Every conversation at the bbq this summer is about health care and many folks I know who voted for Obama (including me) aren’t thrilled with this effort. And so the shock on the faces of Congressmen who’ve faced the grillings back home. And really, their shock is the first thing you see in the videos. They had no idea how people were feeling. Their 2008 win left them thinking an election that had been shaped by anti-Bush, anti-Republican, and pro-change feeling was really a mandate without context; they thought that in the middle of a historic recession featuring horrific deficits, they could assume support for the invention of a huge new entitlement carrying huge new costs. |
The passions of the protesters, on the other hand, are not a surprise. They hired a man to represent them in Washington. They give him a big office, a huge staff and the power to tell people what to do. They give him a car and a driver, sometimes a security detail, and a special pin showing he’s a congressman. And all they ask in return is that he see to their interests and not terrify them too much. Really, that’s all people ask. Expectations are very low. What the protesters are saying is, “You are terrifying us.” Read more at online.wsj.com |
Obama’s public approval still rides high. However, what caught my attention in the article was - “only 21 percent of those surveyed said they identify as Republicans.” Obama Off to Solid Start, Poll Finds |
There is a warning sign for the GOP in the new poll: 21 percent of those surveyed said they identify as Republicans, the fewest to do so in a Post-ABC poll in more than 25 years. Last fall, Democrats outnumbered Republicans at the polls by the biggest margin in network exit polls going back to the 1982 midterms.
Read more at www.washingtonpost.com |
neat Politico article on Obama likes and dislikes… “When you hear he likes ‘Entourage,’ you have to go, ‘That figures,’” said Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. “Anything Obama does is cool by definition. He’s the Internet president, he’s the BlackBerry president, and now, I suppose, he could be called the HBO president.” Obama likes “Entourage” so much he even rearranged his campaign schedule not to miss an episode. Read more at www.politico.com |
Obama Outlines Plans for GM, Chrysler
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“We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish,” President Obama said at the White House. |
| The remarks come a day after the administration ousted GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and rejected the restructuring plans that GM and Chrysler had hoped would lead to another infusion of government cash.Read more at online.wsj.com |
This is not a new concept. However, it is more likely now considering the make-up of Congress and the need to close the deficit… It would require legislation… | Obama hopes to raise $4.8B by imposing spectrum license fees |
| President Obama called for spectrum license fees in a record $3.9 trillion budget, released today, reviving a proposal that has failed to move in the past. |
| More information on the proposed spectrum fee — which would require legislation to enact — and other telecom-related provisions is expected when the administration releases a more detailed budget package in the spring. |
| Though details on the Obama budget are few and far between, some information was made available. The administration estimates that spectrum license fees would raise $4.8 billion over the next 10 years.Read more at www.rcrwireless.com |
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Lose the BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe
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| Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry. |
| Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days. |
But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful. |
| For all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on to survive and to thrive. Go to the source |
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We don’t want a fast track health care plan
