Obama, Sullenberger speak by phone

By GottaLaff

No surprise here. Sully earned this call:

"The President-elect told Capt. Sullenberger how proud everyone was for the heroic and graceful job he had done in landing the damaged aircraft yesterday.

"The President-elect also thanked his crew and the many people on the scene in New York for ensuring the safety of everyone on board the plane."

Heroes like Sully deserve calls from heroes like Obama.

RNC Chair Candidate Blackwell: GOP Must Defeat Job-Creating Stimulus Because It Will Ruin GOP’s Election Chances

By GottaLaff

Country first!

In an article published on Townhall today, RNC Chairman candidate and former Ohio governor Ken Blackwell urges congressional conservatives to oppose the reinvestment and recovery stimulus plan promoted by President-elect Obama. Though he offers standard conservative arguments against the plan — including a screed against the growth of “big government” — Blackwell seemed most concerned about the political benefit Democrats might see from successfully boosting the economy. [...]

While only a few details are known, one overlooked issue is that it could create a major electoral advantage for Democrats at taxpayer expense. That would be unacceptable for what is being touted as a nonpartisan measure, and gives Republicans yet another reason to oppose it if not restructured. […]

But most federal employees, that are not political appointees, vote Democrat. Since Washington, DC is the seat of government, whenever new federal bureaucrats are created many live in Maryland and Virginia. In 2008, Virginia went Democrat for the first time since 1964, and Mr. Obama won it by 130,000 votes. Creating 600,000 new jobs might help cement Virginia in the Democrat column, making it harder for Republicans to retake the White House.

It's good to know that Republicans care more about themselves than they do about repairing the nearly irreparable damage that their abysmal failure of a president has done to America.

The bottom line is that, in an economy that lost 1.2 million jobs last year, Blackwell’s biggest concern is to block the creation of new jobs because those newly-employed Americans might vote Democratic.

How Rovian of him... meaning about as self-servingly corrosive to what's left of this country as one would expect of someone aiming for RNC chair.

VIDEO: And the winner of the "Ode to Obama" contest is...

By GottaLaff


Ted Newman, a retired teacher and self-described "cowboy poet," musician, and former Army pilot, won an Associated Press contest for writing a poem about Barack Obama's inauguration:

[He] is one of 10 people the AP selected nationally - and the only Westerner - from a contest the news organization was running for poems [...]

Unlike some of the other winning poems, Newman admits his is a bit irreverent and sardonic - an approach he says he takes in his poems and songs that involve politics and political correctness.

"I call it an 'accusatory poem,' " said Newman, a retired middle school social studies and science who has written more than 500 poems and songs that he calls "no hitters because they don't get any attention."

But his inauguration poem, entitled "Plea to the Pres" did get AP's attention from hundreds of entries in its "Ode to Obama" competition. [...]

The AP calls the 10 winners "an eclectic assortment of American wordsmiths" that includes a former poet laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner."

Their entries are equally varied in tone and subject matter, and Newman's may be the most acerbic.

A National Guard helicopter pilot for 20 years, Newman's poem asks Obama to "be the president our country needs" and levels his accusatory pen against some of the nation's ills.

He ends by saying, "Let's really rearrange the political hypocrisy; keep your word and bring change."

IMHO, he already has.

White supremacists watched in lead up to Obama administration

By GottaLaff

I wasn't going to post this (it's such a downer, and it's time to be upbeat about the Big Upcoming Obamaramapalooza), but I'll tell you why I did after this:

Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States.

So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office.

As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don't expect it to go away.

"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

There "is concern" about white supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration. [...]

And interest in racist ideology was so high right after the election that computer servers for two White supremacist Web sites crashed, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

But the violence and interest soon subsided. Leaders within the white supremacist movement are now seeking to capitalize on Obama's presidency by using his election to help grow their organizations. [...]

Levin noted that it is common knowledge the U.S. Secret Service is taking great measures to protect Obama (who began receiving coverage in May 2007, the earliest point ever for a candidate in a presidential campaign), and emphasized it is a great challenge.

"President-elect Obama is so used to a public presence, and being among people poses some real difficulties for his protection," Levin said.

I realize I've posted similar pieces before, but it's important to stay aware of this horrid trend. I've personally become more aware of it in the last six days, since I posted the video of P.E. Obama visiting Ben's Chili Bowl on my YouTube page.

There have been, to date, 155,000 views and over 850 comments. I have never been kept so busy monitoring comments. At first, it was all positive, joyous, celebratory, even giddy feedback. But as the days have gone on, I've had to delete and block commenter after commenter who were so utterly and sickeningly racist that I was actually taken aback.

