Obama Mixes It Up With Governors

Glenn Thrush & MJ Lee, Politico
A feisty President Barack Obama on Monday challenged the nation’s governors — hostile Republicans and prospective GOP presidential candidates among them – on health care reform, labor rights, infrastructure investment and the 2012 election.And he joked that those gathered in the State Dining Room shouldn’t get too comfortable in the White House.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/28/obama_mixes_it_up_with_governors_251247.html

Arlen Specter Arnold Schwarzenegger Barack Obama Barbara Boxer Barbara Mikulski

The Left's Unhealthy Koch Habit

John Hinderaker, AOL News
What do Charles and David Koch, brothers who run the Kansas-based Koch Industries, have to do with Wisconsin's budget battle?Almost nothing, unless you occupy the left wing of the political spectrum. There, you'll find a group of bloggers and commentators who are fixated on pinning the unrest in Wisconsin, and plenty of other supposedly terrible things happening in the country, on these two businessmen.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/28/the_left039s_unhealthy_koch_habit_251213.html

Thad Cochran Thomas Carper Tim Johnson Tom Coburn Tom DeLay

The Left's Unhealthy Koch Habit

John Hinderaker, AOL News
What do Charles and David Koch, brothers who run the Kansas-based Koch Industries, have to do with Wisconsin's budget battle?Almost nothing, unless you occupy the left wing of the political spectrum. There, you'll find a group of bloggers and commentators who are fixated on pinning the unrest in Wisconsin, and plenty of other supposedly terrible things happening in the country, on these two businessmen.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/28/the_left039s_unhealthy_koch_habit_251213.html

Robert Foster Bennett Robert Menendez Roger Wicker Roland Burris Ron Paul

For Boehner, Dance Won't Be Getting Easier

John Harwood, NY Times
After this week, the steps for Speaker John A. Boehner will grow progressively harder in his budget minuet with Democratic adversaries.But there’s little disputing that he has moved deftly to this point.What once shaped up as a week of desultory brinksmanship over a potential government shutdown has been largely drained of suspense. The White House and Senate Democrats are quibbling over the details and duration of the two-week spending extension that House Republican leaders have proposed, but they have embraced its fundamental elements.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/28/for_boehner_dance_won039t_be_getting_easier_251204.html

Thomas Carper Tim Johnson Tom Coburn Tom DeLay Tom Harkin

The Madoff Tapes: "Am I a Sociopath?"

Steve Fishman, New York Magazine
Gernard L. Madoff is in therapy. Each week, he waits for the signal that prisoners are allowed to leave their housing units, then he walks the five minutes from his “room,” as he calls it, to the psychiatric unit at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, where he can unburden himself. The sessions are often teary.“How could I have done this?” he asks. “I was making a lot of money. I didn’t need the money. [Am I] a flawed character?”

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/28/the_madoff_tapes_quotam_i_a_sociopathquot_251211.html

Bill Richardson Bob Casey, Jr Bob Corker Byron Dorgan Carl Levin

Goldman Sachs's Suspicious Call for Spending

Source: http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2011/02/26/goldman_sachss_suspicious_spending_call_98889.html

Chuck Hagel Chuck Schumer Claire McCaskill Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice

Obama's Enforcer Takes Chicago

Paul Harris, The Observer
The slight, grey-haired figure in a suit did not look like one of the most notorious political bruisers of his generation. Rahm Israel Emanuel, the newly elected 51-year-old mayor of Chicago, gave his victory speech with a voice hoarse from the campaign trail and with a beaming smile.He spoke gamely in a 13-minute oration punctuated by cheers from the crowd at a union hall. It was standard political stuff. He paid tribute to his defeated opponents, promised to help children get a better education and to make the city streets safer and then thanked his supporters while vowing to work...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/27/obama039s_enforcer_takes_chicago_251175.html

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Hagan Kent Conrad Kirsten Gillibrand Kit Bond

Arab World is Ready for Democracy

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
CAIRO Nicholas D. Kristof Nicholas Kristof is posting from Cairo on his blog whenever he has Internet access. You can also follow his updates on Facebook and Twitter. Is the Arab world unready for freedom? A crude stereotype lingers that some people — Arabs, Chinese and Africans — are incompatible with democracy. Many around the world fret that “people power” will likely result in Somalia-style chaos, Iraq-style civil war or Iran-style oppression. That narrative has been nourished by Westerners and, more...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/27/arab_world_is_ready_for_democracy_251166.html

Richard Shelby Robert Foster Bennett Robert Menendez Roger Wicker Roland Burris

Obama's 2012 Budget is a Good Template

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/27/obama039s_2012_budget_is_a_good_template_251168.html

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Hagan Kent Conrad Kirsten Gillibrand Kit Bond

Remarks by the President in New Media Breakout Session in Cleveland, Ohio

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, Ohio

  

1:33 P.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  I'm sorry, did I interrupt an answer?

     MS. BERNARD:  No.  Thanks for joining. 

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  All right, the President of the United States is here.  Why don't you tell us why you're here?

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Cleveland I think is a great example of cities all across the country, but especially in the Midwest, who are starting to reinvent themselves.  These are typically manufacturing cities.  They were built on the auto industry, on heavy manufacturing, steel.  And as manufacturing has become much more productive, fewer workers are in manufacturing -- even though manufacturing continues to contribute a lot to the economy -- and so these regions are having to think what’s going to be the businesses of the future that end up employing more people and providing more opportunity.  And small businesses are going to be the ones that I think are going to be making the biggest impact on regions like this one -- a lot of risk-takers, a lot of entrepreneurs here.

     What we wanted to do is make sure that we listen to small businesses, hear from them, find out what kind of barriers they’re meeting -- whether it’s capital, or finding the right workforce, or how do they partner with larger companies.  And so far we've already gotten some terrific ideas.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  He’s better at this than we are.  (Laughter.)  We got some questions for you from WhiteHouse.gov --

     THE PRESIDENT:  All right.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  -- that we were going to shoot to you.  James in Addison, Texas:  With the virtual death of local banking, it’s next to impossible today to get bank loans for anything other than fixed assets.  For working capital, speculative funding, for others, entrepreneurs must look to save capital, family, friends, or even a first customer.  Traditional financing sources only help the more traditional forms of business.  Innovators must look elsewhere.  We're locked in this and we were wondering what your view is.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, one of the things we hear most frequently from small businesses is the problem of start-up capital.  Obviously a lot of small businesses do get started with the entrepreneur -- savings, family loans, credit cards.  But over the last two years it’s been especially tough for small businesses because of the credit crunch, both in the banking industry as well as the fact that folks don't have home equity loans that they could use potentially to start a business; their credit cards might have been maxed out.

