for Allawi’s party.
Now Maliki seems to have run out of excuses. This week will see what he does next. The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops is scheduled to begin, well, now.
Obama will also have to pay close attention to Democratic primaries for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania and Arkansas. Two incumbent Democrats are in danger in those primaries. Former Republican Arlen Specter, facing a very close challenge from Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, a retired Navy admiral, someone who is not a reflexive hawk and might be a useful addition to Senate Democratic ranks. And Blanche Lincoln, facing a challenge from Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.
In California, the primary isn’t for a little over three weeks.
Former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown wrapped up the Democratic nomination for governor last year and Senator Barbara Boxer is the Democratic incumbent. So the action is on the Republican side, where candidates for both offices are hugging the far right rail in their bids to win an increasingly right-wing Republican primary electorate.
I explained the Republican gubernatorial primary in my recent piece, “Meg Whitman’s Wild Week That Was,” linked below. Whitman further abandoned her hoped for general election positioning over the weekend when she rolled out the endorsement of ex-Vice President Dick Cheney. His big point of differentiation causing him to favor Whitman over the surging Steve Poizner? Poizner’s skepticism about the invasion of Iraq.
Well, if Whitman, if she manages to survive what was to have been her coronation in the Republican primary, wants to run for governor as an advocate of the disastrous invasion of Iraq, this is even more amusing than I thought.
In the Senate race, putative frontrunner Tom Campbell keeps canceling TV air time. But ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is buying it. This sort of thing means something.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled out a disaster budget on Friday with the annual “May revise.” He proposed to eliminate the welfare system and make big cuts in health care programs, amongst other measures. While the situation is dire, he is also laying out a negotiating position for long sought budget and pension reforms.
The Legislature has done little this year to deal with the chronic budget crisis, to no one’s real surprise. Democrats proposed tax hikes, which Republicans, who have enough votes to block in a system requiring a two-thirds vote on fiscal matters, oppose.
Now the bargaining dance begins in earnest.
President Barack Obama presided over yesterday’s National Peace Officers’ Memorial.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
He then signed the Freedom of Press Act in the Oval Office.
At 10:05 AM Pacific, Obama hosts the NCAA champion University of Connecticut women’s basketball team at an event in the Rose Garden.
Obama is monitoring the Gulf oil disaster, with increasingly sharp dissatisfaction.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
He has no planned public events.
Schwarzenegger will hold private talks in and around the Capitol.
On Friday, Schwarzenegger unveiled his revised state budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
With the budget $19 billion in deficit, Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating the welfare system and big cuts to health care programs.
He hopes to at last negotiate his way to long sought budget and pension reforms.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S WILD WEEK THAT WAS.Is billionaire Meg Whitman having fun yet? She’s certainly had a careening week in her once seeming juggernaut of a bid to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California.
In any car race, the worst moment is not when the trailing car pulls up in the rear view mirror, it’s when you can no longer see it in the rear view mirror. That’s because it’s alongside.
I’ve been reporting for weeks on her steep slide in private polling on her Republican primary race against super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who was once dismissed by nearly all as a hapless speed bump in the race. That culminated here on the Huffington Post in “Meg Whitman’s Titanic Campaign for Governor of California.”
After a lot of denial of the truth by her chief strategist Mike Murphy and others in the well-paid Whitman camp, this week they had to face facts. This week began with a stark bit of reality. … From my May 15th column.
** IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK AND CONFUSED.The biggest movie of the summer may already be in theaters. It’s Iron Man 2, of course, sequel to 2008’s surprise smash hit starring Robert Downey, Jr. as that billionaire technologist/arms dealer-turned-peaceloving action hero Tony Stark. (Be aware that there are a few spoilers.)
Iron Man has cultural and political roots that elevate it beyond a simple action flick, and in Downey, a seemingly quirky choice, it has the post-modern Howard Hughes it needs. Downey’s old friend Warren Beatty has always said that casting is the key, and nowhere is that more obvious than with Downey. In the hands of a conventional action star or leading man, Tony Stark would not be nearly so interesting a character. … From my May 13th essay.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th 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 $36 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
However, it is down about one-fifth from two weeks ago. European economic activity is slowing again, there are still major worries about the Greek bail-out, and American inventory is increasing.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Scientists have found huge plumes of oil lurking under the surface of the water in the Gulf of Mexico, as BP hit a snag in its latest effort to slow down the oil blasting out of a broken undersea pipe The Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig blew up over three weeks ago.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no planned public events.
Obama is monitoring the Gulf oil disaster, with increasingly sharp dissatisfaction.
BP’s latest techno-fix has again failed. For the third day, the oil company has tried to insert, in essence, a large straw into the big leak 5000 beneath the surface of the sea, to siphon the oil out before it escapes into the water.
This effort is not working.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed.
With prodding from the Obama Administration, the major Shiite and Sunni parties have agreed to coalition talks, which have not happened.
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular Sunni party finished first, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have seen talks repeatedly canceled by Maliki and his party.
Maliki had high hopes for a recount of the vote in Baghdad Province. However, the recount is now finished and shows nothing wrong with the big vote for Allawi’s party.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no planned public events.
On Friday, Schwarzenegger unveiled his revised state budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
With the budget $19 billion in deficit, Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating the welfare system and big cuts to health care programs.
He hopes to at last negotiate his way to long sought budget and pension reforms.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama says that Wall Street reform will not only end bailouts and bring accountability for big banks, but empower consumers, shareholders and community banks.
** MEG WHITMAN’S WILD WEEK THAT WAS.Is billionaire Meg Whitman having fun yet? She’s certainly had a careening week in her once seeming juggernaut of a bid to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California.
In any car race, the worst moment is not when the trailing car pulls up in the rear view mirror, it’s when you can no longer see it in the rear view mirror. That’s because it’s alongside.
I’ve been reporting for weeks on her steep slide in private polling on her Republican primary race against super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who was once dismissed by nearly all as a hapless speed bump in the race. That culminated here on the Huffington Post in “Meg Whitman’s Titanic Campaign for Governor of California.”
After a lot of denial of the truth by her chief strategist Mike Murphy and others in the well-paid Whitman camp, this week they had to face facts. This week began with a stark bit of reality. …
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then delivered remarks at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed.
With prodding from the Obama Administration, the major Shiite and Sunni parties have agreed to coalition talks.
But the talks between former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular Sunni party finished first, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have repeatedly been canceled, ostensibly because Maliki objected to the Shiite bloc headed by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr being part of the coalition. Allawi wants his group there, in part because Sadr backs major Sunni participation.
Now a council of elders is to be created to help forge a coalition government.
The mood in New Orleans is less festive as the massive Gulf oil spill creeps closer to the shore. It is starting to impact the tourist trade and has already affected seafood sales.
And Obama, clearly angry in his press conference yesterday, is overseeing ongoing efforts to stop the BP oil spill and help affected communities.
BP is trying yet another techno-fix to stop the massive leakage nearly a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
This one involves inserting a device to siphon oil from the depths.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no planned public events.
Yesterday Schwarzenegger unveiled his revised state budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
April revenues were $3.6 billion short of forecast — after a few months of higher than expected revenues — so the budget was expected to be quite ugly, and it was.
With the budget $19 billion in deficit, Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating the welfare system and big cuts to health care programs.
Democrats proposed tax hikes, which Republicans, who have enough votes to block in a system requiring a two-thirds vote on fiscal matters, oppose.
Now the bargaining dance begins in earnest.
The Legislature has done little this year to deal with the chronic budget crisis, to no one’s real surprise.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK AND CONFUSED.The biggest movie of the summer may already be in theaters. It’s Iron Man 2, of course, sequel to 2008’s surprise smash hit starring Robert Downey, Jr. as that billionaire technologist/arms dealer-turned-peaceloving action hero Tony Stark. (Be aware that there are a few spoilers.)
Iron Man has cultural and political roots that elevate it beyond a simple action flick, and in Downey, a seemingly quirky choice, it has the post-modern Howard Hughes it needs. Downey’s old friend Warren Beatty has always said that casting is the key, and nowhere is that more obvious than with Downey. In the hands of a conventional action star or leading man, Tony Stark would not be nearly so interesting a character.
You wouldn’t think that the guy who so brilliantly portrayed Charlie Chaplin — or who was once one of Hollywood’s most dissolute party boys — would be an action movie superstar. And yet he is.
