The smart money is still on nothing big getting done this year or next. In Washington, the smart money is almost always on nothing big getting done this year or next. But it’s not at all clear that the chances of something big getting done are lower under the White House’s confrontational strategy…
Tag: obama
Obama jobs bill still waits for action in the Senate
Senate Democratic leaders have said for days they could not take up the president’s proposal until they resolved ongoing legislative battles with Republicans over funding for highway construction, the FAA, FEMA and a bill to keep the government operating into the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. However, they also admitted they…
Obama White House: ‘Compromise By Necessity’ Phase Is Behind Us
And so, as the administration enters the next stage of deficit reduction talks, it’s doing so with its chest notably puffed out. “It is fair to say we’ve entered a new phase,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told The New York Times on Monday. “The popular narrative is that we sought compromise…
Border/Enforcement Spending and Deportation Levels Continue to Skyrocket Under Obama
Republican charges that the Obama administration is giving border security and immigration enforcement short shrift are false. In conjunction with the fact that border security spending and personnel have also increased in recent years, the deportation numbers show that an aggressive “enforcement-only” immigration policy built during the Bush Administration is still the status quo of…
Obama set to outpace Bush on deportations
President Barack Obama says he backs immigration reform, announcing last month an initiative to ease deportation policies, but he has sent home more than 1 million illegal immigrants in 2 1/2 years — on pace to deport more in one term than George W. Bush did in two. The Obama administration had deported…
Wonkbook: No compromise from Obama
Now let’s look at what’s not in President Obama’s deficit plan: There are no cuts to Social Security. There’s no rise in the Medicare retirement age. Instead, the headline policy is so-called the “Buffett rule,” a tax reform principle that holds that millionaires should not pay lower tax rates than their secretaries. Moreover,…
Why Obama’s black critics are wrong
What is one to make of this critique? First, it should not be at all surprising. Black America is ideologically diverse, just like other communities. Moreover, as I document in “Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal,” there exists in black America a special anxiety about the loyalties of high achievers, especially when their…
White House Senior Advisor Talks Debt : NPR[audio,10min]
Valerie Jarrett discusses the viability of President Obama’s new debt plan, including cuts to entitlement spending and proposed tax increases to Americans who make more than $1 million. She speaks with host Michel Martin. via White House Senior Advisor Talks Debt : NPR.
DNC Pushes Obama Jobs Plan in Video Ads
The Democratic National Committee is pushing Barack Obamas jobs plan with eye-catching online video ads, as the Obama campaign targets marriage equality voters on Facebook. Both efforts display the reelection campaigns use of issue-themed ads online to build their supporter lists.Expandable ads spotted on LATimes.com yesterday from the DNC lead to a website…
House GOP Rejects Tax Cuts For Middle Class
House Republicans rejected President Obama’s week-old jobs plan, including about $240 billion in payroll tax cuts. In a memo to their caucus, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), and other leaders dismissed the bill’s largest spending and tax cutting portions, leaving little of the bill intact. via House GOP Rejects…
Obama signs patent reform bill
President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday that will overhaul the U.S. patent system for the first time since 1952. “We have to do everything we can to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit wherever we find it,” Obama said at a signing ceremony at a high school in Arlington, Virginia. This measure “cuts away the red tape…
Obama Reaches Out To Nervous Dems, Puts 2012 Into Perspective
Speaking to small audience of Democrats Thursday night, Obama acknowledged the jitters on his side, and jokingly reminded his audience of just how improbable their conversation was in the first place. “Now, I know that, over the last couple of months, there have been Democrats who voiced concerns and nervousness about, well, in…
Blue Dogs Cool To Obama Jobs Vision
Blue Dog Democrats are pushing members of the joint deficit Super Committee to reduce the deficit significantly more than they’ve been tasked with. But they don’t want to talk about President Obama’s jobs plan. And beneath the surface its clear that there are major differences between the White House and conservative members of…