Politico: "There are no former CEOs in the Obama Cabinet. And among the people who
make up his daily inner circle, there is only a dollop or two of
top-level private sector experience."
"Whether it is a signifcant absence, however, is far more debatable. As
it happens, only a small number of the business leaders in recent
administrations were stand-outs. And several were ostentatious flops.
It would be hard to argue that there is a close correlation between
success in business and success in Washington."
Perhaps Obama read my book, You Won, Now What?, where we make the case that you cannot run government like a business -- unlike so many campaigners promise.
"Short of Roland Burris resigning or resolving this issue -- if he can,
and I don't know if he can -- I don't know what will stop it. I'm tired
of this Blagojevich burlesque that's been going on for so long. The
people of our state should be spared this."
-- Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), in an interview with the Chicago Sun Times.
CQ Politics just released the list of 104 House members who secured earmarks on an appropriations bill managed by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) to exclusively help a lobbying firm with close ties to Murtha.
An added bonus: Campaign contributions received by each House member from the lobbying firm are also listed.
CQ Politics has another Burris bombshell: "The names of lobbying clients that Sen. Roland Burris declared to a state legislative panel do not match those on records he
filed over the last decade with Illinois and Chicago agencies."
A new AP-GfK poll finds that 62% of Americans believe President Obama is cooperating "about the right amount" with congressional Republicans, while just 27% think the same about the GOP's work with Obama.
Conversely, 64% think Republicans are not cooperating enough with Obama, while only 30% believe Obama is not collaborating enough with the GOP.
Fox News Poll: "Twice as many voters think President Obama
sincerely tried to reach out to Republicans to make the stimulus plan
bipartisan (66%) as think Republicans sincerely tried to help
the president and be bipartisan (33%)."
Politics magazine looks behind-the-scenes at Michael Steele's upset win of the RNC Chairmanship last month.
Meanwhile, Steele tells the Washington Times that he intends a "hip-hop" makeover of the Republican Party "to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics."
"A democracy could not exist because Mohammed already made the perfect law. The Quran is perfect just the way it is, that's why it is only written in Islamic."
-- Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), quoted by the Daily Nebraskan, obviously not knowing the Quran is written in Arabic.
The Huffington Post combed through the reports and finds Palin "charged the state of Alaska a $60 per diem
expense for an appearance on Fox News on November 9, 2008. A few weeks
later, she billed taxpayers another $60 for a 'phone call with Sen.
Elizabeth Dole.' (Dole had lost her reelection bid weeks earlier). On
the 26th of November, Palin again turned in a $60 meal/incidental
expense per diem report for 'Phone call with Gov. Rendell, interview.'"
"A half-dozen Republican governors are considering turning down some
money from the federal stimulus package, a move opponents say puts
conservative ideology ahead of the needs of constituents struggling
with foreclosures and unemployment," the AP reports.
Interesting: "Governors who reject some of the stimulus aid may find themselves overridden by their own legislatures because of language Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) included in the bill that allows lawmakers to accept the federal money even if their governors object."
First Read on the news that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) would likely be tapped as secretary of health and human services:
"Our sources won't yet classify Sebelius as a 'leading candidate,' but no one is disputing she's on the short list for this post. Some in the White House may be a tad spooked by the 'she's gonna get it' reporting because they fear she may not and they will have disappointed her yet again. Sebelius had been seen at one point as a shoo-in for Labor, and then suddenly was passed over. Obviously, the president and the Kansas governor have a good personal relationship, but it could get strained if it looks like she's being yanked around."
Marc Ambinder: "White House officials insist on caution when using the term 'leading.'
But of the two candidates known to be vetted (the other is Tennessee's
Phil Bredesen), only Sebelius has yet to pooh-pooh her own chances."
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), "a long-time GOP leader in Congress and head of one of Missouri's prominent political families, intends to formally declare his candidacy for the U.S. Senate," the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.
"On the Democratic side, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan already has declared her candidacy, setting the stage for a high-powered race."
Does Norm Coleman have any chance of retaining his Senate seat?