In fact, he’s probably the biggest action movie star in the world now. What do you make of that, Arnold Schwarzenegger? The first Iron Man, wonderfully directed by Jon Favreau, propelled Downey into the firmament. Sherlock Holmes, not, er, the greatest action film ever made, was a very big hit thanks to Downey’s performance. And now Iron Man 2 confirms it.
However, though it’s filled with lots of interesting things and players, and I like it, it’s probably too filled. As in cluttered. And it’s much more of a mess politically and intellectually than the first film. … From my May 13th essay.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed at $71.61 per barrel on Friday. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $38 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
However, it is down over one-sixth from early last week. European economic activity is slowing again, and American inventory is increasing.
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 said today that he will end a cozy relationship that has existed between federal regulators and companies drilling offshore for oil and gas. He said the rule from now on will be “trust but verify.”
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … MEG WHITMAN’S WILD WEEK THAT WAS.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: REPUBLICAN AD WARS. There’s a very complex situation unfolding with regard to TV advertising in the GOP race for governor. And a more straightforward situation with regard to TV advertising in the GOP race for the Senate.
First to the latter. Ex-Congressman Tom Campbell, who has been the frontrunner, keeps canceling TV ad time he has reserved. He isn’t on the air now and has canceled next week.
In contrast, ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who has closed in on Campbell, is on the air and is going up with a bigger buy next week. She also appears to have more money to spend, having put in another million or so of her personal money in the last few days.
The governor’s race is far more complex.
The once overwhelming frontrunner, billionaire Meg Whitman, had a few ads out there but essentially two in rotation around the state: One in which she proclaims herself the only fiscal conservative in the race. The other a kitchen sink hit on Poizner calling him a typical Sacramento liberal politician.
Then, with polling showing the race neck and neck, not long after the candidate reached out to Madison Avenue, she came up with an unusual 60-second spot, which she rolled out today. (I watched it last night.)
In this spot, she speaks to camera, quite defensively, beginning by noting that politics is a tough business (not a great lead sentence), saying she’s not a Sacramento politician like Jerry Brown and Steve Poizner. She then said that she is working hard to defeat Senator Barbara Boxer (apropos of nothing other than Poizner’s attacks, which the viewer is seeing elsewhere) and is dead set against “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. Oh, and she’ll hold the line on spending and fight the unions.
It is, needless to say, a very defensive spot, responding throughout to attacks on her. She looks and sounds defensive, too. None of which is a good thing.
She’s also created a problem for herself, in that a 60-second spot will be harder to clear onto the air through the stations. It probably won’t really start running till next week. And it means that her big slice of the advertising pie has to be sliced differently for her own purposes, as stations sell time in 30-second increments.
This means that one of the other ads, and both of them are better than this, will go by the wayside, and that she will gain fewer impressions.
Frankly, the ad reads like something written by a non-professional writer, perhaps Whitman herself.
And what is the Poizner crew doing?
They went on the air today for the first time in the San Francisco market, which they’ve largely ceded to their opponent till now, with the exception of a few spots on cable. That is a new ad for that market, less incendiary than what is running elsewhere with regard to illegal immigration, which in this new ad is a component of the attack on Whitman rather than the totality of the spot.
And countering, in part, the billionaire’s 60-second spot, in which she claims that she’s never been for amnesty, they are re-running, in a more limited way, an earlier ad which features Whitman saying the same thing on illegal immigration as President Barack Obama.
The other two ads I’ve written about — the tough illegal immigration spot that began at the beginning of this week and the new ad saying she didn’t vote for 28 years — are running in heavy rotation in all non-SF markets.
It’s a fascinating contest.
** NEW NATIONAL POLL SHOWS INCREASED CONFIDENCE. The new Gallup Poll shows that economic confidence is at its highest level in over two years.
Despite the financial crisis in Greece and the European Union, extreme stock market volatility, and the surging price of gold, Americans’ economic confidence remains at its best level of the year in early May. Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index is at -22 for the week ending May 9 — matching its April level and representing an improvement of 8 percentage points compared with March.
Forty-one percent of Americans believe the economy is “getting better” in early May, matching April, which is the highest level of optimism about the future direction of the U.S. economy since Gallup began daily monitoring in January 2008. Despite the increase in optimism in April and early May, 54% continue to assert that the economy is “getting worse.”
Thirteen percent rate current economic conditions as “excellent” or “good” in early May — also the same as in April — and the highest percentage of such ratings since September 2008. At the same time, 44% rate the economy as poor — essentially unchanged from April.
It appears improving job market conditions and increased consumer spending are outweighing global financial concerns as Americans evaluate the outlook for the U.S. economy, at least at this point. Now that there appears to be at least a temporary fix in place for the situation in Greece and the European Union, this seems likely to continue to be the case.
Associated Press reporter Harry Weber and photographer describe being the only members of the news media on board the ship that brought a containment box to the site of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Their reports and images were seen globally.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 7:10 AM Pacific, Obama honors the TOP COPS award recipients in a ceremony in the Rose Garden.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Cabinet members and other administration officials in the Situation Room to discuss ongoing efforts to stop the BP oil spill and help affected communities.
At the administration’s insistence, though it’s also the only PR move available, BP is trying yet another techno-fix to cap the massive leakage nearly a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
This one involves siphoning oil.
Obama is angry about the disaster.
At 8:50 AM Pacific, Obama makes a statement in the Rose Garden about the Gulf oil disaster.
In other action, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets in Washington with new British Foreign Secretary William Hague, a top Conservative Party leader.
The high-level conference with Afghan officials has ended. President Hamid Karzai was praised as a key partner in the struggle against jihadism.
The Obama Administration has never been happy with Karzai, and some officials have criticized him severely. But for now, in public, they seem to be employing the carrot rather than the stick.
And at the president’s directive the FBI is continuing to pursue the failed Times Square car bomb plot.
Three Pakistani men suspected of providing money to Times Square car bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad were arrested by the FBI in a series of raids across the Northeast.
Three arrests of Pakistanis have been made in Northeastern cities.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed.
With prodding from the Obama Administration, the major Shiite and Sunni parties have agreed to coalition talks.
But the talks between former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular Sunni party finished first, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have repeatedly been canceled, ostensibly because Maliki objected to the Shiite bloc headed by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr being part of the coalition. Allawi wants his group there, in part because Sadr backs major Sunni participation.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 1 PM, Schwarzenegger will unveil his revised state budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year. Schwarzenegger will be joined by state Finance Director Ana Matosantos.
The event will take place at the Secretary of State Building in Sacramento.
This is the May revise of Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget. With April revenues $3.6 billion short of forecast, the budget is expected to be quite ugly.
With both parties in the Legislature operating on their typical default positions — one for tax hikes, one for tax cuts, none of it going anywhere — Schwarzenegger gets to play the villain rather than the action hero.
Which is the point of the usual state Capitol shenanigans.
The Legislature has done little this year to deal with the chronic budget crisis, to no one’s real surprise.
New Assembly Speaker John Perez will be in Pebble Beach for a yearly golf tournament fundraiser. The event was scheduled before he became speaker, but he’s been the likely speaker for a long time.
Of course, Schwarzenegger could have made his presentation on another day. With Perez in Pebble Beach, easy points are to be made.
Clearly the first half of May, which is the period in which the revised budget is to be presented, is not the right time for this fundraising event.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK AND CONFUSED.The biggest movie of the summer may already be in theaters. It’s Iron Man 2, of course, sequel to 2008’s surprise smash hit starring Robert Downey, Jr. as that billionaire technologist/arms dealer-turned-peaceloving action hero Tony Stark. (Be aware that there are a few spoilers.)
Iron Man has cultural and political roots that elevate it beyond a simple action flick, and in Downey, a seemingly quirky choice, it has the post-modern Howard Hughes it needs. Downey’s old friend Warren Beatty has always said that casting is the key, and nowhere is that more obvious than with Downey. In the hands of a conventional action star or leading man, Tony Stark would not be nearly so interesting a character.
You wouldn’t think that the guy who so brilliantly portrayed Charlie Chaplin — or who was once one of Hollywood’s most dissolute party boys — would be an action movie superstar. And yet he is.
