Vice President Joe Biden had a field day yesterday with Texas Congressman Joe Barton’s apology to BP and attack on the new $20 billion fund to pay damages from the Gulf oil disaster.
** QUICK HITS.National Democrats continue to jump all over Texas Congressman Joe Barton’s antics yesterday defending BP in the Gulf oil disaster and attacking government intervention. They say he articulated the true Republican posture in supplication to Big Oil, and intend to make a show of it all the way to November. … In California, a few stunts going nowhere in the governor’s race. Billionaire Meg Whitman’s campaign, dogged by the California Nurses Association’s “Queen Meg” road show, asked for the union’s membership list so Whitman can explain herself in a letter. The nurses union countered by inviting Whitman to a forum, where she can explain herself. Along with Jerry Brown, who naturally has already accepted. Considering that Whitman has refused over 10 debate invitations so far, don’t hold your breath … The chronic California budget crisis is nowhere near resolved, but there are three negotiating postures. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to cut. State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg wants to raise taxes. And Assembly Speaker John Perez wants to borrow. We’ll see when the Democratic leaders of the two houses get together on their position. …
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … WHAT WE KNOW NOW ABOUT THE BIG CALIFORNIA RACES.
** IN MEMORIAM: STEPHEN RIVERS. In the rush of elections and their immediate aftermaths, things can pass by in a flash. Like a life.
Stephen Rivers, a high-powered Los Angeles-based public relations consultant for key entertainment and political figures, passed away early on the morning of the California primary. He was 55 and, though I had not known it, had been suffering from prostate cancer.
His passing drew an immediate statement from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver.
“Stephen was a great human being — one of the best,” Schwarzenegger and Shriver said. “What made him so special was his total grasp of his craft, whether it was the entertainment world, the political arena, nonprofits or the private sector. He was the only one who could bring it all together for the benefit of whatever cause he supported. Stephen’s talent had no boundaries, and he will be missed.”
Former Senator Gary Hart wrote to me late on the afternoon of primary election day, saying: “Please pay tribute to Steve Rivers and his wonderful contribution to so many good candidates and causes.”
I first met Steve Rivers when he was the executive assistant to Cesar Chavez, the legendary co-founder and president of the United Farm Workers. He had begun as an activist helping organize the boycott of non-union grapes in New England; his skill brought him to Chavez’s personal attention and to California.
From Cesar Chavez and the farm workers, he went on to work with Jane Fonda and future state Senator Tom Hayden in their Campaign for Economic Democracy, then into work as a Hollywood publicist and operative in state and national Democratic campaigns.
He became the director of public affairs for the then ultimate powerhouse Creative Artists Agency under Mike Ovitz, then returned to independent public relations work. He had a host of clients, including Fonda, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Oliver Stone, Richard Dreyfuss, Benicio del Toro, Bono, the Queen of Jordan, Steven Spielberg, Gray Davis, and the Kennedy family.
He served as the spokesman on family issues for Schwarzenegger and Shriver, handling much of the funeral for Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and had a lot of involvement with Ted Kennedy’s funeral last year.
He was an authoritative but unassuming guy, and not a big self-promoter, unlike so many consultants we see today. And unlike more than a few PR people, he was never full of it. His spin, when he gave it, was always reality-based. When I encountered him over the years, I always noticed that he slipped into events, sans any entourage, and conducted himself in an unassuming manner. If you didn’t know what he did, you wouldn’t know what he was doing.
He was very intelligent and discreet, and always had trenchant and shrewd things to say. Though I’d known him for decades, and heard from him on things that I wrote, I had no idea he was so ill.
Aside from dealings last year around the funerals of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Ted Kennedy, the last lengthy conversation I had with him was at Schwarzenegger’s Governors’ Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles, a few weeks after the election of Barack Obama.
Though he was thrilled by Obama’s election, he was depressed by the victory of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage. Rivers, who was gay, not surprisingly saw the election, which took away the right recently granted in the bipartisan decision of the California Supreme Court, as akin to a popular vote upholding segregation in the civil rights era.
Saddened though he was, Rivers, having been deeply involved in the Latino movement for civil rights, realized that history has a tendency to move slowly yet inexorably in the direction of greater freedom. And he took heart in that.
** WANTED: MORE ECONOMIC STIMULUS SPENDING. While most of what passes for commentary suggests that people are now more concerned with deficits than any economic stimulus — even as people in the real world clamor for action on revitalizing the economy — a new Gallup Poll shows something very interesting.
People want more economic stimulus spending.
You can find all kinds of data points in polling. But what counts is what people care about the most. And, as common sense should tell you, revitalizing the economy is number one.
Among four pieces of legislation Congress could consider this year, Americans are most supportive of authorizing more economic stimulus spending. Specifically, according to a June 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll, 60% of Americans say they would favor “additional government spending to create jobs and stimulate the economy.” …
Large majorities of Democrats would like to see increased regulation of financial institutions, new laws regulating energy use by private companies, and more economic stimulus spending; smaller majorities of Republicans oppose each of these. Conversely, Republicans broadly favor repealing the new healthcare reform law, while two-thirds of Democrats are opposed.
Stimulus spending emerges as the most widely favored proposal of the four, overall, because of support that is particularly high from Democrats (83%) and relatively high from Republicans (38%) compared with the other Democrat-favored items.
The American public has a generally positive reaction to each of four varied pieces of legislation Congress might consider this year, with slim majorities of political independents in favor of all of them. While none of the four proposals bridges partisan disagreement, the idea of new economic stimulus spending to create jobs generates the most crossover appeal from Republicans while achieving particularly high support from Democrats.
Americans’ support for jobs-directed stimulus spending may seem at odds with separate Gallup polling showing significant public concern about the federal debt. However, it should be noted that the stimulus question wording highlights the economic benefits of new spending. In line with this, recent Gallup polling has found that despite their debt concerns, more Americans choose the economy than the federal budget deficit when asked how important each will be to their vote for Congress this fall.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Ohio today.
President Barack Obama has departed the White House and is on Air Force One en route to Columbus, Ohio.
He receives his daily intelligence and economic briefings on Air Force One.
At 8:40 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Columbus, Ohio.
At 9:05 AM Pacific, Obama tours a Recovery Act Highway Project site.
This is the 10,000th road project to get underway through the recovery act.
At 9:15 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on the economy, emphasizing the role of the economic recovery act.
Despite notable improvements in the economy, the economic recovery act still gets a split rating in polling. Obama moved on to other things and didn’t sell the act heavily enough after its passage last year. As a result, Republicans had a relatively free hand to trash it.
At 9:55 AM Pacific, Obama departs Columbus, Ohio on Air Force One en route to Washington.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 11:15 AM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Marine Corps Commandant Nominee General James Amos in the Oval Office.
Amos, a pilot who is currently assistant commandant, will be the first non-infantry officer to serve as Marine Corps chief.
For his part, Vice President Joe Biden is in Washington today. He and budget director Peter Orszag held an event to discuss government waste, fraud and abuse at the White House.
The week is ending well for Obama on the BP Gulf oil disaster.
He toured the region on Monday and Tuesday, winning plaudits. He then delivered his first Oval Office address on Tuesday night, winning more mixed reviews, mainly because of a concerted attack from the talk show hosts on the MSNBC left, who, I’m told, wanted more fire and brimstone and specifics about future energy legislation.
On Wednesday, Obama summoned BP corporate leadership to the White House and forced them into major concessions, establishing a $20 billion damages fund to be managed by Ted Kennedy’s former chief of staff.
On Thursday, BP execs were grilled by Los Angeles Congressman Henry Waxman and his House Energy & Committee. In the process, Republican Congressman Joe Barton handed Obama and his allies a political bonanza when he blurted out what many right-wingers believe — that BP and offshore drilling are being treated unfairly.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The governance situation in Iraq is still unresolved more than three months after March 7th parliamentary elections.
The U.S. is formally suggesting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite party govern jointly with the more secular Sunni party of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which finished a surprise first in the national elections.
The Los Angeles Lakers rallied past the Boston Celtics last night in LA to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals and their second straight NBA championship. Kobe Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP. The Lakers have won five of the last 11 NBA titles.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in New York City today.
He has no scheduled public events today. Naturally, he issued a message of congratulations last night to the Lakers.
Schwarzenegger is raising funds for the general election.
The state passed its constitutional deadline for adopting a new budget on Tuesday.
But, not surprisingly, the Legislature’s budget conference committee has barely started, and nothing has been done to address the state’s chronic budget deficit. Or the budget and pension reforms Schwarzenegger is demanding.
As previously discussed, Schwarzenegger did win concessions from four public employee unions on the state’s pension system, cutting retirement benefits for future employees and and requiring greater employee contributions to the system.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** THE ARNOLD FACTOR.He was once arguably the most popular governor of California in history. Now, not so much.
First elected in the dramatic California recall election of 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger has less than seven months left in the governorship. He’s won two landslide elections to the office, but, while he retains personal popularity, his job approval rating is now in the twenties. Post-mortems are already underway.
He’s strictly a lame duck, right? Well, no. Schwarzenegger played a big role in last week’s California primary election. And he may have an even bigger role to play in the general election, when Californians vote on an initiative to do away with the state’s landmark climate change program. With climate change and renewable energy initiatives slowed in Congress, this is a vote that will have both national and international import.
Before we get to the general election, let’s look back at the California primary election.
The Republican primary to succeed Schwarzenegger was striking for all the criticism of the moderate Republican governor. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, once a Schwarzenegger ally, got a lot of mileage out of a TV ad in which a picture of Schwarzenegger morphs into billionaire Meg Whitman, claiming that she would be the second coming of Schwarzenegger. For her part, Whitman slammed Schwarzenegger in speeches, as both she and Poizner hugged the far right rail of California politics. Whitman, who spent a record-shattering $90 million to win the GOP nomination in the lowest turnout primary election in California history, faces wily maverick Jerry Brown in the fall. … From my June 16th column.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION) The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks, super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible. … From my June 11th feature.
** 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.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is personally overseeing the project, says the Sukhoi T-50 will be the most advanced fighter jet in the world.
** 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.
Texas Congressman Joe Barton, a Republican cheerleader for offshore oil drilling, said today during congressional hearings on the BP Gulf oil disaster that he is “ashamed” by the Obama Administration getting BP to create the $20 billion fund to pay for damages from the disaster. Barton described the president’s actions as “a shakedown” and referred to the new damages fund as “a slush fund.”