Politico: "The answer, according to state political and legal analysts, is that it
would take a miracle. Miracles do happen in politics -- but four weeks
into a court case that will decide the winner of Minnesota's tortured
Senate race, the GOP incumbent is facing just-about-insurmountable
hurdles to overcome the 225-vote deficit he was saddled with at the end
of the official recount."
CQ Politics notes Coleman was dealt another major setback in court yesterday.
Budget director Peter Orszag's "emergence as a central figure and key negotiator in the Obama's economic policy team has come as a bit of a surprise to watchers of the administration," Politico reports.
Of his work on the economic stimulus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "In my mind if there is hero in all of this it is Peter Orszag. He was wonderful."
"Now Orszag is preparing for the biggest week of his career, with a 'fiscal responsibility' summit Monday and the release of Obama's first budget Thursday. He's signaling that the moves in the stimulus package are just a hint of what to come in a budget that will begin in earnest the arduous process of health care reform."
There's a potentially big story brewing on Capitol Hill... Apparently 104 members of Congress of both parties -- 42 Republicans and 62 Democrats -- secured earmarks for a lobbying firm linked to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) in a single bill. The earmarks were inserted in a bill Murtha controlled as the defense appropriations subcommittee chairman.
The firm's executives and clients are among Murtha's biggest sources of campaign contributions.
"More than 100 House members secured earmarks for clients of The PMA
Group, known for its ties to John P. Murtha, the congressman in charge
of Pentagon appropriations... The same House members who took
responsibility for PMA's earmarks in that spending bill have, since
2001, accepted a cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from
PMA's political action committee and employees of the firm."
Update II: The complete list of House members involved is now posted.
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) is canceling his Thursday schedule, Lynn Sweet reports.
Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) "sent out a very frosty statement, saying Burris failed to disclose under oath the nature of his relationship with former Gov. Blagojevich."
Earlier today, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also made a less-than-helpful statement.
President Obama has settled on Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), a key ally with a record of working across party lines, as his top choice for secretary of health and human services, the New York Times reports.
The Federal Reserve said it "is expecting gross domestic product to contract by up to 1.3% in 2009, a larger drop than it had forecast in October," the Wall Street Journal reports.
Meanwhile, a new AP-GfK poll "found that people's fears about
losing a job, not being able to pay bills or watching retirement funds
evaporate are growing. Nearly half of those surveyed say they worry
about becoming unemployed -- and that's almost double last year's number."
A spokesman told Fox News that President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine -- "a long-abolished policy that would require broadcasters to provide opposing viewpoints on controversial issues."
This statement takes away an issue that has whipped up conservative talk radio hosts in recent days.
A new Pew Research poll shows nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) approve of President Obama's job performance, while 56%
approve of his handling of the economy, 52% of his handling of foreign
policy, and 50% for the threat of terrorism.
Interesting: "There are sizable ideological differences among Republicans over
Obama's early performance. A plurality of moderate and liberal
Republicans (46%) approve of the way Obama is handling his job as
president. By contrast, just 28% of conservative Republicans approves
of Obama's job performance."
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has very high approval ratings and
remains well positioned for either a re-election bid or a 2010 Senate,
according to a new Quinnipiac poll.
Crist would be heavily favored to win the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate and beats a generic Democrat handily in a general election match up, 48% to 25%.
However, a plurality of respondents want Crist to remain as governor with 57% favoring his re-election.
The Senate Ethics Committee "has opened a preliminary inquiry into Sen. Roland Burris's (D-IL) conflicting testimony on the circumstances surrounding his appointment," according to The Hill.
A spokeswoman for Ethics Committee Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) confirmed the investigation last night.
The Hotline: "The last time the committee recommended expulsion? 1995. The committee voted unanimously that Sen. Bob Packwood (R-OR) should be expelled for sexual misconduct, among other behavior. Packwood resigned before the full Senate could vote on the matter."
Update: NBC News reports Burris issued a press release prior to a schedule speech this afternoon saying he will not take questions a the event.
Moderate House Republicans "are more worried about the
pressures from their right, where the Republican Study Committee is
taking names and conservatives are raising the prospect of primary
challenges, than about potential fallout from opposing a popular
president," reports CQ Politics.
CQ Weekly has a must read piece on the Republican Study Committee, "the caucus of the most rightward thinking members of the House."
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