One spammer spent two days posting 25 comments at a time, varying his screen name by one letter/number so that blocking was impossible (I'd have to block each one separately). He finally stopped, because I made it a priority to stop that kind of hate speech in its tracks, even interrupting my writing here at TPC while I popped over to block and delete. I tried contacting YouTube, but their frustrating system makes that impossible.

I'm still monitoring diligently today. It's disheartening, and scary as hell, to read the very ignorant, extremely stupid, infantile, racist, hate-filled rants of these cretins. It makes it real and way too in my face.

All we can do is keep trying to communicate (which, by the way, I attempted to do once or twice, which you can see if you go wade through the comments), support P.E. Obama's efforts to reach out, and wish with everything we've got that he stays safe and protected.

How sad that such a feel-good 3 minutes and 37 seconds could evoke such noxious, hostile bigotry.

Obama's choices

By GottaLaff

Marc Ambinder makes it easy to see what P.E. Obama's up to. Here are the basics. Go here for a few more details:

-- choosing Democratic comity and spending over a thinner, broader coalition by reducing the profile and scope of his tax cuts

-- choosing health care over national cap-and-trade, at least in year one. Just watch this one....

-- promising to solve the entitlement quandary by commission and consensus, rather than by proposing. Note that Obama and other Democrats, during the campaign, referred to Social Security and Medicare as promises to keep, rather than "entitlements," which transfers the moral responsibility onto the government. Now it's back to "entitlements." [...]

-- favoring journalists. Is the New York Times is out, and the Washington Post are in. Certain conservative voices are in, others are out. Some liberal bloggers have the administration's ear; others get no love. [...]

-- ignoring press fretting over a harried transition. Gallup finds that 83% of Americans surveyed believe that the Obama transition has been a success. [...] Americans are growing slightly less pessmistic and slightly more optimistic about their futures. (I said slightly.)

Keep track of Obama's promises at National Journal's Promise Audit.

"Discombobulated" President-elect Obama can't find his stuff + bonus George Carlin video!

By GottaLaff

George Carlin: "Stuff", from Comic Relief 1986

"Discombobulated" is the last word I'd associate with P.E. Obama:

Regarding Obama dropping his Blackberry, Gibbs joked that had it broken, that would have solved the Blackberry issue (of Obama wanting to keep the device). He also said the president-elect was a bit "discombobulated" by the move to Blair House and that he didn't know where all his stuff was.

Maybe Obama should use his Blackberry GPS to locate all his stuff.

Obama gets first major win with TARP

By GottaLaff

Everyone loves a winner, and the Winner-elect won some Senators over:

Not yet in the White House but working the phones as if he were, Barack Obama won a crucial Senate vote Thursday clearing the release of $350 billion more in bailout funds from the Treasury Department’s controversial financial rescue program.

For the incoming president, the 52-42 roll call represented his first major test of strength, and he threw himself into the fight this week, reaching out to both sides of aisle and making close to a dozen phone calls, many targeted at Democratic freshmen who won with his help in November. [...]

Republicans were more skeptical, but in an open appeal for their votes, the Obama camp released a new letter prior to the vote saying it had “no intention of using any funds to implement an industrial policy.”

The letter, signed by Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers, also pledged that $50 billion to $100 billion of the new funds would be committed to a “sweeping effort to address the foreclosure crisis” — a major issue for both parties.

The latest draft also suggests that high-paid CEOs at companies helped by Treasury will be required to take a portion of their salary in restricted stock or some similar form “that cannot be liquidated or sold until the government has been repaid.”

VIDEO: What Obama's right-wing dinner partners are saying today

By GottaLaff

"Yesterday, he met with the liberal columnists. And they had a pleasant hour in the conference room in his office. They got some coffee in some styrofoam cups. We had a pleasant dinner at George’s house, and they had some coffee from the machine in the office."

Yesterday, I posted about P.E. Obama's impending dinner date with some of the rightiest of the righties. If this were a dating show featuring a Palin documentary filmmaker, we'd see who bonded, who was rejected, who got humiliated, and who might get a call back. Instead, all we get are a few sketchy descriptions from participants whose reliability is dubious at best.

Here's a video of Charles Krauthammer with his two (non)cents.

Above, we see Bill Kristol being all Bill Kristol-y, so pop a Tums and get the Pepto Bismol out.

And finally, boffo reviews galore from Larry Kudlow. He makes it sound as if a second date were in their future [insert wolf whistle and heavy panting here]:

Larry Kudlow, who attended the right-wing dinner, said: "I was very impressed. He's a nice guy, terribly smart, well-informed, great smile. He just really engaged. He said he likes to know the arguments on all sides."

