CEOs Weigh in on Obama

Donald Trump:

CEO, the Trump Organization

I would hire him. He's handled the tremendous mess he walked into very well. He still has a daunting task ahead of him but he appears to be equal to the challenge. He has kept his eye on both national and international issues and his visits to foreign countries have shown him to be warmly received, which is certainly a change from the last Administration. I believe he should pay more attention to OPEC and what's going on there, but overall I believe he's done a very good job.

Mohamed El-Erian:

CEO and co-chief investment officer of Pimco

The most interesting thing is the mess he inherited and the extent he has to pursue two different agendas — there's the agenda he came in with and the agenda to stabilize a rapidly imploding US economy. The big gamble is that he has tried to pursue both simultaneously. That's going to define his first term. So far the evidence is mixed. On one side he has been able to stabilize the financial center and institute major structural reforms. And he still maintains enormous popularity with the American people.

On the negative side, the jobs picture is worse than anticipated, and unemployment itself is becoming a big policy challenge. It's going from being a lagging indicator to being a leading indicator. The major issue people are going to second guess in the next six months is his decision to pursue both agendas. Was that the right one or should have he done it sequentially?

He inherited a real mess, not just a mess, but one that requires him to make difficult decisions. I voted for Obama, and I'm a supporter. I've been impressed by how bold he has been on the political front, and how quickly he came up the learning curve in terms of the trade-offs involved. You see it very explicitly: Three weeks ago, for example, he talked about yes, fiscal stimulus was important and it avoided bigger problems — yet there are also longer-term fiscal sustainability challenges. The notion that we get is that he understands what the issues are and he's making active choices as opposed to reactive choices.

Read the rest here.

Health Care Reform With or Without Republicans

Now we're talking. It's clear that republicans don't even think there is a problem with health care. They believe we have the best system in the world and they say most people have health insurance. For them, it's about killing reform to politically defeat Obama. At least that's the message I'm getting. So it's time to leave them behind.

Frustrated with the pace of bipartisan talks, Democratic leaders on Monday promised to push a sweeping health care bill through the Senate whether they get Republican support or not.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the third-ranking Senate Democrat, raised the prospect of the leadership crafting a bill to Democratic specifications and using a rare legislative procedure to expedite legislation fulfilling President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

"We will have contingencies in place. These plans will likely be considered as a last resort, but they are on the table," Schumer told reporters on a conference call. He declined to elaborate. Read the rest at MSNBC

McCain Gets Mavericky: No on Sotomayor

Just yesterday, John McCain warned that republicans needed to find more Hispanic leaders and bring more Hispanics into the party in order to survive as a party, so this is a very strange move. Now I see what people meant when they called McCain a maverick-- they meant erratic. Even his buddy Lindsey Graham is going to vote for Sotomayor.

After days of indecision, Sen. John McCain announced Monday he will oppose the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

The Arizona Republican said Sotomayor tried "to walk back from her long public record of judicial activism during her confirmation hearing."

The senator's views will not slow the momentum for what is expected to be easy confirmation later this week for the 55-year-old federal appeals court judge. Legal sources say a White House swearing-in ceremony for the nominee could happen as early as Friday, depending on when the Senate casts a final vote before its August recess. CNN

Orly Taitz Gets Hysterical on MSNBC

Why in the world would anyone listen to this hysterical woman? I have to say, though, the anchors exploited her for entertainment purposes, which isn't nice. It's too bad republicans weren't decent enough to stop the Birther movement early on. They let it roll throughout the campaign, even fueled it. Now the democrats are using it as ammunition. Republicans really screwed themselves. Serves them right.

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Senate Needs to Move on Cash for Clunkers

Ford said it had a 2% increase in sales for July, compared to last July, due to the Cash for Clunkers program. I'm betting the Senate will approve funding for the Cash for Clunkers. Why not? It's not new money, it's just redirecting money (that's already allocated in the stimulus) from one program to the Cash for Clunkers. If they don't, the program could end by Friday.

It would've been a better idea, though, if higher MPGs were required on the new auto purchase:

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Michelle Malkin on The View

Now this is where Michelle Malkin belongs -- on The View-- not on This Week. It's too bad the women on The View don't know enough to combat her foolishness.

Gibbs Reiterates: Obama Won't Raise Taxes on Middle Class

I watched both Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner on the Sunday shows yesterday and didn't come to the conclusion that the press did -- that Obama is going to raise taxes on the middle class. The way I saw it is that neither Summers nor Geithner wanted to speak on behalf of Obama. There are some things that Obama's advisors speak about and there are some topics that are off limits. How many different ways can the White House press ask the same question? Watch:

Obama Speaks on New GI Bill Aug. 3

This was the bill that John McCain opposed during the campaign. He argued it was incentive to get out of the service. I'd say it's incentive to go into the military and a deserved payment. After all, there aren't many jobs you sign up for knowing that you could be killed. Sen. Jim Webb wrote the bill. Obama said 8 million people were educated under the original G.I. bill:

The maximum benefit under the law rolled out Saturday will allow every eligible veteran, serviceman and woman, Reservist and National Guard member to attend a public college or university for free for four years. They are also eligible for a monthly housing stipend and up to $1,000 a year for books.

