Week 8 Presidential Week in Review 2 Month Mark With AIG exec bonuses dominating the news the last 24 hours or so, it’s difficult to remember last Tuesday. Here it is with help from wroberts189 again (thank you).
March 10, 2009 Tuesday1. Congress is sending President Barack Obama a massive bill funding domestic programs and awarding lawmakers their cherished pet projects after more than a week of partisan debate.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29613324 /
2. The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate today, launching the legislative battle to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. AFL-CIO News Blog
3. ACLU: Gitmo judge 'blatantly defied' Obama executive order: The ACLU is angry that a military judge has accepted an incendiary legal pleading filed by five 9/11 suspects, despite President Obama's order stopping the Guantanamo military commissions and even though attorneys for some of the defendants were unaware of it.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/ACLU_Gitmo_judge_blatantl...4. Obama to push for merit pay for teachers in education speech. In a major speech on education, President Obama On Tuesday will push merit pay for teachers and upgraded "data systems" to track student and teacher performance. Money for that will be provided through the Obama stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/03/obama_to_push_f...5. President Barack Obama is promoting tighter standards for teachers and a reduced dropout rate for students as part of an education plan that, at least for now, lacks any new legislative component.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obam...6. The White House has given the Pentagon guidance to delay procurement of aerial refueling tankers by five years and cancel plans for a new long-range bomber, according to three sources close to the discussions.
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003...7. Dems face internal revolt over Obama agenda: Democratic leaders in Congress did not expect much Republican support as they pressed President Obama's ambitious legislative agenda. But the pushback they are receiving from some of their own has come as an unwelcome surprise.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/296095678. House Democrats are looking at yet another economic stimulus bill beyond the $787 billion one just enacted as investors and consumers continue to show little faith in the economy.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-dems-eyeing-a...March 11, 2009 Wednesday9. Obama to create White House women's council: Obama will sign an executive order creating the council--run by two high level Chicagoans in the White House--designed to "provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families."
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/03/obama_to_create... 10. US President Barack Obama has signed into law a government spending bill that will ease some of Washington's economic sanctions on Cuba.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7938737....11. The Obama administration will try to reinvent a program to allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways. An 18-month-old pilot program that allowed a few Mexican trucks beyond a border buffer zone died when President Barack Obama signed a sweeping $410 billion government spending bill on Wednesday. The bill barred spending on the pilot program.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/0...12. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he is considering new border security measures, including the possibility of National Guard deployments, to combat the spillover of violence by Mexican drug cartels.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09070/954946-100.stmMarch 12, 2009 Thursday13. Obama: Economic crisis 'not as bad as we think': Confronting misgivings, even in his own party, President Barack Obama mounted a stout defense of his blueprint to overhaul the economy Thursday, declaring the national crisis is "not as bad as we think" and his plans will speed recovery.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090312/ap_on_go_co/obama_economy14. A Gridiron Club member tells FBDC first that President Obama will not attend this year's dinner next Saturday, March 21st. He will be the first president since Grover Cleveland not to attend the first Gridiron Club Dinner of his presidency. This year's date coincides with the spring break of President Obama's daughters' school and club members have been informed the Obama family will be out of town, likely in Chicago.
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/events/pres_obama...15. Obama defends priorities to business leaders: President Obama took aim Thursday at conservative critics who claim that he is using the economic crisis to ram through an unrelated, expansive domestic agenda.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/12/obama.business.l...16. The prospects the the reform and possible for suspension of mark to market accounting rules are looking brighter this morning. About an hour ago, at 10 am, the House Financial Services Subcommittee began its hearings on the issue. Right off the bat, the chairman of the panel signalled strong support for reform. Congressman Paul Kanjorski said he might force the hands of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board by introducing legislation to require reform.
http://www.businessinsider.com/congress-may-force-the-s...17. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, under fire for some of her recent remarks on human rights, insisted yesterday that the Obama administration regards the issue at the same level as economics and international security.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...18. East County residents opposed to Sempra Energy’s Sunrise Powerlink project are mobilizing opposition to President Barack Obama’s nomination of David Hayes as deputy director of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Hayes served as Deputy Director of the department during the Clinton Administration, but later went to work for the lobbying firm Latham & Watkins—representing Sempra Energy and SDG&E.
http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=node/73819. Democrats often criticized the Bush White House for its use of the presidential signing statement, a means by which the president can reject provisions of a bill he deems unconstitutional without vetoing the entire legislation. Now the approach is back.
