Obama Says Some Are Racist

President Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged that some Americans don’t like him because of the color of his skin — but argued that the vast majority of his political opponents simply disagree with him on the merits of the issues.

He offered that same answer – virtually word for word — to questions about race posed by some of the five Sunday show anchors he sat down with Friday at the White House.

To George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s “This Week,” Obama said, “Are there some people who don’t like me because of my race? I’m sure there are. Are there some people who voted for me only because of my race? There are probably some of those too.” Read more at Politico.

Obama, always the grown up. He says health care has become a proxy for worries that government is getting too big and that we don't have to assume the worse of people's motives. Conflict is catnip to the media. Preview of Obama on Face the Nation:

George S. previews his sit down with Obama here. Obama acknowledges that some people are frightened of government.
CNN preview:

Obama is doing five shows this weekend except for Fox. It's probably pointless to do Fox. Fox viewers who want to see Obama can tune to another station.

Bill O'Reilly is upset about that. So O'Reilly stokes the fire about the new missile defense strategy. O'Reilly also says he's not supporting a public option, contrary to what the left has been saying.
Chris Wallace says Obama's people are the "biggest bunch of cry babies." Like that's going to get you an interview.
O'Reilly and Wallace illustrate why Obama's probably not doing Fox. Watch it here.

Obama's Budget Makes Room for Disaster a Year

Obama's budget will include money for a major disaster a year:

Politico: 'This budget actually is going to assume that there will be a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood or manmade disaster in the United States in fiscal year 2010, and each year going forward 10 years,' a senior administration official said. Under White House projections, this year's inherited budget deficit of $1.3 trillion will be cut to $533 billion by fiscal year 2013, the end of the first term. The official said the bulk of the savings come from winding down the war in Iraq, additional revenue from raising taxes on the wealthy, and other cuts and savings to be specified later. Officials have said the budget creates room to start an ambitious overhaul of the nation's health-care system, which Obama aides view as a key to the government's fiscal future. The budget provides a projected cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ('overseas military contingencies'), assumes the full cost of fixing the alternative minimum tax each year and does not assume deep cuts in Medicare physician payments. 

Some on the left are balking that Obama is trying to reduce the deficit. I don't understand that complaint. It's the prudent thing to do. Why wouldn't he want to at least try? It's been proven in the past that there's plenty of waste to clean up.

Politico: Obama’s team has settled on a three-part plan to deliver the bad news to America, aides and experts say. First, they will begin the week with a “fiscal summit” Monday designed to stress that the president cares about the deficit and plans to reduce it, by raising taxes on the wealthy, drawing down in Iraq and reining in Medicare and other entitlement costs.

Second, the president will explain the widening gap in an address to Congress Tuesday in positive, hopeful terms. He’ll say a brief bulge in government spending is needed to stimulate the economy, and to reform health care, education, and energy policy – key campaign promises that he’ll flesh out as he releases his first budget outline on Thursday.

And third, the current White House will take advantage of a ripe but waning opportunity: to blame it all on President George W. Bush.

Tax hikes for the wealthy coming:

WaPo:Obama also seeks to increase tax collections, mainly by making good on his promise to eliminate some of the temporary tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003. While the budget would keep the breaks that benefit middle-income families, it would eliminate them for wealthy taxpayers, defined as families earning more than $250,000 a year. Those tax breaks would be permitted to expire on schedule in 2011. That means the top tax rate would rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, the tax on capital gains would jump to 20 percent from 15 percent for wealthy filers and the tax on estates worth more than $3.5 million would be maintained at the current rate of 45 percent.

Obama's Remarks After Economic Meeting Jan. 5

Today Obama met with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and this week he'll meet with democrats and republicans on the economic package. He'll give an economic speech on Thursday. See photos here. He also met with his economic team today. Swift middle class tax cuts and incentives to business are the priority. Present at the meeting, according to The Hill, were:

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner, chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers, energy czar Carol Browner, HHS Secretary-nominee Tom Daschle and Ron Klain, incoming chief of staff to Vice President-elect Biden.

Also present were Christina Romer, Obama’s chairwoman of the council economic affairs; Melody Barnes, the head of Obama's domestic policy council; and Peter Orszag, Obama’s incoming director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Here are some of the highlights. For the full transcript: CQ Politics:

SPEAKER: PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA

[*] OBAMA: Well, thanks for taking the time to come in for a moment.

You know, this is the core of my economic team, and the message of our meeting today is one that comes as no surprise to most Americans, and that is we are in a very difficult spot. The economy is bad. The situation is getting worse.

