November 2009: President Obama, Health Care Reform, Afghanistan, State Trips & State Dinners

Luke Sharrett/The New York Times
Gursharan Kaur, the first lady of India, Michelle Obama, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, and President Obama arrived for the state Dinner.

IN FOCUS: STATS

• Obama’s Approval Slide Finds Whites Down to 39% Support has declined much more among whites than among nonwhites: In his first full week in office (Jan. 26-Feb. 1), an average of 66% of Americans approved of the job Obama was doing, including 61% of non-Hispanic whites and 80% of nonwhites. In the most recent week, spanning Nov. 16-22 interviewing, his approval rating averaged 49% overall, 39% among whites, and 73% among nonwhites. Thus, since the beginning of his presidency, his support has dropped 22 points among whites, compared with a 7-point loss among nonwhites. – Gallop, 11-24-09
• The harris poll (r) President’s Job Approval Ratings Hinge on Good, Bad Element of Change Some think he is trying to do too much; others say his efforts are positive.: These are some of the results of The Harris Poll(R) of 2,303 adults surveyed online between Nov. 2 and 11, 2009 by Harris Interactive(R).
  Right now, more than two in five Americans (43 percent) give Obama positive job approval ratings. When these people are asked why they think some people like the job Obama is doing, the highest response, given by 13 percent of Americans, is that he is trying to bring about much needed change. One in 10 U.S. adults (9 percent) think people like the job the president is doing because he is working for the people’s best interests and doing the right thing. Further down the list as reasons are that he seems to care about everyone, or the common man (7 percent) and the same number say people like Obama because he is not George W. Bush. In fact, 5 percent each say people like the job the president is doing because the country needs a fresh outlook with new ideas. – The Ledger, 11-24-09
• Michelle Obama’s poll numbers slide: When Michelle Obama moved into the White House, she instantly became one of the most famous first ladies in history, a symbol of racial pride, a victor in the battle of the sexes and the picture of a modern woman, mother and wife. But from her days on the campaign trail to her residency in the White House, Obama’s favorability rating has been in flux, from a low of 48 percent in June 2008 to a peak of 72 percent last March to a slide to 61 percent in a recent Gallup Poll. – Politico, 11-4-09

THE HEADLINES….

• Obama to vow greenhouse emissions cuts in Denmark: Putting his prestige on the line, President Barack Obama will personally commit the U.S. to a goal of substantially cutting greenhouse gases at next month’s Copenhagen climate summit. He will insist America is ready to tackle global warming despite resistance in Congress over higher costs for businesses and homeowners…. – AP, 11-25-09
• Obama will unveil Afghan troops move at West Point: President Barack Obama plans to announce a redrawn battle plan for Afghanistan, including what the military says could be a roughly 50 percent increase in U.S. forces, in a national address Tuesday night from the U.S. Military Academy… – AP, 11-25-09
• ‘Going Rogue’ Goes to Top of Book Sales Chart: “Going Rogue,” the newly released memoir by Sarah Palin, the former Alaskan governor and Republican nominee for vice president, sold 469,000 copies in its first week of release, according to sales figures released Wednesday by Nielsen BookScan. That made “Going Rogue” the top-selling book of the week on Nielsen BookScan’s chart. – NYT, 11-25-09
• Obama team battles to portray healthcare reform as cost-cutting: House and Senate bills on healthcare reform include most cost-cutting ideas that have surfaced in recent years, asserts Obama’s budget director…. – CS Monitor, 11-25-09
• Modern Flourishes at Obamas’ State Dinner: It is an old tradition, a White House dinner governed by ritual and protocol that happens to be this city’s hottest social event. But at their first state dinner on Tuesday night, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, made sure to infuse the glittering gala with distinctive touches…. – NYT, 11-25-09
• Obama’s first state dinner blends pageantry with politics: President Obama toasted a growing U.S. friendship with India at the first state dinner of his administration Tuesday, an evening of regal pageantry and symbolic politics in a tent on the White House South Lawn. “To the future that beckons all of us,” Obama said with glass raised toward his guest of honor, visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Let us answer its call. And let our two great nations realize all the triumphs and achievements that await us.”…
  The Tuesday night dinner showed Obama’s intention to signal strong ties with the world’s largest democracy and go his own way in navigating the pomp and tradition of White House customs…. – CNN, 11-25-09
• Uninvited Guests Make It Into State Dinner: This much is known: About 7:15 Tuesday night, a glittering blonde, decked out in a red and gold sari, holding the hand of her black-tuxedoed escort, swept past the camera crews and reporters camped out to catch the red-carpet arrivals for the first state dinner given by President Obama.
  In fact, the couple — Michaele Salahi and her husband, Tareq — are Virginians who have been auditioning for a possible role in a different housewives TV franchise: “The Real Housewives of Washington.”… – NYT, 11-25-09
• Looking for Tea Leaves in Obama’s Sliding Numbers: President Obama returned from his trip to Asia facing some unsettling news: two new polls showed that his approval rating had dipped below 50 percent for the first time. To many of his critics, who had chafed as he enjoyed broad support among Americans even as many were critical of his handling of specific issues like the economy, this erosion is a tipping point, the end of Mr. Obama’s perceived near-invulnerability. In many ways, the slide should not come as a surprise. And coming less than a year into his presidency, not to mention almost a full year from the 2010 Congressional elections, its long-term political significance is anything but clear…. – NYT, 11-24-09
• Republicans blast ‘bait and switch’ health bill: Digging in for a long struggle, Republican senators and governors assailed the Democrats’ newly minted health care legislation Thursday as a collection of tax increases, Medicare cuts and heavy new burdens for deficit-ridden states. Despite the criticism, there were growing indications Democrats would prevail on an initial Senate showdown set for Saturday night, and Majority Leader Harry Reid crisply rebutted the Republican charges. The bill “will save lives, save money and save Medicare,” he said.
  The legislation is designed to answer President Barack Obama’s call to expand coverage, end industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions, and restrain the growth of health care spending. Republicans saw little to like. “It makes no sense at all and affronts common sense,” said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, one of several Republicans to criticize the measure. He added that a plan to expand Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor, was a “bait and switch” with states as the victims… – AP, 11-19-09
• Obama: How low can he go?: President Barack Obama’s deep bow to the Japanese emperor during a weekend visit in Tokyo has been met with sharp criticism from conservatives in the United States. Conservatives took to the airwaves and blogosphere Monday to rip Obama’s gesture as subservient, inappropriate and a sign of weakness, with one rightwing blogger going as far to call it “treasonous.”
  Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko hosted Obama for a meeting on Saturday. As Obama shook Akihito’s hand, he bowed a full 90 degrees forward. Blogging on the Los Angeles Times, Andrew Malcolm said the move might score him some points in Japan but will surely elicit frowns back home. “How low will the new American president go for the world’s royalty?” Malcolm wrote, pointing out that vice president Dick Cheney’s simple handshake with Akihito in 2007 was the proper way to greet the emperor. Obama received similar criticism when he offered more of a half- bow to Saudi King Abdullah in April, prompting The Washington Times to editorialize it as a “shocking display of fealty.” A senior administration official has dismissed the criticism, telling Politico it’s “just way, way, way off base.” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said it was merely “a sign of respect to the emperor.” – Earth Times, Kansas City Star, 11-17-09
• Obama, House Dems confident on health care vote: Buoyed by two major endorsements, House Democratic leaders on Thursday predicted swift passage of President Barack Obama’s historic health overhaul initiative. The president himself declared, “We are closer to passing this reform than ever before.”
  “I urge Congress to listen to AARP, listen to the AMA, and pass this reform for hundreds of millions of Americans who will benefit from it,” Obama told reporters during an unannounced visit to the White House briefing room after the endorsements were announced.
  “We are right on the brink,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “We have an historic opportunity for us to again provide quality health care for all Americans. It is something that many of us have worked our whole political lifetimes on.” – AP, 11-5-09

ELECTIONS 2010, 2012….

• CNN, 11-24-09
• Obama’s Breakeven Points Versus Palin and Romney: Nate Silver has published an analysis of how far Pres. Obama’s Gallup approval ratings could drop before he could expect to tie Govs. Palin and Romney in head-to-head elections:
  There have been 11 Palin versus Obama polls that have come out this year — 8 by Public Policy Polling and one each from Rasmussen, Clarus, and Marist. Those polls showed Obama approval ranging from 49 percent to 55 percent — not far from Dowd’s sweet spot — but Obama defeating Palin by margins ranging from 6 points to 23. If we make a scatterplot of these polls, we can extrapolate backward to get an estimate of where Obama’s approval rating would need to be in order to bring Palin into a tie with him; the answer is about 43 percent…. – race42008.com, 11-25-09

POLITICAL QUOTES

• Toasts by the President and the Prime Minister: Following is a transcript of toasts by President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India at the state dinner on Nov. 24, provided by the White House. Many of you were here when I was honored to become the first President to help celebrate Diwali — the Festival of Lights. (Applause.) Some of you were here for the first White House celebration of the birth of the founder of Sikhism — Guru Nanak. (Applause.) Tonight, we gather again, for the first state dinner of my presidency — with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur, as we celebrate the great and growing partnership between the United States and India.
  As we all know, in India some of life’s most treasured moments are often celebrated under the cover of a beautiful tent. It’s a little like tonight. We have incredible food and music and are surrounded by great friends. For it’s been said that “the most beautiful things in the universe are the starry heavens above us and the feeling of duty within us.”
  Mr. Prime Minister, today we worked to fulfill our duty –bring our countries closer together than ever before. Tonight, under the stars, we celebrate the spirit that will sustain our partnership — the bonds of friendship between our people.
  It’s a bond that includes more than two million Indian Americans who enrich every corner of our great nation — leaders in government, science, industry and the arts — some of whom join us tonight. And it’s the bond of friendship between a President and a Prime Minister who are bound by the same unshakable spirit of possibility and brotherhood that transformed both our nations — a spirit that gave rise to movements led by giants like Gandhi and King, and which are the reason that both of us can stand here tonight.
  And so, as we draw upon these ties that bind our common future together, I want to close with the words that your first Prime Minister spoke at that midnight hour on the eve of Indian independence, because Nehru’s words speak to our hopes tonight: “The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the great triumphs and achievements that await us…The past is over and it is the future that beckons us now.” – NYT, 11-25-09

HISTORIANS & ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

• Julian E. Zelizer “Keeping a promise to urban America”: One year ago, as Thanksgiving approached, many Americans were still feeling pleased about the fact that Americans seemed to have broken through an important racial divide. With the election of the first African-American president, some were talking about the possibility of a “post-racial” society.
  Despite all of the progress marked by that election, it remains painfully clear that we are not a post-racial society. Many of the racial disparities that are deeply connected to public policy, from our prison system to our education system to the damaged economies of urban America, remain unchanged.
  Although issues such as health care and the war in Afghanistan have garnered most attention, there is a significant initiative under way that seeks to tackle the problems that have faced African-American children living in poor communities in urban America: the Promise Neighborhoods program.
  The program aims to provide opportunity to young, largely minority Americans who are living in the impoverished neighborhoods of urban America….
  Promise Neighborhoods is one of the most ambitious efforts in recent years to tackle the crisis of urban youth. Geoffrey Canada’s work should offer one area of policy where Democrats and Republicans can join to show to the world that the election of 2008 did indeed reflect a genuine desire to eliminate some of the roots of racial inequality that continue to shape our country. – CNN, 11-25-09
• Stephen Wayne “In his slow decision-making, Obama goes with head, not gut”: Stephen Wayne, who teaches about the presidency at Georgetown, said: “He’s not an instinctive decision-maker as Bush was. He doesn’t go with his gut, he thinks with his head, which I think is desirable.” Referring to the Afghanistan decision, Wayne said, “I don’t think he is an indecisive person, I just think this is a tough one.” – Wa Po, 11-24-09
• Allan Lichtman “In his slow decision-making, Obama goes with head, not gut”: “I think the Obama we’ve seen as president is a very different Obama than we saw during the campaign. He doesn’t seem to be connected, he doesn’t seem to have the passion, he doesn’t seem to be conveying the grand and inspiring vision,” says the progressive historian Allan Lichtman of American University. “If you want to be a transformational president, you’ve got to take the risks.” – Wa Po, 11-24-09
• Sean Wilentz “In his slow decision-making, Obama goes with head, not gut”: Sean Wilentz, a history professor at Princeton, says Obama has suffered from unrealistic expectations among those who put him in office. “They kind of were sold Utopia, and they bought it, and it didn’t happen,” he says. “People were comparing the candidate to Abraham Lincoln before he served a day of his presidency. Nobody can live up to that.” – Wa Po, 11-24-09
• Victor Davis Hanson: We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet: When it comes to the problems facing this country, an old slogan comes to mind: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.” High unemployment, the recession and a terrorist resurgence in Afghanistan are bad enough. But there are a number of problems on the horizon that could dwarf President Obama’s first-year trials. Why the pessimism? In short, we are doing nothing to prepare for the crises to come. A global recession has led to low oil prices. Yet in this window of opportunity, America has not decreased its foreign-oil dependence. We are not encouraging domestic exploration. And we are still ambivalent on nuclear power…. – St Augustine, 11-25-09
• John R. Bohrer: Hold the Hofstadter: Why the GOP Is Winning 2010: Over the last few months, a number of prominent political columnists have pointed to historian and social critic Richard Hofstadter to explain what is happening to the Republican Party. 1964’s The Paranoid Style in American Politics and his 1954 essay, “The Pseudo-Conservative Revolt,” among others, tell us why so many Republicans are lashing out at town halls and tea parties. And because the protesters make a lot of noise, wave disgusting signs and are embraced by a major political party, they get a lot of attention.
  Here’s the rub: their craziness turns away those who do not already agree with them, and yet the GOP is beginning to pull ahead in the generic congressional ballot match-up. How can this be?
  Perhaps it’s because while we’re all hopped up on Hofstadter and understanding what Sam Tanenhaus defines as The Death of Conservatism, we’ve forgotten about another important contingent of Americans: low-information 2008 Obama voters. Huffington Post, 11-17-09
• Julian E. Zelizer: Obama should focus on jobs, not deficit: Regardless of the outcome of the health care reform effort, the difficult issue of cutting the federal budget deficit is likely to move front and center in 2010. The size of the deficit is causing great concern in Washington. While most economists say the deficit should normally hover at around 3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, it has now reached almost 10 percent. With each piece of positive economic news, such as the recent fall in unemployment claims, pressure will grow to shrink the deficit. The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House is considering using some unspent TARP money for debt reduction while Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is pushing for spending cuts if Congress raises taxes….
  The pressure to move faster will intensify after the health care debate is done and the midterm elections approach. The president will need to be cautious about not repeating Roosevelt’s mistake. – CNN, 11-17-09
• Julian E. Zelizer “Are Republicans too giddy?”: Republicans have been downright giddy following the off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey. In a swing state and a blue state, Republicans pulled off significant victories with Chris Christie’s defeat of Gov. John Corzine and Robert McDonnell defeating Creigh Deeds.
  Just two days after the election, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who had boasted of the results as evidence of a “Republican Renaissance,” issued a stern warning to his colleagues. Steele said that his message for the 2010 midterm elections was that Republicans should remain loyal to the party principles, or “we’ll come after you.”
  Republicans certainly can take some comfort in this election. It is clear that some of the excitement about the Democratic Party has faded since the beginning of 2009. The so-called jobless recovery, with unemployment now at 10.2 percent, is not sitting well with many Americans.
  But Republicans should be cautious. Both political parties have a history of over-reading election results and seeing mandates where none exist. The leaders of each party have often thought that the electorate sent a clear message endorsing a new direction in public policy only to learn that voters were relatively comfortable with the status quo….
  Rather than misread the message of the elections, Republicans must turn to the difficult job of rebuilding their party by finding a new generation of leaders and ideas, while broadening rather than narrowing their reach. If they don’t, their response will leave their ranks in even worse shape than before. CNN, 11-10-09
• Richard Kohn: Could Fort Hood visit redefine Obama’s relationship with the military?: Recent Democratic presidents have had an uneasy relationship with the armed forces. Obama’s visit to Fort Hood’s memorial service could set the tone for a new rapport with those in uniform.
  “Obama doesn’t have a lot of experience with the military, so in a sense, I don’t think he’ll be on trial [at Fort Hood], but he does fight a natural suspicion of Democrats in the military,” says Richard Kohn, a University of North Carolina historian and expert on presidential wartime leadership.
  “The thing to do is compare his response and emotional intelligence with them when he’s at Fort Hood as opposed to his normal kind of behavior with other groups,” adds Mr. Kohn. “Whether it’ll have the emotional content that many military people expect or seek and whether that can balance or even cancel the natural suspicion is a question.”
  “What Obama is trying to do is to restore the proper sense of, ‘I’m the guy in charge,’” says Mr. Kohn. “What you’re hearing is a kind of partisan buzz that would like to reframe and cancel out Obama’s very concerted effort not to be victimized by that history of Democratic presidents and the military.” CS Monitor, 11-7-09
• Betty Boyd Caroli: Michelle Obama’s poll numbers slide: “If you asked most people, they would say she defines her job as first lady as taking care of her family, and maybe that’s what the White House wants — what she wants,” said first lady historian Betty Boyd Caroli. “A lot of people appreciate that, but some people wanted more, and maybe that’s why the numbers are dipping.” – Politico, 11-4-09
• Julian E. Zelizer: What happened to bipartisanship?: When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would be pushing for a public option in the final health care bill, it looked as if he had given up on the possibility of a bipartisan agreement.
  Most Republicans have been steadfast in their opposition to the Democratic health care proposals. The only serious possibility for GOP backing has come from Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. While expressing support for much of the Senate Finance Committee bill, she has said she would accept a public option only if private markets and new regulations fail to control costs and lower premiums.
  Reid’s decision is not a sign of commitment to an ideal but rather an act of political realism. The notion that either party will be able to find substantive bipartisan support for legislation today is dubious. The political forces that generate partisan conflict in Washington are deeply rooted and hard to change…
  Seriously searching for bipartisanship, for example, would require reforming the campaign finance system so that legislators are not in such desperate need of private campaign contributions, over which party leaders and activist organizations maintain tight control.
  Citizens should also support media outlets that place solid journalism above partisan analysis. Right now, bipartisan votes are not coming. In the past few weeks, Democrats seem to have come to this conclusion and are now focusing more on what will unite their own party than what will win Sen. Snowe’s vote. – CNN, 11-3-09

President Obama and Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Luke Sharrett/The New York Times Courage made an appearance at the White House on Wednesday.