** QUICK HITS. After a firestorm of criticism from Vice President Joe Biden, Democratic congressional leaders and many others, House Republican leaders disavowed Congressman Joe Barton’s apology to BP and the remarks seen in the video above. Barton said his comments were “misconstructed” (sic). … Billionaire Meg Whitman predictably launched a Spanish language TV ad today depicting her as a friend to Latinos and opponent of the Arizona immigration law. And just as predictably, the California Democratic Party provided translations of Whitman’s harsh anti-illegal immigrant advertising from the Republican primary, featuring her campaign chairman, former Governor Pete Wilson, to all Spanish language media.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: WHITMAN’S SAMPLER. On the heels of the New York Times revelation that billionaire Meg Whitman, a few months before she left eBay, had to settle a claim for reportedly shoving a smaller female employee who was attempting to prepare her for a wire service interview on the not terribly consequential topic of online avatars comes yesterday’s report in Gawker on another altercation.
This one involves Whitman’s son, Griffith Rutherford Harsh V, who was arrested in Palo Alto four years ago after he shoved a girl who fell down and broke her ankle.
Whitman’s son was charged with felony battery, and Whitman herself bailed him out the next morning with a $25,000 cashier’s check.
Does California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s violent temper and bullying behavior run in the family? The billionaire ex-eBay CEO’s son was charged with felony battery for breaking a woman’s ankle after her friend said “Fuck you” and “Fuck your fraternity.”
A 22-year-old woman named Valerie Sanchez was riding a bus to Palo Alto’s Blue Chalk Cafe on the night of May 26, 2006 when she crossed paths with Griffith Rutherford Harsh V, Meg’s eldest son and a notoriously delinquent sophomore at Princeton at the time. According to a police report filed later that night, Sanchez and her friends had mocked his fraternity and said “fuck you” and “fuck your fraternity” to him before Sanchez swiped Griff’s baseball cap off his head. The altercation escalated when both parties arrived at Blue Chalk Cafe. According to Valerie’s statement to the police, they were inside the bar when Griff “pushed” her “with two open hands on her chest and shoulder area.” She fell down and felt her right ankle “snap.” A nearby security guard witnessed the event and corroborated Valerie’s version of the events.
The arrest report is there with the larger story.
The “V” in Griffith Harsh V, incidentally, does not stand for Victory or Visitor. It stand for the fifth.
Gawker reports that Whitman’s son graduated a year late from her alma mater Princeton after a year-long disciplinary probation, and that he was banned from living on campus. Which was ironic, in that Whitman gave $30 million to Princeton to create the Whitman College residential complex on campus.
Charges against Whitman’s son were dismissed after several court dates, and the victim was not available for comment.
According to the New York Times, the incident involving Whitman herself was a year later. Whitman and eBay pursued a mediated settlement with the employee, with the company paying a reported $200,000 to settle any claims or charges. Whitman left ebay a few months later.
This was not the first time that Whitman exited a CEO post not long after a settlement was paid to deal with claims against her.
As you will recall, as a board member of Goldman Sachs, Whitman indulged in inside trades available only to a few.
In the Goldman Sachs case, as well, she paid a settlement and exited the firm.
** NEW NATIONAL POLL: OBAMA HEALTH CARE BILL NOW NARROWLY FAVORED. The new Associated Press poll shows that the national health care reform bill is now narrowly favored, 45% to 42%.
This is a sharp reversal from the situation a few months ago.
The latest Associated Press-GfK poll on Obama’s top domestic achievement finds support for the new overhaul has risen to its highest point since the survey started asking people about it in September — six months before it became law. The results now: 45 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed. That’s a significant shift in public sentiment considering that opposition hit 50 percent after Obama signed the health plan into law in late March and that in May, supporters were outnumbered 39 percent to 46 percent. …
The poll found support increased since May among men (from 36 percent to 46 percent), people in their prime working years (from 35 percent to 49 percent among 30-49 year-olds) and Republicans (from 8 percent to 17 percent.) The uptick among Republicans comes even as party leaders are calling for the law’s repeal.
The changes coincide with a concerted effort by the Obama administration, congressional Democrats and their allies to sell the immediate benefits of the law.
Among the selling points: coverage for young adults on their parents’ plan until they turn 26; a $250 rebate check for older people with high prescription costs; tax credits for some small businesses that cover their employees; and federal money to train more primary care doctors and nurses. …
But Obama and the Democrats still have a problem with older voters.
One complication for the president is that older people remain opposed to the law. Just last week, Obama answered questions at a televised town hall meeting in a senior center, but his assurances seem to be having little effect. The poll found that 56 percent of people 65 and older don’t like the new law.
Yet the bottom line is that Democrats are much more trusted than Republicans on health care. So the strategy of all-out nyet, which worked to muddy the waters and create a negative political environment, has not helped the image of the Republican Party.
The poll found that 51 percent trust Democrats to do a better job of handling health care, an issue that more than three-fourths rate as personally important to them. By comparison, 38 percent said they trusted Republicans.
After meeting for several hours yesterday at the White House with BP corporate leadership, President Barack Obama discussed their agreement on the Gulf oil disaster. BP has agreed to pay $20 billion into a claims fund administered by an Obama appointee.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
At 7 AM Pacific, Obama receives the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama receives the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill briefing in the Oval Office.
BP executives are testifying today about the Gulf oil disaster before the House Energy and Commerce Committe, chaired by Los Angeles Congressman Henry Waxman. Waxman, with whom I worked in the Gary Hart for President campaign — he was chairman of the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention and I was a vice chair — is one of the most skilled questioners around.
At 8:35 AM Pacific, Obama meets with the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ new commander Tommy Tradewell in the Oval Office.
At 11:25 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in the Oval Office.
Obama designated Mabus, the former governor of Mississippi and an early Obama backer, to be in charge of the Gulf restoration project. As I reported before the 2008 New Hampshire primary, Mabus predicted that Obama would run well in Southern states. This seemed counter-intuitive to many at the time, but proved to be correct. Mabus’s foresight will be challenged by this new project.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 12:15 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in the Oval Office.
At 12:45 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Marine Corps Commandant Nominee General James Amos in the Oval Office.
Amos, a pilot who is now assistant commandant, will be the first non-infantry officer to command the U.S. Marine Corps.
For his part, Vice President Joe Biden meets with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Naval Observatory. Blair is special envoy of the Mideast Quartet (US, Russia, EU, UN) and has reached a tentative agreement with Israeli leadership to substantially ease the Gaza blockade.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in New York City today.
He is raising funds for the general election.
In the evening he speaks at the After School All-Stars gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Schwarzenegger has been involved for decades with the after school charity effort. In 2002, he passed Proposition 49, a California initiative to promote after school programs.
The state passed its constitutional deadline for adopting a new budget on Tuesday.
But, not surprisingly, the Legislature’s budget conference committee has barely started, and nothing has been done to address the state’s chronic budget deficit. Or the budget and pension reforms Schwarzenegger is demanding.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** THE ARNOLD FACTOR.He was once arguably the most popular governor of California in history. Now, not so much.
First elected in the dramatic California recall election of 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger has less than seven months left in the governorship. He’s won two landslide elections to the office, but, while he retains personal popularity, his job approval rating is now in the twenties. Post-mortems are already underway.
He’s strictly a lame duck, right? Well, no. Schwarzenegger played a big role in last week’s California primary election. And he may have an even bigger role to play in the general election, when Californians vote on an initiative to do away with the state’s landmark climate change program. With climate change and renewable energy initiatives slowed in Congress, this is a vote that will have both national and international import.
Before we get to the general election, let’s look back at the California primary election.
The Republican primary to succeed Schwarzenegger was striking for all the criticism of the moderate Republican governor. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, once a Schwarzenegger ally, got a lot of mileage out of a TV ad in which a picture of Schwarzenegger morphs into billionaire Meg Whitman, claiming that she would be the second coming of Schwarzenegger. For her part, Whitman slammed Schwarzenegger in speeches, as both she and Poizner hugged the far right rail of California politics. Whitman, who spent a record-shattering $90 million to win the GOP nomination in the lowest turnout primary election in California history, faces wily maverick Jerry Brown in the fall. … From my June 16th column.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION) The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks, super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible. … From my June 11th feature.
** 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.
A fellow named Harrison Ford finally married longtime love Callista Flockhart on Tuesday in New Mexico. Ford, one of my more favored actors, who has been in a few movies that have achieved a certain level of recognition, and Flockhart have been a couple for eight years. The pair were married at the New Mexico Governor’s Mansion in Santa Fe by Ford’s friend, Governor Bill Richardson.
** 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.
After a very lengthy meeting with the corporate leadership of BP, President Barack Obama emerged to announce that the oil company will provide $20 billion for a new fund to pay victims of the Gulf oil disaster and repair damages, and create a $100 million compensation fund for displaced oil industry workers. The $20 billion fund will be overseen by a panel headed by Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer specializing in mediation and dispute resolution and former chief of staff for Senator Ted Kennedy .
** QUICK HITS.With a new round of UN sanctions adopted against Iran for its rogue nuclear program, the Obama Administration today announced new US sanctions against Iran. They target institutions and individuals identified as aiding Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. … Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration today announced that, in negotiations, four unions — representing the Highway Patrol, forestry firefighters, psychiatric technicians, and AFSCME — have agreed to cut pension benefits for new hires and increase pension contributions by all employees.
** THE ARNOLD FACTOR.He was once arguably the most popular governor of California in history. Now, not so much.
First elected in the dramatic California recall election of 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger has less than seven months left in the governorship. He’s won two landslide elections to the office, but, while he retains personal popularity, his job approval rating is now in the twenties. Post-mortems are already underway.
He’s strictly a lame duck, right? Well, no. Schwarzenegger played a big role in last week’s California primary election. And he may have an even bigger role to play in the general election, when Californians vote on an initiative to do away with the state’s landmark climate change program. With climate change and renewable energy initiatives slowed in Congress, this is a vote that will have both national and international import.
Before we get to the general election, let’s look back at the California primary election.
The Republican primary to succeed Schwarzenegger was striking for all the criticism of the moderate Republican governor. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, once a Schwarzenegger ally, got a lot of mileage out of a TV ad in which a picture of Schwarzenegger morphs into billionaire Meg Whitman, claiming that she would be the second coming of Schwarzenegger. For her part, Whitman slammed Schwarzenegger in speeches, as both she and Poizner hugged the far right rail of California politics. Whitman, who spent a record-shattering $90 million to win the GOP nomination in the lowest turnout primary election in California history, faces wily maverick Jerry Brown in the fall. …
** NEW POLL: IS PESSIMISM ABOUT GULF OIL DISASTER A TURNING POINT? A new Gallup Poll shows that American’s generally believe that the damage from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be so severe that the area will never fully recover.
But will this recognition of the consequences of America’s current energy path lead Americans to put their rather vague pro-environmental sentiments into action?