In fact, he’s probably the biggest action movie star in the world now. What do you make of that, Arnold Schwarzenegger? The first Iron Man, wonderfully directed by Jon Favreau, propelled Downey into the firmament. Sherlock Holmes, not, er, the greatest action film ever made, was a very big hit thanks to Downey’s performance. And now Iron Man 2 confirms it.
However, though it’s filled with lots of interesting things and players, and I like it, it’s probably too filled. As in cluttered. And it’s much more of a mess politically and intellectually than the first film. … From my May 13th essay.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th 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 $39 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
However, it is down 15% from early last week. European economic activity is slowing again, and American inventory is increasing.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley held a press conference today to introduce their legislation to permanently prohibit new offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf of the West Coast of the U.S.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE REAL ACTION AS THE REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY DRAWS TOWARD DECISION POINT. In any car race, the worst moment is not when the trailing car pulls up in the rear view mirror, it’s when you can no longer see it in the rear view mirror. That’s because it’s alongside.
That’s where the race is between billionaire Meg Whitman, the once, er, inevitable, overwhelming GOP nominee, and Steve Poizner.
Incidentally, Poizner still hasn’t gone on the air in the San Francisco Bay Area, where his opponent has a big lead. Yet.
Poizner gave another $2.5 million to his drive on Tuesday. Late yesterday, Whitman added another $5 million to her bid. Officially, she has given $64 million to her primary campaign. In reality, it’s over $65 million, as she neglected to report heavy spending on consultants and research before she declared her intentions. She’s given three times as much as Poizner — so far — to her campaign, and raised another $13 million or so besides. Yet she was running out of money, as I noted yesterday when I said she would have to add more.
So what are they getting for all this money?
Poizner changed out his TV ad rotation today. His highly effective spot with conservative icon Tom McClintock preaching Poizner’s bona fides and blasting Whitman as the next version of Arnold Schwarzenegger has done its work and is now replaced in the rotation by a harsh new spot hitting Whitman for never voting in a 28-year period.
Is that right? I don’t know. Whitman has been vague and given several conflicting explanations for her very scanty voting record. And the voting records themselves are shaky, at best. Essentially, Poizner is challenging her to disprove what his ad says. I bet Whitman sticks to having her flacks scream about it.
Also in the rotation is the new Poizner ad on illegal immigration, which is highly effective.
Those two ads are running in 50-50 rotation around the state.
What does Whitman have to counter?
She is keeping the relatively positive spot in which she claims to be “the only fiscal conservative” in the race. But out-pointing it 3 to 1 in the rotation is her newer ad saying Poizner is “Just Another Sacramento Liberal Politician.”
Meanwhile, Poizner, who is ahead with Latino voters in some polling, has a new Spanish langage radio ad attacking her for rolling out ex-Governor Pete Wilson, the Latino bete noir, in a new radio ad.
And, oddly enough, Whitman continues that roll-out with a new mailer featuring Wilson vouching for her own harsh new stance on illegal immigration.
So much for her plans to appeal to Latino voters in the general election. Now she’s only trying to make it that far.
** IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK AND CONFUSED.The biggest movie of the summer may already be in theaters. It’s Iron Man 2, of course, sequel to 2008′s surprise smash hit starring Robert Downey, Jr. as that billionaire technologist/arms dealer-turned-peaceloving action hero Tony Stark. (Be aware that there are a few spoilers.)
Iron Man has cultural and political roots that elevate it beyond a simple action flick, and in Downey, a seemingly quirky choice, it has the post-modern Howard Hughes it needs. Downey’s old friend Warren Beatty has always said that casting is the key, and nowhere is that more obvious than with Downey. In the hands of a conventional action star or leading man, Tony Stark would not be nearly so interesting a character.
You wouldn’t think that the guy who so brilliantly portrayed Charlie Chaplin — or who was once one of Hollywood’s most dissolute party boys — would be an action movie superstar. And yet he is.
In fact, he’s probably the biggest action movie star in the world now. What do you make of that, Arnold Schwarzenegger? The first Iron Man, wonderfully directed by Jon Favreau, propelled Downey into the firmament. Sherlock Holmes, not, er, the greatest action film ever made, was a very big hit thanks to Downey’s performance. And now Iron Man 2 confirms it.
However, though it’s filled with lots of interesting things and players, and I like it, it’s probably too filled. As in cluttered. And it’s much more of a mess politically and intellectually than the first film. …
Vice President Joe Biden hosted a dinner for Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday night at the Naval Observatory. The gathering was seen by many as a fence-mender following months of disagreements between the U.S. and Afghanistan. Biden, as vice president-elect, famously walked out of a dinner with Karzai last year in Kabul.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today. With heartening statistics on tap, he’s back on the economic recovery theme.
Obama received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then departed for Buffalo, New York.
At 9:25 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Buffalo, New York.
At 10:35 AM Pacific, Obama tours the facilities of Industrial Support, Inc.
At 10:50 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on the economy and takes questions from workers and small businesspeople in the audience.
At 12:20 PM Pacific, Obama departs Buffalo, New York on Air Force One en route to New York City.
At 1:25 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in New York City.
At 4:05 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising dinner.
At 5:35 PM Pacific, Obama departs New York City on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 6:30 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 6:45 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
The high-level conference with Afghan officials goes on for a third day in Washington. President Haid Karzai is being praised as a key partner in the struggle against jihadism. The Obama Administration has never been happy with Karzai, and some officials have criticized him severely. But for now, in public, they seem to be employing the carrot rather than the stick.
Karzai will talk again today with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He will also visit Arlington National Cemetery, where he will honor heroes killed in Afghanistan.
Obama is also dealing with the burgeoning Gulf oil disaster. At the administration’s insistence, though it’s also the only PR move available, BP is trying yet another techno-fix to cap the massive leakage nearly a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
The FBI says its agents have executed search warrants at several locations in the Northeast in connection with the failed Times Square car bomb.
And at the president’s directive the FBI is continuing to pursue the failed Times Square car bomb plot.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed.
With prodding from the Obama Administration, the major Shiite and Sunni parties have agreed to coalition talks.
But the talks between former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular Sunni party finished first, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were canceled yesterday, ostensibly because Maliki objected to the Shiite bloc headed by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr being part of the coalition. Allawi wants his group there, in part because Sadr backs major Sunni participation.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 7:15 PM, Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks at the Los Angeles NAACP 2010 Roy Wilkins Freedom Fund Awards Gala at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA.
Schwarzenegger will hold private talks today in and around the Capitol.
He is preparing for the May revise of his proposed state budget, which will be presented on Friday. With April revenues $3.6 billion short of forecast, the budget is expected to be quite ugly.
With both parties in the Legislature operating on their typical default positions — one for tax hikes, one for tax cuts — Schwarzenegger gets to play the villain rather than the action hero.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th column.
** “GOLDMEG SACHS WHITMAN” ROILS THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE.It’s the relationship that won’t go away, and it comes at a bad moment for billionaire Meg Whitman in her unlikely quest for governor of California. Her vaunted megabucks exercise in branding — actually an attempt to appropriate the eBay brand — is turning into something quite different and damaging. She’s become GoldMeg Sachs Whitman.
Even before her Republican primary rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, began airing a tough new TV ad over the weekend hitting Whitman for her deep involvement with Goldman Sachs, Whitman’s lead in the GOP primary had slid precipitously. Once ahead by an astonishing 50 points, thanks to her many months of unanswered advertising, her lead over Poizner in private polling had slipped down into the teens prior to the advent of the new ad. … … From my May 3rd 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 $40 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 said today that reports of tension between the U.S and Afghanistan are “simply overstated.” Speaking with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, he conceded there will be setbacks with Afghanistan and hopes for a broad strategy by year’s end.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: TRYING TO ARREST A SURGE. Billionaire Meg Whitman’s campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, once 50 points ahead of Steve Poizner, says publicly that it still has a “double-digit lead.” That’s wrong.
Privately, I’ve learned that Whitman has reached out to Madison Avenue as she considers how to reframe her candidacy and arrest Poizner’s surge.
Her existing campaign set-up has two relatively new TV ads, which I’ve discussed. A positive ad which claims she is the “only fiscal conservative” in the race. And a new negative ad claiming that Poizner is ” Just Another Sacramento Liberal Politician.”