THANKSGIVING 2009:

• HNN Hot Topics: Thanksgiving: HNN
• Obama Saves ‘Courage’: “Thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha — because I was planning to eat this sucker — Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate,” Mr. Obama said at a White House ceremony on Wednesday-. NYT, 11-25-09

• Obama pardons ‘Courage,’ the Thanksgiving turkey: For Barack Obama, some days are filled with reminders as to why he ran for the presidency. There are intense discussions about national security, efforts to win votes on health care, and, at night, glamorous entertainment – like last night’s state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
  And then there are days like today, when a rueful Obama, performing one of the least dignified of presidential rituals, proclaimed: “I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland.”
  This year’s annual presidential pardon for a Thanksgiving turkey went off without a hitch. No flyabouts, as occurred under President Reagan. (That would be the turkey flying about, not some rogue White House aide.)… – CS Monitor, 11-25-09

• Obama family distributes Thanksgiving treats: The Obama family passed out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving favorites to people at a food pantry organization. President Barack Obama tucked pumpkin pies into people’s bags at Martha’s Table in downtown Washington on Wednesday evening and wished them a happy holiday. Obama’s two daughters, first lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, worked alongside the president, putting canned food, stuffing, and fresh vegetables into bags. Those in line also received frozen turkeys. – AP, 11-25-09
• Thanksgiving wishes from Lincoln, Truman, Reagan and — now — Obama: On Thanksgiving, our most home-grown of holidays, we at The Ticket would like to offer you a helping of history along with that turkey.
  We call it the Ghost of Thanksgiving Past. It’s a collection of some of the more interesting presidential proclamations relating to the holiday…. – LAT, 11-25-09
• Obama’s Thanksgiving proclamation: What began as a harvest celebration between European settlers and indigenous communities nearly four centuries ago has become our cherished tradition of Thanksgiving. This day’s roots are intertwined with those of our nation, and its history traces the American narrative.
  Today, we recall President George Washington, who proclaimed our first national day of public thanksgiving to be observed “by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God,” and President Abraham Lincoln, who established our annual Thanksgiving Day to help mend a fractured nation in the midst of civil war. We also recognize the contributions of Native Americans, who helped the early colonists survive their first harsh winter and continue to strengthen our nation. From our earliest days of independence, and in times of tragedy and triumph, Americans have come together to celebrate Thanksgiving.
  As Americans, we hail from every part of the world. While we observe traditions from every culture, Thanksgiving Day is a unique national tradition we all share. Its spirit binds us together as one people, each of us thankful for our common blessings.
  As we gather once again among loved ones, let us also reach out to our neighbors and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand. This is a time for us to renew our bonds with one another, and we can fulfill that commitment by serving our communities and our nation throughout the year. In doing so, we pay tribute to our country’s men and women in uniform who set an example of service that inspires us all. Let us be guided by the legacy of those who have fought for the freedoms for which we give thanks, and be worthy heirs to the noble tradition of goodwill shown on this day.
  Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all the people of the United States to come together, whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place where family, friends and neighbors may gather, with gratitude for all we have received in the past year, to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own and to share our bounty with others.
  In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of November, in the year of our Lord 2009, and of the independence of the United States of America the 234th (year).
  AP, 11-25-09

President Barack Obama: First Anniversary, One Year after the Historic Election

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

Doug Mills/The New York Times

• One year after his election, what has Obama achieved?: Obama got off to a quick start. But almost one year after winning the presidency, his deeds are at risk of paling next to his aspirations. – CS Monitor, 11-2-09
• No Walk in the Park: For Obama One Year Later, It’s the Slog of Governance: For a president elevated to power on the back of history, the tears and euphoria of Grant Park feel like a thousand years ago. It has been just one year, of course, since Barack Obama’s election, a year since that moment when supporters felt everything was possible amid lofty talk of “remaking this nation” and determined chants of “Yes, we can.”  Some White House aides are wistful for the days right after Mr. Obama won office, when everything seemed a lot simpler. A year later, as a few smaller elections yielded a more critical judgment, the hope and hubris have given way to the daily grind of governance, the jammed meeting schedule waiting in the morning, the thick briefing books waiting at night, the thousand little compromises that come in between. The education of a president is complicated, and as Mr. Obama has spent the last 12 months learning more about wielding power, his country has learned more about him.  Given the enormousness of the crises he inherited and the scope of the economic package he pushed through in his early weeks in office, it might seem odd to suggest that the hardest and most defining choices are only now confronting Mr. Obama…. – NYT, 11-4-09

• Ted Widmer: One year after his election, what has Obama achieved?: “He’s had a good first year,” says Ted Widmer, a presidential historian at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton. “Two of his biggest accomplishments are easy to overlook, but they were both important. He kept the financial crisis from becoming worse. And he vastly improved the way the rest of the world thinks about America.” – CS Monitor, 11-2-09
• Fred Greenstein: One year after his election, what has Obama achieved?: “A decent-seeming [health reform] would redound to Obama’s advantage and reduce the buzz over whether he is ‘tough enough’ and perhaps lead to a spike in public approval,” says Fred Greenstein, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University in New Jersey. – CS Monitor, 11-2-09
• Russell Riley: One year after his election, what has Obama achieved?: Obama’s election itself raised expectations, says Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. “There was a miracle at the ballot box, and people expect those miracles to continue later,” he says. “But [Obama officials] don’t help themselves by setting deadlines early on that they then don’t meet.” – CS Monitor, 11-2-09
• Historian Eric Foner discusses Obama’s place in history: It is a major turning point in American history, and I don’t think that should be denigrated or minimized. On the other hand – and there was a lot of euphoria immediately following the election even among people who didn’t vote for him – the fact is that now most people are viewing President Obama the way they would any other president. In other words, with a “what are you doing for me?” If you look at the first eight or nine months of almost any president, they didn’t really accomplish a heck of a lot – except for Franklin D. Roosevelt, who came in under even a more dire situation than Obama. (And much of what he did in his first 100 days was sent to the scrap heap within a year or two of his administration anyway and later had to be changed.) So it’s still too early to tell what will happen with Obama’s presidency.
  Obama is a mainstream politician. I admire Obama, he’s certainly a lot more eloquent than many others, but he’s a mainstream politician. You never hear Obama say a word about “the poor.” Everything is the middle class – middle class tax cuts, middle class this and that. That’s fine, I don’t mind the middle class. But the poor – which is a rather disturbingly large number of people in this country – never get mentioned. Now, Obama is doing things to help the poor, but it’s kept under the radar. Similarly, Obama very strategically does not present himself as “a black president” in the sense of having a particular commitment to black America. I don’t think Obama’s going to come forward with a plan that says here’s what I’m going to do to help black America. I think he says, here’s what I’m going to do to help the American middle class, on the assumption that a lot of that will help blacks. And certainly, raising taxes on people earning over $250,000 a year is not going to hit a lot of black people, helping expand Medicaid will. Those aren’t race-based policies, but they will have racial effects, among others. – The Grio, 11-4-09

October 2009: President Obama, Health Care Bill Passes Senate, Troop Surge in Afghanistan?

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

IN FOCUS: STATS

• Hillary Clinton beats Obama in new Gallup poll: Barack Obama may have beaten Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential primaries last year, but she’s ahead of him in a new popularity poll. The Gallup survey conducted Oct. 1-4, and released Thursday, shows Clinton’s favorable ratings at 62 percent and Obama’s at 56 percent.
  Gallup said the juxtaposition is due more to Obama’s declining popularity than any rise in Clinton’s favorable numbers, which have changed little since January. Then, 78 percent saw Obama favorably, compared with 65 percent for Clinton. Gallup noted Obama’s decline has come after nearly nine months in office in which he’s confronted such issues as the auto industry bailout and the economic crisis. As Obama’s secretary of state, Clinton “has helped advance Obama’s foreign policy around the world, but in a far less prominent role than the president’s,” Gallup said. “Now operating in a much less bright spotlight than Obama does,” the former first lady and U.S. senator from New York has been able to retain her “strong” favorable rating…. – Newsday, 10-15-09
• Off the Charts The Divided States of Health Care: The Census Bureau sought to find that out, for the first time, in a survey taken last year and released in September. Over all, it found that 9.9 percent of children lack any health insurance, half the rate for adults under 65.
  Those who lack health insurance now are far more likely to live in states that usually vote Republican — the states whose senators and representatives are least likely to support a law to extend coverage…. – NYT, 10-10-09

THE HEADLINES….

 