Last week, we learned that manufacturing had hit a 20-year low. On Friday, we’re going to get the final jobs report from this year, and every indication is that we will have lost in 2008 more jobs than at any time since World War II.

It’s clear that we have to act and we have to act now to address this crisis and break the momentum of the recession or the next few years could be dramatically worse. That’s the message that I delivered to Speaker Pelosi this morning. I will be meeting with Harry Reid and with the bipartisan leadership group this afternoon.

And the most important message today is that the situation is getting worse, we’ve got to act boldly, and we’ve got to act swiftly. We cannot delay.

....

Over the last few weeks, our economic crisis has only grown deeper. Two million Americans have now lost their jobs over the last year. We have a substantial number -- in fact, Christina Romer, our economist from the Council of Economic Advisers, indicates to me that in addition to the 2 million who’ve lost jobs, you’ve got 2.8 million who have moved from full-time work to part-time work.

So when you start counting in people who are underemployed, then the situation is very dire for American families.

Again, manufacturing’s hit a 28-year low.

OBAMA: Across America, millions of Americans are struggling with rising costs, growing debts, concerns about home foreclosure, a deepening sense of unease.

When I last met with my team, I asked them to continue their work on an American recovery and reinvestment plan that would not only create jobs in the short term, but also spur economic growth and lay the foundation for a sustained competitiveness in this global economy over the long term.

....One of the things that I’ve emphasized to my team -- and one of the things that I’ve emphasized to congressional leadership and will emphasize again today -- is that not only do we have to act boldly, swiftly and with a sufficient magnitude to make a difference, but we’ve also got to do things in a new way.

It’s not going to be sufficient for us just to fall back into the old Washington ways and simply throw money at the problem. We need to demand vigorous oversight; we need to have strict accountability in terms of how the -- the recovery and reinvestment plan operates.
The American people have a right to know how every dime of their money is spent, and that is going to be built into the plan, so that everybody understands what is being done in order to address this crisis.....

So I’m looking forward to meeting with both the Democrats and Republicans this afternoon. My expectation is that they will share the same sense of urgency that I do, that we are going to move quickly, that we’re not going to get bogged down in a lot of old-style politics on either side.
OBAMA: There’s not going to be a lot of finger-pointing or posturing. The American people need action now. That’s what I intend to provide as president of the United States. So with that, let me take a couple questions.
QUESTION: How fast does this plan need to move to passage?
And in moving swiftly and boldly, are you concerned at all about sacrificing transparency and a full examination of the process?
And also, if you don’t mind, could you also talk about the extent to which the tax cut part of this plan is political (OFF-MIKE) getting it passed?
OBAMA: Well, let take the second question first. Some of you, at least, were following the campaign. And for the last two years, I’ve talked about the need for middle-class tax cuts.
So the notion that me wanting to include relief for working families in this plan is somehow a political ploy, when this is -- was the centerpiece of my economic plan, for the last two years, doesn’t make too much sense.
What -- in a bad situation, there is a happy convergence between what I had pledged during the campaign and what’s required for the economy, right now, to put more money into the pockets of ordinary Americans who are more insecure about their jobs, who are continuing to see rising costs in an area like health care, who are struggling to make ends meet.
But, you know, we think it is very important to have a balanced recovery and reinvestment package. Part of it is going to be addressing consumers and making sure they’ve got money in their pockets.
Part of it is to provide incentives for businesses so that they start investing in plants and equipment that ultimately leads to jobs.
Part of it is going to be investing in the kinds of job-creating growth industries of the future, whether it’s health I.T., whether it’s energy, that assure economic competitiveness over the long term.
OBAMA: So I wouldn’t separate any of these parts. They’re all of a piece.
And, as far as your first question, we are confident that we can accomplish unprecedented transparency, even as we move this package forward. Not only will Congress know exactly what’s in this bill, but we’re exploring steps, for example, like putting on a Web site very detailed information about all the projects that are taking place, what kind of impact we expect them to have, what kinds of job growth we hope to generate as a consequence of any of the discrete items that we are -- that we’re putting forward.
QUESTION: Good afternoon, sir. To what extent has the violence in the Middle East distracted your team on the economic plan? And is the deadline for your stimulus -- are you still hoping for -- has it slipped to February?
(CROSSTALK)
OBAMA: Well, as I said before, I strongly believe that a president or a president-elect or his team should be able to do more than one thing at a time. And so, obviously, international affairs are of deep concern.
With the situation in Gaza, I’ve been getting briefed every day. I’ve had consistent conversations with members of the current administration about what’s taking place. That will continue.
I will continue to insist that when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now, and we can’t have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake.
With respect to the timetable for the economic recovery and reinvestment plan, we are going to do most of this work this month.
OBAMA: And, you know, we’re not waiting. The reason I’m here today is that we are going to present our latest ideas to Congress. We expect them to begin this week on this process. And, you know, I expect to sign a bill to create 3 million jobs for the American people shortly after I get inaugurated.
QUESTION: Sir, what do you mean by shortly after?
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Well, look, there are only so many days in the legislative process, and it’s going to take some time, even on an expedited schedule, to get a bill passed and on my desk. But we anticipate that by the end of January or the first week in February we have gotten the bulk of this done.
STAFF: Thanks, guys. We got to get to the Hill.
OBAMA: All right. Thank you.

