ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest

Obama Arrives in Style - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401151.html With a brief glance out his car window -- barely visible through cordons of Secret Service officers, black SUVs and security barricades -- the soon-to-be leader of the free world bid a brief hello last night to the town he will now call home and to his new neighbors: scores of spectators camped outside his temporary quarters at the Hay-Adams Hotel. There were no speeches, no ceremonies or official welcoming committees. Instead, Barack Obama, a man famous for his no-drama persona, arrived in the nation's capital in a similarly subdued fashion. His limousine pulled up to claps and cheers from crowds lining the blocks near the hotel and also the cries of protesters angry about the Gaza Strip -- a reminder of the vexing problems he will face when he takes office. Then, in seconds, he was whisked inside.

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Barack Obama’s Chicago home now empty, but a full plate awaits him in Washington—chicagotribune.c

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama-transitionjan05,0,6176911.story An emotional President-elect Barack Obama left his Chicago home and took up temporary residence in a grand Washington hotel on Sunday, his administration-in-waiting already burdened by scandal, war and congressional controversy. On his way to join his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, already ensconced at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel, Obama admitted to reporters that his leave-taking from Hyde Park had a poignant moment. "I gotta say I choked up a little bit leaving my house today. Malia's friend had dropped off an album of the two of them together," Obama said on the plane conveying him to his new life and responsibilities. "They had been friends since preschool and I just looked through the pages and the house was empty and it was a little tough, it got me." As Obama journeyed to the capital, there were more hints of the immense challenges confronting the man poised to become the nation's 44th president on Jan. 20.

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Tone May Be Key to Obama’s Agenda - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010300721.html Rarely have lawmakers confronted an agenda as ambitious as the one Congress will face upon convening this week, with an incoming president pushing to stabilize an economy on the brink of long-term recession, to create universal health coverage and to overhaul federal energy policies. There are signs that the usual divisions that send so many ambitious bills down to defeat will confront President-elect Barack Obama in his first weeks on the job. Some Republicans are spoiling for an early policy fight that will test Obama's mettle. Conservative House Democrats want to include statutory deficit-reduction language in a economic stimulus package that could cost $1 trillion. And Senate centrists have warned that the incoming administration's ambitious global warming legislation might be a non-starter. Over the past 15 years, during which a large majority of current lawmakers were first elected to Congress, partisan feuding has reduced Congress's output to a bare minimum of must-pass measures. Party-line voting peaked during the Bush presidency, while productivity slumped. In 2008, the Senate voted the lowest number of times since 1951, according to a Congressional Quarterly survey.

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Governors Call for $1 Trillion Stimulus to Offset Budget Cuts - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/02/AR2009010202277.html To help offset state budget cuts, a group of Democratic governors urged the federal government Friday to pass a $1 trillion economic stimulus package, significantly larger than the one under discussion in Congress. The package would help states compensate for cuts to education spending that could cause long-term economic decline, as well as bolster infrastructure projects and benefits programs for the poor, the governors from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and Wisconsin said in a news conference. Congress is reportedly considering $675 billion to $775 billion in stimulus spending, but the governors suggested the package must be larger to have psychological and economic impact. "The scope of it needs to be substantial," and it must "include this education piece," said New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

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Nancy Pelosi Makes Room for Obama - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/politics/05Pelosi.html?_r=1 For the last two years, Ms. Pelosi, 68, of California, has been the driving force behind the Democratic Party’s ambitions, using her firm grip on the House to set the agenda. Now she finds herself about to become facilitator in chief, working with her Senate counterpart, Harry Reid of Nevada, to advance the ideals of the nation’s new No. 1 Democrat: Barack Obama. Ms. Pelosi said she was more than willing to make room at the top, saying she was overjoyed to be working with a fellow Democrat in the Oval Office after two years of butting heads with President Bush on everything from the war in Iraq to children’s health care to overall spending. “It is for me thrilling to be speaker with a Democrat in the White House. This is what we have worked for for such a long time,” Ms. Pelosi said in an interview. “I feel in a stronger position now. For me, my responsibility as speaker is enormously enhanced by a president whose vision I respect and whose agenda I will help stamp.”

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Government to get 5 million preferred GMAC shares - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-01-02-gmac-govt_N.htm The federal government will get 5 million preferred shares of GMAC paying 8% interest in exchange for its $5 billion capital injection to help the troubled lender avoid bankruptcy. GMAC disclosed the terms of the deal in a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GMAC is the financial arm of General Motors (GM) and is responsible for making car loans and financing dealer inventories. The government also exercised a 10-year warrant to buy 250,000 more GMAC preferred shares for a penny each, according to the filing. GMAC said if the U.S. Treasury doesn't get interest payments on its preferred shares for six straight quarters, or more than six non-consecutive quarters, it will get two seats on an expanded GMAC management board.