President Barack Obama, after signing into law a $410 billion budget bill on Wednesday, declared five provisions in the bill to be unconstitutional and non-binding, including one that would effectively restrict U.S. troop deployments under U.N. command and another aimed at preventing punishment of whistleblowers... Mr. Obama objected to one provision that would bar funding for the deployment of U.S. troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions under foreign command without the president's advice that such involvement is in the national interest. ..Mr. Obama objected to another provision that would cut the salary of any federal officials who interfere with a whistleblower's communications with Congress.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123688875576610955.html...March 13, 2009 Friday20. Obama to get report on stimulus plan from Volcker: Volcker is chairman of Obama's economic recovery advisory board. He is set Friday to brief the president and his economic team on how the $787 billion stimulus package is working. After the private meeting, the president plans to give brief remarks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_volcker21. Obama takes US closer to total ban on cluster bombs
• Legislation sets tight rules for weapons' use and sale
• Campaigners hail decision as 'major turnaround'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/13/us-national...22. Obama: Help coming for those facing economic pain (AP) AP - President Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged that many families are suffering "incredible pain" from the economy but said his government is on a daily campaign to get credit flowing and build a long-term recovery.
23. Obama: We are `laying foundation' for growth: President Barack Obama and his top economic adviser spoke confidently of an economic turnaround Friday and even pointed to early signs. But the president still cautioned, "We've got to get through this difficult period."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_economy 24. The Obama administration argued in court documents filed Friday that four former detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp who have sued over their treatment have no constitutional rights. The suit was brought by four British men who say they were beaten, shackled in painful stress positions, threatened by dogs and subjected to extreme medical care during their time in the lockup at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba .
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/947... 25. Vice President Joe Biden, once a regular rail commuter, says the $1.3 billion for Amtrak in the economic stimulus package will go toward long-overdue projects. Speaking Friday at Union Station, Biden said $105 million will be spent to replace a 100-year-old Connecticut bridge on Amtrak's heavily traveled Northeast corridor. Another $82 million will be used to replace old rail cars and put them back into service.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/0...26. U.S. drops "enemy combatant" as basis for detention. The Obama administration dropped the term "enemy combatant" and incorporated international law on Friday as its basis for holding terrorism suspects at Guantanamo prison while it works to close the facility.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13459303.htm 27. Obama Admin Defends Pick for Ambassador to Iraq From GOP Critics: The Obama administration is standing by its man. Yesterday GOP senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback issued statements opposing Ambassador Christopher Hill's nomination to be the next US ambassador to Iraq. "The president has extraordinary respect for his ability. I think he's proven his ability to understand very complex political situations, to resolve those political situations. Obviously, Iraq is a very unique situation, and the president believes that Chris Hill is uniquely qualified to meet those challenges," Gibbs said.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2009/03/obama-a...28. The White House is under pressure from several fronts, both to appoint new prosecutors favored by members of Congress and, in other cases, to keep some U.S. attorneys from the Bush administration. Several Bush holdovers, who were told before the inauguration that they could stay "for the time being," are making it known that they want to remain, citing the high-profile investigations they are pursuing. About 40 of the Bush appointees left of their own accord before the election, but dozens have stayed on.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...March 14, 2009 Saturday29. President Barack Obama says the nation's decades-old food safety system is a "hazard to public health" and in need of an overhaul, starting with the selection of a new head of the federal Food and Drug Administration. Obama used his weekly radio and video address to announce the nomination of former New York City Health Commissioner Margaret Hamburg as FDA commissioner, and his choice of Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein as her deputy.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=708208930. Troubled world economies, energy and the environment will be among the topics for discussion when President Barack Obama sits down with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Trade, relations with Latin America and the case of a New Jersey man trying to bring his 8-year-old son back from Brazil also may come up when Obama and Silva meet Saturday at the White House.
