Below is a summary of last week's progress on the President's Agenda. Last week was devoted heavily to the Stimulus Package, making this week's list a bit longer than usual. To review Weeks 1,2 and 3 go here:
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/GinaMaria February 10, 2009 Tuesday1. Obama warning on Pakistan 'haven': US President Barack Obama has said his administration will not allow "safe havens" for militants in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Mr Holbrooke earlier said the situation in Pakistan was "dire".
2. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pledged government financing for as much as $2 trillion of efforts to spur new lending and address banks’ toxic assets, seeking to end the credit crunch hobbling the economy. “Instead of catalyzing recovery, the financial system is working against recovery,” Geithner said in unveiling the Obama administration’s financial-bailout overhaul in Washington today. “At the same time, the recession is putting greater pressure on banks. This is a dangerous dynamic, and we need to arrest it.”
3. Homeless Fort Myers woman offered help after Obama's town hall: Henrietta Hughes was offered a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, who heard the homeless woman’s pleas for help to President Obama before a local and national crowd.
4. Exclusive: Leahy Talks To White House About Investigating Bush
5. At the prompting of President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates Tuesday ordered a review of a ban on media coverage of the return of flag-draped coffins of fallen soldiers from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "From a personal standpoint, I think, if the needs of the families can be met, and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better," Gates told reporters.
6. Iran Asks For Meeting With Obama
7. The Obama administration overturned another Bush-era energy policy, setting aside a draft plan to allow drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
8. Senate passage of an $838 billion stimulus bill triggered an intense round of late-night bargaining on Tuesday, with the White House and key congressional Democrats seeking agreement on a final compromise aimed at combatting the worst economic crisis in decades.
9. The Obama administration on Tuesday overturned another Bush-era energy policy, announcing it was setting aside a draft plan to allow drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
February 11,2009 Wednesday10. House and Senate negotiators agreed to pare economic stimulus legislation below $800 billion and reached for a final deal with the White House on Wednesday on a bill designed to create millions of jobs in a nation reeling from recessionPresident Barack Obama is freezing the pay of the about a hundred White House employees who make over $100,000 a year
11. A decorated CIA veteran who called Pakistan’s bluff during the Kargil conflict a decade back and set US and India ties on a soaring new trajectory has been tasked by President Obama with conducting an inter-agency review of American policy towards Pakistan and Afghanistan.
12. House, Senate Negotiators Reach Agreement on Stimulus Final Bill Scales Down Total Package to About $789 Billion: the final version "creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and spends less than the original House bill." The bill passed by the Senate yesterday totaled $838 billion. The House version approved last week had a price tag of $819 billion.
13. Binyam Mohamed torture evidence 'hidden from Obama': Letter to president about Binyam Mohamed was blanked out, say campaigners as they prepare for Guantánamo prisoner's release to UK
14. President Barack Obama will outline his plan to combat foreclosures in a speech Wednesday – eight days after taking heat for not detailing the plan as part of his new financial stability effort.
15. The Justice Department, probably more than any other agency here, is bracing for a broad doctrinal shift in policies from those of the Bush administration, department lawyers and Obama administration officials say.
February 12, 2009 Thursday16. Obscure post gives Obama big headache: Richardson's and Gregg's long records in public office, however, also made them more susceptible to the types of problems that ended their nominations. A governor must walk a careful line in awarding state contracts. And a veteran senator must answer to partisan supporters and loyalties that don't affect a corporate CEO. Over the long run, Obama's difficulty in filling the Commerce post may prove little more than a time-consuming
17. Summoning the pride of a nation, President Barack Obama paid fond tribute Thursday to Abraham Lincoln by challenging people to embrace his vision of a collective union and reject a "knee-jerk disdain for government." "He recognized that while each of us must do our part, work as hard as we can and be as responsible as we can — in the end, there are certain things we cannot do on our own," Obama said of Lincoln at a celebration of the revered president's 200th birthday.
18. A $790 billion economic stimulus plan that is headed toward final approval in Congress today came together quickly this week because the Obama administration offered a detailed compromise to "make this the president's plan," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said. To persuade Democrats and Republicans to make concessions, Emanuel said the White House put "some skin in the game" by offering to trim its major tax cut. Instead of saving individuals $500 and couples $1,000 this year and next, the accord calls for $400 and $800. "I was surprised and disappointed that the big campaign issue was reduced," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. differences in plan
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-12-stimulus12_N.htm?csp=34#chart19. Early setbacks test Obama's cool: As Congress moves now toward final passage on Friday of the giant stimulus bill, that anecdote tells a little of the dilemma facing Obama even at this time of victory. Change is coming, he has promised, but it won’t be quick or easy. The $789 billion recovery package is a major accomplishment less than a month after his Inauguration. But it’s smaller than Obama had hoped it would be just days ago, and it comes even as his chief economic point man, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, is also under fire for raising expectations but putting too few chips on the table.