No word yet from George Will, Peggy Noonan, Paul Gigot, or David Brooks. I'm sure they were swept off their two right feet and are converting to Progressivism as we speak.

President-elect Obama visits WaPo, gets cheers

By GottaLaff

Come on, Helen, tell us what you really think:

From a pool report:

After three and a half hours at his transition office, PEOTUS Obama took another 6 minute ride through Washington, arriving at 1:57 pm at the nondescript soviet-style building at 15th and L street that houses the Washington Post.

Around 100 people -- Post reporters perhaps? -- awaited PEOTUS's arrival, cheering and bobbing their coffee cups.

Pool is holding in a van outside, while Mr Obama does his Washington Post interview, and will exercise enormous restraint by ending report before saying what [she] really thinks about this turn of events.

-- Helene Cooper, New York Times

"Bobbing their coffee cups"? I've heard of bobbing hair, and bobbing for apples, but coffee cups?

Maybe the WaPos and their cups were responding to this Fox News report*:

Most people think that President-elect Barack Obama is meeting -- if not exceeding -- expectations so far, according to a FOX News poll released Thursday.

*There's more to the poll than that, but I felt like using that part to make a point because I'm biased that way.

Bob Woodward's 10 lessons Obama should learn from the last 8 years

By GottaLaff

What happened?

Professor Woodward has a List-O'-Lessons for Team Obama. I wonder when Woodward himself learned them, considering his books ranged from fawning to critical. It didn't take most of us years to figure BushCo out, but oh well, we didn't write bestsellers.

Apparently Professor Bob still fancies himself to be the ultimate Sagacity-Infused Guru when it comes to all things Chimpenfuhrer:

In today's must-read piece, Bob Woodward, who wrote four books on the Bush presidency, offers ten lessons that President-elect Obama and his team should take away from the last eight years.

1. Presidents set the tone. Don't be passive or tolerate virulent divisions.

2. The president must insist that everyone speak out loud in front of the others, even -- or especially -- when there are vehement disagreements.

3. A president must do the homework to master the fundamental ideas and concepts behind his policies.

4. Presidents need to draw people out and make sure bad news makes it to the Oval Office.

5. Presidents need to foster a culture of skepticism and doubt.

6. Presidents get contradictory data, and they need a rigorous way to sort it out.

7. Presidents must tell the hard truth to the public, even if that means delivering very bad news.

8. Righteous motives are not enough for effective policy.

9. Presidents must insist on strategic thinking.

10. The president should embrace transparency. Some version of the behind-the-scenes story of what happened in his White House will always make it out to the public -- and everyone will be better off if that version is as accurate as possible.

I think any one of us could have written that list. IMHO, he's pretty much stating the obvious in an effort to redeem himself.

Pelosi touts $825 billion stimulus package

By GottaLaff

Remember the days when "millions" sounded like a lot?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday touted a $825 billion stimulus package that allocates less money for tax cuts than President-elect Obama is asking for.

“It’s about job creation, it’s about unprecedented accountability, about how that money is spent; it’s about clean, efficient and energy in America to transform our economy through investments and science and technology,” Pelosi said of the legislation.

“It’s about modernizing our roads, bridges, et cetera, education for the 21st century, tax cuts that make work pay and create jobs and lower -- as initiatives to lower healthcare costs and help workers who are hurt in this economy, and protect our vital services,” she added.

Pelosi also said that she is willing to have the stimulus measure go through the committee process. [...]

Pelosi noted that House Democrats had not just accepted Obama’s own proposal. [...]

House Democrats are allocating $25 billion less for tax cuts than Obama is asking for.

Paul Krugman has his own problems with Obama's plan.

The Big Mystery: Justice Alito M.I.A. from Obama/Biden meeting with Supremes

By GottaLaff

Yesterday, Paddy posted about the meeting between P.E. Obama and V.P.E. Biden and the Supreme Court justices. How wonderfully pleasant! How oh-so-congenial!

Wednesday's meeting was described as a relaxed, get-acquainted session. It included Roberts, seven associate justices and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

How hunky dorily positive! How... how... wait a minute. Seven associate justices? Seven? Who was missing? Who would even think to snub the future president and vice president when they were clearly going out of their way to say a big introductory howdy-do? And why?

The absence of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who was at the court Wednesday morning for arguments in two cases, was a mystery. He has, however, voiced lingering anger over Senate Democrats, including Obama and Biden, who voted against his confirmation three years ago. When walking on Capitol Hill, Alito has said, he crosses to the far side of the street whenever he nears the Senate Office Building.