http://www.adn.com/uspolitics/story/722585.html31. A bipartisan group of nine U.S. senators, after meeting for nine months behind closed doors, is nearing an agreement on the broad strokes of a health care reform bill. The so-called Gang of Nine ...The talks have been held in parallel to negotiations orchestrated by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ...the two main sticking points remain how to pay for a plan that some estimate could cost as much as $1 trillion and how to integrate a public, government-run plan into the private system, ...the group is considering moving the final bill through budget reconciliation, the end-of-the-year budget bill that needs only a simple majority of 50 votes to pass the Senate, avoiding a potential GOP filibuster. ...President Bush pushed several large initiatives through this same process, such as his tax cuts and deficit reduction legislation.
http://mobile.time.com/detail.jsp?key=439469&rc=po32. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said President Barack Obama had a unique chance to transform relations with Latin America, as he became the region's first leader to size up the new US head of state on Saturday.
http://www.skynews.com.au/news/article.aspx?id=31200733. The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/politics/15health....March 15, 2009 Sunday34. Obama to unveil proposals to help small businesses (AP) AP - Amid misgivings over his spending blueprint, President Barack Obama has decided to provide billions of dollars in federal lending aid aimed at struggling small business owners.
35. U.S. Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said on Sunday the government needs to determine if millions in employee bonuses at American International Group Inc can be recovered.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE52E0...36. Judge appointments are Obama's chance to shape California courts: While campaigning, he emphasized bipartisanship and vowed to name judges with 'empathy' and 'heart.' How will those promises play out? President Obama is preparing to name six new federal judges for California, an opportunity to put his stamp on the judiciary that has court-watchers recalling his campaign promises to make selections in a bipartisan manner and to name judges with "empathy" and "heart." Many liberals say they are hoping Obama appoints lower-court judges and legal scholars guided by sympathy as well as the law, to begin reversing the sweeping conservative population of the federal bench executed by his predecessor.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-judges15-2009ma...37. Bernanke: recession could end in '09 (AP) AP - America's recession "probably" will end this year if the government succeeds in bolstering the banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday in a rare television interview.
38. The government on Saturday permanently banned the slaughter of cows too sick or weak to stand on their own, seeking to further minimize the chance that mad cow disease could enter the food supply.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/0...March 16, 2009 Monday39. Obama plans small-business lending boost (AP) AP - Seeking to counter a chorus of unhappy Republicans and nervous Wall Street investors, President Barack Obama and his economic team are taking a cheerier tone while making billions in federal loans available to the nation's struggling small businesses.
40. Obama berates AIG and vows to try to block bonuses (AP) AP - Joining a wave of public anger, President Barack Obama blistered insurance giant AIG for "recklessness and greed" Monday and pledged to try to block it from handing its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Obama asked. "This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about our fundamental values."
41. Obama tries to loosen credit for small businesses: President Barack Obama freed billions of dollars to help the nation's small businesses on Monday, hoping to get credit flowing again to Main Street, not just Wall Street. He heaped praise on the little guys of American industry, often overshadowed in the blitz of government bailouts.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_economy 42. Obama Tells Geithner to Block A.I.G. Bonuses: President Obama vowed to try to stop the faltering insurance giant American International Group from paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives, as the administration scrambled to avert a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street that could complicate Mr. Obama’s economic recovery agenda. “In the last six months, A.I.G. has received substantial sums from the U.S. Treasury,” Mr. Obama said in his prepared remarks. He added that he had asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner “to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/politics/17obama.h...43. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued a subpoena to American International Group Inc. seeking a list with the names of executives receiving bonuses. "We had given AGI up to 4 o'clock today to provide the information on the latest round of bonuses that they paid out," Cuomo said. "Four o'clock has come and gone."
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/03/16/da...44. The Obama administration has rejected South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's request to use $700 million in federal stimulus cash to pay down state debt.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gaIoI...See you next week.....
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