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Obama Cabinet nominee pulls out - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2009/01/05/obama_cabinet_nominee_pulls_out/ Richardson denied wrongdoing but said the investigation would probably remain unresolved until well after Obama's inauguration and he didn't want to disrupt the new administration. "Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," Richardson, who also served in the Clinton Cabinet, said in a statement released by Obama's transition office. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process." Obama had tapped Richardson for the position despite news reports over the summer that a grand jury in Albuquerque was investigating $1.5 million in state highway contracts awarded to California-based CDR Financial Products. An executive with the firm had made contributions totaling more than $100,000 to three of Richardson's political committees. Richardson said yesterday that he expected that the grand jury's investigation will "extend for several weeks or, perhaps, even months."

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Commerce secretary nominee Richardson out amid grand jury probe - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-richardson-cabinet5-2009jan05,0,5449942.story Obama, en route to Washington for pre-inaugural meetings, said in a statement that he accepted Richardson's withdrawal "with deep regret." "It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time," Obama said. A federal grand jury in Albuquerque is looking into whether CDR Financial Products in Beverly Hills received a contract with the New Mexico Finance Authority because of pressure from Richardson or other state employees. The state contract came about a few months before CDR and its president, David Rubin, contributed more than $100,000 to two Richardson political committees, campaign finance records show.

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Commerce Pick Richardson Withdraws, Citing N.M. Probe - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401607.html New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to be commerce secretary, withdrew from consideration yesterday, citing an ongoing federal "pay-to-play" investigation involving one of his political donors as a significant obstacle to his confirmation. Richardson, 61, who competed unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, becomes the first political casualty in Obama's Cabinet, and his withdrawal marked the first visible crack in what had been one of the smoothest presidential transitions in modern history. The former energy secretary and U.N. ambassador under President Bill Clinton was positioned to become the highest-profile Hispanic in Obama's administration. But Richardson made it clear yesterday that he thought confirmation was far from a sure thing, even with Democrats firmly in control of the Senate.

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Effort to oust Blagojevich is on the fast track - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-blagojevich3-2009jan03,0,5613310.story Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is speeding up the effort to eject Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich from office, telling lawmakers to be prepared to vote on the governor's impeachment as soon as next week. Leaders in Springfield and Washington are pursuing the same goal: denying a U.S. Senate seat to former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris, Blagojevich's choice to fill the seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. The governor faces federal corruption charges, including that he tried to sell Obama's Senate seat.

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Burris may have a chance at Senate seat - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-burris-senate5-2009jan05,0,238212.story Democrats are opposed to Roland Burris getting Obama's Senate seat because he was appointed by scandal-plagued Blagojevich. But the Senate majority leader says, 'There's always room to negotiate.'

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Reid Has Conflict of Interest, Blagojevich Spokesman Says - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301719.html Illinois's embattled governor said through his spokesman Saturday that Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has a conflict of interest regarding the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Reid telephoned Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in early December to discuss the seat, said Lucio Guerrero, a gubernatorial spokesman. Guerrero said he did not know firsthand which candidates Reid supported during the call, but added that he knows Reid's candidates did not include Roland W. Burris, the man Blagojevich picked. Senate leaders have vowed to oppose the appointment of Burris.

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Reid Defends Right to Fight Burris Appointment - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401460.html Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid defended his right to block the Senate appointment of former Illinois attorney general Roland W. Burris, but he didn't close the door entirely to Burris eventually getting the job. The Nevada Democrat has asserted that the 71-year-old Illinois political veteran is tainted because he was chosen by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused by federal authorities of trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder. Blagojevich (D) has denied wrongdoing, and Burris is not implicated in the case. But many prominent Democrats, including President-elect Barack Obama, who created the vacancy at the center of the controversy, contend that Blagojevich has forfeited his right to name a successor. "The state of Illinois deserves a vote in the United States Senate, and the people of the state of Illinois, the fifth most populous state in the union, deserve that vote," Reid said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Reid added: "I'm an old trial lawyer. Anything can happen."

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‘Headed Out of Town,’ Bush Turns Reflective - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/washington/19bush.html?ref=washington “Reflections by a guy who’s headed out of town,” Mr. Bush called his musings in a question-and-answer session at the American Enterprise Institute. “An old sage at 62 ... headed to retirement.” The president, who has described himself as uncomfortable with introspection, loosened up considerably before a friendly audience of conservatives. Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all was a theme he embraced several times. “One such problem was immigration reform,” the president said. “And in this case, I chose to put the spotlight directly on the issue by giving an Oval Office address. Obviously, we weren’t successful about getting comprehensive immigration reform. Nevertheless, I feel good about having tried.” And while he will miss many things about Washington, he won’t miss “the petty name-calling,” Mr. Bush said. “I came with the idea of changing the tone in Washington, and frankly didn’t do a very good job of it,” he said. “You know, war brings out a lot of heated rhetoric and a lot of emotion. I fully understand that.”