From what they have seen of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill rolling onto America’s shores, nearly half of Americans (49%) believe that at least some of the affected beaches will never recover. Even more, 59%, believe normal levels for some animal species will never be restored. …
More generally, Americans foresee a very long road to recovery for both the U.S. beaches and wildlife affected by the BP oil spill. The vast majority believe it will be a decade or more, if at all, before either aspect of the Gulf environment is back to normal; few think a full recovery will happen within four years.
Separately, Americans broadly agree that the oil spill will negatively affect the U.S. economy and the U.S. consumer. Roughly four in five believe the overall U.S. economy will be hurt, that gas prices will go up, and that food prices will increase. …
The most striking subgroup differences in views about the oil spill’s impact are by gender, with women much more pessimistic than men. (Gallup has previously found women to be more concerned than men about environmental matters.)
Sixty percent of women, compared with 37% of men, believe some Gulf beaches will never recover — a 23 percentage-point gap. Additionally, there is a 13-point gap between men’s and women’s perceptions of whether the affected wildlife will fully recover. …
Women are also more likely than men to believe that gas prices will increase (83% vs. 74%), and that the U.S. economy in general will be hurt (88% vs. 78%).
In his remarks when visiting the Gulf shoreline this week, as well as in his Oval Office address Tuesday night, President Obama has stressed the need for a long-term commitment to the oil spill cleanup. Americans may be getting impatient with BP and the federal government for not doing enough to cap the gushing oil rig and contain the leaked oil, but it appears they are resigned to a lengthy process to restore the beaches and wildlife, with perhaps limited success.
There will be continual reports, with constant pictures and video footage, of the damage for a very long time. This, coupled with the already existing expectation of severe damage, may in the end have far more impact than the more limited disasters of the past that drove a heightened environmental awareness.
In his first address to the nation from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama discussed the BP Gulf oil disaster.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama and Biden are meeting with BP executives on the Gulf oil disaster in the Roosevelt Room.
At 9:15 AM Pacific, Obama delivers a statement to the press on his meeting with BP executives in the Rose Garden.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama and Biden have lunch in the Private Dining Room.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts in the Oval Office.
Brown, who won the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s old seat in a January shocker, is a potential Republican vote for energy reform legislation.
At 2:35 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at the American Nurses Association House of Delegates at the Washington Hilton. Obama will focus on implementation of the national health care reform bill.
Last night was Obama’s first Oval Office address.
As expected, Obama discussed BP’s responsibility, his plan to use an escrow account to expedite its payment of claims, the plan to further contain and finally stop the oil spill, the outline of a plan to restore the Gulf, and a push for a clean energy economy.
And he’s appointed a former prosecutor of the Iran/Contra scandal, Michael Bromwich, to head up the formerly obscure Minerals Mining Service which has been so asleep at the switch.
A number of things were left vague. Such as how the account to pay damages will be run and how the Gulf will be restored.
Obama designated Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, the former governor of Mississippi and an early Obama backer, is in charge of the Gulf restoration project. As I reported before the 2008 New Hampshire primary, Mabus predicted that Obama would run well in Southern states. This seemed counter-intuitive to many at the time, but proved to be correct. Mabus’s foresight will be challenged by this new project.
Though well-written and fairly well-delivered — sitting behind a desk is not the best mode for Obama — I don’t the speech was one of Obama’s best. It was, however, adequate to the occasion, though it met with immediate rebuff from Republican leaders and did not please the strongest partisans of the left.
The corporate leadership of BP arrived at the White House this morning to discuss the Gulf oil disaster with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
How the speech itself plays out will depend on how this week plays out for Obama.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
The state passed its constitutional deadline for adopting a new budget yesterday.
But, not surprisingly, the Legislature’s budget conference committee has barely started, and nothing has been done to address the state’s chronic budget deficit. Or the budget and pension reforms Schwarzenegger is demanding.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION) The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks, super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible. … From my June 11th feature.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. … From my June 8th 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.
During hearings today, members of Congress rapped the executives of the big oil companies for having no better offshore oil drilling plans than BP.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: GREEN DAY. On the day on which President Barack Obama lays out his response to BP’s Gulf oil disaster, the talk in California gubernatorial politics turned largely to greenery.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was in Sacramento for his already scheduled Advanced Transportation Summit. Schwarzenegger has long promoted alternative fuels vehicles, and today was something of a summation of that effort.
And former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown was in Mountain View, unveiling a big green jobs package before the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
For her part, billionaire Meg Whitman and her campaign were trying to fend off yesterday’s New York Times story that, a few months before she resigned as CEO, she shoved an eBay employee attempting to prepare her for a wire service interview on online avatars, leading to a mediated settlement of some $200,000. This, incidentally, is the second CEO post that Whitman resigned not long after reaching a private settlement with an employee. The first being FTD, where charges of age discrimination emerged.
Schwarzenegger toured a collection of 20 alternative new vehicles before addressing the summit of 200 business executives, policy figures, and activists. In a rather contemplative mode, he recalled the early days of his governorship, when he directed that the state show alternative vehicles at the 2004 LA Auto Show and there were only two on view. This year there were 17 models, and at today’s summit 20, not including Tesla and Fisker whose vehicles are sold out.
Schwarzenegger said that he would continue to push the issue, “Even when I’m finished with this job, which, by the way, is the greatest job I’ve ever had, even though we were hit by a tremendous economic downturn like the rest of the world. You can’t pick that, that is beyond your power. Just to serve the people of California has been such a pleasure. Not just as an American, but as an immigrant, who came over here with absolutely nothing. This country has given me the opportunities that I’ve had, and made it possible to become successful in different areas.”
“I want you to know that after I’m through with this, that I will continue on my mission to help companies, promote alternative fuel vehicles, and help California to become energy efficient and create the renewables and to fight for laws so we go in that direction.
“For me this is never over. It’s like working out. Yeah, I stopped competing at one point. When I got too old, and my bones were hurting. But I didn’t stop training. And the same with this. Yes, the time will come when I’m finished with this job, but I will continue with promoting all of those things and working with all of you. We will make sure that California will stay the mecca of alternative fuel vehicles.”
For his part, Brown, speaking to business executives in the high tech mecca of Silicon Valley, spoke some about reforming Sacramento. He reminded that he supports the Proposition 14 open primary initiative, joked about the Legislature ignoring the state budget for months after the governor introduces it in January to focus on “cigarette butts on the beach,” and joked again that he has a “secret plan” to solve the state’s chronic budget crisis a la Nixon’s secret plan to end the Vietnam War. (Which naturally prompted the humorless Whitman campaign, which has an utterly nonsensical plan — see my analysis below linked below — to criticize him.)
But Brown spoke mainly about his plan to further stimulate the clean tech economy in California, to create 500,000 green jobs and create 20,000 megawatts of power.
Key to that is aggressively implementing the state’s renewable portfolio standard requiring utilities to dramatically increase the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy, speeding up clearances for new transmission capacity for renewable power, install solar power systems on public and commercial buildings, focus on new energy storage, provide incentives for consumers to solarize and make their homes more energy efficient, and implement the AB 32 climate change program, which plays a forcing function for renewable technology development and diffusion.
Whitman opposes the climate change program. First she called for a one-year moratorium. More recently, she’s made statements that the program should be ended.
Brown reminded the audience that, during his first governorship, California led the world in renewable power and provided the template for the efficient use of energy.
“I believe California can be the leader again,” Brown said.
** NEW NATIONAL POLL: GET VERY TOUGH ON B.P. FOR GULF OIL DISASTER. A new Gallup Poll shows strong support for the federal government getting very tough on BP for the Gulf oil disaster.
A large majority says that BP should be forced to pay all damages resulting from the oil spill, including lost wages for workers, even if BP must be liquidated to do so.
The majority of Americans (59%) say British Petroleum should pay for all financial losses resulting from the Gulf Coast oil spill, including wages of workers put out of work, even if those payments ultimately drive the company out of business. Seven out of 10 Americans (71%) say Obama has not been tough enough in his dealings with BP.
The results are from a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted June 11-13 as President Obama made a two-day trip to the Gulf area and prepared to speak to the nation on the oil spill situation Tuesday.
Obama on Monday talked to oil spill cleanup workers, political leaders, and average citizens in the Gulf area, expressing concern and pressing those involved to step up efforts to control the effects of the spill. Obama will meet in person with BP executives on Wednesday to discuss the spill.
These efforts come at a time when neither Obama nor BP gets stellar ratings for their handling of the oil spill, although Obama’s ratings are clearly less negative than BP’s. …
The majority of Americans (53%) rate Obama’s handling of the spill as “poor” or “very poor,” compared with 81% who give BP the same rating. Obama’s ratings have not changed significantly over the past two and a half weeks, although slightly more Americans now rate the job he is doing as “very poor.” At the same time, more Americans (49%) now say BP is doing a very poor job of handling the spill, up from 39%. A separate Gallup poll conducted June 5-6 found that Obama’s job approval rating on handling the oil spill was 40%.
Partisanship is very much evident in Americans’ views about Obama’s response to the oil spill, with 79% of Republicans, compared with 59% of independents and 27% of Democrats, rating his efforts as poor or very poor.
Americans regardless of political identification for the most part agree that BP has done a poor job. Remarkably, there is little difference across Democrats, independents, and Republicans in their feelings about Obama’s “toughness” in his dealings with BP. In fact, an identical 73% of Democrats and Republicans say Obama is not being tough enough with BP (while 68% of independents agree). This unanimity of opinion among those who identify with the two major parties is highly unusual in the generally very partisan environment in which a president operates in contemporary America. …
Not surprisingly, however, and notwithstanding the rhetoric of “toughness,” since they support the policy that led to BP’s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Republicans are much more lenient toward BP.
Republicans are more lenient in their views on the liability BP should be expected to sustain as a result of the spill. Forty-nine percent say BP should pay for as much of the financial losses as it can afford while still remaining viable — compared with 32% of Democrats and 36% of independents. Democrats and independents are more likely to say BP should pay for damages even if it forces the company out of business.
President Obama’s very public efforts this week to show his concern about the oil spill and to be harsher with British Petroleum appear to be generally responsive to Americans’ concerns evident in recent polling on the issue. Most Americans say the president to date has not been tough enough with the oil company, and a majority say he has done a poor job of responding to the spill. A majority also want BP to pay for the damages and lost wages caused by the spill, even if the company is forced to go out of business.
Trends in Obama’s overall job approval rating in recent weeks suggest that he has yet to suffer politically concomitant with the period after the spill. At the same time, the president’s ratings on handling the spill are below his overall approval rating. Obama and his advisers’ decisions to have the president focus directly on the spill for much of this week — even canceling a planned trip to Australia and Indonesia — would appear to be at least partially designed to bolster his standing with the public. …
President Barack Obama expressed optimism about the Gulf oil disaster during his stops on Monday in Mississippi and Alabama.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Florida and Washington today.
He received his daily intelligence and economic briefings.