     And so what we did over the last two years was try to make sure that the Small Business Administration, the SBA, filled some of this hole.  We increased the guarantees that SBA would provide to banks if they loaned -- if they made a loan to a small business.  We eliminated some of the fees that might be required. And as a consequence, volume from the Small Business Administration went up substantially.

     The other thing that we did was we increased the limits on the loans that might be provided through the SBA.  So the SBA has done a lot of good work.  The Treasury Department has also tried to make sure that they set up funds that would help to facilitate lending to small businesses.  That's especially important in part because small businesses a lot of times have trouble getting loans when their collateral has gone down, the value of their holdings have gone down.  And typically that's been real estate for a lot of small businesses.

     So we got a range of products that, through the SBA, through Treasury, are providing loans to small businesses, helping encourage small banks to get back into the business of lending again.  But we heard some good ideas here today about, for example, providing tax credits for angel investors -- that right now there have been some discussions in Congress about setting up some additional legislation that could help small businesses, and we’re going to see if we can implement it.

     MS. BERNARD:  We had a lot of questions come in about -- or comments and thoughts about preparing the next-generation workforce.  Roy in Temeculah, California, noted:  The economy develops in pockets and clusters.  Why don't we match this with our workforce development for the best results?  We all know that people have many different jobs over their lifetime, and we need to retrain where and when it’s needed -- keep it simple, buy it quickly, keep it local.  The local aspect allows easy access for the people that need the training, and it’s tailored to the local environment and conditions.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, the answer is in the question.  I think that question is spot on.  What you find as you travel around the country is that there’s certain regions that are starting to gain expertise in biotech, or they're starting to gain expertise in advanced battery manufacturing, or they're starting to gain expertise in a particular industry which requires a particular skill set.  And if we can get businesses to partner with local community colleges or local universities and have them help to design the training process for the jobs that already exist, it’s a win-win. 

     For the businesses, it means that all their workforce training costs are absorbed somewhere else, which is obviously good for their bottom line.

     For the students, what it means is that if you actually go through this program, you know that there’s going to be a job at the end of the day because the employers have actually helped to design the program.  And so Skills for America’s Future is a program that we’ve been trying to implement that gets those partnerships between businesses and colleges and universities. 

     The local community college is a particular asset that has been under-utilized over the last several years that we want to really ramp up.  The Department of Labor is also working with state and local governments so that they can design and tailor their own particular approach to training.

     But the key here is to recognize that for the vast majority of folks out there, you're not going to have one job or two jobs during the course of your career; you’re probably going to have six or seven different jobs.  And even mid-career, you may have to start retraining. 

And what we want to make sure of is, A, that there’s financing out there for you to retrain, which is why we increased access to student loans, eliminating some of the unwarranted subsidies that went to banks so that we could expand the Pell Grant Program; make sure that starting in 2014, if you take out student loans, that in repaying them you’ll never have to pay more than 10 percent of your income.  So we’ve expanded access to universities and colleges.

     But we also want to make sure that you're being trained for the right stuff.  And that's particularly true for your second career, for older students.  They’ve got a family, they may be working -- they can’t afford to go to school, take out loans, and then it turns out that what they were getting trained for didn’t provide an immediate job opportunity.

     MS. BERNARD:  I don’t know how your time is.  Do you have time for another thought?  I think you’ve got to go.

     THE PRESIDENT:  I’ll take one more question if you’ve got it.

     MS. BERNARD:  This is really putting me on the spot.  Let’s see what’s just come in. 

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  Nothing we have to clean up.

     MS. BERNARD:  Yes, we have a lot of comments about a lot of things coming in.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Generally speaking, though, the -- what I’ll do is just talk about what I’ve heard in some of these forums.  In addition to financing, I think the other thing that people really wanted to find out is how can they get mentored and partner with some larger businesses.  And we’re very lucky we got Steve Case here who obviously used to be with AOL.  He has agreed to be the chairman of our sort of umbrella organization that is Startup America, which is going to help to mentor and partner with would-be entrepreneurs -- get them with more mature businesses, medium-sized business, large businesses. 

Because a lot of times what they need is financing, but sometimes what they need is mentoring, networking.  They need to -- if you’re in the high-tech space, the most important thing for you is to potentially get in front of a Steve Case or a Steve Jobs or a Mark Zuckerberg or others and get a sense of what it is that is happening in your industry, who are the players there.  And so that’s another opportunity through a public/private partnership -- doesn’t cost money, but it can potentially provide opportunities.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  And we did hear from a number of people who they’re in a later part of their career and they said, look, we still want to be productive; How can we help out?  How can we teach the next generation?  It fits with your theme there.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Absolutely. 

So bottom line is that small businesses create two out of every three jobs in America.  We’re here in Cleveland to make sure that we’re highlighting all the tools that are available right now to increase opportunities for small businesses -- tax credits if you’re providing health care to your workers; tax credits if you’re interested in investing in a small business.  Right now you get zero capital gains on those investments.  

There are a whole range of tools that we’re trying to bring to bear to make sure that we continue to be the most dynamic economy in the world.  And I’m sure that Austan and Sarah will be interested, monitoring our website to get even better ideas as time comes up, and let’s make sure people know what the website is.  It is --

     MS. BERNARD:  Whitehouse.gov.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Whitehouse.gov. 

All right.  Thank you, guys.

     MS. BERNARD:  Thank you.

 END

1:43 P.M. EST

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/22/remarks-president-new-media-breakout-session-cleveland-ohio

Lisa Murkowski Maria Cantwell Mark Begich Mark Pryor Mark Udall

Obama's Enforcer Takes Chicago

Paul Harris, The Observer
Turn autoplay offTurn autoplay onPlease activate cookies in order to turn autoplay offThe former White House chief of staff "“ 'Rahmbo' to friends and foes "“ is the Windy City's new mayor. How will he handle being the frontman for a change?The slight, grey-haired figure in a suit did not look like one of the most notorious political bruisers of his generation. Rahm Israel Emanuel, the newly elected 51-year-old mayor of Chicago, gave his victory speech with a voice hoarse from the campaign trail and with a beaming smile.He spoke gamely in a...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/27/obama039s_enforcer_takes_chicago_251175.html

Robert Foster Bennett Robert Menendez Roger Wicker Roland Burris Ron Paul

Frustrated Mayors Hope Emanuel Will Have Obama's Ear

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/25/frustrated_mayors_hope_emanuel_will_have_obama039s_ear_251103.html

Robert Menendez Roger Wicker Roland Burris Ron Paul Ron Wyden

Bing West Reveals Dark Truths About Afghanistan

Dexter Filkins, NYT
In the nine years since the first American troops landed in Afghanistan, a new kind of religion has sprung up, one that promises success for the Americans even as the war they have been fighting has veered dangerously close to defeat. Follow the religion’s tenets, give yourself over to it and the new faith will reward you with riches and fruits.The new religion, of course, is counterinsurgency, or in the military’s jargon, COIN.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/26/bing_west_reveals_dark_truths_about_afghanistan_251130.html

Carl Levin Carte Goodwin Chuck Grassley Chuck Hagel Chuck Schumer

Statement by the President on Anniversaries Being Observed in Kuwait

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

On behalf of the people of the United States, I congratulate the government and people of Kuwait on the 50th anniversary of their independence on February 26.  Kuwait is a long-standing friend and partner of the United States, and we thank His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his steadfast partnership and friendship.
 