A snippet from today:

Obama's Economic Package To Hit Campaign Trail

Obama in Hawaii

Coming to a city near you: Obama's economic recovery plan. Obama and other staffers will even leave Washington as part of a marketing blitz to pass the stimulus, or what the Obama administration prefers to call the economic recovery plan.

LAT: President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to lead a full-scale marketing blitz to pass the massive new stimulus package that he says is needed to revive the slumping economy and put the nation on the course he laid out during his campaign.

Obama will move to Washington this weekend, checking into a hotel with his family. In the remaining weeks of the transition, and after he is sworn in, he will use the bully pulpit to make the case for passage of a stimulus package of up to $775 billion, an aide said.

Obama, now in Hawaii on vacation, may travel outside Washington after Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, while others in the new administration scatter across the country to explain in minute detail the scope and purpose of the stimulus plan, said David Axelrod, a senior advisor to the president-elect.

"We'll fan out, and this will be a public process," Axelrod said in an interview. "We'll make clear to people why we need to do what we're doing, why it's the size it is, what the individual component parts are, and why they are an important part of the equation in terms of short-term recovery."

Obama, he said, "wants the American people involved in this discussion."

But his stratagem of mobilizing grass-roots support and using his popularity to sway public opinion could inflame partisan tensions.

As far as middle class tax cuts:

Aides would not discuss certain aspects of the package, including the tax cut, saying the details were still being worked out.

But a House leadership aide said the tax cut may come in the form of a payroll tax reduction so that "there'd be more in your paycheck." The cut would potentially apply to people earning as much as $250,000 a year, the aide said.

A House vote on the bill may come the week of Jan. 12, the leadership aide said. A Senate timetable is less certain.

By invoking the threat of a filibuster, the Senate could delay passage. So for Obama to win swift adoption, a Senate aide said, Republican collaboration is essential.

"We expect to move as quickly as possible, but in the end it depends on what kind of cooperation we get from Republicans," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

More money in our paychecks?

CNN: For many cash-strapped workers, Barack Obama's plan to stimulate the economy could mean more take-home money in their paychecks.

While details remain unclear, the president-elect's recovery proposal is likely to include a tax cut to boost spending. Exactly how much of a break that could mean for workers depends on how the tax cut is structured.

Obama: Middle Class Tax Cuts Coming Soon

CNN: Remember all the talk during the presidential campaign about a middle-class tax cut? It could be showing up in your paycheck early next year.

As the debate heats up over how to pull the economy from the ledge, it's likely that tax cuts for the middle-class will play a central role.

President-elect Barack Obama hopes to have a massive economic stimulus plan waiting for his signature when he takes office on Jan. 20. It's expected to include hundreds of billions in spending on infrastructure and green energy, but he also made clear last week that he wants it to also feature tax cuts to lower- and middle-income Americans.

Tax cuts are "part and parcel of what we need when it comes to stimulus," Obama said last week.

"We're going to be putting money in people's pockets so that they can spend on buying a new computer for their kid's school, so that they can, you know, make sure that they are able to deal with heat and groceries and all the other strains on the family budget," he added.

But Obama may hold off on reversing Bush's tax cuts:

One promise he made but may hold off on for awhile: the reversal of some of the Bush tax cuts for high-income taxpayers, who are roughly defined as individuals making more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000. Specifically, Obama has said he would increase the top two income tax rates and the capital gains rate to their pre-2001 levels.

What might the tax cuts look like?

So what kind of tax cuts are being considered? Obama's transition team isn't offering details yet and one Democratic aide on the Hill told CNNMoney.com that specifics have not yet been discussed.

But in talking about his economic recovery package, Obama has mentioned his campaign promise to offer a "net tax cut" for "95% of American workers."

One option that could get Obama a good way toward that 95% is his proposed Making Work Pay credit -- a centerpiece promise in his campaign. The credit would essentially work as a payroll tax credit equal to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples.

Obama's New 2 Minute Ad on Economy