Report: White House Open To Dem Outside Groups In 2012
Politico reports: “The White House is bracing for an onslaught of $500 million or more in spending by outside Republican groups opposed to President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election, prompting Obama advisers to give the green light to big Democratic donors to set up similar outside groups to counter the GOP’s effort. That posture marks a significant shift by a White House that had discouraged outside players in the political arena in 2008.”
Obama Visits Indonesia
The Associated Press reports: “President Barack Obama says the landscape of Indonesia “has changed completely” since he lived there as a child in the late 1960s. He told reporters at a news conference in Jakarta Tuesday that he has thoroughly enjoyed his first return visit to the Asian nation as president, saying “it’s wonderful to be here,” and wishing aloud that he could stay longer.”
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden had a breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. ET this morning with former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE). At 11:45 a.m. ET, he will hold a Middle Class Task Force event, in which he will announce a series of federal actions for the home energy efficiency retrofit industry. He will meet at 2:15 p.m. ET with Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. At 5 p.m. ET, he will attend the White House Diwali reception.
Obama Voices Concern About Mideast Peace Talks
The Associated Press reports: “President Barack Obama, visiting the world’s most populous Muslim nation, expressed deep concern Tuesday that Israelis and Palestinians aren’t making the ‘extra effort’ to secure a breakthrough for achieving Middle East peace. Obama said he hasn’t seen the kind of progress in negotiations that ‘could finally create a framework for a secure Israel living side by side in peace with a sovereign Palestine.’ Asked at a news conference with Indonesia’s President Suslilo Bambang Yudhoyono about Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem, Obama said, ‘Each of these incremental steps can end up breaking that trust between these parties.'”
WSJ: Republicans May Yet Have Upper Hand In Senate
The Wall Street Journal reports: “On paper, the numbers tell you the Democrats held on to a majority in the Senate last week. In reality, things won’t be quite that neat. In fact, on some issues the Republicans actually may have a functional majority, given the sentiments likely to prevail among certain Democrats who face the voters in two years.”
New GOP Governors Will Affect Health Law
The Washington Post reports: “Republicans’ consolidation of power in state capitols is likely to expand the number of states that employ a far more limited, free-market-oriented approach to implementing the nation’s new health-care law than the robust regulatory model favored by its supporters. Although the law is a federal statute, it tasks states with administering many of its most important provisions and grants them considerable leeway.”