February 26 is also the 20th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation by U.S.–led coalition forces.  On that day, the international community, having rejected outright aggression and acted to reverse it, stood shoulder to shoulder with Kuwait in securing its freedom and sovereignty.  I take this opportunity to honor all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of freedom in that undertaking - Kuwaitis, Americans, and other coalition partners alike. I also wish to reinforce our enduring commitment to the peace and prosperity of the region.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/25/statement-president-anniversaries-being-observed-kuwait

Jack Reed Jay Rockefeller Jeanne Shaheen Jeff Bingaman Jeff Merkley

Oil Shock a New Risk to Economy

Irwin Stelzer, Weekly Standard
While political analysts are engaged in the morally elevated task of appraising the effects of events in Libya on the possible spread of democracy in the Arab world, economists are engaged in the grubbier task of figuring out what the effects will be on the economies of their countries. In America, this means taking a guess at the impact of higher oil prices on the nascent recovery.This is no easy chore. For one thing, it is difficult to determine just now how much of Libya's 1.6-1.7 million barrels of daily production, some 2 percent of the world total, has become unavailable.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/26/oil_shock_a_new_risk_to_economy_251138.html

Dennis Kucinich Dianne Feinstein Dick Cheney Dick Lugar Elizabeth Dole

Statement by the President on Algeria Lifting its State of Emergency

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

I commend the Government of Algeria for taking an important step forward today by formally lifting the State of Emergency that has been in place in Algeria for 19 years.  This is a positive sign that the Government of Algeria is listening to the concerns and responding to the aspirations of its people, and we look forward to additional steps by the government that enable the Algerian people to fully exercise their universal rights, including freedom of expression, association and assembly.  The United States is committed to continuing our cooperation with the Government of Algeria as it works to represent and meet the needs of all Algerians. We will also continue speaking up for universal freedoms, justice and the dignity of every human being.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/24/statement-president-algeria-lifting-its-state-emergency

Olympia Snowe Orrin Hatch Pat Roberts Patrick Leahy Patty Murray

Statement by the President on the Anniversary of the Death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

One year ago today, the selfless and tragic death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo galvanized the world’s attention to the ongoing mistreatment of those unjustly held by Cuban authorities for bravely standing up for the rights of the Cuban people.
 
The attention brought to the plight of Cuba’s political prisoners by Zapata’s courageous act and by the peaceful protests of Las Damas de Blanco has helped free a number of his fellow activists through the good offices of the Catholic Church in Cuba.  Today, I join the Cuban people in marking this anniversary by again calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba.
 
Sadly, the harassment and detention by Cuban authorities of Zapata’s mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo and others across Cuba, as they sought to commemorate her son’s death, underscores how much of his dream remains unfulfilled.
 
Since taking office, I have reached out to the Cuban people to support their desire to freely determine their future and enjoy liberty and justice.  Today and every day, the Cuban people must know that their suffering does not go unnoticed and that the United States remains unwavering in our commitment to defend the inalienable right of the Cuban people to enjoy the freedoms that define the Americas and that are universal to all human beings.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/23/statement-president-anniversary-death-orlando-zapata-tamayo

Jeff Sessions Jim Bunning Jim DeMint Jim Inhofe Jim Risch

Remarks by the President on Libya

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

Location: 

Grand Foyer

5:07 P.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Secretary Clinton and I just concluded a meeting that focused on the ongoing situation in Libya.  Over the last few days, my national security team has been working around the clock to monitor the situation there and to coordinate with our international partners about a way forward.
 
     First, we are doing everything we can to protect American citizens.  That is my highest priority.  In Libya, we've urged our people to leave the country and the State Department is assisting those in need of support.  Meanwhile, I think all Americans should give thanks to the heroic work that's being done by our foreign service officers and the men and women serving in our embassies and consulates around the world.  They represent the very best of our country and its values.
 
     Now, throughout this period of unrest and upheaval across the region the United States has maintained a set of core principles which guide our approach.  These principles apply to the situation in Libya.  As I said last week, we strongly condemn the use of violence in Libya.
 
     The American people extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all who’ve been killed and injured.  The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya.  These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency.  This violence must stop.
 
     The United States also strongly supports the universal rights of the Libyan people.  That includes the rights of peaceful assembly, free speech, and the ability of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny.  These are human rights.  They are not negotiable.  They must be respected in every country.  And they cannot be denied through violence or suppression.
 
     In a volatile situation like this one, it is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice, and that has been our focus.  Yesterday a unanimous U.N. Security Council sent a clear message that it condemns the violence in Libya, supports accountability for the perpetrators, and stands with the Libyan people.
 
     This same message, by the way, has been delivered by the European Union, the Arab League, the African Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and many individual nations.  North and south, east and west, voices are being raised together to oppose suppression and support the rights of the Libyan people.
 
     I’ve also asked my administration to prepare the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis.  This includes those actions we may take and those we will coordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we’ll carry out through multilateral institutions.
 
     Like all governments, the Libyan government has a responsibility to refrain from violence, to allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need, and to respect the rights of its people.  It must be held accountable for its failure to meet those responsibilities, and face the cost of continued violations of human rights.
 
This is not simply a concern of the United States.  The entire world is watching, and we will coordinate our assistance and accountability measures with the international community.  To that end, Secretary Clinton and I have asked Bill Burns, our Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to make several stops in Europe and the region to intensify our consultations with allies and partners about the situation in Libya.
 
I’ve also asked Secretary Clinton to travel to Geneva on Monday, where a number of foreign ministers will convene for a session of the Human Rights Council.  There she’ll hold consultations with her counterparts on events throughout the region and continue to ensure that we join with the international community to speak with one voice to the government and the people of Libya.
 
And even as we are focused on the urgent situation in Libya, let me just say that our efforts continue to address the events taking place elsewhere, including how the international community can most effectively support the peaceful transition to democracy in both Tunisia and in Egypt.
 
