Bush Hits Obama On Gitmo
During a speech yesterday in Pennsylvania, former President George W. Bush deviated from his previous declarations that he would not criticize President Obama. “I told you I’m not going to criticize my successor,” he said. “I’ll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don’t believe that persuasion isn’t going to work. Therapy isn’t going to cause terrorists to change their mind.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will meet with Vice President Biden at 1 p.m. ET. At 3:15 p.m. ET, the two of them will meet with George Mitchell, the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. At 4 p.m. ET, Obama will meet with Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner. At 7 p.m. ET, Obama will speak at a DSCC/DCCC fundraising dinner.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will meet at 10:45 a.m. ET with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. At 12 p.m. ET, he will speak at the DSCC/DCCC fundraiser. In the afternoon he will meet with President Obama in the Oval Office, and afterwards he will administer the oath of office to the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Maybus. Then he will join President at 3:15 p.m. ET, meeting with Special Envoy George Mitchell.
Poll: Obama’s Ratings Mostly Great — Except On Auto Industry And Deficit
A new CBS/New York Times poll shows President Obama’s approval rating remains high at 63%, to only 26% disapproval. Obama also has a 57%-35% rating on the economy, 59%-23% on foreign policy and 57%-24% on fighting terrorism. However, he is at 41%-46% on his handling of the auto industry, and only 30% think he has a plan for dealing with the deficit, to 60% who say he does not have a plan.
New Dems And Blue Dogs Team Up Against “Crazy Liberals” On Health Care
The Hill reports that New Democrats and Blue Dog caucuses, the two groups of centrist and relatively conservative Democrats in the House, have been working together to come up with their own set of principles on health care reform — in order to counter the left. Said an anonymous senior Democratic aide: “You have a bunch of crazy liberal chairs and their crazy liberal staffers, and they want to lay down a marker.”
Roll Call: Senate GOP Still Saying “No”
Roll Call reports that Senate Republicans are holding together on an important subject: Resisting and delaying Democratic action on just about everything. “Democrats need to know when they bring [bills] up, we’re going to extend the debate as long as we can — even if we can’t win it,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), “so that their people back home know that they’re voting for this junk.”
Rove: GOP Can Stop “ObamaCare” — With Its Own Proposals
In his latest Wall Street Journal column, Karl Rove calls on Republicans to counter Democrats on health care by offering their own incrementalist proposals. “As long as the choice was between reform and the status quo, the public was likely to go with the reformers,” Rove writes. “But if the debate is whether to go with costly, unnecessary reforms or with common-sense changes, then Republicans have a chance to appeal to fiscally conservative independents and Democrats and win this one.”
Hillary Clinton Breaks Elbow
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton fractured her elbow in a fall yesterday. Clinton had been on the way to the White House when she fell, and was treated at The George Washington University Hospital. An event that had been scheduled for today, marking World Refugee Day alongside Angelina Jolie, has been cancelled.