At 7:15 AM Pacific, Obama receives a briefing with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and local officials on efforts to fight the BP oil spill on Pensacola Beach in Florida.
At 9:10 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at an event at Naval Air Station Pensacola’s Naval Air Technical Training Center in Pensacola, Florida.
At 10:15 AM Pacific, Obama departs Pensacola, Florida on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 12:15 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 12:30 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 5 PM Pacific, Obama addresses the nation from the Oval Office on the BP Gulf oil disaster.
This is Obama’s first Oval Office address.
Obama is expected to discuss BP’s responsibility, his plan to use an escrow account to expedite its payment of claims, the plan to further contain and finally stop the oil spill, the outline of a plan to restore the Gulf, and a push for a clean energy economy.
For his part, Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks this afternoon at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Issues Conference in Washington.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
Perhaps taking action movies a bit too seriously, a California construction worker has been arrested in northern Pakistan while on what he describes as a mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Gary Brooks Faulkner was carrying a pistol, a sword, night-vision goggles, and Christian religious books.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 9 AM, Schwarzenegger will join Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at Baxter’s BioScience for the announcement of the Business Tax Holiday, which exempts any new business from gross receipts tax by the city of Los Angeles for three years when they open or locate in Los Angeles.
At 12:45 PM, Schwarzenegger will tour the Governor’s Summit on the Advanced Transportation Industry’s Advanced Vehicle Showcase outside the California Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento.
At 1 PM, Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks at the Governor’s Summit on the Advanced Transportation Industry, then hold a press availability.
Schwarzenegger’s would-be Republican successor, billionaire Meg Whitman — who had already spent nearly three times as much money from her personal fortune in the Republican primary as Schwarzenegger has in all his campaigns, including a myriad of initiatives, combined — put another $20 million into her campaign account late yesterday.
That’s because her campaign, which spent a record-shattering $90 million in the Republican primary, was out of money.
Whitman is also now dogged by the revelation late yesterday in the New York Times that she shoved an employee a few months before leaving eBay, forcing a $200,000 settlement from the company to avert further legal action.
This is serious stuff, needless to say. If a CEO gets this upset while trying to prepare for a wire service interview on online avatars, one wonders what would happen if she had to deal with something serious.
Oh, and today is the constitutional deadline for a new state budget.
But, not surprisingly, the Legislature’s budget conference committee has barely started, and nothing has been done to address the state’s chronic budget deficit.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION) The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks, super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible. … From my June 11th feature.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. … From my June 8th 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.
President Barack Obama exhibited a take charge attitude today in day one of his fourth visit to the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform exploded on April 20th.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE ARNOLD FACTOR.
** QUICK HITS. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, special envoy of the Mideast Quartet powers, has convinced Israel to ease its Gaza blockade. Israel, he says, will allow in commercial goods and construction materials under European Union oversight, … A few months before she left eBay, billionaire Meg Whitman paid $200,000 to settle a claim that she physically shoved an employee, according to the New York Times. The physically imposing ex-CEO reportedly became angry with PR woman Young Mi Kim while attempting to prepare for a press interview, which, as we’ve seen, is not exactly Whitman’s thing. The matter was resolved through supervised mediation.
** PRO-JERRY BROWN GROUP BEGINS STATEWIDE RADIO CAMPAIGN.Working Californians, an independent expenditure committee of several years standing working in alliance with the new California Working Families IE — which as discussed today launched a TV ad campaign against billionaire Republican Meg Whitman — announced this afternoon that it is today launching a statewide radio advertising campaign on behalf of Jerry Brown.
The group says this is a 60-second positive ad which will run in markets around the state for the next four weeks.
“Our research show us that voters are eager to hear more about Jerry Brown and why he is the best choice for governor of our state, “ said Marvin Kropke, Business Manager of IBEW Local 11 and co-chair of Working Californians. “We believe that these radio ads make the case that Jerry Brown is the only candidate with the experience and the values to succeed in this critical time.” …
“From our perspective,” said Brian D’Arcy, IBEW Local 18 Business Manager and Working Californians co-chair, “Jerry Brown is the best candidate for Governor. He has a 40-year record of fighting for the average Californian on crime, on consumer protection issues, the environment, and worker’s rights.”
Jerry Brown’s experience is also a key factor in the Governor’s race according to Courtni Pugh, Service Employees International Union. “Jerry Brown has devoted his life to public service and has a proven record of leading successful turnarounds in the face of great challenges,“ said Pugh. “He knows what it takes to get a budget through the legislature and he has a commitment to straight talk and common sense.”
Working Californians played a significant role in helping elect California state John Chiang in 2006 when he ran against a better-financed Republican opponent.
** NEW NATIONAL POLL: NEARLY HALF SAY DEMOCRATS ARE “TOO LIBERAL.” Amidst a plethora of data indicating a slowly improving political situation for Democrats — following a sharp slump during the fractious and frequently wildly inaccurate debate on the national health care bill — comes a new Gallup Poll which has a near record number saying that the Democratic Party is “too liberal.”
This number is at the highest level since 1994, which was a very good Republican year.
In the past two years, Americans have become increasingly likely to describe the Democratic Party’s views as “too liberal” (49%), and less likely to say its views are “about right” (38%). Americans’ views of the Republican Party, on the other hand, have moderated slightly, with a dip in the percentage saying the GOP is too conservative from 43% last year to 40% today, and an increase in the percentage saying it is about right, from 34% to 41%.
The recent increase in perceptions of the Democratic Party as too liberal could be a response to the expansion in government spending since President Barack Obama took office, most notably regarding the economic stimulus and healthcare legislation.
The 49% of Americans who now believe the Democratic Party’s views are too liberal is one percentage point below the 50% Gallup measured after the 1994 elections, the all-time high in the trend question first asked in 1992.
Since February 2008, the percentage calling the Democratic Party “too liberal” has increased by 12 points among independents and 8 points among Republicans, with little change among Democrats.
While significantly more Americans now view the Democratic Party as “too liberal” than “about right,” the net result of the changes in Americans’ perceptions of the Republican Party is that now about as many Americans say the GOP is “about right” as say it is “too conservative.” Even so, the percentage saying the Republican Party is too conservative remains near the upper range of what Gallup has measured since 1992.
With this becoming BP Gulf oil disaster week for President Barack Obama, it emerges that the embattled corporation has burned off four million gallons of oil floating in the water, preventing it from reaching shore. On the other hand, it is reaching the air.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
A very big week for President Barack Obama, as he reaches what may be an inflection point in the BP Gulf oil disaster. And an interesting week in California politics, with the general election campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate engaged.
Obama is returning to the Gulf Coast for a two-day visit. This is his fourth visit to the region since the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform exploded on April 20th, killing 11 men. He is going to Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
With Coast Admiral Thad Allen saying that BP is not providing accurate figures on the oil spill and damage mounting, the federal government is growing more insistent that BP pay for all damages in a timely manner. And it has given BP until today to come up with a plan to accelerate its capture of leaking oil.
When he returns from the Gulf, Obama will deliver a prime time address to the nation Tuesday night from the White House on the crisis. He is expected to announce that BP will be required to pay into a federally-administered escrow account to repair damages caused by its oil leak.
Obama is summoning BP corporate leadership to the White House on Wednesday.
On Thursday, he will meet at the White House with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Iranian leaders are howling about its longtime Russian patrons turning against them on their rogue nuclear program.
Obama is also monitoring the situation in Afghanistan, where on Thursday General Stanley McChrystal acknowledged that the planned offensive in the historic Taliban stronghold of Kandahar Province is behind schedule.
With the offensive telegraphed for months in advance, the Taliban have been busily assassinating civilian leaders expected to align with the central government in Kabul. These are people whose assistance is essential if any military successes in the area are to be lasting. And it’s turning out that civilian population there is not all that disgruntled with the Taliban.
McChrystal says that he’ll still show major progress by the end of the year. Of course, he seems to operate under the mistaken impression that he has a lot of time.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and General Stanley McChrystal were in Kandahar Sunday to discuss the coming offensive there. Which was supposed to have already started.
Karzai, who is expressing doubt that the Taliban can be defeated, said the offensive will be carried out by US, NATO, and Afghan ground forces, without the involvement of air power. He also, once again, called for Taliban members to join a peace process.
Remarkable reports are emerging of vast mineral deposits in Afghanistan. The landlocked mountainous pseudo-nation, which has no serious tradition of mining, may be one of the world’s leading repositories of not only iron and copper but also minerals critical in high tech manufacturing such as lithium, used extensively in laptop and mobile phone batteries.
Let the conspiracy theories begin.
In the Israeli/Palestinian crisis, the Arab world’s highest-ranking diplomat, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa on Sunday crossed the Egyptian border into Gaza, where he met with the leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian leaders, as well as families of those killed during Israel’s military incursion into Gaza during the final days of the Bush/Cheney Administration. The Arab League is insisting that Israel’s blockade of Gaza must end.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq. The governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved since the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
In California politics, general election contest are underway, but are likely to cool off some after last week’s exchange of post-primary attacks in the races for governor and U.S. Senate.
Billionaire Meg Whitman went up with yet another new TV ad over the weekend, which I discuss in the feature linked below. It’s a positive spot in which she tries to recast her corporate conservative agenda as one motivated by concern for the unemployed, whose plight she somehow witnesses every day.
Democrat Jerry Brown, the longtime favorite, has well over $20 million in the bank, but can’t match Whitman’s already record-shattering spending. So the California Working Families independent expenditure committee is beginning to air a TV ad today showing Whitman’s halting attempts to explain her virtually non-existent record of voting.
A curious episode surrounding Brown’s purported likening of Whitman to Nazis, which emerged on a seldom updated blog blasted out by the Whitman campaign to the Drudge Report and the press, has died down as quickly as it flared up.
In the Senate race, incumbent Barbara Boxer joined First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base, leading ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s campaign to charge that the Obama White House is still trying to save the veteran Democratic senator. Guilty as charged, no doubt.
Neither side is likely to be on the air soon.
Then there is the chronic California budget crisis. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he won’t sign a budget without new fiscal and pension reforms. But the pace is glacial, as always, with a legislative budget commitee still reviewing Schwarzenegger’s May revise and other budget idea.
The constitutional deadline for passage of the new budget, incidentally, is tomorrow. Which obviously will not happen.
Obama is calling for $50 billion in new stimulus spending to support state and local government budgets. While in Washington last week, Schwarzenegger lobbied against a move in Congress to cut $2 billion that the state had already counted on.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington, DC, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida today.
He received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama then traveled on Air Force One to Biloxi, Mississippi.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama receives a briefing with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen and local officials on efforts to fight the BP oil spill at Coast Guard Station Gulfport.