• Obama Lifts Ban on Visitors With H.I.V.: President Obama said on Friday that the United States would do away with a government ban prohibiting foreign nationals who are H.I.V. positive from entering the country, lifting a 22-year-old “decision rooted in fear rather than fact” that he said had added to a stigma of the disease.
  “If we want to be the global leader in combating H.I.V./AIDS, we need to act like it,” Mr. Obama said, speaking in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House…. “We talk about reducing the stigma of this disease, yet we’ve treated a visitor living with it as a threat,” Mr. Obama said. “We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic, yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people with H.I.V. from entering our own country…. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It’s a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it’s a step that will keep families together, and it’s a step that will save lives.” – NYT, 10-30-09
• Stimulus saved, created 650,000 jobs, gov’t claims: Nearly 650,000 jobs have been saved or created under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, the government said Friday, and the White House declared the nation on track to meet the president’s goal of 3.5 million by the end of next year.
  New job numbers from businesses, contractors, state and local governments, nonprofit groups and universities were released, showing 640,329 positions credited to the stimulus, according to the independent federal board monitoring the program’s progress…. – AP, 10-30-09
• Path clearing for House to pass health bill: They may not like it, but many House liberals look ready to accept a compromise health care bill, putting Democratic leaders well on the way to delivering on President Barack Obama’s call for overhaul. After claiming for months they couldn’t vote for a bill without the strongest possible government-run insurance option, liberals are putting aside their disappointment over the weaker version in the legislation for a historic chance to remake America’s medical system.
  “The current language is far weaker than what I would have preferred, and I think that is also true of the Progressive Caucus,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Friday. “But because I did not come up here to participate in gridlock and acrimony, I have told leadership that I am willing to compromise.” – AP, 10-30-09
• Obama inks defense bill with hate crimes provision: Trumpeting a victory against careless spending, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a defense bill that kills some costly weapons projects and expands war efforts. In a major civil rights change, the law also makes it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation.
  The $680 billion bill authorizes spending but doesn’t provide any actual dollars. Rather, it sets guidance that is typically followed by congressional committees that decide appropriations. Obama hailed it as a step toward ending needless military spending that he called “an affront to the American people and to our troops.”
  “When Secretary Gates and I first proposed going after some of these wasteful projects, there were a lot of people who didn’t think it was possible, who were certain we were going to lose, who were certain that we were going to get steamrolled,” Obama said. “Today, we have proven them wrong.” – AP, 10-29-09
• Obama seeks new powers to dismantle nonbank firms: A year after Lehman Brothers collapsed, helping to trigger the worst financial crisis in seven decades, the Obama administration is pressing Congress for the power to dismantle other nonbank firms considered so large and influential that they could bring down the entire economy. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was asking a House panel on Thursday to pass legislation that would enable federal regulators to identify and monitor big financial firms and step in to wind them down before they collapse… – AP, 10-29-09
• Pelosi hopes new health plan is poised to pass: After months of contentious negotiating, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared to unveil a retooled health care overhaul plan intended to bridge differences among Democrats and open a history-making floor debate on extending health insurance to nearly all Americans.
  Pelosi, D-Calif., wants to have the legislation on the floor next week, with a final vote before Veterans Day, Nov. 11, that would give President Barack Obama a bill to sign by year’s end, numerous Democratic officials said. She planned a formal announcement of the bill Thursday in front of the Capitol.
  The bill would require nearly everyone by 2013 to sign up through their employer, a government program or a new kind of purchasing pool called an exchange. Tax credits would be available for most of those buying coverage through the exchange. They would have the option of picking a new government plan or private insurance…. – AP, 10-29-09
• Senate Leader Blasts Holdup on Obama’s Nominees: Senator Harry Reid denounces the slow pace of reaching a consensus on some critical Obama nominees…. – NYT, 10-29-09
• Obama Signs Hate Crimes Bill: The expansion protects people who are victims of crime because of their sexual orientation… – NYT, 10-28-09
• Tracking the White House Energy Forum: The White House energy and climate team held a forum Wednesday morning on rebuilding the economy around non-polluting energy technologies…. – NYT, 10-28-09
• Next Up, a Classical White House Night: The Obamas continue their series of musical events, with award-winning artists holding a workshop for students in the afternoon and performing in the evening…. – NYT, 10-28-09
• House Democrats prepare to unveil health bill: House Democrats reached agreement Wednesday on key elements of a health care bill that would vastly alter America’s medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and establishing a new government-run insurance option for millions. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi planned a formal announcement Thursday morning in front of the Capitol. Lawmakers said the legislation could be up for a vote on the House floor next week. The rollout will cap months of arduous negotiations to bridge differences between liberal and moderate Democrats and blend health care overhaul bills passed by three separate committees over the summer. The developments in the House came as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to round up support among moderate Democrats for his bill, which includes a modified government insurance option that states could opt out of…. – AP, 10-28-09
• Long-term care insurance program gains in House: House health care legislation expected within days is likely to include a new long-term care insurance program to help seniors and disabled people stay out of nursing homes, senior Democrats say. The voluntary program would begin to close a gap in the social safety net overlooked in the broader health care debate, but it must overcome objections from insurance companies that sell long-term care coverage and from fiscal conservatives. “I’m pretty confident that it will be in there,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., a leading sponsor, said of the provision…. – AP, 10-27-09
• Gov’t may say recession over but not job losses: It’s about to become official: The recession is over — but not the pain. The government will release figures this week expected to show that the economy has awakened from its deepest slump since the 1930s and is in the early stages of a recovery. But the following week, the government will issue another set of figures expected to show unemployment continuing to rise toward and possibly above a clearly recessionary 10 percent. How can both be possible? The government releases third-quarter Gross Domestic Product figures on Thursday. Many forecasters say they will show GDP growing at an annual rate of about 3 percent, validating a widely held belief among economists that the recession ended in June or July. But try telling that to the more than 15 million still unemployed, the small businesses and individuals who can’t get loans and the people whose homes are worth less than their mortgages…. – AP, 10-27-09
• Obama says he will not rush Afghanistan decision: President Barack Obama mourned 14 Americans killed Monday in helicopter crashes in Afghanistan and told a military audience he will not be hurried as he evaluates whether to alter U.S. strategy in the war. “I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm’s way. I won’t risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary,” Obama said during a visit to Naval Air Station Jacksonville…. – AP, 10-26-09
• AP sources: Health bill may cut employer mandate: Businesses would not be required to provide health insurance under legislation being readied for Senate debate, but large firms would owe significant penalties if any worker needed government subsidies to buy coverage on their own, according to Democratic officials familiar with talks on the bill… – AP, 10-25-09
• Obama declares swine flu a national emergency: President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients…. – AP, 10-24-09
• Obama Plans Speech to Jewish Group: With his unpopular insistence that Israelis freeze settlements in the West Bank, the president will address a Jewish organization in Boston for the first time in his presidency…. – NYT, 10-23-09
• Senate bill may have public insurance plan: The Senate has long been seen as opposed to the federal government selling health insurance in competition with private industry, but now senior Senate Democrats and White House officials are strongly considering including such a measure in health care overhaul legislation, officials say…. – AP, 10-23-09
• Negotiators mull public option in health care bill: Senior Senate Democrats at work with White House officials on health care legislation are strongly considering a requirement for the federal government to sell insurance in direct competition with private industry, officials said Thursday, with individual states permitted to drop out of the system. – AP, 10-23-09
• White House rejects Cheney’s Afghanistan criticism – AP, 10-23-09
• The Early Word: The Public Option Rises: The Senate majority leader considers including the public insurance option into health care legislation. NYT, 10-23-09
• Key senators may rebuff Obama on health care: The Democrats’ control of a hefty majority in the Senate — plus the House — would suggest that President Barack Obama is within reach of overhauling the nation’s health care system this fall. Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., is interviewed by the Associated Press in his Capitol Hill office in Washington. Obama and other top Democrats sharply criticized his appointment to the Senate in December by an ethically tainted governor, Illinois’ Rod Blagojevich, and they forced Burris to abandon hopes of winning electionin 2010 by making it clear they would not back him. Burris, 72, has virtually nothing to lose by defying his party’s leaders and voting as he pleases on overhauling the nation’s health care system this fall… – AP, 10-22-09
• US signals Afghan coalition government is possible: The United States built pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday, signaling that a troop increase could hinge on a successful runoff election and that the Obama administration would be receptive to a power-sharing deal between Karzai and his chief rival… – AP, 10-22-09
• Afghan president’s rival accepts Nov. 7 runoff: Afghanistan’s election commission Tuesday ordered a Nov. 7 runoff in the disputed presidential poll after a fraud investigation dropped incumbent Hamid Karzai’s votes below 50 percent of the total. Karzai accepted the finding and agreed to a second round vote. President Hamid Karzai’s chief political rival agreed Wednesday to take part in the Nov. 7 runoff election, cementing the stage for a high-stakes showdown in the face of Taliban threats and approaching winter snows. AP, 10-21-09
• Obama cites higher hope for Afghanistan democracy – AP, 10-21-09
• Senate OKs transfer of Gitmo prisoners for trials – AP, 10-21-09
• Plans to Slash Pay of Bailout Executives: The administration is said to have plans that would cut by 95 percent over last year the cash compensation of top executives heading companies receiving the largest bailouts…. – NYT, 10-21-09
• AP sources: House Dems trim health bill to $871B: House Democrats are aiming to scale back the cost of their health care bill to well below President Barack Obama’s preferred price tag by giving the government a strong hand in selling insurance in competition with the private market… – AP, 10-21-09
• Reuters Summit-McCain says Republicans need positive agenda: Republican Senator John McCain said on Wednesday his party needed a positive agenda to better attract those Americans who are disenchanted with Democratic policies.
  McCain said he sensed “a lot of anger and a lot of frustration” among Americans over taxpayer-backed bailouts of banks and auto companies while they cope with a persistently high U.S. jobless rate of 9.8 percent and see bank executives get “obscene” bonuses.
  “There’s something going on out there. And I’d love to sit here and tell you that we Republicans are attracting all of those unhappy people, but we’re not. They’re out there kind of in the middle and they haven’t found a home. And in fact they haven’t even channeled their anger yet,” he said…. – Reuters, 10-21-09
• Kerry Becomes All-Around Adviser To Obama: He’s not president, a Cabinet member or ambassador, but Senator John Kerry has ascended to the unofficial role of President Barack Obama’s global adviser on key issues that could reshape the nation’s image around the world. Mediating Afghanistan’s presidential election vaulted Kerry from the already prominent chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee into the most exclusive circle around a new president who is juggling but has not resolved a variety of domestic and foreign policy matters. Beyond policy, Kerry knows how Washington works. “Obviously, Sen. Kerry is somebody who has a broad range of experience and an in-depth knowledge of issues, ranging form energy and climate change to health care to foreign policy,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. “I think it’s that experience and insight that (Obama) certainly greatly values.”…. – AP, 10-21-09
• Obama to meet with Iraqi leader, honor vets – AP, 10-20-09
• Gates: War strategy shouldn’t depend on result of Afghan election – AP, 10-20-09
• Afghan election commission orders runoff: Afghanistan’s election commission has ordered a runoff election for Nov. 7 after a fraud investigation dropped President Hamid Karzai’s votes below 50 percent of the total. – AP, 10-20-09
• U.S. to end war on medical marijuana in legal states: A new Obama administration policy loosening guidelines on federal prosecution of medical marijuana on Monday signaled to users that they had less to fear from federal agents but still left their suppliers to contend with a tangled mesh of state laws and regulations…. – AP, 10-20-09
• Adviser: Obama awaiting finished health care bill – AP, 10-19-09
• Obama looking at all options for creating jobs – AP, 10-19-09
• School Day for Obama: President Obama popped in on third and fourth-graders at a Silver Spring, Md. elementary school Monday, to tout the benefits of reading for youngsters, just as they were having lunch. The First Reader stopped by the cafeteria at Viers Mill School, where Mr. Obama admitted to having read Harry Potter books (with his daughter, Malia), but not the Goosebumps series of children’s horror books that are apparently a favorite of many of the kids at the school… – NYT, 10-19-09
• White House pushes to shape health bill: Proponents of revamping the nation’s health care system will hold phone-bank events in 50 states today. Here in the nation’s capital, a coalition of more than 100 liberal interest groups will convene its weekly meeting, with health care atop the agenda. Congressional leaders will seek to meld five health care bills into two for House and Senate votes. Beyond the topic, all the public and private meetings will have one other thing in common: White House involvement. President Obama will speak from New York City by video hookup to hundreds of small gatherings sponsored by Organizing for America, a spinoff of his 2008 campaign. Top White House aides will attend the regular strategy session of the Common Purpose Project, a coalition headed by former Obama campaign officials to advance his agenda. And when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gather committee leaders to write the legislation, Obama’s chief of staff and other aides are at the table…. – USA Today, 10-19-09
• Kerry: too soon to send more troops to Afghanistan – AP, 10-18-09
• Artist admits using key AP photo for ‘HOPE’ poster – AP, 10-18-09
• Obama administration shifting policy on Sudan AP, 10-17-09
• Bipartisan Spirit, at Least for a Moment, in Bush Country: President Obama ventured deep into Bush territory, joining the first President George Bush to promote volunteerism, a favorite theme of both men…. NYT, 10-17-09
• Obama honors Bush’s service; At an event in Texas, the president also calls for cooperation between Republicans and Democrats. In a glowing tribute to a Republican predecessor, President Obama on Friday praised President George H.W. Bush as an example of someone who eschewed “a life of comfort and privilege” and instead devoted himself to public service — inside government and out. LAT, 10-17-09
• Obama praises Senate committee’s health care vote – AP, 10-17-09
• Job Program Found to Miss Many States That Need It Most: Businesses with federal stimulus contracts have created few jobs in states with the worst unemployment rates, according to data released Thursday by the federal government. The new jobs reported Thursday come from a small slice of a sliver of the $787 billion stimulus program: the roughly $16 billion worth of stimulus contracts that were awarded directly by federal agencies, of which about $2.2 billion has been spent so far. But the preliminary data represented the first time that the federal government has reported actual job figures, and not just job estimates, and they provided the most complete snapshot yet of how one component of the sprawling program — direct federal contracts — was shaping up…. – NYT, 10-16-09
• In Saying No, G.O.P. Sees More Pros Than Cons: The numbers are striking: Of the 217 Republicans in the House and the Senate, only one, Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, has publicly supported a health care overhaul along the lines President Obama seeks.
  The Republicans’ opposition is a remarkable display of the unity emerging against the broader Obama agenda as a dangerous expansion of government. That stance is popular with, even demanded by, the party’s narrowed conservative base.
  But it also exposes Republicans to criticism that they have become political obstructionists with no policy agenda of their own. And that could keep them from extending their appeal to the centrist voters who are essential to rebuilding the party’s strength nationally….. – NYT, 10-16-09
• Obama and elder Bush team up on call to service – 10-16-09
• Baucus: All Senate Dems will support health bill – AP, 10-16-09
• Obama defends himself against New Orleans critics – AP, 10-16-09
• President Obama makes first trip to New Orleans – AP, 10-15-09
• Obama calls for $250 payments to seniors – AP, 10-15-09
• Health care legislation back behind closed doors: Health care talks slip back behind closed doors Wednesday as Senate leaders start trying to merge two very different bills into a new version that can get the 60 votes needed to guarantee its passage… – AP, 10-14-09
• House panel to begin push on financial overhaul – AP, 10-14-09
• Health bill clears hurdle with support from Snowe: Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter Tuesday and cleared a key Senate hurdle, a double-barreled triumph that propelled President Barack Obama’s signature issue toward votes this fall in both houses of Congress. Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, smiles as she looks towards the Democratic side of the dais on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, after she spoke at the committee’s hearing on health care reform. Snowe says she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, breaking with her party on President Barack Obama’s top legislative priority. AP, 10-14-09
• AP IMPACT: Obama’s travels carry a touch of blue – AP, 10-13-09
• Vote set for health overhaul in Senate committee: President Barack Obama’s plan to remake the nation’s health care system is about to take its biggest step yet toward becoming reality. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. enters an elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. announced that the Finance Committee will vote next week on the health care bill. AP, 10-13-09
• Dems scramble after warning from health insurers: Insurance companies aren’t playing nice any more. Their dire message that health care legislation will drive up premiums for people who already have coverage comes as a warning shot at a crucial point in the debate, and threatens President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority… – AP, 10-12-09
• McCain says Palin remains strong force in the GOP: Sen. John McCain says Sarah Palin remains a formidable force in the Republican Party despite widespread criticisms of his 2008 running mate. McCain says he still has great affection for the former Alaska governor…. – AP, 10-11-09
• Gay rights advocates march on DC, divided on Obama: AP, 10-11-09
• As Pressure Grows, Obama Addresses Gay Rights Group; He Promises to End ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ President Obama, struggling to keep promises he made during last year’s campaign, renewed his pledge to end the military’s ban on openly gay service members as he appeared at a fundraising dinner for the nation’s largest gay advocacy group on Saturday night. “I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” Obama said at the Human Rights Campaign dinner. Recounting the ongoing effort to bring full civil rights to gays and lesbians, the president said: “I’m here with a simple message: I’m here with you in that fight. Obama did not offer specifics on how he would advance the cause of allowing gays to serve openly in the military, or of same-sex marriage, two areas where his inaction as president have disappointed many gay supporters. – WaPo, 10-11-09
• Gays question Obama ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ pledge: President Barack Obama restated his campaign pledge to allow homosexual men and women to serve openly in the military, but left many in his audience of gay activists wondering when he would make good on the promise. AP, 10-11-09
• DNC pulls health care ad after Dole objects: The Democratic National Committee is canceling a television ad touting GOP support for health care reform after protests from one of the Republicans mentioned, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. The ad quotes a series of Republicans — including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson — saying the health care system needs to be reformed. Dole is quoted saying: “I want this to pass. … We’ve got to do something.” The ad then accuses current GOP congressional leaders as “siding with the insurance companies” to fight health care reform…. – AP, 10-11-09
• If health care passes, subsidies will come later: Sixty years is how long Democrats say they’ve been pushing for legislation that provides health care access for all Americans. They’ll have to wait another three if President Barack Obama gets a bill to sign this year. Under the Democratic bills, federal tax credits to help make health insurance affordable for millions of low- and middle-income households won’t start flowing until 2013 — after the next presidential election. But Medicare cuts and a sizable chunk of the tax increases to pay for the overhaul kick in immediately…. – AP, 10-10-09
• AP source: Obama focusing on al-Qaida, not Taliban: President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan’s political future and will determine how many more U.S. troops to send to the war based only on keeping al-Qaida at bay, a senior administration official said Thursday…. – AP, 10-9-09
• Axelrod: Afghanistan plan deeper than troop surge: A senior White House adviser said Friday that President Barack Obama’s talks on Afghanistan with top national security advisers earlier in the day ran much deeper than the question of sending more troops into the war.
  Presidential adviser David Axelrod, in a speech at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said “a lot of different factors” are being considered in the internal discussions, including allegations of fraud in Afghanistan’s recent presidential election and America’s strained relationship with Pakistan.
  “Fundamentally, what we need to think through is what is the best way to achieve our goals, which is to disrupt and dismantle al-Qaida, so they can’t stage operations against the U.S. and our allies,” Axelrod said…. – AP, 10-9-09
• Obama, advisers weigh Afghanistan shift, Pakistan – AP, 10-8-09
• Health bill would cost $829B, cover 94 percent: Health care legislation drafted by a key Senate committee would expand coverage to 94 percent of all eligible Americans at a 10-year cost of $829 billion, congressional budget experts said Wednesday, a preliminary estimate trumpeted by the White House and likely to power the measure past a major hurdle within days…. – AP, 10-8-09
• AP Poll: Health care overhaul has a pulse: The fever has broken. The patient is out of intensive care. But if you’re President Barack Obama, you can’t stop pacing the waiting room. Health care overhaul is still in guarded condition… – AP, 10-7-09
• Clinton, Gates say US goals steady in Afghanistan: AP, 10-6-09
• Obama pitches health care plan in front of doctors: AP, 10-6-09
• WH says Obama won’t pull US out of Afghanistan: President Barack Obama won’t walk away from the flagging war in Afghanistan, the White House declared Monday as Obama faced tough decisions — and intense administration debate — over choices that could help define his presidency in his first year as commander in chief…. – AP, 10-5-09
• Congress readies Iran sanctions if diplomacy fails: Congress is ready to act swiftly to impose tough new sanctions on Iran if international talks on Tehran’s nuclear program show signs of faltering. Already, some lawmakers are demanding that the United States strike immediately with new penalties rather than wait for an uncertain multinational consensus…. – AP, 10-3-09
• Dems ease impact of health bill, big advance nears: Capping months of struggle, Democrats pushed health care legislation atop President Barack Obama’s agenda to the brink of a major Senate advance early Friday after last-minute changes to ease the impact on working-class families. The most far-reaching overhaul in decades aims to protect millions who have unreliable insurance coverage or none at all…. – AP, 10-2-09
• Obama: Iran must follow through on nuke promises: President Barack Obama on Thursday called landmark nuclear talks with Iran a constructive beginning, then challenged Tehran to match words with deeds by giving international inspectors “unfettered access” to a previously secret uranium enrichment plant within two weeks…. AP, 10-1-09

ELECTIONS 2010, 2012….

• Obama Stumps for Deeds in Va.: The president makes a rare campaign appearance for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, in a very close race under very close scrutiny because Virginia went Democratic in the presidential campaign last year. NYT, 10-27-09
• NY House race seen as test for GOP, Obama – AP, 10-18-09

POLITICAL QUOTES

Doug Mills/The New York Times President Obama appeared with former President George H.W. Bush, center, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates at an event promoting community service at Texas A&M University on Friday.

 

• Obama honors fallen Americans at Dover: Standing in the pre-dawn darkness, President Barack Obama saw the real cost of the war in Afghanistan: The Americans who return in flag-covered cases while much of the nation sleeps in peace. In a surprise midnight dash to this Delaware base where U.S. forces killed overseas come home, Obama honored the return of 18 fallen Americans Thursday. All were killed in Afghanistan this week, a brutal stretch that turned October into the most deadly month for U.S. troops since the war began.
  “It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day, not only our troops but their families as well,” Obama said later Thursday, hours after his return to the White House. “The burden that both our troops and their families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts, and it is something that I think about each and every day.”… – AP, 10-29-09
• President Recognizes Vietnam Vets as Heroes: “We have an obligation to all who served in the jungles of Vietnam. Our Vietnam vets answered their country’s call and served with honor. But one of the saddest episodes in American history was the fact that these vets were often shunned and neglected, even demonized, when they came home. That was a national disgrace. And on days such as this, we resolve to never let it happen again.” NYT, 10-20-09
• Cheney Slams Obama on Afghanistan Policy: The former vice president accused President Obama of “dithering” on strategies for the war in Afghanistan….
  “In the fall of 2008, fully aware of the need to meet new challenges being posed by the Taliban, we dug into every aspect of Afghanistan policy, assembling a team that repeatedly went into the country, reviewing options and recommendations, and briefing President-elect Obama’s team. They asked us not to announce our findings publicly, and we agreed, giving them the benefit of our work and the benefit of the doubt.”
  But on Sunday, Mr. Emanuel told CNN that “when you go though all the analysis, it’s clear that basically we had a war for eight years that was going on, that’s adrift, that we’re beginning at scratch, and just from the starting point, after eight years.” – NYT, 10-23-09
  

• The Saturday Word: Health Care Battles: “They’re filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They’re flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they’re funding studies designed to mislead the American people,” Mr. Obama said adding firepower to Congressional Democrats’ already hostile responses. “It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, “Take one of these, and call us in a decade.” NYT, 10-17-09
• The Saturday Word: Health Care Battles: “There are three big myths hurtling around Washington these days: no jobs equals an economic recovery, government-run health care will make it more affordable, and deficits don’t matter,” Representative Kevin Brady of Texas said in his party’s weekly address. “Liberal policies that will keep people out of work longer will only make the deficit worse. Americans know that deficits matter to our dollar, to our economy, to our future,” Mr. Brady said. – NYT, 10-17-09

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE’S VOTE TO APPROVE HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM Rose Garden: Today we reached a critical milestone in our effort to reform our health care system. After many months of thoughtful deliberation, the fifth and final committee responsible for health care reform has passed a proposal that has both Democratic and Republican support. This effort was made possible by the tireless efforts of Chairman Max Baucus and the other members of the Senate Finance Committee. It’s a product of vigorous debate and difficult negotiations.
After the consideration of hundreds of amendments, it includes ideas from both Democrats and Republicans, which is why it enjoys the support of people from both parties. And I want to particularly thank Senator Olympia Snowe for both the political courage and the seriousness of purpose that she’s demonstrated throughout this process.
Now, this bill is not perfect and we have a lot of difficult work ahead of us. There are still significant details and disagreements to be worked out over the next several weeks as the five separate bills from the Senate and the House are merged into one proposal. But I do believe the work of the Senate Finance Committee has brought us significantly closer to achieving the core objectives I laid out early in September…. – WH, 10-13-09

• Weekly Address: New Momentum for Health Reform:
  WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Praises Emerging Consensus on Health Insurance Reform East Room: The historic movement to bring real, meaningful health insurance reform to the American people gathered momentum this week as we approach the final days of this debate. Having worked on this issue for the better part of a year, the Senate Finance Committee is finishing deliberations on their version of a health insurance reform bill that will soon be merged with other reform bills produced by other Congressional committees.
  After evaluating the Finance Committee’’s bill, the Congressional Budget Office – an office that provides independent, nonpartisan analysis – concluded that the legislation would make coverage affordable for millions of Americans who don’t have it today. It will bring greater security to Americans who have coverage, with new insurance protections. And, by attacking waste and fraud within the system, it will slow the growth in health care costs, without adding a dime to our deficits.
  This is another milestone on what has been a long, hard road toward health insurance reform. In recent months, we’ve heard every side of every argument from both sides of the aisle. And rightly so – health insurance reform is a complex and critical issue that deserves a vigorous national debate, and we’ve had one. The approach that is emerging includes the best ideas from Republicans and Democrats, and people across the political spectrum.
  In fact, what’s remarkable is not that we’ve had a spirited debate about health insurance reform, but the unprecedented consensus that has come together behind it. This consensus encompasses everyone from doctors and nurses to hospitals and drug manufacturers…. – WH, 10-11-09 Transcript
• Obama: One more push for health care cooperation: President Barack Obama sees both “unprecedented consensus” from outside Congress on his drive to remake the nation’s health care system and obstructionism by some on Capitol Hill. “The historic movement to bring real, meaningful health insurance reform to the American people gathered momentum this week as we approach the final days of this debate,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet video address.
  The consensus “includes everyone from doctors and nurses to hospitals and drug manufacturers” — even Republican governors and former GOP lawmakers, Obama said.
  “These distinguished leaders understand that health insurance reform isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution,” Obama said. AP, 10-10-09