It's reassuring to know that a Supreme Court judge, a member of an august body that supposedly personifies impartiality and dispassion, holds a personal grudge and acts out his petulance like a pouting little third grader.

Leadership in action: Obama's speed and balancing act

By GottaLaff

When I first learned to type, my teacher's mantra was "speed and accuracy". P.E. Obama must have had the same teacher:

Barack Obama was back in the Capitol on Tuesday, not yet president but seeming to manage three governments at a time while taking questions from old Senate colleagues.

First is Obama’s own administration, still being assembled and facing a few rough patches a week before his Inauguration. Next is his ambitious economic recovery bill, approaching $850 billion and fast becoming a second government in its own right. Third is the leftover business of the outgoing Bush White House: what to do with the last $350 billion in a financial markets rescue fund approved a month before Obama’s election.

Moving fast has always been an Obama trademark. The man scarcely stayed in the Senate two years before running for president. And his appearance at the Democratic luncheon followed the same format: a brief summary of the business at hand followed by opening up the floor to questions.

“He makes his points,” Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said, grinning slightly. “He allows everyone to ask questions, and that’s a sign of leadership.”

Lawrence Summers, the former Harvard president and Clinton Treasury secretary, was on hand — but also largely unneeded by Obama.

“Let’s put it this way,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.). “We didn’t ask any questions that stumped him.”

Energizer Barack.

Obama dines with George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks, Bill Kristol

By GottaLaff

Wowzers, President-elect Obama is even braver than Batman, Superman, and Spidey all rolled into one!

He's dining at the Chevy Chase home of Washington Post columnist George Will with the Post's Charles Krauthammer and the New York Times's David Brooks and William Kristol. All three wrote, at times, both kind and scathing things about Obama, though Kristol in particular pushed sharp attack lines against him in the waning days of the race.

I hope he got his rabies shots first.

And here the righties thought he'd be a weak leader... At the very least, this proves he has a strong stomach.

Obama backed same-sex marriage in 1996

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

What changed?

A document has emerged suggesting that Obama had taken more public, liberal stands in the past than had been revealed in the digging of reporters and opposition researchers over two years of campaigning, the latest of several pointing to a rightward shift as he moved into national politics.

In a 1996 questionnaire filled out for a Chicago gay and lesbian newspaper, then called Outlines, Obama came out clearly in favor of same-sex marriage, which he has opposed on the public record throughout his short career in national politics.

“I favor legalizing same-sex marriages,and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages,” Obama wrote in the typed, signed, statement.

There was no use of “civil unions,” and "no compromise whatsoever," the Windy City Times story today notes.

On another questionnaire the same year, Obama said he would support a resolution in support of same-sex marriage.

The editor of the Windy City Times, Tracy Baim, just found the document this week. I'm curious to see what P.E. Obama will say about this particular "change" when the inevitable confrontation takes place.

SCHIP is back

By GottaLaff

It's so, so, so-o-o nice to be in power. From the Department of Making Up for Lost Time:

The House will vote this week on legislation to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) after Democrats introduced a new bill on Tuesday.

The Democratic leaders of the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees who authored the bill said it would expand SCHIP benefits to 4 million children who have no health benefits and maintain coverage for the 7 million kids already enrolled in SCHIP.

What? A program that will actually help people? How dare they?! Allow me to sputter: Ahem....

!?!Who's in charge here!?! sputter, spray, snort!! Qiekjaqadiqedhwsadf!!!

Democrats, that's who.

Congressional action on the popular SCHIP measure, which passed Congress with bipartisan votes twice in 2007 but died under President Bush’s veto pen, would give the incoming Obama administration a quick victory on healthcare, one of its major priorities.

Passing an SCHIP expansion also would stand as a down payment on the comprehensive health reform effort promised by President-elect Obama. [...]

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said, “Congressional passage and swift enactment by President-elect Obama will demonstrate that change has come to Washington.”

We can, we will, and we just did.

P.E. Obama's Kenyan "Granny's" White House Warming Gifts

By GottaLaff

Exclusive interview from WTHR-TV from November

Awhile ago, I posted about P.E. Obama's "Granny" attending an Inaugural ball. Now we see she proudly and joyfully comes bearing gifts:

A three-legged stool and a traditional Luo oxtail fly whisk are some of the household items that could bring a new feel to the Oval Office, courtesy of Barack Obama's Kenyan grandmother. [...]