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First lady defends Bush’s record - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-18-bush_N.htm President Bush may have joked about the shoe-throwing incident in Iraq, but first lady Laura Bush was not amused. "As a wife, I saw this as an assault, and that's what it was," she told USA TODAY during an interview Thursday at the White House. "And so I didn't laugh it off like he did." SHOE-THROWER: Journalist asks for pardon A month before returning to private life, Bush talked about her plans. She said she will continue her public advocacy of women's rights in Afghanistan and democracy for Burma. A self-described "ambassador" for her husband's policies over the past eight years, Bush praised her husband's record in Iraq and Afghanistan. She said she will be an active defender of those actions "because they are worth defending." "Fifty million people are free from tyranny because of the United States and because of my husband's policies," she said. "These are very, very important, world-changing happenings, and they're for the best."

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Obama introduces more economic appointees - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama19-2008dec19,0,7442457.story His comments suggested that a regulatory crackdown could be part of his response to the current economic downturn. They came as he introduced Mary Schapiro, head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as his choice to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schapiro's appointment was rumored Wednesday. Obama, at the news conference, also named former Treasury official Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Georgetown law professor Dan Tarullo to serve as a governor on the Federal Reserve Board. "If the financial crisis has taught us anything, it's that this failure of oversight and accountability doesn't just harm individuals involved," Obama said. "It has the potential to devastate our entire economy, and that's a failure we can't afford."

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Obama to name pro-union Rep. Hilda Solis to Labor post - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-solis19-2008dec19,0,9325.story Solis, 51, would be the third Latino member of Obama's Cabinet, a measure of diversity that has garnered praise from this fast-growing slice of the electorate. After Obama nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be his Commerce secretary, some Latino officials complained that they were being shut out of the most prestigious Cabinet posts. Richardson at one time had been rumored to be in line for secretary of State, before Obama offered him the Commerce slot. Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto) had cautioned that Obama's legislative agenda might face roadblocks unless more Latinos were installed in top positions. Since then, Obama has said he will nominate Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) as secretary of the Interior, and now Solis as Labor secretary. Prominent Latino officials are now praising the new Cabinet's makeup. In an interview Thursday, Baca said: "We're glad he listened to our voices and listened to the Hispanic community that came out and delivered for him on election day. It's a great day for the Hispanic community."

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Immigration-overhaul supporters hope their hour has come - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-reform19-2008dec19,0,1648825.story Immigrant advocates said Thursday that long-stalled efforts to legalize millions of illegal migrants, crack down on employers who hire them and win more family visas would be revived next year and could possibly succeed in early 2010 following sizable Democratic gains powered by record turnouts of Latino voters in the November election. Frank Sharry of America's Voice, a Washington-based immigrant advocacy organization, said that Democrats who favored a comprehensive reform approach beat Republicans advocating only border control and other enforcement measures in 20 of 22 congressional races in such battleground states as Colorado and New Mexico. Those results were in part driven by Latino voters, who doubled their turnout over 2000, supported President-elect Barack Obama over Republican nominee John McCain 67% to 31% and helped Democrats win, in addition to Colorado and New Mexico, other swing states such as Florida and Nevada, Sharry said. "This is a defining issue among the fastest growing group of new voters in the country," Sharry said of Latino support for immigration reform. "This is a huge priority."

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Obama to Announce Final Cabinet Picks - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/18/AR2008121804057.html President-elect Barack Obama will announce the final selections for his Cabinet today, naming Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) as labor secretary and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. trade representative. The two will be in Chicago to be formally announced, along with Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), Obama's choice for transportation secretary. With his selection of Solis, a liberal member of Congress, the president-elect appears to be moving toward his goal of promoting "green-collar jobs" -- those that help promote more energy efficiency, through projects such as retrofitting, something Solis has prioritized during her tenure in Congress. She is better known for her effort on energy issues than for her work on matters relating to labor; she sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Natural Resources Committee, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee -- but not the Education and Labor Committee. Nonetheless, labor leaders embraced the decision to name Solis, whose father was a Teamsters shop steward in Mexico, to the post. Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, issued a statement underscoring their long-standing alliance. "From the streets of Los Angeles where she marched with the janitors who were fighting for jobs with dignity that can support a family through SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaigns, to the halls of Congress where she has been an outspoken supporter of healthcare rights for all, a livable minimum wage, and workers' right to come together for a voice on the job, Hilda Solis has never backed down from the good fight to make the American Dream available to all," Stern said.