20. Obama Takes His Lobbying for Stimulus to Illinois: Obama takes stimulus pulse at Peoria Caterpillar plant
21. Obama tries to 'balance' on church-state tightrope: President Barack Obama, signaling early in his administration that religion belongs in the public discourse, has promised to open a big tent to voices from across the spectrum of belief without crossing boundaries separating church and state.
22. Obama took some lumps in winning stimulus fight: President Barack Obama won the first big test of his presidency, but the way he won suggests that he faces challenges going forward as he fights to solve the nation's banking crisis, expand health care and achieve the rest of his agenda.
23. Obama mortgage plan news spurs late stocks rally: Obama eyes home loan subsidies in rescue plan: sources
24. Obama and Congress collide on school improvement funds
25. Egypt says Obama team understands Israel must stop settlements
26. Senator predicts swift action on credit cards
27. White House may move to buy bad mortgages: New proposal could break logjam of foreclosure relief efforts The White House is considering a proposal to head off potentially millions more home foreclosures by using federal funds to buy up at-risk loans and then refinance them with more affordable terms.
28. Senate Confirms Panetta As CIA Director
29. Obama Mortgage Plan News Spurs Late Market Rally.
February 13, 2009 Friday30. Three major banks suspending foreclosures for several weeks: Bank of America and two other major banks said today they will suspend foreclosures for several weeks as the federal government works on a plan to help people save their homes.
31. House Dems pass stimulus despite GOP opposition: The House vote was 246-183, with Republicans unanimous in opposition to the bill, which includes tax cuts and an estimated $500 billion in federal spending. With a record-busting stimulus plan, the U.S. is marshaling resources against economic catastrophe in ways not seen since Franklin Roosevelt put the New Deal in motion.
President Barack Obama is going with the best deal he could get. The stimulus bill is a landmark legislative achievement for a new president who inherited economic spoilage along with the spoils of power. Now the nation anxiously waits to see if it works.
a. Limits on H-1B hiring by bailout recipients still in economic stimulus bill
b. Stimulus: Uncle Sam goes green: $4.5 billion plan to make federal buildings more energy efficient could go a long way to reduce emissions and costs over the long run.
c. Food stamps, tax breaks for poor in stimulus bill
d. The Senate began voting on President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan hours after the House, with no Republican votes, passed the package designed to help revive the U.S. economy. Senate approval would send the plan to Obama for his signature, giving him the first major legislative victory of his administration.
e. Congress to governors: Use it or lose it-A devilishly clever last-minute insert to the House version: A devilishly clever last-minute insert to the House version of the stimulus bill has made it through the conference report -- a requirement that governors spend their stimulus allocations within 45 days. The provision isn't likely to have a real-world impact, but it forces Republican governors who opposed the stimulus (e.g. South Carolina's Mark Sanford) and many other GOP governors who sat on the fence for fear of bucking their party -- to publicly accept or decline the aid.
f. GOP lawmakers tout projects in the stimulus bill they opposed:
Rep. John Mica was gushing after the House of Representatives voted Friday to pass the big stimulus plan. "I applaud President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future," the Florida Republican beamed in a press release. Yet Mica had just joined every other GOP House member in voting against the $787.2 billion economic recovery plan. Mica wasn't alone in touting what he saw as the bill's virtues.
g. Stimulus Plan Places New Limits on Wall St. Bonuses
32. Representative Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat from New York is the latest to say he wants to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine," a federal regulation scrapped in 1987 that would require broadcasters to present opposing views on public issues. "I think the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," Hinchey told CNNRadio. Hinchey says he could make it part of a bill he plans to introduce later this year overhauling radio and t-v ownership laws. Democratic Senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Tom Harkin of Iowa added their voices recently to those calling for a return of the regulation.
33. Obama returns home for first time as president
34. In Spy Case, Obama's Justice Department Holds Fast to State Secrets Privilege
35. Huge stimulus bill only the 'beginning': Obama
36. Even before the final version of the plan was put to the vote in the Senate and House of Representatives, Obama sought to focus attention on next priorities, including the debt-laden finance sector and the mortgage crisis.