At 9:25 AM Pacific, Obama hosts a roundtable and meets with local residents in Gulfport, Mississippi
At 10:50 AM Pacific, Obama departs Biloxi, Mississippi on Air Force One en route to Theodore, Alabama.
At 11:50 AM Pacific, Obama arrives at Theodore, Alabama.
At 12:45 PM Pacific, Obama tours the Theodore Staging Facility.
At 1:40 PM Pacific, Obama delivers a statement to the press at the Theodore Staging Facility.
At 2:25 PM Pacific, Obama travels from Dauphin Island, Alabama to Fort Morgan, Alabama.
At 3 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in Fort Morgan, Alabama
At 5:25 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in Pensacola, Florida.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
At 10 AM, he participates in the grand opening of California Veterans Home, West Los Angeles.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION) The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks, super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible.
Not that she didn’t show her own brand of hubris right after smoking longtime frontrunner and press favorite Tom Campbell by a startling 35 points in a three-person primary race. She notoriously talked smack about Senator Barbara Boxer’s hair and dissed Whitman for choosing to go on far right icon Sean Hannity’s Fox gabfest as one of her first general election appearances.
But the latter move was only part of Whitman’s hubris. After her campaign had no initial response, she also rejected Brown’s call for 10 freewheeling town hall debates, on the spurious and illogical grounds that she has a plan and he does not.
She is also going to put a TV ad on the air in which she tries to soft soap her hard-edged corporate conservative agenda by expressing her concern for the plight of the unemployed. The “human cost,” she says, “I see every day.” …From my June 11th feature.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. … From my June 8th 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.
Jimmy Dean, who played the Howard Hughes-like “Willard Whyte” in 1971′s Las Vegas-centric Diamonds Are Forever, died last night in Richmond, Virginia. The country singer, perhaps best known for his sausage company, provided a sharp comedic presence in the last of the official Sean Connery Bond films. This house is actually in Palm Springs.
** 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 $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.
With the situation worsening, the Coast Guard has demanded that BP step up its efforts to contain the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the weekend, telling the British oil giant that its slow pace in stopping the spill is becoming increasingly alarming.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE ARNOLD FACTOR.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
He has no scheduled public events.
First Lady Michelle Obama is in California today, visiting the Camp Pendleton Marine base outside San Diego.
She is joined by Senator Barbara Boxer, still in a challenging re-election battle against ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
This coming week is shaping up as BP/Gulf oil disaster week for President Obama.
On Monday and Tuesday, Obama will make his fourth trip to the Gulf Coast since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform on April 20th. He will visit Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, where he will again meet with Governor Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-independent leading the U.S. Senate race there.
On Tuesday night, Obama will make a prime time address to the nation on the Gulf oil disaster.
On Wednesday, Obama has summoned BP corporate leadership to the White House.
He will reportedly insist on BP paying into a new escrow account, with federal management, to get around what many affected by the disaster say is BP foot-dragging on paying damages from the oil spill.
Obama will also meet on Thursday with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Iranian leaders are howling about its longtime Russian patrons turning against them on their rogue nuclear program.
In other action, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and General Stanley McChrystal were in Kandahar today to discuss the coming offensive there. Which was supposed to have already started.
Karzai, who is expressing doubt that the Taliban can be defeated, said the offensive will be carried out by US, NATO, and Afghan ground forces, without the involvement of air power. He also, once again, called for Taliban members to join a peace process.
In the Israeli/Palestinian crisis, the Arab world’s highest ranking diplomat, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, is on the Egyptian border with Gaza. He will cross into Gaza, where he will meet with the leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian leaders, as well as families of those killed during Israel’s military incursion into Gaza during the final days of the Bush/Cheney Administration.
The Arab League is insisting that Israel’s blockade of Gaza must end.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama discusses the problem of doctors facing deep cuts in their reimbursements from Medicare unless Congress acts to correct long-standing problems, calling on Senate Republicans to allow solutions to move forward.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then phoned new British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has just visited Afghanistan.
Cameron canceled a trip to a major forward deployed British base after intelligence intercepted Taliban message traffic about a high-value target traveling in the same area. The target was undoubtedly Cameron, whose schedule was not public.
Obama is returning to the Gulf Coast at the beginning of next week, for a two-day visit.
He will go to Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
With Coast Admiral Thad Allen saying that BP is not providing accurate figures on the oil spill and damage mounting, the federal government is growing more insistent that BP pay for all damages in a timely manner. And it has given BP 48 hours to come up with a plan to accelerate its capture of leaking oil.
In addition to his trip to the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday, Obama is summoning BP corporate leadership to the White House next week.
For his part, Vice President Joe Biden is in South Africa for the opening of the World Cup football (soccer) tournament.
He met yesterday with the leaders of South Africa, then represented the U.S. at the World Cup opening ceremony in Johannesburg.
Today Biden is meeting with South African leaders on Zimbabwe and AIDS, and attending the U.S. team’s first game, which as fate would have it is against England.
Obama is also monitoring the situation in Afghanistan, where on Thursday General Stanley McChrystal acknowledged that the planned offensive in the historic Taliban stronghold of Kandahar Province is behind schedule.
With the offensive telegraphed for months in advance, the Taliban have been busily assassinating civilian leaders expected to align with the central government in Kabul. These are people whose assistance is essential if any military successes in the area are to be lasting. And it’s turning out that civilian population there is not all that disgruntled with the Taliban.
McChrystal says that he’ll still show major progress by the end of the year. Of course, he seems to operate under the mistaken impression that he has a lot of time.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved since the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
Saying that for California to win, politics as usual must lose, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger discusses the significance of Tuesday’s passage of Proposition 14, the open primary initiative.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
He returned from Washington Thursday night.
Schwarzenegger was there to push for a restoration of previously promised funds for California, which Congress is apparently removing in a newfound deficit push.
Schwarzenegger met with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor, and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, the LA congressman.
He also met with the Washington Post editorial board and participated in the premiere of the documentary film Gerrymandering.
In November 2008, Schwarzenegger succeeded on his second try in passing a redistricting reform initiative, the first major such initiative to be passed. On Tuesday, he engineered the passage of the Proposition 14 open primary initiative.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION) The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks, super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible.
Not that she didn’t show her own brand of hubris right after smoking longtime frontrunner and press favorite Tom Campbell by a startling 35 points in a three-person primary race. She notoriously talked smack about Senator Barbara Boxer’s hair and dissed Whitman for choosing to go on far right icon Sean Hannity’s Fox gabfest as one of her first general election appearances.
But the latter move was only part of Whitman’s hubris. After her campaign had no initial response, she also rejected Brown’s call for 10 freewheeling town hall debates, on the spurious and illogical grounds that she has a plan and he does not.
She is also going to put a TV ad on the air in which she tries to soft soap her hard-edged corporate conservative agenda by expressing her concern for the plight of the unemployed. The “human cost,” she says, “I see every day.” … From my June 11th feature.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. … From my June 8th column.
** ONE DISTRACTION OBAMA DOESN’T NEED: DARRELL ISSA’S HYPOCRISY.There are so many vastly important things going on in America and the world. But the reality is that everything is being overshadowed by the Gulf oil disaster and the ongoing repercussions from the misbegotten Israeli commando raid on an activist flotilla seeking to break the blockade of Gaza.
And yet … We have this ongoing spectacle of Congressman Darrell Issa, from my home state of California, insisting that President Barack Obama is a legitimate target of impeachment proceedings.
For, ironically, the very sort of thing that Issa himself endorses, right here in the present politics of the erstwhile Golden State. Issa’s candidate for governor, billionaire Meg Whitman, also tried to clear her Republican primary with promises of a political position. And, beyond that, with threats of retribution. … From my June 3rd column.
** CALIFORNIA SENATE: HOW CARLY FIORINA PULLED OFF HER BIG “UPSET” IN THE GOP PRIMARY.With the dramatic move of pulling his remaining TV advertising yesterday, former frontrunner Tom Campbell effectively ceded next Tuesday’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate in California to ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina reacted today by launching a new TV ad taking direct aim at incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer.
Campbell, a California fixture who’s been a Silicon Valley congressman and professor at Stanford and Berkeley, led the race for the Republican nod to take on the embattled Boxer — beneficiary of two fundraising trips to California in the past two months by President Barack Obama — when he quit the governor’s race and switched to the Senate race in January. His lead, due to residual name ID from two past Senate campaigns and favorable press coverage, continued for a few months after that. Prior to his move, strongly encouraged by billionaire Meg Whitman’s camp, which wanted to remove a draw for moderate Republicans in the gubernatorial primary, Fiorina had been the frontrunner in the Senate primary.
But Campbell, after a quick burst of fundraising for his Senate campaign died down, ran into trouble in March. … From my June 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Friday at $73.78 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
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.
The Coast Guard says it’s still having trouble getting accurate figures on the Gulf oil disaster from BP.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE ARNOLD FACTOR.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama is heading back to the Gulf oil disaster next week. He will be in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida (where he will again see Governor Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-independent now leading the U.S. Senate race on Monday and Tuesday. This will be Obama’s fourth trip to the region since the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. … The new Des Moines Register poll shows that Mitt Romney — billionaire Meg Whitman’s business mentor and the person who convinced her to run for governor of California — is leading the 2012 Republican field for president in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. … In a new blow to Iran, Russia has agreed that the new UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic republic for its rogue nuclear program apply to advanced anti-aircraft systems which Russia was already contractually obligated to provide.
** WHITMAN AND FIORINA’S BIG PRIMARY WINS CARRY SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION (SELF-DESTRUCTION)The big wins by billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in the California Republican primaries for governor and U.S. senator carry the seeds of destruction. Not the least of it being self-destruction. Both candidates have exhibited a great deal of hubris. Which is hardly warranted after a campaign that resulted in the lowest primary election turnout in California history.
Amidst all the errant talk about them being “outsiders” — sorry, folks super-rich big-time corporate CEOs are obviously not outsiders — running against “insider” Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, two little words have been forgotten. Scott Brown.
The shock winner of Massachusetts’ Senate special election in January is the model for a Republican who can win in a mostly blue state. An accessible, seemingly regular person. Whitman and Fiorina couldn’t be less like Scott Brown if they tried, though Fiorina at least is accessible.
Not that she didn’t show her own brand of hubris right after smoking longtime frontrunner and press favorite Tom Campbell by a startling 35 points in a three-person primary race. She notoriously talked smack about Senator Barbara Boxer’s hair and dissed Whitman for choosing to go on far right icon Sean Hannity’s Fox gabfest as one of her first general election appearances.
But the latter move was only part of Whitman’s hubris. After her campaign had no initial response, she also rejected Brown’s call for 10 freewheeling town hall debates, on the spurious and illogical grounds that she has a plan and he does not.