And won’t Congressman Tom McClintock feel foolish when he learns that Poizner is really a big liberal?
For his part, Poizner put another $2.5 million into the pot late yesterday. Whitman hasn’t put more money in yet, but she will have to if she wants to win. Shattering all records, she’s already personally contributed over $60 million to her primary race ($59 million is the official figure, not counting the big-spending “exploratory” period when she spent a small fortune on consultants and research.)
Poizner is continuing the ad featuring California conservative icon McClintock, which is very effective. And he has the new ad on illegal immigration, which, as discussed, is the principal issue which rocketed him into serious contention for the Republican nomination.
He’s taken the tough GoldMeg Sachs ad off the air, at least for now. The California Democratic Party is running a GoldMeg Sachs TV spot.
Now, how will each of these candidates close their campaigns? I’ll have some thoughts.
** NEW POLL: EMPLOYMENT DIPPING AS TOP CONCERN.A new Gallup Poll shows that concern regarding unemployment has fallen over the past month.
Concern about health care has also declined, following passage of the national health care bill.
And concern about illegal immigration is up, especially in the West and with conservatives and Republicans.
As for Iraq, where things are getting pretty dicey again, it doesn’t make the top ten.
After two months as the clear No. 1 perceived problem facing the country, unemployment/jobs dipped to No. 2 in May, while “the economy” in general moved back into the top position. At the same time, Americans grew more likely to name immigration (including illegal immigration) as the nation’s most important problem, moving that issue into fifth place.
Gallup measures public perceptions of the nation’s most important problem every month. The 10% citing immigration or illegal immigration in the latest poll, conducted May 3-6, is the highest Gallup has recorded in more than two years. Mentions of immigration last reached double digits in January 2008, and peaked at 19% in April 2006.
The heightened concern about immigration comes as a new Arizona law designed to address illegal immigration has drawn nationwide attention. There is increased concern both across the country and across the political spectrum. However, increased mentions of immigration are most pronounced in the Western states, surging from 2% in April to 16% in May, as well as among Republicans and conservatives.
Mentions of healthcare reached 26% last summer, as national debate over healthcare reform intensified, and registered 23% in February. Since the bill’s passage in March, concern about healthcare has subsided — down to 15% in the current poll — though it remains one of the leading public concerns.
Of the top 10 “most important problems” named this month, the economy, unemployment, healthcare, government leadership, and immigration are each mentioned by at least 10% of Americans. Except for the federal budget deficit/federal debt, at 9%, all other issues in the top 10 receive fewer than 5% of mentions. …
Americans continue to view unemployment as one of the nation’s leading problems, but they put slightly less emphasis on it today than they did in April. At the same time, the percentage of Americans citing immigration as the top problem has swelled from 2% to 10%. The even steeper increases seen among Republicans and conservatives highlight a major aspect of that concern — the belief that illegal immigration needs to be curtailed.
The Obama Administration is working to reboot its relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Obama and Karzai hold lengthy meetings today at the White House.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 7:15 AM Pacific, Obama holds a bilateral meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the Oval Office.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama holds a joint press conference with President Karzai in the East Room.
At 9:25 AM Pacific, Obama has a working lunch with President Karzai in the Cabinet Room.
Also in attendance will be senior members of Obama’s national security team and their Afghan counterparts.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Yesterday, as the U.S./Afghan summit began, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Karzai as a key partner in the struggle against jihadism. The Obama Administration has never been happy with Karzai, and some officials have criticized him severely. But for now, in public, they seem to be employing the carrot rather than the stick.
We’ll see if Obama’s meeting with Karzai in Washington goes better than their surprise meeting in Kabul did.
Obama is also dealing with the burgeoning Gulf oil disaster. At the administration’s insistence, though it’s also the only PR move available, BP is trying yet another techno-fix to cap the massive leakage nearly a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
And the Air Force is dropping what it hopes are oil-dispersing chemicals on the Gulf.
Obama is calling for the break-up of the regulatory agency responsible for overseeing offshore oil drilling into two components. One to oversee the technology, the other to oversee the leases and royalties. It’s thought that the regulatory agency has grown lax in recent years, in part blinded by all the revenue flowing into government coffers.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed.
With prodding from the Obama Administration, the major Shiite and Sunni parties have agreed to coalition talks.
But the talks between former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular Sunni party finished first, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were canceled today, ostensibly because Maliki objected to the Shiite bloc headed by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr being part of the coalition. Allawi wants his group there, in part because Sadr backs major Sunni participation.
New British Prime Minister David Cameron, the Conservative leader, welcomes new Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, to 10 Downing Street in London.
The governance situation in Britain, America’s closest ally, is now more settled six days after national elections produced a hung parliament.
The third place Liberal Democrats were talking with both the first place Conservatives and the second place Labour Party.
But some Labour figures preferred to go into opposition rather than form a coalition government following their defeat in the election.
And Conservative leader David Cameron, bucking more conservative elements in the party, agreed to a referendum on a more proportional form of voting.
The Conservatives won only 36% of the popular vote, but nearly half the seats in parliament. Labour won 29% of the vote but over 40% of the seats. The Lib Dems won 23% of the vote but only 9% of the seats.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who won the debates with Cameron and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will serve as deputy prime minister in the new government. The Lib Dems also get five seats in the new Cabinet.
At 43, Cameron is the youngest British prime minister in some 200 years. Clegg is also 43, a few months younger than Cameron.
In American terms, Cameron would be a liberal Republican. He’s a backer of efforts to combat global climate change and promote renewable energy, a defender of universal health care, and is pro-gay rights and pro-choice on abortion.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was to have keynoted a recent Conservative Party conference, at Cameron’s invitation, but had to cancel due to issues in California.
Gordon Brown is also stepping down as leader of Labour. The immediate frontrunner for the role of Opposition Leader is 44-year old former Foreign Secretary David Milliband, a Tony Blair protege who is close to the Obama Administration.
When it became clear last year that Blair would not be the first president of the European Union, Milliband could have had the EU’s powerful new foreign minister role. But he declined, preferring to continue a leadership role in the Labour Party.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Davis today.
At 2:15 PM, Schwarzenegger will participate in a moderated discussion with Dean of the University of California (UC) Davis Graduate School of Management Steven Currall as part of E3: Economic Prosperity, Energy and the Environment — A Roundtable to Set the Agenda on Clean and Sustainable Paths to Economic Prosperity, an event hosted by The CTO Forum’s Energy Council and UC Davis.
Schwarzenegger will hold private talks in and around the Capitol.
He is preparing for the May revise of his proposed state budget, which will be presented on Friday. With April revenues $3.6 billion short of forecast, the budget is expected to be quite ugly.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th column.
** “GOLDMEG SACHS WHITMAN” ROILS THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE.It’s the relationship that won’t go away, and it comes at a bad moment for billionaire Meg Whitman in her unlikely quest for governor of California. Her vaunted megabucks exercise in branding — actually an attempt to appropriate the eBay brand — is turning into something quite different and damaging. She’s become GoldMeg Sachs Whitman.
Even before her Republican primary rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, began airing a tough new TV ad over the weekend hitting Whitman for her deep involvement with Goldman Sachs, Whitman’s lead in the GOP primary had slid precipitously. Once ahead by an astonishing 50 points, thanks to her many months of unanswered advertising, her lead over Poizner in private polling had slipped down into the teens prior to the advent of the new ad. … … From my May 3rd 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 $42 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.
Monday was the bloodiest day of the year in Iraq. U.S. military leaders there now want to delay the beginning of the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops, slated for this month, till June.
** QUICK HITS. The U.S. State Department today imposed financial sanctions on the leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The sanctions include a travel ban, assets freeze, and arms embargo. … The Pakistani Taliban may be designated a terrorist organization in the wake of its involvement with the failed Times Square car bomber. … Vice President Joe Biden’s son Beau, Delaware’s attorney general, was hospitalized after suffering a mild stroke today. The prognosis of the 41-year old, who returned from a tour of duty in Iraq last year, is good. … … The leader of a giant public employee union, the California School Employees Association, joined forces today with far right blogger and state GOP vice chairman Jon Fleischman (i.e., representatives of the two poles of gridlock in state government) to launch a committee opposing the open primary initiative, Proposition 14 on the June primary ballot. … Billionaire Meg Whitman has a new TV attacking her California GOP gubernatorial rival Steve Poizner as “Just Another Sacramento Liberal Politician.” The visually simplistic spot uses a narrator rather than a known validator, and is her campaign’s latest attempt to stop Poizner’s political advance.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK, AND CONFUSED (BUT GOOD)
** CALIFORNIA 2010: IS IT OVER? Is the governor’s race over?
Some of the smartest political minds I know think it is.