     So let me be clear.  The change that is taking place across the region is being driven by the people of the region.  This change doesn’t represent the work of the United States or any foreign power.  It represents the aspirations of people who are seeking a better life.
 
As one Libyan said, “We just want to be able to live like human beings.”  We just want to be able to live like human beings.  It is the most basic of aspirations that is driving this change.  And throughout this time of transition, the United States will continue to stand up for freedom, stand up for justice, and stand up for the dignity of all people.
 
     Thank you very much.

END
5:14 P.M. EST

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/23/remarks-president-libya

Richard Shelby Robert Foster Bennett Robert Menendez Roger Wicker Roland Burris

How Much Should U.S. Spend on Health Care?

Peter Suderman, Reason
Kevin Drum notes that the United States leads the world in terms of health spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. To some extent, that’s explained by the fact that the U.S. is relatively richer than other countries, and richer countries are likely to spend a greater share of GDP on health care. But according to McKinsey’s data, the U.S. spends even more of its GDP on health care than you would expect given health spending ratios in other countries.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/25/how_much_should_us_spend_on_health_care_251128.html

Ralph Nader Richard Burr Richard Durbin Richard Shelby Robert Foster Bennett

The Blinding Clarity of Wisconsin

Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The magnificent turmoil now gripping statehouses in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and soon others marks an epic political moment. The nation faces a fiscal crisis of historic proportions and, remarkably, our muddled, gridlocked, allegedly broken politics have yielded singular clarity.At the federal level, President Obama's budget makes clear that Democrats are determined to do nothing about the debt crisis, while House Republicans have announced that beyond their proposed cuts in discretionary spending, their April budget will actually propose real entitlement reform.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/25/the_blinding_clarity_of_wisconsin_251073.html

Chuck Schumer Claire McCaskill Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice Daniel Akaka

How Chris Christie Did His Homework

Matt Bai, NY Times Magazine
Like a stand-up comedian working out-of-the-way clubs, Chris Christie travels the townships and boroughs of New Jersey­, places like Hackettstown and Raritan and Scotch Plains, sharpening his riffs about the state's public employees, whom he largely blames for plunging New Jersey into a fiscal death spiral. In one well-worn routine, for instance, the governor reminds his audiences that, until he passed a recent law that changed the system, most teachers in the state didn't pay a dime for their health care coverage, the cost of which was borne by taxpayers.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/25/how_chris_christie_did_his_homework_251048.html

Dick Cheney Dick Lugar Elizabeth Dole Evan Bayh Frank Lautenberg

Mideast Oil Shock Threatens U.S., Again

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/25/mideast_oil_shock_threatens_us_again_251096.html

Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice Daniel Akaka Daniel Inouye David Vitter

Remarks by the President in New Media Breakout Session in Cleveland, Ohio

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, Ohio

  

1:33 P.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  I'm sorry, did I interrupt an answer?

     MS. BERNARD:  No.  Thanks for joining. 

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  All right, the President of the United States is here.  Why don't you tell us why you're here?

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Cleveland I think is a great example of cities all across the country, but especially in the Midwest, who are starting to reinvent themselves.  These are typically manufacturing cities.  They were built on the auto industry, on heavy manufacturing, steel.  And as manufacturing has become much more productive, fewer workers are in manufacturing -- even though manufacturing continues to contribute a lot to the economy -- and so these regions are having to think what’s going to be the businesses of the future that end up employing more people and providing more opportunity.  And small businesses are going to be the ones that I think are going to be making the biggest impact on regions like this one -- a lot of risk-takers, a lot of entrepreneurs here.

     What we wanted to do is make sure that we listen to small businesses, hear from them, find out what kind of barriers they’re meeting -- whether it’s capital, or finding the right workforce, or how do they partner with larger companies.  And so far we've already gotten some terrific ideas.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  He’s better at this than we are.  (Laughter.)  We got some questions for you from WhiteHouse.gov --

     THE PRESIDENT:  All right.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  -- that we were going to shoot to you.  James in Addison, Texas:  With the virtual death of local banking, it’s next to impossible today to get bank loans for anything other than fixed assets.  For working capital, speculative funding, for others, entrepreneurs must look to save capital, family, friends, or even a first customer.  Traditional financing sources only help the more traditional forms of business.  Innovators must look elsewhere.  We're locked in this and we were wondering what your view is.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, one of the things we hear most frequently from small businesses is the problem of start-up capital.  Obviously a lot of small businesses do get started with the entrepreneur -- savings, family loans, credit cards.  But over the last two years it’s been especially tough for small businesses because of the credit crunch, both in the banking industry as well as the fact that folks don't have home equity loans that they could use potentially to start a business; their credit cards might have been maxed out.

     And so what we did over the last two years was try to make sure that the Small Business Administration, the SBA, filled some of this hole.  We increased the guarantees that SBA would provide to banks if they loaned -- if they made a loan to a small business.  We eliminated some of the fees that might be required. And as a consequence, volume from the Small Business Administration went up substantially.

     The other thing that we did was we increased the limits on the loans that might be provided through the SBA.  So the SBA has done a lot of good work.  The Treasury Department has also tried to make sure that they set up funds that would help to facilitate lending to small businesses.  That's especially important in part because small businesses a lot of times have trouble getting loans when their collateral has gone down, the value of their holdings have gone down.  And typically that's been real estate for a lot of small businesses.

     So we got a range of products that, through the SBA, through Treasury, are providing loans to small businesses, helping encourage small banks to get back into the business of lending again.  But we heard some good ideas here today about, for example, providing tax credits for angel investors -- that right now there have been some discussions in Congress about setting up some additional legislation that could help small businesses, and we’re going to see if we can implement it.

     MS. BERNARD:  We had a lot of questions come in about -- or comments and thoughts about preparing the next-generation workforce.  Roy in Temeculah, California, noted:  The economy develops in pockets and clusters.  Why don't we match this with our workforce development for the best results?  We all know that people have many different jobs over their lifetime, and we need to retrain where and when it’s needed -- keep it simple, buy it quickly, keep it local.  The local aspect allows easy access for the people that need the training, and it’s tailored to the local environment and conditions.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, the answer is in the question.  I think that question is spot on.  What you find as you travel around the country is that there’s certain regions that are starting to gain expertise in biotech, or they're starting to gain expertise in advanced battery manufacturing, or they're starting to gain expertise in a particular industry which requires a particular skill set.  And if we can get businesses to partner with local community colleges or local universities and have them help to design the training process for the jobs that already exist, it’s a win-win. 

     For the businesses, it means that all their workforce training costs are absorbed somewhere else, which is obviously good for their bottom line.

     For the students, what it means is that if you actually go through this program, you know that there’s going to be a job at the end of the day because the employers have actually helped to design the program.  And so Skills for America’s Future is a program that we’ve been trying to implement that gets those partnerships between businesses and colleges and universities. 