She is also going to put a TV ad on the air in which she tries to soft soap her hard-edged corporate conservative agenda by expressing her concern for the plight of the unemployed. The “human cost,” she says, “I see every day.” …
President Barack Obama met yesterday with Congressional leaders from both parties to discuss BP’s oil disaster in the Gulf and various other issues, including financial regulation, energy reform, economic recovery, and geopolitics.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He then received a briefing on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Oval Office.
Obama is returning to the Gulf Coast at the beginning of next week, perhaps for a two-day visit.
At 7:40 AM Pacific, Obama meets with small business owners to discuss the economic recovery in the Oval Office.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama delivers a statement on small business jobs initiatives in the Rose Garden.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 8:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
For his part, Vice President Joe Biden is in South Africa for the opening of the World Cup football (soccer) tournament.
He met with the leaders of South Africa, then represented the U.S. at the World Cup opening ceremony in Johannesburg.
Obama is very pleased that yesterday’s vote in the Senate, where Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of oil state Alaska attempted to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases, failed. The vote was 53 to 47.
Six Democrats joined a unified Republican caucus to vote against the EPA’s authority, granted by a Supreme Court decision. Those six are Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Evan Bayh of Indiana.
Obama is also monitoring the situation in Afghanistan, where yesterday General Stanley McChrystal acknowledged that the planned offensive in the historic Taliban stronghold of Kandahar Province is behind schedule.
With the offensive telegraphed for months in advance, the Taliban have been busily assassinating civilian leaders expected to align with the central government in Kabul. These are people whose assistance is essential if any military successes in the area are to be lasting. And it’s turning out that civilian population there is not all that disgruntled with the Taliban.
McChrystal says that he’ll still show major progress by the end of the year. Of course, he seems to operate under the mistaken impression that he has a lot of time.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved since the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events today.
He returned from Washington last night.
Schwarzenegger was there to push for a restoration of previously promised funds for California, which Congress is apparently removing in a newfound deficit push.
Schwarzenegger met with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor, and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, the LA congressman.
He also met with the Washington Post editorial board and participated in the premiere of the documentary film Gerrymandering.
In November 2008, Schwarzenegger succeeded on his second try in passing a redistricting reform initiative, the first major such initiative to be passed. On Tuesday, he engineered the passage of the Proposition 14 open primary initiative.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. … From my June 8th column.
** ONE DISTRACTION OBAMA DOESN’T NEED: DARRELL ISSA’S HYPOCRISY.There are so many vastly important things going on in America and the world. But the reality is that everything is being overshadowed by the Gulf oil disaster and the ongoing repercussions from the misbegotten Israeli commando raid on an activist flotilla seeking to break the blockade of Gaza.
And yet … We have this ongoing spectacle of Congressman Darrell Issa, from my home state of California, insisting that President Barack Obama is a legitimate target of impeachment proceedings.
For, ironically, the very sort of thing that Issa himself endorses, right here in the present politics of the erstwhile Golden State. Issa’s candidate for governor, billionaire Meg Whitman, also tried to clear her Republican primary with promises of a political position. And, beyond that, with threats of retribution. … From my June 3rd column.
** CALIFORNIA SENATE: HOW CARLY FIORINA PULLED OFF HER BIG “UPSET” IN THE GOP PRIMARY.With the dramatic move of pulling his remaining TV advertising yesterday, former frontrunner Tom Campbell effectively ceded next Tuesday’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate in California to ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina reacted today by launching a new TV ad taking direct aim at incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer.
Campbell, a California fixture who’s been a Silicon Valley congressman and professor at Stanford and Berkeley, led the race for the Republican nod to take on the embattled Boxer — beneficiary of two fundraising trips to California in the past two months by President Barack Obama — when he quit the governor’s race and switched to the Senate race in January. His lead, due to residual name ID from two past Senate campaigns and favorable press coverage, continued for a few months after that. Prior to his move, strongly encouraged by billionaire Meg Whitman’s camp, which wanted to remove a draw for moderate Republicans in the gubernatorial primary, Fiorina had been the frontrunner in the Senate primary.
But Campbell, after a quick burst of fundraising for his Senate campaign died down, ran into trouble in March. … From my June 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
Former USC football coach Pete Carroll, now head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, says he’s “absolutely shocked and disappointed” by the major NCAA sanctions (including the forfeiting of 14 wins) levied against the USC football program due to favors done by would-be sports marketers for running back Reggie Bush.
** 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 $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.
Following his meeting this morning with congressional leaders, President Barack Obama said that the Gulf oil disaster demonstrates that regulations have not been strong enough.
** NEW FEATURE COMING UP … CALIFORNIA STORY.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama is summoning BP corporate officials to a White House meeting on the Gulf oil disaster next week. … With billionaire Meg Whitman announcing that she is about to put yet another TV ad on the air — this an unintentionally amusing attempt to identify with the plight of the unemployed (see item below) — the California Working Families independent expenditure committee has announced that it is putting a TV ad on the air in the next few days, too.You can watch it here. It shows Whitman trying in vain to explain her failure to vote. I’ll have much more on all this and more in the forthcoming piece. …
** U.S. SENATE DEFEATS ATTEMPT BY OIL STATE SENATORS TO BLOCK GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATION. Voting late this afternoon in Washington, the U.S. Senate defeated a move by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The vote was 53 to 47.
Six Democrats joined a unified Republican caucus to vote against the EPA’s authority, granted by a Supreme Court decision. Those six are Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Evan Bayh of Indiana.
While legislation is preferable, the EPA does have the authority to move forward, as a result of a legal case which involved Attorney General Jerry Brown and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Murkowski was trying to block the EPA from completing endangerment findings with regard to the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, precisely what the Bush/Cheney Administration sought throughout its two terms in office. Notwithstanding Bush’s 2000 campaign promise to move against greenhouse gases.
Schwarzenegger, who is in Washington, just issued a rather rousing statement: “I applaud the U.S. Senate for rejecting this attempt to block national clean energy efforts, even as oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of trying to go backwards, Congress should be helping the nation move forward and prepare for the clean energy economy of the 21st century.
“California is leading the way in enacting ambitious policies and programs that are reducing our dependency on oil, growing our green economy and combating climate change. And, because of our forward-thinking policies, some of the most advanced technology companies in the world are investing in California and creating jobs. I urge Congress to continue moving forward to pass a comprehensive federal clean energy plan this year.”
Needless to say, Schwarzenegger will go all out to defeat a November ballot initiative to do away with the state’s own program.
** WHITMAN LAUNCHES NEW TV AD, APPLYING SOFT SOAP TO HARD-EDGED CORPORATE CONSERVATIVE AGENDA. Billionaire Meg Whitman is going up on the air with a new TV ad, trying to apply a cleansing to her image after the nasty dynamics of her $90 million-plus record-spending win in the lowest-turnout primary election in California history.
She also is applying some very soft soap to her very hard-edged corporate conservative agenda of massive tax cuts for wealthy investors and regulatory rollbacks.
Here’s the script:
Meg Whitman: If we could only do one thing, putting people back to work would be the most important thing.
The human cost of 2 million Californians out of work is devastating.
And, I think, often politicians forget about that because they don’t see it every day. I see it every day.
I think raising taxes on Californians today is absolutely the wrong thing to do. We have to streamline regulations. We have to cut taxes for businesses. And then we have to stand up and compete.
California needs to lead the nation again. And I think we can do it.
I don’t know how Whitman, speaking of the human cost of unemployment, “sees it every day.” That’s an added fillip of bathos that, from her ultra-privileged perch, simply doesn’t fly.
You can view it here, or, if you lack Tivo, if you turn on your television set. Well, when her campaign gets around to buying air time.
A suicide bomb ripped through a wedding for a member of the Afghan police in the Taliban stronghold of southern Afghanistan today, killing over 40 celebrants and illustrating a setback in U.S. strategy.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 7:30 AM Pacific, Obama received a briefing on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Cabinet Room.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama meets with leading Democratic and Republican members of Congress in the Cabinet Room on a variety of topics.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with the family members of those killed by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20th in the State Dining Room.
Obama is returning to the Gulf Coast at the beginning of next week, perhaps for a two-day visit.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter in the Oval Office.
At 12 noon Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner in the Oval Office.
At 12:45 PM Pacific, Obama meets with business leaders and energy experts to discuss energy reform in the Roosevelt Room.
Obama is closely monitoring tonight’s expected vote in the Senate, where Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of oil state Alaska is attempting to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases.
Her effort is expected to fail.
Obama is also monitoring the situation in Afghanistan, where today General Stanley McChrystal acknowledged that the planned offensive in the historic Taliban stronghold of Kandahar Province is behind schedule.
As I’ve reported before, with the offensive telegraphed for months in advance, the Taliban have been busily assassinating civilian leaders expected to align with the central government in Kabul. These are people whose assistance is essential if any military successes in the area are to be lasting.
And it’s turning out that civilian population there is not all that disgruntled with the Taliban.
McChrystal says that he’ll still show major progress by the end of the year. Of course, he seems to operate under the mistaken impression that he has a lot of time.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, , Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved since the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
Vice President Joe Biden is on a tour of Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa.
Heart attacks dropped by nearly one-quarter in Northern California between 2000 and 2008.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Washington today.
Congress is pulling back on assistance to state and local governments, which would put a serious dent in Schwarzenegger’s plans. He had previously won nearly half the $7 billion in funding he was looking for.
So today he meets with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who became a friend of Schwarzenegger’s when, as governor of Kansas, she participated in his Governors Global Climate Summit.
Schwarzenegger also meets with LA Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.
Tonight, Schwarzenegger takes part in the Washington premiere of the documentary film Gerrymandering.
He will participate in a question and answer session moderated by Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart, along with Tennessee Congressman John Tanner, former Texas Congressman Martin Frost, and filmmaker Jeff Reichert.
In November 2008, Schwarzenegger succeeded on his second try in passing a redistricting reform initiative, the first major such initiative to be passed.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. … From my June 8th column.
** ONE DISTRACTION OBAMA DOESN’T NEED: DARRELL ISSA’S HYPOCRISY.There are so many vastly important things going on in America and the world. But the reality is that everything is being overshadowed by the Gulf oil disaster and the ongoing repercussions from the misbegotten Israeli commando raid on an activist flotilla seeking to break the blockade of Gaza.
And yet … We have this ongoing spectacle of Congressman Darrell Issa, from my home state of California, insisting that President Barack Obama is a legitimate target of impeachment proceedings.
For, ironically, the very sort of thing that Issa himself endorses, right here in the present politics of the erstwhile Golden State. Issa’s candidate for governor, billionaire Meg Whitman, also tried to clear her Republican primary with promises of a political position. And, beyond that, with threats of retribution. … From my June 3rd column.