37. Hardened Obama plans new fights: Emboldened by his victory on the stimulus package — but chastened by the pothole-pocked road that got him there — -President Barack Obama and his aides are plunging ahead on a large and expensive agenda that virtually assures 2009 will be marked by intense partisan battles about the size and role of government.
38. Obama backs off 'Buy American': citing the economic crisis, he now says he supports a watered-down version of the Buy American provisions contained in the House and Senate stimulus bills.
39. Obama’s Special Envoy Arrives in Afghanistan: President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, the United States Embassy here said, one day after a coordinated series of Taliban suicide attacks in Kabul underscored the deteriorating security in the capital and across the country.
February 14, 2009 Saturday40. Obama: Stimulus bill 'major milestone' : WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, savoring his first major victory in Congress, said Saturday that newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus legislation marks a "major milestone on our road to recovery."
41. US envoy meets Afghan president amid tensions: President Barack Obama's new envoy to Afghanistan met with President Hamid Karzai on Saturday amid a downturn in U.S.-Afghan relations.
42. Valentine’s pulse: Public still sky-high on Obama 'brand': Obama’s approval rating remains well above 60% in tracking polls. A range of state pollsters said they’d seen no diminution in the president’s sky-high approval ratings, and no improvement in congressional Republicans’ dismal numbers.
43. Obama team sees stimulus advancing health reform: In the legislation passed late Friday, Congress approved spending about $19 billion over the coming years on electronic health records and an additional $1.1 billion on research comparing which treatments work best for a particular disease.
44. Some success for Geithner on world stage debut: Fresh from a rocky week in Washington, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner found more success overseas when the world's financial powers on Saturday endorsed the broad outlines of the Obama administration plan to tackle the recession and banking crisis.
February 15, 2009 Sunday45. Obama to lift ban on stem cell research soon: aide: U.S. President Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order lifting an eight-year ban embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, a senior adviser said on Sunday.
46. Obama launches economic whirlwind: President Barack Obama launches an economic whirlwind this week, signing the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus package in Colorado, before moving to Arizona to tackle the home mortgage foreclosure crisis. Of perhaps equal importance will be his effort to reverse the collapsing housing market that triggered a financial crisis of still-unknown proportions.
47. White House dampens stimulus expectations: President Barack Obama's aides warned Americans on Sunday not to expect instant miracles from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill he will sign this week, but said it would help eventually.
February 16, 2009 Monday48. Obama to appoint panel for auto recovery - It will take more than one "car czar" to help get the embattled U.S. auto industry back on track, President Barack Obama has decided.
49. Obama Gains G.O.P. Support From Governors: President Obama must wish governors could vote in Congress: While just three of the 219 Republican lawmakers backed the $787 billion economic recovery plan that he is signing into law on Tuesday, that trifling total would have been several times greater if support among the 22 Republican state executives counted.
50. After Stimulus Battle, Liberals Press Obama: President Urged to Compromise Less on the Rest of Agenda As President Obama prepares to sign a $787 billion economic stimulus package today amid gales of Republican criticism of its cost, he is also facing quieter misgivings from liberal Democrats who say the bill does not go far enough -- and who are already looking ahead to future legislation that they hope will do more.
51. Obama seeks delay in deciding on Rove subpoena: The Obama administration is asking for two more weeks to weigh in on whether former Bush White House officials must testify before Congress about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
52. Obama has 'warm' talk with Turkish leaders
53. Despite Obama pledge, Justice defends Bush secrets : Despite President Obama's vow to open government more than ever, the Justice Department is defending Bush administration decisions to keep secret many documents about domestic wiretapping, data collection on travelers and U.S. citizens, and interrogation of suspected terrorists.
54. Stimulus is only beginning of Obama's economic plan
55. Obama's auto adviser has Wall Street, labor ties: Ron Bloom, a key adviser to President Barack Obama's new auto industry task force, brings a combination of Wall Street savvy, ties to labor unions, and a penchant for out-of-the box solutions to the government-led restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.
56. Obama as President of Everything: This is a presidency on steroids. Barack Obama's executive actions alone would be enough for any new administration's first month: decreeing an end to torture and the Guantanamo prison, extending health insurance to more children, reversing Bush-era policies on family planning. That the White House also managed to push through Congress a spending bill of unprecedented size and scope -- designed
57. Obama May Press Banks to Cut Mortgage Payments: President Obama’s plan to reduce home foreclosures is expected to include subsidies for reducing a borrower’s interest rate, which a lender would have to match.
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