State of the Union, Barack Obama must turn words into action

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union

address Tuesday contained the usual laundry list of initiatives big and small — including many that require bipartisan cooperation for success.

But a POLITICO look at his wish list shows that, at best, he’ll probably be able to check off only a few of his agenda items, and Republicans are only part of the problem.

He put Democrats on the spot with an earmark ban, irked them by renewing his call for a freeze on discretionary spending and challenged them to limit medical malpractice lawsuits.

But heading toward his 2012 reelection, these are fights Obama seems willing — even eager — to have. He might not get everything he wants or even very much of it. But if Republicans balk, Democrats, led by the president, can call them out on it. If Democrats resist, Obama can create distance between himself and his less popular colleagues on the Hill.

POLITICO rates the odds of success for 10 key proposals. Items scoring zero have the least chance of happening. Those scoring 5 have the easiest track.

Five-year freeze on domestic spending

Idea: Obama proposed the cap as a “down payment toward reducing the deficit.”

Pro: The president claims the move would cut the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, giving him a punchy talking point to show he is serious.

Con: It’s barely a dent. The deficit for this fiscal year alone is $1.5 trillion, congressional scorekeepers say.

Bush Recollection Puts Spotlight on Miscarriage

But the scene, described by former President George W. Bush in his interview with Matt Lauer of NBC News on Monday night, has started a national conversation — both about his mother, Barbara Bush, and about the complex psychological fallout from miscarriage.

Mr. Bush called his mother’s action “straightforward,” and added that it illustrated “how my mom and I developed a relationship.” Some opponents of abortion reacted approvingly. Other commentators called Mrs. Bush’s behavior the action of a depressed and angry person.

But experts say the incident is hard to interpret half a century after the fact. Indeed, it was extraordinary in at least one respect, they add: Mrs. Bush made a point of directly confronting the loss at a time when the subject was largely taboo.

When a middle-class woman miscarried in postwar America, doctors often whisked the fetus away as if there were no loss of life at all, only embarrassment; women whispered about it between themselves but hardly ever discussed it openly.

“It wasn’t thought of as losing a life; it was more like a medical mishap,” said Dr. Randi Hutter Epstein, a physician and the author of “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth” (Norton, 2010). “And although women felt it privately, they didn’t feel it was worthy of going to see someone, or seeking help.”

President Obama celebrates birthday in Chicago

CHICAGO – It wasn’t much of a party, just President Barack Obama catching up with some close friends and Oprah Winfrey over dinner in his adopted hometown. His wife and kids were away, but they called to wish him a “Happy Birthday.” His dog, Bo, made the trip, along with an aide to take him for walks. He played cards on the flight from Washington. He got to sleep in his own home.

And that’s how the president celebrated turning 49 on Wednesday, with a relatively low-key overnight stay in Chicago.

That might seem a bit ordinary for the commander in chief, but Obama has only been back to visit Chicago a handful of times since moving to Washington 20 months ago. And while he may have spent the night there without his family, he had plenty of company throughout his big day.

Obama got “Happy Birthday” wishes from AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka when he spoke to the labor group’s executive council Wednesday morning. The audience in the East Room ceremony for 2010 recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal serenaded him. A little girl in his Chicago neighborhood held a sign that was almost as big as her just to say, "Happy 49th Birthday President Barack Obama.”

McCain Coburn Spotlight Failing Stimulus Projects

Republican Sens. John released a report today profiling 100 stimulus projeMcCain (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) cts they say represent the failings of the stimulus package.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "passed with assurances that it would stem the loss of American jobs and keep the economy from floundering," reads the introduction of the report, Summer Time Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues during the Summer of Recovery." "As most can see, it hasn't."

The projects spotlighted represent just a tiny percentage of the more than 70,000 stimulus projects underway. Coburn said at a press conference, however, that the point of the report is to show that the stimulus is not getting Americans the "best bang for our buck." The program, he said, has raised the national debt while funding inappropriate projects.

"There is no question that this stimulus bill has had a positive effect on the economy to a certain degree, and what our criticism is, it could have had far greater effect," Coburn said.

The report highlights projects funded by the stimulus such as a water park in New York, research into whether yoga can reduce hot flashes, and a sidewalk in Boynton, Oklahoma that leads into a ditch.

US combat mission in Iraq to end

Barack Obama said the US strategy in Iraq will shift "from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats" by the end of this month, in the first of a series of speeches trumpeting the success of his administration's policy.

After a seven-year conflict costing US taxpayers some $700bn and the lives of more than 4,000 American troops, Obama proclaimed that the withdrawal of US forces was happening "as promised, on schedule," fulfilling his pledge as a presidential candidate to bring the conflict in Iraq to a "responsible end".

"As we mark the end of America's combat mission in Iraq, a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there," Obama told the Disabled Veterans of America conference in Atlanta today, using a phrase that recalls George Bush's ill-fated claim on 1 May 2003 that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

In an attempt to avoid the premature triumphalism that damaged Bush's presidency, Obama also warned: "The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq."