** CALIFORNIA SENATE: HOW CARLY FIORINA PULLED OFF HER BIG “UPSET” IN THE GOP PRIMARY.With the dramatic move of pulling his remaining TV advertising yesterday, former frontrunner Tom Campbell effectively ceded next Tuesday’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate in California to ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina reacted today by launching a new TV ad taking direct aim at incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer.
Campbell, a California fixture who’s been a Silicon Valley congressman and professor at Stanford and Berkeley, led the race for the Republican nod to take on the embattled Boxer — beneficiary of two fundraising trips to California in the past two months by President Barack Obama — when he quit the governor’s race and switched to the Senate race in January. His lead, due to residual name ID from two past Senate campaigns and favorable press coverage, continued for a few months after that. Prior to his move, strongly encouraged by billionaire Meg Whitman’s camp, which wanted to remove a draw for moderate Republicans in the gubernatorial primary, Fiorina had been the frontrunner in the Senate primary.
But Campbell, after a quick burst of fundraising for his Senate campaign died down, ran into trouble in March. … From my June 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $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.
The sanctions target the financial and business operations of top members of the Iranian regime and the Revolutionary Guards organization, and also block sales of most weapons to Iran.
A team player Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has worked for months on this, hailed the move.
Iran’s decision to turn its back to White House overtures convinced the world of the need for sanctions, she said. “We are gratified by the positive response that our year of engagement has produced,” Clinton told reporters. “When we started this effort, there was no appetite in the international community for further pressure in the form of sanctions on Iran.”
Clinton said she was appointing the State Department’s nonproliferation adviser, Robert Einhorn, to lead an administration-wide sanctions implementation team. “We want to be sure that we don’t just pass the sanctions and then leave it to chance as to whether or not they are being implemented,” she said.
Echoing Obama, Clinton said the door was still open to diplomacy with Iran. “We do want them back at the negotiating table,” she said.
She also hinted that the U.S. might be willing to sit down with Iranian officials as part of a group that includes Turkey and Brazil, which voted against the sanctions. The two countries had brokered a deal with Iran intended to ship some enriched uranium abroad in a bid to avert sanctions. But the U.S. and its allies rejected the deal.
She said she expected both Turkey and Brazil to enforce the penalties, as required of all U.N. members.
Clinton spoke after the 15-member Security Council approved the resolution 12-2, with Lebanon abstaining.
Iran rejected the move out of hand. Israel gave it guarded praise.
There’s no question that it’s not as strong a move as going after Iran’s Achilles heel, refined petroleum products, especially gasoline. Iran is a major oil producer but has little refining capacity. But that was rejected as too injurious to the Iranian people, many of whom are deeply opposed to the current regime.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S OPEN PRIMARY VICTORY LAP. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took a victory lap today, hailing the passage of the Proposition 14 open primary initiative at events in LA and the state Capitol. Prop 14 won by a healthy 54% to 46% margin, giving Schwarzenegger a matched pair of initiative victories for what he calls his electoral reform agenda. In November 2008, an initiative to take legislative redistricting out of legislative hands passed by a narrow 51% to 49% margin.
In a Capitol Park rally and press conference this afternoon, Schwarzenegger appeared with coalition allies and praised many, including Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado and campaign manager Adam Mendelsohn, for their roles in the victory.
Schwarzenegger said, as he has many times before, that hyperpartisan posturing gets in the way of productivity and that open primaries — in which candidates must appeal to a general electorate, rather than a closed partisan setting — like the end of gerrymandering, will help foster a more cooperative political culture in which politicians must appeal to the center in order to move forward to the general election.
“I think the message was loud and clear to Sacramento,” he said. “I think they (California voters) wanted to change the dysfunctional political system and get rid of the paralysis and the partisan bickering that’s going on in Sacramento.”
He rejected the idea that an open primary will end up costing far more for candidates, nothing that California has had a similar system in the past without that effect.
Indeed, former Governor Gray Davis, the Democrat who was defeated by Schwarzenegger in the 2003 recall, has pointed out to me in the past that he was elected under a similar system in 1998 and found that it worked very well.
Davis backed the open primary initiative, as he backed Schwarzenegger with the redistricting reform initiative, and thinks this measure will pass muster with the courts, which the earlier one did not.
Jerry Brown swept unopposed last night to the Democratic nomination for governor of California.
** UPDATE: BILLIONAIRE MEG WHITMAN ON TOWN HALL DEBATES WITH JERRY BROWN: NYET. The campaign of California’s billionaire Republican gubernatorial candidate, Meg Whitman, demurred at first on Jerry Brown’s morning challenge to 10 town hall debates. Just as it did at first in April, when Brown challenged Whitman and Republican rival Steve Poizner to three pre-primary debates, in order to spice up the endless and enervating barrage of negative TV ads which resulted in California’s lowest ever primary election turnout.
But just as it happened in April, after Whitman’s top lobbyist and consultant handlers had a chance to think it over, she announced that she won’t have those 10 town hall debates with Brown. Why not? Because she has put out a plan to revive California, and he has not.
Of course, the purpose of debates — real debates, not those staid reporter panel events with questions ping-ponging all over and no real rebuttals of talking points — is to get at the reality of what a candidate is saying.
And the problem for Whitman is that her plan makes no sense. It simply does not add up, in fact, by several orders of magnitude. And that is to the extent that there is any plan at all, which is to say, not much.
After all, let’s think about this for a brief moment. Whitman is saying that she won’t debate Brown because she has a plan and he doesn’t. Huh? If I had a plan and my opponent didn’t, I’d love to debate him. Who wouldn’t?
** BROWN CHALLENGES WHITMAN TO 10 TOWN HALL DEBATES. Speaking this morning at a press conference at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown challenged billionaire Meg Whitman to a series of 10 town hall debates.
These would take place before crowds of real Californians, in a freewheeling format to enable a full discussion of the pressing issues before California.
Whitman’s campaign hasn’t responded to Brown, or for comment to the press.
Brown, the former governor-turned-attorney general, said that these debates will give a chance for real discussion of the challenges “in a respectful, adult manner.”
Last night he decried what he called the “billionaires demolition derby” of the Republican primary.
“She talks about waste and abuse,” Brown said today of Whitman’s evanescent budget proposals. “She paid herself $120 million, and then eBay had to lay off 10% of its workforce. Now, is that waste and abuse? Is that what you want?”
** CALIFORNIA 2010: POST-PRIMARY FIRST PASS
TOP OF THE TICKET. In the end, Republican voters in what has apparently been the lowest turnout California primary election in history coalesced around two big-spending female CEOs in the nomination races for governor and U.S. Senate.
Ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina blew away longtime putative frontrunner Tom Campbell, 57% to 22%. The ex-congressman barely ran ahead of far right Orange County Assenblyman Chuck DeVore and his 19%. Had DeVore not been in the race, the conservative Fiorina’s 35-point margin would have been even more massive.
NWN called the turn in this race a while back, as previously discussed. (See link below.)
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, billionaire Meg Whitman, who lost every bit of a 50-point to state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner just a few weeks ago, won most of it back to wallop the guy who put the GPS chip in your mobile phone (bet you didn’t know that), 64% to 27%. I’ll have more on this. Short form: Poizner had no real definition, and a very recent background totally out of phase with his positioning in the race.
NWN called Whitman’s big fall, and her rebound, a while back. (See links below.)
On the Democratic side, favorite Jerry Brown won an easy nomination for governor, as forecast here a few years ago. He got 84% of the vote, spending no money. (A slice of the primary vote is always available to fringe candidates, with two getting 4% here.)
And Senator Barbara Boxer also swept to an easy victory, with 81% of the vote. The distant runner-up was a fellow named Brian Quintana, a self-styled “producer to the stars” best known for his curious accusation of sexual harassment against a famous (and famously heterosexual) movie producer. Finishing with 5% of the vote was Mickey Kaus, the prominent blogger and former New Republic columnist critical of labor unions and illegal immigrants.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. As expected, San Francisco Mayor Gaving Newsom won a landslide Democratic primary victory over Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, 55% to 34%. And Lieutenant Govenor Abel Maldonado, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointee, won his Republican primary over far right state Senator Sam Aanestad, 43% to 30%, with 27% of the vote going to various fringe candidates.
ATTORNEY GENERAL. With Jerry Brown, who won in the biggest landslide of any of the contested statewide races in 2006, giving up the powerful AG post for a return to the governorship, there were spirited if not especially visible campaigns in both primaries. In the end, they turned out as they looked at the beginning, resulting in a November matchup of high profile district attorneys.
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris handily turned back the self-funded candidacy of Facebook executive Chris Kelly, 33% to 16%. Kelly outspent her heavily, with something over $12 million, but it didn’t work, and Harris proved appealing enough to prevent anyone else in the crowded field from getting much traction, either.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley turned back far right legal theorist and former law school dean John Eastman, 47% to 34%, with state Senator Tom Harman third with 19%. Cooley was derided as supposedly soft on crime, which he is not.
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. The race for this nonpartisan office results in a run-off, as no one came anywhere near a majority. It’s just not the run-off that was expected. State Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, promoted by teachers unions, narrowly came in first, with a mere 19%. Larry Aceves, a career local schools superintended, was second, with 18%. And state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, backed by business-oriented education reformers, was just behind them with 17%.
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER. Here’s where a stunner happened, in this extraordinarily low-key race. Former state Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines apparently lost the Republican primary to a little-known civil servant named Brian Fitzgerald. As of this morning, Villines trails by 11,000 votes. The leader, Fitzgerald, is a career lawyer for the state Department of Insurance who vowed to spend less than $5,000 on his campaign. Perhaps the enmity that many conservatives have toward Villines for helping broker the compromise state budget deal of 2009 caught up with him.
On the Democratic side, Dave Jones, a Sacramento area state assemblyman, beat Hector De La Torre, a state assemblyman from LA County, 61% to 39%.
CONTROLLER. Incumbent John Chiang was unopposed in the Democratic primary. (Fringe candidates file for governor and U.S. senator, where there’s hope for some slice of the limelight.) Former state Senator Tony Strickland, who lost to Chiang in 2006, beat little-known David Evans in the Republican primary, 60% to 40%.
TREASURER. Incumbent Bill Lockyer was unopposed in the Democratic primary, as was state Senator Mimi Walters in the Republican primary.
SECRETARY OF STATE. Incumbent Democrat Debra Bowen, who oversees the state’s elections, was unopposed in the primary. African American Republican Damon Dunn, who briefly played pro football after earning All-Pac 10 recognition as a kick returner at Stanford, won the GOP primary over Birther Orly Taitz — who received a lot of attention from cable news chatters — 74% to 26%.
STATEWIDE INITIATIVES. Proposition 14, the open primary initiative backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzengger and others, passed in a 54% to 46% vote. That provides Schwarzenegger with a matched set for his electoral reform agenda, following passage of redistricting reform in November 2008.