• Weekly Address: Health Reform Urgent for the Economy: WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Explains How Health Insurance Reform Will Strengthen America’s Small Businesses: When I took office eight months ago, our nation was in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we’d seen in generations. While I was confident that our economy would recover, we know that employment is often the last thing to come back after a recession. Our task is to do everything we possibly can to accelerate that process.
• And we’ve certainly made progress on this front since the period last winter when we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs each month. But yesterday’s report on September job losses was a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts, and that we will need to grind out this recovery step by step…. – 10-3-09 Transcript

• McCain admits problems with Palin”: John McCain admitted the obvious Sunday: His staff clashed with the staff of VP running mate Sarah Palin during their 2008 presidential campaign. Much of the tension involved McCain top aide Steve Schmidt — who recently said it would be “catastrophic” if Palin were the GOP’s 2012 presidential candidate. But McCain certainly wasn’t going to criticize Palin herself; she remains very popular with the ultra-conservative part of the Republican Party. Said McCain: “She still is a formidable force in the Republican Party….”And I have great affection for her.” – Kansas City Star, 10-11-09
• DNC pulls health care ad after Dole objects: Dole told ABC News on Sunday that he objected to the ad’s criticism of the current Republican leadership. “I just didn’t think it was fair, when I’ve tried to be helpful in encouraging a bipartisan solution, for the DNC to run an ad that I interpreted and I know others did as a backhanded comment about Republicans,” Dole said…. – AP, 10-11-09

HISTORIANS & ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

 

• Julian Zelizer: Commentary: Obama’s mistakes are a warning sign: During the past few months, two events have revealed a side of President Obama that we knew little about. First came his remark in July when he said at a press conference that the police who arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates had acted “stupidly.”
  The unrehearsed remark triggered controversy right at a time when Democrats needed to focus public attention on health care.
  And last week, at a climactic moment for the health care debate in the Senate, Obama suddenly went to make a personal pitch for holding the 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago, Illinois.
  When the International Olympic Committee said no to the president’s hometown in the first round of voting, and then gave the event to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Obama suffered an embarrassing defeat. The late-night comedians and his political foes were predictably chomping at the bit.
  These events contrast sharply with the other Barack Obama that most of us have come to know since 2007, a study in cool and deliberative decision-making. During the Democratic primaries, nothing seemed to shake Obama….
  In the end, two issues will shape this presidency much more than the Olympics: the outcome of the health care debate and the decision over whether to send troops to Afghanistan.
  Nonetheless, the incident should serve as a warning to the president and his staff. This is the kind of action they should not repeat. While Obama has thus far avoided making mistakes on the big issues of the day, this kind of slip-up would be devastating in a different context. And over time, too many of them, on issues large and small, will undermine the positive impression most Americans still have of his leadership abilities. – CNN, 10-5-09
• Editorial: The Baucus Bill: The Senate Finance Committee may finally be ready to vote on its version of a health care reform bill. For months, its chairman, Max Baucus, and other members have struggled to produce legislation that could win significant Republican support. Fat chance. Only one Republican on the committee seems open to voting for the bill, and the entire Republican Congressional leadership seems determined — for ideological and partisan reasons — to torpedo the entire reform effort…. – NYT, 10-11-09
• KARL ROVE: The GOP Is Winning the Health-Care Debate: Passing health-care reform could be harmful to the health of congressional Democrats. Just look at how President Barack Obama’s standing has fallen as he has pushed for reform. According to Fox News surveys, the number of independents who oppose health-care reform hit 57% at the end of September, up from 33% in July. Independents are generally a quarter of the vote in off-year congressional elections. Among college graduates, opposition to health-care reform is now 50%, while only 33% support it, according to Gallup’s Sept. 24 poll. College graduates are slightly more than a quarter of the off-year electorate…. – WSJ, 10-10-09

Annie Leibovitz, via the White House The Obama family portrait, released by the White House.

Bill Clinton receives honorary doctorate from McGill University

BILL CLINTON AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY:

THE HEADLINES….

President Bill Clinton receives honorary doctorate from McGill University: Webcast

• McGill University has granted honorary doctorate to Bill Clinton: The University has bestowed a Doctor of Laws degree on the 42nd president of the United States at a special private ceremony…
• Bill Clinton receives honorary doctorate from McGill Former US President addresses crowd of 700 at private ceremony: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addressed an invitation-only crowd of 700 as he received an honorary doctorate from McGill last Friday. The ceremony, which took place at the Centre Mont-Royal, was part of McGill’s two-day Leadership Summit…. – McGill Tribune, 10-20-09
• Bill Clinton wows audience during Hon Doc ceremony: In a globe-trotting speech that touched upon everything from climate change in Afghanistan to linguistic demographics in Papua New Guinea, former U.S. President Bill Clinton accepted his honorary Doctor of Laws degree from McGill by urging his audience to tackle world issues by fostering a “communitarian consciousness.”…. – McGill Reporter 10-16-09
• Clinton accepts McGill degree 800 attend private, off-campus event: Former United States president Bill Clinton spoke to a crowd of around 800 people on Friday when he accepted an honorary doctorate from McGill for “a lifetime of outstanding leadership” from McGill. The ceremony was held at the Centre Mont-Royal, a privately owned building off campus, as part of the University’s inaugural Leadership Summit. The event was a private, invitation-only ceremony. Attendees included McGill Senate members and active volunteers with the Campaign McGill fundraising initiative. Very few students were invited to the ceremony, but those who attended included student senators and students awarded the Clinton-Dahdaleh scholarship…. – McGill Daily, 10-19-09
• Clinton praises Canadian unity: Unshackled from the restraints of presidential office, Bill Clinton dropped any pretence of neutrality on the national-unity file yesterday and bluntly welcomed an undivided Canada.
  Using the podium of an honorary-doctorate ceremony at McGill University, the former U.S. president seized on the august occasion to highlight Canada’s perennial national-unity debate…. Globe and Mail, 10-17-09
• Clinton picks up honorary degree, feels the warmth: Bill Clinton’s honorary doctorate was the coup of McGill’s homecoming weekend, the jewel in a month when the university basked in the reflected glory of Nobel Prize-winning alumni and saw its fundraising campaign climb above the $500-million mark.
  And the former U.S. president proved yesterday he still has the star power to charm and inspire, summoning all of us to be better citizens of the world.
  “We are going to have to stumble into the future together,” Clinton told 700 guests – mostly donors, alumni and volunteers – taking part in a two-day leadership challenge, at the Centre Mont-Royal. By turns funny and self- deprecating, determined and serious, Clinton spent more than an hour chatting about everything from hunger on World Food Day to his long, happy relationship with Canada and its commitment to health care and communal values…. – Montreal Gazette, 10-17-09
• Bill Clinton, McGill University Honorary Doctor of Law: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton brought his trademark plain-spoken and easy-going style to Montreal as he received McGill University’s highest honour. He joins the ranks of other honorary doctorate recipients such as fellow ex-U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British PM Winston Churchill, ex-Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau and Canadian folk icon Joni Mitchell.
  Ushered in by the traditional bagpiper and ceremonial procession, Clinton charmed the socks off the invitation-only audience of over 700 people, joking about his new red honorary doctor of law robe and hood. “I have been studying the robed men and wondering how they wear this without choking,” Clinton told the crowd. “And I learned that what they did was to put their ties through.”… – CJAD, 10-17-09
• Bill Clinton to receive honorary doctorate Former U.S. President recognized for lifetime of outstanding leadership: During a private ceremony in Montreal on Oct. 16, Bill Clinton will become only the second U.S. president to be awarded an Honorary Degree by McGill, joining Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who received his in 1944. Clinton, who will speak at Development and Alumni Relation’s leadership summit that day, was the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice – first in 1992 and then in 1996. Under his leadership, the country enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs…. – McGill Reporter, 10–09

QUOTES

• “I am profoundly honoured to be here at this magnificent university and to be honoured in the way President [Franklyn Delano] Roosevelt was. I am particularly grateful for the priority that McGill has placed on making serious commitments to broadly shared prosperity, sustainability in the face of climate change, reaping the progress and promise of science and technology, promoting wellness and health, and trying to deal with the amazing array of diversity that exists in our countries and throughout the world that has to be both respected and reconciled….
  These challenges cannot be met unless we meet them together. We have to find a way to go forward together…. I’m not calling for world government, I’m just saying we have to have a world consciousness….
  There are always going to be gaps between where we are and where we want to be. In the last 20 years more than any time in history, non-governmental groups have arisen to try and fill those gaps. The NGO movement has run wild over the last 15 years and it’s one of the greatest things that have happened….
  “There were many occasions when leaders of the Republican Party suggested that I might want to move to Canada. And many when I thought it was not a bad idea… You have occasional votes about whether you ought not to be together. By the way, I’m glad you didn’t get a divorce. That’s the great thing about not being President any more – you can say whatever you want. Of course nobody cares what you have to say any more either….
  We simply have to understand that we are blessed to be alive. We should be proud of our own distinct differences, but our common humanity has got to drive every single important calculation of the 21st century. Because even the Nobel Prize winners – and I know McGill just produced two in science – are not nearly as smart as they think they are. Nobody is. So we are going to have to stumble into the future together.” — Former President Bill Clinton, Speech upon receiving an honorary degree from McGill University
• “An exuberant American original… a global leader and human rights champion of extraordinary breadth and vision…. A simply brilliant communicator on the world stage, president Clinton has dedicated over 30 years to the highest form of public service, and to the advancement of social justice. He has advocated powerfully and compassionately for progressive education programs and universal access to health care, [and] he has fought to end poverty, disease, and racial discrimination.” Principal Heather Munroe-Blum in her introduction
• “Both during his term in office and since leaving it [Clinton] has worked diligently, just as we do at McGill, to share knowledge and inspire others to achieve solutions to real world problems. Today he joins an outstanding roster of influential figures who have been recognized with honorary degrees from McGill.” — Chancellor Arnold Steinberg in his opening remarks
• “While it is normally a custom of McGill University to confer honorary degrees at our spring and fall convocations, this special and unique event, as part of our leadership summit, allows us to – and we’re delighted to – award this degree today.” — Provost Anthony Masi
• “Few individuals define the expression global leader as perfectly as Bill Clinton. During his presidency and in the years since, President Clinton has demonstrated an unyielding devotion to social justice in the world. His continued leadership inspires us all to do more, and we are honoured to have the opportunity to formally recognize his contributions.” — Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill

HISTORIANS COMMENTS

• Gil Troy “Clinton accepts McGill degree 800 attend private, off-campus event”: Gil Troy, history professor at McGill who studies American politics, said that Clinton’s reputation has fluctuated with the current world financial situation. “Whats interesting with the [George W.] Bush debacle and the rise of Obama [is that] in some ways Clinton’s administration has been both enhanced and diminished. It was enhanced because the recession was the Republicans’ fault and now there’s a resurge for the Democrats,” Troy said. “[But] if we look closely at the causes of the recession, [we] have to link the eighties with the nineties. It’s very hard to take Clinton out of the narrative of Reagan and [George H.W.] Bush.” – McGill Daily, 10-19-09

Reactions to President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

THE HEADLINES….

• Gasps as Obama awarded Nobel Peace Prize: The announcement drew gasps of surprise and cries of too much, too soon. Yet President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday because the judges found his promise of disarmament and diplomacy too good to ignore. The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee — four of whom spoke to The Associated Press, said awarding Obama the peace prize could be seen as an early vote of confidence intended to build global support for the policies of his young administration… – AP, 10-10-09
• After Nobel, Obama pressed to deliver on nuclear pledge: With a surprise Nobel Peace Prize in hand, President Barack Obama came under pressure Friday to make strides in his quest to rid the world of nuclear weapons, a goal experts said would be slow in coming. “It’s a long-term goal and a long voyage over a pretty big ocean of nuclear disarmament,” former United Nations nuclear weapons inspector David Albright told AFP. Obama is “trying to turn a big ship so it can become an important part of US policy,” he added…. Albright said an important “test” of that effort would be ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) or the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. But Obama may lack the necessary votes in the US Senate… – AFP, 10-09-09
• News Analysis For Presidency in Search of Success, Nobel Adds a Twist: President Obama is given to big events at big moments, replete with stirring speeches, lofty backdrops and stadium-size crowds.
  But when Mr. Obama walked into the Rose Garden on Friday morning, having just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — an honor that would normally be a moment of high celebration, if not the culmination of a life’s work — he was humble and self-deprecatory, popping a hole in the balloon of his own accomplishment. He talked about being congratulated by his daughter Malia, who proceeded to remind him that it was the family dog’s birthday, and he suggested that he was undeserving of the award.
  Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations,” he said…. – NYT, 10-10-09
• From 205 Names, Panel Chose the Most Visible: Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairperson of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announced on Friday in Oslo that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize 2009 will be awarded to President Barack Obama.
  The five-member Norwegian Nobel committee spent seven months winnowing the dossiers on dissident monks, human rights advocates, field surgeons and other nominees — 205 names in all, most of them obscure — before deciding to give the Nobel Peace Prize to perhaps the most famous man on the planet, Barack Obama.
  While in recent decades the selection process has produced many winners better known for their suffering or their environmental zeal than for peacemaking, the panel’s new chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said that members this year took a more practical approach in their unanimous vote for President Obama.
  “It’s important for the committee to recognize people who are struggling and idealistic,” Mr. Jagland said in an interview after the prize was announced, “but we cannot do that every year. We must from time to time go into the realm of realpolitik. It is always a mix of idealism and realpolitik that can change the world.” NYT, 10-10-09
• President Obama Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Mixed Reviews: President Barack Obama was named this year’s Nobel Peace Prize honoree, becoming the third sitting president to win. Ray Suarez reports…. – PBS, 10-09-09
• Obama Nobel Peace Prize: Obama wins, and partisan fighting continues Obama’s Nobel stirs right, left: President Barack Obama’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize brought nothing of the sort at home, as political combatants were quick to assume their usual battlements: Democrats largely hailed the decision while Republicans and their allies ridiculed Obama and the Norwegian committee that awarded the prize.
  Within minutes of the announcement, a scorching debate broke out on TV airwaves, talk radio, the blogosphere and just about anywhere people of opposite political persuasions meet…. – Chicago Tribune, 10-11-09
• Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts: The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe. Normally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership…. – NYT, 10-9-09
• Obama’s Nobel prize met with cheers, criticism: THE CHOICE of U.S. President Barack Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize was cheered Friday by a global chorus from European leaders to minibus passengers in Kenya — but it also elicited criticism over the decision to break with tradition and recognize hopeful promise over concrete achievement. Obama is seen as having changed the direction of U.S. foreign policy, reversing many of his predecessor’s unilateral policies and emphasizing the need for diplomacy, co-operation and mutual respect.
  Last year’s prize winner, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, said the Nobel committee wants to encourage Obama to push harder for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.”… – AP London, 10-9-09
• President Obama Joins Nobel Peace Laureates Talking Points Memo, 10-9-09
• Letters: Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Laureate: Regarding the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama on Friday (The New York Times on the Web, Oct. 9)… – NYT, 10-10-09
• Obama’s Nobel: The Last Thing He Needs: The last thing Barack Obama needed at this moment in his presidency and our politics is a prize for a promise. Inspirational words have brought him a long way — including to the night in Grant Park less than a year ago when he asked that we “join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.”
  By now there are surely more callouses on his lips than his hands. He, like every new President, has reckoned with both the power and the danger of words, dangers that are especially great for one who wields them as skillfully as he. A promise beautifully made raises hopes especially high: we will revive the economy while we rein in our spending; we will make health care simpler, safer, cheaper, fairer. We will rid the earth of its most lethal weapons. We will turn green and clean. We will all just get along…. – Time, 10-9-09
• Kenyan grandmother is happy for Obama: President Barack Obama’s Kenyan step-grandmother on Saturday advised this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner to be of good character and continue to work for peace. Sitting on a plastic chair outside her compound in the quite village of Kogelo, Sarah Obama told The Associate Press she believes her step-grandson’s surprise win is a gift from God….
  The announcement was met with joy in Kenya, which has a special regard for Obama, the son of a Kenyan economist and an American anthropologist.
  Radio shows interrupted their programming Friday, and traders in the market huddled around hand-held radios and touts yelled the news to each other from the windows of local minibuses known as matatus. Many are already decorated with Obama’s picture. “I am happy for him,” the elderly Obama told the AP outside her compound in the village of tree-lined dirt roads and maize crops where Obama’s father grew up…. – AP, 10-9-09

REACTIONS: QUOTES

• President Barack Obama: Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”
• President Barack Obama: Building a World that “Gives Life to the Promise of Our Founding Documents” Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, “Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo’s birthday!” And then Sasha added, “Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.” So it’s good to have kids to keep things in perspective.
  I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.
  To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
  But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build — a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action — a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century…. WH, 10-9-09