Today's speech comes after a year in which Obama's administration has been concentrating on the conflict in Afghanistan and on US domestic policy, as the economy has remained the public's top concern and Democrats have wrestled with passing landmark healthcare and financial regulation reform

The withdrawal of American troops and the shift to a "civilian effort" will, however, likely include a build-up in contractors working for the US State Department, driving armored vehicles, flying aircraft and disposing of explosive devices, according to a report by McClatchy Newspapers.

Economy erodes election hope for Democrats

President Obama makes remarks on the Senate campaign finance reform vote in the Rose Garden at the White House.

Americans by a large majority believe President Barack Obama has not focused enough on job creation, as economic fears threaten Democrats ahead of November 2 congressional elections, a Reuters-Ipsos poll found on Tuesday.

In a sign of trouble ahead for the Democrats, the poll found evidence of a sizable enthusiasm gap with Republicans more energized about voting in the elections.

Americans expressed deep unhappiness with the direction of the economy, which in the poll they identified overwhelmingly as the country's top problem.

The U.S. unemployment rate is at a stubbornly high 9.5 percent and Obama has spent much of the year on issues like Wall Street reform and healthcare in addition to jobs.

People were more negative about Obama's performance on the economy than on any other question surveyed. Satisfaction was dropping more sharply on the issue than on any other question.

Only 34 percent approved of Obama's handling of the economy and jobs compared to 46 percent who deemed it unsatisfactory. This is a sharp decline from early 2009, shortly after he took office, when more than half of those surveyed approved of Obama's handling of the worst financial crisis in decades.

President Obama to defend education plan

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will deliver major speeches this week on their $4.35 billion Race to the Top school reform program, pushing back against complaints that it promotes unproven methods and ignores long-standing inequities in public education.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Duncan is expected to name a list of state finalists for the controversial grant program’s second round of funding and to explain why Race to the Top — the crown jewel of the administration’s education agenda — must continue. And on Thursday, Obama will talk about education at the annual gathering of the National Urban League, one of seven civil rights organizations that blasted Race to the Top in a report made public Monday.

The highly competitive initiatives “distribute resources by competition in the midst of a severe recession,” effectively reducing standard, formula-based federal education funding, according to the report. “Such an approach reinstates the antiquated and highly politicized frame for distributing federal support to states that civil rights organizations fought to remove in 1965.”

Obama holds up a document of Republican solutions

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama who rocketed to the White House promising "change you can believe in," is now telling voters they shouldn't change a thing.

His message for the fall elections, which are looking ominous for his Democrats, is that Republicans caused the nation's economic troubles, but he and the Democrats are starting to fix them. So stick with the Democrats and don't go back to the GOP.

"This is a choice between the policies that led us into the mess or the policies that are leading out of the mess," Obama said recently in Las Vegas.

Trouble is, it's a tough sell to voters who've seen little progress.

Unemployment is stuck near double digits and polls show many voters have decided Obama's policies are to blame, not his predecessor's.

Obama often frames the argument by saying that Republicans had their chance to drive, then drove the car into a ditch and shouldn't get the keys back. But voters may be concluding that Democrats, who control the White House and both chambers of Congress, have had their chance at the wheel, too, and haven't gotten very far.

Rep. Charles Rangel vows to stay put and beat ethics rap

Washington - When a reporter asked embattled Rep. Charles Rangel if his trial on ethics charges would hurt other Democrats, he shrugged and said, "Pain is pain."

But when a House ethics panel lays out the charges against him Thursday, the pain won't be just Rangel's.

Some of the most powerful people in America will wince with him - and hope he beats the rap.

Among them are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and a throng of fans at the White House.

"Charlie has friends up and down Pennsylvania Ave.," a White House source said.

And while at least one Democrat has called on Rangel to step down for the sake of the party - Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) - he stood firm yesterday.

"Well, it wouldn't be the American thing to do [to step aside]. I think I owe it to the process to find out first what the investigative committee finds out," Rangel told reporters after speaking at Harlem Hospital.

Most Democrats, and many Republicans, see the 80-year-old Harlem Democrat and Korean War vet as likeable and extremely effective.

"When he walks into a room, you know he's the guy, he's just the guy, and that's what Charlie is to our delegation," said 11-term Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx).

"Charlie is the man around whom we all gathered," added Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx).

From his 40 years in the House, Rangel also is unsurpassed in knowing how to work the system.

Quantcast Bowing to political reality, Senate Democrats drop broad energy bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, flanked by Sen. John F. Kerry and White House energy czar Carol Browner, blamed the GOP for the impasse.

Washington —Senate Democratic leaders shelved plans for major energy and climate legislation on Thursday, bowing to political reality and probably ending hopes for action this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost alternative energy production and wean the nation from carbon fuels.