But two megabucks initiatives, whose opponents could not afford any advertising, went down to defeat. Proposition 16, which would have required two-thirds public votes to authorize local public power operations for renewable energy, went down by 5 points, despite the Pacific Gas & Electric utility spending nearly $50 million to pass it. And Proposition 17, a curious initiative sponsored by Mercury Insurance which would have rewarded people for continuous auto insurance coverage but further penalized them for interruptions in coverage, went down by 52% to 48%.
Note to Meg Whitman …
Two other low-profile initiatives had varying results. Prop 13, an uncontroversial initiative on the seismic retrofit of buildings, won with 85% of the vote. But Prop 15, a bid by liberal reformers to start a pilot project for public campaign financing using the office of secretary of state, went down by 58% to 42%.
THE 49ERS STADIUM. Finally, a local ballot measure, in the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara. In a campaign engineered by Arnold Schwarzenegger and John McCain campaign director Steve Schmidt, Measure J to allow the building of a new stadium for my boyhood favorite San Francisco 49ers passed, 60% to 40%. The 49ers spent $4 million, opponents spent $20,000. The 49ers want to move out of San Francisco, and hallowed yet aging Candlestick Park, where they say they can’t get a good deal from the city.
Far right Tea Party figure Sharron Angle, a former state legislator, won a big victory last night in Nevada’s Republican primary to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama meets with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in the Oval Office.
At 8:30 AM Pacific Obama holds an extended bilateral meeting with Abbas in the Oval Office.
Israel announced today that it is easing the blockade of Gaza, and will now allow in snack food and soft drinks.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama receives a briefing on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Oval Office.
Obama, somewhat belatedly, is grasping that the buck stops at his desk with regard to the BP oil spill, even though his policies are not responsible.
Obama is returning to the Gulf Coast at the beginning of next week, perhaps for a two-day visit.
Today is a big day for Obama’s geopolitics with the UN Security Council taking up a new round of sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program.
Last night’s elections went well for Obama. His endorsed candidate in Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln, came from behind to beat Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter in the Democratic primary run-off. Halter was heavily backed by labor. But Lincoln was heavily backed by former President Bill Clinton.
And in Nevada, Obama’s ally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, drew the weakest of the three Republicans running in the primary.
Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle, a former state assemblywoman with extremist views, swept to victory over one-time frontrunner Sue Lowden and attorney Danny Tarkanian.
Angle, who surged dramatically in the last few weeks, won 40% of the vote. Lowden, a rich casino owner and former Miss America finalist and legislator, ended with 26%. Which was barely ahead of Tarkanian, son of famed basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, and his 23%.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved since the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
Vice President Joe Biden is on a tour of Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today. He flies to Washington later in the day.
Schwarzenegger appears at a 9 AM press conference at the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce to hail the passage of the Proposition 14 open primary initiative.
At 1:30 PM, he appears on the East Steps of the Capitol to hail the passage of the Prop 14 open primary initiative.
** ONE DISTRACTION OBAMA DOESN’T NEED: DARRELL ISSA’S HYPOCRISY.There are so many vastly important things going on in America and the world. But the reality is that everything is being overshadowed by the Gulf oil disaster and the ongoing repercussions from the misbegotten Israeli commando raid on an activist flotilla seeking to break the blockade of Gaza.
And yet … We have this ongoing spectacle of Congressman Darrell Issa, from my home state of California, insisting that President Barack Obama is a legitimate target of impeachment proceedings.
For, ironically, the very sort of thing that Issa himself endorses, right here in the present politics of the erstwhile Golden State. Issa’s candidate for governor, billionaire Meg Whitman, also tried to clear her Republican primary with promises of a political position. And, beyond that, with threats of retribution. … From my June 3rd column.
** CALIFORNIA SENATE: HOW CARLY FIORINA PULLED OFF HER BIG “UPSET” IN THE GOP PRIMARY.With the dramatic move of pulling his remaining TV advertising yesterday, former frontrunner Tom Campbell effectively ceded next Tuesday’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate in California to ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina reacted today by launching a new TV ad taking direct aim at incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer.
Campbell, a California fixture who’s been a Silicon Valley congressman and professor at Stanford and Berkeley, led the race for the Republican nod to take on the embattled Boxer — beneficiary of two fundraising trips to California in the past two months by President Barack Obama — when he quit the governor’s race and switched to the Senate race in January. His lead, due to residual name ID from two past Senate campaigns and favorable press coverage, continued for a few months after that. Prior to his move, strongly encouraged by billionaire Meg Whitman’s camp, which wanted to remove a draw for moderate Republicans in the gubernatorial primary, Fiorina had been the frontrunner in the Senate primary.
But Campbell, after a quick burst of fundraising for his Senate campaign died down, ran into trouble in March. … From my June 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S WHOPPERS.As someone with no experience in public affairs prior to being talked into running for governor by her business mentor, Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman is totally dependent on a coterie of lobbyists and consultants. …From my May 29th 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 $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.
Small businesses are complaining that BP is stiffing them in the Gulf oil disaster.
** QUICK HITS. A big state primary day in America. … Billionaire Meg Whitman and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina are evidently assured of winning the California GOP nods for governor and senator. But the Field Poll predicts that the nasty megabucks negativity of the campaigns waged by Whitman and her primary opponent, Steve Poizner, have poisoned the well and will result in the lowest primary election turnout in California history. … Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, preparing to go to Washington tomorrow night, voted this morning near his LA home and then held a press conference giving some last minute promotion to the electorally favored Prop 14 open primary initiative. But he had to re-vote, as he evidently cast two votes for the U.S. Senate. … Sorry, Governor, you can only cast one vote for your dear friend Chuck DeVore. … Meanwhile, Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle is poised to pick up the Republican nomination in Nevada to take on embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Those huzzahs you are hearing from Democrats are not imagined. … The UN Security Council is set to take up a new round of sanctions tomorrow against Iran for its rogue nuclear program. The permanent five members are reportedly on board. … Meanwhile, Iranian forces that executed an incursion across the Iraqi border a few days ago have reportedly withdrawn, ending the latest border testing scenario undertaken by the Islamic republic with Iraq’s governance situation still unresolved after the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
** OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE FESTIVITIES: GOOD, BAD, OR OBVIOUS?In this wacky media environment in which everything is criticized somewhere, President Barack Obama gets no little amount of flak about the few White House entertainments he’s hosted, with a very tony state dinner last month and an evening with Paul McCartney last week. Now, it’s not as though Obama’s turned the place into a party palace. And the events hold important clues to what Obama considers a style of accessibility and elegance.
Nor is there not a clear historical precedent for continuing to hold such events. During the Great Depression and World War II — both of which put the contemporary great recession and far more limited wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in context if not entirely in the shade — President Franklin D. Roosevelt held state dinners. But there have been different expectations with this president, in part because of who he is and in part because of the unique popular mobilization which helped him win the White House. …
President Barack Obama, speaking this morning on The Today Show, said that he would have fired BP CEO Tony Hayward had he the authority to do so.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama then received the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill briefing, also in the Oval Office.
Obama, somewhat belatedly, is grasping that the buck stops at his desk with regard to the BP oil spill, even though his policies are not responsible.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama departs the White House on Marine One en route to the Ft. McNair landing zone.
At 8:40 AM Pacific, Obama holds a Tele Town Hall meeting with seniors to discuss the implementation of the national health care reform bill. He then returns to the White House.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota in the Oval Office.
At 3:30 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host the Congressional Picnic at the White House.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
The governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved since the March 7th national parliamentary elections.
Vice President Joe Biden met today in Nairobi with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.
Vice President Joe Biden is on a tour of Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
Schwarzenegger votes in the California primary election at 8:45 AM at Kenter Canyon Elementary School in Los Angeles. It’s a leafy locale.
After voting, Schwarzenegger holds a press conference there with Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado and other advocates of the Proposition 14 open primary initiative on today’s ballot.
Schwarzenegger will hold private talks in Los Angeles.
Though the constitutional deadline for a new state budget is just a week away, neither Democratic nor Republican legislators have presented an alternative budget.
Schwarzenegger’s would-be successors are also voting today. Well, all but one.
Billionaire Meg Whitman, who has barely voted in the past, cast her ballot by absentee, thus avoiding the obvious embarrassing questions when she showed up at her polling place. Oddly, this is barely being reported.
Republican hopeful Steve Poizner votes this morning at the Santa Clara County Registrar’s office in San Jose.
And Democrat Jerry Brown votes near his home in Oakland.
After the nasty negativity and record high spending of the Republican gubernatorial primary, the Field Poll is projecting a record low primary turnout.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
** ONE DISTRACTION OBAMA DOESN’T NEED: DARRELL ISSA’S HYPOCRISY.There are so many vastly important things going on in America and the world. But the reality is that everything is being overshadowed by the Gulf oil disaster and the ongoing repercussions from the misbegotten Israeli commando raid on an activist flotilla seeking to break the blockade of Gaza.
And yet … We have this ongoing spectacle of Congressman Darrell Issa, from my home state of California, insisting that President Barack Obama is a legitimate target of impeachment proceedings.
For, ironically, the very sort of thing that Issa himself endorses, right here in the present politics of the erstwhile Golden State. Issa’s candidate for governor, billionaire Meg Whitman, also tried to clear her Republican primary with promises of a political position. And, beyond that, with threats of retribution. … From my June 3rd column.
** CALIFORNIA SENATE: HOW CARLY FIORINA PULLED OFF HER BIG “UPSET” IN THE GOP PRIMARY.With the dramatic move of pulling his remaining TV advertising yesterday, former frontrunner Tom Campbell effectively ceded next Tuesday’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate in California to ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina reacted today by launching a new TV ad taking direct aim at incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer.
Campbell, a California fixture who’s been a Silicon Valley congressman and professor at Stanford and Berkeley, led the race for the Republican nod to take on the embattled Boxer — beneficiary of two fundraising trips to California in the past two months by President Barack Obama — when he quit the governor’s race and switched to the Senate race in January. His lead, due to residual name ID from two past Senate campaigns and favorable press coverage, continued for a few months after that. Prior to his move, strongly encouraged by billionaire Meg Whitman’s camp, which wanted to remove a draw for moderate Republicans in the gubernatorial primary, Fiorina had been the frontrunner in the Senate primary.
But Campbell, after a quick burst of fundraising for his Senate campaign died down, ran into trouble in March. … From my June 2nd column.
** MEG WHITMAN’S WHOPPERS.As someone with no experience in public affairs prior to being talked into running for governor by her business mentor, Mitt Romney, Meg Whitman is totally dependent on a coterie of lobbyists and consultants. …From my May 29th 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 $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.
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