I can certainly make a case for that. Of course, I can make a case for many things.
What do you think?
** GORDON BROWN RESIGNS, CONSERVATIVE DAVID CAMERON SET TO TAKE OVER AS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER. With key members of the Labour Party balking at a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, Prime Minister Gordon has just resigned. Shortly before noon Pacific, Tory opposition leader David Cameron is on his way to Buckingham Palace to receive the nod from the Queen as the new prime minister of the United Kingdom. More to follow.
Here is Brown’s resignation speech:
As you know, the general election left no party able to command a majority in the House of Commons.
I said I would do all that I could to ensure a strong, stable and principled government was formed, able to tackle Britain’s economic and political challenges effectively.
My constitutional duty is to make sure that a government can be formed following last Thursday’s general election.
I have informed the Queen’s private secretary that it’s my intention to tender my resignation to the Queen. In the event that the Queen accepts, I shall advise her to invite the leader of the opposition to form a government. I wish the next prime minister well as he makes the important choices for the future.
Only those who have held the office of prime minister can understand the full weight of its responsibilities and its great capacity for good. I have been privileged to learn much about the very best in human nature, and a fair amount too about its frailties, including my own. Above all, it was a privilege to serve. And, yes, I loved the job, not for its prestige, its title and its ceremony, which I do not love at all. No, I loved this job for its potential, to make this country I love fairer, more tolerant, more green, more democratic, more prosperous and more just – truly a greater Britain.
In the face of many challenges in a few short years, challenges up to and including the global financial meltdown, I have always strived to serve, to do my best in the interests of Britain, its values and its people. And let me add one thing also. I will always admire the courage I have seen in our armed forces. And now that the political season is over, let me stress that having shaken their hands and looked into their eyes, our troops represent all that is best in our country and I will never forget all those who have died in honour and whose families today live in grief.
My resignation as leader of the Labour party will take effect immediately. In this hour I want to thank all my colleagues, ministers, members of parliament. And I want to thank above all my staff who have been friends as well as brilliant servants of the country. Above all, I want to thank Sarah for her unwavering support, as well as her love, and for her own service to our country. I thank my sons John and Fraser for the love and joy they bring to our lives. And as I leave the second most important job I could ever hold I cherish even more the first, as a husband and father. Thank you and goodbye.
** POLL ANALYSIS: OBAMA’S JOB APPROVAL STEADY, WITH CONSISTENT GAPS BY PARTY, RACE, AND AGE. President Barack Obama’s approval rating in today’s Gallup Poll is 51%, with 42% disapproving. He’s consistently around the 50% mark, which is strong in this cacophonous, hyperpartisan media culture.
These party, race, and age gaps have been apparent throughout Obama’s presidency.
His first-year ratings were the most polarized for a president in Gallup history, with an average 65-point gap between Republicans and Democrats. Obama’s approval ratings have become slightly more polarized thus far in his second year in office, with an average 69-point gap between Democrats (83%) and Republicans (14%) since late January.
Obama’s approval ratings among non-Hispanic whites slid below the majority level in July 2009, and have not returned to that mark, generally hovering around 40% since mid-November. Meanwhile, his approval ratings among blacks have been stable throughout his presidency, right around 90%.
Though the latest 58% weekly approval average among 18- to 29-year-olds is among the lowest Obama has registered to date, it remains his highest current rating among the four age groups and is significantly better than his rating among senior citizens. Older Americans last gave Obama an approval rating above 50% last July. The gap in ratings between young adults and senior citizens has averaged 16 points during Obama’s presidency. …
Intriguingly, his ratings are not tied to actual news events of his presidency.
Thus, little Obama has done in recent months — including his work to help pass landmark healthcare legislation — and little that has happened recently on his watch have caused a significant, lasting shift in the way Americans evaluate the job he is doing as president.
Although his second-year ratings have been highly stable, he is on pace to follow most other presidents in seeing a significant drop from his first-year to his second-year average. Obama averaged 57% approval his first year in office — mainly because his job approval scores during the initial months of his presidency were in the 60% range — and has averaged 49% thus far in his second year.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kicked off three days of talks with Afghan leaders in Washington by assuring President Hamid Karzai that America will remain committed to his country long after the last U.S. combat troops have departed.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, he and Vice President Joe Biden have lunch in the Private Dining Room.
At 10:25 AM Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
Clinton will have come from the opening day of a three-day summit with Afghan leaders in Washington. The summit includes Wednesday meetings between Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
In her opening remarks this morning, as you see in the video above, Clinton praised Karzai as a key partner in the struggle against jihadism. The Obama Administration has never been happy with Karzai, and some officials have criticized him severely. But for now, in public, they seem to be employing the carrot rather than the stick.
We’ll see if Obama’s meeting with Karzai in Washington goes better than their surprise meeting in Kabul did.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with Secretary Clinton and Ambassador to Afghanistan General Karl Eikenberry in the Oval Office.
This is a continuation of the Afghanistan strategy and implementation talks.
At 11:15 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Vermont Senator Pat Leahy in the Oval Office.
Leahy is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and will play a lead role in ushering Solicitor General Elena Kagan through the Supreme Court confirmation process.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and Secretary of Defense Bob Gates in the Oval Office.
This, too, is a continuation of the Afghanistan strategy and implementation talks that dominate most of the week.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
More than two months after March 7th national elections, a new Iraqi government has yet to be formed.
The governance situation in Britain, America’s closest ally, is also still unsettled five days after the national elections there resulted in a hung parliament.
The third place Liberal Democrats are talking with both the first place Conservatives and the second place Labour Party.
A U.S. Air Force C-130 drops an oil-dispersing chemical on the spill Monday. Officials believe at least 4 million gallons of crude oil have gushed into the Gulf of Mexico since last month’s drilling rig blast.
Obama is also dealing with the burgeoning Gulf oil disaster. At the administration’s insistence, though it’s also the only PR move available, BP is trying yet another techno-fix to cap the massive leakage nearly a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
And the Air Force is dropping what it hopes are oil-dispersing chemicals on the Gulf.
Obama is calling for the break-up of the regulatory agency responsible for overseeing offshore oil drilling into two components. One to oversee the technology, the other to oversee the leases.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Schwarzenegger will hold private talks in and around the Capitol.
He is preparing for the May revise of his proposed state budget, which will be presented on Friday. With April revenues $3.6 billion short of forecast, the budget is expected to be quite ugly.
In related action, Schwarzenegger senior advisor David Crane testified before the Legislature yesterday on the public pension situation. There is a looming gap, which some estimates place at $500 billion, between commitments to retired state workers and the ability to fund those commitments.
Crane, who decried legislation during the Davis Administration expanding public pension packages, called for an increase in the retirement age and reductions in benefits to future retirees. But some legislative Democrats blamed Schwarzenegger for the crisis, saying the problem is that he didn’t negotiate with public employee unions. Which is what we call a non sequitur.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th column.
** “GOLDMEG SACHS WHITMAN” ROILS THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE.It’s the relationship that won’t go away, and it comes at a bad moment for billionaire Meg Whitman in her unlikely quest for governor of California. Her vaunted megabucks exercise in branding — actually an attempt to appropriate the eBay brand — is turning into something quite different and damaging. She’s become GoldMeg Sachs Whitman.
Even before her Republican primary rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, began airing a tough new TV ad over the weekend hitting Whitman for her deep involvement with Goldman Sachs, Whitman’s lead in the GOP primary had slid precipitously. Once ahead by an astonishing 50 points, thanks to her many months of unanswered advertising, her lead over Poizner in private polling had slipped down into the teens prior to the advent of the new ad. … … From my May 3rd 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 $43 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 day of political maneuvering in London today left things still unsettled in the wake of Thursday’s UK elections resulting in a hung parliament. The third place Liberal Democrats completed another day of negotiation with the first place Conservatives without reaching agreement. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, leader of the second place Labour Party, announced that he is stepping down, which could clear the way for a Lib/Lab coalition.