• The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
  Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.
  Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.
  For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”
  Oslo, October 9, 2009 Nobel Prize.org
• “What has President Obama actually accomplished? It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has outshined tireless advocates who made real achievements working toward peace and human rights.” Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee
• “Whether it’s celebrating the nation’s loss of the Olympics, or attacking the recognition of American leadership today, Republicans time and again are proving that they’re putting politics ahead of patriotism.” Hari Sevugan, a Democratic Party spokesman
• CBS Wonders: Will Nobel Prize Become Obama’s ‘Poison Chalice’?: Maggie Rodriguez and Bob Schieffer, CBS On Friday’s CBS Early Show, Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer wondered about negative political fallout from President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win: “one European commentator who said ‘will this become a poison chalice?’ In other words, is this going to hurt the President rather than help him?…is this going to widen the part of partisan divide rather than bring people together?”
  Schieffer spoke with Early Show co-host Maggie Rodriguez, who asked: “Clearly a surprise to everyone, including the White House, for the President to be awarded this less than nine months into his term. And already some people are questioning whether he deserves it.” Schieffer expressed that skepticism: “My first reaction was, ‘what?!….It’s almost as if they’re saying ‘we’re giving you the Nobel Peace Prize for winning the election.’…I can’t recall anybody who won this prize for his aspirations. People usually get it for results.”
  During 11AM CBS breaking news coverage of the President’s acceptance speech, anchor Jeff Glor got more Scheiffer reaction: “Is this more a commentary on the current administration and the current president or the previous administration, Bob?” Schieffer replied: “It’s almost as if the committee today was giving Barack Obama a prize for not being George Bush.”…. – Newsbusters.org, 10-9-09
• Op-Ed Columnist: The Peace (Keepers) Prize: The Nobel committee did President Obama no favors by prematurely awarding him its peace prize. As he himself acknowledged, he has not done anything yet on the scale that would normally merit such an award — and it dismays me that the most important prize in the world has been devalued in this way.
  It is not the president’s fault, though, that the Europeans are so relieved at his style of leadership, in contrast to that of his predecessor, that they want to do all they can to validate and encourage it. I thought the president showed great grace in accepting the prize not for himself but “as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”
  All that said, I hope Mr. Obama will take this instinct a step further when he travels to Oslo on Dec. 10 for the peace prize ceremony. Here is the speech I hope he will give…. – NYT, 10-11-09

HISTORIANS & ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

• Fred Greenstein, author and professor of politics emeritus at Princeton University: “The jury is still out as to what his presidency is going to add up to. It’s more of an embarrassment to the Nobel process.” Greenstein said Obama is unlikely to gain any political advantage from the award, and it is unlikely to lead to any major policy changes. FOXNews.com, 10-9-09
• Allan Lichtman, professor of history at American University “They’re not comparable,” Lichtman said. “[Roosevelt and Wilson] were six or seven years into two-term presidencies, and Obama has not completed a single year of his presidency, so it makes very little sense.” Obama possesses a great deal of “promise,” but the jury is still out, Lichtman said. “It remains to be seen what his foreign policy legacy will be,” he said. “It is premature. This was to encourage rather than to recognize an accomplished fact.” The award might even become a “political headache” for Obama, Lichtman said. “On the one hand, his liberal base will be pushing him to live up to this,” he said. “And his Republican critics will say a bunch of Scandinavians socialists have given this award to another socialist. You’ll hear quite a bit of criticism from the right.” FOXNews.com, 10-9-09
• Stephen Wayne, professor of American government at Georgetown University “Praised Obama’s “good instincts” and strong belief in diplomacy, but said he failed to see accomplishments that merited the prize. “It does seem to me, at this point, that’s its premature,” Wayne said. “When I first saw it, I thought it was a joke. Obama may have been the first to get it for his rhetoric and his orientation.” Wayne said he was “startled” to learn Obama had been nominated for the award less than two weeks into his presidency. “What had he done by February? He had been the first African-American elected president and provided sawing rhetoric,” Wayne said. “In one sense, Obama has always been more popular in Europe than in the United States. That popularity is based in part on the contrast he provides to former President George W. Bush, who was not popular in Europe. I am very favorable toward President Obama, but this prize is a surprise to me.” FOXNews.com, 10-9-09
• Gil Troy: Obama’s prize: Noble hopes in an ignoble world: As liberals rejoice in Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize and conservatives grumble, let’s be honest: It is too early too tell. Awarding this prize either may be prescient or premature. Regardless, the award reflects the noble aspirations of the award committee and the prize winner.
  The committee beautifully described Mr. Obama’s greatest accomplishment thus far. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the citation says. The fact that despite its racist past, despite the stains of slavery and Jim Crow, the United States sent a black man to the White House was a modern miracle. That this President was only 47 when elected, and had, by his own description, a “funny name,” is even more amazing especially following 9/11….

  The contrast between noble societies that invest in science and ignoble societies addicted to terror, between noble political cultures that produce hope-generators like Barack Obama and ignoble political cultures that produce mass killers, remains stunning – and daunting.
  Good people throughout the world should unite in hoping that the aspirations embedded in this award to a rookie President quickly transform into impressive achievements. Thus far, Mr. Obama has dazzled the world with his poetry. Let us hope that when we look back on this moment, his Nobel prize will be a milestone in his ability to turn his transcendent poetry into workable, governable prose, the hopes into feats, and, nations’ swords into plowshares. – Toronto Globe and Mail, 10-10-09

• Peter J. Kastor, Ph.D., an associate professor of history and of American culture studies in Arts & Sciences Historian finds ‘profound’ difference between President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize and those awarded to Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt: “At the time Presidents Roosevelt and Wilson were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, both of them were trying to assert a leadership role for the United States on the world stage. They were trying to make the United States validate not only the country’s global power, but the country’s global interventionist pretensions.
  “Although Roosevelt and Wilson received the Peace Prize for their roles in ending wars (the Russo-Japanese War and World War I, respectively), they could use the prize as part of their larger argument that the United States — and especially American presidents — had a right to shape the world order.
  “Both presidents championed intervening in the domestic affairs of other countries,” says Kastor, whose most recent book, “America’s Struggle with Empire: A Documentary History,” chronicles how the United States has governed foreign territory and foreign peoples.
  “President Obama is trying to assert the United States into a different role,” continues Kastor, who teaches a course titled “Americans and Their Presidents,” which examines the intersection of politics and culture as it revolves around the presidency.
  “More importantly, he’s operating in a profoundly different international context. The United States is no longer a nation asserting its role on the world stage, but rather it’s a dominant world power now engaged in defending and rethinking its actions in the midst of a global debate about the appropriate role of world powers.
  “Like Roosevelt and Wilson, Obama has also stated that the United States can and should be a force for good in world affairs. Unlike Roosevelt and Wilson, however, he has publicly questioned the right of the United States to inject itself into the domestic affairs of foreign countries, even as he is forced to take charge of governing two foreign countries, Iraq and Afghanistan.
  “He’s trying to say that the U.S. will take the moral higher ground. In some ways, his Peace Prize selection is closer to Jimmy Carter’s in that President Carter was brokering for world diplomacy where no one country can dictate to another.
  “Obama is rethinking both globalization and intervention. No one denies that intervention and interceding in other countries is being very hotly debated throughout America. It appears that it is a hot topic among members of the Nobel Prize Committee as well.” WUSTL, 10-9-09

September 18, 2009: President Obama, Joe Wilson & Health Care

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

(President Barack Obama speaks about the financial crisis on the anniversary of the
Lehman Brothers collapse Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City. 
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

IN FOCUS: STATS

• New Yorkers Want a Giuliani-Cuomo Face-Off in 2010: For months, the polls have been a ski slope for New York Gov. David Paterson – all downhill. The 2010 gubernatorial match-up that most New Yorkers want to see is Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on the Democratic side and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for the Republicans. And, in that contest, Cuomo leads 53 percent to 43 percent, with 4 percent undecided, according to a Marist Poll conducted Sept. 8-10. The margin of error for that result is 3.5 points. – Politics Daily, 9-16-09

THE HEADLINES….

(President Barack Obama speaks about the U.S. missile defense in Europe during a statement in the Diplomatic
Reception Room of the White House, Sept. 17, 2009.  Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

• Dems unhappy with proposed tax in health care bill: Unhappy Senate Democrats on Thursday found plenty to complain about in the fine print of the latest health overhaul bill, particularly a tax provision they fear would hit hard at middle-class Americans, from coal miners in West Virginia to firefighters in New York.
  The opposition sprang up a day after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., unveiled long-delayed legislation that would transform the nation’s health care system, requiring almost everyone to buy insurance, making insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions and reining in spiraling health care costs.
  The bill has given fresh momentum to President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority of extending health coverage and controlling costs…. – AP, 9-17-09
• Rockefeller Stands Up for Liberals on Health Care: On Tuesday, John D. Rockefeller IV, a leading Senate liberal on health issues, said he would oppose a new Democratic proposal intended to win elusive Republican support to remake the health system. On Wednesday, he was summoned to a private meeting with President Obama…. – NYT, 9-17-09
• Dueling ‘racist’ claims defuse once powerful word: Everybody’s racist, it seems. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson? Racist, because he shouted “You lie!” at the first black president. Health care protesters, affirmative action supporters? Racist. And Barack Obama? He’s the “Racist in Chief,” wrote a leader of the recent conservative protest in Washington. But if everybody’s racist, is anyone? The word is being sprayed in all directions, creating a hall of mirrors that is draining the scarlet R of its meaning and its power, turning it into more of a spitball than a stigma. – AP, 9-17-09
• House bill would boost Pell Grants: The House voted Thursday in favor of the biggest overhaul of college aid programs since their creation in the 1960s — a bill to oust private lenders from the student loan business and put the government in charge.
  The vote was 253-171 in favor of a bill that fulfills nearly all of President Barack Obama’s campaign promises for higher education: The measure ends subsidies for private lenders, boosts Pell Grants for needy students and creates grant programs to improve community colleges and college graduation rates, among other things…. – AP, 9-17-09
• Obama Is Pushing Israel Toward War President Obama can’t outsource matters of war and peace to another state: Events are fast pushing Israel toward a pre-emptive military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, probably by next spring. That strike could well fail. Or it could succeed at the price of oil at $300 a barrel, a Middle East war, and American servicemen caught in between. So why is the Obama administration doing everything it can to speed the war process along? At July’s G-8 summit in Italy, Iran was given a September deadline to start negotiations over its nuclear programs. Last week, Iran gave its answer: No…. – WSJ, 9-15-09
• President Is to Appear on ‘Late Show With David Letterman’: After recording interviews for five Sunday political talk shows, President Obama will sit down with David Letterman on Monday night. Mr. Obama will be the sole guest on “Late Show,” CBS announced on Tuesday…. – NYT, 9-15-09
• Senate Health Bill Due Wed, But Bipartisan Deal Elusive: Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., will release a long-awaited health-care bill Wednesday, but his Republican counterpart decried an “artificial deadline” for coming to agreement on the bill and appears to be withholding his support for it.
  Baucus told reporters that he will continue negotiations on the bill after he releases it Wednesday, expressing optimism that he will attract bipartisan support for the measure before the Finance Committee votes on it. The Finance Committee is expected to take up the bill as soon as next week…. – WSJ, 9-15-09
• Jimmy Carter: Wilson comments ‘based on racism’: Former President Jimmy Carter says Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst to President Barack Obama last week was an act “based on racism.” Carter says Wilson’s comment was part of an “inherent feeling” of some in this country who feel that a black man should not be president. Carter called Wilson’s comment “dastardly” and said the president should be treated with respect…. – AP, 9-15-09
• House Vote of Disapproval on Rep. Joe Wilson: The 240-179 roll call Tuesday by which the House passed a resolution of disapproval against Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for Wilson’s “You lie!” shout during President Barack Obama’s health care address to a joint session of Congress.
  Voting yes were 233 Democrats and 7 Republicans. Voting no were 12 Democrats and 167 Republicans. Voting present were 5 Democrats…. – AP, 9-15-09
• Candidates Await Results as Polls Close: As the New York City primary election came to a close, candidates settled in and prepared to watch returns come in. At stake are the Democratic nominations for three citywide races — mayor, comptroller and public advocate — and for Manhattan district attorney. There are primary elections in 32 of the 51 City Council districts. Most incumbents seeking re-election were favored to win. NYT, 9-15-09
• Jody Powell, who was White House press secretary and among the closest and most trusted advisers to President Jimmy Carter, died Monday of a heart attack. He was 65. AP, 9-14-09
• Kennedy Senate race shaped by those not running: With the clock running on a shortened election calendar, the campaign to succeed Sen. Edward Kennedy has become notable for who’s not running, instead of who is.
  Not his wife, Vicki Kennedy. Not his nephew Joseph P. Kennedy II. Not Martin Meehan, a former congressman with a mother lode of $5 million in the bank. Not Andrew Card, a former White House chief of staff with the capacity to raise millions himself.
  On Monday, Rep. John Tierney said he wouldn’t run because he was more valuable to the state as a House veteran than as a Senate freshman. That was the same rationale his fellow Democrat, Rep. Edward J. Markey, gave Friday when he bailed on a campaign.
  So far, the field includes an attorney general not three years into her first statewide term, a state senator and a town selectman. Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has talked about running, and Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics, is said to be weighing a campaign…. – AP, 9-14-09
• Obama, Clinton eat Italian after Obama’s NY speech: President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton met privately for about 90 minutes on Monday, discussing the global economy over a meal in Manhattan…. – AP, 9-14=09
• Rules on Wilson’s outburst open to interpretation: Republican Rep. Joe Wilson may have violated good taste when he yelled “You lie!” at President Barack Obama last week, and Democrats are moving forward with a resolution scolding him for it. But did he break any specific House rules? The answer is more complicated than it seems, and the rules that some initially cited don’t appear to apply…. – AP, 9-14-09
• For Obama, a Chance to Reform the Street Is Fading: President Obama on Monday sternly admonished the financial industry and lawmakers to accept his proposals to reshape financial regulation to protect the nation from a repeat of the excesses that drove Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy and wreaked havoc on the global economy last year.
  “We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess at the heart of this crisis,” President Obama said.
  But with the markets slowly healing, Mr. Obama’s plan to revamp financial rules faces a diminishing political imperative. Disenchantment by many Americans with big government, along with growing obstacles from financial industry lobbyists pressing Congress not to do anything drastic, have also helped to stall his proposals…. – NYT, 9-14-09
• Obamas to hold event for Chicago Olympic bid: White House gathering on Wednesday will include Mayor Richard Daley, bid backers, athletes and schoolchildren… – Chicgo Tribune, 9-14-09
• Dems seek to play down role of public option idea: The White House and its Democratic allies on Sunday tried to play down the role of a government insurance option in health care legislation as the party in power worked to reclaim momentum on President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
  His spokesman described the public option as just one way to achieve Obama’s goal of providing coverage to the estimated 45 uninsured Americans without insurance. His senior adviser contended the White House was not ready to accept that Congress would reject the idea, though he, too, said it was an option, not a make-or- break choice… – AP, 9-13-09
• Key group of lawmakers nearing healthcare deal: A key group of U.S. senators was “very close” to agreement on healthcare reform, one of its members said on Sunday, suggesting Congress was nearer to meeting President Barack Obama’s goal of passing a reform bill this year.
  “We think we are very close to an agreement,” said Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and part of the “Gang of Six” bipartisan group that is trying to forge consensus, on “Fox News Sunday.”… – Reuters, 9-13-09
• Election trouble brewing for House Dems in 2010: Despite sweeping Democratic successes in the past two national elections, continuing job losses and President Barack Obama’s slipping support could lead to double-digit losses for the party in next year’s congressional races and may even threaten their House control…. – AP, 9-13-09
• Lawmaker Says No New Apology for Outburst: Representative Joe Wilson said Sunday that he would not apologize again for his outburst on Wednesday night, when he shouted “You lie!” to President Obama during Mr. Obama’s speech about health care legislation before a joint session of Congress. – NYT, 9-14-09
• Wilson funds reach $1 million after ‘you lie’ cry, aide says – CNN, 9-12-09
• Obama rallies Minneapolis crowd for healthcare reform: Drawing on the spirit of his presidential campaign, he likens the battle over the overhaul to that over Social Security under FDR.
  “I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails,” Obama said.
  “I intend to be president for a while, and once this bill passes, I own it,” he continued. “And if people look and say, ‘You know what? This hasn’t reduced my costs. My premiums are still going up 25%, insurance companies are still jerking me around’ — I’m the one who’s going to be held responsible.”…. – LAT, 9-12-09
• In Health Care Battle, a Truce on Abortion: “And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up: Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.”
  Did that apparently unqualified statement by President Obama to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday guarantee that health care overhaul, whatever its other travails, will not fall victim to the seemingly intractable moral battle over abortion? Of course not… – NYT, 9-12-09
• Commemorating 9/11, Obama renews resolve in terror fight: The president vows to ‘do everything in our power to keep America safe.’ He also notes Sept. 11’s ‘greatest lesson’: the spirit of service.
  Remembering those who died eight years ago in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Obama on Friday pledged to “do everything in our power to keep America safe.” “Let us renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act and who plot against us still,” Obama said Friday. “In defense of our nation we will never waver. In pursuit of Al Qaeda and its extremist allies, we will never falter.”
  This week, Obama circulated a memorandum to Congress that said: “The terrorist threat that led to the declaration on Sept. 14, 2001, of a national emergency continues.” Despite his stated resolve, however, a Gallup poll released Friday found that Republicans had an edge over Democrats — 49% to 42% — when Americans were asked which party would better protect the U.S. from terrorism and military threats…. – LAT, 9-11-09
• Healthy Minnesota offers Obama model for nation: President Barack Obama will be in one of the nation’s healthiest states Saturday, where most people have health insurance, medical care tends to be cost-effective and providers like the Mayo Clinic have made a name far beyond the Upper Midwest. AP, 9-11-09
• Senate committee tackles illegal-immigrant healthcare concerns: Drafters of overhaul plans had been considering the issue for months, and it gained new attention during Obama’s healthcare speech to Congress. But enforcement is fraught with its own problems…. – LAT, 9-12-09
• Olympics-Michelle Obama to urge IOC to pick Chicago for 2016: U.S. President Barack Obama is sending his wife Michelle to Copenhagen next month to urge Olympics organisers to select Chicago to host the 2016 Games…. – Reuters, 9-11-09
• Census Bureau Drops Acorn From 2010 Effort: The Census Bureau on Friday severed its ties with Acorn, a community organization that Republicans have accused of voter-registration fraud.
  “We do not come to this decision lightly,” the census director, Robert Groves, wrote in a letter to Acorn that was obtained by The Associated Press…. – AP, 9-11-09
• Former Bush aide Card not seeking Kennedy seat: Former Bush White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said Friday he will not seek the Senate seat left vacant last month by the death of Edward Kennedy… – AP, 9-11-09
• Obama faces skeptics in Congress over Afghan war: Carl Levin, the influential chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was the latest top Democrat in Congress to voice opposition to a fresh military build-up in Afghanistan, as the White House weighs deploying yet more troop combat troops…. – AFP, 9-11-09
• The voices behind Joe Wilson: The South Carolina congressman is representative of the GOP’s talk-radio-led wing…. – LAT, 9-11-09
• Obama’s healthcare speech helps unify Democrats: Conservatives in the party praised the president’s pledge to ensure that an overhaul would not add to the government’s debt, and liberals cheered his endorsement of a government-run insurance plan…. – LAT, 9-10-09
• Senators pay tribute to Kennedy ‘One of a kind’ lawmaker lauded: Senators from both parties spent more than five hours yesterday paying bittersweet tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, recalling their late colleague as the chamber’s generous elder statesman, a passionate liberal, and a fierce, well-schooled politician who never shied away from a political fight.
  But when the legislative skirmishing was over, his fellow senators recalled, Kennedy never held a grudge and knew the difference between an adversary and an enemy. And, they noted, he had nearly as many close friends among Republicans as he did among his Democratic allies…. – Boston Globe, 9-10-09
• Abortion foes aren’t buying Obama’s assurances: They continue to campaign against healthcare reform, contending that federal money will go toward abortions if the president has his way…. – LAT, 9-10-09
• Congress Faces Backlash Whether Overhaul Passes Or Not: When American political discourse has reached the point where a congressman shouts “You lie!” at the president during a nationally televised address, it must be a sign that the stakes are running pretty high.
  And so they are in the great health debate. Most analysis, though, has focused on only one side of the political poker game now under way: Will lawmakers pay a political price if they vote for a health bill that proves unpopular?
  There’s also a flip side to that question, which is about to get a lot more attention: Will lawmakers also pay a political price if nothing gets done — that is, if the effort to pass a health bill collapses in failure?… – WSJ, 9-10-09
• Obama to deliver speech in N.Y. on financial crisis: President Obama will give what the White House called a major speech on the financial crisis on Monday, timed to the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse that precipitated the meltdown. At Federal Hall in New York City, Obama “will discuss the aggressive steps the administration has taken to bring the economy back from the brink, the commitment to winding down the government’s role in the financial sector, and the actions the United States and the global community must take to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again,” the White House announced yesterday. – USA Today, 9-10-09
• Obama advisers: 1M jobs saved or created: President Obama’s economic advisers estimated Thursday that the economic stimulus package has saved or created about 1 million jobs, drawing immediate criticism from Republicans.
  Christina Romer, the head of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said her team consulted other economists for its report to Congress on the likely effects of the $787 billion package of tax cuts, government spending and aid to states. The administration’s million-job estimate, while preliminary and uncertain, was “in the middle of the plausible range” of estimates made by independent experts, she said.
  “An economy that was in free-fall with a tremendous amount of downward momentum” is now improving in part because of the stimulus package, Romer said. – USA Today, 9-10-09
• US troops in Afghanistan run to remember 9-11: U.S. troops in Afghanistan donned shorts and laced up sneakers Friday to run in memory of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, as they fight a war that was born of that day but which has seen waning public support. More than 1,000 service members ran 9.11 kilometers (about 5 1/2 miles) at the main U.S. base to commemorate the anniversary and remember troops who have died in nearly eight-years of fighting. AP, 9-10-09
• Outrage over Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst isn’t dying down: Although President Obama accepted the Republican congressman’s apology for his ‘You lie’ remark, Democrats are calling for a public mea culpa and using the incident in fundraising appeals….
  “I’m a big believer that we all make mistakes,” Obama said in acknowledging the apology from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). The lawmaker’s shout of “You lie!” during the president’s speech on healthcare was a significant break in decorum. “I do think that, as I said last night, we have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name-calling, without the assumption of the worst of other people’s motives,” Obama said. – LAT, 9-10-09
• Sex scandal further damages lawmakers’ reputation: A scandal involving a family-values legislator caught boasting about his sexual escapades with his lobbyist mistresses created an embarrassing distraction for lawmakers Thursday, further diverting attention from California’s major policy issues in the crucial final days of their session. Republican Mike Duvall resigned Wednesday after a videotape surfaced in which he described to a colleague in lurid detail his sexual conquests, including a spanking fetish, the skimpy underwear of one mistress and his carrying on two affairs simultaneously. He sought to deny the affairs on Thursday…. – AP, 9-10-09

