Update: Obama will speak from the Oval Office at 8 pm eastern time.
From Bill Burton:
MR. BURTON: I’d just add to what John said. The President will of course be making a speech on the 31st. Just to short-circuit some of your questions, the venue and time has not yet been determined. But he’ll of course talk about the importance of the milepost that that day is as we change missions in Iraq. He’ll talk about the bravery and the courageousness of American soldiers who’ve fought there. He’ll talk about what our policy will be in Iraq moving forward, and he’ll talk about how that effort relates to and works with our fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan and all around the world.
Read the rest of the White House press briefing for Aug. 24 here.
Bill Burton defends Gibbs, who's out sick. I wish the Obama administration would go on the offense. The self-righteous whiny right and the self-righteous whiny left make politics miserable for everyone.
Obama will speak at 10:50 am eastern. Look for a live stream here and here.
"It’s an issue that’s important right now," Burton said. "It’s important at the border. It’s important for folks who are employing people all over the country. It’s an important issue ... and the president thinks that right now, given the focus on it, it’s important that he makes clear exactly where he stands on it.
"There’s been the Arizona law, there’s been meetings about it, there’s been protests about it," he said. "He thought this was a good time to talk plainly with the American people about his views on immigration." The Hill
Obama met with Senate republicans today and all he got was an angry Corker. This is from the White House:
The President had a good exchange with the Senate Republican Conference today about priorities for the balance of the year.
He asked for their cooperation in finishing work on measures to help create jobs and improve our economy, including one to help make loans available to small businesses; in ratifying the START treaty that is central to our long-term security and efforts at nuclear non-proliferation; and in confirming Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court in a timely manner, so she can take her seat when the court reconvenes after summer.
The President also urged the conference to work with him to address two major, unresolved issues: comprehensive immigration reform and energy legislation.
On immigration, the President noted that many in the conference have supported efforts before to fix a broken system and impose accountability at our borders, accountability for employers who undercut the law by hiring undocumented workers; and for the workers themselves, who are here illegally and must take responsibility. And he urged them to work with him across party lines to make progress on this issue.
On energy, the President told the conference that the gulf oil disaster should heighten our sense of urgency to hasten the development of new, clean energy sources that will promote energy independence and good-paying American jobs. And he asked that they work with him on the promising proposals currently before Congress.
Obviously, there were continued differences on some of these issues. But, the President believes that direct dialogue is better than posturing, and he was pleased to have the opportunity to share views with the conference.
He will continue to take every opportunity to work constructively with any member of Congress, of either party, to move America forward.
But when republicans crawled out of the meeting more than an hour later, one republican was a wee bit upset. Sen. Bob Corker criticized Obama for using republicans as props. They may as well be useful for something. I think republicans make great props.
A GOP senator ripped into President Barack Obama at a meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday, telling him he had “audacity” coming in and using Republican lawmakers as "props."
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the Democrats’ partner on Wall Street reform, criticized Obama during a meeting the president requested with the Senate Republican conference to court their support for the remaining initiatives on his agenda.
After the meeting, GOP senators said they appreciated the outreach.
But behind closed doors, the president faced a hostile crowd of angry Republicans, led by Corker.
Obama reacted coolly:
The Republican who witnessed the exchange said Obama offered up a mild response.
A spokesman for the White House said the exchange with Corker was not as harsh as Republicans described.
“The exchange he had with the president was actually pretty civil,” said White House spokesman Bill Burton.
Yet more republican thuggery. Do they really think they're going to make inroads with the American people like this? Republicans have a lack of respect for POTUS:
"He needs to take a Valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) told reporters. "He's pretty thin-skinned." msnbc
McCain is still posing:
"I said we needed to secure the border first," McCain recounted. But, according to several senators, Obama argued in favor of a comprehensive bill that also provided a pathway to citizenship for illegal residents, similar to the legislation that McCain backed in 2007.
This photo has no relevance to this post, or it could if you viewed the flowers as wooing the opposition. I just think it's funny.