** QUICK HITS. Unnamed top Obama Administration officials today said that Faisal Shahzad, the naturalized American citizen who is the chief suspect in the botched Times Square car bombing, went back to his native Pakistan prior to the attack for the purpose of gaining training and support from the Taliban. … Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, giving a commencement address today at Emory University in Atlanta, made a pointed quip: “I was also going to give a graduation speech in Arizona this weekend. But with my accent I was afraid they would try to deport me.”
** UPDATING CALIFORNIA 2010: WHITMAN PRIMARY LEAD NOW IN LOW SINGLE DIGITS IN NEW PUBLIC POLL. I mentioned this morning that a new public poll was coming out showing the gap in the race for the Republican nomination for governor tightening even beyond the private polls I’ve reported, with billionaire Meg Whitman clinging to a lead over super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.
At noon on ABC’s TV station in Los Angeles, a new poll by Survey USA was released.
It has the race now within the margin of error of the poll.
It’s Whitman 39%, Poizner 37%.
Two-and-a-half weeks ago, this poll had the race at Whitman 49%, Poizner 27%. That was consistent with private polling I reported the previous Friday, just prior to the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles, which kicked off a round-robin of reports of a closing GOP primary race. A Los Angeles Times reporter e-mailed about my report; shortly thereafter an unsourced item appeared on the joint LA Times/Capitol Weekly web site.
** BRITAIN’S TANGLED ELECTION AFTERMATH: PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN WILL STEP DOWN. As the first place Conservatives and third place Liberal Democrats continue talks to see if they can form a coalition government, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is stepping down. This will clear the major impediment to coalition talks between second place Labour and the Lib Dems, who have far more in common ideologically.
It would have been very difficult for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who won the debates, to pursue an alliance with the unpopular Gordon Brown still at the helm.
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he will step down as Labour Party leader by September and that the party will begin formal talks with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.
Brown also said he will not seek re-election as party head. He made the announcement at a brief news conference Monday outside 10 Downing Street. He declined to answer reporters’ questions.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: GETTING TIGHTER … Received word this morning that a public poll is about to come out showing serious tightening in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, beyond what I’ve reported with regard to the private polls.
Stay tuned.
President Barack Obama this morning nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, saying she would demonstrate the same independence, integrity and passion for the law exhibted by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
** MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK. A big week ahead in presidential politics, and in California politics.
In presidential politics, President Barack Obama has just unveiled his unsurprising choice for the U.S. Supreme Court, Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Major new economic statistics will be out this week, and Obama will continue promoting his recovery theme.
In addition, Obama has the ongoing Gulf oil disaster to attend to and a burgeoning international terrorism investigation into the botched car bombing of New York’s Times Square.
And there is more geopolitics, including a Washington summit this week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, beginning negotiations between Israel and Palestinians, and the unsettled governance situations in Iraq and in Britain, America’s closest ally.
In California, as I’ve been saying for weeks, it is now apparent to all that there is a real race underway for the Republican gubernatorial nomination between billionaire Meg Whitman, once the overwhelming frontrunner, and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.
Poizner is using illegal immigration, what I call the alienation factor in the GOP race, to continue pressing his new advantage against Whitman. Today he goes to the Mexican border with an LA congressman; he also launches a tough new ad contrasting his hardline position with Whitman. For her part, she’s trying to hit back with an ad featuring Latino bete noir Pete Wilson, the former governor who pushed the draconian Prop 187 to victory in 1994.
Meanwhile, allies of Jerry Brown in the Democratic Party are piling on Whitman with a tough new ad on her unethical Goldman Sachs ties.
The GOP race for the nomination to face Senator Barbara Boxer is fully joined as well. Ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina picked up big new backing last week from the right and center of her party, will gain more this week, and is well-positioned against the putative frontrunner, ex-Congressman Tom Campbell. The Whitman camp helped persuade Campbell to drop out of the governor’s race and make a third stab for the Senate. Otherwise, Whitman would already be behind in her primary fight.
And in governmental action, the chronic state budget crisis worsened last week with word that April revenues were $3.6 billion below forecast. The Legislature had resisted Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s entreaties for action, in part on the basis that revenues had been running above forecast in previous months. But now, on aggregate, they are about a billion less than expected so far this year.
Perhaps now there will be some action, especially with Schwarzenegger presenting the annual May revise of his budget proposal.
Back to presidential politics.
Obama’s Supreme Court appointee, Kagan, was his colleague at the University of Chicago Law School in the ’90s. She went on to become the dean of the Harvard Law School. Obama then made her solicitor general of the United States, in which post she represents the U.S. government in cases before the Supreme Court. She’s expected to be confirmed.
The far right in the Republican Party was further emboldened over the weekend when Utah Senator Bob Bennett, a conservative Republican, became the first sitting U.S. senator I can recall in the modern era to be defeated in a state party convention. Bennett, who aroused the wrath of the far right by supporting the Wall Street bailout and by being insufficiently conservative for the Tea Party crowd, finished third in balloting at the Utah Republican Party convention in Salt Lake City. Only the top two candidates at the state convention make it onto the Utah primary ballot.
Bennett first came to public view in All The President’s Men — he was head of a Washington PR firm that provided cover to CIA operatives and employed Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt — and went on to be head of public relations for Howard Hughes’s Summa Corp. before entering politics.
The further to the right the Republicans are pushed, the readier will be the Democratic recovery from their own problems of late.
Speaking of problems, the latest attempt to stanch the ongoing Gulf oil disaster failed Saturday when a giant containment box ran afoul of icy deep water conditions. Another techno-fix attempt will be made, but it seems likelier that this will become America’s worst environmental disaster.
Now to domestic terrorism with a burgeoning international dimension.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban were involved in last weekend’s botched car bombing in New York’s Times Square. The suspect, who has apparently admitted his role to the FBI, received some forms of training while in his native Pakistan last year.
As he is the son of a former Pakistani Air Force general, this is leading to suspicion, a familiar one, that elements of the Pakistani security apparatus are aiding jihadist activities. Given that the U.S. has pushed Pakistan, with significant success, to go after the jihadists in its midst, any linkage to an attempted attack on New York would be very complicating.
Perhaps even more complicated than that is the U.S. relationship with our man in Kabul, Hamid Karzai. Obama is urging that the pressure on Karzai, with whom he meets this week in Washington, be less public and more private. A major offensive is slated to kick off in June in Kandahar Province, the historic stronghold of the Taliban movement since its inception in the mid-1990s.
At least in Afghanistan, the U.S. knows who it has to deal with. In Iraq, the governance situation remains unresolved two months after national parliamentary elections. While it’s clear that the dominant Shiites would prefer to ignore the fact that the moderate Sunni party actually finished first, albeit far short of a majority, there are signs that a coalition government will emerge. Which we’ll follow throughout yet another week of maneuvering.
In Britain, where Thursday’s national election did not lead to a conclusive result, Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders are continuing to explore a potential coalition government. There are deep ideological gulfs between the two parties.
The Conservatives finished first in last Thursday’s national popular vote, with 36%, followed by Labour with 29% and the Liberal Democrats with 23%. In the UK’s first past the post system of parliamentary elections, the Tories are only 20 seats short of a majority.
Labour and the Lib Dems, which have far more in common ideologically as parties of the left and center-left, won a combined 52% of the popular vote. Yet combining their seats yields a greater number than the Tories, but less than a majority.
Prime Minister Gordon, Brown, still the leader of the Labour Party, remains in power for now. He’s watching as Conservative leader David Cameron tries to woo Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, whose personal popularity in the country did not translate into a major electoral breakthrough for his party.
If the Tory/Lib Dem talks fail — and there are major ideological differences on immigration, nuclear weapons, European integration, and electoral reform in the form of proportional representation (with the Tories on the conservative end of each of those issues) — those pushing for a Lib/Lab coalition will have to work out the question of the premiereship and gain the votes of a few minor parties. Where might the necessary 11 votes come from? The Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties and a couple of very small left-wing parties.
Global stocks zoomed higher Monday on a wave of euphoria after European ministers and bankers agreed on a rescue for debt-ridden Greece and the beleaguered euro currency.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
At 7 AM Pacific, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Solicitor General Elena Kagan appeared in the East Room, where the president announced his appointment of Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Obama then received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 9:05 AM Pacific, Obama meets with his Intelligence Advisory Board in the Oval Office.
