In an interview with TPMmuckraker, Karl Rove’s attorney says his client will cooperate with Nora Dannehy’s criminal investigation into the U.S. attorney firings and has already spoken with investigators conducting the internal DOJ probe into whether the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman was politically motivated.
Obama will announce his pick of Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) as Commerce secretary at an 11 a.m. ET press conference this morning. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
Presidents need to think big, isolate the source of problems and act to fix them. So I think Obama needs to abolish the IRS so his appointees can get confirmed and his program move forward.
Sen. Feingold’s statement praising the nomination of Judd Gregg, which was just announced in a White House press conference, but deploring the way it was done:
“But the apparent behind-the-scenes deal-making that went on to determine who will fill Senator Gregg’s vacancy is alarmingly undemocratic. Once again, Americans will be represented in the Senate for nearly two years by someone they had no hand in electing. As the number of Senators appointed to their seats continues to rise, it’s increasingly clear that we need to fix this constitutional anachronism. It is time to pass a constitutional amendment to end appointments by governors and the political gamesmanship they encourage.”
Feingold has introduced a constitutional amendment to take away the power of governors to fill Senate vacancies and vest that power in the voters via a special election.
I’ve been hollering for days about this or that Republican’s picayune complaints about the Stimulus Bill — either line items for minuscule dollar amounts or bogus complaints about spending items that demonstrably will create lots of jobs and improve the economy over the long term. And now, according to the Post, President Obama is “frustrated by the public perception that the recovery bill was becoming laden with partisan pet projects.”
The good news for the country and President Obama is that Obama remains extremely popular, the Stimulus
Bill is pretty popular and the Democrats have big majorities in both houses of Congress. So there’s little doubt his bill will pass Congress in something like its current form.
But there also shouldn’t be much question why Republicans are having such a field day spreading disinformation and simple nonsense about this bill. We’ve heard virtually nothing over the last couple weeks about the big issue, which is that the economy is in severe free-fall because of a once-in-a-century financial crisis. And because of that, the federal government needs to step in with big short term spending to create jobs to see us through the crisis. Those jobs are needed in the short-term to prevent unemployment from getting out of hand and in the longer term to reshape the economy so that we’re not dependent on recurrent bubbles to keep the economy afloat. This is an emergency jobs bill. And it costs a lot of money because we’re in a deep crisis. But this basic point has disappeared almost entirely from the public debate.
ThinkProgress has admirably demonstrated that the cable networks continue to tip the scales in favor of Republicans by booking like twice or even three times as many Republicans as Democrats to discuss the Stimulus Bill. But that only tells us what we already know, which is that the Washington press establishment is still wired for Republicans. But there is a Democratic president. And he does have the bully pulpit. And he needs to make this argument, which he’s not. Absent that, we can’t be surprised and the Democrats are not in much of a position to complain if the vacuum is filled by a bunch of Republicans making statements that are either demonstrable nonsense or just lies.
Look at what people are talking about and you wouldn’t get the sense that we’re actually in the midst of a major economic crisis that will likely send unemployment well into double digits if nothing is done quickly — and a crisis that is in large measure the result of the economic policies that the Boehners and Cantors and McConnells are telling us, all the evidence to the contrary, will now save us. Everyone who’s taking this situation seriously realizes that spending is the pivotal part of what the government needs to do to stabilize the economy in the face of this crisis. The multipliers for spending versus tax cuts simply leaves no question about that. Ask McCain economic advisor Mark Zandi. The solid critiques from the right aren’t about whether spending is needed but which types are most efficient.
Without a clear argument about why this whole exercise is necessary, it’s inevitable that the debate will be ground down to the inconsequential minutiae which is the aim of its opponents. Big things need a president to argue for them.
Nor should we think there’s no issue just as long as the bill itself gets passed, which seems likely. To paraphrase Woody Allen in Annie Hall, a political movement is like a shark: to live it has to keep moving forward. Or more aptly, to paraphrase another immortal, Bob Dylan: political movements not being born are busy dying. The campaign isn’t over. November 5th was just a big hurdle. The arguments still have to be made for the direction we want to take the country. We need the big picture or we’ll run again on distractions and the efforts of discredited malefactors.
Sen. Thune (R-SD) explains Republican thinking about the economic crisis …
Country’s on the precipice. And idiots like this are holding the floor.
Late Update: A Hill staffer chimes in …
Putting aside how superficial the argument is, Thune’s visual aid is really a fascinating example of how little Republicans in the Senate actually understand “regular folks.” They think they need a visual aid so that people realize ONE TRILLION DOLLARS is a lot of money. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think that’s a lot of money.
The White House is confirming that Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination as secretary of HHS.
Matt Cooper has more.
“I wish Tom Daschle had not decided to withdraw his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. While Tom’s decision is a reminder of his loyalty to President Obama and his determination not to be a distraction, this was no ordinary appointment and today is not a good day for the cause of health care reform. Tom brought a unique level of legislative skill and experience to this position in addition to his passion to achieve affordable health care for every American. Tom made it very clear he’d made a mistake and he took responsibility for it. I believe that when the smoke clears and the frenzy has ended, no one will believe that this unwitting mistake should have erased thirty years of selfless public service and remarkable legislative skill and expertise on health care. I know Tom Daschle well. I know his integrity and I respect his heart for this cause, and I know Tom will find other ways to contribute to this central mission.”