Apparently, you have to say "Wall Street" reform as opposed to "banking" reform in order for the American people to get it, according to a Gallup poll. For all the hype and extended play politics over financial reform, I mean, Wall Street reform, I think it's going to get done quickly. Obama only needs one republican on financial reform, but I think he's going for a more bipartisan bill because it's in reach.
President Barack Obama called Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to talk Wall Street reform legislation on Tuesday, and has been in talks with Republican lawmakers about the bill.
Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said the president and members of the administration have been working closely with GOP members of Congress, telling a pool reporter that Obama had called Brown aboard Air Force One while flying back from California today.
Obama and Brown talked financial reform and immigration reform, despite Brown having maintained as lately as this Sunday that he would join a Republican filibuster of the legislation. The Hill
Update Jan. 5: List of attendees at the intel meeting.
Bill Burton addressed the press today. The first question regards Obama's intel meeting tomorrow:
Q Just one basic question -- will we hear from him tomorrow after the meeting? MR. BURTON: Stay tuned. But there is, as of now, no travel, foreign or domestic, this week. I know there were some rumors to that effect. I want to put you all at ease. Q The President was planning on and I presume still is planning on starting a jobs push in January. This is now perhaps being mixed up with the national security issue. What happens next on that front? MR. BURTON: Well, as you know, when you're President of the United States you've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, so you can anticipate there's going to be a very heavy push to get Americans back to work, to get the economy as strong as it can be, along with some of the other things that we left behind at the end of the year to get finished up here -- health care, financial regulatory reform, things like that. But then also along with what's happening on these counterterrorism measures and Yemen, we've also got issues to deal with with Iran and North Korea and Pakistan. And you can bet that the President and his principals and deputies will all be taking on their full plates of work with rested minds hopefully and we'll be able to make some good progress here right out of the starting gate.Read more at Time
Regarding Obama's upcoming State of the Union speech:
Q How much of the State of the Union is going to be taken up by this Christmas Day event? MR. BURTON: Well, we're in the process of piecing together what it will be -- a speech that is going to have to cover quite a bit of ground. So at this point, it's hard to say with any specificity. Obviously it will have a role, but that speech is still very much in the midst of an ongoing process towards completion. Q Do we have a date on that yet? MR. BURTON: No.
The sad part of the show is that Obama compared his bowling to the Special Olympics. It seemed out of character. He should know better, considering that Maria Shriver, whose mother started the Special Olympics, supported Obama, and White House officials, including VP Joe, recently attended a ceremony for the Special Olympics. But those things happen and, yes, Obama gets a pass because he quickly apologized to Tim Shriver who heads the Special Olympics.
AP: On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry — even before the taped program aired late Thursday night. "He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball. Still, Shriver said, "I think it's important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes." Shriver is the son of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, whose endorsement early in the Democratic primaries was critical to Obama winning his party's nomination. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling with Obama that the president's offhand remark was not meant to disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at the commander-in-chief's bowling skills. "He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world," Burton said.
I thought for a minute that McCain was going to take the high road since he called off his pit bull yesterday, after days of innuendo that Obama is a radical terrorist Muslim. Seems Palin was inciting too much hatred at her rallies. Her supporters are into that theme. Palin is so inspiring. But McCain, eyes closed, has gone full bore down the dirty road. And we'll see about Palin because she'll be out on her own again today.
Politico: McCAIN LAUNCHESAYERS WEB VIDEO – Politico's Andy Barr: 'John McCain's campaign released a new 90-second web [video] Thursday on Barack Obama's relationship with 1960s radical William Ayers. ... 'Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They've worked together for years. But Obama tries to hide it. Why? Obama's friendship with terrorist Ayers isn't the issue. The issue is Barack Obama's judgment and candor. When Obama just says, 'This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.' Americans say, 'Where's the truth, Barack?' Barack Obama. Too risky for America.'
EXCLUSIVE: A TV AD IS PLANNED.