At 10 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Press Secretary Gibbs is joined by General Stanley McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, and Ambassador to Afghanistan General Karl Eikenberry in delivering a press briefing.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama reviews BP efforts to stop the disastrous Gulf oil rupture in the Situation Room.
At 1 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in the Oval Office.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Energy Secretary Steven Chu in the Oval Office.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Georgia today.
Schwarzenegger delivered the commencement address at Emory University in Atlanta this morning.
He then held an event promoting the Atlanta After School All Stars program.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …From my May 7th column.
** “GOLDMEG SACHS WHITMAN” ROILS THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE.It’s the relationship that won’t go away, and it comes at a bad moment for billionaire Meg Whitman in her unlikely quest for governor of California. Her vaunted megabucks exercise in branding — actually an attempt to appropriate the eBay brand — is turning into something quite different and damaging. She’s become GoldMeg Sachs Whitman.
Even before her Republican primary rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, began airing a tough new TV ad over the weekend hitting Whitman for her deep involvement with Goldman Sachs, Whitman’s lead in the GOP primary had slid precipitously. Once ahead by an astonishing 50 points, thanks to her many months of unanswered advertising, her lead over Poizner in private polling had slipped down into the teens prior to the advent of the new ad. … … From my May 3rd 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 $45 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.
Sunday has seen the massive Victory Day parade and flyover on Moscow’s Red Square as Russia celebrated the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. That came days after Hitler killed himself rather than be taken as the Soviet Army captured Berlin. Big Victory Day celebrations were a power projection staple of the Soviet regime, and have been revived under Vladimir Putin. For the first time ever, American, British, French, and Polish troops took part in the parade.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … IRON MAN‘S POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES IS BACK AND CONFUSED.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Virginia today.
Obama received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then went to Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where he delivered the commencement address, then returned to the White House.
Obama appeared Saturday and Sunday in a special Russian TV broadcast celebrating V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, as it’s known in the West, and Victory Day, as it’s known in Eastern Europe. May 8th was the 65th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany, and went barely mentioned in the U.S. media.
It’s always been a much bigger deal in Russia, where it is celebrated on May 9th due to differences in time zones. The largely Russian Red Army of the then Soviet Union, having repelled the German invasion, went on to capture Berlin in 1945 in the brutal Battle of Berlin. Adolf Hitler and some of his closest associates committed suicide rather than be captured by the Red Army.
The Soviet Union, principally Russia, lost 7.5 million soldiers in World War II. Another 20 million civilians died. These losses dwarf those of the U.S., which nonetheless played a critical role in defeating Nazi Germany, though not nearly as central a role as all the Hollywood movies would have one believe. The U.S. role in defeating Japan was utterly central, yet the Pacific Theater of World War II has never gotten nearly the attention that the war in Europe has. Probably because the fighting in the Pacific was far more brutal.
In other action, Obama is closing in on his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. The announcement could come at any time.
Late Saturday, Utah Senator Bob Bennett, a conservative Republican, became the first sitting U.S. senator I can recall in the modern era to be defeated in a state party convention. Bennett, who aroused the wrath of the far right by supporting the Wall Street bailout and by being insufficiently conservative for the Tea Party crowd, finished third in balloting at the Utah Republican Party convention in Salt Lake City. Only the top two candidates at the state convention make it onto the Utah primary ballot.
Bennett first came to public view in All the President’s Men — he was head of a Washington PR firm that provided cover to CIA operatives and employed Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt — and went on to be head of public relations for Howard Hughes’s Summa Corp. before entering politics.
The latest attempt to stanch the ongoing Gulf oil disaster failed Saturday when a giant containment box ran afoul of icy deep water conditions.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that the Pakistani Taliban were involved in last weekend’s botched car bombing in New York’s Times Square
In Britain, where Thursday’s national election did not lead to a conclusive result, Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders are meeting throughout the day exploring a potential coalition government. There are deep ideological gulfs between the two parties.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Georgia.
He has no scheduled public events.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama says that millions of Americans already are reaping benefits from the new health care law, including tax breaks for some small businesses and help for families with young adults.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama is reportedly closing in on his new pick for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The British election on Thursday remains unsettled as the weekend begins.
The Conservatives finished first in the popular vote, with 36%, followed by Labour with 29% and the Liberal Democrats with 23%. In the UK’s first past the post system of parliamentary elections, the Tories are only 20 seats short of a majority.
Labour and the Lib Dems, which have far more in common ideologically as parties of the left and center-left, won a combined 52% of the popular vote. Yet combining their seats yields a greater number than the Tories, but less than a majority.
Prime Minister Gordon, Brown, still the leader of the Labour Party, remains in power for now. He’s watching as Conservative leader David Cameron tries to woo Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, whose personal popularity in the country did not translate into a major electoral breakthrough for his party.
If the Tory/Lib Dem talks fail — and there are major ideological differences on immigration, nuclear weapons, European integration, and electoral reform in the form of proportional representation (with the Tories on the conservative end of each of those issues) — those pushing for a Lib/Lab coalition will have to work out the question of the premiereship and gain the votes of a few minor parties. Where might the necessary 11 votes come from? The Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties and a couple of very small left-wing parties.
Has Skynet taken control of Wall Street? They’re still sorting out what happened on Thursday, when an apparent errant trade (billions instead of millions) triggered computerized trading programs which put the Dow Jones Average on an express elevator going down. The market plummeted by nearly a thousand points before stability was regained. Some 4,000 trades from a period of less than an hour have been suspended. Over two-thirds of stock market trades are now carried out by computer programs.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …
** “GOLDMEG SACHS WHITMAN” ROILS THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE.It’s the relationship that won’t go away, and it comes at a bad moment for billionaire Meg Whitman in her unlikely quest for governor of California. Her vaunted megabucks exercise in branding — actually an attempt to appropriate the eBay brand — is turning into something quite different and damaging. She’s become GoldMeg Sachs Whitman.
Even before her Republican primary rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, began airing a tough new TV ad over the weekend hitting Whitman for her deep involvement with Goldman Sachs, Whitman’s lead in the GOP primary had slid precipitously. Once ahead by an astonishing 50 points, thanks to her many months of unanswered advertising, her lead over Poizner in private polling had slipped down into the teens prior to the advent of the new ad. …
Even before the launch of the new attack ad and the Sunday night debate, Whitman was under the gun on GoldMeg Sachs. Last week, she and her campaign tried furiously to spin away the controversy that could consume her massively funded candidacy. Namely, her controversial tenure as a member of the board of Goldman Sachs, which ended with the investment bank settling federal charges against it, and with her disgorging millions she garnered through her trading on inside information granted to her. That’s the so-called “spinning” of initial public offerings, in which she took stock granted to her in advance of it being publicly available, as an insider and board member, and sold it for huge profits a few days later when the shares hit the public markets.
So Whitman did an interview with the Associated Press, in which she did not adequately push back against the controversy. Whitman said she’d left the Goldman Sachs board because she “wasn’t a good fit.” Which she evidently learned as federal regulators and eBay shareholders were closing in, and not a moment before. … From my May 3rd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Friday at $75.11 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $41 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 day after elections in Britain, America’s closest ally, finds that Conservatives have gained nearly a hundred seats in parliament with only a four-point gain in the popular vote. Yet they are 20 votes of a majority, meaning that some sort of coalition deal will be necessary. Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the two left of center major parties, won 29% and 23% of the popular vote, but lost seats, especially ruling Labour, down 91. The Lib Dems, who fell back from earlier polling and are ideologically closer to New Labour, seem to hold the balance of power.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court is reportedly impending. … Some good news out of Iraq after a spate of bad news: Coalition talks between Shiite and Sunni parties will supposedly get underway next week. … As alluded to earlier, the State of California’s revenue dropped $3.6 billion below forecast in April, reversing the trend from earlier months of higher-than-anticipated revenues, placing the budget $1.2 billion below forecast on aggregate. …
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … IRON MAN, AGAIN: THE POST-MODERN HOWARD HUGHES RETURNS IN FULL BLOCKBUSTER MODE.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: FIORINA MAKES A MOVE. Ex-Hewlett Packard CEO, running either a relatively close second or in a dead heat with ex-Congressman Tom Campbell in the Republican primary to take on Senator Barbara Boxer, is on something of a roll. She’s picked up big endorsements this week, including Sarah Palin, the moderately conservative New Majority California fundraising group, and big anti-abortion outfits. Last night she turned in the better performance in the only primary debate. And today her team, including seemingly zany ad man Fred Davis, announced two new TV ads.