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada — who had promised to bring a sweeping energy bill with an emissions cap to the Senate floor by the August recess — said he would instead offer a scaled-back bill focused largely on responding to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama We made enormous progress this week

President Obama did a victory lap of sorts today, trumpeting three new laws approved this week that will help "repair the damage to our economy from this recession:" New financial firm regulations, an anti-government waste initiative, and an extension of unemployment benefits.

"We made enormous progress this week on Wall Street reform, on making sure that we're eliminating waste and abuse in government, and in providing immediate assistance to people who are out there looking for work," Obama said during brief remarks at the White House.

The president went on to urge Congress to pass a new loan program for small business owners so they can hire more people. "Our goal is to make sure that people who are looking for a job can find a job," said Obama, who is currently coping with an unemployment rate of 9.5%.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, had a different interpretation of Obama's domestic program, saying it has actually slowed economic recovery.

"For more than a year and a half, the President and his Democrat allies on Capitol Hill have pushed an anti-business, anti-jobs agenda on the American people in the form of one massive government intrusion after another," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Senate Democrats abandon comprehensive energy bill

Senate Democrats on Thursday abandoned plans to pass an energy bill that caps emissions of carbon dioxide, saying Republicans refuse to support the measure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said no Republican was willing to back a comprehensive energy bill, a development he called "terribly disappointing."

Democrats have been trying for more than a year to pass a plan that charges utilities and other major polluters for their heat-trapping carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. They're also abandoning a compromise plan to limit emissions only from utilities that also failed to attract the 60 votes needed to advance it in the 100-member Senate.

Reid and other Democrats said they would focus on a narrower bill that responds to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and improves energy efficiency.

"We've always known from day one that to pass comprehensive energy reform, you've got to have 60 votes," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the bill's lead sponsor. "As we stand here today we don't have one Republican vote."

Obama urges action on unemployment

Barack Obama urged Republican lawmakers to support a bill that would extend emergency benefits to millions of unemployed Americans on Monday. In a press conference at the White House Rose Garden he blasted Republican critics for their "lack of faith in the American people."

"These are honest, decent, hard-working folks who have fallen on hard times through no fault of their own," Obama said. "The same people who didn't have any problems spending money on tax breaks for the richest Americans are saying we shouldn't offer benefits to middle-class Americans."

Unemployment in the United States is at 9.5 per cent, and benefits for millions of Americans have dried up in recent months. The issue of temporarily extending emergency unemployment benefits has come up three times in recent weeks, but Republican senators have blocked it each time.

Obama has described the bill as crucial to rebuilding the economy, but Republican critics say they won't support it unless it is paid for through the budget and not through deficit spending.

"It's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics," Obama urged.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee nears confirmation

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan won approval by the Senate judiciary committee on Tuesday, moving her one step closer to final confirmation by the full Senate.

The committee voted 13 to 6 in favour of her nomination. She is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate as early as next week to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring.

Though just one Republican, Senator Lindsay Graham, voted in Kagan's favour, President Barack Obama praised the vote as "a bipartisan affirmation of Kagan's strong performance during her confirmation hearings" in June.

Before the vote, each of the 19 committee members voiced support or concerns about Kagan, currently the Obama administration's Solicitor General and a former dean of the Harvard Law School.

If confirmed by the full Senate, Kagan, 50, would become the third female justice on the nine-member court — joining Ruth Bader-Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor — and only the fourth in U.S. history.

For that, "her confirmation will be a milestone that we can all be proud of," said Senator Herb Kohl, of Wisconsin. "She will provide exemplary public service to our nation."

Kagan appeared to receive universal praise for her keen intellect and command of the law

Sarah Palin's war chest points to 2012 presidential bid

Sarah Palin's efforts to raise her profile and broaden her support suggest she is preparing for a tilt at the White House in 2012.

Newly published election spending figures show Sarah Palin ended the last quarter with a war chest of more than $1m, suggesting gathering momentum for a run at the White House in 2012.

Her political action committee, a body for raising and distributing election cash, raised $866,000 in the three months from April 1, the most since it was formed in January 2009. She spent about $742,000 over the quarter, most of it on building up her political profile and base support.

Palin, who enjoys the support of the Tea Party and other grassroots activists but is distrusted by the Republican party establishment, has not yet said whether she will stand as a candidate. She and other potential rivals for the Republican nomination would normally begin to make their intentions clear early next year, in the wake of November's Congressional mid-term elections.

But a breakdown of money raised and spent by Palin suggests she is putting in place the political framework for a bid. She spent almost twice as much as in any previous quarter, much of it on speechwriters, private jets for public appearances, and hiring consultants to advise her on domestic and foreign policy, which were embarrassing weaknesses during her vice-presidential run in 2008.

She is also taking on more staff, including for the first time someone to keep control of her schedule. Until now, her organisation has tended to be chaotic.