Those who attend a private institution or graduate school can receive financial assistance up to the cost of a public college in the state. About 1,100 schools are offering additional scholarships matched by the VA. MSNBC

Details of the GI bill.

Mike Pence Defies Stimulus Evidence

The facts are: Conservatives will ALWAYS say that the stimulus is a bomb, even in the face of evidence, because that's not their ideology. For conservatives, the only way to solve any problem is to cut taxes. That is their only solution to any problem. That and "limited government," which is a mantra.

Half of Afghanis Addicted to Opium

People start taking opium to self medicate, due to the lack of medical services. Most of Afghanistan's opium becomes our heroin.

Dear Mr. President Letters

Obama an Effective President Says McCain

More from John McCain, who told CNN's John King that the stimulus has had an effect. He's just worried about the deficit. I think we're all concerned about the deficit, especially Obama:

McCain says blue dogs always bark, never bite, then roll over and play dead:

McCain on Palin's quitting and the GOP's future without Hispanic leaders and voters:

McCain on Twitter:

Geithner and Greenspan Upbeat on Economy

What I want to know is why did George have Michelle Malkin on the This Week roundtable? She's so far right that it's like inviting a birther on the roundtable, though she did manage to restrain herself. Her agent probably got her the gig since she's pitching her new book.

I try not to listen to the extreme left and the extreme right. Both lack credibility because they can't see any other point of view. They lack the ability to take in new information. They don't bend and they're driven by a firmly planted ideology.

Malkin argued that if unemployment benefits are extended people won't be encouraged to get a job, as if people are just sucking up unemployment because they can. As others at the roundtable pointed out, there are thousands of applicants for each job opening. She also tried to argue the "redistribution of health," a cute take on the "redistribution of wealth." She talked about the "town halls gone wild" as evidence that Americans don't want health care, yet the only town halls that are wild are the teabagger or republican town halls. I've never seen someone have a meltdown at an Obama town hall.
Timothy Geithner (watch) and Alan Greenspan were also on the show (watch). Both were upbeat about the economy.

One could conclude that the stimulus saved the economy from the brink and has put the economy on the right track. Of course, that can be spun to personal taste.
What economists are trying to do now is figure out what's going to take the place of consumer spending in the future (if indeed consumers don't get back to the irresponsible levels of spending). I believe that's what the green economy is all about, innovating and exporting technologies. Our economy should not depend on people overextending themselves with credit.

Larry Summers on Meet the Press Aug. 2

Larry Summers does a good job of explaining why criticism against the stimulus is wrong. I'm sure the republicans will continue to call it a big flop, because that's what they do, but at least Larry Summers did his job in making clear the purpose of the stimulus. I think this is complicated stuff for most Americans--some of whom are barely paying attention--to understand. That's why we see the poll numbers on health care drop--they figure if the stimulus isn't working, how is health reform going to work? If they keep hearing the republican message above all (they're so good playing politics), they'll be swayed, unless the democrats can come with a message that's easier to chew on:

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Jarrett: Obama Absolutely Committed to Health Care Reform

Obama and his advisors

Obama is meeting with his cabinet this weekend, and this morning on the Meet the Press roundtable, Harold Ford suggested that part of their meeting will include coming up with strategies to combat the trolls, uh, I mean the republicans who are merely trying to derail reform --to kill the bill, as Ford says.
In this interview, Valerie Jarrett says Obama won't be derailed.

AL HUNT: Welcome back. We continue our look at health care with the president’s top aide and confidant, Valerie Jarrett. Valerie, let me ask you this - Congress missed the president’s deadline of August to pass both measures to both houses, Senate Finance Committee seems deadlocked, lobbyists are going to be out in full force in August. Are you worried that this thing may be slipping away?

VALERIE JARRETT: No not at all. We have a great deal of confidence that we’re going to have health-care reform passed this year. If you look at how far we’ve come, we’ve come further in health-care reform this year than we probably have in the last 50 years.

There are ample areas where there’s a great deal of agreement and I think we’re at that home stretch and it was important that the president set a deadline, it added some discipline to the process, and we’re confident that we’ll see it come to fruition in the fall.

HUNT: What will he do in the next couple weeks? What will be his message the next few weeks? What new message will he put out there?

JARRETT: Well, the message will be the message that he has been taking to the American people since this began; he laid forth a framework for why we needed this, why it was so urgent to have them right now. We have to reduce costs; we have to make sure that it is affordable. We have to make sure that if you lose your job you don’t have to worry about health care. If you have a pre-existing condition you don’t have to worry about health care.

We have to make sure that we’re really focusing on outcomes and that we’re looking towards making people healthier. The basic parameters that the president set forth are the ones to which there’s a great deal of consensus, not just in Congress, but if you look at it this is the first time we’ve been able to have AARP and the pharmaceutical industry and the physicians and the nurses -

HUNT: But not the insurance industry.

JARRETT: - one cross-section of support. We’re working on them. A lot of the insurance companies are coming along as well.

