George Wenschhof
Today, President Obama is off to North Carolina - he will visit a company in Charlotte who has hired new employees and expanded it's operations due to the Stimulus bill. The Washington Post has more here.
Yesterday in Maine, the president continued to tout the benefits of the recently passed health care reform bill. The NY Times has more here. Last night, Chris Matthews on his MSNBC show "Hardball" noted that the president is excellent at giving speeches which highlight the health care bill benefits, but questioned where the rest of the Democratic leadership was in promoting health care. This is a good point, for as good a speaker as Obama is, Democrats need to put forth a united front on the benefits that result from passage of this bill.
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162,000 jobs added in March - this was this highest number added in a month for three years. This gain was predicted by many economists who also predicted that the overall unemployment rate would remain at 9.7%. The Obama administration will say the Stimulus bill is working and it most likely is contributing from keeping the economy from slipping backwards. Bloomberg.com has more here.
Turning the massive U.S. economy around is like turning an ocean liner around - it can be done, but it takes time. In the meantime, I continue to advocate for federal funding of public service employment jobs through the Stimulus bill. This will put the unemployed back to work while also aiding cash strapped states, counties and municipalities who are currently laying off workers to help balance their budgets.
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Time for Steele to resign, but will he? - Michael Steele became chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) about a year ago after many rounds of balloting left him the last man standing. Since that time, he has been an embarrassment for the Republican Party. He has gone from saying he favors a woman's right to choose; a no-no in the Republican Party, to telling Republicans if they don't like the way he is doing things-tough, either get with the program or get out of the way.
His firing of a young staffer for reimbursing a GOP paid consultant for a visit to a risque night club further underscores his inability to see what is right. Meanwhile, his extravagant spending on himself, using private jets, limos and staying at posh resorts has lead former RNC chairs to set up a separate organization; "American Crossroads", for Republicans to donate and show support. This new group comes after conservative Tony Perkins; head of the Family Research Council, tells followers not to contribute money to the RNC.
Another conservative Mark DeMoss is asking why in the world would Steele hire attorney Ted Olsen to argue their case on the legality of the health care bill? Olsen, whose prominence in front of the Supreme Court came as a result of his arguments in the 2000 presidential election. Someone forgot to tell Steele that Olsen was now arguing to overturn the marriage amendment in California and was in favor of gay marriage.
If that is not enough to get the attention of Republicans, the RNC recently sent out a fund raising letter designed to look like the U.S. census, which was bad enough. On top of that, it seems the telephone number on the mailer to call was a phone-sex number and not the RNC - oops! Politico.com has more here.
The RNC by-laws surrounding the removal of the chair are onerous and not likely to transpire. In the meantime, Michael Steele continues to be the gift that keeps on giving for the benefit of the Democratic Party.
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Friday, April 2, 2010
Daily Political Wire 4-2-2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Daily Political Wire 4-1-2010
George Wenschhof
Today, President Obama will be in Portland, Maine where he will be discussing the benefit's of health care reform for small businesses - on his return to Washington, he will stop in Boston to attend fund raisers on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. AP has more here.
Maine also happens to be home for two moderate Republican Senators; Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Look to see the President find a way to mention them in a favorable manner. He will need their support in upcoming financial reform, climate and immigration legislation.
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Yesterday, President Obama spoke at a Forum on Workplace Flexibility - it was held by the White House Council on Women and Girls. He spoke of the changing dynamics in the home and the workplace and the need for employers to use job sharing, flexibility and telecommuting. Also needed is employer and/or government assistance for child care.
I wrote a column on this issue published in the November 2009 issue of the magazine 270Inc entitled "Women Leading the Charge for Workplace Changes." You can read it here.
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Unemployment Claims down 6,000 - in signs the country is slowly emerging from a severe recession. However, 439,000 remain on unemployment and receiving benefits. Bloomberg.com has more here.
“We are turning a corner in the labor market,” said Julia Coronado, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York, who had forecast a decline in the weekly jobless claims. “Businesses are gradually starting to have more confidence in the recovery.”
While summer is approaching and seasonal jobs should help reduce unemployment, I still advocate for the need for federally funded "public service employment" programs. These programs would put the unemployed to work immediately providing needed public services. It would also assist cash strapped states, counties and municipalities as they are faced with significant staff cuts. The funding should come from the already approved 800 billion Stimulus bill.
These "public service employment" have a proven track record and would be phased out as the economy improves.
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Obama off shore drilling announcement politically motivated - not that this should come as a surprise coming from a President. The hopes are the announcement, while angering the left, will cater to Senate Republicans where one or two are needed to pass the Climate bill. Speculation is the announcement will also remove off shore drilling as a campaign issue for Republicans in the Fall mid term elections. The Washington Post has more here.
As to the passage of the Climate bill, the "cap and trade" provision in the House bill is the most volatile issue in the bill. If, the bill is passed by Congress, expect that provision to be removed.
The reality remains that off shore drilling will take decades to produce any usable oil and the expected oil reserves when tapped will only provide a small number of years of energy use for America.
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35 Billion Air Force Refueling Tankers Update - seems the visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy with President Obama paid off. TheHill.com has more here. The Pentagon announced it will delay the bid submission date for the contract for 60 days if EADs notifies them of their intent to bid. EADs is headquartered in France.
Sarkozy was more successful than Senator Richard Shelby (R-Al.) who failed in his efforts (putting holds on 70 Obama appointees) to keep Northrup Grumman (who has a large company in Alabama) in the running for the contract.
Boeing, who was in the running as a sole source bidder, can not be very happy right now.
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