ELECTIONS 2010, 2012….

• GOP hope for 2010: Voters nervous about Obama spending: Republican strategists see an opening in the fact independent voters like President Obama but are nervous about his economic policies. The Republican advocacy group Resurgent Republic conducted five focus groups in August among independents who voted for Mr. Obama in the presidential election but were undecided about whether to support a Republican or Democrat in the 2010 congressional race…. – CS Monitor, 9-14-09

POLITICAL QUOTES

• Book: Bush dissed Obama, Palin (and Hillary’s behind): President George W. Bush’s former speechwriter Matt Latimer reveals that Bush considered Barack Obama unfit for the White House and predicted that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin would be a disaster for the GOP.
  “After one of Obama’s blistering speeches against the administration, the president had a very human reaction: He was ticked off,” Latimer writes in his forthcoming book, “Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor,” which has been excerpted in the October issue of GQ.
  “He came in one day to rehearse a speech, fuming. ‘This is a dangerous world,’ he said for no apparent reason, ‘and this cat isn’t remotely qualified to handle it. This guy has no clue, I promise you.’”… – KC Star, 9-15-09
• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON FINANCIAL RESCUE AND REFORM Federal Hall New York, New York: While full recovery of the financial system will take a great deal more time and work, the growing stability resulting from these interventions means we’re beginning to return to normalcy. But here’s what I want to emphasize today: Normalcy cannot lead to complacency. … So what we’re calling for is for the financial industry to join us in a constructive effort to update the rules and regulatory structure to meet the challenges of this new century. That is what my administration seeks to do. We’ve sought ideas and input from industry leaders and policy experts, academics, consumer advocates, and the broader public. And we’ve worked closely with leaders in the Senate and the House, including not only Barney, but also Senators Chris Dodd and Richard Shelby, and Barney is already working with his counterpart, Sheldon [sic] Bachus. And we intend to pass regulatory reform through Congress.
  And taken together, we’re proposing the most ambitious overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the Great Depression. But I want to emphasize that these reforms are rooted in a simple principle: We ought to set clear rules of the road that promote transparency and accountability. That’s how we’ll make certain that markets foster responsibility, not recklessness. That’s how we’ll make certain that markets reward those who compete honestly and vigorously within the system, instead of those who are trying to game the system. …. – WH, 9-14-09
• Obama Pledges to ‘Own’ Health-Care Bill: President Barack Obama, continuing his push to secure support for a health-care overhaul, reiterated his willingness to address the issue of medical malpractice suits, a Republican priority. But the president suggested that his desire for a bipartisan bill wouldn’t trump his ultimate goal of passing legislation this year.
  “We’re not going to get a better opportunity to solve our health-care issues than we have right now,” he said in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes…. – WSJ, 9-13-09
• WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Highlights New Treasury Report on Instability of Health Insurance in America: “In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they’ll go without health care – not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law – they won’t.”… – WH, 9-12-09

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• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT WREATH-LAYING CEREMONY AT THE PENTAGON MEMORIAL The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen and members of the Armed Forces, fellow Americans, family and friends of those that we lost this day — Michelle and I are deeply humbled to be with you.
  Eight Septembers have come and gone. Nearly 3,000 days have passed — almost one for each of those taken from us. But no turning of the seasons can diminish the pain and the loss of that day. No passage of time and no dark skies can ever dull the meaning of this moment.
  So on this solemn day, at this sacred hour, once more we pause. Once more we pray — as a nation and as a people; in city streets where our two towers were turned to ashes and dust; in a quiet field where a plane fell from the sky; and here, where a single stone of this building is still blackened by the fires.
  We remember with reverence the lives we lost. We read their names. We press their photos to our hearts. And on this day that marks their death, we recall the beauty and meaning of their lives; men and women and children of every color and every creed, from across our nation and from more than 100 others. They were innocent. Harming no one, they went about their daily lives. Gone in a horrible instant, they now “dwell in the House of the Lord forever.”
  We honor all those who gave their lives so that others might live, and all the survivors who battled burns and wounds and helped each other rebuild their lives; men and women who gave life to that most simple of rules: I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper… – WH, 9-11-09

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• Dems answer Obama’s call for action on health care: Democratic leaders wrestling with health care legislation are confronting a host of knotty issues such as medical malpractice, abortion, illegal immigrants and Medicaid, all the while predicting passage of sweeping health care legislation within a few months.
  “That’s the legislative process,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said as she and other Democrats shifted from praising President Barack Obama’s health care speech this week to the less glamorous task of trying to negotiate a bill that will pass muster with a host of opposing factions.
  “As issues emerge, let’s drill down on the public option, let’s drill down on what this means to small business, let’s drill down on what this means to seniors,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday…. – AP, 9-11-09

HISTORIANS & ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

• Stephen Hess “Change the channel Sunday, you’ll still see president”: On Sunday, Obama is scheduled to appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” ABC’s “This Week,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CNN’s “State of the Union” programs, according to the shows’ websites and the White House. He will sit for an interview on the Spanish-language network Univision to air that day as well. Obama also is booked for “Late Show With David Letterman” on Monday night.
  “He’s pulling out all the stops, and why not,” said Stephen Hess, a presidential historian at George Washington University in Washington. “The answer to why not is that he’s overbooked or that he becomes an old story. I don’t think that cuts the ice. Those stories are written by people who watch everything.” – Bloomberg News, 9-16-09
• Gil Troy “‘He’s a black man’ What lies beneath the Obama backlash? A Democratic stalwart cries racism, igniting a fiery debate”: Gil Troy, a professor of U.S. history at McGill University, said he sees little difference between the treatment of Mr. Obama and the way opponents attacked his predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
  He pointed out that Mr. Clinton spent much of his presidency dealing with personal political attacks, while Mr. Bush was often branded a liar over his decision to invade Iraq.
  “When Obama was elected, everyone was talking about how it was a sign of Americans’ political maturity,” Prof. Troy said. “To immediately start playing the race card the first time he runs into trouble is a mark of his supporters’ immaturity.”
  If nothing else, the controversy makes it clear that Mr. Obama’s political honeymoon is over, he added.
  “His supporters are trying to demonize and marginalize normal politics. Conservatives do it to liberals. This time liberals are doing it to conservatives.” – Globe & Mail, 9-17-09
• Julian E. Zelizer “Commentary: Why the shock about Joe Wilson?”: When Rep. Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress by yelling “You lie!” a livid House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked as if she was about to jump out of her seat and give her colleague a five-minute “time out” for misbehavior.
  Majority Whip Jim Clyburn warned that he supports reprimanding Wilson unless he goes to the well of the House and apologizes. Many pundits and politicians have subsequently lamented that the incident has revealed a new level of incivility in Congress.
  And certainly this was an embarrassing moment for the GOP, which looked more like the party of Joseph McCarthy than Ronald Reagan. This has been a summer when some members of the Republican Party outside of Congress have chosen a strategy of yelling and screaming, rather than debating and legislating…. – CNN, 9-14-09
• Stephen Hess: Unplugged: LBJ Had Unique Talent to Pass Medicare: Johnson “was the president of the United States who knew the Senate and the Congress better than any president in history,” Hess, a presidential historian, told CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson. “It would be love to have somebody else who had that capacity to twist arms, but there ain’t no Lyndon Johnson around.” (I dont get what the part in read means, is the quote right?) – CBS News, 9-16-09
• Stanley Kutler “Afghanistan: Doubt grows over another distant war”: “Americans aren’t conscious of Afghanistan,” says historian Stanley Kutler, editor of The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. “You couldn’t help but be conscious of Vietnam because of the draft,” he said. But in Afghanistan, “The alleged reasons for going there have completely left the public consciousness.”… – AP, 9-10-09
• Rick Shenkman “Pelosi rates Obama’s speech one for the ages”: Historians will wait for the outcome of those fights and whether Mr. Obama wins before deciding whether his oratory was truly “great,” said Rick Shenkman, a presidential historian at George Mason University.
  “I don’t know what Nancy Pelosi was thinking,” he said, questioning what criteria she used to rate Mr. Obama’s forensic skills.
  He said Mr. Obama “got off a few good lines, I thought, but none that people are going to be quoting 50 years from now — let alone five months from now.”… – Washintton Times, 9-11-09
• Fred Beuttler “Heckling of president is rare in American history”: Presidents didn’t even address Congress between 1800, when John Adams held the job, and 1913, says Fred Beuttler, deputy historian at the House of Representatives, who calls the Wilson incident “highly unusual, if not unique.” “Occasionally, members of the opposing party have been known to boo and jeer as expressions of dissent on a specific point,” says Beuttler, citing instances during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. But before Wednesday, he says, “expressions of individual opposition of members to a president’s speech had not been recorded.” – AP, 9-11-09
• Jack Bass, humanities professor, College of Charleston, Lacy K. Ford Jr., historian, University of South Carolina: Over the Line in South Carolina – NYT, 9-10-09
• Julian E. Zelizer “Commentary: Liberals’ passion for public option”: President Obama was caught off guard by the frustration that liberals expressed at the suggestion he might drop the public option from health care reform.
  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that, “There’s no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option.”
  The proposal for the government to offer Americans health insurance as one of their options had excited many Democrats.
  But the White House insists that the public option was not central to its original plan. One senior adviser complained to the Washington Post, “I don’t understand why the left of the left has decided that this is their Waterloo.” Still, the administration responded to its critics and again expressed support for the public option…. – CNN, 8-25-09
• David M. Kennedy: Could Afghanistan Become Obama’s Vietnam?: “The analogy of Lyndon Johnson suggests itself very profoundly,” said David M. Kennedy, the Stanford University historian. Mr. Obama, he said, must avoid letting Afghanistan shadow his presidency as Vietnam did Mr. Johnson’s. “He needs to worry about the outcome of that intervention and policy and how it could spill over into everything else he wants to accomplish.” – NYT, 8-23-09

History Buzz September 14 & 21, 2009: Dan Brown “The Last Symbol” and the Founders

HISTORY BUZZ:

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

This Week’s Political Highlights

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

Rosh Hashana, Circa 1919: Mrs. Shapiro is actually Barbara Ann Paster, one of the actors here at the Strawbery Banke restoration, a living museum in which over 350 years of Portsmouth homes, stores, churches and history have been preserved. It is in Puddle Dock, which was a decrepit neighborhood destined to be razed under urban renewal until a campaign in the 1950s and ’60s led by the town librarian saved 42 houses on 10 acres to create the museum…. – NYT, 9-17-09 Dan Brown: Da Vinci author’s ‘uproar’ warning: The Lost Symbol is expected to make claims about the influence of secret organisation the freemasons on US leaders. And it is tipped to brand first President George Washington a TRAITOR. British historian and Masonic expert Ashley Cowie: “Dan Brown is about to make a huge controversy because he knows it sells. He’s going to create uproar in America. But it’s fiction, not fact.” But fellow historian David Shugarts said: “It’s true that some of the founding fathers were powerful Masons.”… – The Sun (9-15-09) The Economic Freeze on History: More than two-thirds of history departments are experiencing budget cuts that have “required real reductions in resources, faculty and staff,” according to a survey released Friday by the American Historical Association…. – Inside Higher Ed (9-14-09) Historian Rebecca Solnit talks about how 9-11 should be remembered – Free Speech Radio News (9-11-09)

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

On This Day in History….This Week in History…. September 14-27, 2009 Peter C. Mancall on “Why a Fourth Grader Knows More About Henry Hudson Than You Do” The 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s landing in New York… – The Chronicle of Higher Education (9-14-09)

IN THE NEWS:

John Dichtl and Robert B. Townsend: Preliminary Results from the 2008 Survey of Public History Professionals: This is the first in a series of articles analyzing results from the 2008 Survey of Public History Professionals. This article will also appear in Public History News, the newsletter of the National Council on Public History…. – American Historical Association (9-2-09) OAH Strategic Planning Committee sends up a red flare (and asks for members’ response) – OAH website (9-15-09) Time Mag. solicits readers’ questions for Ken Burns: In his latest project, Burns used more than six years worth of footage and dozens of interviews to explore the creation of America’s national park system, the first such effort in history. The 12-part series, “America’s Best Idea,” airs Sept. 27 on PBS. – Time Magazine (9-14-09) R. Bruce Craig: Signs Contract for Biography of Alger Hiss – Press Release (9-14-09) Júlio Mendes: Historian defends more research on the poet and first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto’s legacy – AngolaPress (9-11-09) Tony Judt again accused of laying the “groundwork for Israel’s death” – Steven Plaut at frontpagemag.com (9-9-09) David Irving sparks row over Holocaust ‘propaganda’ – NWO Observer (9-6-09) Colleges to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin – Press Release–George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media (9-9-09) Allan Levine: Historian to write Mackenzie King bio – Winnipeg Free Press (9-9-09)