Quoted in the Standard newspaper Monday, she said she had hoped to bring him a traditional spear and shield from her Luo tribe when she flies to Washington on Friday with some other family members.

"But I have been told that due to security reasons I will not be allowed to board a plane with it," she explained.

With Bush still in charge, she most likely would have been declared an enemy combatant, renditioned, tortured, and forever put on the "terrorist" watch list. Kinda takes the "heart" out of "heartwarming story", doesn't it?

"The day I was waiting for has finally come... I cannot hide my joy," she said. "I am going to be Kenya's ambassador during the occasion and I will live up to the expectations."

Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula will head a government delegation for a pre-inauguration bash organised by African diplomatic missions in the US.

"It is a big feast that will be attended by delegations from many African nations," Wetangula told reporters.

"And because Kenya is the African nation where Obama draws his roots, I have been invited to be the guest speaker at the event," he added.

It's dizzying how many feel-good stories have come from one very hope-filled man's quest to become president.

Obama Issues First Veto Threat

By GottaLaff

Democrats claimed they would stand up to P.E. Obama (as opposed to what they did for the past 8 years with the Moron in Chief). Turnabout's fair play:

President-elect Barack Obama made his first veto threat Tuesday in a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats. Obama told his former colleagues that if Congress passes a resolution blocking release of the second half of the financial bailout funds he will veto it, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman after leaving the caucus meeting. [...]

Obama spoke for about fifteen minutes and then spent much of the rest of the hour-plus meeting answering questions. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) spoke on behalf of increased spending on energy independence and alternative energy as a way to stimulate the economy. "You add up all the benefits of it and it's really quite extraordinary," said Kerry. [...]

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a top Obama surrogate during the campaign, said that Obama repeatedly stressed the urgency of getting access to the TARP funds quickly and spent the bulk of the meeting on the subject. "The single message that was most consistent was that time is of the essence. There's a sense of urgency," she said.

Because of that urgency, McCaskill said, Obama told the group that he understood that the Senate may not have the time it needs to develop a proper oversight package. He asked his former colleagues not to let that slow down the release of the funds, promising to conduct the oversight they expect and operate with transparency.

GOP senators said Tuesday they were not enthusiastic about releasing the second half of the funds. [...]

If Congress releases the funds without a new oversight bill, it will rely on a gentleman's agreement of sort between congressional Democrats and Obama. The framework for such an agreement was debated in a House Financial Services Committee hearing Tuesday. "This is a 'trust but verify' bill," said committee chairman Barny Frank (D-Mass.).

McCaskill, though, said she thinks Obama may get enough votes out of the Senate to approve the funds, obviating a veto. "We didn't take a caucus vote, but he needs fifty votes out of the caucus. I'd be shocked if he didn't get it," she said.

H/t: Ellen

Bush's obliviousitude

By GottaLaff

Froomkin, on today's press conference:

Finally, Bush said he's getting off the stage. "I believe there ought to be, you know, one person in the klieg lights at a time."

It's as if he hadn't realized that the klieg lights have already shifted elsewhere.

Froomkin must have been referring to this:

At Ben's Chili Bowl in D.C.
(photo via)

Obama Expected to Drop Business Tax Credit

By GottaLaff

He listens. He responds:

On the stimulus, as a show of good faith as negotiations unfold, Obama is expected to drop his least popular proposal, a $3,000 tax credit for companies to create new jobs. Many Democrats have criticized the incentive, touted by Obama on the campaign trail, as ripe for abuse and of dubious merit.

"We've always said we're open to other ideas. This was never set in stone," said a senior Obama adviser of the tax proposal and Obama's stimulus proposals in general.

When Little Georgie Bush used to say he "listened", he really meant he would sit impatiently with his blankie and rock back and forth sucking his thumb, drooling, and dozing off during important meetings.

When P.E. Obama listens, he mulls, he evaluates, he analyzes, he uses his powers of forethought, and then he responds. All without a blankie.

UPDATE: Krugman's ideas. He's a good person for Obama to be listening to.

Last week President-elect Barack Obama was asked to respond to critics who say that his stimulus plan won’t do enough to help the economy. Mr. Obama answered that he wants to hear ideas about “how to spend money efficiently and effectively to jump-start the economy.”

O.K., I’ll bite — although as I’ll explain shortly, the “jump-start” metaphor is part of the problem.

First, Mr. Obama should scrap his proposal for $150 billion in business tax cuts, which would do little to help the economy. Ideally he’d scrap the proposed $150 billion payroll tax cut as well, though I’m aware that it was a campaign promise.

Follow the link for more.