Posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 by campaign2008
The Wall Street Journal looks at new questions surrounding Barack Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Treasury, Timothy Geithner.
IRAQ: Vice President-elect Joe Biden met (Reuters) with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday in Baghdad. Biden “asserted the importance of cooperation … to implement the foreign troop withdrawal agreement signed by the two countries,” according to Maliki’s office.
TERROR: Transition and White House officials conducted a joint disaster drill (WashPost), laying out a hypothetical terrorist attack on transportation and other targets in multiple U.S. cities, at the White House on Tuesday morning.
Posted in Economy, Homeland Security, Iraq, Morning Update, Terrorism, Transition | 0 Comments »
Posted on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 by campaign2008
After meeting with his top economic advisers on Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama warned of the potential of “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come” (NYT). He promised to enforce tighter fiscal discipline in his government.
BIDEN: Vice President-elect Joe Biden will visit Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan during his trip beginning at the end of the week, he told reporters Tuesday (Politico).
Posted in Afghanistan, Economy, Iraq, Morning Update, Pakistan | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, January 5th, 2009 by campaign2008
President-elect Barack Obama discussed his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan on Saturday in his weekly radio address. Obama said his plan will create three million new jobs, more than eighty percent of which will be in the private sector.
GAZA: The Chicago Tribune looks at Arab perceptions of Obama’s response to the conflict surrounding Gaza.
Posted in Economy, Palestinian-Israeli | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 by campaign2008
Senior International Monetary Fund economist Olivier Blanchard endorsed (WSJ) President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, saying the size of the program “corresponds roughly to what we think is needed.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) expressed skepticism (Politico) over the stimulus package on Monday. McConnell said the bill should not be passed without “appropriate hearings to scrutinize how tax dollars are being spent.”
Posted in Economy, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 by campaign2008
President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden announced the nomination of several additional members of their national security team on Tuesday. Former Clinton administration officials James Steinberg and Jacob Lew are Obama’s picks to serve as deputy secretaries of state under Hillary Clinton. Thomas Donilon is the nominee for deputy national security adviser, and Antony “Tony” Blinken is the nominee for national security adviser to Biden.
STIMULUS: Biden emphasized on Tuesday that the incoming Obama administration’s planned economic stimulus package will not include earmarks (WSJ).
Posted in Economy, Morning Update, Transition | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, December 19th, 2008 by campaign2008
“Today’
s actions are a necessary step to help avoid a collapse in our auto industry that would have devastating consequences for our economy and our workers. With the short-term assistance provided by this package, the auto companies must bring all their stakeholders together — including labor, dealers, creditors and suppliers — to make the hard choices necessary to achieve long-term viability. The auto companies must not squander this chance to reform bad management practices and begin the long-term restructuring that is absolutely required to save this critical industry and the millions of American jobs that depend on it,”
–President-elect Barack Obama, in a statement on Friday in response to President Bush’s announcement that the federal government will provide U.S. automakers with a $17.4 billion loan.
Posted in Economy, Quote of the Day, Transition | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 by campaign2008
President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce the nomination of Mary Schapiro (LAT) as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Schapiro is currently chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a non-governmental securities regulating body.
USTR: Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), who was reportedly a top contender for U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, has turned down the position, according to a statement from his office.
Posted in Economy, Military, Morning Update, Transition | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 by campaign2008
“I am disappointed that the Senate could not reach agreement on a short-term plan for the auto industry. I share the frustration of so many about the decades of mismanagement in this industry that has helped deliver the current crisis. Those bad practices cannot be rewarded or continued. But I also know that millions of American jobs rely directly or indirectly on a viable auto industry, and that the beginnings of reform are at hand. The revival of our economy as a whole should not be a partisan issue. So I commend those in Congress as well as the Administration who tried valiantly to forge a compromise. My hope is that the Administration and the Congress will still find a way to give the industry the temporary assistance it needs while demanding the long-term restructuring that is absolutely required.”
–President-elect Barack Obama, in a statement Friday in response to the failure in Senate of the auto industry bailout proposal.
Posted in Economy, Quote of the Day | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 by campaign2008
President-elect Barack Obama announced Sunday that Gen. Eric Shinseki is his nominee to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Shinseki, a Vietnam veteran and former Army chief of staff, was replaced after questioning former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s strategy in Iraq.
AUTO INDUSTRY: In an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press Sunday, Obama said he believes government assistance for U.S. automakers should be conditioned on major changes in the way those companies operate. They “can’t keep on putting off the kinds of changes that they, frankly, should have made twenty or thirty years ago,” he said. “If they want to survive, then they better start building a fuel-efficient car.”
Posted in Economy, Military, Morning Update, Transition | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 by Joanna Klonsky
Though the incoming presidential administration has indicated its first priority will be repairing the troubled U.S. economy, President-elect Barack Obama emphasized throughout his campaign that combating climate change will also be a top agenda item. Obama plans to reduce U.S. greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050, and has pledged to create millions of “green jobs.” At a symposium on policy and strategies to combat climate change Tuesday, business leaders seemed to agree Obama should institute a federal cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions.
Here is a roundup of some of the main ideas presented at the event:
Former Rep. Phil Sharp (D-IN), president of Resources for the Future, a non-profit environmental research firm, said action on climate change should not be delayed due to the global economic crisis, and called specifically for a price to be imposed on carbon immediately. ”We need some greater clarity in the rules of the game, especially where new investments need to be made,” like in new power plants, assembly lines and other infrastructure, Sharp said. He encouraged policymakers to ensure that the transition to carbon pricing is eased for low-income groups and for industries and regions that will be particularly hard hit by the change.
Vicki Arroyo, Executive Director of the Georgetown State-Federal Climate Resource Center, pointed to regional participation in greenhouse gas accords as evidence of a growing mandate for legislative action on climate change. Still, she pointed to economic turmoil and unstable gas prices as challenges to effective government action. Arroyo said it is important for the United States to “rejoin the table” in international negotiations around climate change. She said a lack of presidential leadership has contributed to failures of climate change legislation in Congress in recent years.
Richard Saines, a partner at Chicago’s Baker and McKenzie LLP, noted evidence of an “Obama effect”—a renewed “spirit of cooperation and hopefulness” on climate change. He predicted concrete commitments from the Obama administration at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Thomas Cushing, vice president of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a private cap-and-trade program, said the business community would benefit from a carbon price. “When there’s a price for emitting a ton of carbon, it allows industry to plan rationally for the future,” Cushing said. “One thing that companies abhor is uncertainty.”
John Rowe, Chairman and CEO of Exelon Corporation, reiterated calls for a cap-and-trade program. The CEO of a major nuclear energy company, Rowe also said he “cannot conceive” of dealing with the challenge of climate change without a “substantial number” of new nuclear plants.
The scientific evidence on climate change is conclusive, Rowe asserted. “To ignore it would be an act of blindness or arrogance.”
Posted in Climate Change, Economy, Energy Policy, Transition | 1 Comment »