     The local community college is a particular asset that has been under-utilized over the last several years that we want to really ramp up.  The Department of Labor is also working with state and local governments so that they can design and tailor their own particular approach to training.

     But the key here is to recognize that for the vast majority of folks out there, you're not going to have one job or two jobs during the course of your career; you’re probably going to have six or seven different jobs.  And even mid-career, you may have to start retraining. 

And what we want to make sure of is, A, that there’s financing out there for you to retrain, which is why we increased access to student loans, eliminating some of the unwarranted subsidies that went to banks so that we could expand the Pell Grant Program; make sure that starting in 2014, if you take out student loans, that in repaying them you’ll never have to pay more than 10 percent of your income.  So we’ve expanded access to universities and colleges.

     But we also want to make sure that you're being trained for the right stuff.  And that's particularly true for your second career, for older students.  They’ve got a family, they may be working -- they can’t afford to go to school, take out loans, and then it turns out that what they were getting trained for didn’t provide an immediate job opportunity.

     MS. BERNARD:  I don’t know how your time is.  Do you have time for another thought?  I think you’ve got to go.

     THE PRESIDENT:  I’ll take one more question if you’ve got it.

     MS. BERNARD:  This is really putting me on the spot.  Let’s see what’s just come in. 

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  Nothing we have to clean up.

     MS. BERNARD:  Yes, we have a lot of comments about a lot of things coming in.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Generally speaking, though, the -- what I’ll do is just talk about what I’ve heard in some of these forums.  In addition to financing, I think the other thing that people really wanted to find out is how can they get mentored and partner with some larger businesses.  And we’re very lucky we got Steve Case here who obviously used to be with AOL.  He has agreed to be the chairman of our sort of umbrella organization that is Startup America, which is going to help to mentor and partner with would-be entrepreneurs -- get them with more mature businesses, medium-sized business, large businesses. 

Because a lot of times what they need is financing, but sometimes what they need is mentoring, networking.  They need to -- if you’re in the high-tech space, the most important thing for you is to potentially get in front of a Steve Case or a Steve Jobs or a Mark Zuckerberg or others and get a sense of what it is that is happening in your industry, who are the players there.  And so that’s another opportunity through a public/private partnership -- doesn’t cost money, but it can potentially provide opportunities.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  And we did hear from a number of people who they’re in a later part of their career and they said, look, we still want to be productive; How can we help out?  How can we teach the next generation?  It fits with your theme there.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Absolutely. 

So bottom line is that small businesses create two out of every three jobs in America.  We’re here in Cleveland to make sure that we’re highlighting all the tools that are available right now to increase opportunities for small businesses -- tax credits if you’re providing health care to your workers; tax credits if you’re interested in investing in a small business.  Right now you get zero capital gains on those investments.  

There are a whole range of tools that we’re trying to bring to bear to make sure that we continue to be the most dynamic economy in the world.  And I’m sure that Austan and Sarah will be interested, monitoring our website to get even better ideas as time comes up, and let’s make sure people know what the website is.  It is --

     MS. BERNARD:  Whitehouse.gov.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Whitehouse.gov. 

All right.  Thank you, guys.

     MS. BERNARD:  Thank you.

 END

1:43 P.M. EST

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/22/remarks-president-new-media-breakout-session-cleveland-ohio

Tom DeLay Tom Harkin Tom Udall Al Franken Al Gore

Remarks by the President in New Media Breakout Session in Cleveland, Ohio

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, Ohio

  

1:33 P.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  I'm sorry, did I interrupt an answer?

     MS. BERNARD:  No.  Thanks for joining. 

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  All right, the President of the United States is here.  Why don't you tell us why you're here?

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Cleveland I think is a great example of cities all across the country, but especially in the Midwest, who are starting to reinvent themselves.  These are typically manufacturing cities.  They were built on the auto industry, on heavy manufacturing, steel.  And as manufacturing has become much more productive, fewer workers are in manufacturing -- even though manufacturing continues to contribute a lot to the economy -- and so these regions are having to think what’s going to be the businesses of the future that end up employing more people and providing more opportunity.  And small businesses are going to be the ones that I think are going to be making the biggest impact on regions like this one -- a lot of risk-takers, a lot of entrepreneurs here.

     What we wanted to do is make sure that we listen to small businesses, hear from them, find out what kind of barriers they’re meeting -- whether it’s capital, or finding the right workforce, or how do they partner with larger companies.  And so far we've already gotten some terrific ideas.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  He’s better at this than we are.  (Laughter.)  We got some questions for you from WhiteHouse.gov --

     THE PRESIDENT:  All right.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  -- that we were going to shoot to you.  James in Addison, Texas:  With the virtual death of local banking, it’s next to impossible today to get bank loans for anything other than fixed assets.  For working capital, speculative funding, for others, entrepreneurs must look to save capital, family, friends, or even a first customer.  Traditional financing sources only help the more traditional forms of business.  Innovators must look elsewhere.  We're locked in this and we were wondering what your view is.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, one of the things we hear most frequently from small businesses is the problem of start-up capital.  Obviously a lot of small businesses do get started with the entrepreneur -- savings, family loans, credit cards.  But over the last two years it’s been especially tough for small businesses because of the credit crunch, both in the banking industry as well as the fact that folks don't have home equity loans that they could use potentially to start a business; their credit cards might have been maxed out.

     And so what we did over the last two years was try to make sure that the Small Business Administration, the SBA, filled some of this hole.  We increased the guarantees that SBA would provide to banks if they loaned -- if they made a loan to a small business.  We eliminated some of the fees that might be required. And as a consequence, volume from the Small Business Administration went up substantially.

     The other thing that we did was we increased the limits on the loans that might be provided through the SBA.  So the SBA has done a lot of good work.  The Treasury Department has also tried to make sure that they set up funds that would help to facilitate lending to small businesses.  That's especially important in part because small businesses a lot of times have trouble getting loans when their collateral has gone down, the value of their holdings have gone down.  And typically that's been real estate for a lot of small businesses.

     So we got a range of products that, through the SBA, through Treasury, are providing loans to small businesses, helping encourage small banks to get back into the business of lending again.  But we heard some good ideas here today about, for example, providing tax credits for angel investors -- that right now there have been some discussions in Congress about setting up some additional legislation that could help small businesses, and we’re going to see if we can implement it.