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

Robert Townsend: History Departments Struggle in a Depressing Economy – AHA magazine, Perspectives on History (9-1-09) Bernard A. Weisberger tells how he came to eavesdrop on the Japanese military during WW II – American Heritage (8-17-09)

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

Morris Dickstein: When Grave Years Fueled Grand Art DANCING IN THE DARK A Cultural History of the Great Depression – NYT, 9-16-09 Nicholas Thompson: Friends, Not Allies THE HAWK AND THE DOVE Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War – NYT, 9-13-09 Norman Podhoretz: Because They Believe WHY ARE JEWS LIBERALS? – NYT, 9-13-09 Alan Simons examines how Republic of Turkey saved Jewish lives Shoah: Turkey, the US and the UK – Jewish Info News (9-2-09) Philip Smallwood: The Life of R. G. Collingwood – Times Higher Education (UK), (9-3-09)

PROFILED & FEATURED:

Nicholas Thompson’s trump card in writing about Nitze and Kennan – NYT (9-11-09)

QUOTED:

John Hafnor: Historian Predicts Dan Brown Theme, Reveals New Lost Symbols: “The Da Vinci Code’s overarching premise was an Old World clash of religion and science, while the fresh theme for The Lost Symbol is likely to be a uniquely American power struggle between secret societies and the experiment known as democracy.” – USPRWire (9-10-09)

INTERVIEWED:

Anthony J. Badger: British historian says FDR has some complex lessons for Obama: Badger is a University of Cambridge historian and the author of several accessible and well-reviewed books about the South and the Depression, among them “North Carolina and the New Deal,” “FDR: The First Hundred Days” and “The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933-1940.” Given the current economic situation, it seems especially appropriate that the University of South Alabama’s Department of History has selected Badger as this year’s N. Jack Stallworth lecturer (his topic: “The New Deal and the Creation of the Modern American South”)…. – al.com (9-14-09) Peter Bance Sikh author short listed for historian award: A renowned Sikh author has been short listed for the annual EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards, for his book on Maharajah Duleep Singh… – The Sikh Times (9-14-09)

HONORED, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

Mark Updegrove: Presidential historian appointed to direct LBJ Library: The LBJ Library and Museum announced the appointment of presidential historian Mark Updegrove to director Wednesday…. – News 8 Austin (9-17-09) Best political communication book of the decade is … Campaign Talk: Why Elections are Good for Us by Roderick Hart was named the best political communication book of the last decade by the American Political Science Association. – Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire (9-12-09) Dr. Takashi Yoshida: Associate Professor of History honored as emerging faculty scholar by Western Michigan University – WMU News (9-9-09)

SPOTTED:

Richard Norton Smith, Presidential Historian: The Clinton School invited Presidential Historian Richard Norton Smith to come speak on “Lincoln 200″. It has been 200 years since Abraham Lincoln was born…. – TodaysTHV.com, 9-16-09

EVENTS CALENDAR:

Inaugural Semester-long seminar on Constitutional History offered at N-Y Historical Society this fall: Lincoln’s Constitution will be taught at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, on Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The seminar will be held on September 17 and 24 and on October 1, 15, 22, and 29, 2009. NYHS Press Release (7-20-09)

ON TV:

BBC to launch new series on history of Christianity – Religious Intelligence, 6-19-09 C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule PBS History Detectives: Mondays at 9pm History Channel: Weekly Schedule History Channel: “Beyond The Da Vinci Code” – Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT History Channel: “Angels & Demons Decoded” – Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT History Channel: “Holy Grail in America” – Sunday, September 19, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT History Channel: “The Templar Code ” – Monday, September 20, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT History Channel: “Cities Of The Underworld: Stalin’s Secret Lair” – Monday, September 20, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT History Channel: “Cities Of The Underworld: 09 – Freemason Underground” – Monday, September 20, 2009 at 6pm ET/PT History Channel: “Secrets of the Founding Fathers” – Monday, September 20, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT History Channel: “The Dark Age” – Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT History Channel: “Nostradamus Effect” Marathon – Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 2-5pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

NYT Non-Fiction Best Sellers List – September 20, 2009 #1 – Michelle Malkin: CULTURE OF CORRUPTION #3 – Ronald Kessler: IN THE PRESIDENT’S SECRET SERVICE #12 – Peter S. Canellos: LAST LION #15 – J. Randy Taraborrelli: THE SECRET LIFE OF MARILYN MONROE #20 – C. David Heymann: BOBBY AND JACKIE #21 – Douglas Brinkley: THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR #29 – Edward Klein: TED KENNEDY

COMING SOON BOOKS:

Jon Krakauer: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, September 15, 2009 Dean C. Jessee (Editor): The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Volume 1: Manuscript Revelation Books, September 2009 James Patterson: The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King – A Nonfiction Thriller, September 28, 2009 Timothy Egan: The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, October 19, 2009 Gil Troy, Vincent J. Cannato, eds.: Living in the Eighties, October 23, 2009 L. Fletcher Prouty: JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, (Paperback), November 1, 2009 Edward Kritzler: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom–and Revenge, (Paperback), November 3, 2009 Anthony Haden-guest: Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night (Paperback), December 8, 2009

DEPARTED:

Bill Schoneberger, 83; U.S Aviation Historian – Palisades Post (9-17-09) Floyd Martin Clay, 81, historian and author at Our Lady of Holy Cross College – Nola.com (9-16-09) Charles Harrison: Obituary: Art historian and critic celebrated The Independent (9-7-09) Olga Amsterdamska: Obituary – John V. Pickstone, University of Manchester, writing for H-Net (9-4-09)

September 9, 2009: President Obama’s Joint Address to Congress on Health Care Reform

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

(President Barack Obama speaks to a joint session of Congress on health care at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009.  Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

IN FOCUS: STATS

• FACT CHECK: Obama drops iffy line on health plan: The change was subtle, but significant. In his speech to Congress on Wednesday night, President Barack Obama gave a more accurate — and less reassuring — account of the impact of his proposed health care overall than he has done in the past. It went by in a blink…. – AP, 9-9-09
• Obama disapproval on health care up to 52 percent: Public disapproval of President Barack Obama’s handling of health care has leaped to 52 percent, according to Associated Press-GfK poll that underscores the country’s glowering mood as the White House made a renewed pitch for an overhaul. Just 42 percent approve of the president’s work on the high-profile health issue. The survey was released Wednesday before his nationally televised effort to persuade Congress and voters to back his drive to reshape the nation’s $2.5 trillion-a-year medical system…. – AP, 9-9-09

THE HEADLINES….

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times President Obama was greeted by members of Congress as he entered the House chamber.

• Obama hopes his pitch will sway health care debate: President Barack Obama’s leadership in the days ahead will determine whether his forceful health care address to Congress heralds the kind of sweeping change he promised while campaigning for the White House…. – AP, 9-9-09
• The Congressman Who Cried ‘Lie!’: President Obama was halfway through his speech, trying to dispel what he called “bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform.” Then he ran into Rep. Joe Wilson’s agenda for the night. His plan would not insure illegal immigrants, said Obama. “You lie!” rang out in the chamber…. – WaPo, 9-9-09
• Obama Vows to ‘Deliver on Health Care’: President Obama sought to reframe the contentious debate over health care on Wednesday, asking a critical Congress and a skeptical nation to reach consensus on legislation to expand coverage to millions of Americans and lower costs through a sweeping overhaul that has eluded lawmakers for generations.
  “I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last,” Mr. Obama told a joint session of Congress, adding, “Our collective failure to meet this challenge — year after year, decade after decade — has led us to a breaking point.”…
  “What we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics,” Mr. Obama said. “Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge.” He added, “And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.” – NYT, 9-9-09
• Live Blogging the President’s Speech: ….What was true then remains true today. I understand how difficult this health care debate has been. I know that many in this country are deeply skeptical that government is looking out for them. I understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road – to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term.
  But that’s not what the moment calls for. That’s not what we came here to do. We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it’s hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history’s test. – NYT, 9-9-09
• On Brink, Obama Is Resolute and Clear: There was high drama in the setting and most of all in the timing. After a summer of chaos, criticism and confusion, President Obama stood before Congress on Wednesday night — with three major networks broadcasting live (Fox sat out the speech in favor of the season premiere of “So You Think You Can Dance”) — and tried to seize the last word on health care reform…. – NYT, 9-9-09
• Obama: Time for ‘bickering’ is over on health care: Shaking off a summer of setbacks, President Barack Obama summoned Congress to enact sweeping health care legislation Wednesday night, declaring the “time for bickering is over” and the moment has arrived to protect millions who have unreliable insurance or no coverage at all…. – AP, 9-9-09
• Obama Says Time Is Now for Health Reform: President Barack Obama sought to call Congress and the American public to action Wednesday night, in a prime-time speech aimed at resetting the terms of the debate over health care reform…. – PBS Newhour, 9-9-09
• Obama: Claims of death panels are a ‘lie’: President Barack Obama says the charge that Democrats want to set up death panels as part of health care overhaul is a “lie, plain and simple.”… – AP, 9-9-09
• Analysis: Obama gambles on making nice, no vetoes: Barack Obama faces the same obstacles that plagued former President Bill Clinton during a health care standoff 15 years ago. But Obama took a strikingly different path around them Wednesday night, choosing the promise of compromise over Clinton’s sharp-edged veto pen….
  “The time for bickering is over,” Obama told a joint session of Congress. “Now is the season for action.” – AP, 9-9-09
• Baucus may move health bill without Republicans: The Democratic U.S. senator leading an effort to write a bipartisan healthcare reform bill said on Wednesday he was ready to move forward without Republican support, but still hoped for a deal…. – Reuters, 9-9-09
• Obama tries to build momentum for health overhaul: Reaching for a game-changer, President Barack Obama is beset by conflicting goals in a prime-time address Wednesday expected to detail just how he wants to expand health care coverage and lower medical costs while signaling to a deeply divided Congress that he’s ready to deal. And show the public he’s in control…. – AP, 9-9-09

POLITICAL QUOTES

(President Barack Obama speaks to a joint session of Congress on health care at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday,  Sept. 9, 2009.  Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS ON HEALTH CARE U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. – WH, 9-9-09
• Below is the text of the letter from Senator Edward M. Kennedy referenced by the President in tonight’s address to a Joint Session of Congress. – WH, 9-9-09
• Full Text: Obama’s Health Reform Speech Following is the text of President Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress Wednesday, as prepared for delivery, released by the White House and distributed to news organizations. – PBS Newshour, 9-9-09
• Full Text: GOP Response to Obama Reform Speech Following is the text of Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany’s GOP response to President Obama’s health reform address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday, as distributed to news organizations: “I read the bill Democrats passed through committee in July. It creates 53 new government bureaucracies, adds hundreds of billions to our national debt, and raises taxes on job-creators by $600 billion. The president had a chance tonight to take government-run health care off the table. Unfortunately, he didn’t do it.”… – PBS Newshour, 9-9-09

HISTORIANS & ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

• Julian Zelizer “Obama’s speech: A simple message, a tough task”: Above all, he has to make sure he holds on to his liberal base, said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
  “If he goes too far and the compromise is so meager that it’s almost like doing nothing, that could trigger a backlash from supporters,” Zelizer said. But he also has to be seen as effective and open to cooperation with opponents. Obama created his challenge by holding himself out as a transformational politician. “If he looks just like the people he ran against, that would be very damaging,” Zelizer said. – Philadelphia Inquirer, 9-9-09
• Julian E. Zelizer: Commentary: Obama’s moment of truth: On Wednesday, President Obama will make the most important speech of his presidency. We hear this phrase so much that it has become a cliché. But, in this case, the cliché is accurate.
  President Obama suffered a politically brutal month in August. The opponents of health care dominated public debate about the legislation circulating in Congress. Public approval ratings for the president and his health care plan, as well as the Democratic Congress, have fallen. Democrats have become internally divided.
  It is possible Obama could end his first year in the White House without a major piece of legislation beyond the economic stimulus.
  For a president who began the year with his supporters talking about a transformative leader who would equal Presidents Lincoln or Roosevelt, this would be a major disappointment…. – CNN, 9-9-09
• Reactions to the Speech: A Health Care Roundtable – NYT, 9-9-09

AP With Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, left, and House Speaker Sam Rayburn, far right, President John F. Kennedy addresses a joint session of Congress in May 1961.

• A Bit of History on Presidents and Joint Sessions: President Obama’s health-care speech tonight is officially an address to a joint session of Congress. Such addresses are somewhat out of the ordinary but not all that rare.
  Certain events take place routinely during a joint session — counting electoral votes, for example, or delivering a State of the Union message. (When a president is first inaugurated, he usually gives just an address at a joint session.)
  Joint sessions are not necessarily called for emergencies or moments of crises but often, as in the case of Mr. Obama tonight, to push certain policies…. – NYT, 9-9-09

September 8, 2009: President Obama’s Speech to Schools Causes Debate & Opposition

THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

(President Barack Obama speaks at the AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic in Cincinnati, OH on Labor Day.  September 7, 2009.  Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

IN FOCUS: STATS

• After years of trashing polls, Republicans now embrace them: “New Rasmussen Poll Shows That 53 Percent of Americans Oppose Democratic Government-Run Health Plan,” read an Aug. 13 release. It cited “no fewer than five polls” that it said “showed increasing concern, if not outright opposition” to the Obama administration’s efforts…. – McClatchy Newspapers, 9-7-09
• Obama’s declining support among whites: After a summer of health care battles and sliding approval ratings for President Obama, the White House is facing a troubling new trend: The voters losing faith in the president are the ones he had worked hardest to attract.
  New surveys show steep declines in Obama’s approval ratings among whites–including Democrats and independents– who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country’s first black president.
  Among white Democrats, Obama’s job approval rating has dropped 11 points since his 100-days mark in April, according to surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. It has dropped by nine points among white independents and whites over 50, and by 12 points among white women–all voter groups that will be targeted by both parties for support in next year’s mid-term elections…. – Chicago Tribune, 9-5-09
• Is Obama wrecking the Democrat party?: It’s no secret that President Obama’s popularity is on the skids. The current Rasmussen Poll lists his job approval rate at just 45%; down from a high of 65% in January. Perhaps more importantly, Rasmussen measures a minus 12 point gap in the number of people who “strongly disapprove” of Obama, over those who “strongly approve.” Gallup currently has Obama at a 54% approval level; as against a disapproval level of 40%…. – Examiner, 9-5-09
• Obama’s approval rating tumbles to lowest point at 53%: The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey results released yesterday show his overall approval number at 53 percent, down from 76 percent in early February, just after he took office…. – Boston Globe, 9-1-09
• Hostages of the Hermit Kingdom: Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two American journalists released last month after being imprisoned in North Korea, tell their story — and remind people of the story they wanted to cover…. – LAT, 9-1-09
• U.S. journalists say entered North Korea, arrested in China – Reuters, 9-1-09

THE HEADLINES….

[View full size]

(President Barack Obama talks with Justice Sonia Sotomayor prior to her investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court September 8, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