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Advocates for Action on Global Warming Chosen as Obama’s Top Science Advisers - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/18/AR2008121803640.html President-elect Barack Obama has selected two of the nation's most prominent scientific advocates for a vigorous response to climate change to serve in his administration's top ranks, according to sources, sending the strongest signal yet that he will reverse Bush administration policies on energy and global warming. The appointments of Harvard University physicist John Holdren as presidential science adviser and Oregon State University marine biologist Jane Lubchenco as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will be announced tomorrow, dismayed conservatives but heartened environmentalists and researchers. Like Energy Secretary-designate Steven Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Holdren and Lubchenco have argued repeatedly for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions to avert catastrophic climate change. In 2007, as chairman of the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Holdren oversaw approval of the board's first statement on global warming, which said: "It is time to muster the political will for concerted action."

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Obama taps Harvard physicist as science adviser - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/19/obama_chooses_harvard_physicist/ In a sign that President-elect Barack Obama intends to elevate science to greater prominence, John P. Holdren, a Harvard physicist widely recognized for his leadership on energy policy and climate change, will be appointed White House science adviser this weekend, the Globe confirmed yesterday. A representative from one of the institutions with which Holdren is affiliated said Obama will announce Holdren's selection during a Saturday morning radio address. That person, who has direct knowledge of the appointment, declined to be named. Representatives for Obama and for Harvard refused comment. The news, coming in the same week as Nobel laureate physicist Steven Chu's appointment as secretary of energy, was heartening for the scientific community. Many scientists have objected to the Bush administration's policies, from restrictions on embryonic stem cell research to the pace of action on climate change.

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Transit funds present quandary for Obama - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/12/19/transit_funds_present_quandary_for_obama/ The massive economic stimulus plan that Congress and President-elect Barack Obama are preparing to launch next month is shaping up to be an early test of Obama's ability to bring about the change he promised during his campaign, with economic realities threatening to undermine his call for a new era of smarter, "greener" transportation. As Obama's aides, lawmakers, industry associations, and interest groups furiously debate how to divide up an expected $50 billion in new road, mass transit, and rail spending, the president-elect is facing competing pressures. On one hand, the goal of the stimulus bill is to kick-start the economy with a wave of short-term public spending projects across the country, and the quickest way to do that is to follow existing priorities. But it also offers a rare opportunity to shift American transportation in the long term toward a greener, more sustainable system that promotes mass transit and so-called smart growth over sprawl and patronage projects.

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Bill Clinton’s Donor List, Including Foreign Governments, May Pose Conflicts for Hillary - washingto

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/18/AR2008121802417.html Former president Bill Clinton's disclosure yesterday that foreign governments and state-sponsored agencies have donated between $75 million and $165 million to his foundation highlighted a series of potential conflicts that Hillary Rodham Clinton could face should she become secretary of state. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia made one of the largest contributions, between $10 million and $25 million, as did the Australian government's overseas aid program and a Dominican Republic agency that fights AIDS. The William J. Clinton Foundation also raised more than $1 million each from the governments of Brunei, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. The former president had resisted releasing the list of donors during his wife's presidential campaign, but he agreed to do so when it became a possible issue as President-elect Barack Obama was considering whether to make her part of his Cabinet.

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In Clinton List, a Veil Is Lifted on Foundation - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/us/politics/w19clinton.html?ref=washington Lifting a longstanding cloak of secrecy, Mr. Clinton on Thursday released a complete list of more than 200,000 donors to his foundation as part of an agreement to douse concerns about potential conflicts if Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state in the Obama administration. The donor list offers a glimpse into the high-powered, big-dollar world in which Mr. Clinton has traveled since leaving the White House as he jetted around the globe making money for himself and raising vast sums for his ambitious philanthropic programs fighting disease, poverty and climate change. Some of the world’s richest people and most famous celebrities handed over large checks to finance his presidential library and charitable activities. With his wife now poised to take over as America’s top diplomat, Mr. Clinton’s fund-raising is coming under new scrutiny for relationships that could pose potential conflict-of-interest issues for Mrs. Clinton in her job. Some of her husband’s biggest backers have much at stake in the policies that President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration adopts toward their regions or business ventures.

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Clinton’s donor list spans the globe - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-clinton-donors19-2008dec19,0,3700004.story The former president's charitable foundation has received as much as $131 million from foreign governments. The names are released to clear the way for his wife to become secretary of State.

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