     MS. BERNARD:  We had a lot of questions come in about -- or comments and thoughts about preparing the next-generation workforce.  Roy in Temeculah, California, noted:  The economy develops in pockets and clusters.  Why don't we match this with our workforce development for the best results?  We all know that people have many different jobs over their lifetime, and we need to retrain where and when it’s needed -- keep it simple, buy it quickly, keep it local.  The local aspect allows easy access for the people that need the training, and it’s tailored to the local environment and conditions.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, the answer is in the question.  I think that question is spot on.  What you find as you travel around the country is that there’s certain regions that are starting to gain expertise in biotech, or they're starting to gain expertise in advanced battery manufacturing, or they're starting to gain expertise in a particular industry which requires a particular skill set.  And if we can get businesses to partner with local community colleges or local universities and have them help to design the training process for the jobs that already exist, it’s a win-win. 

     For the businesses, it means that all their workforce training costs are absorbed somewhere else, which is obviously good for their bottom line.

     For the students, what it means is that if you actually go through this program, you know that there’s going to be a job at the end of the day because the employers have actually helped to design the program.  And so Skills for America’s Future is a program that we’ve been trying to implement that gets those partnerships between businesses and colleges and universities. 

     The local community college is a particular asset that has been under-utilized over the last several years that we want to really ramp up.  The Department of Labor is also working with state and local governments so that they can design and tailor their own particular approach to training.

     But the key here is to recognize that for the vast majority of folks out there, you're not going to have one job or two jobs during the course of your career; you’re probably going to have six or seven different jobs.  And even mid-career, you may have to start retraining. 

And what we want to make sure of is, A, that there’s financing out there for you to retrain, which is why we increased access to student loans, eliminating some of the unwarranted subsidies that went to banks so that we could expand the Pell Grant Program; make sure that starting in 2014, if you take out student loans, that in repaying them you’ll never have to pay more than 10 percent of your income.  So we’ve expanded access to universities and colleges.

     But we also want to make sure that you're being trained for the right stuff.  And that's particularly true for your second career, for older students.  They’ve got a family, they may be working -- they can’t afford to go to school, take out loans, and then it turns out that what they were getting trained for didn’t provide an immediate job opportunity.

     MS. BERNARD:  I don’t know how your time is.  Do you have time for another thought?  I think you’ve got to go.

     THE PRESIDENT:  I’ll take one more question if you’ve got it.

     MS. BERNARD:  This is really putting me on the spot.  Let’s see what’s just come in. 

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  Nothing we have to clean up.

     MS. BERNARD:  Yes, we have a lot of comments about a lot of things coming in.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Generally speaking, though, the -- what I’ll do is just talk about what I’ve heard in some of these forums.  In addition to financing, I think the other thing that people really wanted to find out is how can they get mentored and partner with some larger businesses.  And we’re very lucky we got Steve Case here who obviously used to be with AOL.  He has agreed to be the chairman of our sort of umbrella organization that is Startup America, which is going to help to mentor and partner with would-be entrepreneurs -- get them with more mature businesses, medium-sized business, large businesses. 

Because a lot of times what they need is financing, but sometimes what they need is mentoring, networking.  They need to -- if you’re in the high-tech space, the most important thing for you is to potentially get in front of a Steve Case or a Steve Jobs or a Mark Zuckerberg or others and get a sense of what it is that is happening in your industry, who are the players there.  And so that’s another opportunity through a public/private partnership -- doesn’t cost money, but it can potentially provide opportunities.

     MR. GOOLSBEE:  And we did hear from a number of people who they’re in a later part of their career and they said, look, we still want to be productive; How can we help out?  How can we teach the next generation?  It fits with your theme there.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Absolutely. 

So bottom line is that small businesses create two out of every three jobs in America.  We’re here in Cleveland to make sure that we’re highlighting all the tools that are available right now to increase opportunities for small businesses -- tax credits if you’re providing health care to your workers; tax credits if you’re interested in investing in a small business.  Right now you get zero capital gains on those investments.  

There are a whole range of tools that we’re trying to bring to bear to make sure that we continue to be the most dynamic economy in the world.  And I’m sure that Austan and Sarah will be interested, monitoring our website to get even better ideas as time comes up, and let’s make sure people know what the website is.  It is --

     MS. BERNARD:  Whitehouse.gov.

     THE PRESIDENT:  Whitehouse.gov. 

All right.  Thank you, guys.

     MS. BERNARD:  Thank you.

 END

1:43 P.M. EST

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/22/remarks-president-new-media-breakout-session-cleveland-ohio

Richard Durbin Richard Shelby Robert Foster Bennett Robert Menendez Roger Wicker

Fake Doctors' Notes in Wisconsin: An Ethics Lesson

Marc Siegel, FOX
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine is investigating the disturbing and disgraceful writing of fake sick notes by some of its doctors to excuse teachers who decided to bail from their jobs. It is the right call. But an investigation is not enough. The state Medical Examining Board of the Department of Regulation and Licensing needs to reprimand these doctors and, in some cases, consider handing down suspension.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/24/fake_doctors039_notes_in_wisconsin_an_ethics_lesson_251036.html

Jon Kyl Jon Tester Judd Gregg Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Hagan

Statement by the President on Senator Jeff Bingaman's Retirement

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON – Below please find a statement by President Obama on Senator Jeff Bingaman’s retirement:

“From his time in the Army, to his service as New Mexico’s Attorney General and Senior Senator, Jeff Bingaman has served this country and the people of New Mexico for more than three decades.  He has been a tireless advocate for preserving America’s natural resources and promoting a clean energy future.  Jeff has gained the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in New Mexico and in Washington, and his voice on the floor of the Senate will be missed.  Michelle and I offer Jeff our best wishes and deepest appreciation for his lifetime of service.”

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/18/statement-president-senator-jeff-bingamans-retirement

Ted Kennedy Thad Cochran Thomas Carper Tim Johnson Tom Coburn

Organized Labor Is Voice for the Working Class

Michael Cohen, AOL News
If you want to know what is the most important issue affecting American workers today, look no further than Wisconsin. What is happening there is ground zero in the ongoing decimation of organized labor, not only as a political movement but also as a voice for working-class Americans.If public-sector unions lose in their battle to maintain their basic collective bargaining rights, all American workers will pay the price.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/24/organized_labor_is_voice_for_the_working_class_251035.html

Ted Kaufman Ted Kennedy Thad Cochran Thomas Carper Tim Johnson

The Real Rahm Emanuel

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/02/24/the_mayor_rahm_mystery_109011.html

Bob Casey, Jr Bob Corker Byron Dorgan Carl Levin Carte Goodwin

Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney Aboard Air Force One en route Cleveland, Ohio

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

Location: 

Aboard Air Force One, En Route Cleveland, Ohio

10:39 A.M. EST

MR. CARNEY:  Good morning, everybody.
 
     Q    Good morning.
 