HUNT: The president expressed his frustration in the Time magazine interview with the critics and in his speech this week he said he was sick and tired of some of this criticism. Is this getting to him?

JARRETT: No, not at all. Listen, there is no one more resilient, more tenacious and more committed to this issue of health-care reform than the president.

The economy is fragile, if you think about what happened in the last six months, the president really was able to rescue the economy, bring it back from the precipice of disaster, and now we’re working on rebuilding it. So as people are trying to focus on making ends meet, feeding their family, paying for college tuition; health care is the single biggest challenge that we face.

HUNT: He’s done that and yet the Pew Poll shows that support for his agenda; health care and his handling of the economy, he slipped rather dramatically in the polls. Why is that?

Jarrett answers the poll question and also talks about CEO pay. Read the rest at Bloomberg.

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Souter Calls for Civic Education

The more people know about government, the less they'll pay attention to the likes of Rush, Beck, Hannity and the rest of that lot. Learning about government could also lead to an appreciation of government, considering that many in government -- mostly republicans -- spend too much time mocking government. People mistrust government because they don't have an understanding of government and they feel outside of government.
Through all of its communications, the Obama administration has made strides in making people feel invested in government. You'll also note that every time Obama speaks, he's usually teaching something about government.
I also think many people confuse politics and governing.

Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter urged the nation's lawyers Saturday to help revitalize civic education, warning that the failure of many Americans to understand how the government works poses a serious threat.

"There is a danger to judicial independence when people have no understanding of how the judiciary fits into the constitutional scheme," Souter said in his keynote address to the American Bar Association's annual meeting.

Souter pointed to a poll showing two-thirds of Americans can't name the three branches of government — executive, legislative and judicial. He said that has to change to keep the nation's judges independent of political pressures. MSNBC

Gates Sends Lucia Bouquet of Flowers

The woman who made the 911 call that led to Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates' controversial arrest wasn't present at the so-called beer summit.

But she got a shot of kindness and a taste of gratitude from Gates himself.

Lucia Whalen received a bouquet of flowers at her office from Gates, according to Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy.

"She described them as amazing, and appreciated them very much," Murphy said of the bouquet.

The attorney described the flowers as being a beautiful assortment of what she believed were different colored roses.

There was a note included from Gates, the details of which Murphy would not divulge. She said the note characterized Gates's "expression of gratitude" for Whalen's action.

An officer responding to a report of a possible break-in at Gates' Cambridge, Massachusetts, home arrested the professor on July 16 for disorderly conduct. The charge was later dropped. CNN

Sean Hannity Goes After Another Conspiracy

Never mind the Birthers, Hannity goes after UFOs and finally finds his calling:

Obama: 2008 Election Fascinating Slice of Americana

Obama with China's vice premier

In a Dec. 2008 interview, Obama called the election novel worthy. I'm sure somone's working on that.
Here are some excerpts from a juicy story in WaPo offering a behind the scenes look in the "The Battle for America 2008," a new book that's out:

"I don't think I was the most interesting character in the election," he said, noting "a whole cast of characters at the beginning who are fascinating in their own right, in some ways compelling just from a human perspective: John Edwards, Huckabee. And then comes the general election [and] you get Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. You've got Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers. It's a pretty fascinating slice of Americana."

e was asked how the writer in him would spin the tale of what ultimately happened in 2008. "The way I would tell the story would really have to do with what this campaign said about America and where we've traveled," Obama said. "The fact that just a little over 40 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, that I can run. That just a few decades after women were admitted to professions like law or medicine in any meaningful numbers, that Hillary could run in a credible way. The generational changes between John McCain's era and our own, and sort of the vestiges of Vietnam, the shift that's taken place in the salience of some of the culture wars that emerged in the '60s that really were the dominant force in our politics, starting with Ronald Reagan, and how that had less power. Which, by the way, includes why the issue of Reverend Wright or Bill Ayers never caught as powerfully as it might have 15 or 20 years ago. The way the Internet served our campaign in unprecedented ways."

Axelrod on Hillary Clinton:

The second half of the Axelrod memo was more personal and pointed. "We should not get into a White Paper war with the Clintons, or get twisted into knots by the elites," he wrote. He argued that the issue of experience was overrated but said strength was not, and he conceded that Clinton, because of all she had weathered, was seen by voters as a candidate of strength. "But," he added, "the campaign itself also is a proving ground for strength."

Clinton, he wrote, "will try to command the race early. . . . Her goal will be two: to suggest that she has the beef, while we offer only sizzle; and that she is not about the past but the future. But for all her advantages, she is not a healing figure. As much as she tacks to the right, she will have a hard time escaping the well-formulated perceptions of her among swing voters as a left-wing ideologue."

Axelrod is a wise man. Axelrod advising on Obama's past drug use:

Axelrod also warned that Obama's confessions of youthful drug use, described in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father," would be used against him. "This is more than an unpleasant inconvenience," he wrote. "It goes to your willingness and ability to put up with something you have never experienced on a sustained basis: criticism.

Read the whole story. It's pretty good.

Obama Talks About Upcoming Visit to Elkhart

Read more about Obama's visit to Elkhart here. Obama's weekly address:

Transcript