• Court signals it may loosen campaign spending: The Supreme Court signaled Wednesday it may let businesses and unions spend freely to help their favored candidates in time for next year’s elections. Such a step could roll back a century of attempts to restrain the power of corporate treasuries in American politics.
  The justices cut short their summer recess for a lively special argument that indicated the court’s conservative skeptics of campaign finance laws have the upper hand over its liberals, including new Justice Sonia Sotomayor…. – AP, 9-9-09
• Mass. Democrats support filling Kennedy seat now: Democratic politicians urged Massachusetts lawmakers on Wednesday to pass a law that would allow an interim senator to succeed the late Edward Kennedy immediately, preserving the party’s 60-vote majority during a battle to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system…. – Reuters, 9-9-09
• Obama tries to build momentum for health overhaul: Reaching for a game-changer, President Barack Obama is beset by conflicting goals in a prime-time address Wednesday expected to detail just how he wants to expand health care coverage and lower medical costs while signaling to a deeply divided Congress that he’s ready to deal. And show the public he’s in control…. – AP, 9-9-09
• Obama’s back-to-school speech inspires some kids: On the very first day of the school year, 12-year-old Mileena Rodriguez was reminded by President Barack Obama himself that hard work can take you places.Mileena listened to Obama’s plea to study hard and stay in school Tuesday, watching along with several of her classmates at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School and students across the country. For all the hubbub among adults over the back-to-school speech, many youngsters took the president’s message to heart…. – AP, 9-8-09
• Schools say no to Obama’s speech: Controversial address won’t be shown today by some area districts…. – Detroit News, 9-7-09
• Its recess over, Congress has hands full: As Congress returns today after a month-long recess, lawmakers face a pileup of pressing legislation, from immigration to energy, that has been eclipsed by the all-consuming battle over health care…. – USA Today, 9-7-09
• Obama faces a critical moment for his struggling presidency: President Barack Obama returned to the White House from his summer break Sunday determined to restart his struggling presidency by reasserting command of the health care debate and recalibrating expectations that some advisers believe got away from him. With his honeymoon seemingly over and his White House on the defensive, Obama faces what friends and foes alike call a make-or-break moment in his young administration. Because he has elevated health care to such a singular priority, advisers said he must force through a credible plan or risk crippling his presidency.
  “It goes without saying that a lot is riding now on his ability to re-energize the health care debate and bring it home to a successful conclusion,” said John Podesta, who ran Obama’s transition and still advises him on health care, energy and other issues. “Nothing will influence the perception of the presidency more than whether he can be successful in getting a health care bill through the Congress.”… – NYT, 9-6-09
• Obama to make Bloom manufacturing czar: President Barack Obama is to name auto adviser Ron Bloom as the administration’s manufacturing czar Monday, responsible for creating policies to boost the long-struggling industries…. – Detroit Free Press, 9-6-09
• Critics charge ‘indoctrination’ as Obama plans busy speaking week: President Obama will be delivering high-profile speeches three days in a row next week: On Monday, he’ll be the featured attraction at the AFL-CIO’s Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati. Not so coincidentally, that trip will put Obama in the backyard of Rep. Steven Driehaus, a freshman Democrat who faces a tough re-election battle in a district that Republicans held for 14 years before last November…. USA Today, 9-6-09
• Analysis: More wrangling could doom health care: The patient isn’t dead yet. A few more months of wrangling and indecision, and health care legislation to remedy America’s coverage and costs problem could be drawing its last gasps. As Congress returns to work this week, President Barack Obama and lawmakers have three broad options — competing treatment plans for a patient whose vital signs are growing weak. It’s not clear which one, if any, will work…. – AP, 9-6-09
• Financial Bailout Package, a Year Later: Obama has said he inherited the financial crisis from President George W. Bush. But he also received a powerful arsenal from his predecessor — the $700 billion financial bailout package…. – WaPo, 9-6-09
• Obama ‘green jobs’ adviser quits amid controversy: President Barack Obama’s adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday. Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly “green jobs” with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans. The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.
  “On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said in his resignation statement. “They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.”… – AP, 9-5-09
• Senate Democrat aims to end healthcare deadlock: A key U.S. Senate Democrat, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus may seek to end a stalemate on healthcare legislation by offering a proposal next week prior to President Barack Obama’s highly anticipated address to Congress, Democratic aides said on Saturday…. – AP, 9-5-09
• FACT CHECK: Biden overlooked stimulus problems: Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed success beyond expectations for the $787 billion economic stimulus, but his glowing assessment overlooks many of the program’s problems, including delays in releasing money, questionable spending priorities and project picks that are under investigation…. – AP, 9-5-09
• Politics, not race, likely behind Obama speech uproar: After decades of criticizing public schools as places where hardly anybody learns anything, suddenly conservatives are upset that a 15- to 20-minute Web cast in schools might teach too much. That’s because the Web cast is by President Barack Obama. His critics fear he might teach something that they’d rather not have our schoolchildren hear…. – Houston Chronicle, 9-5-09
• Passing a health bill: What are the odds?: We look at the likely scenarios ahead and predict which results you can bet on… – Houston Chronicle, 9-5-09
• Obama To Meet With Liberals: Liberal Democrats in the House will get their wish: President Obama will meet with them face to face Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss health reform legislation. Atlantic, 9-4-09
• Calls to boycott Obama’s speech to kids offer a disturbing lesson in paranoia: Those who are whipping up hysteria over the president’s address are playing a dangerous game with an unhinged segment of public opinion….. – LAT, 9-4-09
• Kennedy death could impact Wall Street oversight: President Barack Obama’s plan to recast how the government regulates Wall Street could be thrown a curve this fall if Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat whose home state is a major hub for credit card companies, takes over the chairmanship of the Senate’s banking committee…. – AP, 9-4-09
• White House to Open Visitor Logs to Public: President Obama announced Friday that he will open up White House visitor logs on a regular basis for the first time in modern history, providing the public an unusually extensive look at who gets the opportunity to help shape American policy at the highest levels. “Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process,” the president said in a written statement issued by the White House while he vacationed with his family at Camp David. The new policy settles four lawsuits against the government seeking such records. NYT, 9-4-09
• Obama runs into resistance over school speech: The president is scheduled to address students next week about responsibility and goals. Florida’s Republican Party chairman issues a statement denouncing ‘Obama’s socialist ideology.’ LAT, 9-3-09
• Obama aims to take control of health care debate: Aside from State of the Union speeches, presidents rarely use joint sessions of Congress as backdrops for their remarks to the nation. But President Barack Obama will do just that next week to discuss health care. He hopes to gain control of a high-stakes debate that has been slipping from his grasp under relentless Republican-led attacks. AP, 9-3-09
• Obama’s big gamble on healthcare debate: The president seeks to retake control of the healthcare debate with his speech to a joint session of Congress next week. But it carries great risk as well…. – LAT, 9-2-09
• Obama faces a pivotal autumn: Americans are showing signs of impatience with their new president as Barack Obama enters a pivotal period facing a raft of critical decisions ranging from healthcare to Afghanistan. A wide variety of public opinion polls paint a difficult picture for Obama, with Americans expressing doubts about his handling of the U.S. economy, healthcare and Afghanistan. His job approval rating has drifted down to around 50 percent. It was at 68 percent when he took office in January. Reuters, 9-2-09
• Kennedy memoir reveals remorse over Chappaquiddick: In a posthumous memoir, Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy writes of fear and remorse surrounding the fateful events on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969, when his car accident left a woman dead, and says he accepted the finding that a lone gunman assassinated his brother President John F. Kennedy. The memoir, “True Compass,” is to be published Sept. 14 by Twelve, a division of the Hachette book group. The 532-page book was obtained early by The New York Times…. – AP, 9-2-09
• Kennedy-Obama Bond Put Health Care on Fast Track: Other than his victory in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, no moment catalyzed Barack Obama’s historic presidential campaign more than winning the endorsement of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy…. – AP, 9-1-09
• GOP senators seek go-slow approach on health care: An odd couple of Republican senators have hit the road, arguing for a go-slow approach to President Barack Obama’s push to revamp health care. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and 2008 presidential nominee John McCain are headlining the GOP’s answer to the raucous town hall meetings of August in which congressional Democrats had to shout over angry constituents about health care, growing deficits and the increasing role of the federal government…. – AP, 9-1-09
• Politician won’t apologize for ‘Obama tags’ remark: Idaho Republican Rex Rammell said Tuesday the hoopla over his remarks about hunting President Barack Obama has been a boon to his campaign, and he again refused to apologize for what he called a joke. “This country needs to lighten up,” the GOP gubernatorial candidate said during a press conference in a Boise park Tuesday…. – AP, 9-1-09
• Obama reduces 2010 pay increases to 2 percent: President Barack Obama notified Congress on Monday he is reducing pay increases for federal workers from 2.4 percent to 2 percent. Using powers employed by his two most recent predecessors, the president cited the national unemployment rate and the budget busting federal payroll…. – AP, 8-31-09
• Burr, McCain, McConnell to hold NC health forum: McCain will join North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at event in Charlotte on Tuesday morning. McCain and McConnell are traveling around the country to discuss health care and take questions from those involved in the debate. The GOP lawmakers have been mounting a challenge to the plan offered by President Barack Obama that would create a government option to compete with private insurers. Burr’s plan would raise money by taxing health benefits and use the revenue to give people tax credits to buy their own care. AP, 8-31-09
• White House Not Pleased With Two Republican Senators: Senator Mike Enzi, the ranking Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, among copies of the health care reform bill before a committee meeting in June.
  The White House was evidently listening when Senator Michael B. Enzi delivered the weekly Republican radio and Internet address Saturday. And the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, did not like what he heard on health care from the Wyoming lawmaker who is supposed to be part of bipartisan talks…. – NYT, 8-31-09
• Key Republicans bail on ‘Obama-care’; Dems’ options narrow: The Democrats are edging toward a go-it-alone approach to legislation. Part 1 of two….
  As key Republicans grow increasingly hostile to President Obama’s plans for healthcare reform, the Democrats are edging toward a go-it-alone approach to legislation. In the Senate, where normal rules require 60 votes out of 100 to halt a filibuster, the Democrats’ hopes of passing a bill that way are hanging by a thread. The death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts means the party is down to 59 votes in the Senate. It’s still possible a Republican or two could be persuaded to vote with them, but they would still need to hold onto the more conservative Democrats in their caucus, and that’s not a sure thing…. – CS Monitor, 8-31-09

ELECTIONS 2010, 2012….

• First Candidate Steps Up for Kennedy Seat: Attorney General Martha Coakley of Massachusetts on Tuesday became the first candidate to begin the formal process toward running for the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death last week of Edward M. Kennedy…. – NYT, 9-1-09
• Another Senator Kennedy in Massachusetts?: Another Kennedy just might occupy the Kennedy seat in the Senate. Amid the emotional public outpouring over the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, talk of a successor has focused on his widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, and his nephew, Joseph Kennedy II, the 56-year-old former congressman who could return to politics after a decade’s absence. “Even though he’s emotionally drained right now, he can’t help but be moved by the enormous flood of affection and respect from all over the country,” said veteran Democratic strategist Dan Payne. “He wouldn’t be human and he wouldn’t be a Kennedy if he didn’t give serious consideration to running for what is known as the ‘Kennedy seat’ in Massachusetts.”… – AP, 8-31-09
• Va. candidate distances self from college thesis: Virginia’s Republican candidate for governor said Monday he no longer believes his argument in a graduate thesis written 20 years ago that discrimination against gays and other groups is acceptable for the benefit of straight, married couples…. – AP, 8-31-09

POLITICAL QUOTES

(President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a memorial service for Walter Cronkite at Lincoln Center in
New York, September 9, 2009.  Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT MEMORIAL SERVICE IN HONOR OF WALTER CRONKITE Lincoln Center New York, New York: He was forever there, reporting through world war and cold war; marches and milestones; scandal and success; calmly and authoritatively telling us what we needed to know. He was a voice of certainty in a world that was growing more and more uncertain. And through it all, he never lost the integrity or the plainspoken speaking style that he gained growing up in the heartland. He was a familiar and welcome voice that spoke to each and every one of us personally.
  I have benefited as a citizen from his dogged pursuit of the truth, his passionate defense of objective reporting, and his view that journalism is more than just a profession; it is a public good vital to our democracy. Even in his early career, Walter Cronkite resisted the temptation to get the story first in favor of getting it right.
  Our American story continues. It needs to be told. And if we choose to live up to Walter’s example, if we realize that the kind of journalism he embodied will not simply rekindle itself as part of a natural cycle, but will come alive only if we stand up and demand it and resolve to value it once again, then I’m convinced that the choice between profit and progress is a false one — and that the golden days of journalism still lie ahead…. – WH, 9-9-09

• Assemblyman Mike Duvall resigns after his sex comments are broadcast: KCAL-TV in Los Angeles played a tape of the married Yorba Linda Republican speaking about sex with two women. He apparently did not realize a microphone was on during a legislative hearing
  “I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state,” Duvall said in a written statement. “I have come to the conclusion that it would not be fair to my family, my constituents or to my friends on both sides of the aisle to remain in office. Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work.” – LAT, 9-9-09
• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN A NATIONAL ADDRESS TO AMERICA’S SCHOOLCHILDREN Wakefield High School Arlington, Virginia: I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
  Maybe you could be a great writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write that English paper — that English class paper that’s assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice — but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
  But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
  Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future…. – WH, 9-8-09

• Obama says ‘it’s time to act’ on healthcare: In a speech to the AFL-CIO, the president accuses critics and special interests of using scare tactics and spreading ‘lies’ in healthcare debate….
  The president, speaking at an AFL-CIO picnic, said that “special interests” were determined to “scare the heck out of people.” “I’ve got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we’re going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants — you’ve heard all the lies,” Obama said. “I’ve got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What’s your answer? What’s your solution? “And you know what? They don’t have one.” – LAT, 9-7-09
• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT AFL-CIO LABOR DAY PICNIC Coney Island Cincinnati, Ohio: But today we also pause. We pause to remember and to reflect and to reaffirm. We remember that the rights and benefits we enjoy today weren’t simply handed to America’s working men and women. They had to be won. They had to be fought for, by men and women of courage and conviction, from the factory floors of the Industrial Revolution to the shopping aisles of today’s superstores. They stood up and they spoke out to demand a fair shake and an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. (Applause.)
  Many risked their lives. Some gave their lives. Some made it a cause of their lives — like Senator Ted Kennedy, who we remember today. (Applause.)
  So let us never forget: much of what we take for granted — the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, health insurance, paid leave, pensions, Social Security, Medicare — they all bear the union label. (Applause.) It was the American worker — men and women just like you — who returned from World War II to make our economy the envy of the world. It was labor that helped build the largest middle class in history. Even if you’re not a union member, every American owes something to America’s labor movement. (Applause)…. – WH, 9-7-09

• VP Joe Biden pledges to back workers in Pa. stop: Vice President Joe Biden told a rally at Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade that organized labor was the backbone of the country and that he and Sen. Arlen Specter would continue fighting for workers. “You built the middle class. The middle class cannot be rebuilt without a growth in labor,” Biden told a crowd of about 300 Monday morning outside Mellon Arena…. – AP, 9-7-09
• WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Announces New Initiatives for Retirement Savings: As we spend time with family and friends this Labor Day weekend, many of us will also be thinking about the state of working America. Yesterday, we received a report showing that job losses have slowed dramatically compared to just a few months ago. Earlier in the week, we learned that the manufacturing sector has posted its first gains in eighteen months, and that many of the banks that borrowed money at the height of the financial crisis are now returning it to taxpayers with interest.
  These are only the most recent signs that the economy is turning around, though these signs are little comfort to those who’ve experienced the pain of losing a job in the previous month, or in the previous two years of this recession. That’s why it is so important that we remain focused on speeding our economic recovery. Throughout America today, tens of thousands of recovery projects are underway, repairing our nation’s roads, bridges, ports and waterways; renovating schools; and developing renewable energy. We’re putting Americans back to work doing to the work America needs done – and mostly in private sector jobs…. – WH, 9-5-09

• Obama hosts dinner for Islamic holy month: President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised American Muslims for enriching the nation’s culture at a dinner to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
  “The contribution of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country,” Obama said at the iftar, the dinner that breaks the holiday’s daily fast…. – AP, 9-1-09
• WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Marks Fourth Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; Will Visit New Orleans Later This Year: This weekend marks the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast. As we remember all that was lost, we must take stock of the work being done on recovery, while preparing for future disasters. And that is what I want to speak with you about today.
  None of us can forget how we felt when those winds battered the shore, the floodwaters began to rise, and Americans were stranded on rooftops and in stadiums. Over a thousand people would lose their lives. Over a million people were displaced. Whole neighborhoods of a great American city were left in ruins. Communities across the Gulf Coast were forever changed. And many Americans questioned whether government could fulfill its responsibility to respond in a crisis, or contribute to a recovery that covered parts of four states…. – WH, 8-29-09

HISTORIANS & ANALYSTS’ COMMENTS

• Julian Zelizer “New rallying cry: ‘Win one for Teddy’ Dems look to unite pols on health care”: Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University political scientist, said Kennedy colleagues’ love for the departed senator isn’t going to be enough. “The reality is we saw in August a Congress that is very polarized, and the opposition is pretty set,” Zelizer said. “It’s hard to imagine they’d switch their vote because it’s called Kennedycare. That’s not the era we live in.” In an earlier era, the death of another Kennedy – President Kennedy – was invoked to pass long-stalled civil rights and Medicare legislation backed by the slain leader. But Zelizer said it was as much President Johnson’s legislative skill as Kennedy’s memory that got the bills passed. Besides, he said, in this case the sponsor died an old man. “It’s about the bill and not the name on the bill,” Zelizer said. – Boston Herald, 9-7-09
• Julian Zelizer “Commentary: Did Obama underestimate his critics?”: One of the great puzzles this summer has been why President Obama seemed to have underestimated the intensity of the counter-mobilization he would face in proposing health care reform.
  Historically, each time an American president has sought to reform the health care system, opponents mounted a fierce and unrelenting attack to undermine public support…. CNN, 9-1-09
• H.W. Brands: “As support fades, Obama attempts to reinvigorate agenda, Scholars say it’s time for Obama to step up leadership”: H.W. Brands , a University of Texas professor who was among a small group of historians who joined the president earlier this summer for a private dinner, said that much of what had happened to Obama this summer had been “entirely predictable.”
  “He sometimes sounds as if he’s still running a campaign. But once you get to be president, you’ve got to figure out who the bad guys are,” Brands said. “And you’ve got to convince Americans that the ones you think are the bad guys really are the bad guys.” – McClatchy Newspapers, 9-1-09
• Harold Cox “As support fades, Obama attempts to reinvigorate agenda, Scholars say it’s time for Obama to step up leadership”: Harold Cox , a presidential scholar and archivist at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, recalled how Ronald Reagan had great success in his first eight months, winning approval of a major tax cut and the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court . When Congress returned in September, however, budget fights and a staggering economy made it hard for Reagan to control policy, and his approval numbers slipped.
  Bill Clinton suffered a similar fate in 1993 after he won approval of his massive deficit-reduction bill early in his term. Cox recalled how Clinton was distracted by the gays-in-the-military debate.
  Obama “needs to understand the glow can disappear awfully fast,” Cox said. “Even now, I’d say he’s got only a 50-50 chance at getting health care.” – McClatchy Newspapers, 9-1-09
• Ross Baker “As support fades, Obama attempts to reinvigorate agenda, Scholars say it’s time for Obama to step up leadership”: “Unless a president lays down a very visible, strong marker, Congress tends to wander,” said Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University.” Congress is historically a ship without a keel, and the president provides the keel. There comes a time when he has to step up and put his imprint on policy.” – McClatchy Newspapers, 9-1-09
• Kennedy letter to pope sought support: Scholars examine message, meaning… – Boston Globe, 9-1-09
• Julian Zelizer “Commentary: Ted Kennedy was a true believer”: …Americans suspect that a majority of politicians are willing to switch their position on any given day, depending on which way the political winds are blowing. Everyone, we sometimes fear, is a flip-flopper.
  This was certainly not the case with Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy. He was a refreshing presence in Washington for many Americans, even those on the right who hated the political ideas that he championed. Love him or hate him, as Walter Sobchak might say, at least Kennedy stood for something…. CNN, 8-27-09