     MR. CARNEY:  You guys ready?  I just want -- before I take your questions, I wanted to remind everybody why we’re here, for the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business.  As you know, in addition to the President of the United States, we have Cabinet members attending the event, and that includes the Treasury Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Energy Secretary, the SBA Administrator, the CEA Chair, and Gene Sperling, the National Economic Director.
 
     As you know, the President talked about the need for innovation and for businesses in particular and small businesses to be the engine of growth in our economy.  And he wants to hear from small business owners in this forum about what drives success and what barriers lie in the way of success.
 
     Cleveland is actually a city that’s done a great deal of positive work in positioning itself in both the field of biotechnology and clean energy.  It’s really poised to be a global leader in the 21st century in these new industries, and the President is obviously very excited about that.
    
     So from here on there will be other events similar to this that Cabinet secretaries will participate in.  This is not just a one-time deal.  It was a major theme of the President’s State of the Union address and will continue to be.
 
     So, with that, I will take your questions.
 
     Q    On Libya, can you tell us what is going on behind the scenes at the White House?  And also, is there concern that unlike in Egypt, there is nothing that you can really do, there’s no real ties with Libya and there’s very little the administration can do in that situation?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  Well, first let me point you to the fact that on Friday, while we were on this plane, the President issued a statement condemning the violence in Libya, the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Libya as well as two other countries.  Yesterday, the Secretary of State issued a very strongly worded statement condemning the violence and expressing our great alarm at the violence used against peaceful protesters.  We offer our condolences to the families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence.  And the Secretary of State will speak again today at approximately 2:30 p.m. where she will address some of these issues.
 
     Q    Will the President speak about this today?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t anticipate that, but we’ll see.
 
     Q    Do you have a -- can you give us anything on the death of the hostages at the hands of the pirates?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  Well, for details about what happened I’d refer you to the Pentagon.  What I can tell you is that the President was notified this morning at 4:42 a.m. by Homeland Security director -- or advisor, rather, John Brennan about the outcome in which the four American citizens’ lives were lost, the tragic outcome of that event.
 
     The President did, over the weekend on Saturday, authorize the use of force in the case of imminent -- of an imminent threat to those hostages, and that’s -- for other details I can refer you to the Defense Department.
 
     Q    Are there, do you think, measures that -- the Security Council is meeting today on Libya -- are there international measures that the U.S. can take with its partners to try and affect what’s going on inside Libya, or is it a question of lacking substantial leverage?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  There is activity at the United Nations Security Council today.  We are participating in meetings.  We look forward to working with the international community so that the international community speaks with one voice in condemning the violence.  And we feel like when the international community speaks with one voice, it can be most effective, so we are obviously participating fully in that.
 
     Q    Is the White House having any conversations with other world leaders about -- the President himself having any conversations with world leaders about Libya?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  I have no announcements on presidential conversations right now.
 
     Q    Oil is at a two-year high.  How closely is the President monitoring the situation in Libya?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  Well, as you know, when there is unrest in the world and specifically in that region, that can affect oil prices.  We are closely monitoring that situation, but I would not speculate on where oil prices would go in the future.
 
     Q    Do you think the events of the last few days have shown perhaps that the attempts to kind of rehabilitate Qaddafi -- particularly the Europeans sort of took part in it the last administration as well -- were a mistake?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  What I’ll say, Steve, is that the future of Libya needs to be decided by the Libyan people.  As is the case throughout the region, our policy is -- pertains in Libya or towards Libya as it did -- does to Egypt, to Bahrain and other countries, which is that we call very strongly for an end to the use of violence against peaceful protesters.  We call for respect for the universal rights that these -- peoples of this region, as peoples all around the world, have:  the right to peaceful assembly, to freedom of expression.  And we recognize their legitimate aspirations.
 
     We call on the governments of the region to listen to and respect the legitimate aspirations of their people and to reform accordingly.
 
     Q    Jay, there’s going to be a labor rally in Columbus about the time that the President is here.  There’s of course the unrest in Wisconsin.  You’re also seeing it in Ohio and Indiana, and there’s going to be a large protest of teachers in early March over labor rules proposed by that legislature.  Is the President going to address any of that today?  And does he have any thoughts on this ongoing situation?
 
     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything for you on what the President will say today.  He’s focused very much -- with regard to that, he’s focused very much on this important forum, small business forum.
 
And as far as his thoughts, he expressed them in an interview with a Wisconsin television station -- I believe it was last week -- where he made clear that he absolutely recognizes the need that state governments have, governors and legislators, to deal with their fiscal situation; that everyone needs to tighten their belts, and that includes public sector employees.  But he also expressed his concern that the efforts specifically in Wisconsin were aimed at going right after the collective bargaining rights of unions.
 
So -- but that’s the extent of the White House involvement.
 
Q    What about Kasich’s efforts in Ohio to go after collective bargaining?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything on that for you.
 
Q    What’s his reaction to the House vote at 4:40 a.m. in the morning, Saturday morning?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Look, we continue to believe that we will be able to work out common ground on these issues.  I would point you to the fact that all four leaders of Congress, leaders of the House, leaders of the Senate, have expressed their confidence that we can work this out before March 4th, and we believe we can.
 
Q    Does the administration stand by a veto threat if the House-passed package gets to the President’s desk with those big cuts?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, the White House’s position, the President’s position was clearly stated in that statement of administration policy.  That hasn’t changed.
 
Q    Any contingency plans yet?  Are you still working on any plans for a shutdown?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I would refer you to the Office of Management and Budget, which is the agency within the executive branch that needs to deal with these sorts of things.  And I’d simply state that there have been contingency plans for government shutdowns since 1980, and those plans are obviously updated accordingly, but they’ve been around for a long time.
 
Q    You said 1980?
 
MR. CARNEY:  1980 is what I understand, but I’d refer you to Ken Baer at OMB.
 
Q    How confident are you that a shutdown can be avoided?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, as I said, we believe, as do the leaders of the House and the Senate, including Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner -- we agree with them that we do not want a shutdown of the government and that we can come to an agreement that avoids that.
 
Q    Any comment on the Iranian warships going through the Suez Canal today?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Nothing new beyond what I said Friday, I think it was, which was that we monitor that situation closely.  And obviously Iranian behavior in the region is something we always watch.
 
Anything else before we land, which looks to be in about --
 
Q    Any minute.
 
MR. CARNEY:  -- two minutes to three minutes?  I don’t want anyone to get hurt.
 
Q    Thanks, Jay.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Are you good?  Thanks a lot.

