Fifty Days Of President Obama

March 10, 2009, 10:42pm

Reps. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., took to the airwaves on MSNBC’s “Hardball” today to debate the record of President Obama after his first 50 days in office.

“He’s doing exactly what he should do, what he said he was going to do,” Lee said. She noted that businesses and even people in Republican districts will benefit from Obama’s decisions.

But Pence called Obama “an admirable person” but said “the problem is his policies.” He said the answer to last year’s record spending for bailouts is “more of the same. … They spend too much, they tax too much, and they borrow too much.”

Categories: California, Indiana, White House, Budget, Banking, Monster Media Mash-Up, Barbara Lee, Mike Pence, Bailouts

President Obama today lifted restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research that his predecessor imposed years ago. He also issued a presidential memorandum designed to prevent political interference in the scientific realm.

Categories: Producer's Picks, White House, Health, Technology, Social Policy, Culture

On The Road To American Recovery?

February 14, 2009, 9:30am

President Obama today celebrated Congress’ final passage of legislation designed to stimulate the American economy. In his weekly video address, Obama said his recovery plan will “save or create more than 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.” Here is an excerpt from the address:

This is a major milestone on our road to recovery, and I want to thank the members of Congress who came together in common purpose to make it happen. Because they did, I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we’ll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done.

The work of modernizing our healthcare system, saving billions of dollars and countless lives; and upgrading classrooms, libraries, and labs in our children’s schools across America. The work of building wind turbines and solar panels and the smart grid necessary to transport the clean energy they create; and laying broadband Internet lines to connect rural homes, schools, and businesses to the information superhighway. The work of repairing our crumbling roads and bridges, and our dangerously deficient dams and levees.

And we’ll help folks who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own by providing the unemployment benefits they need and protecting the health care they count on.

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Republican National Committee Michael Steele, on the other hand, suggested that two months in power of the White House and Congress has gone to the Democrats’ heads. He said the way to stimulate the economy is “individual empowerment” through tax cuts, not spending on “uncontrolled spending” through pet projects for members of Congress.

“Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America,” Steele said. “But it will take more than bipartisan words from the president. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.”

Categories: Producer's Picks, Budget, Economy, Weekly Video Address, Michael Steele

Three days after taking office as president, Barack Obama painted a doom-and-gloom picture for America’s economy unless the government acts quickly to create jobs by implementing his recovery plan. He outlined the plan in his first, and the nation’s first, weekly presidential address via online video.

“We begin this year and this administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action,” Obama said, hinting at the possibility of double-digit unemployment and young people forgoing college. He touted his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan as the cure for what ails the nation economically.

The plan calls for spending on the energy, health care, education, transportation, security and technological fronts. Obama downplayed concerns about the massive spending proposed in the plan by promising transparency so Americans will be able to keep tabs on the spending.

“We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government,” he said, “and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new Web site called recovery.gov.

The full text of the address is available on the White House blog, also a technological first.

As of now, there is no sign of a competing weekly address, video or otherwise, by the minority at the Republican National Committee, House Republican Conference or Senate Republican Conference.

The GOP apparently did not heed the advice of its former e-campaign expert, Patrick Ruffini, to avoid “a needless round of stories about Republicans being behind in tactics and technology.”

UPDATE, 1/27: I missed the video that Republicans intended to be the response to Obama’s weekly address. The video, which challenged provisions of the Democrats’ proposed stimulus plan, actually led to criticism of Obama for not approving it as a video response on the White House’s YouTube channel. Here is the GOP video:

Categories: Producer's Picks, White House, Economy, Weekly Video Address

Obama Inaugurated As 44th President

January 20, 2009, 6:29pm

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