McCAIN CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER NICOLLE WALLACE, during round of morning shows, SAYS OBAMA 'LIED.'
Nicolle, to ABC's Robin Roberts on 'Good Morning America': 'Nobody in America sitting around the kitchen table ... cares about a washed-up terrorist like Mr. Ayers, which he is. It's about telling the truth about your record. And if we can't trust Barack Obama to tell the truth about the guys in his neighborhood, who also happen to be domestic terrorists, who also happen to be people who have held events for him, how can we trust him to tell the truth about what he could do as president?'
Obama's Robert Gibbs: 'You heard a crazy answer right there from Nicolle. Let me address some of the things that Nicolle knowingly misstated, in another desperate and dishonest attack from the McCain campaign.'
WALLACE: 'Do I look desperate?'
WALLACE, on NBC's 'Today': 'The point is he lied when he first talked about his association.'
Obama's Bill BURTON, on Fox: 'Even after all these reports, at the end of the day, their paths crossed a couple times. Did he know about his past when he went over to his house? No. When he found out about the terrible past, did he say the actions were detestable and deplorable? Absolutely.'
Here's exactly why the McCain camp is taking the low road and McCain knows it, but lacks the wisdom or the integrity to do anything about it:
GRAND RAPIDS -- Following an unpopular president, supporting a costly war, and now facing a financial crisis at home, Sen. John McCain's race for the presidency should be in worse shape.
"What makes John McCain plausible is Barack Obama," news anchor Ray Suarez told a local crowd Wednesday.
The "pseudo controversies" about Obama's background are symbols for a "racial calculus" hard at work in U.S. politics.
Opinions about Obama's inexperience, his childhood in Indonesia, and the persistent but untrue rumors of him being Muslim are stand-ins for something his detractors cannot admit, Suarez said.
Particularly, "religion has become a proxy for race," he said.
Characterizing Obama as Muslim "is a way to confer otherness on him for those people who are uncomfortable saying they're against him because he's black."
Suarez spoke at Fountain Street Church as part of the Diversity lecture series. He is the senior correspondent for PBS's "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" and former host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation" program.
NYT: McCain may feel compelled to go back to his guilt-by-association theme. And this has me feeling very guilty about my associates.
The McCain folks have been obsessed with William Ayers, a neighbor of Obama’s who is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Back in the 1960s, Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, were leaders of the Weather Underground, an antiwar group whose penchant for violence was exceeded only by its haplessness. Ayers has since become an education expert and was named Chicago’s Citizen of the Year in 1997. He gave Obama a house party when Obama was running for the State Senate.
In my experience, most State Senate hopefuls are so thrilled at any sign of interest that they would happily attend a reception given by a homeless couple in their cardboard box. But even though Obama was 8 years old at the time the Weathermen were in the news, that house party puts all their misdeeds on his platter. Sarah Palin has been telling her increasingly scary rallies that he is somebody “who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists.”
Fox News, in a one-hour special on Obama’s associates hosted by Sean Hannity, came up with an “Internet journalist” named Andy Martin who has spent his life running bizarre political campaigns with occasional detours into the clink and filing lawsuits laced with paranoia and anti-Semitism. Based on this expertise, Martin deduced that Ayers was the puppet master of Obama’s rise in politics and that Obama’s community-organizer gig was actually training for “a radical overthrow of the government.”
To me, this Ayers line of attack seems like just preaching to the choir. It seems people inclined to think Obama is a terrorist Muslim will bite the bait. But really, how many stupid people are there in America? That's a scary question.
Obama needs to use the word "radical" to describe McCain more often. McCain believes in deregulating the industry just like the financial sector. Libertarian Bob Barr was on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning and he talked about this idea of deregulating healthcare. He doesn't believe everyone should have healthcare -- it's not the government's job.
The NPR host reminded him that many people can't afford health insurance (not aware of the problem?) and he said yes, it's expensive, but he contends if you remove regulations, then it would be cheaper.