They’re both positive spots. And there are, sadly, no demon sheep, nor is a HindenBoxer anywhere in sight. One is entitled “Work,” positioning Fiorina as superior to Boxer in “making Washington work for California.” The other is entitled “Jobs,” casting Fiorina as superior to Boxer in stimulating the economy.
In a morning conference call, the Fiorina crew made it clear that their aim is to activate primary voters with a hard comparison of their candidate with Boxer, rather than primary rivals. When I asked why they weren’t simply shooting down Campbell — who in my view is extraordinarily vulnerable — they made it clear that they preferred to go the positive route instead, stressing Fiorina as a tougher candidate to take on Boxer.
This may also be because they don’t think Campbell has the resources to compete very effectively. Nevertheless, they did not suggest that they wouldn’t go negative if need be.
** MEG WHITMAN’S TITANIC CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA.What has a record $70 million in primary spending gotten billionaire Meg Whitman? A plummeting Republican primary lead over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, not long ago dismissed as a hapless figure by the state’s diminished press corps. And a lot more trouble besides.
Today the Democratic Party and Jerry Brown, the de facto nominee, are intervening with a tough new TV ad against Whitman, hitting her on ethics and Goldman Sachs.
It’s been a wild slide of a ride for the “inevitable” Meg Whitman these past few weeks.
Three weeks ago, I revealed on my blog, New West Notes, that private polling showed her once 50-point primary lead over Poizner had been cut in half. A week ago, I revealed that Poizner was going up on the air with a rugged TV ad attacking Whitman, a controversial former Goldman Sachs board member, for her deep linkages to the investment banking house. On Tuesday, I revealed that private polling showed Whitman’s lead cut further, to 10 points or less. All these things came as shocks to most.
Kudos, incidentally, to Poizner, who made his fortune as a Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur, and his gritty team. …
President Barack Obama is hailing April’s increase in jobs as further evidence of an improving economy. Obama said that the steps by his administration have helped the nation pull out of a serious recession, but there is more work to do.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8 AM Pacific, joined by his top economic advisors, he made a statement about the latest job numbers, which show a gain of nearly 300,000 jobs in the past month.
He also pledged to investigate the bizarre drop in the Dow Jones average yesterday, apparently caused by a trade entering a wrong number in his trading program, which then triggered computerized trading algorithms leading a 1000-point drop.
The market quickly recovered two-thirds of the drop.
Obama has a light planned public schedule today, as he is closing in on his Supreme Court pick and monitoring a number of situations.
Pakistani officials have reportedly arrested eight people in connection with the attempted car bombing Saturday in New York City’s Times Square.
Prior to those arrests, a naturalized American from Pakistan, Shahzad Faisal, was arrested late Monday night while attempting to fly from New York to Dubai. He is the prime suspect in the car bombing attempt. He managed to elude federal investigators in Connecticut and got onto the Emirates airliner when the airline failed to check the updated watch list. But his name was spotted on the plane’s manifest before the aircraft pulled away from the gate.
The suspect is reportedly cooperating with the FBI. He was recently in Pakistan for a five-month stretch, where he apparently received bomb training from the Taliban.
The political situation in Iraq remains distinctly unsettled nearly two months after national parliamentary elections. No one has been able to form a new governing coalition, and there is a major recount underway, by hand, in Baghdad Province, which will take two to three weeks to complete. Needless to say, this is threatening the timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops, set to happen this summer.
On Wednesday, Iraq’s two leading Shiite parties announced that they have formed a coalition, which leaves them several votes short of the number needed to form a government. They have offered the presidency to Kurdish leaders and will conduct an internal election to select their candidate for prime minister, who may not be current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
But this won’t sit well with the secular Sunni party which finished first.
Yesterday’s national election in Britain, America’s closest ally and one of the world’s largest economies, yields a hung parliament.
In the UK’s first past the post system, the Conservatives gained nearly a hundred seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, dealing a big blow to the ruling Labour Party of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
But the Tories only won 36% of the national popular vote, to Labour’s 29% and the Liberal Democrats’ 23%.
Conservative leader David Cameron is 20 seats shy of a parliamentary majority. Putting the party of the right in an odd position of seeking to run the country with little more than a third of the national vote, compared to the 52% of the national vote cast for the two parties of the left and center/left.
Some serious horsetrading will ensue.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 10:30 AM, Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks at the 34th Annual California Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony to honor 10 fallen officers. The Ceremony will conclude with a 21-gun salute, taps and retiring of the colors.
Schwarzenegger is joined by Attorney General Jerry Brown, sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, and thousands of law enforcement officers from around the state.
The ceremony takes place at the Peace Officers’ Memorial Monument near the Capitol.
** “GOLDMEG SACHS WHITMAN” ROILS THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE.It’s the relationship that won’t go away, and it comes at a bad moment for billionaire Meg Whitman in her unlikely quest for governor of California. Her vaunted megabucks exercise in branding — actually an attempt to appropriate the eBay brand — is turning into something quite different and damaging. She’s become GoldMeg Sachs Whitman.
Even before her Republican primary rival, super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, began airing a tough new TV ad over the weekend hitting Whitman for her deep involvement with Goldman Sachs, Whitman’s lead in the GOP primary had slid precipitously. Once ahead by an astonishing 50 points, thanks to her many months of unanswered advertising, her lead over Poizner in private polling had slipped down into the teens prior to the advent of the new ad. …
Even before the launch of the new attack ad and the Sunday night debate, Whitman was under the gun on GoldMeg Sachs. Last week, she and her campaign tried furiously to spin away the controversy that could consume her massively funded candidacy. Namely, her controversial tenure as a member of the board of Goldman Sachs, which ended with the investment bank settling federal charges against it, and with her disgorging millions she garnered through her trading on inside information granted to her. That’s the so-called “spinning” of initial public offerings, in which she took stock granted to her in advance of it being publicly available, as an insider and board member, and sold it for huge profits a few days later when the shares hit the public markets.
So Whitman did an interview with the Associated Press, in which she did not adequately push back against the controversy. Whitman said she’d left the Goldman Sachs board because she “wasn’t a good fit.” Which she evidently learned as federal regulators and eBay shareholders were closing in, and not a moment before. … From my May 3rd column.
** IS OBAMA FINALLY PIVOTING TO THE ECONOMY? I started hearing it last December. President Barack Obama was at last about to pivot to a principal focus on the issue that people care about the most, the economy. It would be right after the holidays.
But after Christmas morning dawned, it was anything but that.
There was the barely thwarted Christmas Day airline bomber. Terrorism was suddenly back in the forefront of public concern. Just as that settled down, Scott Brown won the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, throwing the national health care bill into total disarray. Which lasted for some time, before it became the total focus again, in part at the insistence of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who got the Senate’s version through the House. When that finally passed, the pivot to the economy was to take place once again, but it never quite happened.
In fact, it’s just one thing after another, with geopolitics playing a big part, as it should. Yet Obama is dealing with a media culture geared to simplistic takes on simple issues, and a public that is understandably most concerned about the ever so slowly recovering economy.
Now Obama has spent most of the week focusing on economic recovery and Wall Street reform, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid breaking the Republican filibuster against the latter and with Obama spending two days appearing in key heartland swing states. But Obama may be distracted again, this time by the massive offshore oil drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which comes only weeks after he reversed his campaign position and championed more offshore drilling. … From my April 29th column.
** PUNDITS, BLOGGERS, ACTIVIST LEADERS THINKING OF RUNNING FOR HIGH OFFICE? THINK AGAIN. … From my April 27th column.
** 10 KEY THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE HIGH-STAKES CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE: WHAT IT MEANS FOR BROWN, WHITMAN, POIZNER, ROMNEY, AND OBAMA. … From my April 1st 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.
Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are joined by Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Mickey Rourke and many more for the Iron Man sequel, already an international hit. It opens today around North America on a record number of screens, and looks to challenge The Dark Knight for the biggest opening weekend ever.
** 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 $42 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
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