END
10:49 A.M. EST

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/22/press-gaggle-press-secretary-jay-carney-aboard-air-force-one-en-route-cl

Al Gore Amy Klobuchar Arlen Specter Arnold Schwarzenegger Barack Obama

Spreading Anti-Union Agenda

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/23/spreading_anti-union_agenda_250967.html

Dianne Feinstein Dick Cheney Dick Lugar Elizabeth Dole Evan Bayh

Obama's Pathetic Response on Libya

Elliott Abrams, The Weekly Standard
Hot Topics: To forward this article to a friend, please fill out the form below:* Required Fields* Required FieldsGet alerts when there is a new article that might interest you.With a thousand Libyans (and perhaps many more) dead already from the Qaddafi regime's attacks on its own population, and with reports of thousands of mercenaries and militiamen streaming toward Tripoli, President Obama finally spoke to the nation about this violence on Wednesday afternoon. He announced solemnly that he was sending Secretary of State Clinton to Geneva to visit the U.N....

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/23/obama039s_pathetic_response_on_libya_251016.html

Michelle Obama Mike Crapo Mike Enzi Mike Huckabee Mike Johanns

Mayor Emanuel

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/23/mayor_emanuel_250987.html

John Thune Johnny Isakson Jon Kyl Jon Tester Judd Gregg

Public Unions: A 50-Year Mistake

Jonah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times
The protesting public school teachers with fake doctor's notes swarming the Capitol building in Madison, Wis., insist that Gov. Scott Walker is hell-bent on "union busting" in their state. Walker denies that his effort to reform public sector unions in Wisconsin is anything more than an honest attempt at balancing the state's books.I hope the protesters are right. Public unions have been a 50-year mistake. Receive news alertsA crucial distinction has been lost in the debate over Walker's proposals: Government unions are not the same thing as private sector...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/02/23/government_unions_have_not_benefited_the_public_108984.html

Tom Udall Al Franken Al Gore Amy Klobuchar Arlen Specter

The Rise of Reality-Based Politics

Tony Blankley, Washington Times
At the risk of giddy over-optimism, I have the hunch that the American voting public is beginning to demand legislating that actually deals with the nation's problems. There is creeping -- still ambiguous -- evidence of this, starting with the national polling data. I argued last December that President Barack Obama's support for the extension of the Bush tax cuts would not end up helping him once the 2011 legislating season started picking up steam, because by principle the president was toward the left side of the political spectrum -- and the public was toward the right --...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/02/23/reality-based_politics_108998.html

Ted Kaufman Ted Kennedy Thad Cochran Thomas Carper Tim Johnson

New Law Already Damaging Health Care

Lloyd Krieger, Wall St. Journal
The Republicans who now control the House of Representatives hope to repeal or defund ObamaCare, but the law has already yielded profound, destructive changes that will not be undone by repeal or defunding alone. Active steps and new laws will be needed to repair the damage. The most significant change is a wave of frantic consolidation in the health industry. Because the law mandates that insurers accept all patients regardless of pre-existing conditions, insurers will not make money with their current premium and provider-payment structures. As a result, they have already started to raise...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/23/new_law_already_damaging_health_care_250980.html

Mark Pryor Mark Udall Mark Warner Mary Landrieu Max Baucus

Statement by the Press Secretary on S. 188

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

On Thursday, February 17, 2011, the President signed into law:
 

S. 188, which designates the United States courthouse in Yuma, Arizona, as the John M. Roll United States Courthouse.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/17/statement-press-secretary-s-188

Daniel Akaka Daniel Inouye David Vitter Debbie Stabenow Dennis Hastert

An End to Soft Bigotry Against Arabs

Issandr El Amrani, The Guardian
There is a phrase coined in 2004 by Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for George W Bush best-known for having come up with "axis of evil", that I've always liked. In a speech about education, he bemoaned "the soft bigotry of lowered expectations" that he believed existed against disadvantaged children.For several decades, there has been a soft bigotry of lowered expectations in the west and among Arab elites about the Arab world.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/22/an_end_to_soft_bigotry_against_arabs_250909.html

Herb Kohl Hillary Clinton Jack Reed Jay Rockefeller Jeanne Shaheen

Interview with JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon

Maria Bartiromo, USA Today
Jamie Dimon says the story of 2011 will be America blossoming again. Two years after the financial meltdown, the chairman and CEO of one the top U.S. banks, JPMorgan Chase, (JPM) says businesses have plenty of capital and are starting to expand again. Dimon should know, sitting atop more than $2 trillion in assets and overseeing 230,000 employees. Analyzing his more than 5,000 branches, and 90 million credit cards, Dimon says there are still some weak spots for the economy, such as foreclosures in the pipeline and new regulation which he says will make banking more expensive for ...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/22/interview_with_jp_morgan_ceo_jamie_dimon_250923.html

Sheldon Whitehouse Sherrod Brown Susan Collins Ted Kaufman Ted Kennedy

Is the Benefits Bubble Bursting?

Dennis Byrne, Chicago Tribune
The crowds mobbing the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison are right: Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill is indeed an attack on organized government workers.And it's about time.Labor compensation is the largest component of busted local, state and federal budgets, and those costs are the horrific results of government employees' "right" to bargain collectively and, in some cases, to strike.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/22/is_the_benefits_bubble_bursting_250901.html

Jim Risch Jim Webb Jimmy Carter Joe Biden Joe Lieberman

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 2/17/11

Release Time: 

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Thomas Countryman, Assistant Secretary for International Security and Non-Proliferation, Department of State
• Anne Wedner, Member, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Department of State

President Obama said, “I am proud that such experienced and committed individuals have agreed to serve the American people in these important roles.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Thomas Countryman, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for International Security and Non-Proliferation, Department of State
Thomas Countryman is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the Department of State.  Prior to this assignment, Mr. Countryman served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs and Foreign Policy Advisor to General James Conway, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Countryman also served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs in Rome, Director of the Office of South Central European Affairs at the Department of State, and Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.  He was liaison to the UN Special Commission investigating Iraq’s weapons programs and was also responsible for advising Ambassador Albright on Middle East affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Prior to that, he served in Cairo and then in the State Department's Office of Counter-Terrorism. Mr. Countryman began his State Department career in 1982, serving first in Belgrade and then in the Department's Office of Eastern European and Yugoslav Affairs. Mr. Countryman holds a B.A. summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis.
 
Anne Wedner, Nominee for Member, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Department of State
Anne Wedner served as Director of Marketing at Heller Financial. Prior to that, she was an account executive at CME and Cramer-Krasselt, and an assistant account executive at Leo Burnett. Ms. Wedner is a former Foreign Service Officer and served in Caracas, Venezuela and Washington D.C. She was a Presidential Management Intern at the United States Information Agency and then at the United States Information Service. Ms. Wedner received an M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and an A.B. from Harvard University.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/17/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts-21711

Mike Crapo Mike Enzi Mike Huckabee Mike Johanns Mitch McConnell