I would say there is little difference between this philosophy and McCain's. The republican idea of healthcare is it's not the government's job. Does anyone truly think that healthcare would be a priority in a McCain administration? When has a republican ever cared about insuring people?
Politico: With families increasingly worried about their economic security, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is opening a major assault on what he charges is a “radical plan” by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to decentralize health insurance.
Bill Burton, national press secretary of the Obama campaign, charged: “Millions [would] lose the health care that they have.”
Obama is unveiling his new assault at a rally in Newport News, Va., this afternoon, and the campaign is following up with TV ads, radio spots, mailers and grass-roots events in battleground states, aides said.
“What John McCain doesn’t tell you is that his plan calls for massive deregulation of the insurance industry that would leave families without the basic protections you rely on,” Obama says.
“So here’s John McCain’s radical plan in a nutshell: He taxes health care benefits for the first time in history; millions lose the health care they have; millions pay more for the health care they get; drug and insurance companies continue to profit; and middle-class families watch the system they rely on begin to unravel before their eyes.” .... Burton told Obama’s traveling press corps this morning: “In the next phase on the campaign trail, on TV, in the mail and on the radio, we are going to do two things: 1) Educate voters about voters about Senator Obama’s plan to get all Americans affordable, acceptable health care; and 2) Make sure that voters know what John McCain isn’t telling you about his health care plan.
TO: Interested Parties FR: Obama-Biden Campaign RE: Five Pitfalls of the McCain Health Plan
FIVE PITFALLS OF THE MCCAIN HEALTH PLAN
John McCain’s “radical” health care plan will undermine the health care that millions of Americans have come to rely on, and while shifting costs onto individuals and hurting the budgets of working families. In five crucial areas the McCain plan will make America’s already fragile health care system worse, making it more difficult to solve our nation’s health crisis.
1. Pays for a New Tax Credit by Taxing Employees’ Health Benefits for the First Time in History. John McCain and Sarah Palin argue that their health care plan is budget neutral, and that it includes a new $5,000 health care tax credit to help families purchase insurance. What they don’t tell you is that to pay for their plan, they will tax the health benefits that workers receive from their employers for the first time in history. Moreover, McCain’s health care tax credits would go directly to insurance companies, while his new tax on employee health premiums would come directly out of workers’ pockets. This tax punishes those who currently have generous health insurance, and over time will result in higher taxes for tens of millions of middle-class families.
• OBAMA PLAN: Offering tax credits to make health care affordable for all Americans, without imposing a new tax on employer health benefits. Barack Obama’s health care plan is fully paid for by reducing health care costs, eliminating overpayments to HMOs and rolling back a portion of the Bush tax cuts for families making over $250,000 per year.
2. Forces at least 20 million people to lose employer-based coverage. By taxing employee health benefits, the McCain plan will make it more expensive for employers to provide coverage. As a result, independent analyses show that employers will drop at least 20 million people from coverage and force them to seek insurance in the individual market, where costs are higher, quality is lower, and coverage more uncertain. By moving more risk upon the shoulders of individuals, it raises insurance costs for everyone nationally. And by forcing millions into the individual market, people with pre-existing conditions from asthma to cancer will be at risk of not being able to get health insurance at all.
• OBAMA PLAN: Building upon the employer based health-insurance system by letting workers keep the health insurance they have or to purchase a different plan in a new pool that ensures quality and affordable coverage.
3. Undermines the ability of people who do have coverage to get services from cancer screenings to vaccines. The McCain plan undermines state laws that require insurance companies to cover bedrock health care services such as cancer screenings and vaccines. The plan empowers insurance companies over doctors and nurses, while making America less healthy. In fact, John McCain recently explained his intention to deregulate health insurance along the lines that the banking industry has been deregulated over the past decade.
• OBAMA PLAN: Protecting existing state regulations and increasing protections for American families by requiring health insurance companies to cover all Americans regardless of health status and outlawing unreasonable rate and fee increases. Read the rest.
